Imruʾ al-Qays: The Horse’s Form, Similes, and Wild Quarry (Verses 59–64)

1. From equine form to the hunt

The preceding verses showed the horse’s speed, agility, and movement under different riders. The description now turns to its bodily proportions, movements resembling those of other animals, and the beginning of a hunt.

Verses 59–64 first describe the flanks, legs, gaits, tail, and back. The poet then depicts the blood of leading prey on the horse’s neck, followed by a herd of wild cattle whose appearance inspires further comparisons.

No image equates the entire horse with another creature. Each simile selects one precise quality and gives it visible form.

2. Verse 59: one horse, several animal qualities

لَهُ أَيْطَلَا ظَبْيٍ وَسَاقَا نَعَامَةٍ
وَإِرْخَاءُ سِرْحَانٍ وَتَقْرِيبُ تَتْفُلِ
“Its flanks resemble a gazelle’s, its legs an ostrich’s; it has the extended stride of a wolf and the close-stepping trot of a young fox.”

The poet combines proportions with different kinds of motion. The gazelle supplies lean flanks, the ostrich long legs, the wolf a stretched stride, and a young fox quick, close-set steps. Each image does a different descriptive job.

3. Aytalā and sāqā: bodily proportions

Aytalā is the dual of ayṭal, referring to the two flanks or lower side regions of the animal. The gazelle comparison evokes a lean, agile, and proportionate body.

Sāqā naʿāmah contains the dual of sāq (“leg”), in an iḍāfah with “ostrich.” The ostrich supplies the image of long, powerful legs suited to swift running.

Neither image is a literal anatomical claim. The poet assembles selected strengths from different animals to convey the horse’s exceptional build.

4. Irkhāʾ and taqrīb: two distinct gaits

Irkhāʾ sirḥān evokes an extended stride like a wolf’s; sirḥān means a wolf. The legs reach forward in long, continuous movement.

Taqrīb tatful describes rapid movement with steps closer together; tatful is the young of a fox. These are not synonyms for one gait: the first stresses length and openness of stride, the second short, quick stepping.

The horse can vary its movement as conditions change. That versatility is central to the compliment.

5. Verse 59 grammar: duals and iḍāfah

Lahu is a prepositional expression functioning as a fronted predicate for the description that follows. Aytalā ẓabyin uses the dual aytalā, followed by ẓabyin in an iḍāfah. The alif marks the dual’s nominative form.

Sāqā naʿāmatin provides another dual construction. Irkhāʾ sirḥānin and taqrīb tatfulin each use a verbal noun as muḍāf with the animal name as muḍāf ilayh.

Although the explicit comparison particle ka- is absent, the concentrated attribution of animal qualities creates the effect of an elliptical or emphatic simile.

6. Verse 59: a comparison chart

ExpressionImageSelected quality
أَيْطَلَا ظَبْيٍGazelleLean, agile flanks
سَاقَا نَعَامَةٍOstrichLong, effective legs
إِرْخَاءُ سِرْحَانٍWolfExtended stride
تَقْرِيبُ تَتْفُلِYoung foxRapid close steps

The ordering moves from anatomical build to movement. Instead of repeating a general claim of speed, the poet constructs a composite portrait from four observed qualities.

7. Verse 60: broad frame and a full tail

ضَلِيعٌ إِذَا اسْتَدْبَرْتَهُ سَدَّ فَرْجَهُ
بِضَافٍ فُوَيْقَ الْأَرْضِ لَيْسَ بِأَعْزَلِ
“It is broad and strongly built. Seen from behind, it fills the space between its hind legs with a long, abundant tail, held a little above the ground and not bare on one side.”

Ḍalīʿ praises the breadth and strength of the frame. The tail is long and full without dragging on the ground, and its hair is not missing unevenly from one side.

8. Ḍāfin, fuwayqa, and aʿzal: precise meanings

Ḍāfin describes something long, abundant, and flowing; here it concerns the horse’s full tail. Fuwayqa al-arḍ is a diminutive form of fawqa, meaning “just a little above the ground.”

Laysa bi-aʿzal denies that the tail is sparse or lacking hair on one side. The ideal is not merely length but fullness, symmetry, and a suitable distance from the ground.

The diminutive fuwayqa gives a fine measurement of proximity: the tail hangs low, but does not drag.

