نادتك أندلس فلب نداءها — Ibn Alabar

نَادَتْكَ أنْدَلُسٌ فَلَبِّ نِداءَها

واجْعل طَواغيتَ الصّليبِ فِداءَها

Andalusia has called you: answer her call.

And make the tyrants of the cross her ransom.

صَرَختْ بِدَعوَتك العليّة فاحْبُها

من عاطِفاتك ما يقي حوْباءها

She cried out invoking your exalted cause; bestow upon her

such compassion from you as will protect her soul.

واشدُدْ بِجلبك جُرْد خَيلك أزْرَها

تَرْدُدْ على أعْقَابِها أرْزَاءها

Strengthen her back by mustering your sleek steeds;

you will drive her calamities back upon their heels.

هيَ دَارُك القُصوى أوَتْ لإِيالَةٍ

ضَمِنْتَ لها معَ نصْرِها إيواءَها

She is your farthest realm, taking refuge in a dominion

whose shelter, along with aid, you have pledged to her.

وبَها عَبيدُك لا بَقاءَ لَهُم سوى

سُبُل الضّراعة يَسْلُكون سَواءَها

Within her, your servants have no means of survival save

the paths of supplication, whose straight course they tread.

خَلَعَتْ قُلُوبُهُمُ هُناك عزَاءَها

لمّا رأتْ أبْصارُهُم مَا ساءها

Their hearts there cast off their fortitude

when their eyes beheld what distressed them.

دُفِعوا لأبكارِ الخُطوب وعُونها

فَهُمُ الغَداةَ يُصابِرونَ عَنَاءَها

They were thrust into afflictions, new and seasoned,

and today they patiently endure their torment.

وَتَنَكّرَتْ لَهُم اللَّيالي فَاقْتَضَتْ

سَرَّاءَها وَقَضَتْهُمُ ضَرّاءَها

The nights turned hostile to them, reclaiming

their joys and repaying them with misery.

تِلك الجَزيرَةُ لا بقاء لها إذا

لَمْ يَضْمن الفَتْحُ القريب بَقاءَها

That peninsula cannot endure if

imminent victory does not guarantee her survival.

رِشْ أيها المولى الرّحيمُ جناحَها

واعْقِدْ بِأرْشية النّجاة رِشاءَها

Feather her wing, O merciful lord,

and bind her rope with the cords of deliverance.

أَشفى على طرفِ الحياةِ ذَماؤُها

فاستبْق للدّين الحَنيف ذماءَها

Her last breath has approached the brink of life;

preserve that last breath for the true faith.

حاشَاكَ أنْ تَفْنى حُشاشتُها وَقدْ

قَصَرتْ عليك نداءها ورَجَاءَها

Far be it from you to let her lingering life perish, when

she has reserved her call and hope for you alone.

طَافَتْ بِطَائفَة الهُدى آمالُهَا

تَرْجو بِيَحيى المُرْتَضى إحْياءَها

Her hopes have circled the company of guidance,

hoping through Yahya al-Murtada for her revival.

واسْتَشرفَتْ أمْصَارُها لإمَارة

عَقَدت لنَصر المُسْتضام لوَاءَها

Her cities have looked eagerly toward a principality

that unfurled its banner to aid the oppressed.

يا حَسْرَتِي لِعقائِلٍ مَعْقولَةٍ

سَئم الهُدى نحْو الضّلالِ هِداءها

Alas, my grief for noble women held bound!

Guidance is sickened by their being led toward error.

إيهٍ بَلَنْسيَةٌ وفي ذكراكِ ما

يمري الشؤون دماءَها لا ماءَها

Ah, Valencia! In remembering you is that which

draws blood, not water, from the tear ducts.

كيف السّبيلُ إلى احتِلال معاهدٍ

شبّ الأعاجِم دُونها هيْجاءها

How can we return to dwell in familiar haunts

before which foreigners have kindled battle?

وإلى رُبىً وأباطِحٍ لَمْ تَعْرَ مِنْ

خلَعِ الرّبيع مصيفَها وشِتاءَها

And to hills and broad valleys never stripped of

spring's robes, in their summer or their winter?

