قُلْ للرَّبِيعِ اسْحَبْ مُلاءَ سحائِبِ

فَاجْرُرْ ذُيُولَكَ فِي مَجَرِّ ذَوائِبي

Tell spring to draw back the fullness of its clouds,

And drag its torrents through the course of my sorrows,

لا تُكْدِيَنَّ ومن ورائِكَ أَدْمُعِي

مَدَداً إِلَيْكَ بفَيْضِ دَمْعٍ ساكِبِ

Lest my tears flowing copiously towards you

Outlast you, mingled with profuse weeping.

وصبابَةٌ أَنفاسُها لَكَ أُسْوَةٌ

إِنْ ضاقَ ذَرْعُكَ بالغَمامِ الصَّائِبِ

And a youth whose breath to you is exemplary

Should your burden be heavy with the striking cloud,

وامزِجْ بِطيبِ تَحِيَّتِي غَدِقَ الحَيَا

فاجْعَلْهُ سَقْيَ أَحِبَّتِي وحَبائِبي

And mingle the fragrance of my greeting abundantly with life

And make it the watering of my loved ones and darlings.

عهداً كَعَهْدِكَ من عِهادٍ طالما

كَسَتِ البُرُودَ معاهِدِي ومَلاعِبي

A pact like your pact with covenants that have long

Clad my loyalists and playmates in coats of mail,

واجْنَحْ لِقُرْطُبَةٍ فَعانِقْ تُرْبَها

عَنِّي بِمِثْلِ جَوانِحي وتَرَائِبي

And head for Cordova and embrace its soil

In my name with my whole heart’s fervor and passion,

حَيْثُ اسْتَكانَتْ للعَفاءِ منازلي

وَهَوَتْ بأَفلاذِ الفؤادِ نَجَائِبي

Where my dwellings yielded to desolation

And the apple of my heart’s core fell to ruin,

ذُلُلاً تَعَسَّفْنَ الدُّجى بِأَذِلَّةٍ

ولواغِباً جُبْنَ الفَلا بِلَوَاغِبِ

Humbled, subjected to the darkness with abasement

And despondent, cowardly before the valiant hero.

وكواكِبٌ ناءَتْ بِقرْبَتِها النَّوى

فَقَضَتْ مدامِعُهَا بِنَوءِ الغارِبِ

And stars that drew near in their sorrowful vigils

Fulfilled their weeping at the setting of the vanished sun

من كُلِّ مَفْجُوعٍ بتَرْحَةِ راحِلٍ

لَمْ يُسْلِهِ طَمَعٌ بفَرْحَةِ آيبِ

For every grief-stricken one, parted from a departing loved one

Whose hopes were not cheered by the coming of one awaited

كَذَبَتْهُ بارِقَةُ المُنى عن صادِقٍ

من ظَنِّهِ وصَدَقْتَهُ عن كاذبِ

The delusive lightning of wishes lied to the truthful one

About his supposition, and proved the liar truthful

ظُعُنٌ سَرَيْنَ الليلَ ضَرْبَةَ لازِمٍ

وسَرى إِليها الهَمُّ ضَرْبَةَ لازِبِ

Misfortunes that scourged the night with an incurable plague

And misery that befell it with an unremitting stroke,

جَمُدَتْ عَلَيْهِنَّ القُلوبُ فَأَسْبَلَتْ

فَوْقَ المحاجِرِ كُلَّ قَلْبٍ ذائِبِ

Their hearts frozen above the rubble,

Every heart melting above its ruins

وتَخازَرتْ عنها العُيُونُ فأَبْرَزَتْ

عن أَعْيُنٍ بِدِمائِهِنَّ سَوَاكِبِ

Their eyes eluding them, so they displayed

Eyes shedding their blood like shooting stars

وتَقَطَّعَتْ أَسبابُهُنَّ لِطِيَّةٍ

وَصَلَتْ بِهِنَّ سباسِباً بسباسِبِ

Their means were severed by a fatal swoon

And the epochs fettered them with recurved fetters

يَطْلُبْنَ شَأْوَ غرائبٍ ليَ كُلَّمَا

نَأَتِ البلادُ حَلَلْنَ غَيْرَ غَرَائِبِ

Seeking the marvels of an estranged land, but whenever

The lands approach, they find no marvels.

