8 complete Arabic verses, 25 bilingual teaching slides and 30 explanatory quiz questions Read the bilingual lesson for Labīd ibn Rabīʿah: Resolve, Nawār and Pre-Islamic Night Gatherings (Verses 54–61) and test your understanding with a focused quiz.
Lesson
1. From animal imagery to personal character
The previous animal narrative showed a wild cow in pursuit and danger, illuminating the camel’s endurance. With aqḍī al-lubānah, Labīd shifts to speaking about his own wishes, decisions, and relationships.
The first four verses address resolve, maintaining or severing ties, and leaving uncongenial places. The next four recall nocturnal gatherings, the wine trade and music in pre-Islamic society. These are parts of the poet’s self-portrait, not a universal code of conduct.
2. Verse 54: Pursuing one’s aim
أَقْضِي اللُّبَانَةَ لَا أُفَرِّطُ رِيبَةً أَوْ أَنْ يَلُومَ بِحَاجَةٍ لَوَّامُهَا
I pursue my desired aim and do not let hesitation or fear of reproach waste it, even if critics reproach me for that aim.
Lubānah can mean a wish or object of desire, not merely a physical necessity. Tafrīṭ implies neglecting an opportunity or failing to secure an objective. The verse asserts determination; it does not by itself establish the ethical merit of the object pursued.
3. Lubānah, tafrīṭ and rībah: distinct senses
WordSense and functionاللُّبَانَةA desired aim or needأَقْضِيI fulfil; first-person imperfect verbأُفَرِّطI neglect or let slip; form IIرِيبَةApprehension, doubt or fear of censure
Lā ufarrīṭu conveys more than merely ‘not quitting.’ It suggests not allowing time, courage or opportunity to be squandered, contrasting neglect with the poet’s declared resolve.
4. Lawwāmuhā: intensified reproach
Lawwām comes from the root l-w-m, ‘to blame.’ While lāʾim means a reproacher, the faʿʿāl pattern may intensify the action or imply repeated reproach.
The poet evokes not a single complaint but a setting of persistent scrutiny. The phrase bi-ḥājatin identifies the need for which he might be criticised, while the suffix -hā refers back to that need.
5. Verse 55: Keeping and cutting bonds
أَوَلَمْ تَكُنْ تَدْرِي نَوَارُ بِأَنَّنِي وَصَّالُ عَقْدِ حَبَائِلٍ جَذَّامُهَا
Does Nawār not know that I can both maintain the knots of relationships and cut their bonds?
Ḥabāʾil literally means cords or ties; here it figuratively represents human relationships. The contrast between waṣṣāl and jadhdhām forms a forceful claim that the speaker can preserve a tie or cut it off.
6. ʿAqd ḥabāʾil: a tangible image for bonds
ʿAqd means a knot or tying, and ḥabāʾil are cords. The two make an abstract relationship into something physical: intimacy is a secured knot, separation a severed cord.
The image is more than verbal ornament. It frames continuity and rupture within one visual system. English expressions such as ‘forging ties’ and ‘breaking bonds’ show a comparable metaphorical pattern.
7. Waṣṣāl and jadhdhām: two intensive forms
FormRoot and patternMeaningوَصَّالw-ṣ-l, faʿʿālOne who maintains ties readilyجَذَّامj-dh-m, faʿʿālOne who cuts off decisivelyحَبَائِلPlural of ḥabālahCords or metaphorical ties
The juxtaposition of two intensified opposites creates a seemingly contradictory self-portrait. The claim is not that he always keeps ties or always severs them, but that he chooses between the two.
8. Verse 56: The resolve to leave
تَرَّاكُ أَمْكِنَةٍ إِذَا لَمْ أَرْضَهَا أَوْ يَعْتَلِقْ بَعْضَ النُّفُوسِ حِمَامُهَا
I leave places that do not please me, unless death seizes a life and makes departure impossible.
