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

فَأَعْرَضَتِ الْيَمَامَةُ وَاشْمَخَرَّتْ كَأَسْيَافٍ بِأَيْدِي مُصْلِتِينَا
Then al-Yamāmah came into view, rising prominently as though it were drawn swords raised in the hands of swordsmen.

Al-Yamāmah is a geographical region, not the woman being addressed. Aʿraḍat means “appeared,” ishmakharrat “rose or stood high,” and muṣlitīn refers to people who have drawn their swords.

The simile transforms the rising landscape into drawn blades. After intimate grief, a distant, visible geographical marker returns the poem to the caravan’s journey.

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Verse 22: Al-Yamāmah like uplifted swords

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

فَأَعْرَضَتِ الْيَمَامَةُ وَاشْمَخَرَّتْ كَأَسْيَافٍ بِأَيْدِي مُصْلِتِينَا
Then al-Yamāmah came into view, rising prominently as though it were drawn swords raised in the hands of swordsmen.

Al-Yamāmah is a geographical region, not the woman being addressed. Aʿraḍat means “appeared,” ishmakharrat “rose or stood high,” and muṣlitīn refers to people who have drawn their swords.

The simile transforms the rising landscape into drawn blades. After intimate grief, a distant, visible geographical marker returns the poem to the caravan’s journey.