أذنت أرض العدى بافتتاح — Ibn Alabar

أذِنَتْ أرْضُ العِدَى بافْتِتَاح

هَلْ وَرَاءَ الليْل غَيْرُ الصّباح

The enemy's land has heralded conquest.

Is there anything beyond night but morning?

مَا عَدَوْا أنْ هَيّجُوا لافْتِراس

وهُمُ الذُّؤْبانُ لَيْثَ الكِفاح

They merely roused to devour them—

wolves though they are—the lion of battle.

قَدحوا زَنْدَ الوَغَى فَاسْتَحَثُّوا

مَنْ لَهُ فِيها مُعلّى القِداح

They struck war's firestick and spurred

him who holds its highest winning arrow.

لَقِحَتْ حَرْبُهُمُ عَن حِيَالٍ

أنِسُوا إلْحَاقَهُم باللقَاح

Their war grew pregnant after barrenness;

they welcomed being joined to the milk-giving camels.

إنَّ للتّوْحيدِ عَزْماً صَحيحاً

يُوسعُ التَثليثَ كَرَّ اكْتِساح

Truly, belief in God's oneness has firm resolve

that subjects the Trinity to a sweeping charge,

وَيُساقِي الصُّفْرَ حُمْرَ المَنايا

بِالصّعادِ السمْر أو بِالصّفاح

and gives the yellow-skinned draughts of crimson death

with tawny spears or broad blades.

وُعِدت أنْدلْسٌ مِنْهُ بِيَومٍ

هِي لاسْتِقْبَالِهِ في ارْتِيَاح

Andalus has been promised by him a day

that she joyfully awaits.

كُلُّ أزْمٍ قَبْلَهُ وانَبِهَامٍ

لانْفراجٍ بَعدَهُ واتّضاح

Every hardship and obscurity before it

leads to relief and clarity afterward.

إنْ يَكُنْ عِيداً لِنَحرٍ وذَبْحٍ

كَيْفَ شَاءَتْ فَالأعَادي أضَاحي

If it is a feast of sacrifice and slaughter,

however she wishes, the enemies are sacrificial victims.

بالفَسَادِ اعْتَمَدُوا كُلّ صُنْعٍ

وعَلى الهادِي مَعَادُ الصّلاح

They based every deed on corruption,

and restoring righteousness falls to the guide.

أحِمَى حِمْصٍ أبَاحوا جِهاراً

وحِماها لَمْ يَكُن بالمُباح

Have they openly violated Hims's sanctuary,

though its sanctuary was never lawful prey?

لا وَيَحْيَى المُرْتَضى لا هَنَاهُم

بِألِيمِ القَرْحِ وَرْدُ القَراح

No, by Yahya al-Murtada! May they not enjoy

a draught of pure water amid agonizing wounds.

إنّمَا يَرْقُبُ مِيقَات فَتْحٍ

هُو آتٍ في ضَمانِ النّجاح

He only awaits the appointed time of a conquest

that comes with success assured.

ويُعيدُ البَرّ بَحْراً إلَيْهِمْ

ذا مَضَاء كالقَضاءِ المُتاح

And he will turn dry land into a sea against them,

with piercing force like allotted fate,

مِنْ كَمُاةٍ في وثوبِ الضّواري

فَوْقَ خَيْلٍ في هُبوبِ الرّياح

of armored warriors with the leap of predators,

mounted on horses with the rush of winds.

كالرّماحِ الُمشْرَعات اهتِزازاً

هزّ أعْطَافِهِم بالْمَراح

Like leveled spears, they quiver,

their sides swaying with exuberance.

وَدَمُ الأعلاجِ يَكْسو طُلاها

بَضّةً كالوَرْدِ فَوْقَ الأقاح

And the foreign infidels' blood clothes their throats,

soft and fair, like roses upon daisies.

وهُناك الصّيدُ يَرْوِي صَداها

باغْتِبَاقٍ مِنْهُ إثْرَ اصْطِباح

And there the quarry quenches their thirst

with an evening draught of it after a morning drink.

وغِنَاءُ البيضِ في الهامِ يُنْسي

طِيبَ أصْوات المَثاني الفِصاح

The singing of bright swords among skulls makes one forget

the sweetness of the clear-voiced lute strings.

إنَّ مِضْرابَ القُيونِ المُحَلّى

غَيْرُ مِضْراب القِيانِ المِلاح

The smiths' ornamented blade, indeed,

is not the plectrum of beautiful singing girls.

مَوْقِفٌ للنّصْرِ يَنْعي النّصارى

فاضِحٌ للنّوحِ مِلء النّواحي

A scene of victory proclaiming the Christians' doom,

revealing lamentation that fills every quarter.

فَخْرُهُ وَقْفٌ على كُلّ حامٍ

فيهِ لِلأعْمَارِ بالسّيْفِ مَاح

Its glory is reserved for every defender

who, within it, erases lives with his sword.

غَزَلٌ يَهْوى خُدودُ المَواضي

دامِيَاتٍ أو قُدودَ الرّماح

A lover who adores the cheeks of keen blades,

bloodied, or the slender forms of spears.

لاعْتِناق البُهْمَةِ الذّمْر يَصبْو

سَلْوةً عَن كُلّ خَوْدٍ رَداح

He yearns to embrace the formidable, valiant warrior,

forgetting every voluptuous maiden.

وبِروْح اللّه يُبْدى هُياماً

لا بِرَيْحان جَنِيٍّ وَراح

And he displays ardent longing for God's mercy,

not for fresh-picked basil and wine.

