Mawlâya sâllî wa sallim dâ-iman -âbadâ
‘ala habîbika khayril khalqi kullihimi
Yâ rabbî salli ‘alâ Muhammadin wa ‘alâ
Sâdâtinâ -âlihi wa sahbihil kirami
Chapter 1
“On amorous poetry and lovers’ laments.”
-Amin tadhakkuri jîrânin bidhî salamin
Mâzajta dam‘an jarâ min muqlatin bidami
-Am habbati rrîhu min tilqâ-i kâdhimatin
Wa -awmadal barqu fi dhalmâ-i min -idami
Fa mâ li‘aynayka -in qulta kfufâhamatâ
Wa mâ liqalbika -in qulta stafiq yahimi
-Ayahsibu ssabbu -annal hubba munkatimun
Mâ bayna munsajimin minhu wa mudtarimi
Lawlâl hawâ lam turiq dam‘an ‘alâ tâlali
Wa lâ -ariqta li dhikril bâni wal ‘alami
Wa lâ -a‘âratka thawbay ‘abratin wa danâ
Dhikral khiyâmi wa dhikrâ sâkinil khiyami
Fa kayfa tunkiru hubban ba‘damâ chahidat
Bihi ‘alayka ‘udûlu ddam‘i wa ssaqami
Wa -athbatal wajdu khattây ‘abratin wa danan
Mithlal bahâri ‘alâ khaddayka wal ‘anami
Na‘am sarâ tayfu man -ahwâ fa -ârraqanî
Wal hubbu ya‘taridu lladhdhâti bil -alami
Yâ lâ-imî fîl hawâl ‘udhriyyî ma ‘dhiratan
Minnî -ilayka wa law -ansafta lam talumi
‘adatka hâli lâ sirrî bi mustatirin
‘anil wuchâti wa lâ dâ-î bi munhasimi
Mahhadtanî nnus ha lâkin lastu -asma‘uhu
-Innal muhibba ‘anil ‘udhdhâli fî samami
-Innî ttahamtu nasîha chchaybi fî ‘adhalin
Wa chchaybu -ab‘adu fî nus hin ‘ani ttûhami
Chapter 2
“A warning against the strayings of the soul.”
Fa -inna -ammâratî bissû-i mâ tta‘adhat
Min jahlihâ bi nadhîri chchaybi wal harami
Wa lâ -a‘addat minal fi‘lil jamîli qirâ
Dayfin -alamma bira-sî ghayra muhtachimi
Law kuntu -a‘lamu -annî mâ -uwaqqiruhu
Katamtu sirran badâ lî minhu bil katami
Man lî biraddi jimâhin min ghawâyatihâ
Kamâ yuraddu jimâhul khayli bi llujumi
Fa lâ tarum bil ma‘âsî kasra chahwatihâ
-Inna tta‘âma yuqawwî chahwata nnahimi
Wa nnafsu kattifli -in tuhmilhu châbba ‘alâ
Hubbi rradâ‘i wa -in taftimhu yanfatimi
Fasrif hawâhâ wa hâdhir -an tuwalliyahu
-Innal hawâ mâ tawallâ yusmi -aw yasimi
Wa râ‘ihâ wa hya fîl -a‘mâli sâ-imatun
Wa -in hiya stahlatil mar‘â falâ tusimi
Kam hassanat ladhdhatan lil mar-i qâtilatan
Min haythu lam yadri -anna ssumma fi ddasami
Wa khcha ddasâ-isa min jû‘in wa min chiba‘in
Fâ rubba makhmasatin charrun mina ttûkhami
Wa stafrighi ddam‘a min ‘aynin qadi mtala-at
Minal mahârimi wal zam himyata nnadami
Wa khâlifi nnafsa wa chchaytâna wa ‘sihimâ
Wa -in humâ mahhadâka nnus ha fa ttahimi
Wa lâ tuti‘ minhumâ khasman wa lâ hakaman
Fa -anta ta‘rifu kaydal khasmi wal hakami
-Astaghfiru Llâha min qawlin bilâ ‘amalin
Laqad nasabtu bihi naslan lidhî ‘uqumi
-Amartukal khayra lâkin mâ -tamartu bihi
Wa mâ staqamtu famâ qawlî laka staqimi
Wa lâ tazawwadtu qablal mawti nâfilatan
Wa lam -usalli siwâ fardî wa lam -asumi
Chapter 3
“Praise of the prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace.”
