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