9 complete Arabic verses, 25 bilingual teaching slides and 30 explanatory questions Read the bilingual lesson for Labīd ibn Rabīʿah: The Departing Caravan, Memory of Nawār and Distant Destinations (Verses 11–19) and test your understanding with a focused quiz.
Lesson
1. From deserted dwellings to the departing caravan
The preceding section ended with ruins that could not answer the poet’s question. The view now shifts from vacant habitation to a departing caravan. The poem gains movement: the site once occupied by people is left behind, retaining only the traces of its camp and enclosure.
Verses 11–15 describe the women’s conveyances, their equipment and appearances seen from afar. Verse 16 introduces the recollection of Nawār and the severing of their connection; verses 17–19 make separation tangible through a series of distant place names.
2. Verse 11: what remains—nuʾy and thumām
عَرِيَتْ وَكَانَ بِهَا الْجَمِيعُ فَأَبْكَرُوا ۞ مِنْهَا وَغُودِرَ نُؤْيُهَا وَثُمَامُهَا
The place was stripped of its inhabitants, though all had once been there; they departed early, leaving the camp’s water-channel and the remaining thumām vegetation behind.
ʿAriyat means that the place has become bare of what it once contained. Al-jamīʿ points to the whole community, whose presence is now memory. Al-nuʾy is a small earthen water-channel or protective bank around a tent, not an ordinary well.
3. Verse 11: verbs and their connected chronology
ExpressionMorphologyNarrative roleعَرِيَتْPerfect, feminine singularThe settlement becomes emptyكَانَDefective past verbIts former occupied stateفَأَبْكَرُواForm IV plural perfectDeparture early in the morningغُودِرَPassive perfectThe remains are left behind
In ghūdira nuʾyuhā, nuʾy functions as the passive verb’s deputy subject. The connective fa links the stages: habitation ends, the people depart, and tangible traces remain.
4. Verse 12: the caravan and the creaking coverings
شَاقَتْكَ ظُعْنُ الْحَيِّ حِينَ تَحَمَّلُوا ۞ فَتَكَنَّسُوا قُطُنًا تَصِرُّ خِيَامُهَا
The women travelling with the tribe awakened longing as they loaded their belongings and set off, settling into covered litters whose tentlike coverings creaked.
Ẓuʿn al-ḥayy means the tribal women travelling in their litters, or the caravan carrying them. Taḥammalū describes loading and departing. Taṣirru khiyāmuhā adds the creak of the moving tentlike enclosures: sound becomes part of the scene.
5. Verse 12: the verbs of yearning and movement
In shāqatka, the verb “awakened longing” is followed by the feminine marker and second-person object suffix. Its subject is ẓuʿn al-ḥayy: the departing caravan itself stirs feeling. Ḥīna taḥammalū sets the time, while fa-takannasū depicts the travellers gathering into their covered conveyances.
The imagery is not merely visual: the imperfect verb taṣirru evokes the continuing audible creak. This shift from completed actions to a present-tense sound makes the remembered scene immediate.
6. Verse 13: the enclosed litter and its curtains
مِنْ كُلِّ مَحْفُوفٍ يُظِلُّ عِصِيَّهُ ۞ زَوْجٌ عَلَيْهِ كِلَّةٌ وَقِرَامُهَا
Over each enclosed litter, a patterned textile shaded its supporting poles, with an inner canopy and a hanging outer curtain arranged upon it.
Maḥfūf denotes a litter enclosed or surrounded by coverings; ʿiṣiyyuhū are its supporting poles. Zawj here means a kind of patterned textile, not a pair of persons. Killah is an inner hanging screen, and qirām an outer drapery. The layered coverings convey both the litter’s construction and its occupants’ privacy.
7. The structure of the litter: a lexical comparison
ArabicMeaningRole in the imageمَحْفُوفEnclosed/surroundedThe litter as a wholeعِصِيّSupporting polesThe structural frameكِلَّةInner screen or canopyInterior concealmentقِرَامOuter hanging curtainExterior draperyزَوْجPatterned fabricCloth covering the litter
The poles and fabric should not be conflated. Yuẓillu ʿiṣiyyahū suggests shade spread over or by the supports. The pronoun in ʿalayhi relates to the litter or enclosure under discussion.
