يا ظبية الوعساء قد برح الخفا — Azzouz Elmalazouzi

يا ظبيةَ الوَعساءِ قَد بَرِح الخَفا

إِنّي صَبَرتُ عَلى فراقك ما كَفى

O gazelle of the soft sands, concealment has ended.

I have endured separation from you long enough.

كَم قَد عَصيت عَلى هَواكِ عَواذِلي

وَأُثابُ بِالتَبعيد مِنكَ وَبِالجَفا

How often, for love of you, have I defied my reproachers,

And am rewarded by you with banishment and coldness.

حَمّلتِني ما لا أطيق من الهَوى

وَسَقَيتِني مِن غنج لحظك قَرقفا

You have burdened me with love I cannot bear,

And given me strong wine to drink from your coquettish glance.

وَكَسَوتِني ثَوب النحول فَمَنظَري

لِلناظِرين عَن العَيان قَد اِختَفى

And clothed me in the robe of wasting, so my form

Has vanished from the sight of onlookers.

هَذا قَتيلكِ فَاِرحَميه فَإِنَّهُ

قَد صارَ مِن فَرط النُحول عَلى شَفا

Here is your slain victim: have mercy on him, for he

Has come, through extreme wasting, to the brink.

لَهفي عَلى زَمَنٍ تَقضّى بِالحِمى

وَعَلى مَحلّ بِالأجَيرع قَد عَفا

My grief for a time gone by in the protected grounds,

And for a dwelling at al-Ujayriʿ whose traces have faded!

أَترى يَعود الشَمل كَيفَ عَهدته

وَيَصير بَعد فِراقه مُتَأَلّفا

Will our company return, I wonder, as I knew it,

And become united again after its sundering?

لِلّهِ دَرّكِ يا سَلا مِن بَلدةٍ

من لَم يُعاين مثل حسنك ما اِشتَفى

God bless you, O Salā—what a city you are!

Whoever has not beheld beauty like yours has found no relief.

قَد حزتِ بَرّاً ثُم بَحراً طامياً

وَبِذاك زدتِ مَلاحَةً وَتَزخرفا

You possess land, and a surging sea besides,

And thereby have grown in beauty and adornment.

فَإِذا رَأَيت بِها القَطائع خلتها

طَيراً يَحوم عَلى الوُرود مُرَفرِفا

When you see the galleys there, you take them for

Birds circling over roses, fluttering.

وَالجاذِفين عَلى الركيمُ كَأنّهم

قَومٌ قَد اِتَّخَذوا إِماماً مُسرِفا

And the rowers upon the heaped-up waters seem

A congregation that has chosen an immoderate imam,

جَعل الصَلاة لَهُم رُكوعاً كُلّها

وَأَتى ليشرع في السُجود مخفّفا

Who has made their prayer consist entirely of bowing,

And comes to begin prostration, making it brief.

وَالمَوج يَأتي كَالجِبال عُبابُه

فَتظنّه فَوقَ المَنازل مُشرفا

And the wave comes on, its surge like mountains,

So you imagine it towering above the houses,

حَتّى إِذا ما المَوج أَبصَر حَدّه

غَضّ العِنان عَن السّرى وَتَوقَّفا

Until, when the wave perceives its limit,

It reins in its nightly course and halts.

فَكَأَنَّه جَيشٌ تَعاظم كَثرةً

قَد جاءَ مُزدَحِماً يبايع يوسفا

As though it were an army grown vast in numbers,

Come in throngs to pledge allegiance to Yūsuf:

ملك بِهِ تُزهى الخَلافة وَالعلا

وَبِهِ تَجدّد في الرِياسة ما عَفا

A king in whom the caliphate and greatness find splendor,

Through whom what had faded in sovereignty is renewed.

مَن لَم يَزَل يَسبي الفَوارس في الوَغى

إِن سلّ يَوماً في الكَريهة مُرهفا

One who has never ceased to take horsemen captive in battle,

If ever he draws a keen-edged blade in fierce combat.

