أهلي قد أنى لك أن تهلي — Ibn Darray Alqastalli

أهِلِّي قَدْ أنى لكِ أن تُهِلِّي

إلى صَوبِ الغمامِ المُسْتَهِلِّ

Raise your cry; the time has come for you to raise it

toward the downpour of the streaming cloud.

فَمُدِيّ طرفَ ناظرةٍ تَرَيْني

تَمَكَّنَ مَغَرِسي فِيهِ وأصْلي

Cast your gaze and look; you will see me,

my planting-place and root firmly established there.

سنا برقٍ تلألأَ عن ذِماِمِي

وصوبُ حياً تجلَّى عن مَحَلِّي

The gleam of lightning flashing forth to protect me,

and a downpour of rain revealed over my dwelling.

ودونَكِ مَبْركاً فِي فَيْءِ ظِلٍّ

يُريكِ بأنَّهُ فَيئي وظِلِّي

Here is a kneeling-place for you beneath sheltering shade,

showing you that it is my shelter and my shade.

هُوَ الظِلُّ الَّذِي قارَعتِ عنهُ

حَصى الرَّمضاءِ دامِيةَ الأظلِّ

It is the shade for whose sake you struck

the sun-scorched pebbles, your hoof-soles bleeding.

وهذا موعدُ الأَملِ المنادي

سُراكِ سُرورُهُ ألّا تَمَلِّي

And this is the meeting-place of hope, which summoned

your night journey; its joy is that you should not weary.

ونورُ الفجرِ من إظلامِ لَيلٍ

أضاءَ نجومَهُ لَكِ أن تَضِلِّي

And dawn's light emerges from the darkness of a night

that lit its stars for you, lest you go astray.

أوانَ يُفَتِّرُ الإِمساءُ جهدي

فأطلُبُ فِي سنا الإصباحِ ذَحْلي

When evening slackens my efforts,

I seek my revenge in the radiance of morning.

ويَرْمَدُ فِي هجيرِ القيظِ جفني

فأجعلُ من سوادِ الليلِ كُحْلي

My eyelid grows inflamed in summer's midday heat,

so I make the blackness of night my kohl.

لكيما تعلَمي فِي أيِّ مأوىً

من الملكِ الرفيعِ وضعتُ رَحْلي

So that you may know in what shelter

of the exalted king I have set down my saddle,

ويَصدُقَكِ العيانُ بأي حبلٍ

من ابن العامِرِيِّ وصلتُ حبلي

and firsthand sight may tell you truly to what cord

of Ibn al-Amiri I have joined my own.

وحسبُكِ قولُهُ أهلاً وسهلاً

بما جاوزتِ من حَزْنٍ وسَهلِ

His words, "Welcome, and be at ease," suffice you

for the rugged and level ground you have crossed.

فسِيحي وارتَعِي كلَّاً إليه

عَلَى ظَلَعِ الكلالِ حَمَلْتِ كَلِّي

So roam and graze, dependent upon him;

despite your weary lameness, you have carried my burden.

مدىً لكِ كانَ منكِ مَدى كريمٍ

فَكوني منه فِي حِلٍّ وبلِّ

The course you ran was a noble creature's course;

so be released from it, free and absolved.

وَقَدْ قَضَتِ المكارِمُ أن تَعزِّي

كَمَا قَضَتِ المكارِهُ أن تَذِلِّي

Generous deeds have decreed that you be honored,

as hardships decreed that you be humbled.

فَرَعياً فِي حمى مَلكٍ رَعاني

فَحَلَّ قيودَ تَرْحَالي وحِلِّي

Then graze in the preserve of a king who cared for me

and loosened the shackles of my journeys and my stays.

مَدى عبد العزيز وأيُّ عِزٍّ

أنَختُ إليه ذُلّاً فَوْقَ ذُلِّ

The domain of Abd al-Aziz—and what glory!—

where I knelt before him, in abasement upon abasement.

فَعَوَّضَ منكِ فِي مثواه بِرِّي

وأذْهَلَ عنكِ فِي مثواهُ نُزْلي

He replaced you, in his dwelling, with kindness to me,

and my welcome in his dwelling made me forget you;

وعن مَثَنى زِمامِكِ فِي يميني

شَبا قَلمٍ عَلَى الدُّنيا مُطِلِّ

and from the folded loop of your rein in my right hand

I was diverted by a pen-point overlooking the world.

