«وَكَمْ أَسِيرٍ أَسْلَمَتْهُ أُسْرَتُهُ»
How many captives have been abandoned even by their families!
«أَنْقَذَهُ حَتَّى صَفَتْ مَسَرَّتُهُ»
Yet the coin rescued him, leaving his joy unclouded.
Asīr / usrah resemble one another in sound but mean captive and family respectively. Anqadhahu is a past-tense verb meaning rescued him. The poet intensifies the praise of gold by invoking an actual financial possibility: ransom or material help leading to release.
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The Dīnārī Maqāmah: From Hunger to a Dinar’s Praise
«وَكَمْ أَسِيرٍ أَسْلَمَتْهُ أُسْرَتُهُ»
How many captives have been abandoned even by their families!
«أَنْقَذَهُ حَتَّى صَفَتْ مَسَرَّتُهُ»
Yet the coin rescued him, leaving his joy unclouded.
Asīr / usrah resemble one another in sound but mean captive and family respectively. Anqadhahu is a past-tense verb meaning rescued him. The poet intensifies the praise of gold by invoking an actual financial possibility: ransom or material help leading to release.