إذا البرق من تلقاء كاظمة عنا

إذاب الحشا وزاد الكرى عنا

When lightning appears from the direction of Kazimah,

It melts the heart and drives slumber away from us.

وإن لاح من أرجاء مسلع فلا نسل

عهاد الحيا سقي الحيابل سل الجنا

And if it gleams from the reaches of Maslaʿ, let us not ask

The returning rain-showers for watering [unclear text]; rather, ask for fruit.

فما أومض البرق اللموع برامة

فأنشأ الأمن مدامعنا المزنا

The gleaming lightning never flashed at Ramah

Without raising rainclouds from our tears.

حسبناه ايماض الثغور على النقا

وليس به لكنه قارب المعنى

We took it for the flash of smiling teeth upon the sandridge;

It was not that, but it came close in meaning.

وخلناه نار الحي أو نار أهله

وما ذاك إلا عن مساو لذا الآدني

We imagined it the tribe's fire, or the fire of its people;

That is only from an equal of this lesser thing [wording uncertain].

ولكن كتشبيه السماء وزهرها

لناظرها بالزهر والروضة الغنا

Yet it is like comparing the sky and its starry blossoms,

For its beholder, to flowers and a lush garden.

وأين الحمى منا ولكت شوقنا

جلاه لنا وهنا ونحن على الدهنا

How far the sanctuary is from us! Yet our longing

Revealed it to us late at night, while we were on al-Dahna.

فهمنا وخلنا كل لمع سنا الحمى

وليس كذا ما كل باسمة لبني

We wandered, love-struck, thinking every flash the sanctuary's radiance;

But not so: not every smiling woman is Lubna.

أأحبابنا طال السرى نحو داركم

فطاب ولكن نال فرط الجوى منا

O our beloveds, long was the night journey toward your abode;

Sweet it was, but excessive longing wore us down.

برانا الهوى حتى توهمنا الذي

برانا خيالاً قد سرى في الدجى وهنا

Love wasted us, until the One who created us imagined us

A phantom traveling through the darkness late at night.

كان على الأكوار أقنان دوحة

يميلها مر الصبا غصنا غصنا

Upon the camel-saddles there seemed the boughs of a great tree,

Swayed by the passing east wind, branch by branch.

إذا خاف حادينا الكلال حدا بكم

فنستقصر المسري ونستوطي الحزنا

When our camel-driver feared weariness, he chanted of you;

We found the night journey short and the rugged ground easy.

وإن زادت الأخطار في السير نحوكم

فما يرهب المسرى يكون وأن أضنى

Even if dangers increased on the journey toward you,

The night journey held no terror, however wearying it might be.

متى قال حادينا رويداً فبينكم

وبين الحمى مقدار يومين أو أدنى

Whenever our camel-driver said, 'Gently! Between you

And the sanctuary lie two days, or less,'

وهبنا له شطر الحياة فإن أبى

ولم يرض ما قد وهبنا له زدنا

We gave him half our life; if he refused

And would not accept what we had given him, we gave more.

وقل له ما قد وهبنا فإنه

غدا بالذي أولاه أولى بنامنا

Yet little was what we had given him, for he

Became, through his gift, more entitled to us than we ourselves.

وإن أسفرت عن فوزنا ليلة السرى

ولاحت لنا الأنوار من ذلك المغني

And if the night of travel dawned upon our success,

And lights shone for us from that dwelling,

فلم يبق من آمالنا بعد فوزنا

بذلك ما نأسى عليه إذا متنا

Nothing remained of our hopes, after our attainment

Of that, whose loss we would mourn when we died.

وإن بان بانات المصلي واشرقت

قباب قبا والنخل والمسجد الأسنى

And if the ban-trees of al-Musalla appeared, and there shone

The domes of Quba, the palms, and the most radiant mosque,

أجلت ثرى تلك الربا وجناتنا

عن اللمس بالأيدي فدع أرجل الوجنا

Our cheeks held the earth of those heights too exalted

For hands to touch, let alone the feet of sturdy she-camels.

وملنا إلى باب السلام وقد دنا

بلثم ثراه ما رجونا واملنا

We turned toward the Gate of Peace, and near drew

All we hoped and wished, through kissing its soil.

وأفحمنا هول المقام فلم نطق

مقالاً فتاب الدمع عنا فما أغنى

The awe of that station struck us dumb; we could not utter

A word; tears spoke for us—yet what could they avail?

فلم نر إلا عبرة حثها جوى

والأيد اضحت على كبد تنثني

We saw only a tear urged on by burning longing,

And hands now folded over the liver.

هنالك يبدو نور حجرة أحمد

فيذهب عنا بشرها كلما عنا

There appears the light of Ahmad's chamber;

Its gladness dispels all that troubled us.

ويخبو جوى أشواقنا بلقائه

ويبدو لنا من دون قربه أمنا

The fire of our longing dies down at meeting him,

And safety appears to us even before drawing near him.

