Although better known as the founder of the Illuminationist Philosophical tradition, Shihāb al-dīn al-Suhrawardī was also a gifted Arabic poet, and this poem, in particular has been beloved by Sufis and lovers throughout the ages. al-Shābb al-Ẓarīf’s poem of the same meter seems to be modeled on it in part. But al-Shābb al-Ẓarīf’s poem stands on its own merits, written in his distinctive smooth, elegant style and containing a touching tribute to his father, the great Sufi saint, poet, scholar, and student of both Ibn al-‘Arabī and Qūnawī, Sulaymān ibn ‘Alī ‘Afīf al-dīn al-Tilimsānī.
Al-Suhrawardī
Translation:
Ever do the spirits yearn for you; union with you is their basil and wine.
The hearts of your affection’s people long for you, and delight in the sweetness of meeting you.
Ah, pity the lovers who have burdened themselves with concealing love, while passion an exposer.
If they reveal their secret, their blood is made licit, and likewise the blood of those who allow it to be revealed**.
And if they hide it, their flowing tears speak of them among the tale-bearers.
Our loved ones! What have you accomplished by your hardness toward us, if not turning well-being into ruin?
May he lower the wing over you! For there is no blame against you in lowering the wing* over the love-stricken.
Signs of sickness appeared on them—within them is a clarification of the source of their problems.
In meeting you, his soul is at ease, and your pleasure, his eye craves
Return with the light of union from the darkness of night; separation is night, and union is morning.
He purified them, so they were pure for Him, their hearts, in their light, are the niche and the lamp.
Enjoy, for the moment is made sweet by your nearness; the drink is fine and the cups refined.
My friend, there is no blame for the lover when dawn flashes on the horizon of union.
Lovers have no sin if passion overpowers their concealment, so ardor grows and they confess.
They gave up their very souls, and were not stingy with them—when they perceived that generosity is gain.
The Caller of Realities summoned them with a call that set out seeking intimacy, morning and evening.
They rode upon the path of loyalty—their tears a sea, the intensity of their longing, a captain.
By God, they did not seek to stand at His door until they were called, and then the key came to them.
They are thrilled by nothing but the remembrance of their Beloved—forever, so all their times are festivals.
They were present, though the witnesses of their selves were absent; they were ravished when they saw Him and cried out.
He annihilated them from themselves, and the veils of subsistence were lifted for them—so the spirits vanished.
So try to resemble them, if you cannot be like them; indeed, emulation of the noble is success.
Rise, O cup-mate, to the ever-flowing wine, here it is in its goblet, the cups having made their rounds.
From the vine of honoring, in the jug*** of religion; not the wine the farmer has trodden.
It is the wine of ancient Love, the utmost end of the cup-mate’s quest—what a fine wine that is!
And thus even Noah in the Ark was made drunk by it, and for that he had a cry and a wailing lament****.
The spirits inclined to His Kingdom; in meeting any other than Him they feel no ease.
As if their bodies and their hearts—in their glow—were the niche and the lamp.
Whoever reveals the mention of his Beloved among them—his blood is forfeit, to the swords, licit.
*tubāḥ means both “to make licit” and “to reveal”
**janāḥ means “wing” and junāḥ, “blame”
***Karm mens vine, but it is from the same root as “noble,” bidann, “in the clay jug” is written the same as badan, meaning “body.”
