Ṭarafah ibn al-ʿAbd: She-Camel, Journey, Speed, and Pasture (Verses 11–16)

1. From abandoned camp to the she-camel’s speed

The previous verses portrayed Khawlah’s abandoned campsite, camel-litters compared with ships, and images of beauty. The scene now changes to the poet’s she-camel, by which he undertakes long journeys when anxiety troubles him. Transport becomes more than a physical utility: it is a means of responding to distress through action and movement.

Verses 11–16 introduce the purpose of travel, the animal’s endurance and shape, her speed and stride, seasonal grazing, and her reaction to the herder’s call. Throughout, distinguish descriptions of physical features from simile and poetic imagery.

2. Verse 11: travel when anxiety approaches

وَإِنِّي لَأَمْضِي الْهَمَّ عِنْدَ احْتِضَارِهِ
بِعَوْجَاءَ مِرْقَالٍ تَرُوحُ وَتَغْتَدِي
Meaning: When worry draws near, I dispel it by traveling on a fleet she-camel that journeys in the evening and early morning.

Al-hamm is distress or anxiety, while ʿinda iḥtiḍārihi describes its approach or presence. Amḍī al-hamm means driving away the burden through purposeful action and movement.

The second hemistich characterizes the mount with ʿawjāʾ and mirqāl. Tarūḥu wa-taghtadī embraces both evening and morning journeys, emphasizing long distances and sustained motion.

3. Innī la-amḍī: emphasis and verbal expression

Inna in innī provides emphasis; the attached first-person pronoun is its noun. The lām in la-amḍī adds further emphasis. Amḍī, a first-person singular imperfect from m-ḍ-y, is used here for driving a worry away or moving past it.

ʿInda iḥtiḍārihi indicates when distress presents itself. The pronoun -hi refers back to al-hamm, not to the she-camel. Treating anxiety as if it arrives in person gives an abstract emotion a vivid presence.

4. ʿAwjāʾ and mirqāl: the mount’s agility

ʿAwjāʾ is a feminine descriptor whose basic sense involves curvature; here it evokes the energetic bodily motion of a swift she-camel. It does not describe an infirm or defective mount.

Mirqāl describes a camel given to irqāl, a rapid, extended gait. Tarūḥu concerns travel in the evening, while taghtadī concerns setting out early. Their pairing indicates not merely two clock times, but a mount capable of sustained travel.

5. Worry and travel: inner state and outward action

The first hemistich names an inner emotion, but the second supplies the concrete sight of a swiftly moving she-camel. This contrast gives the verse its effect: worry gathers inwardly, while the journey breaks physical stillness.

The verse does not logically promise that every grief disappears. It portrays travel as the poet’s familiar response when anxiety approaches. The camel’s speed therefore has a psychological function as well as a physical one: emotion, movement, and the desert landscape become linked.

6. Verse 12: a sturdy she-camel compared with broad planks

أَمُونٍ كَأَلْوَاحِ الْإِرَانِ نَصَأْتُهَا
عَلَى لَاحِبٍ كَأَنَّهُ ظَهْرُ بُرْجُدِ
Meaning: My dependable she-camel has the sturdy build of broad planks from a great chest-like structure. I urge her along a distinct, open track whose surface resembles the back of a patterned cloth.

Amūn denotes a reliable, hardy mount. Ka-alwāḥ al-irān compares her powerful body with the broad boards of a large coffin or chest. Naṣaʾtuhā means I urged or drove her forward.

Lāḥib describes a clear, open path; burjud is associated with a patterned textile. The verse brings together a simile for the animal’s structural strength and another for the appearance of the road.

7. Amūn and alwāḥ al-irān: the point of likeness

Amūn suggests a mount that can be trusted on long journeys. Alwāḥ, the plural of lawḥ, means boards or planks. Al-irān means a large coffin-like structure.

The comparison ka-alwāḥ al-irān does not mean that the camel literally consists of wood. The shared qualities are breadth, solidity, and load-bearing strength. Together, mirqāl and amūn suggest both speed and endurance.

8. Naṣaʾtuhā: verb and object pronoun

In naṣaʾtuhā, the past verb takes -tu as its first-person subject and -hā as its object, referring to the she-camel. The action is urging or driving her forward.

The word turns the strong mount from a static description into an animal actively directed by the poet over a particular road. ʿAlā lāḥib identifies the surface of travel; ka-annahu then presents a comparison for the appearance of that road.

9. Lāḥib and burjud: the appearance of the desert track

Lāḥib indicates an open, distinct path stretching ahead. Burjud denotes a patterned cloth or covering. In ka-annahu ẓahru burjud, the pronoun refers to the road: its surface seems textured or patterned like the face of a woven fabric.