وفزنا بيوم يفضل العمر منه ساعة

فلله ما أحلاه يوماً وما أهنى

We gained a day one hour of which surpasses a lifetime.

God be praised: how sweet a day, how blissful!

لو أن رشيداً يشتري منه ساعة

بطول حياة الدهر لم يرها غبنا

If a wise man bought one hour of it

With an eternity of life, he would not deem it a bad bargain.

فمن واقف يثني عليه بجهده

ويعلم أن الأمر غضعاف ما أثنى

One stood praising him with all his strength,

Knowing his true worth was many times his praise.

ومن شيق يشكو لهيب جوى غدت

أضالعه وجداً على ناره تحنى

Another, yearning, lamented a burning grief that had left

His ribs bent, in longing, over its fire.

ومن خائف وشك النوى مارقت له

سروراً دموع العين حتى خمى حزنا

Another feared imminent parting; his tears had scarcely eased

In joy before they streamed in sorrow [reading uncertain].

وشاك من الأوزار يسأل جاهه

وإن كاثرت زلاته أحداً وزنا

Another, burdened by sins, sought the aid of his high standing,

Though his missteps rivaled Uhud in weight.

فوافاهمو بشر القبول بما رجوا

وزاد ففازوا بالزيادة والحسني

The glad tidings of acceptance met them with all they hoped for,

And more: they gained abundance and the finest reward.

فعادوا بفخر لا يزول جماله

وأبوا بذخر لا يبيد ولا يفني

They returned with honor whose beauty never fades,

And with a treasure that neither perishes nor decays.

وبلوا صدى أشواقهم وتحققوا

قبول كريم لم يزل بهم يغني

They quenched the thirst of their longing and became assured

Of acceptance by a generous one ever mindful of them.

وآذنهم بشر الرضا بشفاعة

بها فيهم إعطاءء مرسله الأذنا

The glad tidings of favor announced to them an intercession

For them, for which his Sender had granted him permission.

محمد المبعوث للخلق رحمة

ومنا من البر الرؤوف تلا منا

Muhammad, sent as a mercy to creation,

And a favor from the Beneficent, the Compassionate, following a favor;

وهادي الورى والغي قد طبق الربا

فلا علم للرشد يبدو ولا يفني

The guide of humankind, when error had covered the heights,

And no beacon of guidance appeared, nor was there one to fade.

حباه بقرآن أرانا به الهدى

ففزنا واعياً مثله الأنس والجنا

He endowed him with a Quran through which he showed us guidance;

We triumphed, while its like lay beyond men and jinn.

وحزناً به خير الحياة وإن نمت

عليه ولا خوفاً تراه ولا حزنا

Through it we gained life's best; and if we die

Upholding it, you will see neither fear nor sorrow.

وشاهدنا يوم المعاد وإن نضق

بحجتنا ذرعاً هدانا فلقنا

It is our witness on the Day of Return; if we are at a loss

To make our plea, it guides and prompts us.

فلله كم من نور علم وحكمة

علينا به تجلى ونور الهدى يجنى

God be praised! How much light of knowledge and wisdom

Has shone on us through it, and how much light of guidance is harvested!

نكرره حبا ويزداد شوقنا

فمهما تناهينا إلى ختمه عدنا

We repeat it in love, and our longing grows;

Whenever we reach its end, we begin again.

ونكسو صدور أحرزته لوامعا

تضي أسارير الوجوه بها حسنا

We clothe the breasts that preserve it in gleaming lights,

Which brighten the features of faces with beauty.

وتقوي به التقوى فلا يخشى به

زوالاً عليها كالجبال ولا وهنا

Through it piety grows strong, so with it one fears no

Decline or weakness in piety: it stands like mountains.

أمان لنا باق ويمن معجل

فطوبى لنا نلنا به إلا من واليمنا

It is lasting safety for us and blessing granted at once;

Blessed are we: through it we gained safety and good fortune [text uncertain].

ونور لنا في ظلمة النور مؤنس

وهاد لنا يوم المعادإذا عدنا

And a comforting light for us in the darkness of light [as written],

And a guide on the Day of Return, when we return.

وأنا لنرجو أن تقيم حدوده

فإن نحن وقفنا لذاك فقد فقنا

We surely hope to uphold its limits;

If we are enabled to do so, we have indeed excelled.

ونطمع في ألا يفارقنا غدا

كما أنه في يومنا لم يفارقنا

We hope that it will not leave us tomorrow,

Just as it has not left us in our present day.

على مرسل وافي به من اله

صلاة على الإيمان أركانها تبنى

Upon the Messenger who brought it from God

Be a blessing whose pillars are built upon faith,

تباكره ماذر في الأفق شارق

وتسري مع الليل البهيمإذا جنا

Greeting him at dawn as long as the sun rises on the horizon,

And traveling with the pitch-black night when it falls.