Tarrāk is an intensive description of someone willing to leave; amkinah is the plural of ‘place’. Here ḥimām does not mean pigeons: it denotes death. The verb yaʿtaliq evokes the act of seizing or fastening onto something.
9. Tarrāk amkinah: freedom of movement
Idhā lam arḍahā introduces the circumstance in which the speaker leaves: when a place no longer suits him. This is both literal movement across places and an emblem of independence.
Tarrāk also echoes jadhdhām in the previous verse. The ability to leave an unwelcome setting parallels the ability to sever an unwelcome tie. The recurring theme is freedom to choose.
10. Ḥimām as a term for death
In aw yaʿtaliq baʿḍa al-nufūsi ḥimāmuhā, death is portrayed as something that seizes a life. Baʿḍ al-nufūs indicates that lives are taken at different moments, but each remains exposed to mortality.
It would be a lexical error to read ḥimām here as ‘pigeons’ because of its familiar sound. The image concerns the closing of opportunity before death arrives.
11. Verse 57: Nights of delight
بَلْ أَنْتِ لَا تَدْرِينَ كَمْ مِنْ لَيْلَةٍ طَلْقٍ لَذِيذٍ لَهْوُهَا وَنِدَامُهَا
Rather, you do not know how many carefree, agreeable nights I have spent in delightful diversion and companionship.
Kam min laylatin emphasises a large number of past experiences. Ṭalq suggests unconfined ease, ladhīdh marks delight, and nidām denotes companionship or those who gather in convivial company.
12. Kam min laylah: an exclamation of frequency
Kam here is exclamatory or declarative in force—‘how many nights!’—rather than a question requesting a number. Min laylatin specifies the counted category. This conveys the abundance of the poet’s experiences.
Ṭalqin ladhīdhin describes the night, and the feminine suffixes in lahwuhā wa-nidāmuhā refer back to it. The syntax presents both frequency and felt quality.
13. Ṭalq, ladhīdh and nidām: three dimensions
ExpressionContributionlaylah ṭalqAn easy, unconfined nightladhīdhPleasurable sensationlahwuhāRecreation or diversionnidāmuhāFellow participants in company
A single experience acquires time, feeling, activity and human company. Rather than merely saying he was happy, the poet sketches the atmosphere of a gathering.
14. Verse 58: Gatherings and the trader’s banner
قَدْ بِتُّ سَامِرَهَا وَغَايَةَ تَاجِرٍ وَافَيْتُ إِذْ رُفِعَتْ وَعَزَّ مُدَامُهَا
I spent the night awake in company and came to the wine merchant’s banner when it was raised and his wine was scarce and prized.
Bittu sāmirahā presents wakeful night-time company. Here ghāyat tājir refers to the merchant’s raised sign or flag. ʿAzza mudāmuhā suggests that the wine was difficult to obtain and therefore costly or highly valued in that market.
15. The merchant’s banner as a market sign
The scene uses a raised banner as the wine seller’s identifying sign. In idh rufiʿat, the passive verb places emphasis on the raising of the sign, not on the unnamed person who raised it.
The small detail opens out into a social setting: merchant, visible signal, customers and a scarce commodity. This is a representation of pre-Islamic practice, not a religious endorsement of it.
16. Bittu, wāfaytu and rufiʿat: verbal sequence
Bittu, wāfaytu and rufiʿat are past-tense verbs performing different tasks: spending the night, arriving at a place, and the raising of a banner.
Rufiʿat is feminine singular passive past; its agreement is with the feminine sign ghāyah. The verb sequence animates a move from night-time conversation to the market signal.
17. Verse 59: Wine vessels and their cost
أُغْلِي السِّبَاءَ بِكُلِّ أَدْكَنَ عَاتِقٍ أَوْ جَوْنَةٍ قُدِحَتْ وَفُضَّ خِتَامُهَا
I pay dearly for matured, dark wine—or for the contents of a dark jar whose opening has been breached and whose seal has been broken.
