LessonsLabīd ibn Rabīʿah: Severing Ties, Generosity and the Travel-Worn She-Camel (Verses 20–24)Quiz

The preceding verses located Nawār at a distance, among places now remote from the speaker. The direct imperative fa-qṭaʿ now urges a decision: attachment becomes burdensome when an apparently available relationship is in fact unreliable.

The scene then changes. The first 2 verses concern attachment, courtesy and responsible separation; the next 3 present a she-camel marked by long journeys yet still capable of speed. The movement from inward conflict to outward travel gives the passage its narrative momentum.

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Labīd ibn Rabīʿah: Severing Ties, Generosity and the Travel-Worn She-Camel (Verses 20–24)

5 complete Arabic verses, 25 bilingual teaching slides and 30 explanatory questions Read the bilingual lesson for Labīd ibn Rabīʿah: Severing Ties, Generosity and the Travel-Worn She-Camel (Verses 20–24) and test your understanding with a focused quiz.

Lesson

1. From remembering Nawār to choosing separation

The preceding verses located Nawār at a distance, among places now remote from the speaker. The direct imperative fa-qṭaʿ now urges a decision: attachment becomes burdensome when an apparently available relationship is in fact unreliable.

The scene then changes. The first 2 verses concern attachment, courtesy and responsible separation; the next 3 present a she-camel marked by long journeys yet still capable of speed. The movement from inward conflict to outward travel gives the passage its narrative momentum.

2. Verse 20: withdrawing from an unstable bond

فَاقْطَعْ لُبَانَةَ مَنْ تَعَرَّضَ وَصْلُهُ ۞ وَلَشَرُّ وَاصِلِ خُلَّةٍ صَرَّامُهَا
Set aside the desire for someone whose attachment proves uncertain; the worst guardian of a bond is the one who ends it.

Lubānah denotes the heart’s wish or felt need here, not simply a material necessity. Waṣl (joining) and ṣarm (severing) oppose one another. The pain comes from the mismatch between an expectation of connection and the reality of separation.

3. Lubānah, waṣl and ṣarm as a semantic set

Lubānah is a deeply felt need or desire. Waṣl suggests maintaining union and contact; ṣarm is the act of cutting that bond. Together the terms trace desire, hoped-for continuity and rupture.

Ṣarrām has an intensive force: a habitual or forceful breaker of ties. The condemnation is strong because the outward label of friendship is worthless where loyalty fails in practice.

4. Verse 20: imperative and relative construction

Fa-qṭaʿ is the imperative of qaṭaʿa, with an understood second-person subject. Lubānata is its direct object. The relative expression man taʿarraḍa waṣluhu identifies the person whose connection proves precarious.

In waṣluhu, waṣl is the first term of a genitive construction and -hu the attached possessive. The participles wāṣil and ṣarrām point in opposite directions: apparent joining versus actual cutting.

5. Sharru wāṣili khullah: praise inverted into criticism

In wa-la-sharru wāṣili khullatin ṣarrāmuhā, sharr gives emphatic evaluative force. Khullah denotes a close bond of friendship.

The word wāṣil initially promises one who maintains ties, only for ṣarrāmuhā to reverse the expectation. The verse relies on semantic opposition: professing a bond while cutting it through conduct is the object of criticism.

6. Verse 21: generosity without surrendering the right to leave

وَاحْبُ الْمُجَامِلَ بِالْجَزِيلِ وَصَرْمُهُ ۞ بَاقٍ إِذَا ظَلَعَتْ وَزَاغَ قِوَامُهَا
Treat the courteous person with ample generosity; yet the option of ending the bond remains if that relationship becomes unsteady and loses its balance.

This completes the prior counsel. Instead of advocating arbitrary estrangement, the verse first insists on jazīl, generous treatment, and only then considers a relationship that has become unstable. Courtesy and self-respect are held together.

7. Al-mujāmil and al-jazīl: two key qualities

Al-mujāmil denotes someone who observes consideration and courtesy in a relationship; it is an active participle associated with Form III. Al-jazīl connotes abundance or substantial generosity, here in one’s treatment or gifts.

Waḥbu is an imperative to give generously. The poet does not dismiss courtesy as performance; he makes it the primary mode of conduct while leaving separation possible where the bond itself fails.

