29وَالتَفَّتِ السّاقُ بِالسّاقِMuhammad Asadand is enwrapped in the pangs of death1 - :Lit., "when shank is wrapped around shank" - an idiomatic phrase denoting "the affliction of the present state of existence... combined with that of the final state" (Lane IV, 1471. quoting both the Qamus and the Taj al-'Arus). As pointed out by Zamakhshari, the noun saq (lit., "shank") is often used metaphorically in the sense of "difficulty", "hardship" or "vehemence" (shiddah); hence the well-known phrase, qamat al-harb ala saq, "the war broke out with vehemence" (Taj al-'Arus).