8. Verse 14: wild cattle and gazelles as images
زُجَلًا كَأَنَّ نِعَاجَ تُوضِحَ فَوْقَهَا ۞ وَظِبَاءَ وَجْرَةَ عُطَّفًا آرَامُهَا
They travelled in groups, the women upon them resembling wild cattle of Tūḍiḥ and gazelles of Wajrah, gracefully turning their heads.
Niʿāj Tūḍiḥ and ẓibāʾ Wajrah supply two distinct comparisons. Classical Arabic verse often likens the eyes and graceful head-turns of these animals to human beauty; the poet is not asserting that the animals themselves accompany the caravan. ʿUṭṭafan emphasizes the graceful turning of the neck or head.
9. Verse 15: mirage, trees and stones
حُفِزَتْ وَزَايَلَهَا السَّرَابُ كَأَنَّهَا ۞ أَجْزَاعُ بِيشَةَ أَثْلُهَا وَرِضَامُهَا
The caravan was urged onward, while the shimmering mirage shifted away; from a distance its shapes seemed like the trees and stony heaps of the valleys of Bīshah.
Ḥafazat describes urging movement forward. Al-sarāb is the shimmering mirage visible across hot ground. Ajzāʿ Bīshah denotes valley stretches near Bīshah, while athl are trees and riḍām heaps of stones. The simile depends on shapes and colors merging in the distance.
10. Verse 15: distance and the changing image
Near the caravan, the litters, curtains and women can be distinguished separately. At a greater distance, their outlines blur. With the shimmering mirage, a travelling group takes on the appearance of trees and piled stones in a valley.
The two verses use different scales. Verse 14 compares the women’s appearance to graceful animals; verse 15 compares the group as a whole to seemingly motionless features of the landscape. The change follows the observer’s increasing distance from the caravan.
11. Verses 14–15: the sequence of comparisons
VerseCompared subjectImageDominant effect14Women in the littersWild cattle of Tūḍiḥ; gazelles of WajrahBeauty and graceful movement15Caravan seen from afarBīshah trees and stone heapsDistance and visual blurring
Kaʾanna marks an explicit comparison in both verses, but its function changes. A summary such as “a beautiful caravan” misses the structure: first the grace of individuals, then the distant dissolution of the entire group into the mirage.
12. Verbs of motion: taḥammalū, ḥafazat, zāyalahā
FormLexical / morphological pointPoetic actionتَحَمَّلُواForm V plural perfectLoad up and departحُفِزَتْPassive feminine perfect; root ḥ-f-zUrge movementزَايَلَهَاForm III perfect; root z-y-lSeparate from / move apartتَصِرُّImperfect; root ṣ-r-rCreak or squeak
These verbs make the scene more than a static picture. Movement, audible friction and increasing separation turn the caravan’s departure into a sequence of perceptible actions.
13. Verse 16: Nawār and the severed ties
بَلْ مَا تَذَكَّرُ مِنْ نَوَارٍ وَقَدْ نَأَتْ ۞ وَتَقَطَّعَتْ أَسْبَابُهَا وَرِمَامُهَا
But what purpose is served by remembering Nawār, when she has gone far away and both the strong and fragile bonds linking the two have been severed?
Bal turns from the visual travel scene to inward reflection. Nawār is the beloved’s name here, not merely an ordinary noun for brightness. Asbābuhā wa-rimāmuhā combines stronger means of connection with fragile or worn cords, intensifying the sense that communication has broken down.
14. Verse 16: bal, mā tadhakkur, asbāb and rimām
Bal introduces a turn of thought. Mā tadhakkur min Nawār carries a rhetorical, reproachful or wondering force rather than seeking factual information. Wa-qad naʾat uses qad with the perfect to stress that her departure is an accomplished fact.
Asbāb are means or ties of connection, whereas rimām are worn or fragile cords. Their pairing suggests that neither strong nor weak links remain.
