بشرى بعيد أتى والنصر يقدمه — Ibn Farkoun

بشرى بعيدٍ أتى والنصْرُ يَقدُمُهُ

ورائِدُ العزّ يَسْتدعيهِ مَقْدَمُهُ

Glad tidings of a festival come, with victory preceding it;

and its arrival calls forth the herald of glory.

عيدٌ يعود بما شاءَتْ عُلاكَ فقدْ

سَما بعزّكَ للعلياءِ موسِمُهُ

A festival returns with what your lofty rank desired, for

its season has risen through your might to the heights of glory.

فالنّصْرُ قد بهَرَ العَلياءَ مصنَعُهُ

والصُنْعُ قد أبْهجَ الدُنيا مُتَمَّمُهُ

For victory's achievement has dazzled the heights of glory,

and the deed's completion has gladdened the world.

هذا هو الفتْحُ قد راقَتْ مطالِعُهُ

واستَشْرَفَتْ من ثَنايا العزْمِ أنجُمُهُ

This is the conquest, whose dawnings have charmed,

and whose stars have risen from the passes of resolve.

هذا هوَ الصُنْعُ قادَتْهُ العُلَى فَعلا

بُيوسُفٍ ملِك الأمْلاكِ معْلَمُهُ

This is the deed that high glory led; aloft rose

its landmark through Yusuf, king of kings.

فانْهَضْ يُحيّيكَ أبْهاهُ وأبهَرُهُ

سنىً وأوثَقَهُ عقْداً وأحْكَمُهُ

Arise: its fairest and most dazzling greets you,

in radiance, and its firmest and strongest in bond.

فالدّينُ سيْبُكَ مُجْديهِ وموجِدُهُ

والكفْرُ سيفُكَ مُفْنيهِ ومُعْدِمُهُ

For your bounty enriches the faith and brings it into being,

and your sword annihilates unbelief and reduces it to nothing.

حُكْمٌ يجدّدُهُ القصْدُ الحَميدُ فَما

يَبْلى على كَثرَةِ التّردادِ مُحْكَمُهُ

A decree that praiseworthy purpose renews: never

does its firm substance wear out, however often repeated.

وإنّ مالَقَةَ الغرّاءَ حلّ بها

موْلَى الخلائِفِ والأمْلاكُ تخدُمُهُ

And radiant Malaga has received

the lord of caliphs, whom kings serve.

لهُ وإن عَظُموا قدْرٌ تعظّمُهُ

وصْفٌ تُقدّسُهُ ذِكْرٌ تُقدّمُهُ

Though they are mighty, his is a rank they revere,

an attribute they hold sacred, a remembrance they put first.

ترْجو نَداهُ وتخْشى بأسَهُ فإذا

ما جدّ في عزْمِهِ يُرْجى تكرُّمُهُ

They hope for his bounty and fear his might; yet whenever

he is earnest in resolve, his generosity is hoped for.

فيقْبُضُ السيفَ حيثُ الرّزق يبسُطُهُ

كبارِقِ السُحْبِ يُزْجيها تبَسُّمُهُ

So he restrains the sword where he spreads sustenance,

like lightning in the clouds, its smile driving them on.

كم مَقصَدٍ حينَ ضنّ الدّهْرُ جادَ به

فعمّتِ المُنْعِمَ الوهّابَ أنعمُهُ

How many a sought-for boon he gave when Time withheld,

so his favors embraced even the lavish benefactor.

فكُلُّ مَلْكٍ وإن جلّتْ مواهِبُهُ

يُمْناهُ كعْبَتُهُ رُحْماهُ زَمْزَمُهُ

For every king, however great his gifts,

his right hand is that king's Kaaba, his mercy that king's Zamzam.

ما رُدّ عن أمَلٍ إلا ولاذَ بهِ

فالمَنْحُ يوجِدُهُ والمنْعُ يُعْدِمُهُ

Whenever denied a hope, he seeks refuge with him;

for giving brings him into being, and withholding makes him nothing.

