«وَبِيَدِي زِمَامُهُ، وَظِلِّي إِمَامُهُ»
His leading rein was in my hand, and my shadow went before him.
The narrator guides Abū Zayd as if he cannot see. Zimām ordinarily denotes a leading rein, here applied figuratively to guidance. The elderly woman accompanies them as the third member; the expression “the third hearthstone” heightens the stylized count of three and should be understood in this immediate narrative setting.
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The Barqaʿīd Maqāmah: Abū Zayd’s Sight, the Cleansing Ruse and His Escape
«وَبِيَدِي زِمَامُهُ، وَظِلِّي إِمَامُهُ»
His leading rein was in my hand, and my shadow went before him.
The narrator guides Abū Zayd as if he cannot see. Zimām ordinarily denotes a leading rein, here applied figuratively to guidance. The elderly woman accompanies them as the third member; the expression “the third hearthstone” heightens the stylized count of three and should be understood in this immediate narrative setting.