Dhalamtu sunnata man -ahyâ dhdhalâma -ilâ
Ani chtakat qadamâhu ddurra min warami
Wa chadda min saghabin ahchâ-ahu wa tawâ
Tahtal hijârati kachhan mutrafal -adami
Wa râwadat_hul jibâlu chchummu min dhahabin
‘an nafsihi fa -arâha -ayyamâ chamami
Wa -akkadat zuhdahu fihâ darûratuhu
-Inna ddarûrata lâ ta‘dû ‘alal ‘isami
Wa kayfa tadu‘û -ilâ ddunyâ darûratu man
Lawlâhu lam takhruji ddunyâ minal ‘adami
Muhammadun sayyidul kawnayni wa ththaqalayni
Wal farîqayni min ‘urbin wa min ‘ajami
Nabiyyunâl -âmiru nnâhî fa lâ -ahadun
-Abarra fî qawli lâ minhu wa lâ na‘ami
Huwal habîbu lladhî turjâ chafâ‘atuhu
Likulli hawlin minal -ahwâli muqtahami
Da‘â -ilâ Llâhî fal mustamsikûna bihi
Mustamsikûna bi hablin ghayri munfasimi
Fâqa nnabiyyîna fî khalqin wa fî khuluqin
Wa lam yudânûhu fî ‘ilmin wa lâ karami
Wa kulluhum min rasûli Llâhi multamisun
Gharfan minal bahri -aw rachfan mina ddiyami
Wa wâqifûna ladayhi ‘inda haddihimu
Min nuqtatil ‘ilmi aw min chaklatil hikami
Fa huwa lladhî tamma ma‘nâhu wa sûratuhu
Thumma stafâhu habîban bâri-u nnasami
Munazzahun ‘an charîkin fî mahâsinihi
Fa jawharul husni fîhi ghayru munqasimi
Da‘ ma dda‘at_hu nnasârâ fî nabiyyîhimu
Wa hkum bimâ chi-ta madhan fîhi wa htakimi
Wa nsub -ilâ dhâtihi mâ chi-ta min charafin
Wa nsub -ilâ qadrihi mâ chi-ta min ‘idhami
Fa -inna fadla rasûli Llâhi laysa lahu
Haddun fa yu‘riba ‘anhu nâtiqun bifami
Law nâsabat qadrahu -âyâtuhu ‘idhaman
-Ahyâ smuhu hîna yud‘â dârisa rrimami
Lam yamtahinnâ bimâ ta‘yâl ‘uqûlu bihi
Hirsan ‘alaynâ fa lam nartab wa lam nahimi
-A‘yâl warâ fahmu ma‘nâhu falaysa yurâ
Lilqurbi wal bu‘di fîhi ghayru munfahimi
Ka chchamsi tadhharu lil ‘aynayni min bu‘udin
Saghîratan wa tukillu ttarfa min -amami
Wa kayfa yudriku fi ddunyâ haqîqatahu
Qawmun niyâmun tasallaw ‘anhu bil hulumi
Fa mablaghul ‘ilmi fîhi -annahu bacharun
Wa -annahu khayru khalqi Llâhi kullihimi
Wa kullu -âyin -atâ rruslul kirâmu biha
Fa -innamâ ttasalat min nûrihi bihimi
Fa -innahu chamsu fadlin hum kawâkibuhâ
Yudhhirna anwâraha li nnâsi fi dhdhulami
Hattâ –idhâ tala‘at fil –ufuqi ‘amma hudâha
L‘alamîna wa –ahyat sâ-iral –umami
-Akrim bi khalqi nabiyyin zânahu khuluqun
Bil husni muchtamilin bil bichri muttasimi
Ka zzahri fî tarafin wal badri fî charafin
Wal bahri fî karamin wa ddahri fî himami
Ka -annahu wa huwa fardun min jalâlatihi
Fî ‘askarin hîna talqâhu wa fî hachami
Ka -annamâ llu-lu-ul maknûnu fî sadafin
Min ma‘dinay mantiqin minhu wa mubtasimi
Ta‘yal ‘uqûlu kalalan ‘inda ru-yatihi
Ka-annamâ nadharat li chchamsi min -amami
Lâ tîba ya‘dilu turban damma -a‘dhumahu
Tûbâ li muntachiqin minhu wa multathimi
Chapter 4
“On his nativity, blessings and peace be upon him”
-Abâna mawliduhu ‘an tîbi ‘unsurihi
Yâ tîba mubtada-in minhu wa mukhtatami
Yawmun tafarrasa fîhil fursu -annahumu
Qad -undhirû bihulûlil bu-si wa nniqami
Wa bâta -îwânu kisrâ wa huwa munsadi‘un
Kachamli –as_hâbi kisrâ ghayra multa-imi
Wa nnâru khâmidatul -anfâsi min asafin
‘alayhi wa nnahru sâhi l‘ayni min sadami
Wa sâ-a sâwata -an ghâdat buhayratuha
Wa rudda wâriduha bil ghaydhi hîna dhamî
Ka-anna bi nnâri mâ bil mâ-i min balalin
Huznan wa bil mâ-i mâ bi nnâri min darami
Wal jinnu tahtifu wal anwâru sâti‘atun
Wal haqqu yadhharu min ma‘nâ wa min kalimi
‘amû wa sammû fa –i‘lânul bachâ-iri lam
Tusma‘ wa bâriqatul -indhâri lam tuchami
Min ba‘di mâ -akhbaral -aqwâma kâhinuhum
Bi -anna dînahumul mu‘wajji lam yaqumi
Wa ba‘da mâ ‘âyanû fil -ufqi min chuhubin
Munqaddatin wafqa mâ fil -ardi min sanami
Hattâ ghadâ ‘an tarîqil wahyi munhazimun
Mina chchayâtîni yaqfu -ithra munhazimi
Ka -annahum haraban -abtâlu -abrahatin
-Aw ‘askarun bil hasâ min râhatayhi rumî
Nabdhan bihi ba‘da tasbîhin bi batnihimâ
Nabdhal musabbihi min ahchâ-i multaqimi
Chapter 5
“On the miracles of the prophet, blessings and peace be upon him.”
