الباب الرابع عشر في تجلّي الصفات
On the Self-Disclosure of the Attributes (Tajallī al-Ṣifāt)
editorial & collation note
Two-witness collated, staged 2026-06-03. Bāb 14 of the foundational opening band (Tajallī al-Ṣifāt, the Self-Disclosure of the Attributes) -- the third of the four self-disclosure chapters, and the LONGEST chapter of the opening band. Witness-2 (ibnalarabi.com id=17) clean of navigation chrome; the trailing site-search widget EXCLUDED. Treats the disclosures of the seven attributes (Life, Knowledge, Sight, Hearing, Speech, Will, Power) plus Mercy and Divinity, each with its experiential path; the pivotal laṭīfa / rūḥ al-quds anti-ḥulūl doctrine (§4-5); the great 'ḥabībī' divine colloquy (§40-48); the Power-disclosure cosmic vision (§80-81); a final Divinity-disclosure climax (§99-137) weaving in many Qurʾān passages and the colloquy of the speaking Names; four embedded poems. Witness §16:40-quotation carries OCR variants restored from the muṣḥaf. Several kāf-as-alif OCR garbles restored. No lossy drop of authorial prose.
إذا تجلّت ذاتُ الحق سبحانه وتعالى على عبده بصفةٍ من صفاتها، سبح العبدُ في فلك تلك الصفة، إلى أن يبلغ حدّها بطريق الإجمال لا بطريق التفصيل، لأن الصفاتيين لا تفصيل لهم إلاَّ من حيث الإجمال.
When the Essence of the Real (glory be to Him, exalted is He) discloses itself to His servant by a quality of its qualities, the servant swims in the sphere of that quality, until he reaches its limit by way of summary, not by way of detail -- because the people of the Attributes (al-ṣifātiyyūn) have no detailing except from the standpoint of summary.
فإذا سبح العبدُ في فلك صفةٍ واستكملها بحكم الإجمال، استوى على عرش تلك الصفة، فكان موصوفاً بها. فحينئذٍ تتلقاه صفةٌ أخرى، فلا يزال كذلك إلى أن يستكمل الصفاتِ جميعها.
So when the servant swims in the sphere of a quality and completes it by the rule of summary, he sits firm upon the throne of that quality, becoming qualified by it. And then another quality receives him, and he does not cease thus until he completes all the qualities.
ثم يا أخي، لا يُشكِل عليك هذا: فإن العبد إذا أراد الحقُّ سبحانه وتعالى أن يتجلى عليه باسمٍ أو صفة، فإنه يُفني العبدَ فناءً يُعدِمه عن نفسه، ويسلبه عن وجوده. فإذا طُمس النورُ العبدي، وفني الروحُ الخلقي، أقام الحقُّ سبحانه وتعالى في الهيكل العبدي -- من غير حلولٍ -- من ذاته لطيفةً، غيرَ منفصلةٍ عنه ولا متصلةٍ بالعبد، عوضاً عمّا سلبه منه. لأن تجليه على عباده من باب الفضل والجود، فلو أفناهم ولم يجعل لهم عوضاً عنهم، لكان ذلك من باب النقمة، وحاشاه من ذلك. وتلك اللطيفةُ هي المسمّاة بروح القدس.
Then, O my brother, let not this be a difficulty for you: for when the Real (glory be to Him, exalted is He) wills to disclose Himself upon the servant by a name or a quality, He annihilates the servant [with] an annihilation that makes him non-existent to himself and strips him of his [own] existence. So when the servant-light is effaced and the creaturely spirit annihilated, the Real (glory be to Him, exalted is He) sets up, in the servant-frame -- WITHOUT INDWELLING (min ghayr ḥulūl) -- a subtlety (laṭīfa) of His Essence, neither separate from Him nor connected to the servant, as a substitute for what He stripped from him. Because His disclosure to His servants is of the order of grace and bounty; so, were He to annihilate them and not appoint for them a substitute for themselves, that would be of the order of vengeance -- and far be He from that. And that subtlety is what is named 'the Holy Spirit' (rūḥ al-quds).
فإذا أقام الحقُّ لطيفةً من ذاته عوضاً عن العبد، كان التجلي على تلك اللطيفة، فما تجلى إلاَّ على نفسه. لكننا نسمي تلك اللطيفة الإلهية عبداً، باعتبار أنها عوضٌ عن العبد، وإلاَّ فلا عبدَ ولا ربّ، إذ بانتفاء المربوب انتفى اسمُ الرب، فما ثَمَّ إلاَّ الله تعالى وحده، الواحدُ الأحد. وفي ذلك أقول:
So when the Real sets up a subtlety of His Essence as a substitute for the servant, the self-disclosure is upon that subtlety -- so He disclosed Himself upon nothing but His [own] Self. But we name that divine subtlety 'a servant,' by the consideration that it is a substitute for the servant; otherwise, [there is] neither servant nor Lord -- since, by the negation of the lorded, the name 'Lord' is negated -- so there is there nothing but God (exalted is He) alone, the One, the Unique. And concerning that I say:
ما للخليقةِ إلاَّ اسمُ الوجودِ على ....... حكمِ المجازِ وفي التحقيقِ ما أحدُ
The creation has nothing but the name of 'existence,' by / the rule of metaphor; and in verification, there is no one [there at all].
فعندما ظهرت أنوارُه سُلبوا ....... ذاك التسمّي فلا كانوا ولا فُقِدوا
So when His lights appeared, they were stripped / of that being-named; so they neither were, nor were lost.
أفناهمُ وهمُ في عينهم عدمٌ ....... وفي الفناءِ فهم باقون ما جُحِدوا
He annihilated them, while they, in their very [reality], are non-existence; / and in the annihilation they are abiding, not denied.
فعندما عُدِموا صار الوجودُ له ....... وكان ذا حكمِه من قبلِ ما وُجِدوا
So when they were made non-existent, the existence became His; / and it was [already] of His rule, before they were [ever] found.
فالعبدُ صار كأن لم يكن أبداً ....... والحقُّ كان كأن لم يزل أحدُ
So the servant became as though he had never been at all, / and the Real was as though, ever, [He is] the One.
لكنه عندما أبدى ملاحتَه ....... كسا الخليقةَ نورُ الحقِّ فاتّحدوا
But when He showed forth His beauty, / the light of the Real clothed the creation, so they were made one [in it].
أفنى فكان عن الفاني به عوضاً ....... وقام عنهم وفي التحقيقِ ما قعدوا
He annihilated, so He became, in place of the annihilated, a substitute by Him; / and He stood up in their stead -- and in verification, they never sat [/existed].
كالموجِ حكمُهم في بحرِ وحدتِه ....... والموجُ في كثرةٍ بالبحرِ متّحدُ
Their rule is like the wave, in the sea of His unity; / and the wave, in [its] multiplicity, is one with the sea.
فإن تحرّك كان الموجُ أجمعَه ....... وإن تسكّن لا موجٌ ولا عددُ
So if it [the sea] moves, the wave is the whole of it; / and if it stills, [there is] no wave and no number.
واعلم أن تجليات الصفات عبارةٌ عن قبول ذات العبد الاتصافَ بصفات الرب، قبولاً أصلياً حكمياً قطعياً، كما يقبل الموصوفُ الاتصافَ بالصفة.
And know that the self-disclosures of the Attributes are an expression for the acceptance, by the essence of the servant, of the being-qualified by the qualities of the Lord -- an original, decisive, definitive acceptance, as the described accepts the being-qualified by the quality.
