أَصبَحتَ تَأمُرُ بِالحِجابِ لِخِلوَةٍ

أَصبَحتَ تَأمُرُ بِالحِجابِ لِخِلوَةٍ

هَيهاتَ لَستَ عَلى الحِجابِ بِقادِرِ

هَيهاتَ لَستَ عَلى الحِجابِ بِقادِرِ

You now order a veil to be drawn for solitude.

You now command that there be a veil for intimacy

You have begun to order the veil drawn for your seclusion,

Far from it! You are unable to veil yourself.

Alas! You have no power over the veil

Yet alas! You hold no power to keep yourself concealed.

مَن كانَ ضَوءُ جَبينِهِ وَنَوالُهُ

مَن كانَ ضَوءُ جَبينِهِ وَنَوالُهُ

لَم يُحجَبا لَم يَحتَجِب عَن ناظِرِ

لَم يُحجَبا لَم يَحتَجِب عَن ناظِرِ

One whose brow's radiance and bounty

Whose radiant brow and sweet speech

For he whose brow's radiance and whose bounty

Are not veiled is hidden from no beholder.

Cannot be veiled, cannot be hidden from the viewer

Have never been obscured, cannot be hidden from sight.

فَإِذا اِحتَجَبتَ فَأَنتَ غَيرُ مُحَجَّبٍ

فَإِذا اِحتَجَبتَ فَأَنتَ غَيرُ مُحَجَّبٍ

وَإِذا بَطَنتَ فَأَنتَ عَينُ الظاهِرِ

وَإِذا بَطَنتَ فَأَنتَ عَينُ الظاهِرِ

So when you veil yourself, you are not veiled,

So when you veil yourself, you remain unveiled

Thus, though you withdraw behind the veil, you are not veiled,

And when you are hidden, you are the very essence of the manifest.

And when you conceal yourself, you are the evident eye

And when you are hidden within, you are the very essence of the manifest.