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A praise that is beyond intellect and soul, What limit of description is there, and what place for explanation? How can the praise and eulogy of a chief be told, Whose praise was spoken by the Lord of the worlds? Muhammad, for whom creation is the purpose, The intent of substance, body, and accident is he. Muhammad, compassionate to the world and faith, The intercessor of the first and the last. The wonder of the workshop of both worlds, The prophet and master of the children of Adam. The swift rider of the arena of the heavens, The order of the universe and the king of 'law lak' (if not for you). The subtle-speaker of the eternal mystery, The seeker of the knowledge of the treasure of the Owner of Majesty. The commander-in-chief of the court of prophecy, The leader of the pulpit and the chief of majesty. From the universe to Adam is his light, From east to west is his follower. The heaven of knowledge and the sun of insight, Under his shadow is all of creation. In root and branch, the master of intellect and soul, With heart and soul, the benefactor of the universe. His body is the standard of the mint of physical forms, His heart is the flyer in the kingdom of spirits. Angels are the sweepers of his rose-garden, Creatures are the gleaners of his harvest. His supplication is the messenger on the path of 'two bows' length' (qaba qawsayn), His prayer is the display-place of the delight of the eye. Intellect, compared to the command of his law, is a speaker of nonsense, The world, from the musk of his character, seeks a musk-pod. To God, in truth, he is the servant, Having cast the robe of selection upon himself. He is the pure gold from the mine of Divine Majesty, The whole world is copper and he is the alchemy. Neither the world nor Adam existed when he was, For he was, and God was at that moment when he was. When he set forth from 'I was a Prophet' (kuntu nabiyyan), At once he had a passage over the world. On that path, those steps are counted, I know them to be more than a hundred thousand. From the dust of every step that that chief took, God raised a prophet of high esteem. When the dust of his path was kneaded together, A hundred worlds of angels prostrated to it. If you do not outwardly know that dust, That dust was none other than the pure Adam. Neither Adam nor Solomon ever existed, But he gave commands from before and after. Since that chief became the Seal of the Prophets, From that seal Solomon found that esteem. When that king of religion appeared, Thousands of idols in the world were overturned. In these nine blue domes he pitched his tent, And cast down the arched arch of Nushirwan. The world was dark from the infidelity of infidels, By his light it became illuminated at once. He emerged from the veil like the sun, He illuminated the heart and religion forever. When the grace of his Lordship became active, The cloud cast a shadow on that shadowless one. As the sun would draw its sword from behind the veil, The cloud would cast a shadow over him entirely. Why are you so silent? For the heavens Are joyfully dancing from your speech. Why are you constantly in thought? Is this not enough for you, That when one passes from you, there is no one but you? Since you are the seal of prophets in both worlds, By your seal are the descendants of Adam. The two bows of 'qaba qawsayn' at the beginning of the affair Became one when that form appeared. When the ill-wisher raised his head from the evil eye, Perhaps the scorpion fell on the way. Gabriel, that messenger of both realms, entered, With an arrow from the bow of 'qaba qawsayn'. He struck the scorpion and pinned it to the sky, So firmly that he stitched the scorpion to the bow. From the seal, the vertebrae of its back on the heavens, All the beads fell and the casket became clean. When the moon found his hair like a coat of mail, The armor was ashamed and split with embarrassment. With the backing of such a seal that you have on your back, You split the moon with a finger. If your finger had not been opposite to it, The moon would not have seen any of its mansions. At every mansion that it turns night and day, It calls upon you, O illuminator of the night! At every mansion it has a strange journeying, Sometimes it has the Crown, sometimes the Change. It circumambulates you as long as it exists, For in its path lies the Auspice of Auspices. For that reason its mansion came in the path of the heart, Because it went full of heart and returned full of heart. You are the soul, and whoever went out of love for the soul, If he goes to a mansion, he can go full of heart. Since your way was full of heart and upon the heart, An address came to the heart from your presence: 'Though they broke your teeth with stone, We shall kindle a fire for several leagues. But if We kindle fire in people and stones, We shall burn the stone idol and the stony-hearted.' When your tooth was broken by a stone, Wonder of wonders, the heart of the stone bled from pain! He who fights you with stone, His heart is harder than stone. Since your worthless enemies strike you with stone, Strike also the heart of stone and the stone itself. The sky became a veil-dweller out of shame for him, Sometimes it went up, sometimes it came to the ground. Since your love became the