Translations
Original title: al-Qasidah al-Warqa'iyyah
Translated by Juan Cole
In praise of the Beloved, secretly, in private.
He is the Exalted, the All-Glorious.
| 1 |
I was enthralled by light rays from a face Whose advent dimmed and darkened every star, |
| 2 |
As though the sunbeams of Her beauty's glow appeared and dazzled planets from afar. |
| 3 |
Her joy diffused the musk of the unseen, Her stature raised the Spirit up above. |
| 4 |
The End-Time's Trump resounded when She blew; Her breath caused shadows of the clouds to move. |
| 5 |
Her gleam reveals Mount Sinai's deathlessness; Baha's bright light is kindled when She glows. |
| 6 |
Then to Her west the sun of splendor dawned, and to Her east, the moon of moons arose. |
| 7 |
The mistral's fragrance wafted from Her hair, and Beauty's eyes were solaced by Her gaze. |
| 8 |
Her shining face gave Guidance sage advice, and Moses' soul was cleansed by Her form's blaze. |
| 9 |
The heart of hearts embraced Her eyelid's dart. For Her locks' lasso, Being's head was bent. |
| 10 |
Her footprints constitute My highest aim, the earth She trod, the most high Throne's advent. |
| 11 |
To win Her I have wept in every eye; in exile, I have burned in every fire. |
| 12 |
I spread myself out so that Her foot might tread on My heart, and I win My desire. |
| 13 |
I sought to gain Our union everywhere; I scrawled letters of nearness on all earth. |
| 14 |
And if I rush to oneness with Her light, Then I am cast back, losing closeness' berth. |
| 15 |
And if I plead for union, hands upraised, She answers with a sword: "My lovers' prize!" |
| 16 |
The firmness of our bond was My sole care; Her goal is our relationship's demise. |
| 17 |
I said, "To meet, I'd offer Thee My all. Have mercy, do not publish My disgrace. |
| 18 |
Since I love Thee too well, then make us one-- That we might for eternity embrace." |
| 19 |
By revelation's secret! Everything appeared from Her unveiling. She raised Me! |
| 20 |
By Husayn's sorrow! Emulating Me, the world-gyre is weighed down with agony. |
| 21 |
"Thou art My breast's desire, My soul's sole hope, My spirit's master and My light, My heart. |
| 22 |
And after My hard journey, let's unite, be intimates after My pain apart." |
| 23 |
My incandescence kindled every fuel, the Seen world was illumined by My sigh. |
| 24 |
God's sea was dried up by My thirst, which the wide stream of glory cannot satisfy. |
| 25 |
And all the gore that I saw on the earth bespoke the tears of blood that My eyes shed. |
| 26 |
The ocean's but a drop before My tear, The Friend's blaze was, before mine, underfed. |
| 27 |
For My grief froze the great sea of delight; the spring of sorrow flowed at My despair |
| 28 |
My grandeur fainted and My brilliance swooned; their gloating vanity snuffed out My flare. |
| 29 |
My bones were whittled down, My body worn; The fever of My heat burned up My soul. |
| 30 |
Love for Thee felled Me, passion ground Me down. To leave Thee melts Me; union is My goal. |
| 31 |
The secret of My sorrow cleft the sky, My anguish sundered the earth of the breast. |
| 32 |
The tears in My eyes spoke of My heart's fire, My face paled at the sighing of My chest. |
| 33 |
My critics' gloating makes Me wail all night. I plead all day since My support is gone. |
| 34 |
For I have reached dishonor's lowest rung, so that tongues stutter when they speak thereon. |
| 35 |
The houris in their castles clothed themselves in mourning black at My soul's deep despair. |
| 36 |
I've fallen into anguish in all hearts; I feel constricted in the open air. |
| 37 |
Then from behind Me She cried out, "Be still! and hold Thy tongue from all that it hath told. |
| 38 |
How many Husayns like Thee wanted Me; there love Me, just like Thee, `Alis untold. |
| 39 |
How many intimates I had who were thy peers--and loves, superior to Thee |
| 40 |
Who always wail but cannot reach My gaze one instant, by the light of unity. |
| 41 |
My dawn makes revelation's sun a star, My brilliance makes pure light only a glint; |
| 42 |
My soul's gleam renders Being's secret naught, Of My love's flames all bonfires only hint. |
| 43 |