يكْسوهُ ثوْبَ اعتِلاءٍ غيْرَ مُنتَهَجٍ

حتّى يَروقَ على عِطْفَيْهِ مُعلَمُهُ

He clothes him in a robe of eminence never before attained,

until its embroidered border shines upon his shoulders.

وسَبْتةٌ حلّ جُندُ الكافرينَ بها

فأصْبَحتْ وأقاصِيها مُيمَّمُهُ

And Ceuta: the soldiers of the unbelievers have settled there,

and its furthest reaches have become his destination.

يا هلْ يُجدَّدُ عهْدٌ في معاهِدِها

مضَى حَميداً وهلْ يَبْلى مُذمَّمُهُ

Ah, will an age be renewed in its dwellings,

one that passed in praise, and will its shameful age wear away?

وهلْ لمَعْقِلِها إنْ لمْ تُلمَّ به

رُجْعى وللشّركِ أحْزابٌ تُيمّمُهُ

And can its fortress, if you do not come to it,

ever be restored, while idolatry's factions make for it?

نادَتْكَ يا ملِكَ الدّنيا لتوضِحَ ما

ظلَّ العدوُّ قُبَيْلَ الفتْحِ يُبْهِمُهُ

It called to you, O king of the world, to make clear what

the enemy kept obscuring just before the conquest.

واستَنْشَقَتْ منْكَ ريحَ النصْرِ حين غَدا

مُسْتَقبَلُ الفتحِ يُهْديهِ تنَسُّمُهُ

And it inhaled from you victory's breeze, when

the conquest to come was heralded by its gentle breath.

هذي أحاديثُهُ وافَتْكَ من كثَبٍ

لمَظْهَرِ الدّينِ تُعليهِ وتُعْلِمُهُ

These tidings of it have reached you from close by,

for the faith's manifestation, which you exalt and proclaim;

حيثُ القبائلُ تدْعو منكَ ناصِرَها

وتَرتجيكَ لشمْلِ الدّين تنظِمُهُ

where the tribes call upon you as their champion,

and look to you to knit the faith's fellowship together:

للقُطْرِ تفتَحُهُ للأمْنِ تمْنَحُهُ

للعزّ توفِدُهُ للنّصْرِ تُقدِمُهُ

to conquer the land, to grant security,

to dispatch glory, to advance victory,

للمُلْكِ تنْجِدهُ للرّفْدِ توجِبُهُ

للدّين توجِدُهُ للكفْرِ تُعْدِمُهُ

to succor sovereignty, to guarantee aid,

to give the faith existence, to annihilate unbelief,

للأجْرِ تُحْرِزُهُ للوعْدِ تُنجزُهُ

للجيْشِ تُنْهِدُهُ للرّشْدِ تُلْهِمُهُ

to secure reward, to fulfill the promise,

to set the army marching, to inspire right guidance.

كم ردّها الكُفْرُ عنها حين تقْصدُها

كالطّيرِ تُمْنَعُ عذْبَ الوِرْدِ حُوَّمُهُ

How often unbelief turned them back from it when they sought it,

like circling birds denied sweet water at the watering place.

وما دَجى ليلُ خطْبٍ في معاهِدها

إلا انجَلى بصباحِ العزْمِ مُظْلِمُهُ

No night of calamity darkened in its dwellings

without its darkness clearing before the dawn of resolve.

رأيٌ تُصيبُ إذا الرّاياتُ قد نُشِرَتْ

لديْكَ شاكِلةَ الأغْراضِ أسْهُمُهُ

Counsel whose arrows strike, when the banners have been unfurled

before you, the very centers of their targets.

قد أقسَمَ النّصْرُ أن يحْتلَّ أرْبُعَها

والنّهْبُ لا يسَعُ الأيدي مُقسَّمُهُ

Victory has sworn to occupy its dwellings,

and the place of sharing the spoils cannot hold all the hands.

والبحْرُ من رهَجٍ يُبْدي تجهُّمَهُ

والموْجُ عن ثَبَجٍ يفْترُّ مَبسِمُهُ

The sea shows its scowl through a haze of dust,

and the wave's smiling mouth opens from its swelling crest.