15. Verse 17: Nawār’s affiliation and residence at Fayd
مُرِّيَّةٌ حَلَّتْ بِفَيْدٍ وَجَاوَرَتْ ۞ أَهْلَ الْحِجَازِ فَأَيْنَ مِنْكَ مَرَامُهَا
She is a woman associated with Murrah who settled at Fayd and lived near the people of the Ḥijāz; how could reaching her now be within your grasp?
Murriyyah is a nisbah, marking Nawār’s association with the Murrah tribe. Ḥallat bi-Fayd names a place of settlement; jāwarat ahl al-Ḥijāz places her near the people of that region. Fa-ayna minka marāmuhā is not a request for travel directions but a rhetorical expression of how remote she has become.
16. Verse 17: affiliation, residence and rhetorical question
FormMeaning / constructionRoleمُرِّيَّةFeminine nisbah adjectiveTribal affiliationحَلَّتْFeminine perfect, root ḥ-l-lSettling at a placeجَاوَرَتْForm III feminine perfectLiving in proximityمَرَامDesired destination/goalSomething difficult to reach
Fa-ayna minka marāmuhā is rhetorical: after specifying her affiliation and new residence, the poet asks how attaining or reaching her could still be possible.
17. Verse 18: the eastern mountains and successive places
بِمَشَارِقِ الْجَبَلَيْنِ أَوْ بِمُحَجَّرٍ ۞ فَتَضَمَّنَتْهَا فَرْدَةٌ فَرُخَامُهَا
She was at the eastern sides of the two mountains or at Muḥajjar, and then the places called Fardah and Rukhām encompassed her.
Al-jabalayn refers to two recognized mountains, without naming both in the verse itself. Muḥajjar, Fardah and Rukhām function as place names. In fa-taḍammanathā, the land is imagined as “holding” Nawār within it, turning geography into a figurative enclosure.
18. Verse 18: syntax of fa-taḍammanathā
In fa-taḍammanathā, fa is a connective, taḍammanat is a feminine perfect verb and hā is its object pronoun. The following place name Fardah is understood as the verb’s subject.
The construction makes the land appear active, as if it contains Nawār within its boundaries. That is poetic personification, not a literal action. Meanwhile, bi-mashāriq al-jabalayn is a prepositional phrase specifying the location.
19. Verse 19: conditional wording and possible destinations
فَصَوَائِقُ إِنْ أَيْمَنَتْ فَمَظِنَّةٌ ۞ فِيهَا وِحَافُ الْقَهْرِ أَوْ طِلْخَامُهَا
If she has gone southward, she may be sought in the region of Ṣawāʾiq, near the margins of al-Qahr, or at the place called Ṭilkhām.
In aymanat introduces a condition concerning travel toward the south/Yemen. Fa-maẓinnah fīhā suggests a likely place to look, not a verified present location. The sequence of Ṣawāʾiq, al-Qahr and Ṭilkhām expands the scale of the journey and the speaker’s uncertainty.
20. Verse 19: probability is not certainty
In is the conditional particle; aymanat is the perfect verb describing movement southward within that condition. Fa-maẓinnah makes the destination a matter of likelihood: the speaker identifies where Nawār might be rather than reporting verified knowledge of her present residence.
The noun maẓinnah denotes a likely place for finding something. Treating the statement as certain would remove an important layer of longing and uncertainty from the verse.
21. From Nawār’s name to a geography of distance
StageName or regionLiterary functionAffiliationMurriyyahIdentifies the belovedResidenceFayd and ḤijāzGives separation a concrete settingFurther locationsThe two mountains, Muḥajjar, Fardah, RukhāmExtends the imagined routeSouthern possibilitiesṢawāʾiq, al-Qahr, ṬilkhāmAdds uncertainty about where to seek her
The accumulating place names are not principally an itinerary for the reader to follow. Their literary purpose is to make distance and inaccessibility tangible. Each name renews the question of whether reaching Nawār remains possible.
22. Verses 11–19: three layers of travel
First: place — the community has gone, leaving the water-bank and vegetation behind.
