«فَأَطْرَقَ إِطْرَاقَ الْأُفْعُوَانِ ثُمَّ شَمَّرَ لِلْحَرْبِ الْعَوَانِ»
He lowered his head like a serpent, then prepared for a fierce contest.
*Afʿuwān* is a serpent, while *al-ḥarb al-ʿawān* evokes a hard-fought battle. No literal battle follows: the arena is the court, and speech is his weapon.
The abrupt shift from silence to poetry dramatizes the defendant’s self-presentation as a skilled orator rather than a helpless accused man.
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The Alexandrian Maqāmah — The Husband’s Poetic Defence and the Craft of Eloquence
«فَأَطْرَقَ إِطْرَاقَ الْأُفْعُوَانِ ثُمَّ شَمَّرَ لِلْحَرْبِ الْعَوَانِ»
He lowered his head like a serpent, then prepared for a fierce contest.
*Afʿuwān* is a serpent, while *al-ḥarb al-ʿawān* evokes a hard-fought battle. No literal battle follows: the arena is the court, and speech is his weapon.
The abrupt shift from silence to poetry dramatizes the defendant’s self-presentation as a skilled orator rather than a helpless accused man.