The verse thus gives one comparison for the moving animal and another for the ground across which it travels. Ẓahr here means the visible surface of the textile, not a human back.

10. Verse 13: the fleet she-camel and the ostrich

جُمَالِيَّةٍ وَجْنَاءَ تَرْدِي كَأَنَّهَا
سَفَنَّجَةٌ تَبْرِي لِأَزْعَرَ أَرْبَدِ
Meaning: The she-camel is powerful like a male camel, with a sturdy face and rapid gait. As she races, she resembles a female ostrich moving toward a grayish male.

Jumāliyya describes male-camel-like strength and build; wajnāʾ suggests a substantial, well-formed face or jaw; tardī concerns swift running.

Safannajah denotes a female ostrich. Azʿar arbad describes a grayish, sparsely feathered male. The comparison concerns swift motion and its distinctive gait, not literal identity between the two animals.

11. Jumāliyya and wajnāʾ: strength and form

Jumāliyya is a feminine descriptor invoking the power and frame of a male camel. It does not claim that the she-camel is male; it stresses exceptional strength. Wajnāʾ relates to the cheek or facial frame and conveys a substantial bodily form.

Then tardī brings the animal into action. The poet proceeds from capacity and form to the visible achievement of speed. The order joins static physical capability to dynamic motion.

12. Safannajah, azʿar, arbad: unpacking the simile

Safannajah refers to a female ostrich. Tabrī suggests moving or presenting herself while running. Azʿar evokes sparse hair or feathers, and arbad a gray-dark coloring.

The simile has three elements:
Subject compared — the fast she-camel.
Comparison image — a female ostrich in motion.
Shared feature — agility, extended stride, and pace.

The poet evokes a recognizable desert animal rather than quantifying speed; readers can visualize the mount’s motion through the ostrich’s gait.

13. Verse 14: matching the pace of fine camels

تُبَارِي عِتَاقًا نَاجِيَاتٍ وَأَتْبَعَتْ
وَظِيفًا وَظِيفًا فَوْقَ مَوْرٍ مُعَبَّدِ
Meaning: She keeps pace with fine, fleet camels, placing one lower leg after another upon a well-trodden track.

Tubārī is to match or compete with others. ʿItāqan nājiyāt refers to well-bred, swift she-camels. Repeating waẓīfan waẓīfan reproduces a cadence of successive strides, one after the other.

Mawr muʿabbad indicates a beaten track or passable surface. Speed is shown through competition, rhythm of limbs, and contact with the road, not merely asserted.

14. Tubārī, ʿitāqan, nājiyāt: morphology and syntax

Tubārī is a third-person feminine singular imperfect of Form III, from b-r-y, meaning to keep pace with or compete. Its implicit subject hiya refers to the she-camel.

ʿItāqan denotes noble or well-bred animals and functions as the object; nājiyātin describes them as swift. As a sound feminine plural, nājiyāt can take kasrah in the accusative.

Connecting verb, subject, object, and adjective reveals a coherent action rather than a disconnected vocabulary list.

15. Waẓīfan waẓīfan: repetition and the rhythm of speed

Waẓīf denotes the lower portion of an animal’s leg. The repetition waẓīfan waẓīfan evokes the action of placing one leg after another. Atbaʿat means following one thing with another.

Fawqa mawrin muʿabbad identifies the ground underfoot. Muʿabbad here concerns a trodden, prepared path; it does not carry the religious sense of worship. Mawr concerns the desert track or surface.

The repetition works as poetic rhythm: the reader can almost hear the repeated footfalls as the animal moves.

16. Verse 15: spring grazing and green pasture

تَرَبَّعَتِ الْقُفَّيْنِ فِي الشَّوْلِ تَرْتَعِي
حَدَائِقَ مَوْلَى الْأُسْرَةِ أَغْيَدِ
Meaning: The she-camel spent the spring at al-Quffayn among other she-camels, grazing in flourishing, rain-fed pastures.

Tarabbaʿat relates to staying or grazing during spring; al-shawl denotes she-camels whose milk has diminished; tartaʿī describes grazing. Ḥadāʾiq evokes enclosed or luxuriant green growth.

The verse briefly moves from the race to the she-camel’s seasonal environment. Her vitality appears connected not only with inherited bodily traits but also with pasture, spring, and nourishment.

17. Tarabbaʿat and tartaʿī: tense and activity

Tarabbaʿat is a feminine singular past verb denoting spring residence or pasturing. Tartaʿī is a feminine singular imperfect from r-t-ʿ, “to graze at ease.” The imperfect after the past can make the grazing scene feel ongoing and visible.

