Narváez secures pardon for Abindarráez and Harifa is the resolution of an embedded borderland romance: Rodrigo de Narváez uses his standing with the King of Granada to obtain forgiveness for Abindarráez and Jarifa, then gives up the ransom he could have claimed. The settlement joins royal authority, a father’s consent, and Narváez’s personal clemency, allowing the secretly married couple to leave captivity and return to Coín. Felismena recounts the episode at Felicia’s house, where its conclusion makes generosity—not force—the means by which the lovers’ predicament is resolved.

Background and Stakes

The appeal follows Abindarráez’s capture by Narváez. Though wounded after fighting Narváez’s men, Abindarráez had been allowed two days’ freedom to visit Jarifa, on his promise to return as a prisoner. Jarifa came back with him, so Narváez received both lovers into his keeping. Their return makes the question more than whether a captive will be released: the couple have married without Jarifa’s father’s permission, and their future depends on securing his forgiveness as well as escaping Narváez’s custody.

The lovers’ family history adds another risk. Abindarráez identifies himself as one of the Abencerrajes, a Granada family brought down after its members were accused of conspiring against the king. The story leaves the alleged conspiracy uncertain, while Abindarráez insists that he and his father were innocent. Narváez repeats that defense in his petition, asking the king not to let the family name prejudice the case. The request therefore concerns both a private marriage and the shadow of a political accusation.

Narváez’s Petition and the King’s Decision

Once Abindarráez has recovered from his wounds, he asks Narváez to help the couple obtain forgiveness. Narváez responds by writing directly to the King of Granada. His account presents the sequence plainly: Abindarráez fell in love with Jarifa while she was in her father’s household; after the father was transferred from Cártama to Coín, the lovers secretly married; and, summoned to Coín during the father’s absence, Abindarráez was captured on the road by Narváez. The two-day release enabled him to see his wife, but Jarifa chose to accompany him when he returned to captivity.

Narváez frames his request as a personal appeal as well as a petition for the couple. He asks the king to forgive Abindarráez and to direct Jarifa’s father to pardon her and accept Abindarráez as his son. In return, Narváez offers to waive the captive’s ransom and release him. The letter also asks the king to distinguish this couple from the supposed conspiracy of the Abencerrajes, asserting that Abindarráez and his father had no part in it. The proposed remedy thus depends on several acts of consent: the king’s intervention, the father’s acceptance, and Narváez’s renunciation of his claim.

The king receives the letter favorably because he esteems Narváez for his courage and character. Jarifa’s father, who is with the king, is troubled by the news, but the king orders him to go to Álora, forgive the two, and take them home. The decision gives the father a direct part in the settlement while making royal command decisive. At Álora, the couple appear before him with shame and kiss his hands. He receives them kindly, says that the matter of their unauthorized marriage is forgiven, and acknowledges that Jarifa has chosen a better husband than he could have chosen for her.

Release and Return to Coín

Narváez welcomes the reconciliation and treats the couple as honored guests. He has already released Abindarráez from the obligation of remaining his prisoner; now he makes that freedom explicit, telling him he may leave whenever he wishes. The concession is not merely permission to go: Narváez declares that he will accept no ransom for his captivity. Abindarráez and Jarifa prepare to depart, and Narváez accompanies them to Coín, where celebrations are held for the newlyweds.

The father subsequently proposes paying Narváez four thousand doblas, reasoning that the captain’s generosity should not mean he receives nothing for the prisoners. Abindarráez sends the money in a rich coffer, together with six well-equipped horses and six shields and spears whose metal fittings are of fine gold. Jarifa also writes an affectionate letter of thanks and sends a fragrant cypress box containing fine linen. These gifts recognize both the material value of Narváez’s intervention and the debt of gratitude the family believes it owes him.

Narváez accepts the horses and arms, distributing them among the gentlemen who rode with him on the night of the skirmish and keeping one horse for himself. He keeps Jarifa’s cypress box and its contents, but returns the four thousand doblas. He treats the money not as payment for Abindarráez’s release but as support for Jarifa’s wedding expenses, and he offers his house as a home to her as well as to her husband. The exchange closes the episode with reciprocal generosity: the couple offer substantial gifts, while Narváez refuses to turn their gratitude into profit.

Narrative and Significance

The resolution is narrated by Felismena as a story within the larger narrative. She tells it at Felicia’s house after dinner, at Felicia’s request for an account of something that had happened in Vandalia. The embedded tale therefore reaches its audience as a finished example of how an armed encounter can give way to negotiation, family forgiveness, and friendship.

The story does not erase the divide between the parties: Narváez and the lovers belong to different faiths and political communities, a distinction the letter itself acknowledges. Instead, their shared recognition of courage, fidelity, and generosity makes cooperation possible across that boundary. Narváez first respects Abindarráez as a formidable opponent, then listens to his account, petitions for his marriage, and relinquishes the ransom. The pardon’s decisive outcome is consequently not only that Abindarráez and Jarifa regain their freedom, but that their captor becomes an honored friend whose clemency is answered with gratitude rather than treated as a defeat.