يُملُّ عليه مؤتَمَنُ المعالي

مساعيَهُ فيَستَملي ويُملي

To it the trustee of lofty deeds dictates

his endeavors; it takes dictation and dictates.

ويُسمِعُ فِي صريرِ الخطِّ منهُ

خطاباً لا يُمَلُّ من المُمِلِّ

And in the squeak of its writing it lets one hear

speech from the one dictating, of which one never tires.

لِجَدِّكَ كَانَ أوَّلُ سَعْدِ جَدِّي

وأغْدَقُ بارِقٍ فِي جَوِّ مَحلي

Your grandfather brought the first good turn of my fortune,

and was the most rain-laden lightning-cloud in the sky of my drought,

وأحنى موتِرٍ برضاه قوسي

وأخفى رائِشٍ بنَدَاهُ نَبْلي

the kindest to string my bow with his favor,

and the most discreet to feather my arrows with his bounty.

وصَيَّرَ مَا حَمى حَرَمِي حَراَماً

عَلَى عَدْوِ الزمان المستحلِّ

He made my sanctuary, which he guarded, inviolable

to the onslaught of time, the violator of sanctity.

ووطَّأ فِي مكارِمِهِ مِهادِي

وأعْلى فِي مراتِبِهِ مَحَلِّي

He smoothed my bed amid his generous deeds,

and raised my station among his ranks.

وكم حَلَّى يَدِي من ذي عِنانِ

ودَلَّ إلى يَدِي من ذاتِ دَلِّ

How many a bridled steed he placed as an adornment in my hand,

and how many a charming woman he led into my hand!

فَحَقَّاً مَا تَرَكتُ عَلَيْهِ بَعْدي

ثناءً أعْجَزَ المُثنِينَ قَبلي

Truly, I left behind me, in his honor,

praise beyond the power of his earlier praisers.

فأمطَرْتُ الورى رُطَباً جَنيّاً

وَمَا سُقِيَتْ بغيرِ نداهُ نَخْلي

I rained freshly gathered ripe dates upon mankind,

yet my palms were watered only by his bounty.

وسَقَّيتُ النُهى أرْياً مَشَوراً

وَمَا جَرَسَتْ سِوى نُعْمَاهُ نَحْلي

I gave minds honey drawn from the comb to drink,

yet my bees had fed on nothing but his favors.

هُوَ المَلِكُ الَّذِي لَمْ يُبقِ مِثلاً

سِواكَ ولا لِنَظْمِ عُلاكَ مِثْلي

He is the king who left no equal

but you, nor my equal in versifying your glory.

ويَبْخَسُني الزمانُ ولو وَفى لي

بِحَظّي لاشتكى جُهْدَ المُقِلِّ

Time cheats me; if it paid me fully

my share, it would complain of a poor man's strain.

ولو أنِّي سلَلْتُ عَلَيْهِ سَيفاً

تُقَلِّدُني لباءَ بِشِسْعِ نَعلي

And if I drew against it a sword

that you girded me with, it would come away with my sandal-strap.

وكَمْ من شاهِدٍ عَدْلٍ عَلَيْهِ

بظُلمِي لَوْ قَضى قاضٍ بِعَدْلِ

How many a just witness there is against it

for wronging me, if a judge would judge fairly!

ولو سَمِ جَدُّكَ المنصورُ أدعُو

إِلَيْهِ لَمَ يَسُمْني سَوْمَ مَطْلِ

Had your grandfather al-Mansur heard me calling

to him, he would not have subjected me to delay.

وأنتَ ورِثْتَهُ طِفلاً ولكن

رَجَحتَ عَلَى الرجالِ بِحلمِ كَهْلِ

You were his heir while still a child, yet

you outweighed grown men with a mature man's forbearance,

بما رَدَّاكَ من هَدْيٍ وبِرٍّ

وَمَا حلّاكَ من قولٍ وفعلِ

through the guidance and goodness in which he clothed you,

and the words and deeds with which he adorned you.

فَغَضَّ من البدورِ سنا هِلالٍ

وهَدَّ من الليوثِ زئيرَ شِبلِ

Thus a crescent's gleam dimmed the full moons,

and a cub's roar subdued the lions.