9. Verse 60: grammatical structure

Ḍalīʿun is an adjectival description of the horse already introduced. Idhā opens a circumstantial time construction, while istadbartahu is a past-tense verb containing the subject and object pronouns: “you viewed it from behind.”

Sadda farjahu supplies the action witnessed in that setting. Bi-ḍāfin introduces the means by which the gap is filled: the full tail.

Laysa bi-aʿzalin denies a defect, with the additional bāʾ reinforcing the negation in the predicate.

10. Verse 61: the two sides of the back

كَأَنَّ عَلَى الْمَتْنَيْنِ مِنْهُ إِذَا انْتَحَى
مَدَاكَ عَرُوسٍ أَوْ صَلَايَةَ حَنْظَلِ
“When it turns or leans to one side, the two surfaces of its back seem like a bride’s smooth grinding stone for perfume, or a polished slab used to grind colocynth.”

Al-matnayn denotes both sides of the horse’s back; idhā intaḥā means “when it inclines or directs itself.” The comparisons emphasize smoothness, firmness, and polished texture.

11. The bride’s grinding stone and the colocynth slab

Madāk ʿarūs is a smooth stone used for grinding or rubbing perfume or similar substances for a bride. Repeated use makes the surface polished. Ṣalāyat ḥanẓal is a slab or stone used for grinding colocynth, a bitter desert fruit.

Both household objects evoke a smooth, worn, hard surface, which is the selected quality of the horse’s back.

The first half of the verse locates the two back surfaces; the second supplies their tactile resemblance. The imagery is material and concrete rather than an abstract assertion of beauty.

12. Verse 61: kaʾanna and locative order

Kaʾanna introduces a simile through a particle resembling a verb. ʿAlā al-matnayn minhu foregrounds the location at which the comparison can be observed.

Idhā intaḥā is a time clause associated with the horse’s turning movement. Madāk ʿarūs aw ṣalāyat ḥanẓal offers two alternate images of the comparable surface.

The sequence first gives the location, then the moment of motion, and finally the concrete object that renders the quality visible.

13. Verse 62: prey’s blood compared with henna

كَأَنَّ دِمَاءَ الْهَادِيَاتِ بِنَحْرِهِ
عُصَارَةُ حِنَّاءٍ بِشَيْبٍ مُرَجَّلِ
“The blood of the leading quarry on its throat resembles the juice of henna upon neatly combed grey hair.”

Al-hādiyāt are the animals leading the quarry, and naḥrihi is the horse’s throat or front of the neck.

The simile relies on the contrast between red blood and grey-white hair. The mark of the hunt becomes visually striking while linking the horse’s speed with its success in overtaking prey.

14. Al-hādiyāt, ʿuṣārah, and murajjal

Al-hādiyāt is the plural of hādiyah: here the animals at the front of the quarry, not human guides.

ʿUṣārat ḥinnāʾ signifies the extracted juice or colored substance of henna. Shayb means grey or white hair, while murajjal describes hair carefully combed and arranged.

The comparison is not about redness alone. It is specifically about crimson marks standing out against an orderly, pale background.

15. Verse 63: a herd of wild cattle appears

فَعَنَّ لَنَا سِرْبٌ كَأَنَّ نِعَاجَهُ
عَذَارَى دَوَارٍ فِي مُلَاءٍ مُذَيَّلِ
“A herd appeared before us; its females resembled maidens at the dawār, dressed in flowing, trailing robes.”

Fa-ʿanna lanā means that the herd suddenly came into view. Sirb is a herd or group, while niʿājuhu here refers to the female wild cattle.

The hunting horse and its quarry now occupy the same scene. Yet the poet first presents the quarry’s appearance and coloring; active pursuit belongs to the verses that follow.

16. Niʿāj and ʿadhārā: what is compared?

Niʿāj can commonly refer to female sheep, but in this context the accompanying commentary identifies them as female wild cattle. Relying only on the familiar general meaning would distort the hunting scene.

ʿAdhārā, plural of ʿadhrāʾ, means maidens. Their youthful appearance and garments provide the image through which the animals’ color and visual grace are described.

The comparison humanizes the visual impression of the herd, without claiming the figures are actual people.

17. Dawār and mulāʾ mudhayyal: the cultural setting

Dawār refers in the classical commentary to a stone or marked object around which people once made circuits. The poet uses the image of maidens gathered near it as a visual comparison.

