Lessonsal-Ḥārith ibn Ḥillizah: Covenant, Tribal Liability and Royal Testimony — Conclusion (verses 68–82)Quiz

Notice the second-hemistich endings of the final verses: sawāʾ, al-ẓibāʾ, al-jazāʾ, al-aʿbāʾ, al-ḥadhdhāʾ, burāʾ, al-qaḍāʾ, al-ḥudāʾ, ghabrāʾ, andāʾ, zahrāʾ, duʿāʾ, al-māʾ, ibqāʾ, balāʾ. The shared -āʾ sound maintains the poem’s audible unity across changing themes.

The meaning may shift from equal treaty terms to spoils, curses and catastrophic defeat, but the rhyme recurs. In oral performance that pattern strengthens the sustained argument. The rhyming words are not all derived from one root; their unity is phonetic, not etymological.

Opening interactive controls...

Rhyme and the poem’s audible cohesion

al-Ḥārith ibn Ḥillizah: Covenant, Tribal Liability and Royal Testimony — Conclusion (verses 68–82)

Notice the second-hemistich endings of the final verses: sawāʾ, al-ẓibāʾ, al-jazāʾ, al-aʿbāʾ, al-ḥadhdhāʾ, burāʾ, al-qaḍāʾ, al-ḥudāʾ, ghabrāʾ, andāʾ, zahrāʾ, duʿāʾ, al-māʾ, ibqāʾ, balāʾ. The shared -āʾ sound maintains the poem’s audible unity across changing themes.

The meaning may shift from equal treaty terms to spoils, curses and catastrophic defeat, but the rhyme recurs. In oral performance that pattern strengthens the sustained argument. The rhyming words are not all derived from one root; their unity is phonetic, not etymological.