طابَ المُعرّسُ وَالمَقيلُ خِلالَها

وَتطلّعَتْ غُرَر المُنى أثْناءها

Sweet were the night's repose and noonday rest amid them,

and the shining brows of hopes emerged within them.

بِأبي مدارسُ كالطلول دَوارسٌ

نَسختْ نواقيسُ الصّليب نِداءَها

My father be ransom for schools effaced like ruins,

whose call the bells of the cross have supplanted;

ومصانعٌ كسَف الضّلالُ صَباحها

فيخالُه الرّائي إليْه مَسَاءَها

and edifices whose morning error has eclipsed,

so that the beholder mistakes it for their evening.

رَاحَتْ بها الوَرْقاءُ تُسمعُ شدوَها

وغَدت تُرجِّعُ نَوْحَها وبكاءَها

There the gray dove spent the evening voicing her song,

then greeted the morning repeating her lament and weeping.

عَجَباً لأهْل النار حلّوا جَنّةً

مِنْهَا تمُدُّ عَلَيْهِم أفْيَاءَها

How strange that the people of hell should inhabit a paradise

within her, spreading its shade over them!

أمْلتْ لهُم فتعجّلوا ما أمّلوا

أيّامُهُم لا سُوِّغوا إملاءها

They gave them respite, and they hastened to gain what they hoped for—

their days; may they never be granted that respite!

بُعْداً لِنَفْس أبْصَرَتْ إسْلامَهَا

فَتَوكَّفَتْ عنْ جزّها أسْلاءَها

Away with a soul that saw itself surrendered,

yet held back from severing its own birth membranes!

أمّا العُلوجُ فَقَد أحالُوا حالها

فَمَن المُطيقُ علاجَها وشِفَاءها

As for the barbarians, they have changed her condition;

who is capable of treating and curing her?

أهْوى إليْها بالمكاره جارح

لِلكُفْر كَرّه ماءَها وهواءَها

A predator swooped upon her bearing afflictions,

in unbelief's service, making her water and air loathsome.

وكفى أسى أن الفواجعَ جمّة

فَمَتى يُقاوم أسْوُها أسْوَاءها

Enough sorrow that the calamities are many;

when can her healing withstand her ailments?

هَيهات في نَظَر الإمارَة كفُّ ما

تخْشاه ليْت الشُّكرَ كان كِفاءها

Far off! In the ruler's care lies averting what

she fears; would that gratitude could recompense it!

مَولاي هَاك معادةً أنْباءَها

لِتُنيلَ منْك سعادةً أبْناءَها

My lord, here are her tidings, told again,

that you may bestow happiness on her children.

جَرِّدْ ظُباك لمحو آثار العدى

تَقْتلْ ضَراغِمَها وتَسْبِ ظِباءَها

Unsheathe your blade-edges to erase the enemy's traces;

you will slay their lions and capture their gazelles.

واسْتدْع طائِفَة الإمام لِغَزْوها

تَسْبِق إلى أمثالِها استدْعاءَها

Summon the Imam's company to raid them;

it hastens to such deeds before being summoned.

لا غَرْو أن يُعْزى الظهور لملة

لَمْ يَبْرحُوا دُون الوَرى ظُهَراءها

No wonder triumph should be ascribed to a faith

whose supporters, above all others, they have always been.

إنّ الأعاجِم للأعاربِ نُهْبَة

مَهْما أمَرْتَ بِغَزْوها أحْياءهَا

The foreigners are booty for the Arabs,

whenever you command their clans to raid them.

تالله لو دَبّت لها دَبّابُها

لَطَوَتْ عَلَيها أرْضَها وَسَمَاءَها

By God, if their Dabbab marched against them,

it would fold their earth and sky over them.

وَلو اسْتَقَلَّت عَوْفُها لقتالها

لاسْتَقبلت بالمُقرَبات عَفَاءَها

And if their Awf rose to fight them,

it would usher in their extinction with choice steeds.