Jâ-at lida‘watihil –achjâru sâjidatan
Tamchî –ilayhi ‘alâ sâqin bilâ qadami
Ka-annamâ sattarat satran limâ katabat
Furû‘uhâ min badî‘il khatti fi llaqami
Mithlal ghamâmati –annâ sâra sâ-iratan
Taqîhi harra watîsin lilhajîri hamî
-Aqsamtu bil qamaril munchaqqi –inna lahu
Min qalbihi nisbatan mabrûratal qasami
Wa mâ hawal ghâru min khayrin wa min karamin
Wa kullu tarfin minal kuffâri ‘anhu ‘amî
Fassidqu fil ghâri wa ssiddîqu lam yarimâ
Wa hum yaqûlûna mâ bil ghâri min –arimi
Dhannul hamâma wa dhannul ‘ankabûta ‘alâ
Khayril bariyyati lam tansuj wa lam tahumi
Wiqâyatu Llâhi –aghnat ‘an mudâ‘afatin
Mina ddurû‘i wa ‘an ‘âlin minal –utumi
Mâ sâmanî ddahru dayman wa stajartu bihi
-Illâ wa niltu jiwâran minhu lam yudami
Wa lal tamastu ghinâ ddârayni min yadihi
-Illâ stalamtu nnadâ min khayri mustalimi
Lâ tunkiril wahya min ru-yâhu –inna lahu
Qalban –idhâ nâmatil ‘aynâni lam yanami
Fadhâka hîna bulûghin min nubuwwatihi
Falaysa yunkaru fîhi hâlu muhtalimi
Tabâraka Llâhu mâ wahyun bimuktasabin
Wa lâ nabiyyun ‘alâ ghaybin bimuttahami
Kam –abra-at wasiban billamsi râhatuhu
Wa –atlaqat –ariban min ribqati llamami
Wa –ahyati ssanata chchahbâ-a da‘watuhu
Hattâ hakat ghurratan fil –a‘suri dduhumi
Bi‘âridin jâda –aw khiltal bitâha bihâ
Saybun minal yammi –aw saylun minal ‘arimi
Lammâ chakat waq‘ahul bat_hâ-u qâla lahu
‘ala rrubâ wal hidâbi nhalla wa nsajama
Fa-addatil –ardu min rizqin –amânatahâ
Bi-idhni khaliqihâ linnâsi wa nna‘ami
Wa –ulbisat hulalan min sundusin wa lawat
‘amâ-iman biru-ûsil hadbi wal –akami
Fannakhlu bâsiqatun tajlû qalâ-iduha
Mithlal bahâri ‘alal –absâri wal ‘annami
Wa fâraqa nnâsa dâ-ul qahti wa nba‘atha
-Ilal makârimi nafsu nniksi wal barimi
-Idhâ tatabba‘at –âyâti nnabiyyi faqad
-Alhaqta munfakhiman minhâ bimunfakhimi
Qul lilmuhâwili cha-wan fi madâ-ihihi
Hiyal mawâhibu lam –achdud lahâ ziyamî
Wa lataqul lî bimâdhâ nilta jayyidahâ
Famâ yuqâlu lifadli llâhi dhâ bikami
Lawlal ‘inâyatu kânal –amru fihi ‘alâ
Haddi ssawâ-i fadhû nutqin kadhî bakami
Chapter 6
“On the honour of the Qur’an and on its praise.”
Da‘nî wa wasfiya –âyâtin lahu dhaharat
Dhuhûra nâril qirâ laylan ‘alâ ‘alami
Faddurru yazdâdu husnan wa huwa muntadhimun
Wa laysa yanqusu qadaran ghayra muntadhimi
Famâ tatawulu –âmâlil madîhi –ilâ
Mâ fîhi min karamil –akhlâqi wa chchiyami
-Âyâtu haqqin mina rrahmâni muhdathatun
Qadîmatun sifatul mawsûfi bil qidami
Lam taqtarin bizamânin wa hiya tukhbirunâ
‘anil ma‘âdi wa ‘an ‘âdin wa ‘an –irami
Dâmat ladaynâ fafâqat kulla mu‘jizatin
Mina nnabiyyîna –idh jâ-at wa lam tadumi
Muhakkamâtun famâ tubqîna min chubahin
Lidhî chiqâqin wa mâ tabghîna min hakami
Ma hûribat qattu –illâ ‘âda min harabin
-A‘dal -a‘âdî –ilayhâ mulqiya ssalami
Raddat bilâghatuhâ da‘wâ mu‘âridihâ
Raddal ghayûri yadal jânî ‘anil harami
Lahâ ma‘ânin kamawjil bahri fî madadin
Wa fawqa jawharihi fil husni wal qiyami
Famâ tu‘addu wa lâ tuhsâ ‘ajâ-ibuhâ
Wa lâ tusâmu ‘alal –ikthâri bissa-ami
Qarrat bihâ ‘aynu qârîhâ faqultu lahu
Laqad dhafirta bihabli Llâhi fa‘tasimi
-In tatluhâ khîfatan min harri nâri ladhan
-Atfa-ta harra ladhan min wirdihâ chchabimi
Ka-annahal hawdu tabyaddul wujûhu bihi
Minal ‘usâti wa qad jâ-ûhu kal humami
Wa kassirâti wa kal mîzâni ma‘dilatan
Fal qistu min ghayrihâ fi nnâsi lam yaqumi
Lâ ta‘jaban lihasûdin râha yunkiruhâ
Tajâhulan wa hwa ‘aynul hâdhiqil fahimi
Qad tunkirul ‘aynu daw-a chchamsi min ramadin
Wa yunkirul famu ta‘mal mâ-i min saqami
Chapter 7
“On his night journey and his ascension.”
