Lessonsal-Ḥārith ibn Ḥillizah: Separation, Asmāʾ’s Dwellings, Hind’s Fire and the She-Camel (verses 1–13)Quiz

غَيْرَ أَنِّي قَدْ أَسْتَعِينُ عَلَى الْهَمِّ ۞ إِذَا خَفَّ بِالثَّوِيِّ النَّجَاءُ
Translation: Yet I seek help against sorrow when swift departure calls even to one accustomed to staying—by means of a fast mount.

Ghayra annī marks a new movement in the poem. Astaʿīnu ʿalā al-hamm is an attempt to meet grief by taking practical means; al-thawī denotes a resident or long-stayer and al-najāʾ swift travel.

The phrase is completed by bi-zafūfin in the next verse. Its force is not merely psychological: the poem now turns towards motion and the capacity of a riding animal.

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Verse 9: movement as a response to sorrow

al-Ḥārith ibn Ḥillizah: Separation, Asmāʾ’s Dwellings, Hind’s Fire and the She-Camel (verses 1–13)

غَيْرَ أَنِّي قَدْ أَسْتَعِينُ عَلَى الْهَمِّ ۞ إِذَا خَفَّ بِالثَّوِيِّ النَّجَاءُ
Translation: Yet I seek help against sorrow when swift departure calls even to one accustomed to staying—by means of a fast mount.

Ghayra annī marks a new movement in the poem. Astaʿīnu ʿalā al-hamm is an attempt to meet grief by taking practical means; al-thawī denotes a resident or long-stayer and al-najāʾ swift travel.

The phrase is completed by bi-zafūfin in the next verse. Its force is not merely psychological: the poem now turns towards motion and the capacity of a riding animal.