Mulāʾ is the plural of mulāʾah, a large cloth or mantle; mudhayyal means hanging with a long hem or trailing end.

The simile conveys the bright appearance and long tails of the wild cattle through garments with extended borders. It is a pre-Islamic cultural reference in the poem, not a legal or devotional ruling.

18. Verse 63: ʿanna, kaʾanna, and the garment image

In fa-ʿanna lanā sirbun, ʿanna is a past-tense verb and sirbun its postponed subject: a herd suddenly appeared. In kaʾanna niʿājahu, niʿāja is the noun of kaʾanna, and the pronoun refers back to the herd.

ʿAdhārā dawārin provides the comparison, while fī mulāʾin mudhayyalin describes the women’s flowing garments.

Rather than portray these animals in a fierce hunting image, the verse first gives a serene human analogy. The next line emphasizes the herd’s movement and arrangement.

19. Verse 64: the image of a patterned necklace

فَأَدْبَرْنَ كَالْجَزْعِ الْمُفَصَّلِ بَيْنَهُ
بِجِيدٍ مُعَمٍّ فِي الْعَشِيرَةِ مُخْوَلِ
“They turned away like a necklace of variegated beads, separated by other beads, lying upon the neck of someone of honored family on both sides.”

Al-jazʿ al-mufaṣṣal evokes patterned, contrasting-colored beads, separated in a strung necklace by different pieces.

The verse captures the herd’s alternating colors and ordered movement through the visible arrangement of jewelry.

20. Al-jazʿ and al-mufaṣṣal: ordered colors

Al-jazʿ is a variegated stone often marked with dark and pale bands. Al-mufaṣṣal baynahu describes beads separated from one another by interposed pieces so that their colors and outlines remain distinct.

The wild cattle are not simply uniform white. Dark markings on portions of their bodies contrast with pale areas. Hence the necklace comparison conveys alternating colors in an ordered row, not merely attractive decoration.

The opening verb fa-adbarna also indicates turning away: the pattern is observed while the herd is moving.

21. Bi-jīdin muʿammin mukhawwalin: kinship terminology

Jīd means neck, often suggesting an elegant neck in poetic diction. Muʿamm describes one whose paternal kin are honorable; mukhawwal describes honor through maternal kin.

These expressions evoke a costly ornament worn by a person of recognized family standing. The actual subject remains the herd; the necklace on an esteemed person’s neck is the vehicle of the simile.

The image thus unites color, arrangement, adornment, and social prestige in one compact scene.

22. Verse 64: morphology and syntax

Fa-adbarna is a feminine-plural past-tense verb; its subject suffix refers to niʿāj, the female wild cattle. Ka-l-jazʿi uses the comparison particle ka-, followed by a genitive noun. Al-mufaṣṣal qualifies the beads, and baynahu denotes the spacing between them.

Bi-jīdin introduces the neck in the necklace image, while muʿamm and mukhawwal describe the standing of someone through paternal and maternal kin.

The grammatical reference continues to track the herd, while the comparison expands into the jewelry scene.

23. Key vocabulary: from horse to herd

Arabic termMeaning in context
أَيْطَلَاTwo flanks — dual form
إِرْخَاءExtended, open stride
ضَافٍLong and abundant, of a tail
مَدَاكSmooth stone for rubbing/grinding
هَادِيَاتAnimals leading the quarry
سِرْبA herd or group of animals
جَزْعVariegated, banded stone

Context determines each term’s intended meaning. For example, niʿāj here denotes the female wild cattle rather than the more familiar domestic sheep.

24. Comparative reading: imagery and the senses

VerseDominant imageEffect
59Body and gaitFour analogies for one horse
60Tail from behindPrecise visual observation
61Smooth backTactile likeness
62Blood and hennaRed-white contrast
63Herd and robesGrace and cultural imagery
64Banded necklacePattern and sequence

The sequence moves from sight to texture, then to color and arrangement. That variety makes both the horse and the quarry vivid and memorable.

25. Lesson synthesis: from description to pursuit

Verses 59–61 complete the portrait of the horse’s body and motion: selected animal traits, a rear view of the tail, and the smoothness of its back. Verse 62 shows the consequences of its speed through blood from the quarry.

Verses 63–64 introduce the wild cattle. Flowing robes and a patterned necklace make their color, grace, and movement visible.

The essential shift is that the horse is no longer the only object of attention; its quarry has entered the picture. The next section develops the chase and its outcome.