أهْلِ المَحَبَّةْ قاَلُولِي
إذَا بَلَاكَ الله بِهَا
āhlil maḥabbah qalūlī
ādhā balāka Allah bihā
The people of love said to me:
If God tests you with this passion,
رَاهْ مَقَامَهَا عَالِي غَالِي
أَهْلِ الكِتَبُ حَارُو فِيهَا
rāh maqāmahā ʿālī ghālī
ahlil kitabu ḥārū fīhā
Know its station is lofty and precious;
Even the scholars are left bewildered by it
لَا مَحَبَّةْ إلَّا بَوْصُولْ
وَ لَا وْصُولْ إلَّا غَالِي
lā maḥabbah allā bawṣūl
wa lā wṣūl allā ghālī
There is no true love without Union,
And no Union that is not dearly won.
وَ لَا شْرَابْ إلَّا مَخْتُومْ
وَ لَا مَقَامْ إلَّا عَالِي
wa lā shrāb allā makhtūm
wa lā maqām allā ʿālī
There is no wine unless it be the sealed vintage,
And no spiritual station unless it reaches the heights.
وَ أنَا رَاقَدْ فِي مَنَامِي
أهْلَ الله وَقْفُوا عَلَيَّ
wa anā rāqad fī manāmī
āhla Allah waqfū ʿalayya
As I lay deep in my slumber,
The Men of God stood over me.
قَالُوا لِي قُمْ يَا نَايِمْ
اُذْكُرْ مَوْلَاكَ الدَّايِمْ
qālū lī qum yā nāyim
udhkur mawlākad dāyim
They said to me: Arise, O sleeper,
And remember your Eternal Lord.
النَاسْ قَالِتْ لِي بِدْعِي
وَ أنَا طْرِيقِي مَنْجُورَةْ
an nās qālit lī bidʿī
wa anā ṭrīqī manjūrah
The people tell me I am misguided
Yet my path is already carved and clear.
وَ إذَا صْفِيتْ مْعَ رَبِّي
العَبْدَ مَامِنُّو ضَرُورَةْ
wa adhā ṣfīt mʿa rabbī
alʿabda māminnū ḍarūrah
For if I am made pure with my Lord,
Then the judgment of man is of no concern.
طِلْعِ النَّهَارْ عَلَى حِبِّي
حَتَّى نَظَرْتَهْ بِعِينِيَّ
ṭilʿin nahār ʿalā ḥibbī
ḥattā naẓartah biʿīniyya
The dawn has broken upon my Beloved,
Until I beheld Him with my very eyes.
أَنْتَ قَصْدِي يَا إلَهِي
وأَنْتَ أوْلَى مِنِّي بِيَّ
anta qaṣdī yā alahī
wanta awlā minnī biyya
You alone are my quest, O my God,
And You have more right to me than I have to myself.