Increase me, through overflowing love for You, in bewilderment
يَا رَبِّ صَلِّ عَلَي النَّبِيِّ مُحَمَّدٍ * الطَّاهِرِ بْنِ الطَّاهِرِ بْنِ الطَّاهِرِهِ
yā rabb ṣalli ʿalā an-nabiyyi Muḥammad * aṭ-ṭāhiri bni aṭ-ṭāhiri bni aṭ-ṭāhirih
O Lord, send prayers upon the Prophet Muḥammad * the pure son of the pure son of the pure.
زِدْنِي بِفَرْطِ الحُبِّ فِيكَ تَحَيُّرَا * وَافْتَحْ فُؤَادِيَ بِالعُلُومِ لِيَعْمُرَا
zidnī bi-farṭi al-ḥubbi fīka taḥayyurā * wa-ftaḥ fu’ādī bi-l-ʿulūmi li-yaʿmurā
Increase me, through overflowing love for You, in bewilderment * and open my heart with knowledges so it may be filled.
وَأَدِمْ فُؤَادِيَ بِالشُّهُودِ مُنَوَّرًا * وَارْحَمْ حَشًا بِلَظَى هَوَاكَ تَسَعَّرَا
wa-adim fu’ādī bi-sh-shuhūdi munawwarā * wa-rḥam ḥashan bi-laẓā hawāka tasaʿʿarā
Sustain my heart with witnessing, ever-illuminated * and have mercy on a chest inflamed by the flames of Your love.
وَإِذَا سَأَلْتُكَ أَنْ أَرَاكَ حَقِيقَةً * فِي جَنَّةِ الفِرْدَوْسِ فِي دَارِ القِرَى
wa idhā sa’altuka an arāka ḥaqīqatan * fī jannati al-firdawsi fī dāri al-qirā
And if I ask You to let me truly behold You * in the Garden of Firdaws, the abode of generous welcome,
أَوْ قُلْتُ أَشْهَدْنِي النَّبِيَّ كَرَامَةً * فَاسْمَحْ وَلَا تَجْعَلْ جَوَابِي لَنْ تَرَى
aw qultu ash-hidnī an-nabiyya karāmah * fa-smaḥ wa lā tajʿal jawābī lan tarā
Or if I say, “Grant me to witness the Prophet as an honor,” * then permit it—do not make my answer: “You shall not see.”
يَا قَلْبُ أَنْتَ وَعَدْتَنِي فِي حُبِّهِمْ * حَقِّقْ لِوَعْدِكَ كَيْ تَكُونَ الأَنْوَارَا
yā qalbu anta waʿadtanī fī ḥubbihim * ḥaqqiq li-waʿdika kay takūna al-anwarā
O heart, you promised me in loving them * so fulfill your promise, that you may become radiant.
إِنْ طَالَ بُعْدُكَ فَاللِّقَاءُ كَوَعْدِهِمْ * صَبْرًا فَحَاذِرْ أَنْ تَضِيقَ وَتَضْجَرَا
in ṭāla buʿduka fa-l-liqā’u ka-waʿdihim * ṣabran fa-ḥādhar an taḍīqa wa taḍjarā
If distance grows long, the meeting remains as they promised * be patient, beware becoming constrained or weary.
إِنَّ الغَرَامَ هُوَ الحَيَاةُ فَمُتْ بِهِ * مَوْتَ الشَّهِيدِ فَدَمْعُ عَيْنِكَ قَدْ جَرَى
inna al-gharāma huwa al-ḥayāh fa-mut bihi * mawta ash-shahīd fa-damʿu ʿaynika qad jarā
Love is true life—so die within it * the death of a martyr, for your tears have already flowed.
أَوْ بِالغَرَامِ لَدَى الحَبِيبِ بِقُرْبِهِ * صَبًّا فَحَقُّكَ أَنْ تَمُوتَ وَ تُقْبَرَا
aw bi-l-gharāmi ladā al-ḥabībi bi-qurbih * ṣabban fa-ḥaqqūka an tamūta wa tuqbarā
Or with passionate love near the Beloved and close to him * it is your right to die from longing and be laid to rest.
قُلْ لِلَّذِينَ تَقَدَّمُوا قَبْلِي وَمَنْ * شَرِبُوا مِنَ الكَافُورِ شِرْبًا عُطِّرَا
qul li-lladhīna taqaddamū qabīlī wa man * sharibū mina al-kāfūri shirban ʿuṭṭirā
Say to those who preceded me, and those * who drank perfumed draughts from the camphor springs:
وَالعَاشِقِينَ الهَائِمِينَ وَكُلِّ مَنْ * بَعْدِي وَمَنْ أَضْحَى لِأَشْجَانِي يَرَى
wa al-ʿāshiqīna al-hā’imīna wa kulli man * baʿdī wa man aḍḥā li-ashjānī yarā
And to the wandering lovers, and every soul * after me, and whoever beholds my sorrows:
عَنِّي خُذُوا وَبِي اقْتَدُوا وَلِيَ اسْمَعُوا * فَالعِشْقُ عَلَّمَنِي فَكُنْتُ المُخْبِرَا
ʿannī khudhū wa bī iq’tadū wa lī ismaʿū * fa-l-ʿishqu ʿallamanī fa-kuntu al-mukhbirā
Take from me, follow my way, and listen to me * for Love has taught me, so I became the one who speaks of it.
