وَمَا شَرُّ الثَّلَاثَةِ أُمَّ عَمْرٍو بِصَاحِبِكِ الَّذِي لَا تَصْبَحِينَا
O Umm ʿAmr, the one you do not serve in the morning is not the least worthy among the three.
Mā … biṣāḥibiki is an emphatic negation with an additional bāʾ in the predicate. Sharr al-thalāthah means the least worthy of three companions.
The complaint therefore concerns standing and fairness in the group, not simply thirst. The poet’s claim belongs to the particular pre-Islamic gathering he describes.
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ʿAmr ibn Kulthūm: Wine Gathering, Umm ʿAmr, Mortality and Parting (Verses 1–11)
وَمَا شَرُّ الثَّلَاثَةِ أُمَّ عَمْرٍو بِصَاحِبِكِ الَّذِي لَا تَصْبَحِينَا
O Umm ʿAmr, the one you do not serve in the morning is not the least worthy among the three.
Mā … biṣāḥibiki is an emphatic negation with an additional bāʾ in the predicate. Sharr al-thalāthah means the least worthy of three companions.
The complaint therefore concerns standing and fairness in the group, not simply thirst. The poet’s claim belongs to the particular pre-Islamic gathering he describes.