Ṭarafah ibn al-ʿAbd: Ruins, Ships, Gazelle, and Beauty (Verses 1–10)

1. The opening of Ṭarafah’s Muʿallaqah

The second Muʿallaqah, after Imruʾ al-Qays, is by Ṭarafah ibn al-ʿAbd al-Bakrī. The poet begins by recalling Khawlah’s abandoned campsite, describes his fellow travelers, and compares camel-litters to ships. He then uses images of a young gazelle, flowers, sand, and sunlight to evoke beauty.

Verses 1–10 contain two connected sequences: traces of home and travel, followed by beauty and natural light. The scenery changes, but remembrance, movement, and close observation bind it together.

2. Ṭarafah ibn al-ʿAbd: an introduction

Ṭarafah ibn al-ʿAbd al-Bakrī is a major pre-Islamic poet, traditionally associated with the tribe of Bakr ibn Wāʾil. Travel, desert life, youth, personal dignity, and the transience of life recur in his poetry.

Accounts concerning ʿAmr ibn Hind and the poet’s death belong to the literary-biographical tradition; not every detail should be treated as historically certain. In this lesson the principal evidence is the wording and artistry of the poem itself.

3. Verse 1: the traces of Khawlah

لِخَوْلَةَ أَطْلَالٌ بِبُرْقَةِ ثَهْمَدِ / تَلُوحُ كَبَاقِي الْوَشْمِ فِي ظَاهِرِ الْيَدِ
Traces of Khawlah’s former camp remain at Barqat Thahmad; they show faintly like the remains of a tattoo on the back of a hand.

Aṭlāl are the remnants of an abandoned dwelling. Talūḥu suggests that these traces are visible, though indistinct: the poet sees no complete home, only scattered marks. The past survives through signs of what has disappeared.

4. Aṭlāl, barqah, and Thahmad: vocabulary

Aṭlāl is the plural of ṭalal, the remains of a dwelling. A barqah is ground with a mixed, mottled appearance. Thahmad identifies the location associated with Khawlah’s camp.

ExpressionMeaning and function
لِخَوْلَةَbelonging to / associated with Khawlah
أَطْلَالٌremnants of a deserted dwelling
بِبُرْقَةِ ثَهْمَدِat Barqat Thahmad

In li-Khawlata aṭlālun, the preposed prepositional phrase is followed by the indefinite, delayed subject aṭlālun: there are traces belonging to Khawlah.

5. The tattoo simile: what is being compared?

In ka-bāqī al-washm, ka- introduces a comparison. Washm is a tattoo, while bāqī points to what remains of it. The thing compared is the abandoned campsite; the comparison image is a faded tattoo; the shared quality is an enduring but indistinct mark.

The poet does not merely call the ruins lines in the soil. By linking them to the familiar back of a hand, he makes a remote place feel intimate and turns the survival of a physical mark into an image of enduring memory.

6. Verse 2: the companions console him

وُقُوفًا بِهَا صَحْبِي عَلَيَّ مَطِيَّهُمْ / يَقُولُونَ لَا تَهْلِكْ أَسًى وَتَجَلَّدِ
My companions halt there on their riding animals, close to me, saying: Do not let grief destroy you; show patience and self-control.

Ṣaḥbī means my companions; maṭiyy, riding beasts; asan, sorrow; and tajallad, an imperative to endure firmly. The poet’s grief is placed beside the practical reassurance of those traveling with him.

7. Wuqūfan and lā tahluk: grammar and mode

Wuqūfan is understood as a circumstantial or cognate-accusative-style expression: the companions are in a state of stopping. Ṣaḥbī identifies those companions; the surrounding phrase locates them and their mounts near the speaker.

In lā tahluk, lā prohibits, and tahluk is a jussive imperfect. Tajallad is a command. The friends combine a prohibition ('do not destroy yourself through grief') with a positive imperative ('be steadfast'), making their consolation more forceful.

8. Verse 3: camel-litters like ships

كَأَنَّ حُدُوجَ الْمَالِكِيَّةِ غُدْوَةً / خَلَايَا سَفِينٍ بِالنَّوَاصِفِ مِنْ دَدِ
In the morning, the litters of the Mālikī travelers were like large ships near al-Nawāṣif in the region called Dadd.

Ḥudūj, plural of ḥidj, are covered camel-litters for riders. Al-Mālikiyyah refers to Banū Mālik. Khalāyā safīn denotes large vessels; the simile evokes both the bulk of the camel-litters and their swaying, forward progress.

