هيكل الأكوان من آثارها

كل ما تبصر من أسرارها

The structure of the worlds is among its works.

All that you see is among its mysteries.

نفسها قد أيقظت حتى انجلى

عالم الأفكار ما بين الملا

It awakened itself, until there appeared

The world of thoughts amid the multitude.

ألف كون مختف في ذاتها

غيرها يثبت من إثباتها

A thousand worlds lie hidden in its essence.

What is other than it exists through its self-affirmation.

جعلت بزر خصام بزرها

نفسها تنظر فيها غيرها

It made the seed of strife its own seed.

Within itself it sees what is other than itself.

خلقت أضدادها من نفسها

لترى لذتها في بأسها

It created its opposites from itself,

To find its delight in its own strife.

تبتلى في نفسهاقوتها

لترى من نفسها قدرتها

Its strength is tested within itself,

That it may see its power in itself.

خدع من وهمها عين الحياه

غسلها في دمها عين الحياه

Deceptions born of its illusion are the essence of life.

Its washing in its own blood is the essence of life.

تخرب البستان أجل الوردة

تكئر النوح لأجل النغمة

It lays the garden waste for the sake of the rose.

It multiplies lamentation for the sake of melody.

لفليك واحد ألف هلال

ولحرف واحد ألف مقال

For one small celestial sphere, a thousand crescents;

And for a single letter, a thousand utterances.

عذرها في سرف أو قسوة

أنها تبغي جمال الخلقة

Its excuse for excess or cruelty

Is that it seeks beauty in created form.

حسن شيرين لفرهاد محن

ومن المسك ردى ظبي الختن

Shirin's beauty brings ordeals to Farhad.

And musk brings death to Khotan's gazelle.

في فراش حرقة كالشعل

عذره في شمعه المشتعل

A burning like flames dwells within the moth.

Its excuse lies in its blazing candle.

ألف يوم سطرته يدها

ليجلى في سناه غدها

Its hand has inscribed a thousand days,

That its tomorrow may be revealed in their radiance.

ألف إبراهيم في النار اغتدى

لسراج يرتجى من أحمدا

A thousand Ibrahims went into the fire,

For a lamp hoped for from Ahmad.

همها الأعمال فهي الفاعل

وهي العلة وهي القابل

Its concern is deeds, for it is the agent.

And it is the cause, and it is the recipient.

ثورة فيها وإجفال ونور

واحتراق واختفاء وظهور

In it are tumult, startled flight, and light,

And burning, concealment, and manifestation.

سعة الأيام ميدان لها

والسماء النقع يعلو سبلها

The expanse of days is its arena.

And the sky is the dust rising above its paths.

يدها في الطين للكون ازدهار

نومها الليل وفي الصحو النهار

Its hand in the clay brings the universe into bloom.

Its sleep is night, and day lies in its waking.

قسمت شعلتها في شرر

فرأى الأجزاء عقل المفكر

It divided its flame into sparks,

So the thinker's mind perceived the parts.

تخلق الأجزاء إما تنفطر

تنشئ الصحراء إما تنتشر

It creates parts whenever it splits apart.

It creates the desert whenever it spreads out.

ثم صارت بانتشار في ملال

فاحزألت فبدت شم الجبال

Then it grew weary of dispersal,

So it drew together, and lofty mountains appeared.

شيمة الذات التجلى لا الخفاء

وهي في الذرات بأس وضياء

The self's nature is manifestation, not concealment.

And in the atoms it is might and radiance.

قوة صامتة حلف عمل

عمل اليوم لآتيها علل

A silent power, allied with action;

Today's action supplies the causes of its future.

قوة الذات من الكون النواه

فعلى قدر القوى قدر الحياه

The self's power is the kernel of the universe.

So life's measure accords with the measure of strength.

كلمة الذات تعيها قطرة

فإذا القطرة يوما درة

A drop understands the word of the self;

And behold, one day the drop is a pearl.

خارت الخمر فلا شكل لها

ومن الكأس استعارت شكلها

The wine grew weak, so it has no shape,

And from the cup it borrowed its shape.

هوسها طود عن النفس فحار

فغدا صحراء تغشاها البحار

Its frenzy [syntax unclear]: a mountain, apart from the self, became bewildered,

And became a desert over which the seas spread.

يعقد النور لخلق المقلة

تخفق العين بشوق الجلوة

Light congeals to form the eyeball.

The eye throbs with longing for the unveiling.

وإذا العشب نماء أضمرا

شق صدر المرج حتى يظهرا

And when the grass harbors growth within,

It cleaves the meadow's breast until it emerges.

يجمع الشمع بعزم نفسه

ومن الذرات يعلى رأسه

The wax gathers itself through its own resolve,

And from the atoms it raises its head.

ويذيب النفس إما غفلا

فتراه دمع عين هملا

And when it grows heedless, it melts its self,

So you see it as an eye's freely flowing tears.

شدت الأرض قواها فالقمر

في طواف حولها لا مستقر

The earth strengthened its powers, so the moon

Circles around it, never at rest.

وكيان الشمس منها أكبر

فلها عين ذكاء تسحر

And the sun's being is greater than the earth's;

So it has an eye of brilliance that enchants.

وعلا الحور فهال الناظرا

وعلا الطود أبيا قاهرا

And the poplar rose high, awing the beholder;

And the mountain rose, proud and overpowering,

وارتدى كسوة نار حاميه

اصله حبة نبت آبيه

And donned a garment of scorching fire.

Its origin is a defiant seed of a plant.

إن ذاتا جمعت أسر الحياه

من غدير أزخرت بحر الحياه

Indeed, a self that has gathered life's strength

Has made the sea of life surge from a pool.