بعلاك صدقت الملوك رجاءها — Ibn Farkoun

بعُلاكَ صدّقَتِ الملوكُ رجاءَها

وبعدْلِ ملكِكَ مهّدَتْ أرْجاءَها

Through your eminence, kings have fulfilled their hopes,

and through your rule's justice have secured their domains.

وبكَ ارْتَقى الإسلامُ أرفعَ مَظْهَر

وبكَ ارتضَتْ كلِماتُهُ إعلاءَها

Through you, Islam has risen to its loftiest manifestation,

and through you its words have welcomed their exaltation.

ولكَ المُسمّى في الخِلافةِ كلّما

أتتِ الملوكُ وعدّدت أسماءَها

Yours is the substance of the caliphate whenever

kings appear and enumerate their names.

وإذا سمَتْ هِمَمٌ لإدْراكِ العُلى

جلّتْ خِلالُك أن تَنال سماءَها

And when ambitions soar to attain the heights,

your virtues are too sublime for them to reach their heaven.

تُشْفى بك الأيامُ وهْي على شفاً

فتُزيلُ مُعْضِلَها وتُبْرئُ داءَها

Through you the days are healed while on the brink;

you remove their intractable plight and cure their sickness.

وحوادثٍ جلّتْ مواقِعُ خطْبِها

بصباحِ عزْمِكَ قد جلوْتَ مساءَها

And many calamities whose blows fell grievously—

with your resolve's morning you have dispelled their evening.

أوَ لسْتَ يا ملكَ الهُدَى من أسرةٍ

قد أوْرَثَتْ شيَم العُلى أبناءَها

Are you not, O king of guidance, from a family

that bequeathed the traits of greatness to its sons?

أخبارُهُمْ طابَتْ بطَيْبَة كلّما

حلّوا لإفْناءِ العُداةِ فِناءَها

Their chronicles grew sweet in Tayba whenever

they entered its precincts to destroy the foes.

وكفاهُمُ أنّ الخِلافةَ بعْدَهُمْ

لوْلا عُلاكَ لَفارَقَتْ أكْفاءَها

It is glory enough for them that the caliphate, after them,

but for your eminence, would have left its worthy peers.

للهِ منكَ خِلافةٌ نصْريّةٌ

تدْعو الخلائقُ أن يُطيلَ بقاءَها

God be praised for the Nasrid caliphate embodied in you!

All creatures pray that He prolong its life.

أوَ ما خِلافتُكَ الكريمةُ رحْمةٌ

قد مدّتِ الرُّحْمى بها أفْياءَها

Is not your noble caliphate a mercy

through which compassion has extended its shade?

أوَ ما خِلافتك العليّةُ آيةٌ

تُهْدي إلى شمْسِ الضُحى لألاءَها

Is not your lofty caliphate a sign,

bestowing its glitter upon the morning sun?

فتُعيرُ طالعةَ الضُحى أنوارَها

وتُفيدُ سارية الحَيا أنواءَها

It lends its lights to the rising morning sun

and grants its rain-bearing stars to the night-traveling raincloud.

لك هِمّةٌ طوْعَ النّدى وعنِ الردى

جعلَ الوفاءُ حِباءَها وإباءَها

Your resolve is obedient to bounty and averse to destruction;

loyalty has shaped its giving and its refusal.

ولكَ الصّفاتُ الغُرُّ كاثَرَتِ الحَصى

عدَداً فمَنْ ذا بالِغٌ إحْصاءَها

Yours are radiant qualities that rival the pebbles

in number; who, then, can finish counting them?

ولك المآثرُ دونَها الشمْسُ التي

تَهْدي وتُهْدي للوَرى أضْواءَها

Yours are glorious deeds beneath which stands the sun

that guides and gives its lights to mankind.

ولك المناقبُ لو أعارَتْ هَدْيَها

شُهُبَ الدُجى ما فارقتْ عَلْياءَها

Yours are virtues that, were they to lend their guidance

to the stars of night, those stars would never leave their heights.

ولك الكتائِبُ ما جمَعْتَ لحادِثٍ

أعْدادَها إلا كفَتْ أعْداءَها

Yours are battalions: never have you assembled

their numbers for a crisis without their warding off their foes.

