لَبِسْتُ الْخَمِيصَةَ أَبْغِي الْخَبِيصَةَ
I put on the khamīṣah garment while seeking khabīṣah, a sweet dish.
The preacher connects a garment and a sweet dish through the close sounds of khamīṣah / khabīṣah. One names the appearance he adopted; the other points toward the food he wanted. A short admission reinterprets a much longer public performance.
He answers with wit rather than with a flat denial. The reader can continue to appreciate his verbal skill while recognising that eloquence served a personal interest. Dramatic irony does not require the earlier speech to lose all aesthetic value; it requires the hidden motive to become legible.
StageNarrative roleAppearanceAn austere dress and public sermonMotiveThe desire for foodRevelationThe khamīṣah/khabīṣah pun