شهدت لك الأبطال يوم كفاحها — Ibn Darray Alqastalli

شهدَتْ لَكَ الأَبطالُ يَوْمَ كفاحِها

والحَرْبُ بَيْنَ غُدُوِّها وَرَوَاحِها

Champions bore witness for you on the day of their combat,

and war, between its morning advance and evening return,

والبِيضُ يومَ جلائِها ومَضائِها

والخيلُ فِي إِقْحامِها ومِرَاحِها

and white swords, when burnished and cutting keenly,

and horses in their plunging charges and prancing,

ومواكِبُ الأَملاكِ يومَ بهائِهَا

ومشاهِدُ السَّاداتِ يومَ سَماحِها

and royal processions on the day of their splendor,

and gatherings of lords on the day of their generosity:

أَنَّ المَدى يومَ ارْتِهانِ سِباقِها

لَكَ والمُعَلَّى يومَ فَوْزِ قِداحِها

that the goal, when their race is staked,

is yours, and the highest lot when their gaming arrows win.

عَقَدَتْ بِمَفْرِقكَ الرياسةُ تاجَها

وكَسَتْكَ لِبْسَ رِدائِها وَوِشاحِها

Leadership fastened its crown upon your head,

and clothed you in its mantle and sash.

ونَمَتْكَ من أَملاكِ يَعْرُبَ نَبْعَةٌ

تَلْوِي الكواكِبَ فِي ذُرى أَدْوَاحِها

And a nabʿ tree of Ya‘rub's kings brought you forth,

twining the stars amid the crowns of its great trees.

آسادُ أَغْيالٍ عَلَى مُهْتاجِها

وبِحارُ إِنعامٍ عَلَى مُمْتاحِها

Lions of thickets against whoever rouses them,

and seas of bounty for whoever draws from them;

ومَحَطُّ أَرْحالِ المُنى بموارِدٍ

رَحْبٍ عَلَى الوُرَّادِ عَذْبُ مُرَاحِها

and the halting-place of hopes' pack-saddles, at watering places

spacious for all who come, their resting grounds sweet;

ومنابِتُ العِزِّ الَّذِي عَمَرَتْ بِهِ

فِي الدهرِ شُمُّ إِكامِها وبِطاحِها

and seedbeds of glory, through which have flourished

throughout time their lofty hills and broad valleys;

ومعاقِدُ التيجانِ فَوْقَ مفارِقٍ

بَهَرَتْ إِياةَ الشَّمْسِ من أَوْضاحِها

and the seats of crowns upon heads

that outdazzled the sun's radiance with their white blazes.

والبأْسُ مِلْءُ صُدُورِها والحِلْمُ حَشْ

وُ بُرُودِها والجُودُ مَوْطِنُ راحِها

Valor fills their breasts, and forbearance lines

their cloaks; generosity is their palms' abode.

حَكَمَتْ لَهَا مُضَرٌ عَلَى ساداتِها

يومَ افْتِخارِ أُحَيْحَةَ بْنِ جُلاحِها

Mudar ruled in their favor against its own chiefs

on the day their Uhayha ibn Julah proclaimed his pride.

خُصَّتْ بتعليمِ الأَذانِ فَنُودِيتْ

فِي نَوْمِها بِصَلاحِها وفَلاحِها

They were singled out to learn the call to prayer, and summoned

in their sleep to their righteousness and salvation.

واسْتَقْرَضَ الرَّحمنَ جَنَّةَ خُلْدِهِ

بِثَباتِ حائِطِهِ أبُو دَحْدَاحِها

And he sought from the All-Merciful a loan of His eternal Garden—

their Abu Dahdah, through his orchard's permanence.

ومَناقِبٌ أَرْبَتْ عَلَى خُطَبائِها

ومآثِرٌ زادَتْ عَلَى مُدَّاحِها

And virtues outstripped their orators,

and noble deeds surpassed their panegyrists.

فَنَمَتْكَ فِي أَقيالِها ومُلُوكِها

وعَمَرْتَ سُبْلَ نوالِها وسَماحِها

Thus they reared you among their chieftains and kings,

and you made their paths of bounty and generosity flourish.

فلَبِسْتَ ثوبَ سَنائِها ووَفائِها

وحَفِظْتَ عَهْدَ سُيُوفِها ورِماحِها

So you donned the robe of their splendor and fidelity,

and upheld the covenant of their swords and spears.

فَعَبَأْتَ للإِسلامِ عَطْفَةَ رَحْمَةٍ

أَلْحَفْتَ أَهلَ الأَرْضِ ظلَّ جَناحِها

You mustered for Islam an impulse of mercy,

and enfolded earth's people in the shade of its wing.

وتباشَرَتْ منكَ المُنى لما دَنَتْ

بِمُيَسَّرِ الشِّيَمِ الكرامِ مُتاحِها

Hopes rejoiced in you, when there drew near

their fulfillment through the ready grace of noble traits.

وبَطَشتَ بالإِشراكِ بَطْشَةَ قادِرٍ

باللهِ مُجْتَثِّ العِدى مُجتاحِها

You smote polytheism with the blow of one made mighty

by God, uprooting foes and sweeping them away.

فَحَطَمْتَ عُدَّةَ مُلْكِها وفَصَمْتَ عُرْ

وَةَ جَمْعِها وكَفَيْتَ غَرْبَ جِماحِها

You shattered their kingdom's armaments and snapped the bond

of their host, and blunted their defiance's edge.

وقَرَيْتَ عُلْيا بَنْبِلُونَةَ عَزْمَةً

هَبَّتْ عَلَيْها من مَهَبِّ رِياحِها

You served the heights of Pamplona a resolve

that blew upon it from the quarter of its winds.