****niyāh, “lament” comes from the same root as Nūḥ, “Noah”
Original:
أَبداً تَحنُّ إِلَيكُمُ الأَرواحُ
وَوِصالُكُم رَيحانُها وَالراحُ
وَقُلوبُ أَهلِ وِدادكم تَشتاقُكُم
وَإِلى لَذيذ لقائكم تَرتاحُ
وَا رَحمةً للعاشِقينَ تَكلّفوا
ستر المَحبّةِ وَالهَوى فَضّاحُ
بِالسرِّ إِن باحوا تُباحُ دِماؤُهم
وَكَذا دِماءُ البائحين تُباحُ
وَإِذا هُم كَتَموا تَحَدّث عَنهُم
عِندَ الوشاةِ المَدمعُ السَفّاحُ
أَحبابنا ماذا الَّذي أَفسدتمُ
بِجفائكم غَير الفَسادِ صَلاحُ
خَفضَ الجَناح لَكُم وَلَيسَ عَلَيكُم
لِلصَبّ في خَفضِ الجَناح جُناحُ
وَبَدَت شَواهِدُ للسّقامِ عَلَيهمُ
فيها لِمُشكل أمّهم إِيضاحُ
فَإِلى لِقاكم نَفسهُ مُرتاحةٌ
وَإِلى رِضاكُم طَرفه طَمّاحُ
عودوا بِنورِ الوَصلِ مِن غَسَق الدُّجى
فَالهَجرُ لَيلٌ وَالوصالُ صَباحُ
صافاهُمُ فَصَفوا لَهُ فَقُلوبهم
في نُورِها المِشكاةُ وَالمِصباحُ
وَتَمَتّعوا فَالوَقتُ طابَ لِقُربِكُم
راقَ الشّراب وَرَقّتِ الأَقداحُ
يا صاحِ لَيسَ عَلى المُحبِّ مَلامَةٌ
إِن لاحَ في أُفق الوِصالِ صَباحُ
لا ذَنبَ لِلعُشّاقِ إِن غَلَبَ الهَوى
كِتمانَهُم فَنما الغَرامُ فَباحوا
سَمَحوا بِأَنفُسِهم وَما بَخِلوا بِها
لَمّا دَروا أَنّ السَّماح رَباحُ
وَدعاهُمُ داعي الحَقائقِ دَعوة
فَغَدوا بِها مُستَأنسين وَراحوا
رَكِبوا عَلى سنَنِ الوَفا وَدُموعهُم
بَحرٌ وَشِدّة شَوقهم مَلّاحُ
وَاللَّهِ ما طَلَبوا الوُقوفَ بِبابِهِ
حَتّى دعوا فَأَتاهُم المفتاحُ
لا يَطربونَ بِغَيرِ ذِكر حَبيبِهم
أَبَداً فَكُلُّ زَمانِهم أَفراحُ
حَضَروا وَقَد غابَت شَواهِدُ ذاتِهم
فَتَهَتّكوا لَمّا رَأوه وَصاحوا
أَفناهُم عَنهُم وَقَد كشفَت لَهُم
حجبُ البقا فَتَلاشتِ الأَرواحُ
فَتَشَبّهوا إِن لَم تَكُونوا مِثلَهُم
إِنَّ التَّشَبّه بِالكِرامِ فَلاحُ
قُم يا نَديم إِلى المدامِ فَهاتها
في كَأسِها قَد دارَتِ الأَقداحُ
مِن كَرمِ إكرام بدنّ ديانَةٍ
لا خَمرَة قَد داسَها الفَلّاحُ
هيَ خَمرةُ الحُبِّ القَديمِ وَمُنتَهى
غَرض النَديم فَنعم ذاكَ الراحُ
وَكَذاكَ نوحٌ في السَّفينة أَسكَرَت
وَلَهُ بِذَلِكَ رَنَّةً وَنِياحُ
وَصَبَت إِلى مَلَكوتِهِ الأَرواحُ
وَإِلى لِقاءِ سِواه ما يَرتاحُ
وَكَأَنَّما أَجسامهُم وَقُلوبهُم
في ضَوئِها المِشكاةُ وَالمِصباحُ
مَن باحَ بَينَهُم بِذِكرِ حَبيبِهِ
دَمهُ حلالٌ لِلسّيوفِ مُباحُ
Al-Shābb al-Ẓarīf
Translation:
Ever in your remembrance my hours pass—both among my night companions and in my solitary retreats.
O you whose wondrous beauty is unique in its essence, I am unique in sorrows for you, in my own self.
