اشرفت في السواد ذات الثور

فاجتلينا أنوار ذاك السفور

She of the bull appeared in black [epithet unclear];

So we beheld the lights of that unveiling.

ورأينا بوجهها البدر يبدو

طالعها في ملابس الديجور

And in her face we saw the full moon appear,

Her rising orb, clad in robes of deepest night.

وبدا لامعاً سناها ومرآها

فقلنا نور بدا فرق نور

And her radiance and her appearance shone brightly,

So we said, “Light has appeared above light” [uncertain reading].

وسجدنا أمامهعا وأخذنا

من ترى أرضها يخط الثغور

And we prostrated ourselves before her and took

From her soil, a share for our lips [uncertain reading].

واجتنينا نور الهدى وهما الدم

ع فطفنا في روضة وغدير

And we plucked the blossoms of guidance, while tears streamed;

Then we circled amid a garden and a pool.

وتجلى لنا سنا الحجر الأس

ود عن غرة الصباح المنير

And the Black Stone's radiance was unveiled to us,

Revealing the bright brow of luminous morning,

جامعاً بين صورة الليل للنا

ظر فيه وبين معنى البدور

Combining, for the beholder, the likeness of night

Within it, and the essence of full moons.

فلثمناه كله لنلاقي

موضعاً خص بالتثنم النذير

So we kissed it all, that we might find

A spot the Warner singled out with his kiss.

فعسانا بذلك الأثر الظاهر

بنحو من حررنار السعير

Perhaps through that manifest trace

We might escape the heat of the blazing Fire.

وعرتنا مهابة أشهدتنا

وصفه في طوافه المبرور

And awe overcame us, making us witness

His likeness in his blessed circumambulation.

فأتتنا أنواره وهي تسعى

نحونا في ذهابه والمرور

His lights then came to us, hastening

Toward us as he went and passed by.

فوضعنا الجباه لله شكراً

في ثري ذلك التراب الطهور

So we laid our foreheads down in thanks to God

In the soil of that purifying dust.

وحمدنا الذي لدي حضرة البيت

حبانا بحسن ذاك الحضور

And we praised Him who, in the precinct of the House,

Favored us with the blessing of that attendance.

موطن كان منه أصل هدى الخلق

وفيه ابتدا الهدى بالظهور

A place from which guidance for creation first sprang,

And where guidance first began to appear.

وغليه في حلية الذل يسعى

كل ذي منبر ورب سرير

And toward it, arrayed in humility, hastens

Every holder of a pulpit and lord of a throne.

يستوي العالمون فيه فلا فر

ق بين ذي الغنى والفقير

All people are equal there; there is no difference

Between the wealthy and the poor.

ويخفون من ذنوب وأوزار

أتوه بها ثقال الظهور

And they grow lighter of sins and burdens

With which they came to it, their backs weighed down.

وأحب البقاع كان إلى الهادي

شفيع الأنام يوم النشور

And it was the dearest of places to the Guide,

The intercessor for mankind on the Day of Resurrection.

صاحب المعجزات منهن تسبي

ح العصا معلناً ونطق البعير

Master of miracles, among them the praise

Of the staff, proclaimed aloud, and the camel's speech;

وسلام الأحجار بدأ وعودا

أمره في ذهابها والحضور

And the stones' greetings, first and repeatedly,

At his command, in their going and coming;

وحنين الجزع الذي أسمع العالم

جمعاً في المسجد المعمور

And the trunk's yearning cry, which all the people heard

Together in the thronged mosque.

فأتاه وضمه وغدا باللطف

منه مسكنا الصغير

He came to it and embraced it, and with kindness

Of his own, became the little one's comforter.

والكتاب الذي تحدى به الخلق

فباؤوا بعجزهم والقصور

And the Book with which he challenged creation,

So they came away admitting their inability and failure.

أعجز العالمين أنسا وجنا

بحثوا الآية يبنظير

It rendered both worlds powerless, humans and jinn,

As they sought a counterpart to its verse.

فيه أحكامنا وعلم الذي يأ

تي وانباء ما مضى في الدهور

Within it are our rulings and knowledge of what is to come,

And accounts of what has passed through the ages.

ودليل في موقف الحشر يهدي

سناه ومؤنس في القبور

And a guide at resurrection's gathering, guiding

By its radiance, and a companion in the graves;

وشفيع أيضاً لقاربه في المو

قف يحظى بجاهه المبرور

And an intercessor also for its reader at the standing-place,

Where he gains favor through its blessed rank.

منزل جاءه به الروح جبريل

نجوماً من اللطيف الخبير

Sent down, brought to him by the Spirit, Gabriel,

In successive portions, from the Subtle, the All-Aware.

فهدانا بنوره فاعتصمنا

بالهدى منه في جميع الأمور

So he guided us by its light, and we held fast

To its guidance in all affairs.

ووقتنا أنوار سنته المثلى

وقوعاً في جبل دار الغرور

And the lights of his exemplary way protected us

From falling into the snares of the abode of delusion.

وأرنا بنورها كل خير

لم يحل علمه لنا في الضمير

And show us, by their light, every good

Whose knowledge has not dwelt within our hearts.

ليت شعري لي إلى لقياه

أحظى به وأوفى نذوري

If only I knew whether I might meet him,

Gain his favor, and fulfill my vows.

ما بقي في عصا بقائي سير

ضاق فتر في مدتي عن مسيري

The staff of my remaining life has no journey left;

A finger-span of my lifetime is too short for my journey.

غير أني أرجو اللقاء وماذا

ك عزيز على الإله القدير

Yet I hope for the meeting, and that is not

Difficult for God, the Almighty.

ولكم نال ذو رجاء طويل

ما تمناه في الزمان القصير

And how often one with long-held hope has attained

What he wished for in a short time.

ولئن كانت الذنوب تاناءت

بمسيري عنه وعاقت مصيري

And though my sins have carried me far away,

Turning my path from him and hindering my arrival,

فاعتصامي بجاهه ورجائي

أنه في غد يكون مجيري

My reliance is on his standing, and my hope is

That tomorrow he will be my protector.

وملاذي بعفو ربي فعفو الله

اقوى من كل ذنب كبير

And my refuge is in my Lord's pardon, for God's pardon

Is stronger than every grave sin.

فعليه السلام ما خطرت ريح

الصبا في أرجاء روض نضير

So peace be upon him as long as a breeze wafts

From the east through the reaches of a lush garden;

وعليه السلام ما شدت الور

قاء تدعوا هديلها بالهدير

And peace be upon him as long as the gray dove sings,

Calling to her mate with a cooing murmur.