أرْسِل جَوارِحَها تَجئك بصيدها

صَيْداً وناد لِطَحْنِها أرْحَاءَها

Send forth their hunting birds: they will bring you their quarry

captured; summon their millstones to grind them down.

هُبُّوا لها يا مَعْشَرَ التَّوحِيدِ قَدْ

آن الهُبوبُ وأحْرِزوا عَلْياءها

Rise for her, O people of divine unity; now

the time has come to rise: secure her exalted glory.

إنّ الحَفائِظَ من خلالِكُمُ التي

لا يَرْهَبُ الداعي بِهِنّ خَلاءها

Protective zeal is among your qualities, qualities

whose absence no caller appealing to them need fear.

هي نُكتةُ الدّنيا فحيهلاً بها

تَجدوا سناها في غدو سناءها

She is the world's bright spot; hasten to her,

and find her radiance as you go forth toward her glory.

أوْلوا الجَزيرَةَ نُصْرَةً إن العدى

تَبْغِي على أقطارها اسْتيلاءَها

Grant the peninsula aid; the enemy

seeks dominion over her regions.

نُقِصَتْ بِأهل الشّرك من أطرافها

فَاستحْفِظوا بالمُؤْمنين بقاءَها

The polytheists have diminished her along her borders;

so safeguard her survival with the believers.

حاشاكُم أنْ تُظْهروا إلْقاءَها

في أزْمةٍ أو تُضْمروا إقْصاءَها

Far be it from you openly to abandon her

in a crisis, or secretly intend to cast her away.

خُوضوا إليها بحْرها يُصبح لكمْ

رَهواً وجوبوا نحوَها بيداءها

Cross her sea to reach her; it will become for you

calm; traverse her wilderness toward her.

وافى الصَّريخ مُثوّبا يدعو لها

من يصْطفي قصد الثّواب ثواءها

The crier for help has arrived, repeating his summons for her

to whoever chooses to dwell there in pursuit of reward.

دَارُ الجِهاد فلا تَفُتْكمُ سَاحَةً

ساوَتْ بها أحياؤُها شُهَدَاءها

An abode of jihad: do not forgo an arena

where her living have become the equals of her martyrs.

هَذي رسائِلُها تُناجي بِالتي

وَقَفَتْ عَلَيْهَا رَيْثَها ونجَاءَها

These are her letters, confiding the matter

to which she has devoted her waiting and her haste.

ولَرُبّمَا أنْهَت سَوالِبَ للنهى

منْ كائِنات حُمّلت إنْهاءها

Often they have conveyed things that rob minds of reason,

events whose report they were charged to deliver.

وفَدَت على الدّار العَزيزة تَجْتَني

آلاءَهَا أوْ تَجْتَلِي آرَاءَها

They have come to the mighty court to gather

its blessings, or behold its counsels,

مُسْتَسْقِياتٍ مِنْ غُيوث غياثها

ما وَقْعُه يَتَقَدّمُ اسْتسقَاءَها

seeking rain from the showers of its succor,

rain whose fall precedes their prayer for it.

قَدْ أمّنَتْ في سُبْلها أهْوَالَها

إذْ سَوَّغَت في ظِلِّها أهْواءها

It has allayed their terrors along their paths,

granting their wishes beneath its shade.

وبِحَسْبِهَا أنّ الأمير المُرْتَضَى

مُتَرَقِّبٌ بِفُتوحها أنْبَاءها

And enough for her that Prince al-Murtada

awaits tidings of her victories.

في الله ما يَنويه من إدراكها

بكلاءةٍ يفدي أبي كلاءها

For God's sake is his intent to rescue her

with care—may my father be ransom for that care.

بُشْرى لأَنْدلُسٍ تُحبُّ لقَاءه

ويُحِبّ في ذات الإلَه لِقاءَهَا

Glad tidings for Andalusia, who longs to meet him,

while he, for God's sake, longs to meet her.

