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

وَلَا شَمْطَاءُ لَمْ يَتْرُكْ شَقَاهَا لَهَا مِنْ تِسْعَةٍ إِلَّا جَنِينَا
Nor is the grief of a grey-haired old woman like mine, when misfortune has left none of her nine sons alive: all have been buried.

Shamṭāʾ is a grey-haired elderly woman and shaqāhā her misfortune. Critically, janīnan in this verse is explained in the commentary as buried in a grave, not as an unborn baby.

The poet intensifies the previous image of an animal grieving its calf by comparing his sorrow with that of a mother bereaved of nine sons.

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Verse 20: A grieving mother and nine sons

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

وَلَا شَمْطَاءُ لَمْ يَتْرُكْ شَقَاهَا لَهَا مِنْ تِسْعَةٍ إِلَّا جَنِينَا
Nor is the grief of a grey-haired old woman like mine, when misfortune has left none of her nine sons alive: all have been buried.

Shamṭāʾ is a grey-haired elderly woman and shaqāhā her misfortune. Critically, janīnan in this verse is explained in the commentary as buried in a grave, not as an unborn baby.

The poet intensifies the previous image of an animal grieving its calf by comparing his sorrow with that of a mother bereaved of nine sons.