Zuhayr ibn Abī Sulmā: Reconciling ʿAbs and Dhubyān, Honoring Peacemakers and Keeping Covenants (Verses 16–27)

1. A new turn: from scenery to society

After the scenes of old dwellings and the departing caravan, Zuhayr turns to reconciliation between ʿAbs and Dhubyān. These twelve verses (16–27) proceed from praising peacemakers to explaining their financial sacrifices and finally warning against dishonesty within covenants.

The passage falls into three movements: (1) oath and praise (16–21), (2) blood-money and shared financial responsibility (22–24), and (3) a message to the tribes against treachery (25–27). Peace is more than a spoken promise: it requires conduct, resources, and integrity. This gives the passage its ethical coherence.

2. The reconciliation and its actors

The poem praises Haram ibn Sinān and al-Ḥārith ibn ʿAwf for helping to end the long conflict between ʿAbs and Dhubyān. Repeated dual verb forms—wujidtumā, tadāraktumā, qultumā, fa-aṣbaḥtumā—identify two addressees throughout this section.

The problem is reciprocal bloodshed. The poem presents two complementary means of reconciliation: bi-māl, material support or payment, and maʿrūf min al-qawl, honorable words used to bring parties together. The later verses spell out the cost of the settlement.

3. Verse 16: an oath by the House

فَأَقْسَمْتُ بِالْبَيْتِ الَّذِي طَافَ حَوْلَهُ ۞ رِجَالٌ بَنَوْهُ مِنْ قُرَيْشٍ وَجُرْهُمِ
Meaning: So I swear by the House around which men have circumambulated, the men who built it from Quraysh and Jurhum.

Fa-aqsamtu is first-person singular perfect from form IV of q-s-m, “I swore.” The bāʾ in bi-l-bayt introduces the object by which the oath is sworn. Ṭāfa ḥawlahu describes circumambulation, while the pronoun in banawhu refers back to the House.

Mentioning Quraysh and Jurhum locates the oath in a revered historical and sacred setting. The oath is not decorative: it gives the praise that follows a tone of public, solemn testimony.

4. Verse 17: praise of two leaders

يَمِينًا لَنِعْمَ السَّيِّدَانِ وُجِدْتُمَا ۞ عَلَى كُلِّ حَالٍ مِنْ سَحِيلٍ وَمُبْرَمِ
Meaning: By an oath: you two have proved excellent leaders in every condition, whether loosely spun or firmly twisted.

Yamīnan reinforces the oath. La-niʿma al-sayyidāni is a formula of praise, while wujidtumā is a second-person dual passive: “you two were found/proved to be.” The leaders are praised on the evidence of their conduct.

Saḥīl evokes a loosely spun strand, and mubram a firmly twisted cord. Their contrast is not literally about rope-making: it illustrates steadfast leadership through different or difficult conditions.

5. Grammar of niʿma al-sayyidāni

Niʿma is a fixed past-form verb used in praise. Al-sayyidāni is its nominative dual subject, signalled by the alif ending. The people receiving the praise are the two leaders addressed in the following wujidtumā.

In wujidtumā, the attached second-person dual element functions as the deputy subject of a passive verb, rather than an ordinary active subject. Together the two constructions move from declaring praise to addressing those who deserve it.

6. Saḥīl and mubram as contrasting conditions

WordLiteral pictureImplied contrast
سَحِيلLoosely spun threadWeak or uncomplicated state
مُبْرَمFirmly twisted cordStrong or difficult state

Both expressions qualify ʿalā kulli ḥāl, “in every circumstance.” Combined with the praise formula la-niʿma, the physical contrast makes the moral compliment concrete: worthy leadership persists when situations change.

7. Verse 18: rescuing two tribes from destruction

تَدَارَكْتُمَا عَبْسًا وَذُبْيَانَ بَعْدَمَا ۞ تَفَانَوْا وَدَقُّوا بَيْنَهُمْ عِطْرَ مَنْشِمِ
Meaning: You two rescued ʿAbs and Dhubyān after they had nearly destroyed each other and their feud had reached the deadly intensity of the perfume of Manshim.