With your love, my senses are occupied, just as with your beauty all my directions are filled.
This much pleasure is enough for me: that passion for you has occupied me away from all pleasures.
My satisfaction lies in being one who does, by your satisfaction, whatever you choose: efface me or establish me.
O Present One, you made your lovers absent from everything past and yet to come,
I counted my breaths and did not find a single one of them free from a moment [with you].
And the love-crazed—you have veiled their intellects from you; so among the living they are like the dead.
You recite through the rains seeking a singer among them, as though you were on the peak of the hills.#
When they wept and I laughed, some of them denied my state and said: “Ecstasy is expressed by tears.”
I suppose they thought your path a single one and forgot that you gather the scattered ways.
They are not ready for what their souls overflow with—so they run dry from grief and sighing.
O rain, drench Damascus—and single out a dwelling on Qāsiyūn, adorning it with plants.
And sing there, O doves—and O dawn wind, pass over it with the sweetest of breaths.
In it is contentment, in it is fulfilled desire, and in it is guidance—in it are the roots of my happiness and my life.
In it is the one who removed blindness from my eye and polished the suns of Truth in my mirror.
In it is the kind, tender father—may I be his ransom from every evil and affliction.
One hand extends toward me with his generosity, and the other, toward the sky with righteous prayers.
And if I commit sins, out of grace and kindness, he counts them among good deeds.
And when I place my cheeks beneath his sandals, I count my shortcomings among my slips.
He was not content with mere imitation (taqlīd)—he set forth tawḥīd with proof and signs.
A soul made pure—and by it, its lights were purified—in a form that outshone the clarity of my qualities.
It shone and was brilliantly pure, holy, nobly above likeness and doubts.
In every land, his praises are recalled with the fragrant breaths of morning breeze.
“O my father!”—though the call is exalted and my rank is small, it is a slave’s call to noble lords.
Wherever I turn I see your beauties, if I sway in tipsy rapture, they are my cupbearers.
By your secret, I found intimacy—so that I did not complain of my estrangement and scattering.
And when I turned to you in hard times, never could fate’s blows bend my spear
And whether I meet or ward off the pressing crisis, in your might, I find my deliverance.
