This remarkable poem/prayer was written in the 11th C by a famous Maghribi scholar/saint Ibn Nahwi, famous for his ability to bless and curse. The recitation of this poem is believed to relieve the difficulties and grant the wishes of the reciter and listener.  If you wish to hear some powerfully rhythmic poetry, play some of the youtube clips below.

 

Translation:

Get worse, o trouble, so that you may be lifted

For your night has announced the breaking of the dawn

And even the darkness of the night has its gleams

until the father of these gleams overwhelms them

And the dark clouds of bounty carry rain

that comes when its time is nigh

The blessings of our Lord are many

so your soul and heart’s blood can roam free

And they (the blessings) have a life-giving scent

so go to the source of that scent

And sometimes there is an overflowing of life

oceans of waves of surging depths

All creation is in his hands, some are expanded (have it easy)

while others are constricted (have it hard)

Their descents and ascents are either down a level or up a step

and their lives and their ends are not happening at random

Their wisdoms have been woven together by the hands of fate

and they’ve been knitted into the weaver

And so if things seem narrow and bent

know that it was meant to be like this

Their marvels have been witnessed as proofs

establishing the matter upon these proofs

 

Contentment with God’s decree is the knot

so make it your focus and turn your mount towards it

So if the doors of guidance are opened

then hurry into their treasuries and stay there

If you seek their end prematurely

then beware, for that is deviation

So that you can be among the foremost,

when you arrive at those (heavenly) expanses

remain there, for there is found life and bliss everlasting

for the one who has arrived and he who is arriving

So hasten to renew your efforts when they become stale

For if you consistently renew them, they will become constant

So disobeying God and its ugliness become beautiful to one who character is bent

But obeying God and its light are the gleams of a radiant morning

Whoever proposes to the maidens of eternity with these [lights]

will surely win over these lovely ones

So be pleased with them through your mindfulness of God

for tomorrow you will be satisfied and saved

 

Recite the Qur’an with a heart full of sadness and a voice of sweet melancholy

And the night prayer, and its hours, go through them with understanding and return

And reflect upon it and its meanings; you will arrive at paradise and be relieved

And drink from Tasnīm as it gushes forth, unmixed or mixed

The intellect is praised for giving it guidance and

passion, preventing it from being ridiculed

The book of God, its gardens are for the embodied intellects of creation

The best of creation find rest therein, all other than them get ravenous hunger from it

So if you are brave and do not panic in the haze of war

and if you are made to see the lights of guidance,

then let them shine above the heights

and when the soul longs, it finds painfully by longing for relief

Goodness unfolds laughing and the completion of laughter is success

Flaws and secrets are gathered with their trusts under the saddle

Kindness endures for its owner while separation leads to chaos

 

The Blessings of God upon the Guided One (Mahdi), who guides people to the Way

And on Abu Bakr, always together with him in life and in speech

And on Abu Hafs (‘Umar), his nobility in the story of the staff

And on Abu ‘Umar (‘Uthman) He of the two lights, who blushed and made blush with delight

and on Abu Hasan (‘Ali) like a heavy raincloud of knowledge, fulfilling his promise

and on the two Hasans (Hasan and Husayn) and their mother (Fatimah), and the entire family (of the Prophet), success comes from them

and their Companions and close ones, following in their footsteps is the way

and on their followers, the scholars, the right way is in knowledge of their religion

I conclude my work with them, so that I may be delivered (with them) tomorrow in the gathering

O Lord by them, and by their families, hasten victory and relief

 

 

 

Original:

اشتدي ازمه تنفرجي قد آذن ليلك بالبلج
وظلام الليل له سرج حتى يغشاه أبو السرج
و سحاب الخير له مطر فإذا جاء الإبان تجي
وفوائد مولانا جمل لسروح الانفس و المهج
ولها أرج محي أبدا فاقصد محيا داك الارج
فلربما فاض المحيا بحور الموج من اللجج
والخلق جميعا في يد فذوو سعة وذوو حرج
ونزولهم و طلوعهم فإلي درك وعلى درج
ومعايشهم و عواقبهم ليست في المشي على عوج
حكم نسجت بيدي حكمت ثم إنتسجت بالمنتسج
فإذا اقتصدت ثم انعرجت فبمقتصد وبمنعرج
شهدت بعجائبها حجج قامت بالأمر على الحجج
****
ورضا بقضاء الله حجا فعلى مركوزته فعج
وإذا انفتحت أبواب هدى فاعجل بخزائنها ولج
فإذا حاولت نهايتها فاحذر إذ ذاك من العرج
لتكون منه السباق إذا ما جئت إلى تلك الفرج
فهناك العيش وبهجته فلمبتهج ولمنتهج
فهج الأعمال إذا ركدت فإذا ما هجت إذن تهج
ومعاصي الله سماجتها تزدان لذي الخلق السمج
ولطاعته و صباحتها أنوار صباح منبلج
من يخطب حور الخلد بها يظفر بالحور والغنج
فكن المرضي لها بتقى ترضاه غدا وتكون نجي
****
واتلوا القرآن بقلب ذو حزن وبصوت فيه شجي
وصلاة الليل مسافاتها فاذهب بها بالفهم وجي
وتأملها ومعانيها تات الفردوس و تفترج
واشرب تسنيم مفجرها لا ممتزجا وبمتزج
مدح العقل لأتيه هدى وهوى متون عنه هجي
وكتاب الله رياضته لعقول الخلق بمندرج
وخيار الخلق هداتهم وسواهم منه همج الهمج
فإذا كنت المقدام فلا تجزع في الحرب من الرهج
وإذا أبصرت منار هدى فاظهر فردا فوق الثبج
وإذا اشتاقت نفس وجدت ألما بالشوق المعتلج
وثنايا الحسنى ضاحكة وتمام الضحك على الفلج
وعياب الأسرار إجتمعت بأمانتها تحت السرج
والرفق يدوم لصاحبه والخرق يصير إلي الهرج
***
صلوات الله على المهدي الهادي الناس إلي النهج
وأبي بكر في سيرته ولسان مقالته اللهج
وأبي حفص وكرامته في قصه سارية الخلج
وأبي عمر ذي ا لنورين المستحي المستحي البهج
وأبي حسن في العلم إذا وافى بسحائبه الخلج
وعلى السبطين وأمهما وجميع الآل بهم فلج
وعلى الحسنين وأمهما وجميع الآل بهم فلج
وصحابته و قرابته و قفاة الأثر على النهج
وعلى أتباعهم العلماء بعوارف دينهم البهج
وأختم عملي بخواتمهم لأكون غدا في الحشر نجي
يارب بهم وبآلهم عجل بالنصر وبالفرج