وذلك لما سبق: أن اللطيفة الإلهية التي قامت عن العبد بهيكله العبدي، وكانت عوضاً عنه، وهي في اتصافها بالأوصاف الإلهية اتصافٌ أصليٌّ حكميٌّ قطعي. فما اتصف إلاَّ الحقُّ بما له، فليس للعبد هنا شيء.
And that is because of what preceded: that the divine subtlety which stood up in place of the servant, in his servant-frame, and was a substitute for him -- it is, in its being-qualified by the divine qualities, an original, decisive, definitive being-qualified. So nothing is qualified except the Real, by what is His; [and] the servant has, here, nothing.
والناس في تجليات الصفات على قدر قوابلهم، وبحسب وفور العلم وقوة العزم.
And the people, in the self-disclosures of the Attributes, are [each] according to the measure of their receptacles, and in accordance with the abundance of [their] knowledge and the strength of [their] resolve.
فمنهم من تجلى الحقُّ له بالصفة الحياتية، فكان هذا العبدُ حياةَ العالم بأجمعه، يرى سريانَ حياته في الموجودات جميعها، جسمها وروحها، ويشهد المعاني صوراً لها منه حياةٌ قائمةٌ بها. فما ثَمَّ معنىً كالأقوال والأعمال،
So of them is one to whom the Real disclosed Himself by the quality of Life: so this servant became the life of the whole world, [and] sees the flowing of his life in all the existents -- their body and their spirit -- and witnesses the meanings [as] forms for which, from him, is a life subsisting by them. So there is no meaning -- like the sayings and the deeds --
ولا ثَمَّ صورةٌ لطيفةٌ كانت كالأرواح، أو كثيفةٌ كانت كالأجسام،
nor is there a form -- subtle, [such] as the spirits, or dense, [such] as the bodies --
إلا كان هذا العبدُ حياتها، يشهد كيفية امتدادها منه، ويعلم ذلك من نفسه من غير واسطة، بل ذوقاً إلهياً كشفياً غيبياً عينياً. وكنتُ في هذا التجلي مدةً من الزمان أشهد حياةَ الموجودات فيَّ، وأنظر القدرَ الذي لكل موجودٍ في حياتي، كلٌّ على ما اقتضاه ذاته. وكنا في ذلك واحدَ الحياة، غير منقسمٍ بالذات، إلى أن نقلتني يدُ العناية عن هذا التجلي إلى غيره ولا غير.
but that this servant was its life: he witnesses the manner of its extending from him, and knows that from himself, without [any] intermediary -- rather, [by] a divine, unveiling, unseen, direct-vision tasting. And I was, in this self-disclosure, a span of time, witnessing the life of the existents in me, and looking at the measure that belongs to each existent in my life, each according to what its essence required. And we were, in that, one of life, undivided in [respect of] essence -- until the hand of [divine] solicitude transferred me from this self-disclosure to another -- and [yet] no other.
ومنهم من تجلى الله عليه بالصفة العلمية. وذلك أنه لما تجلى عليه بالصفة الحياتية الساريةِ في جميع الموجودات، ذاق هذا العبدُ بقوّة أحدية تلك الحياة جميعَ ما هي الممكنات.
And of them is one to whom God disclosed Himself by the quality of Knowledge. And that is because, when He disclosed Himself to him by the quality of Life, flowing in all the existents, this servant tasted -- by the strength of the unicity of that life -- all that the possibles are.
فحينئذٍ تجلّت الذاتُ عليه بالصفة العلمية، فعلم العوالمَ بأجمعها على ما هي عليه من تفاريعها، من المبدأ إلى المعاد،
And then the Essence disclosed itself to him by the quality of Knowledge, so he knew the worlds in their entirety -- as they are, of their ramifications -- from the origin to the return [/the Hereafter],
وعلم كلَّ شيءٍ كيف كان؟
and he knew everything: how it was,
وكيف هو كائن؟ وكيف يكون؟ وعلم ما لم يكن، ولِمَ لا يكون ما لم يكن؟
and how it is being, and how it will be; and he knew what was not, and why what was not does not come to be;
ولو كان ما لم يكن، كيف كان يكون؟
and, had what was not been, how it would [then] be.
كلُّ ذلك علماً أصلياً حكمياً كشفياً ذوقياً من ذاته، لسريانه في المعلومات علماً إجمالياً تفصيلياً كلياً جزئياً، مفصَّلاً في إجماله، لكن في غيب الغيب. واللدنيُّ والذاتيُّ متنزِّلٌ من التفصيل، من غيب الغيب إلى شهادة الشهادة، ويشهد تفصيلَ إجماله في الغيب.
all of that [as] an original, decisive, unveiling, tasting knowledge, from his [own] essence -- by [its] flowing in the known [things] -- a knowledge summary [yet] detailed, universal [yet] particular, detailed in its summary, but in the unseen of the unseen (ghayb al-ghayb). And the [knowledge] of the [divine] presence (al-ladunī) and the essential descends, from the detailing, from the unseen of the unseen to the witnessed of the witnessed; and he witnesses the detail of its summary in the unseen.
ويعلم الإجماليَّ الكليَّ في غيب الغيب. والصفاتيُّ ليس له من العلم إلاَّ وقوعُه عليه في غيب الغيب. وهذا الكلام لا يفهمه إلاَّ الغرباء، ولا يذوقه إلاَّ الأمناء الأدباء.
And he knows the summary universal in the unseen of the unseen. And the man of the Attributes has, of the knowledge, only its falling upon him in the unseen of the unseen. And this discourse -- none understands it but the strangers, and none tastes it but the trustworthy, the well-mannered.
ومنهم من تجلّى الله عليه بصفة البصر. وذلك أنه لما تجلى عليه بصفة البصرية العلمية الإحاطية والكشفية، تجلى عليه بصفة البصر. فكان بصرُ هذا العبد موضعَ علمه، فما ثَمَّ علمٌ يرجع إلى الحق، وما ثَمَّ علمٌ يرجع إلى الخلق، إلاَّ وبصرُ هذا العبد واقعٌ عليه.
And of them is one to whom God disclosed Himself by the quality of Sight. And that is because, when He disclosed Himself to him by the knowing, encompassing, unveiling sight-quality, He disclosed Himself to him by the quality of Sight. So the sight of this servant became the place of his knowledge: so there is no knowledge that refers to the Real, nor knowledge that refers to the creation, but that the sight of this servant falls upon it.
فهو يبصر الموجودات كما هي عليه في غيب الغيب. والعجبُ كلُّ العجب أن يجهلها في الشهادة.
So he sees the existents as they are in the unseen of the unseen. And the wonder, all the wonder, is that he is ignorant of them in the witnessed [world].
فانظر إلى هذا المشهد العليّ، والمنظر الجليّ، ما أعجبه وما أعذبه! وما ذاك إلاَّ أن العبد الصفاتيَّ ليس بيد خلقه شيءٌ مما بيد حقه، فلا اثنينية.
So look at this lofty witnessing, and the manifest sight -- how wondrous it is, and how sweet! And that is only because the man of the Attributes -- there is not, in the hand of his creation, anything of what is in the hand of his Real; so there is no two-ness (lā ithnayniyya).
أعني: لا يظهر على شهادته مما هو عليه غيبُه إلاَّ بحكم النُّدور في بعض الأشياء، فإن الحق يبرزها إكراماً له. بخلاف العبد الذاتي، فإن شهادته غيبه، وغيبه شهادته، فليُفهم.
I mean: nothing of what his unseen is upon appears upon his witnessed [world] except by the rule of rarity, in some things -- for the Real brings them forth, as an honoring of him. Unlike the man of the Essence: for his witnessed is his unseen, and his unseen is his witnessed. So let it be understood.