وأنتَ أمِينُهُ فِي كل سَعْيٍ

سَقى نَهَلاً لِتُتْبِعَهُ بِعَلِّ

You are his trusted guardian of every endeavor

he watered with a first draught, for you to follow with a second;

محافِظُ عَهدِهِ فِي قَوْدِ جَيْشٍ

بأعباءِ الوقائِعِ مُسْتقِلِّ

an upholder of his covenant in leading an army

that shoulders the burdens of battles,

وتالي شَأوِهِ فِي كلِّ فَخْرٍ

وثاني سَعْيِهِ فِي كلِّ فَضْلِ

following his course in every glory,

and seconding his endeavors in every excellence;

وفَيْضُ يمينِهِ والحمدُ يَغْلُو

ونورُ جبينهِ والحربُ تَغْلي

the bounty of his right hand when praise grows precious,

and the light of his brow when war boils,

بكُلِّ أغَرَّ فوقَ أغَرَّ يَصْلى

جَحيم الحرب مُقْتَحِماً ويُصْلي

with every bright-faced warrior on a white-blazed steed, enduring

war's hellfire, charging in and making others burn.

يلوثُ الدِرْعَ منهُ بِليْثِ بأسٍ

يصولُ عَلَى العِدى بأصمَّ صِلِّ

He wraps his mail about a lion of valor,

who assails the foes with a deaf viper.

وكلِّ عُقابِ شاهِقَةٍ تَجَلَّى

أناسيُّ الحتوفِ لما تُجَلِّي

And every soaring eagle: laid bare

are death's pupils when it unveils itself.

بَرِيُّ السيفِ من دَهَشٍ وجُبْنٍ

وحُرُّ الصدرِ من غَدرٍ وغلِّ

His sword is free of panic and cowardice,

and his breast free of treachery and rancor.

وَمَا يُثنى السِنانُ بغيرِ قَصفٍ

ولا حَدُّ الحُسامِ بغيرِ فَلِّ

The spearhead is turned aside only by breaking it,

and the keen sword's edge only by chipping it.

جَلوتَ لهُمْ معالِمَ ذَكَّرَتْهُمْ

مَعالِمَ جَدِّكَ الملِكِ الأجلِّ

You displayed to them hallmarks that recalled

the hallmarks of your grandfather, the most august king.

سلكتَ سبيلَهُ هَدْياً بهديٍ

وقمتَ مقامَهُ مِثْلاً بِمِثلِ

You followed his path, guidance for guidance,

and took his place, like for like.

وأخلَصْتَ الصَّلاةَ إلى المَصَلَّى

فَبُورِكَ فِي المُصَلَّى والمُصَلِّي

And you sent sincere prayers to the one prayed for;

blessed be the one prayed for and the one praying.

وَقَدْ خَفَقَتْ عليكَ بنودُ عِزٍّ

عَلَتْ واللهُ أَعلاهَا ويُعلي

Banners of glory have fluttered above you,

rising high: God raised them and raises them still,

كما خَفَقَتْ عَلَيَّ قلوبُ غِيدٍ

أَمَرَّ لَهُنَّ دوني وَهوَ مُحلِ

as the hearts of slender maidens fluttered for me—

he brought bitterness to them, not to me, though he brings sweetness—

بما أثبَتَّ فِيهِ من يَقيني

وَمَا حَقَّقْتَ فِيهِ من لَعَلِّي

through the certainty of mine you established there,

and the 'perhaps' of mine you made real there,

وما راعيتَ فِيهِ من ذِمامي

وَمَا أدْنَيْتَ فِيهِ من مَحَلِّي

and the claim to protection of mine you respected there,

and the station of mine you brought close there.

فلا زِلْتَ المُفَدَّى والمُرَجَّى

نَدَاهُ للغريبِ وللمُقِلِّ

May you ever be the one for whom lives are offered, whose

bounty is hoped for by the stranger and the needy,

ونُوراً فِي الظلامِ لِمُستَنِيرٍ

وظِلّاً في الهجيرِ لِمُسْتَظِلِّ

and a light in darkness for those seeking light,

and shade in the midday heat for those seeking shade.