لم يَضِقْ بالصَّوْلِ والطَّوْلِ ذَرْعاً

كيفَ والبأسُ مُؤاخي السّمَاح

His powers have never fallen short in assault or bounty;

how could they, when valor is generosity's brother?

وَمِنَ الأقْدارِ أَعْوانُ صِدْقٍ

ليسَ لِلْقَتْلى بِها مِنْ جِراح

And among the decrees of fate are faithful helpers;

those killed by them have no wounds.

فَتَرى الأبْطَالَ صَرْعى ولكنْ

ما عَلَيْهَا أَثَرٌ للسّلاح

You see champions fallen, yet

they bear no trace of weapons.

دَنَتِ الرّوم لِتَنْأى نَجاةً

كَمْ تَدانٍ مُؤْذِنٌ بِانْتِزاح

The Romans drew near only to draw away for safety;

how often drawing near heralds retreat!

إنَّما عَزْمُ إمامٍ مُطاع

أمْرُهُ في كلِّ حَيّ لَقاح

It is but the resolve of an obeyed imam;

his command rules every independent tribe.

يَسْكُنُ الدّينُ لأقوى عِمادٍ

مِنْهُ والدُّنيا لأقْوى جَناح

The faith rests upon the mightiest pillar

in him, and the world beneath the mightiest wing.

هَذهِ العُرْبُ استَكانتْ وكانَتْ

في التّعاصي مَثَلاً والجِماح

These Arabs have submitted, though they were

a byword for disobedience and unruliness.

ولَها في العُجْمِ عَوْداً كَبَدْء

فَتْكُ ذي الدِّرعِ بذاتِ الوِشاح

Against the non-Arabs, again as at first, theirs is

the armored man's lethal assault upon the sash-clad woman.

إنَّما يَحيى حَياةُ البَرايا

وَكَفاها مِن حَياً مُسْتَماح

Yahya alone is the life of all creatures,

and he suffices them as rain whose bounty is sought.

أسْلَفَتْ صدْقَ جُنوح فَأَلْفت

مَع رَفْعِ الخَوْف خَفضَ الجَناح

They offered sincere submission, and found

fear lifted and the wing lowered in kindness.

دَوْلَةٌ حَفْصِيّة في اقْتِبالٍ

وعُلىً مَهْدِيّةٌ في طِماح

A Hafsid dynasty in full ascendancy,

and Mahdian glory aspiring to the heights.

مُنْتَهَاهَا في عَدِيّ بْن كَعْبٍ

وذُرَاها في الُّلبابِ الصُّرَاح

Its line reaches back to Adi ibn Ka'b,

and its summits lie in pure, unalloyed nobility.

نَيّرُ الأرْض سَنىً في اتّضاحِ

نَيِّرُ الأفْقِ به في افْتِضاح

The earth's luminary shines with evident splendor;

the horizon's luminary is put to shame by him.

وَمُلوك العَصرِ باؤوا بِعَجْزٍ

عَن فتوح سنها أوْ مِنَاح

And the kings of the age have proved powerless

to achieve the conquests he initiated, or such grants,

مِنْ صِيَالٍ نَارُهُ في اضْطِرامٍ

ونَوالٍ ماؤُهُ في انْسِياح

from onslaught whose fire blazes,

and bounty whose waters flow freely.

ولَقَدْ آلَتْ مَعَالِيهِ ألا

يَظْفَرُوا مِنْ رَوْمِها بِاقْتِراح

And indeed his lofty achievements have sworn that

they shall fulfill no wish in striving to reach them.

أيْنَ أعْرَابُ الصّواحي سَناءً

وغَنَاءً مِنْ قُريش البِطَاح

Where do the Bedouins of the open lands stand in glory

and prowess beside Quraysh of the broad valleys?

عِلْمُهُ مِنْ حِلْمِهِ لانْفِتاحٍ

ذاكَ كالبَحْرِ وَذا لانفِساح

His knowledge draws from his forbearance, opening out;

that is like the sea, and this spreads wide.

وأحاديثُ النّدى عَنْ يَديهِ

مُعْرِقاتٍ في الغرابِ الصّحاح

And the tales of generosity told of his hands

are deeply rooted in rare, authentic reports [reading uncertain].

أيُّها المولى تُوافي الأَيادِي

والقَوافِي لا تَفِي بامْتِداح

O master, your favors arrive in full,

yet the rhymes cannot do justice to your praise.

عُذْرُها في ذُعْرِها مِن جَلال

مَا عَلَى هَائِبه مِنْ جُنَاح

Their excuse lies in their dread of such majesty;

there is no blame upon one awed by it.

يا لَها كَدّت قِواها وَأَكدتْ

رُبّ زَنْدٍ صَالِدٍ في اقْتِداح

How they exhausted their powers, yet yielded nothing!

Many a firestick proves sparkless when struck.

إنْ تَكُنْ مِنْ غَيْرَةٍ في اقْتِتَالٍ

فَاللُّهى مِنْ كَثْرةٍ في اصْطِلاح

If jealousy keeps them in contention,

your gifts, in their abundance, dwell in concord.

يَدُكَ العُليا حَبَتْ كُلّ حُذْيا

مَا لإرْبَاحِي بِها من بَراح

Your upper hand has bestowed every gift;

there is no end to my gains through it.

بُورِكَتْ مِنْ رَاحَةٍ سَوّغَتْنِي

في بَكورِي لثْمَها أوْ رَواحي

Blessed be the palm that has allowed me

to kiss it on my morning or evening visits.