From the DIWAN IFRIKIYA anthology, a poet of the early glorious days of al-Andalus (given the limits of blog formatting & text width, the final layout will be slightly different to indicate the hemistiches of the original Arabic lines):<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Ibn Darradj al-Qastalli (\u2018Umar Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Sulayman ibn Darradj al-Qastalli)<\/strong> (958-1030)<\/p>\n
Ode\u00a0 In praise of Kha\u00efran al-\u2018Amiri, Emir of Almeria (Extract)<\/strong><\/p>\n
In the folds of the stranger\u2019s rags
\n many strange things are hidden
\nthings that have long before settled
\n in the depths of his hurt heart
\nkindling an old fire darkens
\n night despite its blaze \u2014
\nif the sea should dry up in the heat
\n he\u2019ll fill it again with disconsolate tears
\nand when the sea winds die down
\n low moans remind us of those we love
\nand will say \u2014 as the sea waves rise and fall
\n amid the immensity of dark misery:
\nWill we survive or will we have
\n but the sea as a grave and water as a shroud?
\nSuppose we spotted land from far away
\n shall we find refuge there and solace from old friends?
\nDeath took advantage of us being far from home
\n to beguile and seduce us.
\nThat homeland now out of reach has turned into rubble
\n under time\u2019s weight or injustice\u2019s swords
\nas old friends separated by distance
\n became death\u2019s friends, land and sea \u2014
\ntheir women mounted on wandering camels
\n and roaming desert lands.
\nO Lord! What happened to their caravan?
\n Are they now forced into exile on both land and sea?
\nLike orbiting planets they have become
\n though driven by reins & bridles, anchors & sails.
\nWhen the Maghribian land exiled me
\n and dear friends rejected me
\nthe land of Iraq warmly welcomed me
\n and the good news reached Khorassan.
\nThe land that banished me is a backward land
\n and the life that broke its word to me is a traitor!
\nPeace on brothers from a hopeless brother
\n I wish those times \u2013 when I had brothers \u2013 would return!
\nNo road would now take me to my wife\u2019s
\n as separation and oblivion had erased all tracks!<\/p>\n\u00a0 Translated by Fetah Chenni & P.J.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
(to be continued tomorrow, with another ode & a commentary)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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