Tadāraktumā (form VI) means that the two men caught the situation in time and repaired it. ʿAbsan wa-Dhubyāna are its objects. Tafānaw expresses mutual destruction or severe depletion through warfare.

ʿIṭr Manshim is an established proverbial reference to deadly fighting; the commentary records explanations of its background. Its immediate poetic function is to evoke the intensity of a blood feud, not ordinary agreeable perfume.

8. The Manshim idiom and its literary force

In its ordinary sense, ʿiṭr is perfume. But daqqū baynahum ʿiṭra Manshim functions as an idiom. One explanation relates it to perfume used in swearing a pact before battle; the textual tradition also offers other accounts. The poem need not be reduced to one asserted historical story.

The rhetorical effect matters more: an apparently pleasant word, “perfume,” becomes a marker of deadly conflict. This heightens the achievement of the mediators: they stopped not just resentment, but a cycle of lethal retaliation.

9. Verse 19: wealth and good words secure peace

وَقَدْ قُلْتُمَا إِنْ نُدْرِكِ السِّلْمَ وَاسِعًا ۞ بِمَالٍ وَمَعْرُوفٍ مِنَ الْقَوْلِ نَسْلَمِ
Meaning: And you both said: if with wealth and honorable words we achieve a broad reconciliation, we shall be safe.

Qultumā presents the leaders’ joint undertaking. In nudriki al-silma forms the conditional clause, and naslam(i) its result. Al-silm means peace or reconciliation; wāsiʿan describes the breadth of the settlement.

Bi-mālin wa-maʿrūfin min al-qawl unites material payment with proper speech. Money addresses concrete losses, while honorable words restore the conditions for trust. The poem sees both as parts of one peacemaking effort.

10. Grammar of in nudrik … naslam

In is a jussive conditional particle. Nudrik is the conditional verb and naslam the apodosis; both are imperfect verbs in the jussive. A final vowel in metrical recitation does not change their underlying grammatical governance.

Al-silma is the object; wāsiʿan qualifies it. The prepositional expressions bi-māl and bi-maʿrūf identify the means used to reach peace. The resulting safety is shared security, not simply victory for one side.

11. Verse 20: an honorable standing after reconciliation

فَأَصْبَحْتُمَا مِنْهَا عَلَى خَيْرِ مَوْطِنٍ ۞ بَعِيدَيْنِ فِيهَا مِنْ عُقُوقٍ وَمَأْثَمِ
Meaning: Thus in this affair you two attained the finest standing, far removed from breaking kinship and from sin.

Fa-aṣbaḥtumā uses aṣbaḥa in its linking sense to describe what the two leaders have become. ʿAlā khayri mawṭin is a figure for an excellent moral and social position, not necessarily a precise geographical location.

ʿUqūq implies failing or severing kinship obligations, while maʾtham is wrongdoing or sin. The settlement is praised as an act that repairs not only political relations but also the obligations binding relatives and neighboring clans.

12. Verse 21: the real treasure of honor

عَظِيمَيْنِ فِي عُلْيَا مَعَدٍّ هُدِيتُمَا ۞ وَمَنْ يَسْتَبِحْ كَنْزًا مِنَ الْمَجْدِ يَعْظُمِ
Meaning: Great among the nobility of Maʿadd, you two were guided; whoever gains a treasure of honor becomes great.

ʿAẓīmayn is accusative dual, continuing the description of the two mediators. ʿUlyā Maʿadd invokes the highest standing among the clans of Maʿadd. Hudītumā is a passive perfect addressed to two people: “you have been guided.”

In wa-man yastabiḥ kanzan mina al-majd yaʿẓum, the “treasure” is metaphorical: enduring eminence through honorable service, not a physical chest of money. The conditional man turns the compliment into a general statement about greatness.