ولك العزائِمُ كلّما أمضَيْتَها

في الحرْبِ أمّلَتِ السّيوفُ مَضاءَها

Yours are resolves that, whenever you carry them out

in war, the swords aspire to their sharpness.

ولك الفتوحُ إذا طوتْ أبطالُها

أرْضَ العِدى نشرَتْ عليْكَ لواءَها

Yours are conquests that, when their champions traverse

the enemies' land, spread their banner over you.

لكأنْ بسبْتَةَ والعِدى قد خلّفوا

منْها الدّيارَ وعطّلوا أفناءَها

It is as though, at Ceuta, the foes had left

its dwellings behind and emptied their courtyards.

لكأنْ بأرْبُعِ سَبتةٍ وجموعُها

فوْضى وقد ملأ الفِرارُ فَضاءَها

As though in Ceuta's quarters its hosts

were in disorder, and flight had filled its open spaces.

هذي العِدى تجْلو الكتائِبَ في مدىً

كتبتْ يدُ الأقدارِ فيه جلاءَها

These foes withdraw their battalions across an expanse

where fate's hand has inscribed their departure.

هذي رياحُ الحرْبِ هبَّتْ عندَهُ

هوجاً ولمْ تُرْسِل عليْهِ رُخاءَها

These are the winds of war that blew there

wildly, sending no gentle breezes over it.

وقَفَتْ وقد قضَتِ السّيوفُ بأنّها

للنّهْبِ وانتظرَتْ لديْكَ قضاءَها

It stood, the swords having decreed it

a prize for plunder, and awaited your judgment upon it.

نضَتِ الرّواحِلَ عندَما قد أُنضيَتْ

فنأتْ وقد ضمنَتْ لديْكَ فَناءَها

It exhausted the mounts when it was itself exhausted,

then withdrew, assured of destruction at your hands.

سيُرى مَقامُكَ في مَقامِ جِهادِه

والخيْلُ قد أبْدَتْ بهُ خُيَلاءَها

Your presence will be seen in the arena of its jihad,

where the horses have displayed their pride.

حيثُ الأسنّةُ أنجُمٌ مُنقَضّةٌ

في الحرْبِ تَقْضي أن تُريقَ دِماءَها

There the spearheads are falling stars,

decreeing in war that their blood be spilled.

فلرُبَّ طعْنةِ ذي قَناةٍ يَلتقي

صدْرُ الكُماةِ بصَدْرِه نَجْلاءَها

And many a lance-bearer's thrust is met

by the foremost warrior, receiving its gaping wound in his breast.

وجِيادِ سبْقٍ أتْلَعَتْ أجْيادَها

وظُبا فوارِسِها تَروع ظِباءَها

And many racing steeds have raised their necks,

while their riders' blades terrify their gazelles.

وطَليعةٍ شنّتْ عليهِم غارةً

بثّ الرّدى بفِنائِهمْ شَعْواءَها

And many a vanguard launched against them a raid

whose fury death scattered through their precincts.

ومُدمّرٍ أعْداءهُ قدَّ الطُلى

منها وقادَ إلى الرّدى أحْياءَها

And many a destroyer of his foes severed necks

among them, and led their living to death.

ما لاحَ برْقاً في سماءِ عجاجةٍ

إلا وجلّى نورُه ظَلْماءَها

Never did he flash as lightning in a sky of battle-dust

without his light dispelling its darkness.

ما راعَتِ البَطَلَ الكميَّ مُلمّةٌ

إلا وأصْبَحَ مُفْرِجاً غَمّاءَها

No calamity ever frightened the armored champion

without his becoming the dispeller of its gloom.

فأزِرْ على حُكْمِ العزائِمِ أرْضَها

أسْداً إذا زارتْ أبَتْ إرْضاءَها

So send to its land, at the command of resolve,

lions that, when they visit, refuse to appease it.

وجيادَ نصْرٍ كلّما أرسَلْتَها

تركَتْ ميادينَ السّباقِ وراءَها

And steeds of victory that, whenever you release them,

leave the racing grounds behind.

قد قلّبَتْ كيفَ ارْتَضتْهُ كُماتُها

قلْبَ الفَلاةِ وضعْضَعَتْ أحْشاءَها

They have overturned, just as their warriors wished,

the wilderness's heart and shaken its entrails.