وبارقُ السّيفِ من يُمْنى يديْكَ إذا

تجهّمَ الروْعُ يجْلوهُ تبسُّمُهُ

And the sword's lightning from your right hand, when

terror scowls, dispels it with its smile.

كم قائمٍ بجزيلِ النّصرِ قائِمُهُ

ومُعْرِبٍ عن جميل الصُنْعِ أعجَمُهُ

How many a sword, its hilt upholding abundant victory,

its mute steel proclaiming splendid achievement!

يخْطو ليخْطُبَ في حفلِ العِدى عجباً

ما راقَ أسْماعَهُمْ إلا مُصمِّمُهُ

It strides to speak before the enemy's gathering—how strange:

only its bone-cleaving edge delights their ears.

هيْهاتَ يشمَخُ فيها بعْدَما أنِفَتْ

للكُفْرِ أنفٌ وسيفُ النّصْرِ يرْغِمُهُ

Never shall there rear up within it, after its proud refusal,

a nose of unbelief, while victory's sword rubs it in the dust.

وهلْ يقودُ وليَّ الكافرينَ سوى

مُغْراهُ بالقدِّ في الهَيْجاءِ مُغرَمُهُ

And who can lead the unbelievers' champion but

one eager to cleave him in battle, enamored of him?

إن ساقَ حزْبَ العِدى للحرْبِ غادَرَهُ

نهْباً وقد راقَ في مغْناهُ مغنَمُهُ

If he leads the enemy's host to war, he leaves it

as plunder, with gleaming spoils in its abode.

وكيف لا يرْتَضي حُكْمَ الهوانِ وقدْ

هَوى لهُ الأسْمَرُ الخطّي يَخْصُمُهُ

And how could he not accept the sentence of abasement, when

the dusky Khatti spear has swooped upon him, refuting him?

دارِكْ به رمَقَ الإسْلامِ فهو على

شفاً وإنّ بهِ يُشْفَى تألُّمُهُ

Save with it Islam's last breath, for it is on

the brink, and through it its suffering is healed.

كمْ عامِلٍ عمِلتْ أيْدي الكُماةِ به

ما الدّهْرُ في صحُفِ العَلْياءِ يرْسُمُهُ

How many a spear-point with which warriors' hands have wrought

what Time inscribes in the pages of glory!

قامَتْ على ساقِها الحَرْبُ العَوانُ فما

ثنَتْهُ لمّا انثَنى فيها مُقوَّمُهُ

The oft-renewed war rose upon its leg, yet did not

turn it back when its straightened shaft bent in the fray.

ومُرْسَلٍ قيّدَ الأسْماعَ منْ طرَبٍ

كأنّهُ طائِرٌ يُشْجي ترنُّمُهُ

And many a loosed arrow held ears captive with delight,

like a bird whose song stirs sorrow.

تحلُّهُ القوْسُ عندَ الرّميِ أبْهَرَها

كأنّ صَدراً به ظنٌّ يُرجّمُهُ

The bow lodges it in its aorta when shooting,

as though it were a breast pelted by a doubt within.

وسابِقٍ في مجالِ الرّوْعِ مُتّئِدٍ

يخْتالُ حيثُ العِدى زهْواً مُطهَّمُهُ

And many a swift steed, composed in the field of terror,

its fine-built form prancing proudly amid the enemy;

للبرْقِ في سرْعةٍ للنّارِ في لهَبٍ

للرّيحِ في قوّةٍ يُعْزى مُجسَّمُهُ

to lightning in speed, to fire in flame,

to wind in strength, its bodily form is ascribed.

إذا عَلا البَطلُ المرْهوبُ صهْوَتَهُ

فجمعُهُمْ ظلّ يَثْنيهِ تقدُّمُهُ

When the feared champion mounts its back,

his advance keeps driving their host back.

أو جرّ من خلْفِهِ الخطّيَّ تحْسِبُهُ

صِلّاً تقَدَّمَهُ في القفْرِ ضيغَمُهُ

Or if he trails the Khatti spear behind him, you would think it

a viper preceded in the wilderness by its lion.