My nature molded the creation's rite; the White Palm was withdrawn before My hand. |
| 44 |
The stern injunction came from a clear Cause; My wisdom's fairness shaped the just Command. |
| 45 |
The wave within Me stilled the ocean's surf; the Holy Ghost stirred at My rapture's lights. |
| 46 |
Immortal Moses swooned before My gaze; My gleam destroyed the Sinai of all heights. |
| 47 |
The spread of My Cause quickened all the souls; old bones were wakened by My spirit's breath. |
| 48 |
The soul of this Cause circled round its House; My visage raised that House's soul from death. |
| 49 |
The B of "speak the secret" swooned before My Point! The B hides the realm of high lore. |
| 50 |
All guidance shines forth from My dawning Cause; the news of My descent, all the heights bore. |
| 51 |
My bounties lent birdsongs their melody, from My tune comes the humming of the bee. |
| 52 |
I rendered Thee a suspect by My Law: Thou didst another's love quaff, wrongfully. |
| 53 |
Thou didst bring forth depictions and kinships and crave names, thus departing from My way. |
| 54 |
Thou didst describe a self and say it's mine-- the gravest sin, for therein limits lay. |
| 55 |
Thou didst desire a hopeless union, the condition for which Thou must satisfy: |
| 56 |
Thou must drain every cup of fate's ordeals; thy heart must spew the blood of tyranny. |
| 57 |
Thou must cut off all hope of comfort's touch; Thou must renounce every necessity. |
| 58 |
Thy duty is to shed blood in love's faith; a love-scorched soul is fealty to Me. |
| 59 |
Nights spent awake at slanderer's attacks, a constant stream of insults all the days; |
| 60 |
In My faith poison's as a healing drink; in My Path, fate's wrath is a tender grace. |
| 61 |
Cease claiming to love, or accept all this, For thus was it ordained in My Law's scroll." |
| 62 |
In private I called out to Her, "My love, My ultimate hope and My heart's sole goal! |
| 63 |
I stand here in the presence of Thy might, aspiring to all that Thou dost relate. |
| 64 |
Here I am asking for all Thou dost love, then here I stand, prepared for thy mandate. |
| 65 |
My breast yearns for the shafts of thine assault; My body craves the swords of cruelty. |
| 66 |
Thy fire's My light, thy harshness is My wish; My rest is thy wrath, My goal thy decree. |
| 67 |
Look on the tears of My eyes, how they flow; gaze on My inmost heart, how it doth fade. |
| 68 |
Each day the spears of all have struck Me down, and each night I died by rejection's blade. |
| 69 |
I read each line of atheism's book; each second I heard everyone's rude jeers, |
| 70 |
And faced false charges of idolatry. Each day I was transfixed by exile's spears-- |
| 71 |
As though fate's woes descended just for Me, and fury's blades were sharpened for My neck: |
| 72 |
The grief of Jacob, Joseph's prison cell; the Friend's white hot flames, and Job's tragic check; |
| 73 |
And Adam's brooding, Jonah's urgent flight; the sad lament of David, Noah's cry; |
| 74 |
Eve's separation, Mary's agony; Isaiah's trials, Zachariah's sigh. |
| 75 |
My rain of grief hath sealed the fate of all, My flood of woes gave rise to all distress. |
| 76 |
See how I roamed the lands without a friend save for the beast within the wilderness. |
| 77 |
At My heart's breaking, springs broke through the earth; My open eyes caused heaven's eye to flow. |
| 78 |
My spirit's grief cut short the endless Soul; the Most High Throne shook at My suffering's glow. |
| 79 |
Red everywhere was reddened by My blood, and from My tears there grew up this world's bower. |
| 80 |
For bitter hurt in thy love's path is sweet; From any but Thee heaven's mead is sour. |
| 81 |
And iron's scars can be seen on My neck, on My legs marks of fetters yet remain; |
| 82 |
For not a day passed save that I was scorched by clear prose and the hints verses contain. |
| 83 |
My spirit disappeared, My heart dissolved; My soul boiled from the pain of misery. |
| 84 |
I was left with no spirit, heart or soul; that I existed at all startled Me. |
| 85 |
My secret's loftiness convicted Me; I wish that My creation never rose. |
| 86 |
