Poetic comparisons

20
Sep 2011

From the book “Los Aromas de al-Andalus”, Cherif Abderrahman Jah, Editorial Alianza

Rose“According to al-Saqundí, the Al-Andalús poets excelled in comparative imagination. Flowers sometimes serve to paint a loved one’s portrait. Ibn Labbana (11th century) wrote:

“The qualities of a rose are nothing next to hers, birdsong is nothing next to hers”.

Ibn ‘Ammar, vizier at al-Mu’tamid in Seville (11th century) compared the garden to an Andalusian beauty:

“…The garden is like a beautiful women; its flowers have dressed her in a striped cloth, and dew adorns her with a string of pearls”.

________________________________

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 20th, 2011 at 5:06 am and is filed under cover, diary. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.