إلى عرفات الله Ila Arafat Allah (To the Arafat of God)

Ila 'arafati Llahi ya khayra za'irin

'Alayka salamu Llahi fi 'arafati

Wa-yawma tuwalli wijhata l-bayti nadiran

Wasima majali l-bishri wa-l-qasamati

'Ala kulli ufqin bi-l-Hijazi mala'ikun

Tazuffu tahaya Llahi wa-l-barakati

Lada l-babi Jibrilu l-aminu bi-rahihi

Rasa'ilu rahmaniyyatu n-nafahati

Wa-fi l-Ka'bati l-gharra'i ruknun murahhibun

Bi-ka'bati qussadin wa-rukni 'ufati

Wa-Zamzamu tajri bayna 'aynayka a'yunan

Mina l-kawthari l-ma'suli munfajirati

Laka d-dinu ya rabba l-hajiji jama'tahum

Li-baytin tahuri s-sahi wa-l-'arasati

Ara n-nasa afwajan wa-min kulli buq'atin

Ilayka ntahaw min ghurbatin wa-shatati

Tasawaw fa-la l-ansabu fiha tafawutun

Ladayka wa-la l-aqdaru mukhtalifati

Wa-ya rabbi hal tughni 'ani l-'abdi hijjatun

Wa-fi l-'umri ma fihi mina l-hafawati

Wa-tash-hadu ma adhaytu nafsan wa-lam adur

Wa-lam abghi fi jahri wa-la khatarati

Wa-la hummilat nafsun hawan li-biladiha

Ka-nafsi fi fi'li wa-fi nafathati

Wa-qaddamtu a'dhari wa-dhulli wa-khashyati

Wa-ji'tu bi-da'fi shafi'an wa-shakati

Wa-anta waliyyu l-'afwi fa-mhu bi-nasi'in

Mina s-safhi ma sawwadtu min safahati

Wa-man tadhaki d-dunya ilayhi fa-yaghtarir

Yamut ka-qatili l-ghidi bi-l-basamati

Idha zurta ba'da l-bayti qabra Muhammadin

Wa-qabbalta mathwa l-a'zumi l-'atirati

Wa-fadat mina d-dam'i l-'uyunu mahabatan

Li-Ahmada bayna s-sitri wa-l-hujurati

Wa-ashraqa nurun tahta kulli thaniyyatin

Wa-da'a arijun tahta kulli hasati

Fa-qul li-rasuli Llahi ya khayra mursalin

Abuththuka ma tadri mina l-hasarati

Shu'ubuka fi sharqi l-biladi wa-gharbiha

Ka-ashabi kahfin fi 'amiqi subati

Bi-aymanihim nurani dhikrun wa-sunnatun

Fa-ma baluhum fi haliki z-zulumati

Wa-qul rabbi waffiq li-l-'aza'imi ummati

Wa-zayyin laha l-af'ala wa-l-'azamati

To the Arafat of God, O best of pilgrims — ✦ ✦

God's peace be upon you on the plain of Arafat. ✦

And on the day you turn, radiant, toward the House,

your face all brightness in its noble lines,

on every horizon of the Hijaz stand angels ✦

bearing in procession God's greetings and His blessings.

At the door is Gabriel the Trustworthy, in his palm

letters fragrant with the breath of the All-Merciful;

and in the resplendent Kaaba a cornerstone gives welcome —

itself a shrine of seekers, a pillar for those who plead.

And Zamzam runs before your eyes in springs ✦

bursting from the honeyed river of Paradise.

Faith is Yours, O Lord of the pilgrims: You gathered them

to a House whose courts and precincts are all purity.

I see mankind in throngs, from every corner of the earth, ✦

ending at Your door their exile and their scattering.

They stand as equals: no lineage outranks another

before You, and no worldly stations differ.

And O my Lord — can one pilgrimage avail Your servant ✦

when a lifetime holds the stumbles that mine holds?

You witness I never wounded a soul, did no harm,

sought no wrong in my speech nor in my secret thoughts;

and no soul was ever charged with love of its homeland

deeper than mine, in all I do and all I utter.

I have laid out my excuses, my humbleness, my fear,

and brought my weakness and my complaint to intercede.

You are the Master of pardon: erase with the white light

of forgiveness whatever pages I have blackened. ✦

For he at whom the world smiles, and who is beguiled,

dies as the victims of beauties die — slain by a smile.

When, after the House, you visit Muhammad's tomb ✦

and kiss the resting place of the fragrant bones,

and eyes brim over with the tears of awe

for Ahmad, there between the veil and the chambers,

a light will dawn beneath every mountain pass

and a perfume rise from under every stone.

Then say to God's Messenger: O best of the sent,

I pour out to you sorrows you already know.

Your peoples, in the east of the lands and in their west, ✦

are like the Sleepers of the Cave, sunk deep in slumber.

In their right hands are two lights — the Book and the Way —

so why do they wander in the blackest of darkness?

And say: my Lord, make my nation equal to great things,

and adorn its deeds and its resolves with grace.