Kinsmen of mine from the lofty stock of Hilāl ibn ʿĀmir,
and every brave man among you, and every son of the brave,

Come forth! I have tied my intention to the raid—
a venture whose outcome, like the first campaigns, is destined to prevail.

This is the radiant expedition, the long-promised hour
that has at last arrived after ages of waiting.

By it we shall open up the world; by it we shall attain our hopes;
by it we shall sift proven truth from every falsehood.

So do not linger, for seizing the initiative is pure booty,
and he who travels by night finds the waters sweetest. (1)

ʿAbd al-Wāḥid al-Marrākushī (2) said: More than one informant told me that when ʿAbd al-Muʾmin reached Salā (3)—a town on the Atlantic coast into which a great river flows before emptying into the sea—he crossed the river, a pavilion was pitched for him, and his troops began to pass over tribe by tribe. He fell prostrate in thanks; when he raised his head, tears had soaked his beard. Then he said, “I know of three men who once came to this city with nothing but a single loaf of bread. They wanted to cross this river, so they offered the loaf to the boatman to ferry them across, but he replied, ‘I will take it only for two.’

“One of them, a young man, said, ‘Take my clothes, and I will swim.’ So he did. Each time the youth tired, he drew near the boat and laid his hand upon it to rest, and the boatman struck him with the oar; he reached the far bank only after great effort.

“Those who heard the story had no doubt that the swimmer was he, while the other two were Ibn Tūmart and ʿAbd al-Wāḥid al-Sharqī.”

He (4) continues: ʿAbd al-Muʾmin then entered Marrakesh, devoting himself to building, planting, and ordering his realm, spreading justice far and wide, while his son ʿAbd Allah remained in Béjaïa launching raids against—