Even if they were distorted while you remained the ideal

Their outward forms grew hideous, and it is no surprise

That their hearts became more strayed and ignorant

They worshipped the Attributes; some are obsessed with

What appears to their eyes, and some are afflicted

The Essence of God transcends limit and

Description; it suffices me that He is the Exalted Unseen

They took the Book by its literal outward word

Lowly is he who took the externals as his interpretation

Those shackles are the bonds of the blind denier

The honor of guidance is to never be enchained

He whose drink is the rivers of wine

It harms him not to sip from the cup of the nectar

Indeed, the "Negator" is he who hypocritically feigns love

Not he who takes God as a patron is a negator

And the virtuous critic—his greatest concern

Is for the pearl, not the shell, nor the husk, nor naught

Say to the envious: your claim of love is enough

For some love is but a veil over the horror of hatred