8. Idhā ẓalaʿat wa-zāgha qiwāmuhā: a pair of vivid verbs

Ẓalaʿat evokes limping or impaired movement, while zāgha indicates swerving from the right line. Qiwām denotes the principle that keeps a thing upright and sound. Together, they turn an unstable relationship into something visibly staggering.

Idhā introduces a contingent situation. The sentence therefore combines a norm of generous conduct with the possibility of disengagement when the supporting structure of the bond no longer holds.

9. Verses 20–21: three decisions about friendship

SituationPoetic expressionMeaningDesire for connectionلُبَانَةAcknowledging emotional attachmentCourteous treatmentوَاحْبُ ... بِالْجَزِيلِShowing generosity and considerationBreakdown of the bondظَلَعَتْ وَزَاغَ قِوَامُهَاCondition under which separation may follow

The sequence is the poet’s social and literary judgment, not a universal legal rule. It ties continuity to responsible conduct: the mere age or label of a relationship is not enough.

10. Verse 22: the she-camel exhausted by travel

بِطَلِيحِ أَسْفَارٍ تَرَكْنَ بَقِيَّةً ۞ مِنْهَا فَأَحْنَقَ صُلْبُهَا وَسَنَامُهَا
By means of a she-camel worn out by journeys: repeated travel has consumed what strength remained in her, leaving her back and hump lean.

Ṭalīḥ describes an animal weakened by exertion. Travel is not merely a change of place: its physical strain gives visible form to the difficult distance required after separation.

11. Bi-ṭalīḥ: preposition and the implied noun

In bi-ṭalīḥin, the preposition governs ṭalīḥ, a descriptive term referring to an implied she-camel. It can be read as the means by which the speaker puts the earlier resolve into action: his mount carries him away.

Asfār is the plural of safar, a journey. With tarakna, the journeys themselves are presented as agents that have left their marks on the animal’s body.

12. Ṣulb and sanām: exhaustion made anatomical

Ṣulb refers to the back or firm spinal region, whereas sanām is the camel’s hump. Naming both parts makes fatigue tangible rather than merely calling the animal tired.

In this context fa-aḥnaqa points to their loss of fullness after prolonged effort. The physical depletion prepares a striking contrast with the burst of energy described a little later.

13. Travel verbs: from bodily traces to a narrative

In tarakna baqiyyatan minhā, tarakna is a feminine-plural past verb whose reference is the plural asfār, “journeys”; such agreement with a non-human plural is an established Arabic pattern. Baqiyyatan functions as an object, referring to what strength remained.

The following fa- introduces a consequence: travel depleted what was left, so the animal’s back and hump lost fullness. A sequence of verbs turns the body into a record of the journey.

14. Verse 23: bone, flesh and worn bindings

وَإِذَا تَعَالَى لَحْمُهَا وَتَحَسَّرَتْ ۞ وَتَقَطَّعَتْ بَعْدَ الْكَلَالِ خِدَامُهَا
When the flesh has drawn back towards the heads of her bones, she has become worn thin, and the straps fastened near her feet have broken after exhaustion.

This deepens the earlier picture of travel. Taʿālā laḥmuhā portrays the emaciated body, while khidāmuhā denotes straps attached around the animal’s lower legs or feet. Bodily depletion and damaged equipment reveal the same hardship from two angles.

15. Taʿālā, taḥassarat and taqaṭṭaʿat: a morphology comparison

VerbPatternContextual meaningتَعَالَىForm VI, pastTo draw upwards and become prominentتَحَسَّرَتْForm V, feminine pastTo become wasted or stripped of fleshتَقَطَّعَتْForm V, feminine pastTo be severed or broken into pieces

These three verbs accumulate effects. First comes a bodily change, then the state of emaciation, then the failure of the equipment. Their progression intensifies the description of a long journey.

16. Al-khidām: foot straps, not the head rein

Khidām refers to straps or bindings near the camel’s feet, including fastening associated with protective footgear. It should not be confused with zimām in the next verse: that is the rein or leading rope at the head.

The breaking of khidāmuhā extends the evidence of travel from the animal’s body to its equipment. Distinguishing these specialized terms also helps with other descriptions of mounts in Arabic poetry.

17. Multiple verbs after idhā: sequence and intensification

In wa-idhā taʿālā laḥmuhā wa-taḥassarat wa-taqaṭṭaʿat ... khidāmuhā, idhā introduces a recurring or conceivable condition. Coordination links three processes into a single sequence.

