The commentators side by side

فلاقباها أى المدامة المذكورة

Fa-lā qablahā: that is, [before] the aforementioned wine.

Unsigned in the print: for vv. 23–30 al-Būrīnī's commentary is wanting and the print gives al-Nābulusī's alone, without its siglum.

﴿قبل﴾

أى زمن يقال فيه قبل

That is, a time of which 'before' is said.

Unsigned in the print: for vv. 23–30 al-Būrīnī's commentary is wanting and the print gives al-Nābulusī's alone, without its siglum.

﴿وقبلية الابعاد﴾

جمع بعد بالفتح بمعنى الزمن الذى يقال فيه قبل بالنسبة الى كل زمن يقال فيه بعد بالاضافة الى كل شئ

[It is] the plural of baʿd, with fatḥa. [Qabliyya is] in the sense of the time of which 'before' is said in relation to every time of which 'after' is said, in relation to everything.

Unsigned in the print: for vv. 23–30 al-Būrīnī's commentary is wanting and the print gives al-Nābulusī's alone, without its siglum.

﴿فهى﴾

أى تلك القبلية المنسوبة الى كل بعدية من الابعاد

That is, that before-ness attributed to every after-ness among the afters.

Unsigned in the print: for vv. 23–30 al-Būrīnī's commentary is wanting and the print gives al-Nābulusī's alone, without its siglum.

﴿حتم﴾

بالحاء المهملة مصدر حتم الامر عليه حتما أوجبه جزما والمعنى ان قبلية كل بعد لهذه المدامة المذكورة على وجه القطع والجزم من غير شك ولا تردد أصلا والمشار اليه فى مجموع هذا البيت ان الحضرة الالهية منزهة عن الدخول فى قيود الزمان كما هى منزهة عن قيود المكان فلها القبلية المطلقة عن كل شئ والبعدية المطلقة عن كل شئ وهى فى الازل الذى هو الحضرة الدائمة المحيطة بالازمنة كلها احاطة واحدة فلا ماضى للازلية ولاحال ولا استقبال اه

[It is] with the undotted ḥāʾ, the verbal noun of ḥatama al-amra ʿalayhi ḥatman: he made the matter binding upon him decisively. The meaning is that the before-ness of every after belongs to this aforementioned wine by way of certainty and decisiveness, without any doubt or hesitation at all. What is alluded to in this verse as a whole is that the divine ḥaḍra (presence) is transcendent above entering into the constraints of time, just as it is transcendent above the constraints of place. So it has absolute before-ness with respect to everything and absolute after-ness with respect to everything. It is in azal (pre-eternity), which is the everlasting ḥaḍra that encompasses all times with a single encompassing. So pre-eternity has no past, no present, and no future.

Unsigned in the print: for vv. 23–30 al-Būrīnī's commentary is wanting and the print gives al-Nābulusī's alone, without its siglum.