LessonsʿAmr ibn Kulthūm: Uncertain Time, the Beloved and Grief (Verses 12–22)Quiz

وَمَأْكَمَةً يَضِيقُ الْبَابُ عَنْهَا وَكَشْحًا قَدْ جُنِنْتُ بِهِ جُنُونَا
Her hips are so full that the doorway seems too narrow for them, while her slender waist has left the speaker beside himself.

Maʾkamah refers to the posterior or hips, while kashḥ denotes the waist or flank. Yaḍīqu l-bābu ʿanhā is hyperbole: the point is exaggerated fullness, not a literal measurement.

Junintu bihi junūnan repeats a cognate root to heighten the intensity of the poet’s reaction.

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Verse 17: The doorway too narrow

ʿAmr ibn Kulthūm: Uncertain Time, the Beloved and Grief (Verses 12–22)

وَمَأْكَمَةً يَضِيقُ الْبَابُ عَنْهَا وَكَشْحًا قَدْ جُنِنْتُ بِهِ جُنُونَا
Her hips are so full that the doorway seems too narrow for them, while her slender waist has left the speaker beside himself.

Maʾkamah refers to the posterior or hips, while kashḥ denotes the waist or flank. Yaḍīqu l-bābu ʿanhā is hyperbole: the point is exaggerated fullness, not a literal measurement.

Junintu bihi junūnan repeats a cognate root to heighten the intensity of the poet’s reaction.