The speaker strengthens his defence with an oath and then explicitly denies deliberate deception.
«مَا الْمَكْرُ بِالْمُحْصَنَاتِ مِنْ خُلُقِي»
Deceiving respectable women is not my character.
«وَلَا شِعَارِي التَّمْوِيهُ وَالْكَذِبُ»
Nor are concealment and lying my practice.
*Makr*, *tamwīh*, and *kadhib* distinguish scheming, masking the truth, and lying. Their combined negation makes an emphatic plea, but an oath and eloquent denial are not substitutes for independent proof.
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The Alexandrian Maqāmah — The Husband’s Poetic Defence and the Craft of Eloquence
The speaker strengthens his defence with an oath and then explicitly denies deliberate deception.
«مَا الْمَكْرُ بِالْمُحْصَنَاتِ مِنْ خُلُقِي»
Deceiving respectable women is not my character.
«وَلَا شِعَارِي التَّمْوِيهُ وَالْكَذِبُ»
Nor are concealment and lying my practice.
*Makr*, *tamwīh*, and *kadhib* distinguish scheming, masking the truth, and lying. Their combined negation makes an emphatic plea, but an oath and eloquent denial are not substitutes for independent proof.