Translations:Manāyā/2/en

In the Greek tradition destiny was represented as a thread spun from a spindle while in ancient Arab poetry we also see the archetype of rope connected to destiny. Again from Zuhayr: And whosoever fears the ropes of Fate will nevertheless be ensnared by them, even if one manages to ascend the courses of heaven with a ladder. The poet Ṭarafa bin al-‘Abd stressed that human beings are linked to fate-as-death by rope. It cannot be bargained or reasoned with: By your life, swear that Death, so long as he misses a strong man, is surely as the loosened halter, both folded ends of which are in the hands of the owner of the animal. So that, if he wishes, on any day, he leads him off his life by his reins. And he who is tied by the rope of death, will have to submit.