مولاي بشرى بالزمان المقبل — Ibn Farkoun

مَوْلايَ بُشْرى بالزّمانِ المُقْبِلِ

وبما جَلا من وجْهِهِ المتهَلِّلِ

My lord, glad tidings of the time to come,

and of what shone forth from its beaming face.

زمَنٌ لبُشْراهُ ورائِق بِشرِه

يرْتاحُ كُلُّ مكَبِّرٍ ومُهَلِّلِ

A time at whose glad tidings and delightful cheer

all who proclaim God's greatness and oneness rejoice.

زمنٌ جَلا وجهَ الفُتوحِ كأنّهُ

شمْسُ الظّهيرةِ قد بدَتْ للمُجْتَلي

A time that unveiled the face of victories, as though it were

the noonday sun, revealed to the beholder.

وافَى من الفَتحِ المُبينِ بكلّ ما

بهَرَ العُقولَ ولمْ يدَعْ من مَعْقِلِ

It brought, through manifest victory, all that

dazzled minds and left no stronghold untouched.

ترْتاحُ أعْلامُ الجهادِ خَوافقاً

تهْفو بها ريحُ الصَّبا والشّمْألِ

The banners of jihad rejoice, fluttering,

as the east and north winds set them swaying.

هذا الجهادُ وإنّ مِثْلَك يقْتَدي

فيهِ بآثارِ النّبيّ المُرسَلِ

This is jihad; one such as you indeed follows

in it the footsteps of the Prophet sent as a messenger.

هذا الهُدى قد لاحَ نورُ صباحِهِ

يَهْدي سبيلَ الرُشْدِ كُلَّ مُضَلّلِ

This is guidance: the light of its morning has shone,

guiding every misled soul along the path of right guidance.

هذي الفُتوحُ تجلُّ عنْ إخْفائِها

فالحالُ ناطِقَةٌ بشرْحِ المُجْمَلِ

These victories are too great to be concealed;

for the circumstances speak, explaining what is summarized.

وافَتْكَ خافِضةً لديكَ جناحَها

وعِمادُ مُلْكِكَ يسْتقِلّ ويَعْتَلي

They came to you, lowering their wing before you,

while the pillar of your kingdom stands erect and rises high.

فانْهضْ لِما قد شِئتَ غيرَ مُدافَعٍ

تفْتَحْ بسَعْدِكَ كُلّ بابٍ مقْفَلِ

So rise to whatever you have wished, unopposed;

through your good fortune you will open every locked gate.

حلّ العُداةُ بمأمَنٍ أجْهدتَهُمْ

فيهِ بيُمْنِ جِهادِكَ المُتقَبَّلِ

The foes settled in a refuge; you exhausted them

there through the blessing of your accepted jihad.

للهِ منكَ مناقِبٌ بصِفاتِها

طاولْتَ أمْلاكَ الزّمانِ الأوّلِ

God be praised for your virtues, through whose qualities

you rivaled the kings of earlier times.

لله منْكَ مكارِمٌ ومآثِرٌ

مَن للرّشيدِ بها وللمُتوكّلِ

God be praised for your noble deeds and glorious achievements!

Who could find their like for al-Rashid and al-Mutawakkil?

وجْهٌ إذا لاحَتْ أشعّةُ نورِه

يُجْلى الدُجى بصباحِها المتَهلِّلِ

A face—when the rays of its light shine,

darkness is dispelled by their radiant dawn.

كفٌّ تعُمُّ القاصِدينَ هِباتُها

فتكُفُّ غائلَةَ الزّمانِ المُمْحلِ

A hand whose gifts embrace all who seek it,

warding off the scourge of barren times.

تُنْضي حُسامَك في الوَغى فتخالُهُ

نهْراً بدَوْحٍ للقَنا متهَدِّلِ

You unsheathe your sword in battle, and imagine it

a river amid an overhanging grove of spears.

وتهُزُّ ذابِلَك المقوَّمَ وهْوَ في

ليلِ العَجاجةِ كالشِّهاب المُشْعَلِ

And you brandish your straightened spear, which, in

the night of swirling dust, is like a blazing meteor.

فلأنتَ منصورٌ وسيْفُك قاهِرٌ

وحِماكَ مأمونٌ وقدْرُكَ مُعْتَلي

For you are indeed victorious, and your sword conquers;

your domain is secure, and your rank exalted.

شيمٌ لأنصارِ النّبيّ حديثُها

يرْويهِ منكُمْ آخِرٌ عنْ أوّلِ

Traits of the Prophet's Helpers, whose story

the later among you transmit from the earlier.

ولأهْلِ أندلُسٍ بكَ النّصْرُ الذي

وردُوا بهِ للفتْحِ أعذَبَ منْهَلِ

And through you the people of al-Andalus have the victory through which

they reached conquest's sweetest watering place.

من مِثْلُ مَولانا الخليفةِ يوسُفٍ

ملِكٌ صِفاتُ كمالِه لمْ تُجْهَلِ

Who is like our lord, the caliph Yusuf,

a king whose perfect qualities have not gone unrecognized?

ملِكٌ يقسِّمُ حربَهُ أو سَلْمَهُ

بينَ الكتائِبِ والكتابِ المُنزَلِ

A king who apportions his war or his peace

between the battalions and the revealed Book.

