LessonsImruʾ al-Qays: The Long Night, Travel, and the Wolf (Verses 43–51)Quiz

Shaʾn means one's condition or affair; in shaʾnanā, nā is the first-person plural pronoun. Qalīlu al-ghinā describes limited means or prosperity shared, in the poem's comparison, by poet and wolf.

Tamawwala is a verb of acquiring wealth from the root m-w-l (م و ل). Negation with lammā can carry the nuance “not yet,” which should not be collapsed into simple past negation with lam.

In kunta lammā tamawwal includes a conditional element: “if you have not yet acquired property.” The line emphasizes their parallel deprivation. Translation should retain its conditional flavor without treating the wolf as a literal human economic agent.

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Shaʾnanā, qalīl al-ghinā, and lammā tamawwal

Imruʾ al-Qays: The Long Night, Travel, and the Wolf (Verses 43–51)

Shaʾn means one's condition or affair; in shaʾnanā, nā is the first-person plural pronoun. Qalīlu al-ghinā describes limited means or prosperity shared, in the poem's comparison, by poet and wolf.

Tamawwala is a verb of acquiring wealth from the root m-w-l (م و ل). Negation with lammā can carry the nuance “not yet,” which should not be collapsed into simple past negation with lam.

In kunta lammā tamawwal includes a conditional element: “if you have not yet acquired property.” The line emphasizes their parallel deprivation. Translation should retain its conditional flavor without treating the wolf as a literal human economic agent.