Laḥmuhā is the subject of the first verb; khidāmuhā belongs to the last. The feminine subject of taḥassarat refers back to the she-camel. Grammar thus unifies mount, body, and equipment in one scene.

18. Verse 24: speed when led by the rein

فَلَهَا هِبَابٌ فِي الزِّمَامِ كَأَنَّهَا ۞ صَهْبَاءُ خَفَّ مَعَ الْجَنُوبِ جَهَامُهَا
When guided by the leading rein she surges forward, like a reddish cloud whose light, rain-spent mass is swept quickly along by the south wind.

Hibāb denotes energetic, rapid movement; zimām is the guiding rein or rope. The cloud simile is primarily about swift motion, not a claim that the animal and cloud share an identical shape.

19. Hibāb and zimām: vocabulary of motion

Hibāb expresses a vigorous burst of movement and is related to habba, “to rise or stir.” Zimām is the rope by which a rider or leader directs a camel’s course.

Fa-lahā may be analysed as a fronted predicate and hibābun as a delayed subject. The ordering puts emphasis on the surprising existence of energy in a mount otherwise depicted as depleted.

20. Ṣahbāʾ, jahām and janūb: the cloud imagery

Ṣahbāʾ here describes a reddish cloud; it would be mistaken to apply the word’s possible association with wine to every context. Jahām is a cloud depleted of rain, light enough to be driven rapidly; janūb is the south wind.

The cloud is not decorative scenery. Its light mass is hurried by the wind, providing a visible comparison for the she-camel’s hibāb when guided by the rein.

21. Ka-annahā: subject, image and point of likeness

ElementExpressionFunctionSubjectShe-camel — لَهَا هِبَابٌMount moving rapidly under guidanceComparison markerكَأَنَّهَاConnects two distinct scenesImageصَهْبَاء ... جَهَامُهَاLight cloud hurried by a southerly windShared qualityخِفَّت and سُرْعَتLightness and swift movement

The attached pronoun in ka-annahā returns to the she-camel. The similarity is in the manner of motion, not a literal identity between animal and cloud.

22. Kalāl and hibāb: surface contrast, literary unity

Kalāl names accumulated exertion, while hibāb presents renewed speed. Read in isolation they may seem inconsistent; but a seasoned mount can bear visible marks of difficult travel and still move powerfully when called upon.

The poet first gives tangible signs of toil in straps and hump, then shifts to the cloud simile to show propulsion. Holding the two images together produces a more vivid, resilient travelling companion.

23. A compact lexical and morphological table

WordTypeMeaning in contextلُبَانَةNounHeartfelt wishصَرَّامIntensive participleOne who cuts tiesالْمُجَامِلActive participle, Form IIICourteous companionطَلِيحAdjectiveWorn out by effortخِدَامCollective/plural nounFoot strapsهِبَابVerbal noun / nounEnergetic movementجَهَامNounCloud depleted of rain

Context is decisive: ṣahbāʾ describes cloud colour here, and khidām refers to foot gear. Alternative dictionary senses cannot be imported indiscriminately into a specific poetic image.

24. From separation to the travelling simile: unity of composition

The verses move through five connected steps: (1) releasing an unreliable bond, (2) sustaining courtesy, (3) travelling on a weathered she-camel, (4) registering exhaustion, and (5) recognising her continuing speed.

The speaker translates an inward decision into outward movement. This is more than descriptive ornament: the choice to move beyond Nawār’s absence becomes a journey the audience can almost see and feel.

25. Continuity: preparation for verse 25

The section closes by comparing the camel’s motion with a cloud driven by a south wind. This simile of movement sets the stage for a new animal comparison in the following verse. Distance, physical endurance and speed remain connected.

The poet is not compiling a disconnected catalogue of animal features. He creates a sustained image of departure and motion in which each new comparison develops the effect of the previous one.

Practice questions

Question 1

In verse 20, what does lubānah mean?

  • A deeply held wish
  • A camel’s hump
  • A cloud in the sky
  • A tent rope

Question 2

What is the morphological form of fa-qṭaʿ?

  • Active participle
  • Second-person masculine singular imperative
  • Past-tense plural
  • Mīm-verbal noun

Question 3

What is the main semantic relation between waṣl and ṣarm?

  • Both denote speed
  • Both are colour terms
  • One is joining, the other severing
  • One means past, the other future

Question 4

What is the important nuance of ṣarrāmuhā?