Yâ khayra man yammamal ‘âfûna sâhatahu
Sa‘yan wa fawqa mutûnil aynuqi rrusumi
Wa man huwal –âyatul kubrâ limu‘tabirin
Wa man huwa nni‘matul ‘udhmâ limughtanimi
Sarayta min haramin laylan –ilâ haramin
Kamâ saral badru fî dâjin mina dhdhulami
Wa bitta tarqâ –ilâ –an nilta manzilatan
Min qâbi qawsayni lam tudrak wa lam turami
Wa qaddamatka jamî‘ul –anbiyâ-i bihâ
Wa rrusli taqdîma makhdûmin ‘alâ khadami
Wa –anta takhtariqu ssab‘a ttibâqa bihim
Fî mawkibin kunta fîhi sâhibal ‘alami
Hattâ –idhâ lam tada‘ cha-wan limustabiqin
Mina ddunuwwi wa lâ marqan limustanimi
Khafadta kulla maqâmin bil –idâfati –idh
Nûdîta birraf‘i mithlal mufradil ‘alami
Kaymâ tafûza biwaslin –ayyi mustatirin
‘anil ‘uyûni wa sirrin –ayyi muktatimin
Fahuzta kulla fakhârin ghayra muchtarakin
Wa juzta kulla maqâmin ghayra muzdahami
Wa jalla miqdâru mâ wullîta min rutabin
Wa ‘azza –idrâku mâ –ûlîta min ni‘ami
Buchrâ lanâ ma‘charal islâmi –inna lanâ
Minal ‘inâyati ruknan ghayra munhadimi
Lammâ da‘â Llâhu dâ‘înâ litâ‘atihi
Bi-akrami rrusli kunnâ –akramal –umami
Chapter 8
“The jihâd of the prophet, blessings and peace be upon him.”
Râ-at qulûbal ‘idâ –an bâ-u bi‘thatihi
Kanab-atin –ajfalat ghuflan minal ghanami
Mâ zâla yalqâhum fî kulli mu‘tarakin
Hattâ hakaw bil qanâ lahman ‘alâ wadami
Waddûl firâra fakâdû yaghbitûna bihi
-Achlâ-a châlat ma‘al ‘uqbâni wa rrakhami
Tamdi llayâlî wa lâ yadrûna ‘iddatahâ
Mâ lam takun mina layâlil –achhuril hurumi
Ka-annamâ ddînu dayfun halla sâhatahum
Bikulli qarmin –ilâ lahmil ‘idâ qarimi
Yajurru bahra khamîsin fawqa sâbihatin
Yarmî bimawjin minal –abtâli multatimi
Min kulli muntadibin lillâhi muhtasibin
Yastû bimusta-silin lilkufri mustalimi
Hattâ ghadat millatul –islâmi wa hya bihim
Min ba‘di ghurbatihâ mawsûlata rrahimi
Makfûlatan –abadan minhum bikhayrin –abin
Wa khayri ba‘lin falam taytam wa lam ta-imi
Humul jibâlu fasal ‘anhum musâdimahum
Mâdhâ ra-â minhum fî kulli mustadimi
Wa sal hunaynan wa sal badran wa sal –uhudan
Fusûlu hatfin lahum –ad_hâ minal wakhami
-Almusdiril bidi humran ba‘da mâ waradat
Minal ‘idâ kulla muswaddin mina llimami
Wal kâtibîna bisumril khatti mâ tarakat
-Aqlâmuhum harfa jismin ghayra mun‘ajimi
-In qâma fî jâmi‘il hayjâ khatîbuhumu
Tasâmamat ‘anhu –udhnâ simmati samami
Châkî ssilâhi lahum sîmâ tumayyizuhum
Wal wardu yamtâzu bissîmâ mina ssalami
Tuhdî –ilayka riyâhu nnasri nachrahumu
Fatahsabu zzahra fil –akmâmi kulla kamî
Ka-annahum fî dhuhûril khayli nabtu rubâ
Min chiddatil hazmi lâ min chiddatil huzumi
Târat qulûbul ‘idâ min ba-sihim faraqan
Famâ tufarriqu baynal bahmi wal buhami
Wa man takun bi rasûli Llâhi nusratuhu
-In talqahul –usdu fî –âjâmihâ tajimi
Man ya‘tasim bika yâ khayral warâ charafan
Allâhu hâfidhuhu min kulli muntaqimi
Wa lan tarâ min waliyyin ghayri muntasirin
Bihi wa lâ min ‘aduwwin ghayri munqasimi
-Ahalla –ummatahu fî hirzi millatihi
Kallaythi halla ma‘al –achbâli fî –ajami
Kam jaddalat kalimâtu Llâhi min jadalin
Fîhi wa kam khassamal burhâmu min khasimi
Kafâka bil ‘ilmi fil –ummiyyi mu‘jizatan
Fil jâhiliyyati wa tta-dîbi fil yutumi
Chapter 9
“Praying to God while seeking the support of the prophet, blessings and peace be upon him.”
Khadamtuhu bimadîhin –astaqîlu bihi
Dhunûba ‘umrin madâ fi chchi‘ri wal khidami
-Idh qalladâniya mâ tukhchâ ‘awâqibuhu
Ka-annanî bihimâ hadyun mina nna‘ami
-Ata‘tu ghayya ssibâ fil hâlatayni wa mâ
Hasaltu –ilâ ‘alal –âthâmi wa nnadami
Fayâ khasârata nafsin fî tijâratihâ
Lam tachtari ddîna bi ddunyâ wa lam tasumi
Wa man yabi‘ –âjilan minhu bi‘âjilihi
Yabin lahul ghabnu fî bay‘in wa fî salami
-In –âti dhanban famâ ‘ahdî bimuntaqidin
Mina nnabiyyi wa lâ hablî bimunsarimi
Fa –inna lî dhimmatan minhu bitasmiyatî
Muhammadan wa huwa –awfal khalqi bidhdhimami
-In lam yakun fî ma‘âdî –âkhidhan biyadî
Fadlan wa –illâ faqul yâ zallatal qadami
Hâchâhu –an yahrima rrâjî makârimahu
-Aw yarji‘al jâru minhu ghayra muhtarami
Wa mundhu –alzamtu –afkârî madâ-ihahu
Wajadtuhu likhalâsî khayra multazimi
Wa lan yafûtal ghinâ minhu yadan taribat
-Innal hayâ yunbitul –azhâra fil –akami
Wa lam –urid zahrata ddunyâ llatî qtatafat
Yadâ zuhayrin bimâ –athnâ ‘alâ harimi
Chapter 10
“Praying to God with fervour and setting out one’s needs.”