ومنهم من تجلّى عليه بصفة السمع، فيسمع نطقَ الجمادات والنباتات والحيوانات، وكلامَ الملائكة، واختلافَ اللغات. وكان البعيدُ عنه كالقريب. وذلك أنه لما تجلى الله له بصفة السمع، سمع بقوّة أحدية تلك الصفة
And of them is one to whom He disclosed Himself by the quality of Hearing: so he hears the speech of the inanimate things, the plants, and the animals, and the speech of the angels, and the difference of the languages. And the far was, to him, as the near. And that is because, when God disclosed Himself to him by the quality of Hearing, he heard -- by the strength of the unicity of that quality --
اختلافَ تلك اللغات، وهمسَ الجمادات والنباتات.
the difference of those languages, and the whispering of the inanimate things and the plants.
وفي هذا التجلي سمعتُ علمَ الرحمانية من الرحمن، فتعلّمتُ قراءةَ القرآن، فكنتُ الرطلَ وكان الميزان. وهذا لا يفهمه إلاَّ أهلُ القرآن، الذين هم أهلُ الله وخاصته.
And in this self-disclosure I heard the knowledge of All-Mercifulness from the All-Merciful, [and] so I learned the recitation of the Qurʾān; so I was the weighed-measure, and He was the balance. And this -- none understands it but the people of the Qurʾān, who are the people of God and His elect.
ومنهم من تجلى الله عليه بصفة الكلام، فكانت الموجوداتُ من كلام هذا العبد. وذلك أنه لما تجلى عليه الله بالصفة الحياتية، ثم علم بالصفة العلمية ما فيه من سرّ الحياة منه، ثم أبصرها، ثم سمعها، فبقوّة أحدية حياته تكلّم.
And of them is one to whom God disclosed Himself by the quality of Speech: so the existents were from the speech of this servant. And that is because, when God disclosed Himself to him by the quality of Life, then he knew, by the quality of Knowledge, what is in him of the secret of the life [that is] from him, then he saw it, then he heard it -- so, by the strength of the unicity of his life, he spoke.
وكانت الموجوداتُ من كلامه. وحينئذٍ شهد بكلامه أزلاً، كما هو عليه أبداً، أن لا نفادَ لكلماته، أي لا آخرَ لها.
And the existents were from his speech. And then he witnessed, by his speech, in pre-eternity -- as it is, in post-eternity -- that there is no exhausting of His words; that is, no end to them.
ومن هذا التجلي يكلِّم اللهُ عبادَه، دون حجاب الأسماء، قبل تجليها.
And from this self-disclosure God speaks to His servants, beneath [/without] the veil of the Names, before their self-disclosure.
فمن المكلَّمين من تناجيه الحقيقةُ الذاتيةُ من نفسه، فيسمع خطاباً لا من جهة، بغير جارحة، وسماعُه للخطاب بكليّته لا بأذنه.
So of those spoken-to is one whom the Essential Reality addresses, from his [own] self; so he hears an address -- not from [any] direction, [and] without [any] bodily organ -- and his hearing of the address is by his entirety, not by his ear.
فيقال له: أنت حبيبي، أنت محبوبي، أنت المراد، أنت وجهي في العباد، أنت المقصدُ الأسنى، أنت المطلبُ الأعلى، أنت سرّي في الأسرار، أنت نوري في الأنوار، أنت عيني، أنت زيني، أنت جمالي، أنت كمالي، أنت اسمي، أنت ذاتي، أنت نعتي، أنت صفاتي، كنتَ اسمَك، كنتَ رسمَك، كنتَ علامتَك، كنتَ وَسْمَك. حبيبي، أنت خلاصةُ الأكوان، والمقصودُ من الوجود والحدثان. تقرّبْ إلى شهودي، فقد تقرّبتُ إليك بوجودي. لا تَبعُدْ، فإني كنتُ الذي قلتُ: {وَنَحْنُ أَقْرَبُ إِلَيْهِ مِنْ حَبْلِ الْوَرِيدِ} [ق: 16].
So it is said to him: 'You are My beloved, you are My loved one, you are the intended; you are My face among the servants; you are the highest goal, you are the loftiest sought; you are My secret among the secrets, you are My light among the lights; you are My eye, you are My adornment; you are My beauty, you are My perfection; you are My name, you are My essence; you are My descriptor, you are My qualities; you were your [own] name, you were your trace, you were your mark, you were your brand. My beloved -- you are the quintessence of the beings, and the [thing] intended of [all] existence and origination. Draw near to My witnessing, for I have drawn near to you by My existence. Do not be far, for I am He who said: "And We are nearer to him than the jugular vein" (50:16, Qāf).'
لا تتقيّدْ باسم العبد، فلولا الربُّ ما كان العبد. أنت أظهرتَني كما أظهرتُك، فلولا عبوديتُك لم تظهر لي ربوبية.
'Do not be bound by the name of "servant," for, were it not for the Lord, the servant would not be. You manifested Me, as I manifested you; for, were it not for your servanthood, no lordship would appear for Me.'
أنت أوجدتَني كما كنتُ أوجدتُك، فلولا وجودُك ما كان وجودي موجوداً.
'You brought Me into existence, as I [had] brought you into existence; for, were it not for your existence, My existence would not be a manifest [/found] existence.'
حبيبي، الدنوَّ الدنوَّ! حبيبي، العلوَّ العلوَّ!
'My beloved -- nearness, nearness! My beloved -- loftiness, loftiness!'
حبيبي، أردتُك لوصفي، واصطفيتُك لنفسي، فلا تردَّ نفسَك لغيري، ولا تردَّ غيري لك.
'My beloved -- I willed you for My quality, and I chose you for Myself; so do not return your self to another than Me, nor return another to yourself.'
حبيبي، شُمَّني في المشموم، حبيبي، كُلَّني في المطعوم، تخيَّلني في المهموم،
'My beloved -- smell Me in the smelled; My beloved -- eat Me in the eaten; imagine Me in the [object of] concern;'
حبيبي، تعقَّلني في المعلوم، حبيبي، شاهِدني في المحسوس، حبيبي، المِسني في الملموس،
'My beloved -- reason Me in the known; My beloved -- witness Me in the sensed; My beloved -- touch Me in the touched;'
حبيبي، البَسني في الملبوس. حبيبي، أنت المرادُ بي، وأنت المكنّى بي، وأنت المكنّى عنه بي.
'My beloved -- wear Me in the worn. My beloved -- you are the intended by Me, and you are the one alluded-to by Me, and you are the one for whom I am the metonym.'
ما ألذَّها من معاطفةٍ! ما أحلاها من ملاطفة!
How delicious it is, of a tender-inclining! How sweet it is, of a gentle-caressing!
ومن المكلَّمين من يحادثه الحقُّ على لسان الخلق، فيسمع الكلامَ من جهةٍ، ولكن يعلم أنه من غير جهة، ويصيخه من الخلق، ولكن يسمعه من الحق.
And of those spoken-to is one whom the Real converses with upon the tongue of the creation: so he hears the speech from a [particular] direction, but knows that it is from no [particular] direction; and he gives ear to it from the creation, but hears it from the Real.
وفي ذلك أقول:
And concerning that I say:
شُغِلتُ بليلى عن سواها فلو أرى ....... جماداً لخاطبتُ الجمادَ خطابَها
I was occupied with Laylā, [turned] from any other than her; so, were I to see / an inanimate thing, I would address the inanimate thing [as] her address.