لَحِقَتْ بأَسْبابِ السَّمَاءِ فَأُعطِيَتْ

فِيهَا خُلُودَ أَهِلَّةٍ وكَواكِبِ

They attached themselves to the means of heaven, so they were granted

Everlasting life among the celestial bodies and stars,

وَأَعَدَّتِ الأَزْمانُ مَاءَ شَبابِها

لِحُنُوِّ ظَهْرٍ أَوْ لِرَأْسٍ شائِبِ

And time made ready the water of their youth

For the stooping of an aged back or a graying head.

وعَقَدْنَ بالأَبَدِ الأَبيدِ وإِنْ نَأَى

حِلْفَيْنِ حِلْفَ مُسَايِرٍ ومُعَاقِبِ

They made their pact for all endless perpetuity, though remoteness

Remove the oaths of an accompanying comrade and requiting confidante

مَا بَلَّ بَحْرٌ صُوفَةً وتقاذَفَتْ

أَمْواجُهُ بشَمَائِلٍ وجَنَائِبِ

No sea ever donned armor and clashed its billows

With deadly ripples and passionate waves,

هَدَماً إِلَى هَدَمٍ وَحِفْظَ دَمٍ دَماً

حَدَبٌ بعَطْفِ مُشاكِهٍ ومُنَاسِبِ

Ruin upon ruin and shedding of blood, blood

The hunchback with sympathy, the upright with accord

زُهْرٌ طوالِعُها لِكُلِّ غَدٍ غَدٌ

وَجَزَاؤُها رَهْنٌ بأَمْسِ الذَّاهِبِ

Blossoms whose dawns for each morrow are morrows

And whose wages depend on the passing yesterday,

تَشْدُو بِهَا خُضْرُ الحَمَامِ وَحَظُّها

عَنْقَاءُ رِيعَتْ بالغُرَابِ النَّاعِبِ

With it the green pigeons sing while its lot

Is the crested curlew with its woeful cry,

حَلَّيْتُها الأَرْضَ الَّتِي هِيَ فارِكِي

وكَسَوْتُها الدَّهْرَ الَّذِي هُوَ سالِبي

I made it the adornment of the land which abandoned me

And clothed it in the age which despoiled me.

ومَلأْتُ مِنْهُنَّ العُقُولَ عَجَائِباً

ولَنَقْصُ حَظِّي مِن تَمامِ عَجَائِبِي

I filled minds with wonders about them

Though my share of perfecting my wonders fell short.