وتَكَنَّفَتْكَ من السعُّودِ كواكِبٌ

طَلَعَتْ بِخَيْلِكَ فِي وجوهِ نجاحِها

Stars of good fortune surrounded you,

rising with your cavalry along the avenues of their success.

والخيلُ تَغْدُو فِي الوغى بفَوارِسٍ

تَخِذَتْ معاقِلَها ذُرى أَشباحِها

The horses went forth into battle bearing knights

who made the summits of their mounts' bodies their strongholds.

ثُمَّ انْبَرى المنصورُ فِيهَا قارِعاً

بابَ السَّماءِ بِدَعْوَةِ اسْتِفْتَاحِها

Then al-Mansur stepped forth among them, knocking

at heaven's gate with a prayer for its opening,

مُسْتَنْجِزاً تأْييدَ ذِي العَرْشِ الَّذِي

فَلَقَ المشارِقَ عن سَنا إِصْباحِها

seeking the pledged aid of the Lord of the Throne, who

cleft the eastern horizons to reveal their dawn's radiance.

فَنَهَبْتَ عُمْرَ حياتِها وَحَوَيْتَ رِق

قَ حَريمِها وحَكَمْتَ فِي أَرواحِها

You plundered the span of their lives and took possession

of their women as slaves, and held sway over their souls.

فأَقَمْتَ فِيهَا للجِلادِ ولِلرَّدى

سُوقاً حَوَيْتَ المَجْدَ فِي أَرباحِها

You set up among them, for sword-fighting and death,

a market in whose profits you gained glory.

ورَمَتْ ظُباكَ إِلَيْكَ نَفْسَ مَليكِها

وارِي زِنادِ الخِزْيِ غيرَ شَحاحِها

Your sword-points flung toward you the person of their king,

with shame's flints blazing, unstinting in their sparks,

مُسْتَرْحِماً لَكَ من وَقائِعَ لن تَزَلْ

يُودِي بمُهْجَتِها أَلِيمُ جِراحِها

begging your mercy from battles that would never cease

to destroy their lifeblood through the agony of their wounds,

فَزِعاً إِلَيْكَ بنفسِ عانٍ خاضِعٍ

بادِي المَقَاتِلِ للسُّيوفِ مُبَاحِها

fleeing to you with a captive's submissive soul,

his vital spots laid bare, offered freely to the swords,

فِي شِيعَةٍ أَمَّتْ إِلَيْكَ وَقَدْ رَأَتْ

أَنَّ الخضوعَ إِلَيْكَ خَيْرُ سِلاحِها

among followers who came to you, having seen

that submission to you was their best weapon.

فأَجَرْتَ منه بالتَّعَطُّفِ مُهْجَةً

وَقْفاً مواعِدُها عَلَى أَنْواحِها

In compassion you sheltered a life within him,

whose appointed fate was reserved for lamentation.

وَكَرَرْتَ خيلَ اللهِ تَحْمِلُ مِثْلَها

أَطْلاحَ أَسفارٍ عَلَى أَطلاحِها

You wheeled God's cavalry back, bearing their like—

travel-worn riders upon their travel-worn steeds.

فَصَدَعْتَ أَحشاءَ الظَّلامِ بِعَزْمَةٍ

تَسْرِي البصائِرُ فِي سَنَا مِصباحِها

You cleft the entrails of darkness with a resolve

in whose lamplight inner vision travels by night,

والنصرُ يُشْرِقُ فِي ظُبى أَسيافِها

والفَتْحُ يَلْمَعُ فِي ذُرى أَرْماحِها

with victory shining on the edges of their swords,

and conquest gleaming on the tips of their spears,

حَتَّى صَبَحْتَ بِلادَ مِيرُو وَقْعَةً

أَنْحى عَلَى الإِشراكِ سُوءُ صَباحِها

until you brought a dawn attack upon the lands of Miru,

its baleful morning bearing down upon polytheism.

لاقَتْكَ دونَ حُصُونِها فَكَأَنَّما

لاقَتْ سُيُوفَكَ فِي فضاءِ بَرَاحِها

It met you before its fortresses, as though

it met your swords in the wide expanse of its open plain.

وأَبَحْتَ منها كُلَّ مُخْطَفَةِ الحَشا

شَرِقٍ عَلَى اللَّبَّات نَظْمُ وِشاحِها

You made spoil of every slender-waisted woman within it,

the strung jewels of her sash gleaming on her breast.

فُجِئَتْ بِلَمْسِ البَعْلِ إِلّا أَنَّها

خَطَّتْ رماحُ الخَطِّ عَقْدَ نِكاحِها

She was startled by a husband's touch, save that

al-Khatt's spears had inscribed her marriage contract.

بِيضٌ حَدَتْهُنَّ السيوفُ فَأَبْرَزَتْ

صَفَحَاتِ أَوْجُهِهِنَّ بِيضُ صِفاحِها

Fair women whom the swords drove on; laid bare

were the planes of their faces by the white broad blades.

يا حاجِباً شمسَ الأَقاصِي والدُّنى

بِنداهُ ثوبُ أَمانِها وَصَلاحِها

O you who eclipse the sun of farthest lands and nearest,

by whose bounty comes their robe of safety and well-being,

اِسْلَمْ ولا زالَتْ حياتُكَ غِبْطَةً

أَبَداً تُدِيرُ عَلَيْكَ أَكْؤُسَ رَاحِها

be safe, and may your life never cease to be a joy,

forever passing you the cups of its wine.