ولا عجبَ أني أخاطبُ غيرَها ....... جماداً، ولكنَّ العجيبَ جوابُها
And it is no wonder that I address another than her -- / an inanimate thing; but the wonder is her [own] answering [back].
ومن المكلَّمين من يذهب به الحقُّ من عالم الأجسام إلى عالم الأرواح، وهؤلاء أعلى مراتبَ.
And of those spoken-to is one whom the Real takes from the world of bodies to the world of spirits; and these are of higher ranks.
فمنهم من يُخاطَب في قلبه. ومنهم من يَصعَد بروحه إلى سماء الدنيا.
So of them is one who is addressed in his heart; and of them is one who ascends with his spirit to the lowest heaven.
ومنهم إلى الثانية والثالثة، كلٌّ على حسب ما قُسِم له.
And of them [one ascends] to the second and the third [heaven] -- each according to what has been allotted to him.
ومنهم من يُصعَد به إلى سدرة المنتهى، فيكلِّمه هناك. وكلٌّ من المكلَّمين على قدر دخوله في الحقائق تكون مخاطباتُ الحق له، لأنه سبحانه وتعالى لا يضع الأشياءَ إلاَّ في مواضعها.
And of them is one who is raised to the Lote-Tree of the Boundary (sidrat al-muntahā), [and] He speaks to him there. And each of those spoken-to -- according to the measure of his entry into the realities are the Real's addresses to him; because He (glory be to Him, exalted is He) does not place things except in their [right] places.
ومنهم من يُضرَب له عند تكليمه إياه نورٌ، له سُرادقٌ من الأنوار.
And of them is one for whom, at His speaking to him, a light is pitched, having a pavilion of lights.
ومنهم من يُنصَب له منبرٌ من نور.
And of them is one for whom a pulpit of light is set up.
ومنهم من يرى نوراً في باطنه، فيسمع الخطابَ من تلك الجهة النورية. وقد يرى النورَ كثيراً، وأكثرَ، ومستديراً، ومتطاولاً.
And of them is one who sees a light in his inward, [and] so hears the address from that luminous direction. And he may see the light [as] much, and more, and rounded, and elongated.
ومنهم من يرى صورةً روحانيةً تناجيه. كلُّ ذلك لا يُسمّى خطاباً، إلاَّ إن أعلمه اللهُ أنه هو المتكلم. وهذا لا يحتاج فيه إلى دليل، بل هو على سبيل الوَهْلة، فإن خاصية كلام الله لا تخفى.
And of them is one who sees a spiritual form that addresses him. All of that is not called 'address,' unless God makes known to him that He is the speaker. And this needs no proof; rather, it is by way of [immediate] first-impulse -- for the [special] property of the speech of God is not hidden.
وأن يعلم أن ما سمعه كلامُ الله، فلا يحتاج هناك إلى دليلٍ ولا بيان، بل بمجرّد سماع الخطاب يعلم العبدُ أنه كلامُ الله تعالى.
And [as] for his knowing that what he heard is the speech of God -- he needs there [for] neither proof nor exposition; rather, by the mere hearing of the address, the servant knows that it is the speech of God (exalted is He).
وممّن صُعِد به إلى سدرة المنتهى من قيل له: حبيبي، إنّيّتُك هي هويتي، وأنت عينُ "هو"، وما "هو" إلاَّ أنا. حبيبي، بساطتُك تركيبي، وكثرتُك واحديتي؛ بل تركيبُك بساطتي، وجهلُك درايتي.
And of those who are raised to the Lote-Tree of the Boundary is one to whom it is said: 'My beloved, your I-ness is My ipseity, and you are the very [reality of] "He"; and "He" is nothing but I. My beloved, your simplicity is My composition, and your multiplicity is My unicity; nay, your composition is My simplicity, and your ignorance is My knowing.'
أنا المرادُ بك، كنتُ لك لا لي؛ أنت المرادُ بي، أنت لي لا لك.
'I am the intended by you -- I was for you, not for Me; you are the intended by Me -- you are for Me, not for you.'
حبيبي، أنت نقطةٌ عليها دائرةُ الوجود، فكنتَ أنت العابدَ فيها والمعبود.
'My beloved, you are a point upon which is the circle of existence; so you were, in it, the worshipper and the Worshipped.'
أنت النورُ، أنت الظهورُ، أنت الحُسنُ والزينُ -- كالعين للإنسان، والإنسانِ للعين:
'You are the light, you are the appearing, you are the comeliness and the adornment -- like the eye to the human, and the human to the eye':
أيا روحَ روحِ الروحِ والآيةَ الكبرى ....... ويا سلوةَ الأحزانِ للكبدِ الحَرّى
O spirit of the spirit of the spirit, and the greatest sign! / And O solace of sorrows, for the burning liver!
ويا منتهى الآمالِ يا غايةَ المُنى ....... حديثُك ما أحلاه عندي وما أمرى
And O utmost of hopes, O goal of [all] desire! / Your discourse -- how sweet it is to me, and how it nourishes!
ويا كعبةَ التحقيقِ يا قبلةَ الصفا ....... ويا عرفاتِ الغيبِ يا طلعةَ الغرّا
And O Kaʿba of verification, O direction-of-prayer of purity! / And O ʿArafāt of the unseen, O radiant countenance!
أتيناك أخلفناك في مُلكِ ذاتِنا ....... تصرّفُ لك الدنيا جميعاً مع الأخرى
We came to you; we made you [Our] vicegerent in the kingdom of Our essence; / there is disposed for you this world, all of it, together with the other.
فلولاك ما كنّا، ولولايَ لم تكن ....... فكنتَ، وكنّا، والحقيقةُ لا تُدرى
For, were it not for you, We would not be; and, were it not for Me, you would not be. / So you were, and We were -- and the [innermost] reality is not known.
فإياك نَعني بالمَعزّةِ والغِنى ....... وإياك نَعني بالفقيرِ ولا فقرا
So [it is] you We mean by [the words] 'might' and 'riches'; / and [it is] you We mean by 'the poor one' -- and [yet] no poverty.
ومن المكلَّمين من يُنادَى بالغيوب، فيُشارَك بالأخبار قبل وقوعها. فقد يكون ذلك بطريق السؤال منه، وهم الأكثرون؛ وقد يكون ذلك بطريق الابتداء من الحق سبحانه وتعالى.
And of those spoken-to is one who is called with the [matters of the] unseen, [and] so is given a share in the tidings before their occurrence. And that may be by way of [his] asking -- and they are the more numerous; and it may be by way of [the Real's] beginning, from the Real (glory be to Him, exalted is He).
ومن المكلَّمين من يطلب الكراماتِ، فيكرمه اللهُ بها، فتكون دليلاً -- إذا رجع إلى محسوسه -- على صحة مقامه مع الله تعالى.
And of those spoken-to is one who seeks the [charismatic] gifts (al-karāmāt), [and] so God honors him with them; so that they are a proof -- when he returns to his sensory [state] -- of the soundness of his station with God (exalted is He).
ويكفي هذا القدرُ من ذكر المكلَّمين.
And this much suffices, of the mention of those spoken-to.
فلنرجع إلى ما كنا بسبيله من تجليات الصفات.
So let us return to what we were on the way of, of the self-disclosures of the Attributes.
ومنهم -- أي من أهل تجليات الصفات -- من تجلّى الله عليه بالصفة الإرادية، وكانت المخلوقاتُ حسبَ إرادته. وذلك أنه لما تجلى الله عليه بصفة المتكلم، أراد بأحدية ذلك المتكلم ما هو عليه من المخلوقات، فكانت الأشياءُ بإرادته.