مَيْتُ الرَّغائِبِ والمَسِيحُ مُوَرِّثِي

إِحياءَ آثاري وخُلْدَ مَناقِبي

Dead are my hopes, while the Messiah inherits me,

Reviving my ruins and perpetuating my virtues

بِشَوارِدٍ فِي الأَرْضِ غيرِ أَوابِدٍ

وطوالِعٍ فِي الجَوِّ غَيْرِ غَوارِبِ

With exiles on earth other than homes

And stars in the sky other than settings

ولقد قَضَيْتُ من الصَّبابَةِ حَقَّها

فَقَضتْ من الأَمَلِ البَعيدِ مآرَِبي

And I have fulfilled my youthful passion to the full

Which in turn fulfilled my distant hopes,

قَنَّعْتُها الصَّبْرَ الجَميلَ فأَسْفَرَتْ

فِي آلِ يَحْيى عن جميلِ عواقِبِ

I sufficed it with fine patience, so it revealed

The fair consequences of the house of Yaḥyā,

وشَدَدْتُ عَقْدَ خِتامِها فاسْتَفْتَحَتْ

بِمكارِمِ المنصورِ ضِيقَ مَذَاهِبِي

And I sealed its conclusion, so it opened up

The narrow straits with the virtues of al-Manṣūr,

فَهَلَ اَنتَ يَا زَمَنَ الرَّبيعِ مُبَلِّغٌ

بالمَغْرِبَيْنِ أَحِبَّتِي وأَقارِبي

Will you then, O spring days, inform

My beloved and dear ones in the Maghrib

أَنَّ الربيعَ لَدَيَّ شِيمةُ قاطِنٍ

وحَيا الغمامِ عَلَيَّ دِيمَةُ دائِبِ

That spring for me is the attribute of an inhabitant

And the clouds’ life for me is the habit of one who lingers

من بعدِ مَا غَمَّ الصَّباحُ لناظِرِي

واشْتفَّ مِنِّي البَحْرُ جَرْعَةَ شارِبِ

The fragrance of the meadows from the diffusion of my abodes

The copious clouds from the surplus of my drinking-places

وأَنِسْتُ بالأَهوالِ حَتَّى لَمْ أُبَلْ

أَلِقاءُ أُسْدٍ أَمْ لِقاءُ ثَعالِبُ

It goes perfumed with the breath of my features

And returns at dawn exacting my tribute

كمْ أَنشَبَتْ فِيَّ الخطوبُ مخالِباً

حَتَّى انْثَنَتْ عنِّي بغيرِ مخالبِ

It rises to gather the unique beauty of my charms

And sets to reap the choice rarities of my wonders

وشَفَيْتُ سُمَّ عَقارِبٍ بأَساوِدٍ

ودَفَعْتُ سُمَّ أَساوِدٍ بعقارِبِ

It lodges spreading flowers over the plains and hills

That inform about you, that you are my composer

حتى نَزَفْنَ سُمومَهُنَّ فلَمْ يُرَع

من نافِثاتِ السُّمِّ ليلُ الحاطِبِ

From the luxuriance which the gardens of my orchards exude

And whose essence the clouds of my cisterns pour down

وسُدِكْتُ بالغَمَرَاتِ حَتَّى بَلَّدَتْ

فَرَمَيْنَ حَبْلِي فَوْقَ ذِرْوَةِ غارِبِ

So I threaded them into each rising horizon

And sent them with every piercing star

وتدارَكَتْنِي ذِمَّةٌ من يَعْرُبٍ

مَطَرَتْ عَليَّ ثِمارَ جَنَّةِ مأْرِبِ

And - O Manṣūr - I threaded your mention among them

Like stringing beads on a necklace’s string

فهناكَ أَنْصَلْتُ الأَسِنَّةَ وانْتَحى

سيفي بِهَا مَسْحاً بسُوقِ ركائِبي

A mention atop minds nobler than any lodging

And over the wastelands of earth clearer than any rider

ورفَعْتُ ناراً للعيونِ وقودُها

أَقْتابُ أَحْدَاجي وَوَقْرُ حقائِبي

Ramparts for your glory, raised by signs

The standards of my courtesy and mention of my virtues

نِعَمٌ تكاد تَرُدُّ أَيَّامَ الصِّبا

وتُعيدُ أَزْمانَ النَّعِيمِ الذَّاهِبِ

With openings from every current eulogy

And conclusions from every passing praise

أَيَّامَ أَلْقى الصُّبْحَ تِرْبَ كواكبٍ

أَدَباً وأُحْيي اللَّيْلَ خِلْبَ كواعِبِ

So the two realms coveted the discourse of the most eloquent poet

And the world screamed for the most articulate suitor

والمَكْرُمَاتُ منازلي ومشاهِدِي

والمُقْرَباتُ مراكِبي ومَرَاقِبي

I then discoursed while fate was part of my pulpits

And aspired while the galaxy was part of my battles

إِذْ أَنتَ يَا زَمَنَ الرَّبيعِ مُخَيِّمٌ

فِي ساحِلي ومُغَيِّمٌ من جانِبي

I wrote of it scriptures for the nights

Which the tongues of enduring time recite

عَبِقُ الرَّوائِحِ من نَثِيرِ غدائِرِي

غَدِقُ السَّحائِبِ من فُضُولِ مشارِبي

Until I made the glory of your kingdom present

In every region, absent from your lands,

وتَرُوحُ مُغْتَبِقاً شَمُولَ شمائِلي

وتعُودُ مُصْطَبِحاً ضَرِيبَ ضَرائِبي

And I revealed your exemplar to the world amidst the clamor

Strutting between mounted warriors and sailing ships

تَغْدُو فَتَسْتَملِي بديعَ محاسِني

وترُوحُ تَسْتَقرِي نفيسَ غرائِبِي

And I showed you to the humble nations crowned

With sièges and wreathed with brigades

وتبيتُ تنشُرُ فِي الأَباطِحِ والرُّبى

زَهْراً يُخَبِّرُ عنك أَنَّكَ كاتِبي

I lifted the veil of night from you for one who departs, approaches, distances or draws near