lodestone, The stony-hearted envious one became Iblis. Whoever is like stone to your glass, In a single moment stone him out of enmity. Your envious one has a stone on his heart, shattered to pieces, Like a firestone, receiving wounds. His soul became frozen like a stone, you might say, His faith came out of stone, you might say. If you were to recite the Quran over stone, It would become soft and uniform like kohl-stone. By the Quran, the heavy mountain is split into branches, And because of that, the face of the earth is full of stony ground. The heart of your enemy is like an engraving on stone, For stone does not become softer from the Quran. For the stony-hearted there is no change through the Quran, But his stone is better than the Ababil birds. Your enemy has an idol made of stone, It is no wonder if stones rain down upon him. Since your enemy began the battle of stones, You too, O candle of religion, throw a stone! The Canopus of his law recognized the kid, And cast down leather for his sandals. The sky spun the rope like a bucket So that it might fetch water for his Buraq. When the eight heavens saw him from the seven veils, They came out to welcome him in full submission. From those curved locks and that straight stature, More than a hundred resurrections arose among the houris. The sky came out with a hundred souls in its sleeve, Arriving at his service like a collar over the head. When it came before him again with a soul on a platter, Since it came unique, it became exalted in service. The sky sought kohl from his path, Which it applied to the eyes of the stars night after night. When the sky found the dust of his feet, The stars obtained their kohl-colored veil from it. The glow of dawn struck the world for the reason That it drew a breath of sincerity with him. God called him a candle, so that out of sincerity All the lamps of the Divine Throne began to dance. The Pen recited a tablet in front of him, And the Throne recited many a Throne Verse over him. In short, when he became the chief of the path, He taught the lesson of truth to all the prophets. And from there he departed like a sun, While both worlds were hidden from him like a shadow. He saw a world full of the waves of the Named, Where all at once both the world and the Names were annihilated. Even though the luminous Gabriel possessed Thousands of fragrant peacock feathers, He stopped, and the Prophet then said: 'I am the moth, and my candle is the Light of Allah.' 'Whether it makes or burns me, so is it better; It is better that I am not in between, and God is eternal.' 'You appear as the peacock of the angels, But I am the moth of the divine light.' 'Do not sit at the door like that companion of yours; Shed your wings like that moth of yours.' What a world-cherishing light he possessed, Before which both worlds bowed their heads! When his light raised its banner from a distant path, Both worlds beat the drum of joy together because of that light. Since he trod the path of servitude perfectly, His Lord granted him such a drum and banner. When he went where the root of the matter lies, Where the center point of the compass of the world is, An inspirational messenger entered before him, Speaking in his soul with the tongue of revelation: 'Behold the divine two bows length (qaba qawsayn), An example of servitude and sovereignty.' 'In His hand is one, and what is that? Faith. In your hand is one: walking by command.' 'Since the bow of My soul found capability, Do you string the bow of the body in obedience.' 'Since you drew one string and I drew one, What a string of yours! No, it is entirely Mine.' 'Thousands of bows are fitting for every single tongue If you are carrying these two bows.' Was it not from your finger upon the moon once That two bows appeared in the crow of the night? Those two bows became one afterward, And from those two bows a single moon appeared. Now too, those two bows of qaba qawsayn Have become one through you, O Sultan of the two worlds! The number is on the way from the moon to the fish, The number was lost, and only one moon remained. You are that moon, O sun of the companions, For whom the stars tremble like quicksilver. Close the narcissus of your eye from the world, Draw these two bows up to the lobe of the ear. The height of both worlds is your depth, The purpose of creation is your existence. Both worlds are houris, and from your hair a fragrance; Both worlds are light, and from the parting of your hair a single strand. From your two eyebrows, the arch of heaven is a gate; From your two locks of hair, the sun and moon are a glow. From your beauty, the Paradise of the Heart is full of light; From your light, the Paradise of Firdaws is full of houris. Since you are the comfort of intellect and soul, In truth, you are the adornment of both worlds. What a crooked hair in your eye are the heavens! Look at them one by one: let not your eyes pass beyond them. Humility places a crown upon your head; If you desire loftiness, lower your wing. Look at the reflection: these are the chosen ones; And do not drive them away, for they are the reflection of Our light. For the first group, unaware of the secret, Called out to you from nine chambers. The heaven which is of your measure, Now its nine chambers are full of your fame. At last, the light of that Presence...