بَكَرْنَ بُكُورًا وَاسْتَحَرْنَ بِسَحْرَةٍ فَهُنَّ وَوَادِي الرَّسِّ كَالْيَدِ لِلْفَمِ
They set out early and journeyed in the pre-dawn hours; they were now as near to the Valley of al-Rass as a hand is to the mouth.
Bakarnā bukūran combines a verb with its cognate verbal noun to emphasize early departure. Istaḥarna bi-saḥrah continues the time reference to the pre-dawn period. Finally, ka-l-yadi li-l-fam expresses the caravan’s closeness to the Valley of al-Rass.
The hand and mouth are a familiar pair. Rather than giving a distance in units, the poet makes nearness immediately imaginable.