Yâ –akramal khalqi mâlî man –alûdhu bihi
Siwâka ‘inda hulûlil hadithil ‘amimi
Wa lan yadîqa rasûla Llâhi jâhuka bi
-Idhal karîmu tajallâ bismi muntaqimi
Fa-inna min jûdika ddunyâ wa daratahâ
Wa min ‘ulûmika ‘ilmu llawhi wal qalami
Yâ nafsu lâ taqnatî min zallatin ‘adhumat
-Innal qabâ-ira fil ghufrâni kallamami
La‘alla rahmata rabbî hîna yaqsimuhâ
Ta-tî ‘ala hasabil ‘isyâni fil qasami
Yâ rabbi wa j‘al rajâ-î ghayra mun‘akisin
Ladayka wa j‘al hisâbî ghayra munkharimi
Wal tuf bi‘abdika fi ddârayni –inna lahu
Sabran matâ tad‘uhul –ahwâlu yanhazimi
Wa –dhan lisuhbi salâtan minka dâ-imatan
‘ala nnabiyyi bi munhallin wa munsajimi
Mâ rannahat ‘adhabâtil bâni rîhu saban
Wa –atrabal ‘îsa hâdil ‘îsi binnaghami
Thumma rridâ ‘an –abî bakrin wa ‘an ‘umara
Wa ‘an ‘aliyyin wa ‘an ‘uthmâna dhil karami
Wal –âli wa ssahbi thumma ttâbi‘îna fahum
-Ahlu ttuqâ wa nnaqâ wal hilmi wal karami
Yâ rabbi bil mustafâ balligh maqâsidanâ
Wa ghfir lanâ mâ madâ yâ wâsi‘al karami
Wa ghfir –ilâhi li kullil muslimîna bimâ
Yatlûhu fil masjidil –aqsâ wa fil harami
Bijâhi man baytuhu fi taybatin haramun
Wa smuhu qasamun min -a‘dhamil qasami
Wa hadhihi burdatul mukhtâri qad khutimat
Wal hamdu lillâhi fî bad-in wa fî khatami
-Abyâtuhâ qad -atat sittîna ma‘a mi-a
Farrij bihâ karbanâ yâ wâsi‘al karami
Translation:
What makes your eyes shed tears mingled with blood? Is the memory of the neighbours you left at Dhou-Sélem the cause of your weeping? Is it the wind which, blowing from the direction of Kadhéma, recalls them to your mind, or does the lightning flashing amid the darkness, on the heights of Idham, reveal to your gaze the place where they dwell? Why do your eyes pour forth torrents of water, even when you command them to hold back their tears? Why is your heart in violent agitation at the very moment you say to it: Come back to yourself?
Does the one whom love possesses imagine he can keep hidden the passion that stirs him, when two parts of himself betray his secret: his eyes that melt into tears, and his heart consumed by a burning flame?
Ah! were love not the cause of your sorrow, you would not be seen shedding tears over the remains of an abandoned dwelling, and the memory of that ban and that hill would not rob you of sleep. And how could you deny that you are prey to the torments of love, when two irreproachable witnesses testify against you, the tears you shed and the sickness that consumes you, when the violence of your passion has written your conviction upon your cheeks, tracing there the two lines of tears and of wasting, and stamping them with the colours of the yellow rose and of the anem wood?
Yes, the phantom of the one I love has come to rob me of sleep. Such is the effect of love: it turns our pleasures into cruel torments.
O you who reproach me for the violence of an insurmountable love, my weakness deserves excuse, and were you fair, you would spare me your reprimands. May the ills I suffer fall back upon you! My secret cannot escape the eyes of informers, and the illness that wears me down admits of no cure.
You have given me wise counsel, but I was not able to hear it, for the one whom love rules is deaf to all censure. Even white-haired old age was not spared my injurious suspicions when it sought, by its counsels, to reform my conduct. And yet are there counsels less open to suspicion than those that old age gives?
In its folly, the violent inclination that drives me towards evil has not profited from the wise warnings of white hair and decrepit age. Incapable of any good deed, my corrupt soul has not even offered a hospitable meal to the honourable guest who had come without ceremony to seek hospitality with me. Ah! had I foreseen that I would not render him the honours due to him, I would have disguised with the juice of the katam his secret, which I perceived.
Who will bring back from its straying this rebellious and untameable will, as one governs the most fiery horse with a bridle! Do not flatter yourself that you will dampen the violence of its passions by abandoning yourself to criminal deeds. So food serves only to increase the violence of an unruly appetite.
The soul is like a tender child: if it is left to follow its inclination, it will keep, as it grows, the love of its mother’s milk, but if it is deprived of it, it will be weaned from that food.
Turn your soul away, then, from the love to which it gives itself, and beware of allowing that love to rule within it, for where love reigns unhindered, it brings death, or else it covers with ignominy. Watch over it amid its deeds, as a shepherd watches over his flocks amid the pastures, and even should the pasture seem pleasant to it, do not let it graze there at will. How many men has the lure of concupiscence not seduced, presenting to them in a favourable guise pleasures that brought them death! They did not know that poison lies hidden in the most delicate dishes.
Fear equally the hidden snares of hunger and those of satiety. Often a violent hunger is worse still than the ills that follow excess of food.
