وَمَا الْحَرْبُ إِلَّا مَا عَلِمْتُمْ وَذُقْتُمْ ۞ وَمَا هُوَ عَنْهَا بِالْحَدِيثِ الْمُرَجَّمِ
Meaning: War is precisely what you have known and tasted; what I say about it is no conjectural or groundless report.
ʿAlimtum means “you have known,” while dhuqtum means “you have tasted.” Here tasting is metaphorical: the tribes have suffered war firsthand. The two verbs jointly emphasize direct experience rather than a story passed from a distance.
Al-ḥadīth al-murajjam is a report based on guesswork or unverified surmise. By denying that description, Zuhayr makes the former combatants’ own experience the evidence for his appeal to preserve peace.