Singular in her essence, no pairing unsettles her,
guarded among keepers and watchmen.
Her fragrance diffuses perfume, her kiss is honeyed,
surrounded by garden blossoms and myrtle.
Wounded by what she received of my attribute,
with no healer for that wound.
Know, may God support you, that pilgrimage in the language is repeatedly intending the object intended, while the lesser pilgrimage is a visit.
God Most High ascribed the House to Himself when He said to His intimate friend Abraham, peace be upon him, “Purify My House for those who circumambulate, those who stand, and those who bow and prostrate” [al-Hajj 22:26]. He told us that it was the first house established for people as a place of worship, saying, “The first house established for people is the one at Bakka, blessed and a guidance for the worlds. In it are clear signs, the station of Abraham. Whoever enters it is secure. Pilgrimage to the House is owed to God by people” [Al ʿImran 3:96–97]. He made it a counterpart and likeness of His Throne, and made the humans circumambulating it like the angels surrounding “the Throne, glorifying their Lord with praise” [al-Zumar 39:75], meaning extolling their Lord, blessed and exalted. Our praise of God in circumambulation exceeds the angels’
Notes
Translator’s note TN2857-1: The poem’s ās means myrtle at the end of one couplet and a healer at the end of the next. The English retains the two meanings.