تُذْكي العيونَ على الأعادي كُلّما

أطْلَعْتَ في أفُقِ الجِهادِ ذُكاءَها

They dispatch scouts against the foes whenever

you raise their sun on the horizon of jihad.

تَلْوي أعنّتَها وتُرسِلُها وقدْ

رفَعَتْ من النّقْعِ المُثارِ لِواءَها

You turn their reins and release them when

they have raised their banner from the stirred-up dust.

وصَوارماً تجلو العِدَى عن حَيّها

إذ أحْكَمَتْ أيْدي القُيونِ جِلاءَها

And keen swords that drive foes from its precincts,

since smiths' hands have perfected their polish.

فكأنّها أنهارُ دوْحٍ أُرْسِلَتْ

وجَدوالُ الأغْمادِ تُمسكُ ماءَها

They seem like rivers of groves set flowing,

while the channels of their scabbards contain their water.

فترى الأعادي كلّما قد أوقَدوا

للحرْبِ ناراً يمّمَتْ إطْفاءَها

You see that whenever the foes kindle

a fire for war, the swords turn to extinguish it.

ما بالُها تُرْدي الكميَّ ولم يزَلْ

إمْضاءُ عزمِكَ سابقاً إنْضاءَها

Why do they fell the armored warrior, when

the execution of your resolve has always preceded their unsheathing?

صدرَتْ نواهِلَ منْ صُدورِ عِداك إنْ

أوْردتَ مُنهَلَّ النّجيعِ ظِماءَها

They return quenched from your foes' breasts if

you bring their thirsty blades to the gush of fresh blood.

وأجِزْ إليْها المُنْشآت كأنّها

نُجُبٌ تُواصِلُ للنجاةِ نَجاءَها

And send across to it the lofty ships, as though

they were choice camels, maintaining their swift pace toward safety.

تسْري كأنّ رَواحلاً قد أنضِيَتْ

فجعَلْنَ أصْواتَ الرّياحِ حُداءَها

They travel by night as though mounts had been exhausted,

making the winds' voices their camel-driving songs.

يا طالَما حَمِدَتْ حُلاكَ حِلالُها

قِدْماً فصيّرتَ الجوازَ جزاءَها

Oh, how long its dwellers have praised your graces

in days gone by; you made passage their reward.

هذا وفاسٌ ما يفوزُ بمُلْكها

إلا الذي ولّيْتَهُ بيْضاءَها

And Fez: none wins its kingship

except the one to whom you entrust its white city.

هذي مَرينٌ أنتَ وجْهةُ قصْدِها

لمّا رمَتْ بخِلافِها خُلَفاءَها

Here is Marin: you are the goal of its intent,

when it assailed its caliphs with its dissent.

هذي مَرينٌ يمّمَتْكَ لنَصْرها

لمّا دعَتْ خُلفاؤُها حُلَفاءَها

Here is Marin, seeking you for its victory,

when its caliphs summoned its allies.

وثنَتْ عِنانَ القوْلِ فيكَ فواصَلَتْ

لعُلى مَقامِكَ حمْدَها وثناءَها

It turned the rein of speech toward you, continuing

its praise and commendation of your lofty station.

إنّ الذي وفّى مَقامَك حقَّهُ

محَضَتْ لهُ طوْعَ الوِداد وفاءَها

Indeed, to the one who gave your station its due,

it sincerely offered loyalty, obedient to affection.

فلذاكَ نادَتْ منكَ ناصِرَها الرِّضى

لتُجيبَ طوْعَ المكْرُماتِ نِداءَها

Thus it called on you as its favored champion,

that, obedient to noble deeds, you might answer its call.

ما حقّقَتْ مرْجوَّها بكَ إذ دَعتْ

إلا شَفَتْ برَجائِها بُرَحاءَها

Never did it realize its hope through you when it called

without healing its torment through that hope.

وقلوبُها ما شفّها برْحُ الأسى

إلا وكان نَدى يديْكَ شِفاءَها

Never were its hearts wasted by grievous sorrow

without the bounty of your hands becoming their cure.

لله كمْ واليْتَهُنّ مَواهِباً

جعلَتْ لها صيدُ المُلوكِ وَلاءَها

God be praised! How many gifts you bestowed upon them in succession,

to which proud kings have pledged their allegiance!

