«لِأَنَّ الْوُلَاةَ لَهُمْ نَبْوَةٌ وَمَعْتَبَةٌ يَا لَهَا مَعْتَبَةٌ»
For rulers can show distance and rebuke—what a rebuke it can be!
Nabwah in this context concerns harshness, aversion or an unpleasant aspect of rulers’ conduct. It must not be confused with the religious concept of prophethood merely because of a similar transliteration.
Its pairing with maʿtabah supports the context of reproach. The li-l-wulāt construction assigns the qualities to rulers; semantic choice must follow vowel pattern, syntax and topic rather than an unrelated familiar term.