Poetry

In the opening lines of the Mu’allaqa of Tarafa, he talks about Khawla who is said to be a woman from the tribe of Kalb. ‘Atlal’ is the plural of ‘Talal’ which here means the traces that are left of a house or a building. ‘Burka’ is a place the sand and rock are mixed, or is rocky in terrain. Thahmed is a place.

He likens the remains of her house to the remains of a tattoo on the back of one’s hand.

Here Tarafa wishes to say, that you find him to be both serious and playful. If you look for him in the gatherings of the clan where they consult on serious matters, you will find him there. And, if you look for him in the places of drink and play, there to you will find him. Then he goes on the praise himself saying that, if all the people of the clan, got together to see who is the most honourable amongst them, they will find it to be none other than him, as he is from the noblest of houses.

‘Basil’ means brave, strong, fierce, severe and so on. ‘Alqam’ is known as the bitter apple, bitter cucumber or desert gourd. It is a very bitter viny plant.

He says here ‘Ask the horses’, which is a literary device in Arabic called ‘Majaz’. It implies ‘Ask the riders on the horses’. Malik was the uncle of Antara, who refused to marry his daughter ‘Abla’ to him. Here he addresses her in his poem, as he does in many of his poems.

Tarafa describes the smile of his beloved. He likens her front teeth, appearing between her dark lips when she smiles to the blossom of a privet-plant from pure moist sand. ‘Al-Ithad’ is the Kuhl that they use to beautify themselves. The Arab women had a custom of using Kuhl on their gums and lips.