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

كِلَانَا إِذَا مَا نَالَ شَيْئًا أَفَاتَهُ
وَمَنْ يَحْتَرِثْ حَرْثِي وَحَرْثَكَ يَهْزَلِ
“Each of us, when he obtains something, lets it slip away; and whoever strives for a livelihood like yours and mine grows lean.”

Kilānā gathers the speaker and wolf under one description. Nāla shayʾan afātahu presents acquisition immediately followed by loss. Yaḥtarith ḥarthī wa-ḥarthaka makes cultivation or striving a metaphor for obtaining a living.

Yahzal means to grow thin or weak. The preceding verse stated a shared condition; this one offers its consequence and broader observation. The imagined dialogue becomes not only complaint but a bitter generalization about effort without lasting gain.

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Verse 51: the shared condition of loss

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

كِلَانَا إِذَا مَا نَالَ شَيْئًا أَفَاتَهُ
وَمَنْ يَحْتَرِثْ حَرْثِي وَحَرْثَكَ يَهْزَلِ
“Each of us, when he obtains something, lets it slip away; and whoever strives for a livelihood like yours and mine grows lean.”

Kilānā gathers the speaker and wolf under one description. Nāla shayʾan afātahu presents acquisition immediately followed by loss. Yaḥtarith ḥarthī wa-ḥarthaka makes cultivation or striving a metaphor for obtaining a living.

Yahzal means to grow thin or weak. The preceding verse stated a shared condition; this one offers its consequence and broader observation. The imagined dialogue becomes not only complaint but a bitter generalization about effort without lasting gain.