And of them -- that is, of the people of the self-disclosures of the Attributes -- is one to whom God disclosed Himself by the quality of Will, [and] the creatures were according to his will. And that is because, when God disclosed Himself to him by the quality of the Speaker, he willed -- by the unicity of that Speaker -- what He is upon, of the creatures; so the things were by his will.
وكثيرٌ من الواصلين إلى هذا التجلي من رجع القهقرى، فأنكر من الحق ما يرى. وذلك أنه لما أشهده الحقُّ أن الأشياء كائنةٌ عن إرادته شهوداً عينياً، في عالم الغيب الإلهي، فطلب العبدُ ذلك من نفسه في عالم شهادته،
And many of those who reach this self-disclosure are [ones] who turned back in retreat, [and] so denied, of the Real, what they see. And that is because, when the Real made him witness that the things come to be from his will -- a direct-vision witnessing, in the world of the divine unseen -- the servant [then] sought that, from himself, in the world of his witnessed [/sensory life];
فلم يكن له ذلك، لأن ذلك من خصائص الذاتيين. فأنكر ذلك المشهدَ العيني، ورجع القهقرى، فانكسرت زجاجةُ قلبه. فأنكر الحقَّ بعد شهوده، وفقده بعد وجوده.
but that was not [granted] to him -- because that is of the particular properties of the people of the Essence. So he denied that direct-vision witnessing, and turned back in retreat, [and] so the glass of his heart shattered. So he denied the Real after his witnessing [of Him], and lost Him after his finding [Him].
ومنهم -- أي من أهل تجلّي الصفات -- من تجلّى الله عليه بصفة القدرة، فتكوَّنت الأشياءُ بقدرته في العالم الغيبي، وكان على أنموذجه ما في العالم العيني. فإذا ارتقى فيه ومنه، ظهر عليه ما يكتمه. وفي هذا التجلي سمعتُ صلصلةَ الجرس، فانحلَّ تركيبي، واضمحلّ رسمي، وانمحى اسمي.
And of them -- that is, of the people of the self-disclosure of the Attributes -- is one to whom God disclosed Himself by the quality of Power: so the things came to be, by his power, in the unseen world; and what is in the visible world was upon his pattern. So when he ascends in it and from it, there appears upon him what he [must] conceal. And in this self-disclosure I heard the ringing of the bell (ṣalṣalat al-jaras), [and] so my composition was undone, and my [outward] mark dwindled away, and my name was effaced.
فكنتُ لشدة ما لاقيتُ مثلَ الخِرقة البالية المعلَّقة في الشجرة العالية، تذهب بها الريحُ الشديدة شيئاً فشيئاً. لا أُبصِر شهوداً إلاَّ بروقاً ورعوداً، وسحاباً يُمطِر بالأنوار، وبحاراً تموج بالنار. والتقت السماءُ والأرض، وكنا في ظلماتٍ بعضها فوق بعض. فلم تزل القدرةُ تخترع لي ما هو الأقوى، وتخترع بي ما هو الأهوى فالأهوى، إلى أن ضرب الجلالُ على سرادق المتعال.
So I was, for the severity of what I met, like the worn-out rag hung in the lofty tree, [which] the violent wind carries off little by little. I beheld, of witnessing, nothing but lightnings and thunders, and a cloud raining lights, and seas surging with fire. And the heaven and the earth met, and we were in darknesses, one above another. And Power did not cease inventing for me what is the stronger, and inventing by me what is the more longed-for, and the more longed-for [still] -- until the Majesty struck upon the pavilion of the Most High.
وولج جملُ الجمال في سمِّ خياطِ الخيال، ففتق في المنظر الأعلى رتقَ اليد اليمنى. فحينئذٍ تكوَّنت الأشياء، وزال العماء، ونودي: أن استوى الفلكُ على الجوديّ. أيتها السماءُ والأرض، ائتيا طوعاً أو كرهاً! قالتا: أتينا طائعين. وفي ذلك قال:
And the camel of Beauty entered into the needle's eye of imagination; so [it] tore open, in the highest sight, the closed-seam of the right hand. And then the things came to be, and the Cloud (al-ʿamāʾ) departed, and it was called out: '[Let it be] that the Ark sits firm upon al-Jūdī! O heaven and earth, come willingly or unwillingly!' They said: 'We come willingly.' And concerning that he said:
تصرّفْ في الزمانِ كما تريد ....... فمولىً أنت، نحن له العبيدُ
Dispose in time as you will; / for a master are you -- we are his slaves.
وسُلَّ السيفَ في عنقِ الأعادي ....... فسيفُك في العدا ذِكرٌ حديدُ
And draw the sword upon the neck of the enemies; / for your sword, against the foes, is a sharp remembrance.
فهَبْ ما شئتَ وامنعْ، لا لبُخلٍ ....... ولكن كي تجودَ بما تريدُ
So grant what you will, and withhold -- not out of stinginess, / but [so] that you may be bountiful with what you will.
فمن أسعدتَه بالقربِ يدنو ....... ومن أشقيتَه فهو البعيدُ
So whomever you make happy by nearness draws near; / and whomever you make wretched -- he is the far one.
وملِّكْ من تريدُ من الأماني ....... وحقِّرْ من أردتَ، فلا يَسودُ
And give possession, to whom you will, of the [objects of] desire; / and abase whom you willed -- so he does not become a master.
وأبرِمْ ما عقدتَ، فليس حلٌّ ....... واعقِدْ ما أبرمتَ، هو العقيدُ
And make firm what you have tied -- there is no untying; / and tie what you have made firm -- it is the [firmly] tied.
ولا تخشَ العقابَ على قضاءٍ ....... فكلٌّ تحت سيفِك لا يميدُ
And fear not punishment for [any] decree; / for all, beneath your sword, do not waver.
لك الملكوتُ ثم الملكُ مُلكٌ ....... لك الجبروتُ والملأُ السعيدُ
Yours is the Dominion (al-malakūt), then the Kingdom (al-mulk) [is your] possession; / yours is the Omnipotence (al-jabarūt), and the felicitous host.
لك العرشُ المجيدُ مكانَ عزٍّ ....... على الكرسيِّ تُبدي أو تُعيدُ
Yours is the Glorious Throne, [as] a place of might; / upon the Footstool you originate or you bring back.
ومن هذا التجلي تصرّفاتُ أهل الهمم.
And from this self-disclosure [come] the dispositions of the people of [spiritual] aspiration (al-himam).
ومن هذا التجلي عالمُ الخيال، وما يتصوّر فيه من غرائب عجائب المخترعات.
And from this self-disclosure [comes] the world of imagination, and what is pictured in it of the strange wonders of the invented [things].
ومن هذا التجلي السحرُ العالي.
And from this self-disclosure [comes] high magic (al-siḥr al-ʿālī).
ومن هذا التجلي يتلوّن لأهل الجنة ما يشاؤون.
And from this self-disclosure, [there] takes on shape, for the people of the Garden, what they wish.
ومن هذا التجلي عجائبُ السمسمة الباقية من طينة آدم، التي ذكرها ابنُ العربي في كتابه.
And from this self-disclosure [come] the wonders of the [grain of] sesame remaining from the clay of Adam, which Ibn al-ʿArabī mentioned in his book.
ومن هذا التجلي المشيُ على الماء، والطيرانُ في الهواء، وجعلُ القليل كثيراً والكثير قليلاً، إلى غير ذلك من الخوارق.
And from this self-disclosure [come] the walking on water, the flying in the air, the making of the little much and the much little, and other [than that] of the breaches-of-custom [/miracles].
