Whoever rectifies their inner self, God rectifies their outward Whoever rectifies what is between them and God, God rectifies what is…
How delightful it is to drink it with melodies, in the hand of a beauty whose light rivals the moon.
Alone, I gazed at the stars in my sky, and heard the whispers of the night and the sorrow of its dwellers.
Indeed, the world is like a fleeting dream, and its losses bring a hardship that none can endure.
If a man does not possess a courageous heart, his life is like water flowing without a pasture.
The earth darkened when the light of your face, oh moon of the sky, disappeared.
Do not be deceived by the adornment and joy of this world, for it is but a trick that extinguishes the light.
It suffices for me that I sent toward you a fragrance, and my land became like a paradise of turquoise.
Love overwhelmed me until it possessed me, I taste no sweetness of life except in her sight.
O bird of the thicket, tell me where she treads? Do you hover around her windows or her melodies?
She served me from a fragrant cup, as the vine leaves danced to her breeze.
O beautiful river, you are the secret of passion, In you, the soul reveals itself and days weep.
Would that I knew, will the land regain its bloom? Or will the clouds return to pour tears from their skies?
If you think me burdened by a deep wound, it is because wounds of her love are what heal me.
Do you recall youth and its sweet melodies? Or has the dream of its time faded from you?
She has enchanted me with her beauty and her gaze, and I have become imprisoned in the world of her love.
O nature that mirrors beauty in her sight, where the river dances to her singing melodies.
Were it not for love, the earth and skies would not delight, nor would a bird sing in any of its meadows.
Would that I could live in her river for an age, singing until my shadow dances in her depths.
Will the days of youth return to me? Or will memory remain flowing in reproach?
O heart, where is the escape? And what is the path? Calamities have surrounded you, and sorrows have imprisoned you.
O You who sees and knows the secret and the hidden, O You who possesses forgiveness, kindness, and mercy.
I have no dignity in love to protect, I have been unveiled, revealing all that was hidden.
It is but love untainted by anything, It is the light that is never extinguished.
If a man is not estranged in his love, Then he has not understood the meanings of existence.
You have taken possession of my heart, so I have no heart left, Except for your heart, engrossed in love.
I knocked on the door of love, and its signs unfolded, I drank from its cup and became radiant light.
Nothing remains of my existence except You, So be what I seek, and nothing else but You.
I lived through You, not through myself, so You became the greatest I see, You occupied my every thought and my every song.
Love is the state of poverty and riches, And whoever does not love has closed the doors of light.
And a night like the waves of the sea let down its curtains Upon me with all kinds of sorrows to test me
Then I said to it when it stretched out its spine And brought forward its hindquarters and rose on its breast
O long night, will you not disperse With dawn, though dawn is no better than you
As if the Pleiades were hung in their place By flax ropes to solid rock
Attacker, retreater, advancing, withdrawing, all at once Like a boulder the flood has hurled from on high
I remembered you while spears were drinking deep from me And white Indian swords dripping with my blood
I wished to kiss the swords because They flashed like the lightning of your smiling mouth
I am a man of the best lineage of Abs on one side And I protect the rest of me with my blade
Do not give me the water of life with humiliation Rather give me with honor the cup of bitter colocynth
O abode of Abla at al-Jiwa', speak to me And good morning, abode of Abla, and peace
I grew weary of life's burdens, and whoever lives Eighty years - by your father! - will grow weary
Whoever does not use diplomacy in many matters Will be bitten by fangs and trampled by hooves
Whoever puts kindness as a shield before his honor preserves it And whoever does not avoid insult will be insulted
Whoever has abundance yet withholds it from his people Will be dispensed with and blamed
I saw that death strikes blindly: whom it hits, it kills And whom it misses lives long and grows old
Khawla has traces at the stony ground of Thahmad Showing like remnants of tattoo on the back of a hand
I dispel my cares when they oppress me With a swift, curving she-camel that goes and comes
O you who blame me for attending battle And enjoying pleasures - will you make me immortal?
