«فَإِذَا هُوَ شَيْخُنَا السُّرُوجِيُّ»
Suddenly, I realized that he was our familiar shaykh, al-Sarūjī!
The stranger is Abū Zayd al-Sarūjī, who reappears in the cycle under changing circumstances and appearances. Until this point he has been presented as an unidentified literary performer; his identity is now disclosed.
Fa-idhā makes the discovery feel sudden. His verse first established his worth in the listeners’ minds; the narrator’s scrutiny then reveals his person. External clothing and present circumstances have concealed a familiar identity.