Second: perception — the caravan becomes visible through litters, animal similes and wavering shapes in the mirage.
Third: memory and distance — Nawār is named, the rupture of ties is acknowledged, and several possible locations are imagined.
Read together, these stages show outward movement producing inward restlessness. The sequence makes the passage more than a catalogue of places and visual details.
23. Core vocabulary of this passage
WordSenseVerseنُؤْيSmall protective ditch / earthen bank beside a tent11ظُعْنTravelling women or their caravan12كِلَّة / قِرَامInner and outer draperies13عُطَّفTurning heads or necks14السَّرَابHeat mirage15رِمَامWorn cords, figuratively fragile ties16مَرَامGoal or object sought17مَظِنَّةPlace where something may likely be found19
These terms matter beyond dictionary equivalence. Nuʾy and curtains are tangible objects; rimām and marām turn toward memory and relationships; maẓinnah ends with unresolved uncertainty.
24. The metaphor of strong and fragile ties
Asbābuhā wa-rimāmuhā joins terms that evoke different strengths of connection. Asbāb suggests available ways of contact, while rimām resembles old, fragile cords. Saying that both were cut off intensifies the rupture.
The metaphor does not claim that a literal rope physically tied the two people together. Instead, the condition of cords helps the listener imagine relationships that could once support contact but no longer do so. The distinction between literal and figurative reference is central to its effect.
25. Literary conclusion: from empty dwellings to distant Nawār
Where human voices have vanished from the old campsite, memory now attaches itself to a moving caravan. The speaker first observes what remains, then renders the litters and their occupants through simile, and finally acknowledges Nawār’s distance and the end of contact.
The sequence from deserted traces to travelling women and then to Nawār’s remote whereabouts forms a deliberate literary progression. The next verse will make a more decisive statement about the severed relationship; this passage supplies the emotional and imaginative basis for it.
Practice questions
Question 1
What does ʿariyat chiefly convey in verse 11?
- The place was stripped of its former inhabitants
- Its traces became visible after rain
- It was empty only briefly during the heat
- The people pitched their tents there again
Question 2
What is the syntactic role of nuʾy in ghūdira nuʾyuhā?
- Postponed nominal subject
- Deputy subject of the passive
- Accusative direct object
- Feminine circumstantial noun
Question 3
What is al-nuʾy?
- A wooden fence for fastening a tent
- A well storing rainwater
- An earthen channel or bank diverting water beside a tent
- A stone marking the caravan route
Question 4
What temporal meaning does fa-abkarū express in verse 11?
- They returned early in the morning
- They departed late in the afternoon
- They remained at the camp until late morning
- They departed early in the morning
Question 5
What awakens longing in shāqatka ẓuʿn al-ḥayy?
- The departing women and their litters
- The ruins failing to answer the speaker
- The continual rumbling of rain clouds
- The traces left in the abandoned tents
Question 6
Which sensory dimension is evoked by taṣirru khiyāmuhā?
- The ringing of camel bells
- The creaking of the travelling coverings
- Calls shouted by the caravan riders
- The whistle of wind against tent poles
Question 7
What does fa-takannasū mean in verse 12?
- They settled in ordinary houses after travel
- They gathered in an open field outside their litters
- They gathered into covered litters
- They formed a circle around camels instead of entering covered litters
Question 8
What does zawj mean in verse 13?
- Two women travelling together
- Two supporting poles of the litter
- A cord joining a pair of camels
- A patterned textile shading the travelling litter
Question 9
How are killah and qirām distinguished?
- Inner and outer draperies
- Both are names for the same interior cloth
- The first is a pole and the second a cord
- The first is outer cloth and the second an inner screen
Question 10
What are ʿiṣiyyuhū in the litter scene?
- Thin curtains hanging over the litter
- Its supporting poles
- Leather cords tied to the litter
- Earthen drainage channels around the litter
Question 11
Which two animals provide the comparisons in verse 14?
