LessonsImruʾ al-Qays: Lightning, Rain, Floods, and the Muʿallaqah’s Finale (Verses 70–81)Quiz

كَأَنَّ السِّبَاعَ فِيهِ غَرْقَى عَشِيَّةً / بِأَرْجَائِهِ الْقُصْوَى أَنَابِيشُ عُنْصُلِ
At evening, the drowned beasts on its distant edges seemed like uprooted wild-onion bulbs.

Al-sibāʿ are wild beasts, gharqā means drowned, arjāʾuhu al-quṣwā the far edges, and anābīsh ʿunṣul uprooted bulbous parts of wild onion. The final image compares storm-struck creatures to an unexpected physical object.

It returns the focus to the storm’s force: after the vigorous morning birds comes the vulnerability of animals. The close holds both nature’s beauty and its severity in view.

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Verse 81: the closing image and storm’s aftermath

Imruʾ al-Qays: Lightning, Rain, Floods, and the Muʿallaqah’s Finale (Verses 70–81)

كَأَنَّ السِّبَاعَ فِيهِ غَرْقَى عَشِيَّةً / بِأَرْجَائِهِ الْقُصْوَى أَنَابِيشُ عُنْصُلِ
At evening, the drowned beasts on its distant edges seemed like uprooted wild-onion bulbs.

Al-sibāʿ are wild beasts, gharqā means drowned, arjāʾuhu al-quṣwā the far edges, and anābīsh ʿunṣul uprooted bulbous parts of wild onion. The final image compares storm-struck creatures to an unexpected physical object.

It returns the focus to the storm’s force: after the vigorous morning birds comes the vulnerability of animals. The close holds both nature’s beauty and its severity in view.