13. How the dual forms sustain the encomium

FormContribution to meaning
وُجِدْتُمَاBoth proved worthy
تَدَارَكْتُمَاBoth rescued the parties
قُلْتُمَاBoth proposed the settlement
هُدِيتُمَاBoth were guided rightly

Repeated dual address sustains the impression of joint leadership. The later general conditional man yastabiḥ … yaʿẓum expands praise of two men into a wider observation: genuine honor grows from acts beneficial to others.

14. Verse 22: healing wounds with compensation

تُعَفِّي الْكُلُومَ بِالْمِئِينَ فَأَصْبَحَتْ ۞ يُنَجِّمُهَا مَنْ لَيْسَ فِيهَا بِمُجْرِمِ
Meaning: You efface the wounds with payments in hundreds, so that installments are paid by people who were not guilty of those wounds.

Al-kulūm is the plural of kalm, “wound”; the line also evokes the community’s injuries from warfare. Tuʿaffī means to obliterate or make traces disappear. Bi-l-miʾīn denotes compensation in hundreds, especially the large number of camels used to settle blood claims.

Yunajjimuhā means paying sums over time in installments. Man laysa fīhā bi-mujrim stresses that the payers were not themselves guilty of inflicting those wounds. Taking on liability for peace is thus presented as an act of extraordinary generosity.

15. The vocabulary of blood-money and installments

ArabicMeaning here
الكُلُومWounds and injuries of war
المِئِينPayments in hundreds, especially camels
يُنَجِّمُهاPays in installments
غَرامَةIndemnity or compensation owed

Najm can signify a scheduled installment or time of payment. Reading yunajjimuhā as “counting stars” would miss the financial context entirely. Money in these verses represents the concrete cost of peace and settling the rights arising from bloodshed.

16. Verse 23: payment by those not involved in killing

يُنَجِّمُهَا قَوْمٌ لِقَوْمٍ غَرَامَةً ۞ وَلَمْ يُهَرِيقُوا بَيْنَهُمْ مِلْءَ مِحْجَمِ
Meaning: One group pays it to another in installments as compensation, though they themselves had not shed even a cupping-cupful of blood between them.

Yunajjimuhā qawmun li-qawmin gharāmatan describes a clan paying another in installments as indemnity, rather than a commercial profit. Gharāmah identifies the obligatory compensation.

Milʾa miḥjam means the amount of blood filling a small cupping vessel. Lam yuharīqū denies their shedding blood. The tiny unit intensifies the contrast: those who shed not even that much blood nevertheless assume a great financial burden to bring about peace.

17. A tiny measure emphasizes a large sacrifice

Milʾ denotes the quantity needed to fill something, and miḥjam identifies a small vessel associated with cupping. With lam yuharīqū, lam negates the imperfect: the payers had not shed even this tiny amount of blood.

The poetic contrast is between two scales: the large hundreds in bi-l-miʾīn and the very small measure of milʾ miḥjam. The contrast reinforces the idea that the peacemakers’ families accepted a heavy financial burden even though they themselves had not caused the bloodshed.

18. Verse 24: inherited wealth turned to a public good

فَأَصْبَحَ يَجْرِي فِيهِمْ مِنْ تِلَادِكُمْ ۞ مَغَانِمُ شَتَّى مِنْ إِفَالٍ مُزَنَّمِ
Meaning: So from your inherited wealth, many varied gifts passed among them, including marked young camels.

Tilādikum indicates inherited or long-held family property. Maghānim shattā here denotes varied gifts or transfers of wealth, not necessarily spoils taken in a new battle.

Ifāl refers to young camels, and muzannam to a marking or tag, such as at an ear, by which animals are identified. This concrete detail shows the peacemakers using substantial inherited livestock to meet the costs of reconciliation.

19. Tilād and ifāl: visible evidence of sacrifice

Tilād and ifāl muzannam both identify material resources, but each serves a different literary purpose. Tilād stresses the importance of long-preserved family property; ifāl gives a visible form to the young camels being transferred in settlement.