  • One who maintains ties
  • A pathfinder
  • Fatigue of travelling
  • One who habitually or forcefully severs ties

Question 5

What paradox drives the clause about a wāṣil of khullah?

  • A professed connector is actually a breaker
  • A tired mount became a cloud
  • The journey began by day
  • Generosity is called stinginess

Question 6

What does khullah signify in this verse?

  • A rain-filled sky
  • An intimate friendship or bond
  • The camel’s foot
  • A mountain path

Question 7

Who is al-mujāmil in verse 21?

  • One who seeks an enemy
  • A fast-moving cloud
  • Someone who behaves with courtesy
  • One who fastens straps

Question 8

What quality does bi-l-jazīl require?

  • An immediate breakup
  • Long solitude
  • Speed in travel
  • Abundant or generous giving

Question 9

Under what condition does verse 21 permit separation?

  • When the bond itself has become unsound
  • When it rains daily
  • When someone grows older
  • When a caravan reaches water

Question 10

What does ẓalaʿat picture?

  • Fast flight
  • Limping or impaired movement
  • Standing firmly
  • Rainfall

Question 11

What does zāgha qiwāmuhā suggest?

  • The fragrance of a bond
  • Abundance of wealth
  • Loss of balance and sound support
  • Change in the camel’s colour

Question 12

Al-mujāmil is an active participle associated with which form?

  • Form II
  • Form VI
  • Form IV
  • Form III

Question 13

Which reading best balances verses 20–21?

  • Show courtesy, yet allow separation when the bond fails
  • Abandon every friend without cause
  • Make wealth the sole measure of friendship
  • Always ignore damage to a bond

Question 14

What does ṭalīḥ describe in bi-ṭalīḥi asfār?

  • The south wind
  • A she-camel worn out by journeys
  • The season’s first cloud
  • A friend’s cheerful manner

Question 15

Asfār is the plural of which word?

  • Sanām
  • Khidām
  • Safar
  • Jahām

Question 16

To what does the feminine plural verb tarakna refer?

  • The hump
  • The back
  • The south wind
  • The journeys

Question 17

Which body region is meant by ṣulb in verse 22?

  • Back or spine
  • Pupil of the eye
  • Lip of the mouth
  • Foot strap

Question 18

What is sanām?

  • Door of a house
  • A camel’s hump
  • Lightning
  • A type of rope

Question 19

What causes the changes to back and hump in verse 22?

  • Being soaked by rain
  • Severe cold
  • Prolonged exhausting journeys
  • Unusually rich feeding

Question 20

What scene does taʿālā laḥmuhā convey?

  • The camel stopped running
  • The animal became darker
  • A rope came undone
  • Wasted flesh leaves bony points prominent

Question 21

To which form does taḥassarat belong?

  • Form V
  • Form IV
  • Form III
  • Form X

Question 22

What does khidāmuhā refer to?

  • Its hump
  • Straps bound near its feet
  • Its neck bone
  • The south wind

Question 23

What does taqaṭṭaʿat emphasise?

  • The strength of a strap
  • Quiet walking
  • Straps being torn apart
  • A cloud dispersing

Question 24

What is the effect of the three coordinated verbs in verse 23?

  • They all describe only colour
  • They are only place names
  • They are varieties of fragrance
  • They build from emaciation to broken equipment

Question 25

What does hibāb denote in verse 24?

  • Vigorous swift movement
  • Deep affection
  • Lack of food
  • Fastening a strap

Question 26

How do zimām and khidām differ?

  • Both mean south wind
  • Zimām is a head rein, khidām foot straps
  • Khidām is the hump, zimām a tooth
  • Both refer to friendship

Question 27

What does ṣahbāʾ mean in this simile?

  • The beloved
  • A swift horse
  • A reddish cloud
  • A red drink

Question 28

What characterises jahām?

  • It is full of rainwater
  • It is a mountain cave
  • It is a camel strap
  • It is a rain-spent or light cloud

Question 29

What is the antecedent of -hā in ka-annahā?

  • The she-camel
  • Nawār
  • Friendship
  • The straps

Question 30

How are kalāl and hibāb related across verses 22–24?

  • Both indicate colour only
  • They contrast visible fatigue with remaining speed
  • Both refer to severing friendship
  • Both are water stores

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