لَوْ كَانَ يَدْرِي مَا الْمُحَاوَرَةُ اشْتَكَى وَلَكَانَ لَوْ عَلِمَ الْكَلَامَ مُكَلِّمِي
Had the horse understood dialogue, it would have protested aloud; had it known speech, it would have spoken with me.
Law constructs a counterfactual: the animal does not possess human speech. Al-muḥāwarah is exchange or dialogue; mukallimī would be “one who speaks to me.” The second verse completes the earlier personification while acknowledging the horse’s real limits.
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ʿAntarah ibn Shaddād: Love, Ingratitude, the Wounded Horse and Final Boast (verses 57–75)
لَوْ كَانَ يَدْرِي مَا الْمُحَاوَرَةُ اشْتَكَى وَلَكَانَ لَوْ عَلِمَ الْكَلَامَ مُكَلِّمِي
Had the horse understood dialogue, it would have protested aloud; had it known speech, it would have spoken with me.
Law constructs a counterfactual: the animal does not possess human speech. Al-muḥāwarah is exchange or dialogue; mukallimī would be “one who speaks to me.” The second verse completes the earlier personification while acknowledging the horse’s real limits.