LessonsImruʾ al-Qays: Dialogue in ʿUnayzah’s Litter, Boasting, and an Oath (Verses 13–18)Quiz

Khidr primarily evokes screening and enclosure. In this verse it identifies a protected inner space used during travel. Treating it only as a room in a permanent house would obscure the next verse, with its ghabīṭ and the movement of a camel.

ʿUnayzah is the name or appellation of the woman in the scene; the classical commentary reports differing identifications. What matters for reading the poem is that the speaker evokes a particular remembered encounter.

ExpressionUse in this verse
Al-khidrA screened space or the interior of the litter
ʿUnayzahName or appellation of a particular woman
DakhaltuThe poet’s first-person report of entry

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Khidr, ʿUnayzah, and the scene’s setting

Imruʾ al-Qays: Dialogue in ʿUnayzah’s Litter, Boasting, and an Oath (Verses 13–18)

Khidr primarily evokes screening and enclosure. In this verse it identifies a protected inner space used during travel. Treating it only as a room in a permanent house would obscure the next verse, with its ghabīṭ and the movement of a camel.

ʿUnayzah is the name or appellation of the woman in the scene; the classical commentary reports differing identifications. What matters for reading the poem is that the speaker evokes a particular remembered encounter.

ExpressionUse in this verse
Al-khidrA screened space or the interior of the litter
ʿUnayzahName or appellation of a particular woman
DakhaltuThe poet’s first-person report of entry