Until they saw your brilliance beneath the darkness

مِمَّا تَرِفُّ بِهِ رِياضُ حدائِقي

ويُفيضُ جَوْهَرَهُ عُبابُ غوارِبي

Like a vision to one who travels in a dreamer's imagination

A flier in the tumult of the fray with arrivals

فَنَظَمْتُها فِي كُلِّ أُفْقٍ نازِحٍ

وبَعَثْتُها مَعَ كُلِّ نَجْمٍ ثاقِبِ

Like arrivals, retinues and riders like mounts

Until the son of Shanj, humbled on the day he wronged you

وَنَظَمْتُ يَا مَنصورُ ذكرَكَ وَسْطَها

نَظْمَ العُقُودِ عَلَى تَرَائِبِ كاعِبِ

Hastens to you in repentance, a guilty sinner

After he had plundered the lands and could find

ذِكْرٌ عَلَى الأَلبابِ أَكْرَمُ نازِلٍ

وَعَلَى فِجاجِ الأَرْضِ أَوْضَحُ راكِبِ

No refuge from your abode, a fleeing escapee

And saw weakness in rising against you, the best ally

سُورٌ لِمَجْدِكَ رَفَّعَتْ آياتِها

أَعْلامُ آدابي وذِكْرُ مناقِبي

And saw fleeing to you as the safest companion

He called upon you confessing the humiliation of a sinner

بفواتِحٍ من كُلِّ مَدْحٍ سائِرٍ

وخواتِمٍ من كُلِّ حَمْدٍ ذاهِبِ

And came to you clothed in the habit of a monk

My prospects became visible during your protection

فاسْتَشْرَفَ الثَّقَلانِ أَخْطَبَ شَاعِرٍ

وأَصَاخَتِ الدُّنيا لأَشْعَرِ خاطِبِ

When my exile overwhelmed my sunsets

So you sealed my long tribulation by welcoming me

فَخَطَبْتُ والعَوَّاءُ بَعْضُ منابِرِي

وأَمَمتُ والجوزَاءُ بعض محَاربي

And rewarded the strangeness of my plight with hopes

You saved me from every impending misfortune

وكَتَبْتُ منها لِلَّيالي مُصْحَفاً

تتلُوهُ أَلسِنَةُ الزَّمانِ الدَّائِبِ

To the point of despairing hope's frustration

I found succor for my needs in your presence

حَتَّى تركتُ سَناءَ مُلْكِكَ حاضِراً

فِي كُلِّ أُفْقٍ عن بلادِكَ غائِبِ

And solace for my sorrows and cure from my afflictions

The feast truly manifested itself to you in a lovely

وجَلَوْتُ للدُّنيا مثالَكَ فِي الوَغى

تختالُ بَيْنَ ذوابِلٍ وقَواضِبِ

Radiance, for misfortunes and calamities

Your eyebrow which you engendered proceeds before you

وأَرَيْتُكَ الأُمَمَ الخُلُوفَ مَتَوَّجاً

بخوافِقٍ ومُكَلَّلاً بكتائِبِ

