The opening verse hinges on adnu / yanʾa. The first verb expresses an effort to approach; the second, the relative’s contrary movement away. Wa-yabʿudi intensifies the distancing. The poet turns an emotional failure into a visible movement in opposite directions.
In matā adnu minhu yanʾa ʿannī, matā is a conditional particle, adnu its verb, and yanʾa the answer. This syntactic pattern makes each renewed effort to approach trigger renewed estrangement in the speaker’s account.
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Ṭarafah: Mālik, Kinship Obligations, and Injustice from Relatives (Verses 68–78)
The opening verse hinges on adnu / yanʾa. The first verb expresses an effort to approach; the second, the relative’s contrary movement away. Wa-yabʿudi intensifies the distancing. The poet turns an emotional failure into a visible movement in opposite directions.
In matā adnu minhu yanʾa ʿannī, matā is a conditional particle, adnu its verb, and yanʾa the answer. This syntactic pattern makes each renewed effort to approach trigger renewed estrangement in the speaker’s account.