LessonsImruʾ al-Qays: A Guarded Tent, the Pleiades, Objection, and Dunes (Verses 23–29)Quiz

Yamīna Allāh is an oath expression. Yamīn can literally mean the right hand, but here it means an oath; the construct with Allāh makes the invocation explicit.

In mā laka ḥīlah, mā negates, laka is a fronted prepositional predicate, and ḥīlatun supplies the delayed nominal element: “you have no device or recourse.” Ḥīlah may mean a tactic or stratagem, not merely admirable ingenuity.

The utterance begins as the woman’s objection, rather than an independently endorsed judgment by the narrator. Keeping speakers distinct is essential when analyzing dramatic exchange in poetry.

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Yamīna Allāh mā laka ḥīlah: oath and negation

Imruʾ al-Qays: A Guarded Tent, the Pleiades, Objection, and Dunes (Verses 23–29)

Yamīna Allāh is an oath expression. Yamīn can literally mean the right hand, but here it means an oath; the construct with Allāh makes the invocation explicit.

In mā laka ḥīlah, mā negates, laka is a fronted prepositional predicate, and ḥīlatun supplies the delayed nominal element: “you have no device or recourse.” Ḥīlah may mean a tactic or stratagem, not merely admirable ingenuity.

The utterance begins as the woman’s objection, rather than an independently endorsed judgment by the narrator. Keeping speakers distinct is essential when analyzing dramatic exchange in poetry.