فلا تعجبْ يا أخي، إنما الجميعُ نوعٌ واحدٌ، اختلف باختلاف وجوهه. فسعد به السعيدُ، وشقي به الطريد. فافهم.
So wonder not, O my brother: for [they are] all a single kind, [which] differed by the difference of its faces. So by it the felicitous one prospered, and by it the outcast was made wretched. So understand.
فقد أشرتُ لك بهذه النُّبذة، ورمَّزتُ في هذه اللُّغزة، أسراراً إن وقفتَ عليها اطّلعتَ على سرّ القدر المحجوب المصون. فتقول حينئذٍ للشيء: كن، فيكون -- ذلك الذي أمرُه بين الكاف والنون.
For I have pointed out to you, by this brief [piece], and hinted, in this riddle, secrets [such] that, if you came upon them, you would look upon the secret of the [divine] decree (al-qadar), the veiled, the guarded. So you would say, then, to the thing: 'Be!', and it is -- that whose affair is between the kāf and the nūn [of 'kun,' Be!].
ومنهم من تجلى الله عليه بصفة الرحمة، وذلك بعد أن انتصب له عرشُ الربوبية فيستولي عليه، ويوضع له كرسيُّ الاقتدار تحت قدميه، فتسري رحمتُه في الموجودات.
And of them is one to whom God disclosed Himself by the quality of Mercy -- and that [is] after the throne of Lordship is set up for him, [and] so he masters it, and the footstool of [overpowering] capability is placed for him beneath his feet, [and] so his mercy flows in the existents.
وهو كرسيُّ الذات، قيّومُ الصفات، يتلو من الآيات: {قُلِ اللَّهُمَّ مَالِكَ الْمُلْكِ تُؤْتِي الْمُلْكَ مَنْ تَشَاءُ وَتَنْزِعُ الْمُلْكَ مِمَّنْ تَشَاءُ وَتُعِزُّ مَنْ تَشَاءُ وَتُذِلُّ مَنْ تَشَاءُ بِيَدِكَ الْخَيْرُ إِنَّكَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ. تُولِجُ اللَّيْلَ فِي النَّهَارِ وَتُولِجُ النَّهَارَ فِي اللَّيْلِ وَتُخْرِجُ الْحَيَّ مِنَ الْمَيِّتِ وَتُخْرِجُ الْمَيِّتَ مِنَ الْحَيِّ وَتَرْزُقُ مَنْ تَشَاءُ بِغَيْرِ حِسَابٍ} [آل عمران: 26-27].
And he is the footstool of the Essence, the sustainer of the Attributes; he recites, of the [Qurʾanic] signs: 'Say: O God, Possessor of sovereignty, You give sovereignty to whom You will and You strip sovereignty from whom You will, You exalt whom You will and You abase whom You will; in Your hand is the good; truly You are powerful over everything. You make the night enter into the day and You make the day enter into the night; You bring the living out of the dead and You bring the dead out of the living; and You provide whom You will, without reckoning' (3:26-27, Āl ʿImrān).
كلُّ ذلك في عالم غيبه، منزَّهاً عن شكّه وريبه، مُعايناً لما في جيبه. وهذا هو الفرقُ بين الصفاتيين والذاتيين.
All of that [is] in the world of his unseen, [he being] transcendent of [any] doubt or misgiving in it, beholding-with-his-own-eye what is in his [own] bosom. And this is the difference between the people of the Attributes and the people of the Essence.
ومنهم من يتجلى الله عليه بالألوهية، فيجمع التضادَّ، ويعمّ البياضَ والسوادَ، ويشمل الأسافلَ والأعالي، ويحوي الترابَ واللآلئ. وعند ذلك يعقل الاسمَ والوصف، ويجحد النشرَ واللفّ، ويرى أن الأمر: {كَسَرَابٍ بِقِيعَةٍ يَحْسَبُهُ الظَّمْآنُ مَاءً حَتَّى إِذَا جَاءَهُ لَمْ يَجِدْهُ شَيْئًا وَوَجَدَ اللَّهَ عِنْدَهُ فَوَفَّاهُ حِسَابَهُ} [النور: 39].
And of them is one to whom God discloses Himself by Divinity (al-ulūhiyya): so he gathers the contradiction, and encompasses the white and the black, and comprehends the lowest and the highest, and contains the dust and the pearls. And at that he grasps the name and the description, and disavows the unfolding and the folding; and he sees that the matter is: 'like a mirage in a desert plain, which the thirsty one supposes to be water, until, when he comes to it, he finds it to be nothing, and finds God with it, [and] so He pays him his reckoning in full' (24:39, al-Nūr).
فطوى يمينُه وشمالُه كتابَه: {وَقِيلَ بُعْدًا لِلْقَوْمِ الظَّالِمِينَ} [هود: 44].
So his right [hand] and his left folded up his book: 'And it was said: away with the wrongdoing folk!' (11:44, Hūd).
واعلم أن النورَ هو الكتابُ المسطور، يُضِلُّ من يشاء ويهدي من يشاء، كما قال الله تعالى عنه في كتابه إنه: {يُضِلُّ بِهِ كَثِيرًا وَيَهْدِي بِهِ كَثِيرًا} [البقرة: 26].
And know that the light is the inscribed Book; it leads astray whom it [/He] wills, and guides whom it [/He] wills -- as God (exalted is He) said of it in His Book, that 'He leads astray many by it, and guides many by it' (2:26, al-Baqara).
واعلم أن لا سبيلَ أيضاً بدون ذلك، وأنه صراطُ الله، فهو له هدىً، ولغيره ضلال. فإذا خوطب بالأمرين، واعتُبر بالحكمين، وسُمّي بالاسمين، غربت النجومُ الزواهر، وهي في أفلاكها مشرقةٌ دوائر.
And know that there is, too, no way without that; and that it is the path of God -- so it is, for him, guidance, and, for another, misguidance. So when he is addressed by the two matters, and considered by the two rulings, and named by the two names, the radiant stars set -- while they are, in their spheres, rising [in] circles.
ومن خصائص هذا التجلي أن العبد يصوّب آراءَ جميع أهل الملل والنحل، ويعلم أصلَ مأخذهم، ويشهد من سعد منهم كيف سعد، ومن شقي منهم كيف شقي، وبم شقي.
And of the particular properties of this self-disclosure is that the servant deems correct the views of all the people of the religions and the sects, and knows the root of their derivation, and witnesses [of] whoever of them prospered -- how he prospered, and [of] whoever of them was made wretched -- how he was made wretched, and by what he was made wretched.
ومن أين دخل على كلٍّ من أهل الملل دواخلُ الضلال.
and from where the entrances of misguidance entered upon each of the people of the religions.
ومن خصائصه أيضاً أن يخطّئ العبدُ جميعَ آراء أهل الملل والنحل، حتى المسلمين والمؤمنين والمحسنين والعارفين، ولا يصوّب إلاَّ رأيَ المحققين الكُمَّل، لا غير.
And of its particular properties, too, is that the servant deems erroneous all the views of the people of the religions and the sects -- even the Muslims, the believers, the doers-of-excellence, and the gnostics -- and deems correct nothing but the view of the perfect verifiers, no other.
ومن خصائص هذا التجلّي:
And of the particular properties of this self-disclosure [is]:
أن العبد لا يمكنه النفيُ، ولا يمكنه الإثبات، ولا يقول بالوصف ولا بالذات، ولا يلوي على الاسم، ولا يحتاج إلى الرسم.
that the servant cannot [perform] negation, nor can he [perform] affirmation; he holds neither to [the] description nor to the Essence; he turns not toward the name, and needs not the [outward] mark.