Let your eyes, which have been filled with crimes, be purified by abundant tears, and never leave the refuge of repentance.
Resist concupiscence and Satan, and be rebellious to their suggestions. Even should they give you counsels wise in appearance, always hold them suspect. Never obey them, whether they show the malice of an enemy or cloak themselves in the appearance of impartial justice, for you know the snares laid both by these open enemies and by these insidious conciliators.
I ask my God’s forgiveness that my words are not accompanied by conduct that conforms to them. My inconsistency is the same as if I ascribed offspring to a man whom nature had struck with barrenness.
I have given you lessons in virtue that I myself have not made the rule of my actions. I have not set my own conduct straight: is it for me to say to you, Set yourself straight?
I neglected to gather, before death, a provision of good works for the time of my journey. I have added neither prayers nor fasts to those whose obligation is of indispensable necessity.
I have culpably failed to follow the example of the one who brought the nights to life by spending them in prayer, so much so that his feet, wearied by the length of his vigils, swelled with painful tumours, who, exhausted by assiduous fasting, was obliged to bind his hungry entrails with ligatures and to press stones against the fine skin of his delicate flanks.
Mountains of gold of prodigious height sought the honour of belonging to him, but he showed them something far loftier through his contempt for the goods of this world. The necessity that pressed upon him added a new merit to his detachment: the promptings of need could not prevail over his disinterestedness. What am I saying? Could need inspire the desire for the goods of this world in the one without whom the world would never have come forth from nothingness?
Muhammad is the prince of the two worlds, of men and of genies, the sovereign of the two peoples, the Arabs and the barbarians. He is our prophet, who prescribes for us what we must do and forbids us what we must avoid. He is the most truthful of all men, whether he affirms or denies. He is the friend of God, he is the one whose intercession is the sole ground of our hope and our recourse against the most terrible dangers. He called mortals to the knowledge of God, and whoever holds fast to him holds fast to a rope that is not liable to break. He surpassed all the other prophets in the excellence of his outward qualities and of his moral qualities. None of them comes near him in knowledge or in virtue. Each of them seeks from the apostle of God a mouthful from the sea of his knowledge, or a drop from the abundant rains of his virtue. They stand near him in the rank that befits them, being, compared with his knowledge and set against his wisdom, only what a dot or an accent is in writing.
It is he who is perfect in the qualities of his heart and in the graces of his person. The creator of souls chose him as a friend. He shares his incomparable qualities with no other: he possesses, whole and undivided, the very substance of excellence.
Leave aside what the Christians falsely put about concerning their prophet: that alone excepted, use a boundless freedom in the praises you give to Muhammad. Extol as much as you please the excellence of his nature, exalt as much as you wish the eminence of his merits, for the excellence of the apostle of God knows no bounds, and there is no one whose words can worthily express it. Were the greatness of his miracles equal to the eminence of his merit, the mere invocation of his name would restore life to bones long since dried up.
Out of the love he bore us, he did not wish to put us to a dangerous trial by teaching us things our understanding could not reach. We have felt neither doubt nor suspicion about the truth of his teaching.
Men would strive in vain to comprehend the excellence of his inner qualities: there is none, whether near or far, who is not incapable of reaching it. So the sun, seen from afar, does not appear in its true greatness, and, looked at from close by, dazzles the sight. And how could mortals sunk in sleep, content with the dreams of their imagination, attain in this world to perfect knowledge of what this great prophet is?
All that can be known of him is that he is a man, and the most excellent of God’s creatures.
All the miracles performed by the holy envoys of God were but a communication of the light of this prophet. He alone is the sun of excellence: the others are only the planets that depend on this sun and reflect its luminous rays upon mortals amid the darkness.
How worthy of admiration is the form of this prophet, whose charms are heightened by his inner qualities, who unites all graces, whose distinguishing mark is the gentleness and kindliness of his features. He joins to the delicate beauty of a flower the majestic grandeur of the moon. His generosity is vast as the sea, his purposes are great and firm as time. Even when he is alone, the majesty of his countenance makes his appearance as awe-inspiring to those who meet him as if he had about him an army and numerous cohorts.
One would say that the organs which produce in him speech and smile are pearls hidden deep in mother-of-pearl. No perfume equals the sweet scent of the earth that covers his bones. Happy the one who breathes that scent, who covers that earth with kisses!
The very moment of his birth made known the excellence of his origin. How precious are the first and the last moments of his existence!
On that day the Persians recognised, through sure omens, the announcement of the misfortunes and the vengeance about to fall upon them. The portico of Chosroès, overthrown in the middle of the night, announced by its fall the division that was to ruin the family of that empire’s sovereigns, with no hope of reunion. The sacred fire, in the grief into which this event plunged it, saw its flame go out, and the river, troubled by fear, forgot its accustomed source.
Sava grieved over the disappearance of its waters, which the earth had swallowed, and whoever came there to quench his thirst went away seized with anger and indignation.
It seemed that on that day the violence of grief had transferred to fire the moisture natural to the watery element, and to water the parching heat of fire.
Then the genies let out howls, brilliant lights rose and spread through the atmosphere, the truth showed itself through silent signs and through words. But they were blind and deaf, the impious: the clearest announcements of the happy events to come, they did not hear them, the most dazzling signs of the ills with which heaven threatened them, they paid them no heed, even after the peoples had been warned by their soothsayers that their erroneous religions were about to be destroyed, after they had seen in the heavens flames break away and plunge downwards, just as on earth their idols were toppling.