For thus have difficulties wiped Me out, and thus was I encompassed by My woes. |
| 87 |
Then I ascended and withdrew alone; I reached the real Encounter in My heart. |
| 88 |
I saw Thy traits in My eyes' portraiture, through Thine eye's glance, which is sharp as dart. |
| 89 |
If I had limits, they appeared from Thee; If I had traits then they derived from Thee. |
| 90 |
Night's darkness was fulfilled when I was roiled; My joy refined the daylight's clarity. |
| 91 |
No matter if I am today cast out; I saw, when sent forth, the exalted light. |
| 92 |
I knew Jerusalem by the Friend's glow; I journeyed in Tihran when taking flight. |
| 93 |
My inner light gave Me faith in the Light; I rose up, by the spirit, in My soul." |
| 94 |
I call on thee, life-spirit, to depart; within Me, no part is left of the whole. |
| 95 |
Transcendent spirit, climb down from thy throne; for thee, My stigma is no source of blame. |
| 96 |
I waken thee, My heart: thou must depart; thou hast no honor in this realm of shame. |
| 97 |
My patience: Bear all that which Thou hast seen, of hardship and of ease in thy Love's way. |
| 98 |
In spirit, She told Me to persevere: "I knew of all the proofs Thou dost display. |
| 99 |
Forget all that Thou hast known and adored; idolatry, for Me, is unity; |
| 100 |
For to Me Sinai's brightest glow is naught; and the sublimest light is gloom to Me. |
| 101 |
Thy verses' sketch of Me is a child's truth; For My subjects, thy words of praise are sound. |
| 102 |
I never ceased to dwell in sanctity, and My transcendence hath remained unbound. |
| 101 |
Thy verses' sketch of Me is a child's truth; For My subjects, thy words of praise are sound. |
| 102 |
I never ceased to dwell in sanctity, and My transcendence hath remained unbound. |
| 103 |
Thy verses' sketch of Me is a child's truth; For My subjects, thy words of praise are sound. |
| 104 |
How fleeting were immortals of all kinds; how many learned never will know aught; |
| 105 |
How many worshippers have disobeyed; how many genuflecting have not kneeled! |
| 106 |
My Being vindicated heaven's psalms; My scripture hath unveiled scrolls that were sealed. |
| 107 |
My atom made the cosmic sun revolve, My drop evoked great praise from Being's sea; |
| 108 |
The songs of all the creatures were to Me the buzzing of a tiny ant or bee. |
| 109 |
All minds turned unto My soul's ecstasy; all souls were by My spirit's tune revived. |
| 110 |
My raining Cause made deities divine; all Lords have by My ample order thrived. |
| 111 |
The Spirit's realm moved in Me by decree; I set My foot down on Mount Sinai's throne; |
| 112 |
At My light the star's radiance blazed forth; the sun of rapture at My spirit shone. |
| 113 |
Collected verses, revelation's gleam; the Traces and Day-Stars of sanctity; |
| 114 |
Thought's essences and contemplation's gems; Light-beams' adornments, wisdom's jewelry. |
| 115 |
The Alpha of My Cause judged everyone; all wonders came forth from My soul's good will. |
| 116 |
Thou didst leave Me and reckon thyself near, and waters of whim in myth's spring didst spill. |
| 117 |
Thou dost forsake the Unseen's light, in what Thou wreakest in thyself--and My works lose! |
| 118 |
Hold fast to the cord of the outward Cause; to befriend light's concealed face must Thou choose. |
| 119 |
Rend nearness' veil without a hint! Look on the sacred Beauty secretly, within. |
| 120 |
Be silent, for earth's Powers are disturbed. Forbear! The Unseen's eyes wept a fountain. |
| 121 |
In Thee is veiled meaning beyond knowledge that even radiant minds never knew. |
| 122 |
The holy mystery hides joy and friendship, which Thou must not divulge if Thou be true. |
| 123 |
Wert Thou to unmask what Thou didst behold, the world would in a trice be lost to sight! |
| 124 |
For thus the throne of glory hath decreed, and so ordained the mystery of might. |
| 125 |
They who attain are blessed for they kept faith; blessed are they who embrace the wondrous Rite; |
| 126 |
Blessed are the lovers for the blood they shed; blessed are the ones who with My love unite. |
| 127 |
Blessed are the sincere, who to the shade of My Lordliness made haste from every side." |