صَدَقَ الرُّواةُ المُخْبِرونَ بأنّه

يَشْفِي ضَنَاهَا أوْ يُعيدُ رُوَاءها

The narrators spoke truth when reporting that he

heals her wasting or restores her fresh beauty.

إنْ دَوَّخَ العُرْب الصّعابَ مَقَادَةً

وأبى عليها أن تُطيع إبَاءها

If he has subdued the Arabs, difficult to lead,

and refused to let them obey their own defiance,

فكأن بِفيْلقه العرمْرَم فالقاً

هَامَ الأعاجم نَاسِفاً أرْجَاءَها

it is as though, with his vast host, he were cleaving

the foreigners' heads and blasting their regions.

أنْذرْهُمُ بِالبَطْشَة الكُبْرى فقدْ

نذَرت صَوارمُه الرّقاقُ دِماءَها

Warn them of the greatest onslaught, for

his slender swords have vowed their blood.

لا يَعدَم الزّمنُ انتصارَ مؤيَّدٍ

تَتَسوَّغُ الدُّنيا بِه سَرّاءَها

Time shall not lack the triumph of one upheld,

through whom the world enjoys its happiness.

ملِكٌ أمَدَّ النَيّرات بِنُوره

وأفادَها لألاؤُه لألاءَها

A king who supplied the luminaries with his light,

whose brilliance bestowed their brilliance upon them.

خَضَعَتْ جَبَابِرَة المُلوكِ لِعزه

ونَضَتْ بِكَفّ صغارِها خُيَلاءَها

The mightiest kings bowed before his power

and, with humiliation's hand, cast off their pride.

أبقى أبُو حَفْصٍ إمَارَتَه له

فَسَمَا إلَيها حامِلاً أعْبَاءهَا

Abu Hafs left his principality to him,

and he rose to it, bearing its burdens.

سَلْ دَعْوَةَ المَهْديّ عن آثاره

تُنْبِئْك أنّ ظُباه قُمْنَ إزَاءَها

Ask the Mahdi's cause about his deeds;

it will tell you his blade-edges stood before it.

فَغَزا عِداها واسْتَرَقَّ رقَابَها

وحمَى حِمَاها واستَرَدّ بهَاءَها

He raided its enemies and enslaved their necks,

defended its sanctuary and restored its splendor.

قبضت يداه على البسيطة قَبْضَةً

قادَتْ له في قدّه أمراءَهَا

His hands took hold of the earth with a grip

that brought its princes to him in his fetters.

فعلى المَشارق والمغارب ميسَمٌ

لِهُداه شَرّفَ وَسْمُه أسْماءَها

Thus upon east and west lies a brand

of his guidance, whose mark has ennobled their names.

تَطْمو بِتُونِسها بِحارُ جُيوشه

فيزورُ زاخر موْجها زَوْرَاءها

The seas of his armies surge in her Tunis,

and their swelling waves visit her Zawra.

وَسع الزمانَ فضاقَ عنْه جَلالةً

والأرضِ طُرّا ضَنكها وفَضَاءَها

He encompassed time, yet time was too narrow for his majesty,

and all the earth, its narrow tracts and its open spaces.

ما أزْمَع الإيغال في أكْنَافِها

إلاّ تصَيّد عَزْمُهُ زُعَمَاءَها

Never did he resolve to penetrate its regions

without his resolve hunting down its leaders.

دانَتْ له الدُّنيا وشُمُّ مُلوكِها

فاحْتَلَّ منْ رُتَب العُلى شمّاءها

The world and its proud kings submitted to him,

and he occupied the loftiest rank of exaltation.

رَدّتْ سَعَادَتُه على أدْراجِها

غِيَل الزّمان ونَهْنهت غُلَواءها

His good fortune sent back upon their tracks

time's treacheries and curbed their fury.

إن يغْتِم الدُّوَلَ العَزيزَة بأسُه

فَلأنْ يُوالي جُودُه إعطاءَها

If his might brings grief upon mighty realms,

it is so that his generosity may keep bestowing upon them.

