Conditional constructions recur in the speaker’s pledges: matā yaku ... ashhadi, wa-in udʿa ... akun, and wa-in yaʾtika ... ajhadi. Each condition is followed by a response in which the poet claims presence, protection, or exertion.
Udʿa is a passive imperfect: “if I am summoned.” Akun is a jussive form of the defective verb kāna. The parallel syntax makes the promise sound regular and dependable: in each new kind of danger, the speaker presents himself as available.
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Ṭarafah: Mālik, Kinship Obligations, and Injustice from Relatives (Verses 68–78)
Conditional constructions recur in the speaker’s pledges: matā yaku ... ashhadi, wa-in udʿa ... akun, and wa-in yaʾtika ... ajhadi. Each condition is followed by a response in which the poet claims presence, protection, or exertion.
Udʿa is a passive imperfect: “if I am summoned.” Akun is a jussive form of the defective verb kāna. The parallel syntax makes the promise sound regular and dependable: in each new kind of danger, the speaker presents himself as available.