sudfa, and light sudfa, and the helper ṣārikh, and the one seeking help ṣārikh, and whatever is similar to that among the names by which a thing and its opposite are called. And among that which demonstrates that certainty is called by it is the statement of Durayd ibn al-Ṣimma:
So I said to them: Expect (ẓunnū) two thousand fully armored men, their leaders clad in Persian coats of mail (1)
Meaning by that: Be certain of two thousand fully armored men coming to you. And the statement of ʿAmīra ibn Ṭāriq:
That you should raid my people while I sit among you, and make my certainty an unproven unseen (2)
Meaning: and make my certainty an unproven unseen. And the textual testimonies from the poetry and speech of the Arabs
Notes
- (1) Al-Aṣmaʿiyyāt: 23, Sharḥ al-Ḥamāsa (2:156), and Majāz al-Qurʾān by Abū ʿUbayda: 40. It will appear unattributed in 25:83, and unattributed in 13:58 with another narration: "Fa-ẓannū bi-alfay fārisin mutalabbibi" (So they were certain of two thousand fully armed horsemen). Before the verse in al-Aṣmaʿī's narration is:
"And I said to ʿĀriḍ, and the companions of ʿĀriḍ ... and the clan of Banū al-Sawdāʾ, while the people were my witnesses."
"Openly they were certain..."
Abū Tammām's narration is: "I advised ʿĀriḍ..." and "So I said to them, be certain..." He composed this poetry in elegy for his brother ʿAbd Allāh b. al-Ṣimma, who is ʿĀriḍ, mentioned in his poetry. Al-Mudajjaj: the horseman who is fully armed in his weaponry, meaning he has entered into his armor as if covered by it. Al-Sarāt is the plural of sarī: they are the best of the people among their horsemen. Al-Fārisī al-musarrad: meaning Persian chainmail; ʿAmr b. Imriʾ al-Qays al-Khazrajī said:
"When we walk in Persian armor, it is as if ... we are walking like unyielding, slow-paced camels."
Al-Sard: inserting the rings of the armor into one another. Al-Musarrad: tightly woven with interlocking rings. He is warning his brother and his people that they will meet a formidable enemy who has perfected his tools of combat.
- (2) Naqāʾiḍ Jarīr wa-al-Farazdaq: 53, 785, and al-Aḍdād by Ibn al-Anbārī: 12. He is ʿUmayra b. Ṭāriq b. Daysaq al-Yarbūʿī; he said it regarding an incident he had with al-Ḥawfazān. The narration in al-Naqāʾiḍ is: "And I sit among you..." and "I make my knowledge a conjectured certainty of the unseen." Before the verse is:
"So do not command me, O son of Asmāʾ, to do that which ... prevents the resolute youth from speaking."
"Dhū al-ṭuʿm": the one with resolve. "Tujirru", from al-ijrār: which is to slit the tongue of a weanling camel when they want to wean it, so that it does not suckle. He means it stands between him and speaking.
"Ghazā al-amra wa-ightazāhu": he intended it, and from it is al-ghazw: which is marching to fight the enemy and plunder them. Al-murjam: that whose true nature cannot be ascertained, because it is cast without certainty, from al-rajm: which is casting.
This being said, the verse, as narrated in al-Naqāʾiḍ, is not evidence that al-ẓann (assumption) means certainty. It is al-Ṭabarī's narration that serves as evidence for this meaning.
This translation was produced with AI assistance and is part of an ongoing human-review process. Found a mistake? Use the feedback option in the reader menu.