تَقَعُ الجَلائلُ وهْو راسٍ راسخٌ

فيها يُوقّعُ للسعودِ جلاءَها

Great calamities befall while he remains firm and steadfast,

issuing decrees for good fortune to dispel them.

كالطَّوْد في عَصْف الرياح وقَصْفها

لا رَهْوَها يَخْشى ولا هْوجاءها

Like a mountain amid the winds' raging and crashing,

he fears neither their gentleness nor their violent gale.

سامي الذّوائب في أعزّ ذُؤَابَةٍ

أعْلت على خِيَمِ النجوم بنَاءها

Lofty of crest, within the mightiest crest,

which raised its structure above the stars' tents.

بَرَكَتْ بكُلّ مَحَلّةٍ بركاتُه

شَفْعاً يُبَادرُ بذلُها شُفعاءها

His blessings have settled in every quarter,

in pairs, their bestowal preceding their intercessors.

كالغَيْث صَبّ على البَسيطة صَوْبَه

فَسَقى عَمائِرَها وجَاد قَواءَها

Like rain pouring its downpour upon the earth,

watering its inhabited lands and drenching its wastes.

يَنْميه عَبْد الواحِد الأرْضى إلى

عُلْيا تَجَنّح بَأسها وَسَخَاءَها

Abd al-Wahid, most pleasing, traces his descent to

an eminence that gives wings to its valor and generosity.

في نَبْعَةٍ كَرُمتْ وطابَتْ مَغْرِساً

وسَمَتْ وطالتْ نضْرَةً نُظراءها

In a shoot grown noble and wholesome in its planting,

rising high and surpassing its peers in freshness.

ظهرت بِمحتدها السّماء وجاوَزَتْ

بِسُرادقاتِ فخارها جوْزاءها

Through its ancestral stock it rose above the sky and surpassed,

with the pavilions of its pride, the sky's Jawza.

فئةٌ كرامٌ لا تكُفّ عن الوغى

حتّى تُصرِّعَ حوْلها أكفاءها

A noble company that never ceases from battle

until it lays its equals dead around it,

وتَكُبُّ في نار القِرى فوْقَ الذُّرى

من عِزّةٍ لُوّاتِها وكُبَاءَها

and heaps into hospitality's fire upon the heights,

in proud honor, its aloeswood and incense.

قد خلقوا الأيَّامَ طيبَ خَلائِق

فَثَنَتْ إلَيهمْ حَمْدها وثَنَاءَها

They have scented the days with sweetness of character,

so the days turned their praise and commendation toward them.

يُنْضُونَ في طَلَب النّفائِس أنْفُساً

حَبَسوا على إحرَازِها أنْضَاءَها

They wear out souls in pursuit of precious things,

devoting their wasted forms to securing them.

وَإذا انْتَضَوْا يَوْمَ الكَريهَة بيضَهُمْ

أبْصَرْت فيهم قَطْعها وَمَضاءَها

When, on the day of battle, they draw their white blades,

you see in them those blades' cutting force and keenness.

لا عُذْر عند المكرُماتِ لهم متى

لم تَسْتَبن لعُفاتِهم عذْرَاءها

They have no excuse before noble deeds whenever

their maiden form is not revealed to those seeking their bounty.

قَوْمُ الأمير فمنْ يقُومُ بِما لهم

من صالِحاتٍ أفحَمتْ شُعَرَاءَها

They are the prince's people: who can do justice to what they possess

of good deeds that have silenced their poets?

صَفْحاً جَمِيلاً أَيُّها المَلك الرّضي

عنْ مُحكماتٍ لم نُطق إحْصَاءها

Grant gracious pardon, O worthy king,

regarding consummate deeds we could not enumerate.

تَقِفُ القوافي دُونَهنّ حَسيرةً

لا عِيّها تُخْفي ولا إعْيَاءها

Rhymes halt before them, weary,

concealing neither their speechlessness nor their exhaustion.

فلعل عَلْيَاكمْ تُسامح راجياً

إصْغاءها ومُؤمّلاً إغضاءَها

Perhaps your highness will pardon one who hopes

for your attentive hearing and longs for your indulgence.