LessonsṬarafah: Three Pleasures of Life and the Certainty of Death (Verses 55–67)Quiz

The poet does not rely on one figure of speech. Qabr ... ka-qabr supplies an explicit comparison; al-ʿaysh kanzan makes lifespan into a diminishing treasure; al-mawt yaʿtām gives death the behavior of a selector; the final verse likens mortality to a loose but controlled tether.

ImageRhetorical function
Grave ... like a graveShared outward end
Life as treasureDiminishing time capital
Death selectingPersonification
The slackened tetherFreedom within a limit

Several distinct figures thus explore the same governing idea: an unavoidable end.

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Simile and personification in images of death

Ṭarafah: Three Pleasures of Life and the Certainty of Death (Verses 55–67)

The poet does not rely on one figure of speech. Qabr ... ka-qabr supplies an explicit comparison; al-ʿaysh kanzan makes lifespan into a diminishing treasure; al-mawt yaʿtām gives death the behavior of a selector; the final verse likens mortality to a loose but controlled tether.

ImageRhetorical function
Grave ... like a graveShared outward end
Life as treasureDiminishing time capital
Death selectingPersonification
The slackened tetherFreedom within a limit

Several distinct figures thus explore the same governing idea: an unavoidable end.