9. The syntax of kaʾanna and the ship simile

Kaʾanna brings the subject of a simile into relation with its comparison. Ḥudūja is the accusative noun of kaʾanna, al-Mālikiyyati its genitive complement, and khalāyā its predicate. غُدْوَةً specifies the time, morning.

The poet does not casually equate a caravan with a ship. The comparison is between camel-litters and large vessels. One crosses desert and the other sea; both carry passengers and advance with a characteristic rocking motion.

10. Verse 4: the sailor veers and regains his course

عَدَوْلِيَّةٌ أَوْ مِنْ سَفِينِ ابْنِ يَامِنٍ / يَجُورُ بِهَا الْمَلَّاحُ طَوْرًا وَيَهْتَدِي
They are vessels of the ʿAdawliyyah kind, or ships associated with Ibn Yāmin; the sailor at times turns them off course and at times finds the proper direction.

ʿAdawliyyah identifies a type or provenance of vessel; Ibn Yāmin is another name linked with ships. Yajūru here suggests deviating or turning, whereas yahtadī indicates finding the right course.

11. Yajūru and yahtadī: contrasted motion

Yajūru ... wa-yahtadī contains two imperfect verbs, suggesting repeated adjustments: the sailor sometimes veers and sometimes finds his course. Ṭawran means 'at one time' or 'on an occasion.'

This contrast animates the initial simile. The litters were first described as large vessels; now the vessels have motion, changes of direction, and steering. The audience can imagine a caravan’s progress through an analogy to sailing.

12. Verse 5: the prow parts the water

يَشُقُّ حَبَابَ الْمَاءِ حَيْزُومُهَا بِهَا / كَمَا قَسَمَ التُّرْبَ الْمُفَايِلُ بِالْيَدِ
The ship’s projecting front cuts through the foaming surface of the water, like a person dividing soil by hand in an old game of chance.

Ḥabāb al-māʾ refers to bubbles or the foam-like upper surface of water. Ḥayzūmuhā is the prow or forward chest of the vessel. Al-mufāyil is someone engaged in a traditional soil-dividing game. Both scenes emphasize opening a path through material.

13. Yashuqqu and qasama: agency and image

In yashuqqu ḥabāba al-māʾi ḥayzūmuhā, yashuqqu is an imperfect verb, ḥabāba al-māʾi its object, and ḥayzūmuhā the delayed subject. In kamā qasama al-turba al-mufāyilu, qasama is a perfect verb, al-turba the object, and al-mufāyilu the subject.

Yashuqqu and qasama both express separation: cutting and dividing. The ship’s large-scale action becomes intelligible through the smaller image of soil being parted by a hand.

14. Verse 6: a beloved likened to a young gazelle

وَفِي الْحَيِّ أَحْوَى يَنْفُضُ الْمَرْدَ شَادِنٌ / مُظَاهِرُ سِمْطَيْ لُؤْلُؤٍ وَزَبَرْجَدِ
Within the tribe is a captivating figure like a dark-lipped young gazelle, shaking tender growth from itself, as though adorned with two strands of pearl and emerald-like stone.

Aḥwā refers to a dark or dusky coloring, especially about the lips; shādin is a young, growing gazelle; and simṭ is a strand of a necklace. The poet blends human beauty with a gazelle’s delicacy and the sheen of jewelry.

15. Aḥwā, shādin, and simṭ: layered description

ExpressionSense in the description
أَحْوَىdusky coloring, especially lips
شَادِنٌyoung gazelle
سِمْطَيْ لُؤْلُؤٍtwo strands of pearls
زَبَرْجَدgreen precious stone, jewel-like brightness

Muẓāhiru conveys something superimposed or layered. The jewelry is therefore not an isolated ornament: bodily form, color, and adornment are assembled in several visual layers. The gazelle image evokes grace and delicacy.

16. Verse 7: the gazelle among its herd

خَذُولٌ تُرَاعِي رَبْرَبًا بِخَمِيلَةٍ / تَنَاوَلُ أَطْرَافَ الْبَرِيرِ وَتَرْتَدِي
She resembles a doe keeping watch over a herd in a leafy thicket, reaching for the tender tips or fruits of the arāk plant and appearing almost clothed in the greenery.

Khadhūl describes a doe that has moved apart from its young while grazing; رَبْرَب is a herd of does; khamīlah a thick patch of vegetation; and barīr the fruit or tender parts of arāk. The image combines motion and setting.

17. The verbs turāʿī, tanāwalu, and tartadī

Turāʿī, tanāwalu, and tartadī are three imperfect verbs. The first expresses watching over, the second reaching for, and the third dressing or being draped. They describe actions of the same gazelle-like figure.