Verses 22–24 therefore build a sequence: healing wounds, paying indemnities over time, and parting with inherited livestock. Rather than merely asserting generosity, the poet offers an economic picture of what the sacrifice involved.

20. Verse 25: an urgent message to the tribes

أَلَا أَبْلِغِ الْأَحْلَافَ عَنِّي رِسَالَةً ۞ وَذُبْيَانَ هَلْ أَقْسَمْتُمْ كُلَّ مَقْسَمِ
Meaning: Now carry a message from me to the allied clans and to Dhubyān: have you not sworn every binding oath?

Alā alerts the hearer. Abligh is an imperative from form IV (ablagha), “deliver.” Al-aḥlāf denotes allied groups, while Dhubyān names a particular tribe.

Hal aqsamtum kulla maqsam is grammatically a question, but context makes it a forceful reminder of solemn oaths already sworn. The poem moves from praise to accountability: the success of reconciliation now depends on the parties keeping their pledges.

21. Verse 26: no hidden intention escapes divine knowledge

فَلَا تَكْتُمُنَّ اللَّهَ مَا فِي نُفُوسِكُمْ ۞ لِيَخْفَى وَمَهْمَا يُكْتَمِ اللَّهُ يَعْلَمِ
Meaning: Do not try to conceal from God what lies within your hearts; whatever is hidden, God knows it.

Fa-lā taktumunna Allāha warns against trying to conceal inner intentions from God. Mā fī nufūsikum distinguishes outward speech from inward motives: making an oath publicly is not enough when it is privately undermined.

In wa-mahmā yuktami Allāhu yaʿlam, mahmā broadens the statement to anything whatsoever that is concealed. The moral reasoning is that covert treachery may escape other people, but not divine knowledge. Keeping a covenant is therefore also a matter of conscience.

22. Prohibition and universality in verse 26

In lā taktumunna, lā is prohibitive, while the heavy nūn of emphasis strengthens the command not to conceal. Mā fī nufūsikum encompasses inward motives and intentions, not only explicit public statements.

Mahmā introduces a general conditional meaning, and the following verbs yuktam and yaʿlam contrast concealment with knowledge. Final vowels in the poetic rhyme should be understood alongside meter without changing the basic grammatical relationship.

23. Verse 27: delayed or immediate consequences

يُؤَخَّرْ فَيُوضَعْ فِي كِتَابٍ فَيُدَّخَرْ ۞ لِيَوْمِ الْحِسَابِ أَوْ يُعَجَّلْ فَيُنْقَمِ
Meaning: Its requital may be deferred, recorded and reserved for the Day of Reckoning, or brought forward as immediate retribution.

The sequence yuʾakhkhar, yūḍaʿ, and yuddakhar depicts postponement, recording, and reservation for a future reckoning. Li-yawmi al-ḥisāb explicitly invokes the Day of Account.

Aw yuʿajjal fa-yunqam supplies the alternative: retribution can occur sooner. The lesson of the passage is not to specify a timetable for punishment, but to deny that secret betrayal escapes accountability, whether the consequence is delayed or brought forward.

24. The last three verses: oath, intention, accountability

VerseCentral point
25Recall the oaths sworn by the tribes
26God knows concealed intentions
27Accountability now or at the final reckoning

The sequence moves from outward pledge to inward intention and finally to consequence. This turns peace from a merely political strategy into an undertaking that requires sincerity, reverence, and responsibility even when no human observer is present.

25. Synthesis: the logic of verses 16–27

Praise and warning are complementary in this section. The oath makes praise a solemn testimony; repeated dual forms emphasize collective leadership; the Manshim idiom conveys the horror of war; and miʾīn and gharāmah make the cost of peace measurable.

With alā abligh, the speaker shifts to warning the tribes themselves: after such material sacrifice, keeping the treaty is essential. The next verse, wa-mā al-ḥarbu illā mā ʿalimtum wa-dhuqtum, begins the direct analysis of war’s destructive consequences. The present lesson therefore closes at the natural boundary between reconciliation and the ensuing warning about warfare.