وَدَعُوا العَوَاذِلَ مُنْكِرِينَ تَنَطَّعُوا * وَتَحَدَّثُوا بِصَبَابَتِي بَيْنَ الوَرَى
wa daʿū al-ʿawādhila munkirīna tanaṭṭaʿū * wa taḥaddathū bi-ṣabābatī bayna al-warā
Leave the blamers who deny and exaggerate * and who speak of my longing publicly among the people.
وَلَقَدْ خَلَوْتُ مَعَ الحَبِيبِ وَبَيْنَنَا * ذَاكَ الحِجَابُ وَلَا حِجَابَ لِمَنْ يَرَى
wa laqad khalawtu maʿa al-ḥabībi wa baynanā * dhāka al-ḥijābu wa lā ḥijāba li-man yarā
Indeed I was alone with the Beloved, and between us * was that veil—but there is no veil for one who truly sees.
وَلِذِكْرِهِ وَشُهُودِهِ فِي جَمْعِنَا * سِرٌّ أَرَقُّ مِنَ النَّسِيمِ إِذَا سَرَى
wa li-dhikrihi wa shuhūdihī fī jamʿinā * sirrun araqqu mina an-nasīmi idhā sarā
And in His remembrance and the witnessing within our gathering * is a secret more delicate than the breeze when it moves.
وَأَبَاحَ طَرْفِي نَظْرَةً أَمَّلْتُهَا * فَبِهَا فُؤَادِي لَا يَكُونُ مُكَدَّرَا
wa abāḥa ṭarfī naẓratan ammil’tuhā * fa-bihā fu’ādī lā yakūnu mukaddarā
My gaze was permitted a glance I had long hoped for * and by it my heart can never again be clouded.
وَأَذَاقَنِي كَأْسَ الكَمَالِ شَرِبْتُهَا * فَغَدَوْتُ مَعْرُوفًا وَكُنْتُ مُنَكَّرَا
wa adhāqanī ka’sa al-kamāli sharibtuhā * fa-ghadawtu maʿrūfan wa kuntu munakkarā
He made me taste the cup of perfection and I drank it * so I became known after having been denied.
فَدُهِشْتُ بَيْنَ جَمَالِهِ وَجَلَالِهِ * سَكْرَانَ صَاحَ فِي الشُّهُودِ لِمَا يَرَى
fa-duhishtu bayna jamālihi wa jalālihi * sakrāna ṣāḥa fī ash-shuhūdi limā yarā
I was astonished between his beauty and his majesty * drunken, yet awake in witnessing what I beheld.
وَالقَلْبُ مِنِّي نَاظِرٌ لِجَمَالِهِ * وَغَدَا لِسَانُ الحَالِ عَنِّي مُخْبِرَا
wa al-qalbu minnī nāẓirun li-jamālihi * wa ghadā lisānu al-ḥāli ʿannī mukhbirā
And my heart gazed upon his beauty * and the tongue of my state began speaking on my behalf.
لَوْ أَنَّ كُلَّ الحُسْنِ يَكْمُلُ صُورَةً * وَرَأَى الجَلَالَ عَلَى الجَمَالِ مُسَيْطِرَا
law anna kulla al-ḥusni yakmulu ṣūrah * wa ra’ā al-jalāla ʿalā al-jamāli musayṭirā
If all beauty were perfected into a single form * and saw majesty reigning over beauty,
أَوْ كَانَ فِي عَرَفَاتِ يَنْظُرُ نَظْرَةً * وَرَآهُ كَانَ مُهَلِّلًا وَمُكَبِّرَا
aw kāna fī ʿArafāt yanẓuru naẓrah * wa ra’āhu kāna muhallilan wa mukabbirā
Or if he stood on ʿArafāt and cast a single glance * he would behold Him chanting “Lā ilāha illā Allāh” and “Allāhu akbar.”
فَأَدِرْ لِحَاظَكَ فِي مَحَاسِنِ وَجْهِهِ * بِالرُّوحِ لَا بِالعَيْنِ حَتَّى تُبْصِرَا
fa-adir liḥāẓaka fī maḥāsini wajhih * bi-r-rūḥ lā bi-l-ʿayn ḥattā tubṣirā
So turn your inner sight toward the beauties of his face * with the spirit, not the eye—until you truly see.
مَتِّعْ لِقَلْبِكَ فِي بَدَائِعِ نُورِهِ * تَلْقَى جَمِيعَ الحُسْنِ فِيهِ مُصَوَّرَا
mattiʿ li-qalbaka fī badā’iʿi nūrih * talqā jamīʿa al-ḥusni fīhi muṣawwarā
Let your heart delight in the wonders of his light * you will find all beauty there embodied.
ثُمَّ الصَّلَاةُ عَلَي النَّبِيِّ وَآلِهِ * مَا حَنَّ مُشْتَاقٌ إِلَىٰ أُمِّ القُرَى
thumma aṣ-ṣalātu ʿalā an-nabiyyi wa ālih * mā ḥanna mushtāqun ilā ummi al-qurā
Then blessings on the Prophet and his Family * whenever a yearning lover longs for the Mother of Cities.
أَوْ صَالِحٌ بِالْمَدْحِ يُنْشِدُ قَائِلًا * أَزْكَى الصَّلَاةِ عَلَيْكَ يَا خَيْرَ الوَرَى
aw Ṣāliḥun bi-l-madḥi yunshidu qā’ilā * azkā aṣ-ṣalāti ʿalayka yā khayra al-warā
Or when Ṣāliḥ recites praise saying: * “The purest blessings be upon you, O best of creation.”