Al-Quffayn is a place-name in dual form. Fī al-shawl locates the she-camel among other camels. Reading the sentence as a sequence keeps together the seasonal setting and the vividly continuing act of grazing.

18. Mawlā, al-usrah, and aghyad: rain and softness

Mawlā here is not the usual social term for a master or patron. The expression connects it with land affected by walī, a subsequent seasonal rain that promotes fresh growth.

Al-usrah relates to a valley or a local designation in this expression, while aghyad suggests supple, gently swaying growth. The governing image is of soft pasture after seasonal rain, nourishing the she-camel.

A polysemous word must be read in context: importing the common social meaning of mawlā here would make the landscape description incoherent.

19. Verse 16: the herder’s call and the animal’s caution

تَرِيعُ إِلَى صَوْتِ الْمُهِيبِ وَتَتَّقِي
بِذِي خُصَلٍ رَوْعَاتِ أَكْلَفَ مُلْبِدِ
Meaning: The she-camel turns in response to the herder’s call and uses her tufted tail to ward off the alarming advances of a dark, matted male camel.

Tarīʿu denotes turning back or responding; ṣawt al-muhīb is the caller’s or herder’s voice. Tattaqī means protecting oneself or avoiding danger, while bi-dhī khuṣal points to the tufted, hair-bearing tail.

The mount is no mere mechanism. She responds to human signals and reacts defensively to another animal, adding behavioral realism to her earlier physical traits.

20. Tarīʿu and tattaqī: two distinct responses

Tarīʿu expresses returning or turning in response to a stimulus. Tattaqī is the feminine singular imperfect of Form VIII ittaqā–yattaqī, meaning to protect oneself. Both verbs have the she-camel as their subject.

The first concerns response to a call, and the second defense. Ilā ṣawt al-muhīb identifies what she turns toward, while bi-dhī khuṣal supplies the means of protection. Translating both simply as “she moves” would miss the animal behavior in the verse.

21. Dhū khuṣal, aklaf, mulbid: precise descriptions

Dhū khuṣal points to a tail with locks of hair; khuṣal is the plural of a lock or tuft. Aklaf denotes a darkish, gray-brown color; mulbid suggests a dirty or matted coat.

Rawʿāt refers to alarming incidents or frightening advances. The she-camel uses tail movement in response to the other animal. Aklaf mulbid are descriptions of the male camel, not epithets for the she-camel herself.

22. Key terms from six verses: a comparative glossary

TermContextual meaning
مِرْقَالA very swift-gaited mount
أَمُونA hardy, dependable she-camel
لَاحِبA broad, distinct path
وَجْنَاءPowerfully built, broad-jawed
تُبَارِيShe matches or competes in speed
تَرْتَعِيShe grazes
تَتَّقِيShe protects herself

Many of these words have more than one lexical sense. The table gives the contextual meanings suited to the she-camel, journey, and pasture.

23. Syntactic relations: attributes, simile, and pronouns

A chain of descriptions begins with bi-ʿawjāʾ: mirqāl, amūn, jumāliyya, wajnāʾ describe different aspects of the same mount. The singular feminine verbs tarūḥu, taghtadī, tardī, tubārī, tartaʿī, tarīʿu, tattaqī continue to present her actions.

The pronoun in ka-annahu refers to the road, lāḥib, whereas ka-annahā points back to the she-camel. Two similar figurative constructions therefore have different subjects of comparison: the road and the mount.

24. Sequence of similes: planks, cloth, ostrich

SimileSubjectShared feature
كَأَلْوَاحِ الْإِرَانShe-camelBroad, robust build
كَأَنَّهُ ظَهْرُ بُرْجُدThe roadA patterned surface
كَأَنَّهَا سَفَنَّجَةCamel in motionSwift ostrich-like gait

These figures do more than praise the mount. The first gives structural strength, the second the scene of travel, and the third quality of movement. Identifying their distinct points of likeness reveals the poet’s sequence of observation.

25. Journey, grazing, and response: one connected portrait

The six verses build a three-part portrait. First comes distance and endurance: the she-camel can carry the poet onward when he is troubled. Second are speed and physical capacity: competition with other fine camels and movement likened to an ostrich. Third are environment and animal behavior: spring grazing, recognition of the herder’s voice, and protection from another camel.

The poet’s valued mount is therefore not merely beautiful. Reliability, strength, nourishment, responsiveness, and awareness together make her exceptional. The following verses proceed to a more detailed anatomical description.