- Wild cattle of Wajrah and gazelles of Tūḍiḥ
- Female ostriches of Tūḍiḥ and wild cattle of Wajrah
- Wild cattle of Tūḍiḥ and gazelles of Wajrah
- Gazelles of Tūḍiḥ and domesticated camels of Wajrah
Question 12
What is the rhetorical function of kaʾanna in verse 14?
- Metaphor formed by omitting the subject
- An emphatic particle confirming an event
- An expression indicating only the time
- A particle of comparison
Question 13
What movement does ʿuṭṭafan suggest?
- Graceful turning of heads or necks
- The animal raising its head straight
- The action of running swiftly in one direction
- Holding the neck completely still
Question 14
What is al-sarāb in verse 15?
- A real pool seen in the distance
- Shimmering heat mirage
- Dust rising from the ground
- A cloud shadow moving on the ground
Question 15
What do athl and riḍām evoke?
- Dense shrubs and dry grass
- Valley soil and its springs
- Trees and heaps of stones
- Seasonal dunes and long cliffs
Question 16
How does the focus of simile change between verses 14 and 15?
- From animal sounds to tent sounds
- From a distant place to a caravan approaching
- From traces of rain to causes of tribal war
- From individual grace to the group’s distant appearance
Question 17
Whom does Nawār name in verse 16?
- The poet’s beloved
- A settlement belonging to a tribe named Nawār
- The name of a spring along the route
- The name of a curtain on a travelling litter
Question 18
What does bal do at the beginning of verse 16?
- Continues solely the visual description of the caravan
- Turns from the visual scene toward reflection and memory
- Affirms the preceding similes as literal facts
- Introduces a count of the caravan’s travellers
Question 19
What image is conveyed by asbābuhā wa-rimāmuhā?
- New ropes and poles of the tents remaining
- The separation of strong and weak caravan animals
- The breaking of strong and fragile ties alike
- The meeting of two travel routes
Question 20
What does qad with the perfect in wa-qad naʾat emphasize?
- A firm promise that Nawār will return
- Only a condition about Nawār’s departure
- The mere possibility of a future departure
- Her departure as an accomplished event
Question 21
What type of word is murriyyah?
- A feminine nisbah adjective
- A feminine proper name for a place
- A broken plural denoting a tribe
- A feminine comparative adjective
Question 22
What is Fayd in verse 17?
- The family name of Nawār’s tribe
- A geographical place
- A quality describing camel strength
- A general title for residents of the Ḥijāz
Question 23
What is the purpose of fa-ayna minka marāmuhā?
- To identify her exact location with certainty
- To ask the beloved for a definite route
- To stress the difficulty of reaching the beloved
- To combine the names of her tribe and residence
Question 24
What is the morphological form of al-jabalayn?
- A nominative dual noun
- A genitive broken plural
- A singular defective noun
- A genitive dual noun
Question 25
What is the role of Fardah in fa-taḍammanathā Fardah?
- The verb’s subject and a place name
- The object of taḍammanat
- The genitive complement in an iḍāfah
- The consequent of a condition
Question 26
What kind of expression is the land “containing” Nawār in verse 18?
- An explicit simile introduced by kaʾanna
- A figurative portrayal of land as an agent
- Merely a list of place names
- Numerical hyperbole expressing distance
Question 27
What structure begins with in aymanat?
- An unconditional assertion of fact
- An absolute negation of the past
- A conditional construction
- A direct interrogative addressed to the listener
Question 28
What is essential when interpreting maẓinnah?
- Proving her presence there with certainty
- Merely expressing a wish for her to stay there
- Describing the poet’s personal attachment to that place
- It expresses likelihood rather than confirmed knowledge
Question 29
What is the main literary effect of many place names in verses 17–19?
- Emphasizing Nawār’s remoteness and uncertainty of finding her
- To set out a confirmed itinerary
- To enumerate the tribes of each locality
- To report Nawār’s invitation to travel
Question 30
Where does the passage pivot from outer sight to inner experience?
- In the first image describing the litters’ components
- At bal mā tadhakkur min Nawār
- At the first comparison with wild cattle and gazelles
- At the final conditional statement about locations
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