If you cannot ward off my death Then let me hasten to it with what my hand possesses
The days will reveal to you what you did not know And news will come to you from one you did not provision
You are like the night that will catch me Even if I thought the escape from you was wide
You will not keep a brother whom you do not forgive For his faults - which man is perfect?
It came to me - may you be spared curses - that you blamed me And that is what I worry about and toil over
Bid farewell to Huraira, for the caravan is departing And can you bear parting, O man?
Fair, with flowing hair, polished her teeth She walks gently as one with sore feet walks in mud
The abodes are effaced, their halting-place and their dwelling At Mina, desolate now are its Ghawl and Rijam
Man is but like the shooting star and its light Turning to ashes after it was blazing
Indeed everything except God is vanity And every blessing will inevitably pass away
O my two eyes, be generous and do not be dry Will you not weep for Sakhr the generous?
Indeed Sakhr - guides follow him As if he were a mountain with fire on its peak
The sunrise reminds me of Sakhr And I remember him at every sunset
Were it not for the many who weep around me For their brothers, I would have killed myself
More beautiful than you my eyes have never seen And more handsome than you no woman has given birth to
You were created free from every flaw As if you were created as you wished
Su'ad has departed, and my heart today is sick Lovesick, following her, unredeemed, fettered
I was told that the Messenger of God threatened me But forgiveness from the Messenger of God is hoped for
Those eyes in whose glances is intense whiteness and blackness Have killed us, then did not revive their slain
They fell the man of reason until he cannot move Yet they are the weakest of God's creation in frame
Are you sober or is your heart not sober The evening your companions prepared to depart?
This is he whose footsteps the valley knows And the Ka'ba knows him, and the lawful and sacred precincts
He lowers his gaze from modesty, and others lower theirs from his awe So he is not addressed except when he smiles
Would that Hind fulfilled what she promised And healed our souls from what they suffer
Is it from Nu'm's family you depart in the morning Tomorrow's morn, or go in the afternoon at midday?
Leave off blaming me, for blame is enticement And cure me with that which was the disease
Come, give me wine and call it wine And do not give it to me secretly when openness is possible
I have drunk with those I loved in it And the door of piety is not closed to me
According to the measure of people's resolve come resolutions And noble deeds come according to the measure of the noble
Small things seem great in the eyes of the small And great things seem small in the eyes of the great
Whoever has a bitter, sick mouth Will find even sweet water bitter
If you venture for a lofty honor sought Do not be content with less than the stars
The taste of death in a small matter Is like the taste of death in a great matter
I am he whose literature the blind have seen And my words have made the deaf to hear
The horses, the night, and the desert know me And the sword, the spear, the paper and the pen
The man of intellect suffers in bliss because of his intellect While the fool enjoys himself in misery
And all that God has created and has not created Is despised in my ambition like a hair on my head
All of life is weariness, so I only wonder At one who desires more of it
When I saw ignorance widespread among people I feigned ignorance until they thought me ignorant
This is my father's crime against me And I have committed no crime against anyone
Neither the wailing of a mourner nor the melody of a singer Is of any use in my creed and belief
If the wise do not attain Your provision And You provide for the mad and the fool
Spring has come to you, cheerful, striding proudly From beauty, almost speaking
I preserved myself from what defiles the self And rose above the generosity of every base person
Your enemy is gained from your friend So do not have too many companions
My little son whom my hands gave to the earth O preciousness of the gift and O grief of the giver
I was happy with him before his time But when my fortune appeared, it turned to misery
I love You with two loves: a love of passion And a love because You are worthy of that
As for the love of passion It is my occupation with Your remembrance away from all else
As for the love of which You are worthy It is Your removing the veils until I see You
O You who are my wish, my quest, and my goal And the direction of my face in my prayer and standing
I am He whom I love, and He whom I love is I We are two spirits dwelling in one body