ولكَمْ أيادٍ طوّقَتْ أعْناقَها

قضَتِ المكارِمُ فيهِمُ إسْداءَها

And how many favors encircled their necks,

whose bestowal upon them noble generosity ordained!

ولكَمْ ظِلالٍ للأمانِ تقلّصَتْ

فمددت فيها مُنْعِماً أفْياءَها

And how many shades of safety had shrunk,

until you graciously spread their shelter there!

فاهْنأ بعزّ خِلافةٍ أمْلاكُها

أضحتْ على حُكْمِ الوفاءِ وِفاءَها

Rejoice in the might of a caliphate whose kings

now embody its fealty, under loyalty's command.

وبنَجْلِكَ المتنَسِّكِ الأرْضى الذي

نالَ العُلى وتحمّلَ استِقْصاءَها

And in your devout, most pleasing son, who

attained the heights and undertook their fullest pursuit.

بولايةَ العهْدِ التي قد أُحْكِمَتْ

كيفَ ارْتَضاها اليوسُفيُّ وشاءَها

And in the succession, which has been firmly secured

just as al-Yusufi approved and willed it,

في حضْرةِ المُلكِ التي لجَنابِها

تُزْجي الرّكابُ سِراعَها وبِطاءَها

in the royal court, toward whose presence

the caravans urge their swift mounts and their slow ones,

حَجِّ الوفودِ وحُجّةِ الأمْصارِ إذْ

قدْ أوْجَبَتْ إلْقاءَها ولِقاءَها

the delegations' pilgrimage and the cities' proof, since

it has made their presentation and their audience obligatory,

بمشيّدٍ علْياءَها ومُشدّدٍ

أعْضادَها ومُسدّدٍ آراءَها

through one who raises its eminence and strengthens

its supports, and sets its counsels aright.

إن رامَ قُطْرٌ أن يُضاهيَها انثَنى

كالشّمْسِ لو رامَ السُهى إخْفاءَها

If a realm seeks to rival it, it turns back:

it is like the sun, should Suha try to hide it.

دارُ السّلامِ لو استَقلّتْ هذِه

ما زارَ مَنْصورُ الأُلى زَوْراءَها

Had this city stood as the Abode of Peace,

Mansur of the ancients would not have visited its Zawra.

ومُعَدُّ مِصْرٍ لو أعدَّك مُنْعِماً

ما كان يُخْلِفُ نيلُها بَطْحاءَها

And Mu'add of Egypt—had he readied you as a benefactor,

its Nile would not have failed its sandy plain.

ولوِ استمدّ الأفْقُ جودَك آمِلاً

ما فارَقَتْ سُحُب الغَمام سَخاءَها

And had the horizon hopefully sought your generosity,

the rainclouds would never have abandoned their bounty.

هلْ يوسُفٌ إلا كيوسُفَ عزّةً

ومَحاسناً تُهْدي النّجومُ رُواءَها

Is Yusuf other than another Yusuf in might,

and in beauties to which the stars offer their splendor?

تَهْدي وتُهْدي العزَّ شيمتُهُ التي

أبدَتْ سَناها للوَرى وسنَاءَها

His disposition guides and grants glory—the one

that has shown mankind its radiance and its eminence.

ما استَقْبلَتْ شتّى الوفودِ جنابَهُ

إلا وقابلَ بالقَبولِ هناءَها

Never did the various delegations approach his presence

without his receiving their congratulations with acceptance.

ما يمّمتْ إلا ظِلالَ نَوالِهِ

فأفادَها البُشْرى غَداةَ أفاءَها

They sought nothing but the shade of his bounty,

and he gave them glad tidings when he sheltered them.

لمْ لا تؤمّلُها الوفودُ خِلافةً

نصْريّةً جُعِلَ الوجودُ فداءَها

Why should the delegations not set their hopes upon it—a caliphate

Nasrid, with all existence made its ransom?

فليَهْنِها عيدٌ يعودُ بنَصْرِها

ويُعيدُ في درَكِ الرّدى أعْداءَها

May a festival returning with victory gladden it

and return its enemies to the depths of death.

وسُعودُ أنجُمِها تمُدُّ شُعاعَها

من أفْقِها وتُفيدُنا أضْواءَها

The auspicious influences of its stars extend their rays

from its horizon and bestow their lights upon us.

