Learner's Version #3

“Oh abode” (Yā manzilan) by Ibn Abī Ṭāhir Ṭayfūr (Baghdad, d. 893 CE)

Welcome to the Learner’s Version #3, on Ibn Abī Ṭāhir Ṭayfūr’s existential desert reflections! A more literary translation and introduction can be found here. This is a literal translation with Arabic vocabulary and grammatical commentary for those learning Arabic, or just interested in what the Arabic version of the poem sounds like. Feel free to ask questions in the comments, chat, or message me.

· Vocabulary list (transliterated Arabic, English definitions)

· Vocabulary list (Arabic-Arabic)

· Recitation

· Grammatical abbreviations

1. يا مَنْزِلاً لَعِبَ الزَّمانُ بِأَهلِهِ          طَوْراً يُفرِّقُهم، وطوراً يَجْمَعُ

1. Oh abode with whose inhabitants time has played,

          at times dispersing them, at times gathering,

Commentary: yā is a vocative particle that can require various case endings in the following word: yā manzalu is used with a specific or present addressee, while here yā manzalan is used for a non-specific or absent addressee. So here, the vocative indicates the speaker is addressing a non-present, remembered abode. laʿiba: subject of nom. al-zamānu. laʿiba governs bi-ahilī (note the lengthened ī). ṭawran: adverb of time for yufarriquhum and again for yajmaʿū.