«كُلُّ امْرِئٍ أَعْرَفُ بِوَسْمِ قِدْحِهِ»
Each person best recognizes the mark on his own arrow.
Wasm is a distinguishing mark, and qidḥ is an arrow, including the marked arrows once used in drawing lots. The proverb means that the elder considers himself well acquainted with the person he has praised.
A proverb provides an efficient reply to a lengthy denunciation. Yet it remains a statement of the elder's confidence, not the promised demonstration. The narrative deliberately keeps the test ahead of the reader.
The image of night and dawn contrasts uncertainty with a result that will become visible; the group then confers about a test.