Al-sibāʾ concerns buying wine; adkan ʿātiq describes its dark colour and maturity. Jawnah is a dark vessel, while fuḍḍa khitāmuhā presents the physical act of breaking or opening its seal.
18. Ughlī al-sibāʾ: morphology and meaning
Ughlī derives from the root gh-l-w and means to pay an elevated price in this context. Al-sibāʾ relates specifically to wine purchasing, rather than buying things in general.
ʿĀtiq describes wine aged or matured, while adkan describes a dark hue. The passage characterises a spendthrift aspect of the speaker’s lifestyle; it does not propose a general rule that costly goods are better.
19. Jawnah, qudiḥat and fuḍḍa: opening a vessel
WordContextual forcejawnahA dark vessel or jarqudiḥatThe opening was pierced or openedfuḍḍa khitāmuhāIts sealing closure was broken
Both qudiḥat and fuḍḍa are passive forms, focusing on the opening of a sealed container rather than on the opener. Sensory detail turns the claim about spending into a concrete scene.
20. Verse 60: Singer and stringed instrument
بِصَبُوحِ صَافِيَةٍ وَجَذْبِ كَرِينَةٍ بِمُوَتَّرٍ تَأْتَالُهُ إِبْهَامُهَا
With a morning drink of clear wine and the playing of a female musician, whose thumb moved the string of her instrument.
Ṣabūḥ refers to a morning drink; karīnah in this setting is a singer-musician; and muwattar denotes a stringed instrument. Ibhāmuhā means her thumb, whose movement makes the musical action visible.
21. Ṣabūḥ and muwattar: time and instrument
Ṣabūḥ is tied to morning, while muwattar connects with watar, a string. One word fixes the time of the scene; the other specifies the physical character of the instrument.
Reading karīnah here merely as ‘companion’ would miss the musical context. The following phrase describes her thumb manipulating a string. The image combines sound with visible hand movement.
22. Taʾtāluhu ibhāmuhā: syntax and action
The grammatical subject of taʾtāluhu is the following ibhāmuhā—‘her thumb’. The attached object pronoun -hu refers back to the stringed instrument or its relevant part.
The word order first presents the movement and only then identifies the moving thumb. The poet is not merely reporting the existence of music; he is giving a close-up image of performance.
23. Verse 61: Before daybreak
بَاكَرْتُ حَاجَتَهَا الدَّجَاجَ بِسُحْرَةٍ لِأَعَلَّ مِنْهَا حِينَ هَبَّ نِيَامُهَا
I set about satisfying that desire very early at dawn, before the cock’s call, so that I could drink again when the sleepers awoke.
Bākartu describes going or acting very early. Al-dajāj refers to fowl or cocks, and suḥrah to the late part of the night before dawn. Li-aʿalla expresses purpose; ḥīna habba niyāmuhā locates the later moment when sleepers awaken.
24. Bākartu and li-aʿalla: a sequence with purpose
The verse orders its events in time: bi-suḥratin places them before daylight; al-dajāj introduces the cock’s call; and ḥīna habba niyāmuhā marks the sleepers’ awakening.
The purpose-lām in li-aʿalla explains why the speaker goes early: to drink another time. It continues the drinking scene of the preceding verses, not an unrelated reference to quenching ordinary thirst.
25. Literary map of the eight verses
VersesSceneTechnique54–56Resolve, ties, leaving placesFirst-person claim, contrast, metaphor57Numerous convivial nightsExclamatory kam and description58–59Merchant’s sign and sealed jarAction and tangible detail60–61Instrument, morning and speedGesture, sound, temporal sequence
The sequence begins with self-determination and ends with memories of pre-Islamic revelry. Literary interpretation should keep the poet’s claims, their historical setting and later Islamic ethical evaluation distinct.
Practice questions
Question 1
What does al-lubānah mean here?
- A desired aim
- A place of residence
- A riding rope
- A battlefield
Question 2
What is conveyed by lā ufarriṭu?
