أجلها في أباطحها جيادا — Ibn Farkoun

أجِلْها في أباطِحِها جِيادَا

تُجِدُّ السّيرَ طَوْعاً وانقِيادا

Drive them as steeds across her gravel plains,

pressing onward willingly and obediently.

وعرِّسْ بالرّكائِبِ في رُباهَا

فتِلْكَ حُداتُها تَبغي ارْتيادا

And halt the riding camels for the night upon her hills;

for those are their camel-drivers, seeking a stopping place.

على أنّي عَميدُ القَلبِ شاكٍ

وإن قرُبَتْ معاهِدُها البِعادا

Though stricken at heart, I complain

of separation, though her familiar haunts are near.

ستعلم دَوْلَةُ العُشّاقِ أنّي

عميدٌ قدْ جُعِلتُ لها عِمادَا

The realm of lovers shall learn that I

am a leader, appointed as its mainstay.

خبالُ القلْبِ يُذْهِبُهُ خَيالٌ

إذا هو قدْ ألمّ دُجىً وعَادَا

A phantom dispels the heart's derangement

when it visits in the darkness and returns.

ففي الطيف المُلِمّ لهُ شِفاءٌ

ولكِن جفْنُه ألِفَ السُّهادَا

For in the visiting dream-vision lies his cure,

yet his eyelid has grown used to sleeplessness.

حديث الوَجْدِ أكْتبُه فأُلْقِي

بصَفْحِ الخدّ من دَمْعي مدَادَا

I write the tale of yearning, pouring

ink from my tears upon my cheek's page.

وكم زمنٍ قطَعْنا في التَّصابِي

حَسِبنا غَيّنا فيهِ رشادَا

How much time we spent in youthful dalliance,

taking our waywardness then for right guidance.

تعاطيْنا كؤوسَ الوُدّ تُبْدي

لشمْلِ الأنْسِ جمْعاً واحْتِشادَا

We shared cups of affection, revealing

a circle of fellowship gathered in a throng.

أجَلْناها جِياداً قدْ أقمْنا

بميْدانِ السرُورِ لها طِرادَا

We sent them coursing like steeds, having staged

a chase for them in the field of delight.

وساحِرَةِ الجفُونِ أرَتْ حُلاها

فلَمْ تَتْرُكْ بلا وجْدٍ فُؤَادا

And one with bewitching eyelids displayed her adornments,

leaving not a heart without yearning.

فَواتِرُ وهْيَ تمْنَحُنا فتوناً

نواعسُ وهْيَ تمْنَعُنا الرُّقادا

Languid, yet granting us enchantment;

drowsy, yet denying us sleep.

فَلولاها لَما هِمْنا غراماً

ولا مِلْنا إلى الذّكْرى ودَادا

But for her, we would not wander mad with love,

nor turn to remembrance out of affection.

ولوْلا ناصِرُ الدّين ابْنُ نَصْرٍ

لما نِلْنا منَ الدنيا مُرادا

And but for Nasir al-Din ibn Nasr,

we would have gained no wish from this world.

ولوْلاه لأوْجَفْنا سِراعاً

رَكائِبَنا نَجوبُ بها البِلادا

And but for him, we would have driven swiftly

our riding camels, traversing the lands upon them.

وقدْ كُنّا نسيرُ بِلا انثناءٍ

ونتّخِذُ الثّناءَ عليهِ زادا

We had been journeying without turning back,

taking praise of him as our provision,

إلى أنْ جاءَنا وعْدٌ كَريمٌ

أفادَ منَ المَكارِم ما أفادا

until a generous promise reached us,

bestowing such bounties as it bestowed.

فأمْرَعَ بعْدَهُ روْضُ الأماني

وأخصَبَ كلّما رُمْنا مَرادا

After it, the garden of hopes grew lush,

and flourished whenever we sought our desire.

ومَنْ أوْفَى بعهْدٍ منك يا مَنْ

تَعاهِدُنا مَكارمُهُ عِهادا

Who is truer to a pledge than you, O you

whose bounties tend us like recurring rains?

وعبْدُ مقامِكُمْ نظماً ونثراً

أجادَ وعَن سَبيل الجودِ حادَا

Your high station's servant, in verse and prose,

has excelled, yet turned aside from generosity's path.

وسائِلُهُ لَديْكَ لَها صُعودٌ

ترُدُّ البيضَ والسُّمْرَ الصِّعادا

And his means of approach to you ascend,

repelling gleaming swords and brown lances.

بها لاقَى خُطوبَ الدّهْرِ دِرْعاً

ويوْمَ الفَخْرِ قلّدَها نِجادا

With them as armor he faced time's calamities,

and on the day of pride wore them as a sword-belt.

ستكْسونا الملابِسَ ضافياتٍ

وتُعْطينا المُحَجّلة الوِرادَا

You shall clothe us in ample garments,

and give us rose-red steeds with white stockings.

ومازِلنا على عِلْمٍ بأنّا

لذلِك لن نُضامَ ولن نُكادَا

And we have always known that,

because of this, we shall neither be wronged nor plotted against.

فإن جارَ الزمانُ وراحَ منّا

خضوعاً كيفَ نعْطيهِ قِيادَا

If time should oppress us and seek from us

submission, how could we yield it the reins?

وكيفَ وراحَةُ المَوْلَى ابْنِ نصْرٍ

تزيدُ من النَوالِ مَن اسْتَزادا

How could we, when the palm of our lord Ibn Nasr

grants more bounty to whoever asks for more?

تقولُ لمن هَوى منّا خضوعاً

أرى العَنقاءَ تكبرُ أن تُصادَا

It says to whoever desires our submission:

"I deem the phoenix too great to be caught."