اجتمعتُ في هذا التجلي بالملائكة المهيَّمين، فرأيتهم على اختلاف مشاهدهم هائمين في محاتدهم. فمن باهتٍ حيَّره الجمال، ومن ساكتٍ ألجمه الجلال، ومن ناطقٍ أطلقه الكمال، ومن غائبٍ في هويته، ومن حاضرٍ في إنّيته، ومن فاقدٍ للوجود، ومن واجدٍ في الشهود، ومن حائرٍ في دهشته،
I met, in this self-disclosure, the rapt angels (al-malāʾika al-muhayyamūn), and saw them -- upon the difference of their witnessings -- wandering, [lost] in love, in their origins. So [there was] a dumbfounded one, [whom] Beauty bewildered; and a silent one, [whom] Majesty bridled; and a speaking one, [whom] Perfection set loose; and one absent in his ipseity; and one present in his I-ness; and one lacking [all] finding [/existence]; and one finding [/present] in the witnessing; and one bewildered in his astonishment;
ومن داهشٍ في حيرته، ومن ذائبٍ في فناه، ومن آيبٍ في بقاه، ومن ساجدٍ في عدمٍ محض، ومن عابدٍ في وجوب وجودٍ فرض، ومن مستهلكٍ في وجود، ومن مستغرقٍ في شهود، ومن محترقٍ في نار الأحدية، ومن مغترفٍ في بحار الصمدية، ومن فاقدٍ للأنس واجدٍ للقدس، ومن واجدٍ للأنس فاقدٍ للقدس. تَدهَش الناظرَ أحوالُهم، وتهدي الحائرَ أقوالُهم.
and one astounded in his bewilderment; and one melting in his annihilation; and one returning in his abiding; and one prostrating in pure non-existence; and one worshipping in the necessity of a [posited] existence; and one consumed in existence; and one immersed in witnessing; and one burning in the fire of Oneness; and one scooping [water] in the seas of Eternal-Self-Sufficiency (al-ṣamadiyya); and one lacking [created] intimacy, [yet] finding [the] Holy; and one finding [created] intimacy, [yet] lacking [the] Holy. Their states astound the beholder, and their sayings guide the bewildered.
فمِلتُ إلى كُمَّلهم مشهداً، وأرفعهم منشأً ومحتداً، ميلَ متطلّعٍ، لا ميلَ حائرٍ متقنّع.
So I inclined toward the most perfect of them in witnessing, and the highest of them in origin and root -- the inclining of one looking-up [aspiring], not the inclining of a bewildered one [merely] content [with little].
فقلتُ له: أيها الكاملُ القريب، والروحُ الأقدسُ الأديب، أخبرني عن حالك في مشهدك الحالك، وحدّثني عن رسمك، وصرّح لي باسمك.
So I said to him: 'O perfect one, [O] near one, and holiest, courteous spirit! Inform me of your state in your dark witnessing, and tell me of your mark, and declare to me plainly your name.'
فأعرض إعراضَ من جنح عن التصريح، وأقبل إقبالَ المخبر الفصيح، ثم جثا على ركبتيه، وانهمك في حيرته. فسألته عن الحال، فترجم ثم قال: لا تسأل عن الاسم فتنحصرَ في قيد الرسم، ولا تتركه رأساً فينطمسَ حقُّك انطماساً، ولا تَلْوِ على الصفحات فتنحجبَ عن ربك بالسموات، ولا تَلْوِ عن الذات فتطلبَ العدمَ الرفات. النفيُ كفران، والإثباتُ خسران، وهذان بحران، والحقُّ {بَيْنَهُمَا بَرْزَخٌ لَا يَبْغِيَانِ} [الرحمن: 20].
So he turned away [with] the turning-away of one who shrinks from plain speech, and approached [with] the approaching of the eloquent informer; then he knelt upon his knees, and plunged into his bewilderment. So I asked him about the state, and he interpreted [it], then said: 'Do not ask about the name, lest you be confined in the fetter of the [outward] mark; and do not leave it altogether, lest your reality be utterly effaced; and do not turn toward the pages [/surfaces], lest you be veiled from your Lord by the heavens; and do not turn away from the Essence, lest you seek the crumbled non-existence. Negation is ingratitude (kufrān), and affirmation is loss (khusrān), and these two are [two] seas, and the Real [is], between them, "a barrier they do not overpass" (55:20, al-Raḥmān).'
إن أثبتَّني أقمتَني سواك، وإن نفيتَني حُجبتَ عن حقيقة معناك. وإن قلتَ إنك إني، فأين فنّك من فنّي؟ وإن قلتَ إنك غيري، فقد فاتك كل معنىً في خيري. وإن تحيّرتَ فقد تفقّرتَ، وإن قلتَ بالعجز فقد فاتك وصفُ العزّ. فإن ادّعيتَ الكمالَ والغايةَ، فأمرُك في البداية لا في النهاية. وإن تركتَ المجموعَ، وقلتَ بالنوم والهجوع، فهيهات! فقد فاتك ما قد فاتك. وإن قمتَ في ذاتك على عرش صفاتك، فأين كمالُك من كمالي؟ وهل لك مالي؟ وفي ذلك أقول:
'If you affirm me, you have set me up as other than you; and if you deny me, you are veiled from the reality of your [own] meaning. And if you say that you are I, then where is your perishing from my perishing? And if you say that you are other than me, then there has escaped you every meaning in my good. And if you become bewildered, you have become impoverished; and if you hold to incapacity, there has escaped you the description of might. So if you claim perfection and the [final] goal, then your affair is in the beginning, not in the end. And if you abandon the whole, and hold to sleep and slumber, then far [be it]! -- there has escaped you what has escaped you. And if you stand, in your essence, upon the throne of your attributes, then where is your perfection from my perfection? And do you have what I have?' And concerning that I say:
تحيّرتُ في حيرتي مما هيَ ....... فقد حار وهمي في وهمه
I was bewildered, in my bewilderment, at what it is; / for my estimation was bewildered in his estimation.
فلم أدرِ هذا التحيّرُ من ....... تجاهلِ قلبي أم علمه
So I knew not [whether] this bewilderment is from / my heart's feigning-ignorance, or its knowledge.
فإن قلتُ جهلاً فكذِّبْ به ....... وإن قلتُ علماً فمن أهله
So if I say [it is] ignorance, then deem it false; / and if I say [it is] knowledge, then [I am] of its people.
فلكي هو الأعلى، ومسجدي هو الأقصى. وقد بُورِك حولَه للوفود، وعَذُب ماءٌ منهمرٌ للورود.
For my sphere is the highest, and my mosque is the farthest (al-aqṣā). And [it] was blessed around it, for the [incoming] delegations, and a pouring water was made sweet, for the [coming to] drink.
ومن سبح في بحري نظمتُه في نحري، ومن ركب جوادي أقطعتُه بلادي، ومن تعدّى حدَّه، وادّعى ما لم يكن عنده، مقتُّه بدوام الحجاب، وقلتُ: {لَا تَفْتَرُوا عَلَى اللَّهِ كَذِبًا فَيُسْحِتَكُمْ بِعَذَابٍ} [طه: 61]. أنا الصراطُ المستقيم، أنا المعوجُّ والقويم، أنا المحدَثُ والقديم.
And whoever swam in my sea, I strung him [as a pearl] upon my neck; and whoever rode my steed, I gave him in fief my lands; and whoever transgressed his limit, and claimed what was not with him, I [met] with loathing, by the perpetuity of the veil; and I said: 'Do not fabricate against God a lie, lest He extirpate you with a punishment' (20:61, Ṭā Hā). I am the straight path, I am the crooked and the upright, I am the originated and the pre-eternal.