أَلِفَت مَحبّته القُلوبُ لِأَنَّهُ

ملكٌ لَنا بِالجود أَضحى مُتحِفا

Hearts have grown accustomed to loving him, for he

Is a king who now bestows his generous gifts upon us.

أَلقى إِلَيهِ الأَمرَ وَالدُه الَّذي

عَن كُلّ خَطبٍ في الوَرى ما اِستَنكَفا

His father entrusted authority to him—the one who

Never shrank from any grave affair among mankind:

يَعقوبٌ الملكُ الهمام المُجتبى

الماجد الأَوفى الرَحيم الأَرأفا

Yaʿqūb, the valiant king, the chosen one,

The noble, the most faithful, the merciful, the most compassionate.

طُوبى لِمَن في الناس قَبّلَ كَفّه

وَالوَيل مِنهُ لِمَن غَدا مُتَوَقِّفا

Blessed is whoever among the people kisses his palm;

And woe from him to whoever hesitates.

أَعطاكَ رَبّك وَاِرتَضاك لِخَلقه

فاِقتل بِسَيفك مِن أَبى وَتَخَلّفا

Your Lord has favored you and chosen you for His creatures;

So slay with your sword whoever refuses and hangs back.

وَاِمدُد يَمينَك لِلوجود فَكُلّهُم

اليَوم عادَ مُؤمّلاً مُتَشَوّفا

And stretch your right hand out to the world, for all of them

Have become hopeful today, eagerly expectant.

فَاليَوم لا تَخشى النَعامُ ذِئابَها

وَيَعود مَن يَسطو بِها مُتَعطِّفا

For today the ostriches do not fear their wolves,

And whoever assails them turns compassionate.

صَلُح الزَمان فَلا عَدوٌّ يُتّقى

لَم يَخش خَلقٌ في علاك تَخوّفا

The age has been set right: no enemy need be feared;

No creature has known dread under your lofty rule.

يا مَن سُرِرتُ بِملكه وَعَلائه

اليَومَ أَعلَمُ أَن دَهري أَنصَفا

O you whose kingship and glory have delighted me,

Today I know that my fate has dealt justly.

فَإِذا مَلَكتَ فَكُن وَفيّاً حازِماً

واِعلم بِأَنّ الملك يَصلح بِالوَفا

When you reign, be faithful and resolute,

And know that kingship thrives through faithfulness.

وَأَفِض بِذَلِكَ لِلوُجود وَكُن لَهُم

كَهفاً وَكُن بِبعيدهم مُستَعطِفا

Pour that forth upon the world, and be for them

A refuge, and win the affection of those far away.

فَالجودُ يُصلح ما تَثَلّم في العلا

وَسِواه يُفسد في الخِلافة ما صَفا

For generosity mends what has been broken in greatness,

While all else corrupts what is pure in the caliphate.

إِنّ البَرِيّة في يَدَيك زِمامُها

فَاِحذَر فديتُك أَن تَكون مُعَنّفا

Indeed, creation's reins are in your hands;

So beware—may I be your ransom—of being harsh.

يا مَن تَسَربَل بِالمَكارم وَالعلا

لا زالَ حاسِدُكُم يَزيد تَأَسُّفا

O you who have clothed yourself in noble virtues and greatness,

May your envier ever grow in sorrow.

خُذها إِلَيك قَصيدَةً مِن شاعرٍ

في نَظم فَخرك كَيفَ شاءَ تَصَرّفا

Accept it—a poem from a poet

Who, in versifying your glory, has worked as he pleased.

خَضَعَ الكَلامُ لَهُ فَصارَ كَعَبدِهِ

ما شاءَ يصنع ناظِماً وَمُؤلّفا

Speech has bowed to him and become like his slave;

He does whatever he wishes, versifying and composing.

لا زالَت الأَمجادُ تَخدُمُ ملككم

ما زارَت الحُجّاجُ مَروةَ وَالصَفا

May glories never cease to serve your kingship,

As long as pilgrims visit Marwa and al-Ṣafā.