«وَتَبَيَّنَ أَنَّهُ مَعْرُوقُ الْعَظْمِ»
It became apparent that he was reduced to bare-boned poverty.
Maʿrūq al-ʿaẓm literally suggests a bone stripped of meat. Here it is an evocative expression for destitution, not a report of a bodily injury.
This vivid idiom makes the husband’s poverty central to the judge’s sympathetic response. His limited means affect what can reasonably be demanded of him.
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The Alexandrian Maqāmah — The Judge’s Mercy, Abū Zayd’s Secret and Final Regret
«وَتَبَيَّنَ أَنَّهُ مَعْرُوقُ الْعَظْمِ»
It became apparent that he was reduced to bare-boned poverty.
Maʿrūq al-ʿaẓm literally suggests a bone stripped of meat. Here it is an evocative expression for destitution, not a report of a bodily injury.
This vivid idiom makes the husband’s poverty central to the judge’s sympathetic response. His limited means affect what can reasonably be demanded of him.