Pursued by these flames, the demons fled, vying with one another, forced to abandon the heavenly road by which revelation is communicated to mortals. Seeing their headlong flight, one would have said they were the warriors of Abraha’s army, or the infidel troops put to flight by the pebbles the Prophet’s hands hurled at them on the day of Bedr, when these pebbles, after singing the praises of God in his hands, were thrown against the enemy, like Jonah cast out of the entrails of the monster that had swallowed him, after he had invoked the name of God in its belly.
At Muhammad’s command, the trees came to prostrate themselves before him: without feet and borne only on their trunks, they advanced towards the Prophet. Just as the pencil traces on paper the line that is to guide the writer, so their trunk, as it walked, seemed to describe a straight line, on which their branches, furrowing the dust, were to trace a marvellous script in the middle of the road. They were like, in their obedience, that obliging cloud which followed the apostle of God wherever he went, to shield him from the sun’s fires in the greatest heat of the day.
I swear by the moon which, at his command, split in two: the wonder wrought then upon that heavenly body is like the one that had been wrought upon the Prophet’s heart when the angels had opened it to purify it, and this likeness is so perfect that one may rightfully affirm it on oath.
The eyes of the unbelievers, struck with blindness, did not see what virtues and merits the cave held. Justice itself and the faithful friend were hidden in the cave without anyone seeing them, and the impious said: Surely there is no one in this cave. They did not imagine that doves were fluttering round the most excellent of creatures, and that a spider was covering him with its web. God’s protection served him in place of the thickest coat of mail and the most inaccessible fortress.
Never, in the injustices I have suffered from fortune, have I had recourse to Muhammad’s help without finding in him a patron whose protection is invincible. Never have I wished to receive from his hand any temporal or spiritual good without that hand, the most excellent one may kiss, granting me some gift of its liberality.
Do not hesitate to acknowledge his night vision as a true revelation, for the heart of this Prophet does not sleep even when his eyes are closed in sleep. By then he had reached the full age for the prophetic mission, and none of the advantages befitting full age should be denied him.
How many illnesses the mere touch of his hand has healed! How many unfortunates it has delivered from the hands of madness!
Brought to life by the power of his prayers, the year of the greatest drought stood out amid the times of famine by an abundant fertility, like that white star which shines on a horse’s forehead amid the black hair surrounding it on every side. The clouds made it fruitful with their abundant waters, and one would have said the valleys had become an arm of the sea, or torrents that had burst their dykes.
Let me be, that I may sing the oracles of this Prophet. They appeared, these oracles, with a brightness like that cast, in the middle of the night and on a mountain top, by the fires a generous hand lights to draw the traveller to its hospitable dwelling.
The pearl, it is true, gains some increase of beauty from the skilled hand that uses it to make a necklace, but even when it is not set, it loses nothing of its worth. As for me, I do not hope to reach in my songs the excellence of the virtues and natural qualities of this august envoy of the Most High.
These oracles, oracles of truth, issued from the God of mercy, were brought forth in time, but inasmuch as they are an attribute of the one whose essence is eternal, they are themselves as ancient as eternity, with no era that can be assigned to them. Yet they instruct us both about what is to come to pass on the last day and about the events of the ages of Ad and Irem. They are a miracle ever present among us, far superior in this to the miracles of the other prophets, whose existence lasted but an instant. Their clear meaning leaves no doubt that those who part from the truth could exploit, and no arbiter is needed to fix their meaning. Never have they suffered an attack without the most venomous enemy abandoning the fight to make them offers of peace. Their sublime eloquence repels every enterprise of whoever dares attack them, as a jealous man repels the reckless hand that seeks to assail the honour of his women. The abundance of meanings they contain is like the waves of the sea: they surpass in worth and beauty the pearls the Ocean holds. The marvels found in them cannot be counted: though they are often reread, they never cause weariness. They spread joy and life over the eyes of whoever reads them. O you who enjoy this happiness, you have grasped a rope that is God himself: beware of letting it slip from your hands. If you read them to find a refuge from the heat of the fire of hell, the cool waters of the sacred book will put out the infernal flames. So the Prophet’s pool will whiten the faces of sinners, were they black as coal before plunging into its waters. Straight as the bridge Sirath, just as the scales in which the deeds of mortals will be weighed, they alone are the rule and the sole source of all justice among men. Do not be surprised that the envious man disregards their merit, acting thus like a fool though he is full of discernment and intelligence: do you not see that the ailing eye fails to recognise the brightness of the sun, and that the mouth of a sick man no longer knows the taste of water?
O you, the most excellent of all those whose court the needy visit, towards whom they flock either on foot or on the back of a camel whose feet leave deep tracks in the dust, you, the greatest of all wonders for the man capable of reflection, the most precious gift of the Divinity for whoever knows how to profit from it! In a single night you were carried from the sanctuary of Mecca to the sanctuary of Jerusalem: so the moon travels across the vault of heaven amid the thickest darkness. You did not cease to rise until you reached a degree to which no mortal could aspire: the length of two bows alone separated you from the Divinity.
All the prophets, all the envoys of God acknowledged your superiority: they gave way to you, as the servant stands behind his master. Surrounded by this venerable company, among whom you appeared as the standard-bearer, you crossed the expanse of the seven heavens, leaving before you no place nearer the Divinity, above you no degree higher than the one you had reached. You made every other rank lowly and contemptible beside the one you held when God himself called you by your name, as one calls a man distinguished by his merit, and invited you to come and enjoy the union most inaccessible to the gaze of mortals, and the sight of the most impenetrable secret.
You gathered every kind of glory in your person, without sharing it with anyone. There is no place you did not pass through, and nowhere did you find a rival.
Sublime is the degree to which you were raised! Eminent are the favours with which you were filled!
Followers of Islam, how happy is our lot! In the protection of God himself we have a firm pillar that nothing can overthrow.