إذا سُئِلَ الملوكُ فآل نصْرٍ

بحُورٌ قد أمَدّتْها ثِمادا

When kings are petitioned, the house of Nasr

are seas that replenish the rest, mere shallow pools.

ويُوسُفُ للملوكِ غدا إماماً

بما مَلكَتْ أنامِلُهُ جَوَادا

And Yusuf has become an exemplar to kings,

generous with all his fingertips possess.

ويوسُفُ قد غَدا بَدراً وبحراً

لديْه لَن نضِلَّ ولن نُذادا

Yusuf has become a full moon and a sea;

with him, we shall neither lose our way nor be driven off.

فبَدْرُ هُداهُ لا يَلْقَى مَحاقاً

وبحْرُ نَداهُ لا يخْشَى نَفادا

The full moon of his guidance never wanes to darkness,

and the sea of his bounty never fears depletion.

لقد فاقَ المُلوكَ نَدىً وعِلْماً

فلا مَلكٌ يرومُ لهُ عِنادا

He has surpassed kings in generosity and knowledge;

no king seeks to oppose him.

لنُصْرةِ مُلْكِهِ الأعْلَى تجلّتْ

ملائِكُ ترتقي السّبعَ الشِّدادا

To aid his supreme kingship, there have appeared

angels ascending the seven firm heavens.

لو الأفْقُ اقتدى بحُلَى عُلاهُ

هُدىً وندىً أنارَ سنىً وجادَا

If the horizon emulated the jewels of his greatness

in guidance and bounty, it would blaze with light and pour down rain.

ولوْ صدَرَتْ أوامِرُهُ لأضحَى

مطيعاً أمرَهُ فيما أرادا

And if his commands were issued, it would become

obedient to his order in whatever he wished,

فأمْطَى منْ بَوارِقِهِ جِياداً

ووَثَّرَ من كواكبهِ مِهَادا

providing steeds from its lightning flashes,

and making a soft bed from its stars.

ومن عَجبٍ نوالُكَ حين يَهْمي

يَزيد الفِكرَ صَيِّبُه اتِّقادا

A wonder: when your bounty pours down,

its downpour makes thought burn more fiercely.

وكمْ لِعلاكَ من صُنْعٍ جميلٍ

لجسْمِ الدّهْرِ قد أضحى فُؤادا

How many a splendid deed your highness has wrought,

that has become a heart in the body of time.

ولا كالنُّزهَة الغرّاءِ لمّا

لدَيها العِزُّ أصْبَحَ مسْتَفادا

Yet none is like radiant al-Nuzha, now that

glory has come to be attained there.

بَوادي الحُسْنِ قد لاحتْ بوادٍ

منَحْناهُ المحبّةَ والوِدادا

The first signs of beauty have appeared in a valley

to which we have given love and affection.

فأنواعُ الجمالِ وإن تناهَتْ

حَوَى جمعاً لها وبها انفرادا

For the forms of beauty, however perfect,

it gathers all together, and in them stands alone.

بَدا للأُنسِ ربْعاً حين أضحَتْ

ظِباءُ الإنسِ تحْسِبُهُ مَرادا

It appeared as a dwelling of delight, when

the gazelles of humankind came to deem it a roaming-ground.

إذا جالَ النّسيمُ لَدَى رُباهُ

وعادَ حديثَ بهْجَتِهِ أعادا

When the breeze roams among its hills

and returns, it repeats the tale of its splendor.

تثنّى الغُصنُ إذ أثْنَى عليهِ

خَطيبُ الطيْرِ من طَرَبٍ ومادا

The branch bends when it is praised

by the orator of birds, and sways in rapture.

بِوادٍ حَلّ مَوْلانا فعمّتْ

ركائِبُهُ الغوائرَ والنّجادا

In a valley our lord alighted, and there spread

his riding camels across lowlands and highlands.

تَرَى كُلّاً لديْه مِنْ يَديْهِ

يُراوَحُ بالمكارِمِ أو يُغادَى

You see everyone in his presence, from his own hands,

showered with bounties at evening or morning.

لقدْ شرّفْتَ مغْناهُ فقُلْنا

بحقٍّ أنْ يسودَ ولنْ يُسادا

You have honored its dwelling, so we said:

"Rightly should it rule, and never be ruled."

ستُثْني بالذي أوْليْتَ فيهِ

بَنو الآمالِ مَثْنَىً أو فُرادَى

For what you have bestowed there, you shall be praised

by the sons of hope, in pairs or singly.

وقدْ أوْحَشْتَها حمْراءَ مُلْكٍ

فأبْدَتْهُ خلوصاً واعْتِقادا

You had left her desolate, the royal Alhambra,

and she showed it in sincerity and devotion,

كأنّ الرّوحَ قدْ عادَتْ لجسْمٍ

غداةَ احْتَلّها المَوْلَى وعادا

as though the soul had returned to a body

on the morning our lord returned and took up residence there.

فلُقِّيتَ المُنى ظَعَناً وحَلّاً

وهُنِّئْتَ الثّناءَ المسْتَجادا

May you be granted your wishes, in travel and in residence,

and may you enjoy the finest praise.

إذا نادَى الورَى غرْباً وشرْقاً

إمامَ مُلوكِها كُنتَ المُنادى

When humankind calls out, in west and east,

for the leader of its kings, you are the one called.

بَقيتَ لنَصْرِ دين اللهِ تُعْلي

مَعالِمَهُ دِفاعاً أو جِهادا

May you live on to uphold God's religion, raising

its landmarks through defense or jihad.