Bi-khamīlatin supplies a setting, while aṭrāfa al-barīri names what the animal reaches toward. Instead of a motionless portrait, the poet builds beauty through a sequence of actions within a vivid natural environment.

18. Verse 8: a smile compared to a flower

وَتَبْسِمُ عَنْ أَلْمَى كَأَنَّ مُنَوَّرًا / تَخَلَّلَ حُرَّ الرَّمْلِ دِعْصٌ لَهُ نَدِي
She smiles with dusky lips, as though white blossoms emerged amid pure soft sand in a little mound touched with moisture.

Almā denotes a pleasing duskiness of the lips; munawwar, white open blossoms; ḥurr al-raml, fine unblemished sand; and diʿṣ, a small sand hill. The effect lies in contrasts of bright teeth, dark lips, and pale flowers.

19. Munawwar and diʿṣ: the colors of the simile

In kaʾanna munawwaran, the whiteness of a blossom corresponds to the brightness of teeth. Ḥurr al-raml evokes fine, clean sand, while lahu nadī adds freshness or moisture.

This is more involved than the commonplace 'teeth like pearls': the smile introduces movement, almā supplies a dark background, and flower and sand provide a natural visual model. A brief smile becomes a layered sensory image.

20. Verse 9: sunlight and antimony

سَقَتْهُ إِيَاةُ الشَّمْسِ إِلَّا لِثَاتِهِ / أُسِفَّ وَلَمْ تُكْدَمْ عَلَيْهِ بِإِثْمِدِ
Sunlight seems to have bathed this beauty, apart from the darkness of the gums, which looks as though lightly dusted with antimony rather than rubbed or worked with it.

Iyāt al-shams denotes sunlight or a sunbeam; lithāt is the plural of gum; and ithmid is a mineral used for eye-darkening cosmetic pigment. The image juxtaposes radiant whiteness with a naturally dark tone.

21. Iyāt, lithāt, ithmid: precise vocabulary

Iyāt conveys strong sunlight or radiance. Mentioning lithāt shows that the poet’s picture of a smile includes the coloring surrounding the teeth, not only their surfaces. Usiffa suggests dusting with a fine powder, while tukdam negates a more forceful crushing or rubbing action.

This is a poetic color description rather than a literal medical claim. The main contrast is between brilliant whiteness and natural darkness around the gums, expressed through the imagery of finely applied antimony.

22. Verse 10: sunlight draped over a face

وَوَجْهٍ كَأَنَّ الشَّمْسَ أَلْقَتْ رِدَاءَهَا / عَلَيْهِ نَقِيِّ اللَّوْنِ لَمْ يَتَخَدَّدِ
And a face as though the sun had thrown its radiant cloak over it: clear in complexion and not furrowed by lines.

Ridāʾ is an outer wrap or cloak, and lam yatakhaddad means it has not become marked by furrows. The imagery progresses from flowers and sand in the smile to sunlight made into a cloak covering the whole face.

23. Negation, simile, and figurative attribution

In lam yatakhaddad, lam puts the imperfect into the jussive and negates the event in past time. By contrast, kaʾanna al-shamsa alqat ridāʾahā creates a complete imaginative simile: the sun does not literally throw a cloak; the act stands for the spread of radiance.

Earlier verses focused on lips, teeth, gums, and smile. Now the whole face is described. This transition from particular features to the entire face gives the portrait a coherent progression.

24. Verses 1–10: comparing the principal similes

SubjectComparison imageShared feature
abandoned campsitefading tattooa lingering faint mark
camel-litterslarge shipsweight and swaying movement
ship parting waterhand dividing soilcutting a path through material
smilewhite flowersbrightness and freshness
radiant facesun’s cloaklight spreading over a surface

Each simile is more than decorative language: it makes a particular observation visible. This gives the opening a degree of artistic unity despite its changes of scene.

25. Transition: from ruined camps to the strength of travel

The first ten verses move through remembered remains, companions’ consolation, camel-litters likened to ships, and beauty evoked through a gazelle. The vocabulary links ṭalal, ḥidj, ḥayzūm, shādin, diʿṣ, and iyāt to sharply observed details; the rhetorical links are tattoo, ship, flower, and sunlight.

The next passage, beginning wa-innī la-amḍī al-hamma ʿinda iḥtiḍārihi, changes focus to a powerful she-camel and the endurance required for travel. The poem thus moves from remembrance and beauty to the trials of movement.