فلم تزل تتداعى كؤوسُ المنادمة في حضرة الوجود والمكالمة، إلى أن خفق خافقٌ، وأومض من سفح الأُبيرق بارقٌ. فسألته عن الركن المصون، والنبأ العظيم الذي هم فيه مختلفون.
And the cups of [intimate] companionship did not cease to pass round, in the presence of existence and converse, until a [heart-]beating thing beat, and a lightning flashed from the foot of al-Ubayriq [a place]. So I asked him about the guarded pillar, and the mighty tiding 'concerning which they differ.'
فقال: اسمع ما تقول هذه الأسماءُ في ذُراها الأعلى الأسمى. فإذا هي تناجي بأفصح لسانٍ، وأصرح بيان، معطيةً ما عندها من غير كتمان.
So he said: 'Listen to what these Names say, in their highest, loftiest summits.' And lo, they were whispering, with the most eloquent tongue and the clearest exposition, giving forth what was with them, without concealment.
فقلتُ: ماذا؟ فقال: {الرَّحْمَنُ. عَلَّمَ الْقُرْآنَ} [الرحمن: 1-2].
So I said: 'What [do they say]?' He said: 'The All-Merciful. He taught the Qurʾān' (55:1-2, al-Raḥmān).
فقلتُ للقدير: حدِّثني عني يا فلان. {خَلَقَ الْإِنْسَانَ. عَلَّمَهُ الْبَيَانَ. الشَّمْسُ وَالْقَمَرُ بِحُسْبَانٍ. وَالنَّجْمُ وَالشَّجَرُ يَسْجُدَانِ. وَالسَّمَاءَ رَفَعَهَا وَوَضَعَ الْمِيزَانَ} [الرحمن: 3-7].
So I said to the All-Powerful: 'Tell me of myself, O so-and-so.' [The answer:] 'He created the human. He taught him the [clear] expression. The sun and the moon [run] by a reckoning. And the star and the tree prostrate. And the heaven -- He raised it, and set the balance' (55:3-7, al-Raḥmān).
وقلتُ للمريد: أيها القديمُ الجديد، خبّرني عني، وارددني إليّ مني.
And I said to the Willer: 'O Pre-eternal, [O] Ever-new! Inform me of myself, and return me to myself, from myself.'
فقال: {إِذَا الشَّمْسُ كُوِّرَتْ. وَإِذَا النُّجُومُ انْكَدَرَتْ. وَإِذَا الْجِبَالُ سُيِّرَتْ. وَإِذَا الْعِشَارُ عُطِّلَتْ. وَإِذَا الْوُحُوشُ حُشِرَتْ. وَإِذَا الْبِحَارُ سُجِّرَتْ} [التكوير: 1-6].
So he said: 'When the sun is folded up. And when the stars fall scattered. And when the mountains are set moving. And when the pregnant camels are left untended. And when the wild beasts are gathered. And when the seas are set boiling' (81:1-6, al-Takwīr).
فقال العليمُ بلسانٍ حكيم: {وَإِذَا النُّفُوسُ زُوِّجَتْ. وَإِذَا الْمَوْءُودَةُ سُئِلَتْ. بِأَيِّ ذَنْبٍ قُتِلَتْ. وَإِذَا الصُّحُفُ نُشِرَتْ. وَإِذَا السَّمَاءُ كُشِطَتْ. وَإِذَا الْجَحِيمُ سُعِّرَتْ. وَإِذَا الْجَنَّةُ أُزْلِفَتْ. عَلِمَتْ نَفْسٌ مَا أَحْضَرَتْ} [التكوير: 7-14].
And the All-Knowing said, with a wise tongue: 'And when the souls are paired. And when the buried-infant-girl is asked: for what sin she was killed. And when the scrolls are unrolled. And when the heaven is stripped away. And when the Blaze is set ablaze. And when the Garden is brought near. [Then] a soul knows what it has brought forward' (81:7-14, al-Takwīr).
فقلتُ: أيها الحكيمُ المعجِب، حدِّثني عن عنقاءَ مغرب، ودلَّني على الكنز المصون بين الكاف والنون.
So I said: 'O wise, wonder-working one! Tell me of the ʿAnqāʾ Mughrib, and guide me to the treasure guarded between the kāf and the nūn.'
فقال: يكفيك مني ما يحدِّث القديمُ عني.
He said: 'There suffices you, from me, what the Pre-eternal tells of me.'
فقلتُ له: ذلك لا يُغني. فقال: أزيدُك؟
So I said to him: 'That does not suffice.' He said: 'Shall I increase you?'
فقلتُ: زِدني. فقال: إن المزيد قد أتاك عني، بالخبر السديد والرأي الرشيد.
I said: 'Increase me.' He said: 'The increase has [already] come to you, of me, with the sound report and the right-guided view.'
فقلتُ: فهمُه عليَّ بعيد. فمن -- يا مولانا -- أنت؟
I said: 'Its understanding is far from me. So who -- O our Master -- are you?'
فقال: نفسُ العبيد. ثم تلا: {وَهُمْ لَا يَسْمَعُونَ} [الأنفال: 21]. {إِنَّمَا قَوْلُنَا لِشَيْءٍ إِذَا أَرَدْنَاهُ أَن نَّقُولَ لَهُ كُن فَيَكُونُ} [النحل: 40].
He said: 'The self of the servants.' Then he recited: 'And they do not hear' (8:21, al-Anfāl). 'Truly, Our word, to a thing, when We will it, is [only] that We say to it: "Be!", and it is' (16:40, al-Naḥl).
فلم تزل تناجيني الحضرات، وتبرز لي أبكارَها الخيرات، إلى أن هبّ نسيمُ السعادة، فحقّق له علمُ السيادة. فشممتُ رائحةً رائحة، وكانت باللذات للذات في اللذات نافحة. فأخذتني عنّي، وجذبتها اليُمنى، فانحلّت قُواي، وأذابت بَحوايَ.
And the Presences did not cease to whisper to me, and to bring forth to me their virgin good-things, until the breeze of felicity wafted, [and] so the knowledge of mastery was verified for it. So I smelled a passing fragrance, and it was, by the pleasures, for the [divine] Essence, in the pleasures, fragrant-exhaling. So it took me [away] from myself, and the right [hand] drew it, [and] so my faculties were undone, and it melted my inmost being.
وامتُحِن الكائنُ والبائن، واستحقّ الآيبُ والقاطن، وانطمس رسمُ الحيّ، فلم يبقَ لا ميتٌ ولا حيّ. فعند ذلك متُّ موتةً أبدية، وسُحقتُ سحقةً سرمدية. فلا بعثَ بعدها ولا نشور، ولا مغيبَ عندها ولا حضور. فعندما فني الحيُّ، وهلك من هلك في الدار،
And the existent and the [outwardly] manifest were tested, and the returning one and the abiding one [each] received their due; and the mark of the living was effaced, so that there remained neither a dead one nor a living one. And at that I died an everlasting death, and was crushed an eternal crushing -- so [there is] no resurrection after it, nor rising; no absence at it, nor presence. So when the living one was annihilated, and there perished, in the Abode, whoever perished --
سأل نفسَه: {لِمَنِ الْمُلْكُ الْيَوْمَ}؟ فقال: {لِلَّهِ الْوَاحِدِ الْقَهَّارِ} [غافر: 16].
he asked himself: 'Whose is the sovereignty today?' [And] he said: 'God's, the One, the Subduer' (40:16, Ghāfir).