- I conceal my intention
- I do not let an opportunity slip
- I frequently change location
- I remain silent
Question 3
Which pattern intensifies the meaning of lawwām?
Question 4
How are waṣṣāl and jadhdhām related?
- Both denote colours
- They are synonyms
- Both are feminine plurals
- They are opposing intensive forms
Question 5
Using ḥabāʾil for relationships illustrates what device?
- A list of literal animals
- Cords as a metaphor for ties
- Numerical calculation
- Mere sound repetition
Question 6
Who is addressed in awalam takun tadrī?
- The merchant
- Nawār
- The hunter
- The she-camel
Question 7
Which two abilities appear in verse 55?
- Warfare and trade
- Sleeping and waking
- Maintaining and severing bonds
- Rain and sunshine
Question 8
What does tarrāku amkinah mean in context?
- One who leaves places
- One who builds sites
- One who counts people
- One who distributes water
Question 9
What motivates departure in idhā lam arḍahā?
- The caravan moving on
- The beginning of rain
- Disliking the place
- A long night
Question 10
What does ḥimām mean here?
Question 11
What image is conveyed by yaʿtaliq baʿḍa al-nufūs?
- Accumulating wealth
- Dyeing cloth
- Drawing water
- Seizing lives
Question 12
How does kam function in kam min laylah?
- Interrogative: asking an exact number
- For prohibition
- Declarative: expressing frequency
- For calling someone
Question 13
What quality does ṭalq give to the night?
- Carefree and unconfined
- Rocky
- Stormy
- Silent and terrifying
Question 14
What does nidāmuhā indicate here?
- Sand dunes
- Companions in gathering
- War chariots
- Bird nests
Question 15
What does bittu indicate?
- Future travel
- Trading by day
- Spending the night
- Building a house
Question 16
What is meant by ghāyat tājir here?
- A merchant’s raised sign
- The trader’s illness
- The last pack animal
- A type of game animal
Question 17
What form is rufiʿat?
- Active past masculine plural
- Second-person imperative
- First-person imperfect
- Passive past feminine singular
Question 18
What does ʿazza mudāmuhā suggest socially?
- Water being abundant
- Wine being scarce and valued
- A horse falling ill
- Travel in severe cold
Question 19
What does ughlī al-sibāʾ describe?
- He speeds up a camel
- He rebukes others
- He pays dearly for wine
- He counts stars
Question 20
What do adkan and ʿātiq describe?
- Dark colour and mature wine
- A white sword and a fort
- A young horse and rider
- Rain and lightning
Question 21
What is jawnah in this verse?
- A bird
- A dark vessel
- A battle spear
- A direction of travel
Question 22
What action appears in fuḍḍa khitāmuhā?
- Sealing the jar
- Stringing an instrument
- Raising a flag
- Breaking the seal
Question 23
To what time does ṣabūḥ refer?
- Early evening
- Midday
- Morning
- Late evening
Question 24
Who is the karīnah in this passage?
- A singer-musician
- A hunter
- A servant raising the flag
- A caravan guide
Question 25
Muwattar is related to which object?
- A sword
- A string
- A rope bundle
- A spear
Question 26
What is the grammatical role of ibhāmuhā after taʾtāluhu?
- Direct object
- Preposition
- Subject
- Predicate of a nominal subject
Question 27
What is the main sense of bākartu?
- Acting early, anticipating
- Waiting a month
- Sleeping all night
- Affixing a seal
Question 28
What time is evoked by al-dajāj bi-suḥrah?
- A midday market
- A winter sunset
- An evening forest
- Pre-dawn and cockcrow
Question 29
What is the function of the lām in li-aʿalla?
- Exception
- Purpose
- Calling
- Oath
Question 30
Which division best describes verses 54–61?
- All verses describe hunting alone
- All verses are rain similes
- Resolve and ties, then pre-Islamic revelry
- War, then tribal peace
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