كَأَنَّ فُتَاتَ الْعِهْنِ فِي كُلِّ مَنْزِلٍ نَزَلْنَ بِهِ حَبُّ الْفَنَا لَمْ يُحَطَّمِ
At each stopping place, fragments of colored wool appear like intact berries of the fanā plant, not yet crushed.
At caravan camps, futāt al-ʿihn—little fragments of dyed wool—may be scattered about. Their colored, grain-like appearance is compared to ḥabb al-fanā lam yuḥaṭṭam, intact berries of a plant called fanā.
Even when the travellers are not directly described in the frame, traces of their equipment testify to their passing. The simile is concrete, visual and tied to the previous textile imagery.