LessonsṬarafah: Courage, Mortality, and the Revelation of Time (Verses 98–104)Quiz

وَأَصْفَرَ مَضْبُوحٍ نَظَرْتُ حِوَارَهُ
عَلَى النَّارِ وَاسْتَوْدَعْتُهُ كَفَّ مُجْمِدِ
Meaning: The poet recalls a yellow gaming shaft, heated and treated by the fire, whose outcome he watched before entrusting it to a man regarded as unsuccessful or unlucky in the game.

Aṣfar describes its yellow color; maḍbūḥ points to treatment by heat; the underlying qadaḥ is a shaft used in the old Arabian drawing or gambling game of maysir, not a drinking cup in this context. The scene depicts a historical practice.

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Verse 101: the yellow gaming shaft by the fire

Ṭarafah: Courage, Mortality, and the Revelation of Time (Verses 98–104)

وَأَصْفَرَ مَضْبُوحٍ نَظَرْتُ حِوَارَهُ
عَلَى النَّارِ وَاسْتَوْدَعْتُهُ كَفَّ مُجْمِدِ
Meaning: The poet recalls a yellow gaming shaft, heated and treated by the fire, whose outcome he watched before entrusting it to a man regarded as unsuccessful or unlucky in the game.

Aṣfar describes its yellow color; maḍbūḥ points to treatment by heat; the underlying qadaḥ is a shaft used in the old Arabian drawing or gambling game of maysir, not a drinking cup in this context. The scene depicts a historical practice.