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

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.

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Verse 19: wealth and good words secure peace

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

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.