Indeed, God had
clad him in the habit of beauty and crowned him with the crown of
perfection: his eyes were more ensorcelling than Harout and
Marout[FN#19] and the play of his glances more misleading than
Taghout.[FN#20] His cheeks shone with redness and his eyelashes
outvied the keen-edged sword: the whiteness of his forehead
resembled the shining moon and the blackness of his hair was as
the murky night. His waist was more slender than the gossamer
and his buttocks heavier than two hills of sand, troubling the
heart with their softness; but his waist complained of their
weight. In fine, his charms ravished all mankind, even as saith
the poet:
By his cheeks' unfading damask and his smiling teeth I swear, By
the arrows that he feathers with the witchery of his air,
By his sides so soft and tender and his glances bright and keen,
By the whiteness of his forehead and the blackness of his
hair,
By his arched imperious eyebrows, chasing slumber from mine eyes,
With their yeas and noes that hold me 'twixt rejoicing and
despair,
By the scorpious[FN#21] that he launches from his
ringlet-clustered brows, Seeking ever in their meshes
hapless lovers to ensnare,
By the myrtle of his whiskers and the roses of his cheeks, By his
lips' incarnate rubies and his teeth's fine pearls and rare,
By his breath's delicious fragrance and the waters of his mouth,
That defy old wine and choicest with their sweetness to
compare,
By his heavy hips that tremble, both in motion and repose, And
the slender waist above them, all too slight their weight to
bear,
By his hand's perennial bounty and his true and trusty speech, By
the stars that smile upon him, favouring and debonair,
Lo, the scent of musk none other than his very perfume is, And
the ambergris's fragrance breathes about him everywhere.
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