and in the eloquent embellishment of speech, the swiftness of reply, and the graceful, consummate script (1);
and in the delicacy of poems whose marvels delight every listener, whether he fall short or aim true;
and in the feast of reunion after estrangement, and in the reassurance that settles the heart of the wanderer once driven away;
and in the beloved’s mercy toward the plaint of his lover, and in the tenderness of phrases voiced in affection;
and in the open-handed generosity of the noble toward beneficence, and in every master’s kind impulse to pardon;
and in the state of expansiveness and intimacy tasted by the ʿārifīn (gnostics) and in their ecstatic movements during the regulated samāʿ (spiritual audition);
and in the gentle verses of the Book through which one inhales the breeze of promise after the threat (2).

Then he said:

[The Manifestations of Majesty]

Likewise, the attributes of Majesty are manifestations
in which I behold Him without a moment’s doubt.
In the awe-inspiring authority of the venerable judge and his dignified bearing,
and in the power of the king unyielding in his defiance (3);
in the sharp edge of anger at the instant of recklessness,
and in the proud mettle of the imposing, revered chieftain (4);
in the onslaught of the ruby wine (5) when its steward oversteps all bounds (6),
and in the wretched manners of the riotous drinking-companion (7);
in the heat and the cold that divide the span of time,
and in the sting of a wound dealt by a spiteful envier (8);
in the hidden decree that empowers souls, with all their evil, over me,
and in the way transgression is made alluring to the aggressor (9);
and in the billowing dust of raids that engulfs the horizons,
kohl-darkening the eye of the sun with its antimony (10).