وَكَأَنَّ رُبًّا أَوْ كُحَيْلًا مُعَقَّدًا حَشَّ الْوَقُودُ بِهِ جَوَانِبَ قُمْقُمِ
It is as though thickened syrup or tar were being heated, with fuel blazing around the sides of a cooking vessel.
Rubb is a reduced thick substance and kuḥayl refers here to tar-like black dressing. Muʿaqqadan denotes thickening by heating, and qumqum is a vessel. This image continues into the next verse: the comparison prepares us for a substance flowing behind the camel’s ear.
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ʿAntarah ibn Shaddād: She-Camel, Conduct, Generosity and Martial Boasting (verses 31–42)
وَكَأَنَّ رُبًّا أَوْ كُحَيْلًا مُعَقَّدًا حَشَّ الْوَقُودُ بِهِ جَوَانِبَ قُمْقُمِ
It is as though thickened syrup or tar were being heated, with fuel blazing around the sides of a cooking vessel.
Rubb is a reduced thick substance and kuḥayl refers here to tar-like black dressing. Muʿaqqadan denotes thickening by heating, and qumqum is a vessel. This image continues into the next verse: the comparison prepares us for a substance flowing behind the camel’s ear.