ما جالَ في آفاقِها متطلِّعاً

إلا وحَلّ كُلّ خَطْبٍ مُعْضِلِ

He never roamed its horizons, looking ahead,

without resolving every intractable crisis.

يا ناصرَ الدّين الذي بوجودِه

نادَى الهُدى بُشْرَى لكُلِّ مؤمِّلِ

O champion of the faith, through whose presence

guidance proclaimed glad tidings to every hopeful soul!

أرسَلْتَ في الآفاقِ ديمَة رحْمةٍ

نَعِمَ الوجودُ بجَوْدِها المُسْتَرْسِلِ

You sent across the horizons a steady rain of mercy;

existence flourished in its unceasing bounty.

ورفَعْتَ قدْرَ أخيكَ تاليكَ الرّضى

قُطْبِ الرّحى الأهْدَى أبي حسَنٍ عَلي

And you raised the rank of your worthy brother, who follows you,

the pivot of the millstone, most rightly guided—Abu Hasan Ali.

أتْبَعْتَهُ منْ جُنْدِ نصْرِكَ ما به

أوهَنتَ كيْدَ الكافِرِ المتحَيِّلِ

You sent after him troops from your victorious host, with which

you weakened the scheming unbeliever's guile.

فرعَتْ ثَنايا المُعْتَدينَ كُماتُهُ

بعزائمٍ تمضِي مَضاءَ المُنصُلِ

His armored champions scaled the aggressors' mountain passes

with resolves that cut as keenly as a sword blade.

وبك اهْتدى في الحرْبِ لمّا أن بدَا

والدّينُ قد آوَى لأمْنعِ مَوئِلِ

And through you he found guidance in war when he appeared,

while the faith had taken refuge in the strongest shelter.

وبكَ اقْتدى في الرّوْعِ لمّا حلّ من

صدْرِ الكَتيبةِ في الرّعيلِ الأوّلِ

And he followed your example amid terror, when he took his place at

the head of the battalion, in the foremost contingent.

لما الْتَقى الجَمْعانِ في أرْضِ العِدى

ورمَيْتَ جمعَهُمُ ببأسٍ مُعْجِلِ

When the two armies met on the enemy's land,

and you struck their host with swift might,

نادَى بأبْطالِ الجِهادِ ألا اقدُمُوا

وأجالَ فيهِمْ نظرةَ المتأمّلِ

he called to the heroes of jihad: 'Come, advance!'

and cast a searching gaze over them.

فتسارَعوا طرّاً إلى داعِي الهُدَى

والرّومُ عن سُبُلِ النّجاةِ بمعزِلِ

Then they all rushed to the caller of guidance,

while the Romans were cut off from the paths of escape.

ضاقَتْ عليْهِمْ أرضُهُمْ فتوقّفوا

والماءُ يجمَعُ نفسَهُ في الجَدولِ

Their own land closed in upon them, and they halted,

and water gathers itself in the channel.

وتجمّعتْ فِرَقُ العِدا ثمّ انثَنَتْ

ما بيْنَ مُنْهَزِمٍ وبيْنَ مُجَدَّلِ

The enemy's bands gathered, then turned back,

some routed, others laid low.

شالَتْ نَعامَتُهُمْ سريعاً بعْد ما

وقَفوا وُقوفَ الخاضِعِ المتذَلّلِ

Their ostrich sprang up in swift flight, after

they had stood like one submissive and abased.

وتسلّلوا طوْعَ الفرارِ وجَمْعُهُمْ

قدْ رِيعَ بينَ مذلَّلٍ ومُضلَّلِ

And they slipped away, obedient to flight, while their host

had been terror-stricken, some humbled and others bewildered.

وأتى وقد نالَ الذي قد شاءَه

من مَقْصَدٍ أسْنى وصُنْعٍ أجْمَلِ

And he came, having attained what he had desired,

a most exalted goal and a most splendid deed.

فاهْنأْ بمَقْدَمِه الرّضى وحُلولِهِ

من دارِكَ العُلْيا بأشْرَفِ منزلِ

So rejoice in his welcome arrival and his lodging

in the noblest abode of your exalted house.

واهْنأ بأسْعَدِ موسمٍ وانعَمْ بهِ

فوُرودُهُ يقْضي بنَيْلِ المأْمَلِ

And rejoice in a most auspicious season, and take delight in it;

for its coming assures the attainment of what is hoped for.

وإليْكَها يا خيْرَ مَن وثِقتْ يَدي

منهُ بأكْرمِ واهِبٍ مُتفَضِّلِ

And here it is for you, O best of those in whom my hand has trusted,

most generous of givers, graciously bestowing favors.

وبِملْكِ رِقّي أيُّها المَلِكُ الرّضَى

لكَ لا بما أُبْدي لديْكَ توَسُّلي

And by your ownership of me as a slave, O worthy king,

I appeal to you, not by what I present before you.

لازِلتَ منْصورَ اللّواءِ مؤَيّدَا

تكْفي العِدَى في الحالِ والمستَقبَلِ

May you ever be upheld, with your banner victorious,

warding off the foes now and in the future.