The one who called us to the worship of God was declared by God himself the most excellent of envoys: we are therefore also the most excellent of all peoples.
The mere news of his mission struck terror into the hearts of his enemies: so a flock of witless sheep flees in disorder at the lion’s mere roar. Wherever he repelled their attacks, he left them pierced by his lances and stretched out on the battlefield, like meat on a butcher’s block. Flight was the object of their wishes: they envied those whose torn limbs were carried off into the air by the eagles and vultures. Days and nights followed one another and passed without the terror that gripped them letting them know their number, except for the sacred months when war is suspended. Religion was to them like an unwelcome guest come down into their dwelling, followed by a crowd of brave men all thirsting for the blood of their enemies, drawing after it a sea of fighters mounted on swift steeds, a sea that spewed out waves of warriors whose close-packed ranks clashed and collided as if in rivalry, all obedient to the voice of God, all moved by the hope of his rewards, aflame with the desire to uproot and annihilate impiety. The Muslim religion, which at first was like a stranger among them and the object of their contempt, became, so to speak, through the victorious arms of this great Prophet, their close kin and the dearest object of their love. God has assured for ever among them, for this august religion, the help of a father and the attentive care of a husband: never has it known the sad lot of the orphan, or the abandonment of widowhood.
These defenders of religion were as firm and as unshakeable as mountains. Ask their adversaries what they suffered at the hands of these brave men in each of the places that were the scene of their courage. Question Honeïn, Bedr and Ohod, those places where the enemies of religion succumbed to a deadly scourge more terrible than plague.
The swords of these upholders of Islam, which before battle were of a dazzling whiteness, came out of the fray red, after drinking their fill in the throats of their enemies, shaded by a thick forest of hair.
The arrows marked with black stripes, with which Alkhatt has armed their hands, have traced a deep script on the bodies of their adversaries. Their lances, those murderous pens, have left no body untouched by their strokes: no letter has remained without its diacritical point.
These noble fighters, bristling with their weapons, bear a mark of piety that distinguishes them from their enemies: so the rose bush is distinguished by its thorns from the sélam wood, which is good only as fodder for the fire. The winds that bring you their scent are the pledges of an assured victory: each of these warriors, amid the arms that cover him, seems a flower within its calyx. Fixed on the backs of their steeds, they remain there as motionless as a plant grown on a hill: it is the firmness of their heart that binds them, and not the strength of their girths. Their enemies, seized with terror, lose the use of reason: they are no longer able to tell a flock of weak lambs from a squadron of cavalry.
Whoever has for support the help of the apostle of God will reduce to silence even the lions in the marshes that serve as their lairs.
Never will you see any of his friends deprived of victory, nor any of his enemies who is not vanquished. He has assured his people, in the fortress of religion, a peaceful dwelling, as the lion lives without fear with his cubs in inaccessible marshes.
How many bold disputants have the words of God brought down through the ministry of this prophet? How many adversaries have been subdued by his victorious arguments?
Do you need any other wonder than such vast knowledge in an unlettered man, amid the ages of ignorance, than so much learning in an orphan?
In offering him this tribute of praise, I hope to obtain the remission of the sins of a life spent in the frivolities of poetry and in the service of the great. These vain occupations have adorned my neck with a passing felicity whose unhappy consequences are the cause of my just alarm: so one adorns a ewe destined to serve as a victim. In giving myself to these frivolous amusements I followed the seduction of youth: crime and repentance, these are the fruits I have gathered from it.
O my soul! your trading has ruined you utterly: you did not know how to buy the goods of religion at the price of the things of this world. He who sells his future felicity to secure a present happiness makes a fatal exchange and suffers an incalculable loss.
Should I commit a fault, I would not lose for that all my claim to the protection of this prophet: the rope to which I have held fast will not be broken beyond repair. I have the right to regard him as my patron, since I bear the name of Muhammad, and no one respects the rights of clientship more than he.
If, on the day of resurrection, he does not take my hand with a kindness full of tenderness, you may say of me that I had set my feet on slippery ground. But far be from him this faithlessness, that whoever has hoped in his kindness should be frustrated in his hope, that the one who has sought refuge with him should not feel the effects of his protection!
Since my mind has been occupied with singing his praises, I have found that he takes the most tender care of my salvation.
Never does his liberality fail to enrich the hand of the needy: so the rain makes flowers open on the hills.
I do not wish to receive from him the frivolous goods of this world, like those with which Harim, son of Sénan, paid for the verses Zohaïr sang in his praise.
O most excellent of created beings! What other than you shall I take as refuge in that terrible moment, common to all mortals? Apostle of God, your glory will not be tarnished by the help you grant me on the day when God manifests himself under the name of avenger: for this world and the world to come are effects of your liberality, and all the decrees traced by the eternal pen on the tablets of the Most High form part of your knowledge.
O my soul, let not the greatness of your faults cast you into despair: the greatest crimes are, in relation to divine clemency, like the slightest faults. On the day when the Lord distributes his mercies, he will no doubt deign to proportion them to the sins of those who have offended him.
O my God! do not let me be disappointed in my hope, do not let me be deceived in my reckoning! In this world and in the next, let your goodness be felt by your slave, for all courage forsakes him as soon as dangers threaten him.
Command the clouds of your favours to pour forth always in abundance upon your prophet, and to shed upon him without interruption their healing waters, for as long as the breath of the zephyrs stirs the branches of the ban, for as long as the camel drivers beguile their weariness with songs.
Grant the same grace to his descendants, to his companions, and to those who succeeded them, those men distinguished by their piety, their purity, their knowledge and the nobility of their sentiments.
