أَنَا الرَّجُلُ الضَّرْبُ الَّذِي تَعْرِفُونَهُ / خَشَاشٌ كَرَأْسِ الْحَيَّةِ الْمُتَوَقِّدِ
I am the lean, energetic man you know, alert and quick as the head of a darting serpent.
In al-rajul al-ḍarb, ḍarb describes a light or lean-bodied man; it is not simply a reference to striking with a sword. Khashāsh suggests quick intelligence and readiness.
The comparison ka-raʾs al-ḥayyah focuses on the swift, alert movement of a snake’s head—not on a moral characterization of snakes.
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Ṭarafah: Character, Lineage, the Sword, and the Camels (Verses 79–88)
أَنَا الرَّجُلُ الضَّرْبُ الَّذِي تَعْرِفُونَهُ / خَشَاشٌ كَرَأْسِ الْحَيَّةِ الْمُتَوَقِّدِ
I am the lean, energetic man you know, alert and quick as the head of a darting serpent.
In al-rajul al-ḍarb, ḍarb describes a light or lean-bodied man; it is not simply a reference to striking with a sword. Khashāsh suggests quick intelligence and readiness.
The comparison ka-raʾs al-ḥayyah focuses on the swift, alert movement of a snake’s head—not on a moral characterization of snakes.