بُشْراكَ قد أحْرزْتَ في مَيْدانِها

سَبْقاً مُعَلّاها وحُزْتَ علاءَها

Glad tidings to you! You have won in its field

precedence, its highest prize, and attained its eminence.

ولك الهناءُ بمَقْدَمِ العيدِ الذي

ألْقى أزِمّةَ سيْرِهِ تِلْقاءَها

Congratulations to you on the arrival of the festival

that has laid its journey's reins before it.

وافَى وأيّامُ الصّيامِ قدِ انقضَتْ

فأتَى بقُرْبٍ يقْتَضي إقصاءَها

It arrived when the days of fasting had ended,

bringing a nearness that required their departure.

ودّتْ وقد كلِفتْ بوُدّكَ لو ثنَتْ

ركْبَ السُّرى واستأنفَتْ إبْقاءَها

They wished, enamored of your affection, that they could turn back

the night-traveling caravan and renew their stay.

موْلايَ لوْلا جودُ كفّكَ لم أُجِدْ

إبْداعَ أمْداحي ولا إبْداءَها

My lord, but for your hand's bounty, I could not perfect

the devising of my praises or their presentation.

فإليْكَ وصْفاً لم تلُحْ شُهُبُ الدُجى

إلا وباهَى حُسْنَها وبَهاءَها

So accept a description: never have night's stars shone

without its rivaling their beauty and their splendor.

هَذي المناقِبُ يستميلُ سَماعُها

قوْماً أدارَتْ فيهمُ صَهْباءَها

These virtues captivate with their telling

a people among whom they have passed their red wine.

هذي المدائِحُ واللُهى قد أنْطَقَتْ

لتَروقَ في روْضِ النُهى ورْقاءَها

These are praises, and gifts have given voice

to their dove, to delight in the garden of intellect.

هذي الفُحولُ الغُلْبُ دونَ مرامِها

إنْ سابَقوا لمْ يسْبِقوا عَذْراءَها

These mighty stallions fall short of its goal;

if they race, they cannot outstrip its virgin.

يُلْقي لدَيْكَ العبْدُ منها فذَّةً

والمدْحُ منكَ محَسِّنٌ حَسْناءَها

Your servant lays before you one peerless piece,

and praise from you enhances its fair beauty.

يستوْقِفُ الشّعْرَى دُوَيْنَ مَرامِها

صيتاً ويسْبِقُ وادِعاً شُعراءَها

He halts Sirius just short of its goal

in renown, and easily outstrips its poets.

لوْلا نوالُك ما أجادَ لسانُهُ

إنشادَها أو فِكْرُهُ إنشاءَها

But for your bounty, his tongue could not perfect

its recitation, nor his thought its composition.

فلقد تفوقُ السُحْبَ كفُّكَ عندَما

تُزْجي حَياها أو تُفيدُ حِباءَها

Indeed, your hand surpasses the clouds whenever

it sends its rain or bestows its gifts.

فإليْكَها غرّاءَ رائِقةَ الحُلى

حيّتْ وقد أبْدَتْ لديْكَ حَياءَها

So here it is for you, radiant, with lovely ornaments,

offering greetings and revealing its modesty before you.

فحصَتْ عن المعْنى الشّرودِ فأعْجَزَتْ

كيفَ اقتضَى إعْجابُها فُصَحاءَها

It searched out elusive meaning and confounded,

as its wondrousness demanded, its eloquent masters.

عربيّةً أرْسلْتُ من إعرابها

خَيْلاً تُقابِلُ بالصّهيلِ رُغاءَها

An Arabic poem: from its inflections I have loosed

horses whose neighing answers its camels' bellowing.

لازِلْتَ شَمْساً والملوكُ كَواكِبٌ

يُبْدي ظُهورُك للوجودِ خَفاءَها

May you always be a sun, the kings mere stars;

your rising shows the world how hidden they are.

والخَلْقُ في دَعَةٍ وعزّكَ صارِفٌ

ما شاءَ صرْفُ الدّهْرِ مما ساءَها

And people live at ease, your might averting

whatever ill the turns of time have willed against them.

تدْعو لنَصْرِكَ مَنْ قضَتْ أحْكامُهُ

كرَماً وفضْلاً أنْ يُجيبَ دُعاءَها

They pray for your victory to Him whose decrees ordained,

in generosity and grace, that He answer their prayer.