Like the sun when it shone its eyebrow at you

In a scene with the brilliance of your forehead beaming

ورَفَعْتُ سِتْرَ الليلِ عنكَ لِغَابِرٍ

ومُقَدَّمٍ ومُباعِدٍ ومُقارِبِ

Beaming with soft hair and braided locks

A lovely sight challenging the slanderers with blades

حَتَّى أَرَيْتَهُمُ السَّنا تَحْتَ الدُّجى

وخيالَ سَارٍ فِي مَخِيلَةِ سارِبِ

Strutting between suitors and respondents

Until you ascended the throne of your kingdom, surrounded

طَيَّارَ بارِقَةِ الوغى بمَقادِمٍ

كَقوادِمٍ ومَوَاكِبٍ كمناكِبِ

By the light of joy on all sides

And you extended for kissing a beneficent palm

حَتَّى ابْنُ شَنْجٍ يَوْمَ أَمَّكَ خاضِعاً

تَسعى إِلَيْكَ بِهِ نَدَامَةُ تائِبِ

Whose fingers sip from the oceans of gifts

It almost cries out about you, “Is there one who craves?

منْ بَعْدِ مَا رَازَ البلادَ فَلَمْ يَجِدْ

فِي الأَرْضِ عن مأْواكَ مَهْرَبَ هارِبِ

Or a monk, or a fearful one, or a seeker?”

So submit and be the last cultivator of the earth

ورأَى الضَّلالَ عَلَيْكَ أَضْعَفَ ناصِرٍ

ورأى الفِرَارَ إِلَيْكَ أَيْمَنَ صاحِبِ

And for the vanquisher of foes, the first vanquisher

ودعاكَ مُعْتَرِفاً بِذِلَّةٍ مُذْنِبٍ

وأَتاكَ مُشْتَمِلاً بِلِبْسَةٍ راهِبِ

ولقد تراءَتْ فِي ذَرَاكَ مطالِعِي

حينَ اسْتَبَدَّ تَغَرُّبي بِمغارِبي

فَخَتَمْتَ طُولَ تَقَلُّبي بتَقَبُّلِي

وجزَيْتَ غُرَّ غرائِبِي برَغائِبِ

وأًجَرْتَني من كُلِّ خَطْبٍ طارِقٍ

حَتَّى مُناجَاةِ الرَّجاءِ الخائِبِ

ووجَدْتُ عند يَدَيْكَ سَدَّ مفاقِري

وسُلُوَّ أَحزانِي وبُرْءَ مصائِبِي

ولقد تَجَلَّى العيدُ عَنْكَ بِغُرَّةٍ

جَلّاءةٍ لِفَوَادِحٍ وغَياهِبِ

يتلُوكَ حاجِبُكَ الَّذِي أَنْجَبْتَهُ

كالشَّمْسِ إِذْ ضَرَبَتْ إليكَ بِحاجِبِ

في مَشهدٍ بِسَنا جبينِكَ مشرِقٍ

شَرِقٍ بآسادٍ وجُرْدِ سَلاهِبِ

غُرٍّ تَواعَدُ للطِّعَانِ صَواهِلٍ

تختالُ بَيْنَ مُخاطِبٍ ومُجاوِبِ

حَتَّى ارْتَقَيْتَ سريرَ مُلْكِكَ حَفَّهُ

نُورُ السرورِ جوانِباً بِجوانِبِ

ومدَدْتَ للتقبيلِ راحَةَ مُنعِمٍ

تَنْهَلُّ أَنْمُلُها بُحُورَ مَواهِبِ

وتكادُ تهتِفُ عَنكَ هل من راغِبٍ

أَوْ راهبٍ أَوْ خائفٍ أَوْ طالِبِ

فاسْلَم وكُنْ للأَرْضِ آخِرَ عامِرٍ

ولغالِبِ الأَعْدَاءِ أَوَّلَ غَالِبِ