LessonsThe Kūfan Maqāmah: The Lost-Son Secret and Abū Zayd’s Final RuseQuiz

«وَإِنَّمَا لِي فُنُونُ سِحْرٍ / أَبْدَعْتُ فِيهَا وَمَا اقْتَدَيْتُ»
I have arts of enchantment that I devised myself, without merely imitating others.

Funūn is the plural of an art or technique. Abdaʿtu emphasizes invention; iqtadaytu means to follow a model.

Here siḥr operates as heightened language for his persuasive tricks and theatrical inventiveness. The context does not require treating it as a literal confession to supernatural magic. The morally troubling deception remains real even if the term is figurative.

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Verse 4: the arts of enchantment

The Kūfan Maqāmah: The Lost-Son Secret and Abū Zayd’s Final Ruse

«وَإِنَّمَا لِي فُنُونُ سِحْرٍ / أَبْدَعْتُ فِيهَا وَمَا اقْتَدَيْتُ»
I have arts of enchantment that I devised myself, without merely imitating others.

Funūn is the plural of an art or technique. Abdaʿtu emphasizes invention; iqtadaytu means to follow a model.

Here siḥr operates as heightened language for his persuasive tricks and theatrical inventiveness. The context does not require treating it as a literal confession to supernatural magic. The morally troubling deception remains real even if the term is figurative.