I see all being as a rebounding echo, and Your being as the source of sound.
Upon you, from you, with every dusk and morn, the most exalted greetings and prayers are recited.
Original:
أَبداً بِذكْرِكَ تَنْقَضِي أَوْقَاتِي
مَا بَيْنَ سُمَّاري وَفي خَلَواتي
يَا وَاحِدَ الحُسْنِ البَديع لِذاتِهِ
أَنَا وَاحِدُ الأَحْزانِ فيكَ لِذَاتي
وَبِحُبِّكَ اشْتَغَلتْ حَواسِي مِثْلَمَا
بِجَمالِكَ امْتلأَتْ جَمِيعُ جِهَاتي
حَسْبِي مِنَ اللَّذاتِ فِيكَ صَبَابةً
عِنْدِي شُغِلْتُ بِهَا عَنِ اللَّذَّاتِ
وَرِضَايَ أَنِّي فَاعِلٌ بِرِضَاكَ ما
تَخْتارُ مِنْ مَحْوِي وَمِنْ إِثْباتي
يَا حَاضِراً غابَتْ بِهِ عُشَّاقُهُ
عَنْ كُلِّ ماضٍ في الزَّمانِ وآتِ
حَاسَبْتُ أَنْفاسِي فَلمْ أَرَ وَاحِداً
مِنْهَا خَلَا وَقْتاً مِنَ الأَوْقَاتِ
وَمُدَلَّهِينَ حَجبْتَ عَنْكَ عُقُولَهُمْ
فَهُمُ مِنَ الأَحْياءِ كَالأَمْواتِ
تَتْلو على الهَضَباتِ تَطْلُبُ ناشِداً
مِنْهُمْ كأَنَّك في ذُرَى الهَضَبَاتِ
لَمَّا بكوْا وضَحِكْتُ أَنْكَرَ بَعْضُهُمْ
شَأْني وَقَالوا الوَجْدُ بِالعَبراتِ
فأَظنُّهُمْ ظَنُّوا طَرِيقَكَ وَاحِداً
وَنَسوا بِأَنَّكَ جَامِعُ الأَشْتَاتِ
ما تَسْتَعِدُّ لِمَا تَفِيضُ نُفُوسُهُمْ
فَتَغَيضُ مِنْ كَمَدٍ وَمِنْ حَسَراتِ
يا قَطْرُ عُمَّ دِمَشْقَ وَاخْصُصْ مَنْزِلاً
في قاسِيُون وحَلِّهِ بِنَباتِ
وتَرَنَّمي يا وُرْقُ فيهِ ويا صَبَا
مُرِّي عَليْهِ بِأَطْيَبِ النَّفَحَاتِ
فِيهِ الرِّضَى فِيهِ المُنَى فيهِ الهُدَى
فيه أُصُولُ سَعادَتي وَحَياتِي
فيهِ الَّذي كَشَفَ العَمَى عَنْ نَاظِري
وَجَلا شُموسَ الحقِّ في مِرْآتي
فِيهِ الأَبُ البَرُّ الشَّفُوقُ فَديْتُهُ
مِنْ سَائِرِ الأَسْواءِ وَالآفاتِ
كَفٌّ تُمَدُّ بِجُودِهِ نَحْوِي وَأُخْ
رَى لِلسَّماءِ بِصَالحِ الدَّعَواتِ
وَإِذَا جَنيْتُ بِسَيِّئاتي عَدَّها
كَرَماً وإِحْساناً مِنَ الحَسَناتِ
وَإِذَا وَقَيْتُ بِوَجْنَتَيَّ نِعَالَهُ
عَدَّدْتُ تَقْصِيري مِنَ الزَّلَّاتِ
لَمْ يَرْضَ بِالتَّقْليدِ حَتَّى جَاءَ فِي ال
تَوْحِيدِ بالبُرْهَانِ وَالآياتِ
نَفْسٌ زَكَتْ وزَكَتْ بِهَا أَنْوارُها
في صُورَةٍ نَسَخَتْ صَفاءَ صِفاتِي
بَهَرتْ وَقَدْ طَهُرَتْ سَناً وتقدَّسَتْ
شَرَفاً عَنِ التَّشْبيهِ والشُّبُهاتِ
في كُلِّ أَرْضٍ لِلثَّناءِ عَليهِ مَا
يُرْوَى بِأَنْفَاسِ الصَّبَا العَبِقَاتِ
أأبي وَإِنْ جَلَّ النِّداءُ وقَلَّ مِقْ
دارِي نِداءُ العَبْدِ لِلسَّاداتِ
أَنّى التْفَتُّ رَأَيْتُ مِنْكَ مَحاسِناً
إِنْ مِلْتُ نَشْواناً فَهُنَّ سُقَاتي
وبِسِرِّكَ اسْتَأْنَسْتُ حَتَّى أَنَّني
لَمْ أَشْكُ عَنْكَ تَغرُّبي وشَتاتِي
وَإِذَا ادَّخَرْتُكَ لِلشَّدائِدِ لَمْ تَكُنْ
يَوْماً لِغَمْزِ الحادِثاتِ قَنَاتي
وَإِذَا التقيْتُ أَوْ اتَّقيْتُ بِبأْسِكَ ال
خَطْبَ المُلِمَّ وَجَدْتُ فيهِ نَجَاتي
وَأَرَى الوُجُودَ بِأَسْرِهِ رَجْعَ الصَّدَى
وَأَرَى وُجُودَكَ مَنْشأَ الأَصْواتِ
فَعَلَيْكَ مِنْكَ مَعَ الأَصَائِلِ والضُّحَى
تُتْلَى أَجَلَّ تَحِيَّةٍ وَصَلاةِ