Nahj al-Balagha 54

Translation

ash-Sharif ar-Raḍi says: The words in this sermon “like the rider of a camel” mean to convey that when a camel rider is stiff in drawing up the rein then in this scuffle the nostril gets bruised, but if he lets it loose in spite of camel’s unruliness, it would throw him somewhere and would get out of control. “ashnaq an-nãqah” is used when the rider holds up the rein and raises the camel’s head upwards. In the same sense the word “shanaqaha aydhwan” is used. Ibn as-Sikkit has mentioned this in Islãh al-mantiq. Amīr al-mu’minīn has said “ashnaqa lahã” instead of “ashnaqaha,” this is because he has used this word in harmony with “aslasa lahã” and harmony could be retained only by using both in the same form. Thus, Amīr al-mu’minīn has used “ashnaqa lahã” as though in place of “in rafa‘a lahã ra'sahã,” that is, “if he stops it by holding up the reins.”

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