Yuṣāniʿ concerns social tact, while yabkhal concerns withholding available benefits. Tact does not necessarily mean abandoning principle; it means recognizing the needs and circumstances of human dealings. In the other line, a person with resources loses regard if they refuse to share them.
The poet therefore censures two distinct failures: inflexible dealing and self-serving stinginess. Both damage relations, but by different routes.
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Zuhayr ibn Abī Sulmā: Age, Mortality, Honor, and Keeping Promises (Verses 43–52)
Yuṣāniʿ concerns social tact, while yabkhal concerns withholding available benefits. Tact does not necessarily mean abandoning principle; it means recognizing the needs and circumstances of human dealings. In the other line, a person with resources loses regard if they refuse to share them.
The poet therefore censures two distinct failures: inflexible dealing and self-serving stinginess. Both damage relations, but by different routes.