وَأَنَّا الْعَاصِمُونَ إِذَا أُطِعْنَا وَأَنَّا الْعَازِمُونَ إِذَا عُصِينَا
When obeyed, we provide protection; when defied, we act with firm resolve.
Al-ʿāṣimūn are protectors; al-ʿāzimūn are resolute actors. Both uṭiʿnā and ʿuṣīnā are passive perfect verbs: “we were obeyed” and “we were disobeyed.”
The parallel idhā clauses contrast compliance with defiance. In the poem’s boastful logic, protection and forceful determination are presented as responses to those different circumstances.
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ʿAmr ibn Kulthūm: Tribal Pride, Independence and Closing Hyperbole (verses 92–103)
وَأَنَّا الْعَاصِمُونَ إِذَا أُطِعْنَا وَأَنَّا الْعَازِمُونَ إِذَا عُصِينَا
When obeyed, we provide protection; when defied, we act with firm resolve.
Al-ʿāṣimūn are protectors; al-ʿāzimūn are resolute actors. Both uṭiʿnā and ʿuṣīnā are passive perfect verbs: “we were obeyed” and “we were disobeyed.”
The parallel idhā clauses contrast compliance with defiance. In the poem’s boastful logic, protection and forceful determination are presented as responses to those different circumstances.