LessonsʿAmr ibn Kulthūm: Address to Abā Hind, Tribal Pride and the Mill of War (Verses 23–38)Quiz

In verses 35–36 the verbs pair with their instruments: nuṭāʿinu concerns spear fighting, while naḍribu concerns sword blows. The next verse elaborates the objects through descriptive details.

ExpressionMorphology / syntaxSense
نُطَاعِنُForm III imperfect pluralFight with spears
نَضْرِبُForm I imperfect pluralStrike with swords
بِسُمْرٍPreposition + genitive pluralBrown spears
لُدْنٍ ذَوَابِلَDescriptive modifiersPliancy and resilience
بِبِيضٍPreposition + genitiveShining swords

These are physical characteristics of weapons, not moral descriptions of their wielders. Keeping the grammatical referents clear avoids misleading interpretation.

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Spear and sword: morphology and syntax

ʿAmr ibn Kulthūm: Address to Abā Hind, Tribal Pride and the Mill of War (Verses 23–38)

In verses 35–36 the verbs pair with their instruments: nuṭāʿinu concerns spear fighting, while naḍribu concerns sword blows. The next verse elaborates the objects through descriptive details.

ExpressionMorphology / syntaxSense
نُطَاعِنُForm III imperfect pluralFight with spears
نَضْرِبُForm I imperfect pluralStrike with swords
بِسُمْرٍPreposition + genitive pluralBrown spears
لُدْنٍ ذَوَابِلَDescriptive modifiersPliancy and resilience
بِبِيضٍPreposition + genitiveShining swords

These are physical characteristics of weapons, not moral descriptions of their wielders. Keeping the grammatical referents clear avoids misleading interpretation.