هَلَّا سَأَلْتِ الْخَيْلَ يَا ابْنَةَ مَالِكٍ إِنْ كُنْتِ جَاهِلَةً بِمَا لَمْ تَعْلَمِي
O daughter of Mālik, why not ask the horsemen if you do not know the things you have yet to learn?
Hallā urges the listener to act, rather than asking a neutral question. Al-khayl literally denotes horses, but here pointing ʿAblah to the cavalry means appealing to witnesses who have seen the poet in battle.
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ʿAntarah ibn Shaddād: Cavalry Witnesses, Courage, Restraint and Duels (verses 43–56)
هَلَّا سَأَلْتِ الْخَيْلَ يَا ابْنَةَ مَالِكٍ إِنْ كُنْتِ جَاهِلَةً بِمَا لَمْ تَعْلَمِي
O daughter of Mālik, why not ask the horsemen if you do not know the things you have yet to learn?
Hallā urges the listener to act, rather than asking a neutral question. Al-khayl literally denotes horses, but here pointing ʿAblah to the cavalry means appealing to witnesses who have seen the poet in battle.