نامَ العدوّ وليلُ الأمْنِ يكْنُفُهُ

بها وقد راقَهُ فيها تلوّمُهُ

The enemy slept, sheltered by the night of safety,

there, delighted with his lingering within it.

ولو تجلّى صباحُ العزْمِ منكَ إذاً

لاستَيْقظَتْ بعْدَ هدْءٍ منه نُوَّمُهُ

And if the dawn of resolve shone forth from you, then

his sleepers would awaken after a lull, roused by it.

وسوفَ يكْبو به طِرْفُ العزيمةِ إذْ

يُجْريهِ في طلَقِ التّقْصيرِ مُجْرِمُهُ

And the steed of resolve will stumble beneath him, when

its guilty rider gallops it on negligence's course.

إنّ الفِرارَ وإن سُدّتْ مذاهِبُهُ

يُسْليهِ عن وطَنٍ بالرّغْمِ يُسْلِمُهُ

Indeed, flight, though its paths are blocked,

consoles him for a homeland he unwillingly surrenders.

كأنْ به قبلَ أن يحتلَّ حِلَّتها

يَثْنيهِ واهي القُوَى عنْها توهُّمُهُ

As though he, before occupying its settlement,

were turned away from it by his feeble imagining.

كأنْ بمَعْقلها يُلْقي ممنَّعُهُ

يداً ويرْتاحُ بالبُشْرى منعَّمُهُ

As though its well-defended one, within its fortress, offered

a hand in surrender, while its favored one rejoiced at the tidings.

ويُظْهرُ الدّهْرُ ما يُمْنايَ تكْتُبُهُ

للفتْحِ عنك وكان الدّهْرُ يكتُمُهُ

And Time reveals what my right hand writes

of your conquest, which Time had kept concealed.

تبُثُّها في أقاصي الخافقَيْنِ بما

تخُطُّهُ يدُكَ العُليا وترْسُمُهُ

You spread them to the furthest reaches of east and west through what

your exalted hand writes and inscribes.

فانهَضْ وعزْمُكَ يثْني قصْدَ ساكنها

مُخيباً حيثُ مَغناها مُخيَّمُهُ

So arise: your resolve foils the intent of its inhabitant,

thwarting him where its dwelling is his encampment.

لا يُضْمِرُ الدّهْرُ معْنَى الفتْحِ عنْكَ وقدْ

توضّحَ الآن طوْعَ النّصْرِ مُبْهَمُهُ

Time hides no meaning of conquest from you, for

what was obscure in it is now clear, at victory's bidding.

وإنّ عبدَكَ يُبْدي الدُرَّ من كلِمٍ

في مدْحِ عُلْياكَ أفكاري تُنظّمُهُ

And your servant brings forth pearls of words;

my thoughts string them in praise of your high station.

لوْلا نَداكَ وما أوْلَيْتَ من نِعَمٍ

ما راقَ منهُ فُراداهُ وتوْأمُهُ

Were it not for your bounty and the favors you bestowed,

neither its single pearls nor its paired ones would have charmed.

فخُذْ حديقَةَ طرْسٍ والثّناءُ بها

مِسْكٌ يُفَضُّ بأمْداحي مُخَتَّمُهُ

So take this garden of parchment, in which praise

is musk whose seal my panegyrics break open.

واهنأ به موسِماً جلّتْ مواهِبُهُ

وراقَ في أفْقِ العَلْياءِ مِيسَمُهُ

And rejoice in it as a season of mighty gifts,

whose mark shines on the horizon of glory.

لازالَ مُلْكُكَ للأمْلاكِ يُنْجِدُها

في كُلّ ما أحْكَمَتْ عهْداً يُحكّمُهُ

May your dominion ever succor the kings,

in every firm covenant they conclude that makes it the arbiter.

ودامَ رأيُكَ للرّاياتِ يعْقِدُها

والنّصْرُ لا يَنثَني عنْها مُحَتَّمُهُ

And may your counsel ever bind the banners,

and may assured victory never turn away from them.