Lessonsal-Ḥārith ibn Ḥillizah: Ḥujr, Royal Kinship and the Dhū al-Majāz Covenant (verses 56–67)Quiz

مَا جَزِعْنَا تَحْتَ الْعَجَاجَةِ إِذْ وَلَّوْا شِلَالًا وَإِذْ تَلَظَّى الصِّلَاءُ
Meaning: We did not lose courage amid battle dust when they turned away in disorder and the heat of combat flared.

Mā jaziʿnā negates a past act: “we did not panic.” Al-ʿajājah is dust, wallaw is turning away, shilālan describes scattered, hurried flight, and talaẓẓā al-ṣilāʾ pictures the battle as a blazing fire.

Dust and flame are sensory battle images. The verse is an emphatic opposition between the speaker’s claimed steadiness and the enemy’s flight, not a complete historical report.

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Verse 60: Battle dust, retreat and the blaze

al-Ḥārith ibn Ḥillizah: Ḥujr, Royal Kinship and the Dhū al-Majāz Covenant (verses 56–67)

مَا جَزِعْنَا تَحْتَ الْعَجَاجَةِ إِذْ وَلَّوْا شِلَالًا وَإِذْ تَلَظَّى الصِّلَاءُ
Meaning: We did not lose courage amid battle dust when they turned away in disorder and the heat of combat flared.

Mā jaziʿnā negates a past act: “we did not panic.” Al-ʿajājah is dust, wallaw is turning away, shilālan describes scattered, hurried flight, and talaẓẓā al-ṣilāʾ pictures the battle as a blazing fire.

Dust and flame are sensory battle images. The verse is an emphatic opposition between the speaker’s claimed steadiness and the enemy’s flight, not a complete historical report.