«فَتَبَصَّرْ وَلَا تَشِمْ كُلَّ بَرْقٍ رُبَّ بَرْقٍ فِيهِ صَوَاعِقُ حَيْنٍ»
Look carefully and do not pursue every flash; some lightning carries thunderbolts of ruin.
Tabaṣṣar urges careful perception; tashim evokes watching an omen in expectation, and ṣawāʿiq are thunderbolts. Alluring beauty resembles a brilliant flash, but chasing it may bring harm. The ending directly answers the opening’s lavish catalogue of the youth’s attractions.
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The Raḥbiyyah Maqāmah — Abū Zayd Revealed, Escape and Satirical Counsel
«فَتَبَصَّرْ وَلَا تَشِمْ كُلَّ بَرْقٍ رُبَّ بَرْقٍ فِيهِ صَوَاعِقُ حَيْنٍ»
Look carefully and do not pursue every flash; some lightning carries thunderbolts of ruin.
Tabaṣṣar urges careful perception; tashim evokes watching an omen in expectation, and ṣawāʿiq are thunderbolts. Alluring beauty resembles a brilliant flash, but chasing it may bring harm. The ending directly answers the opening’s lavish catalogue of the youth’s attractions.