LessonsLabīd ibn Rabīʿah: The Departing Caravan, Memory of Nawār and Distant Destinations (Verses 11–19)Quiz

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.

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Verse 14: wild cattle and gazelles as images

Labīd ibn Rabīʿah: The Departing Caravan, Memory of Nawār and Distant Destinations (Verses 11–19)

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.