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stay. The word is probably used to denote the long sojourn of the
mineral in the mine before it is dug out. Or the word might also signify the persistence of the miners who keep on digging without getting disheartened. Ruby mines occur in the island of Serandib (Ceylon), which is situated near the Indian Ocean. The mine occurs in the mountain adjoining
the coast. It has been said about the red ruby variety that it is surrounded by a coating of stones like the pomegranate seeds are surrounded by their peel. This is not unusual, for the Badakhshanian ruby is also found enclosed in (a coating of stones) in the manner of the crystalline variety. All the transparent objects are, in reality, the water that has become
petrified. Although this process occurs naturally, many things found in it do not bear any relationship to it, e.g., air-bubbles, water drops, leaves of grass, slivers of wood, etc. We shall shortly describe the crystalline variety. Every liquid, as long as it flows, requires a vessel to contain it, and to
save it from flowing out and dispersing, till it congeals and stops flowing. The vessel then serves as its guard. This is a universal phenomenon known to all. How these liquids congeal and under what circumstances and how they assume different colours is not something one might attempt to guess by stretching the imagination. God is the Maker and the Shaper of these things. There is another argument in favour of the above hypothesis. The
ruby requires more heat for crystallisation and for achieving more glitter in its red for it is possible that there might be admixture in it of the violet colour, or we often find earth or sand or stones in it. The jeweller, therefore, peels off the outer coat of the ruby, should
these blemishes be near the surface until the blemish disappears although the weight of the stone is reduced, and the surface is no longer level. The depth of the blemish varies, if the blemish is too deep, he bores a hole so that the entrapped air is expelled, and the gem does not explode when heated. Possibly Abu Tammam has implied this perforation in the couplet: When all my praises ended at her door-step, I put the necklace of
unperforated rubies on her.
'Iqd means the necklace. Necklace made out of cloves is the sinjab.
Ending of praises is the shower of gifts to the person commended. The ruby necklace denotes praise. Generally strings of rubies are put upon the hands, and the poet in return for the generosity shown by the hands of the person praised has adorned her (or him) with the strings of rubies. A necklace or string cannot be made without holes being bored into it, and the poet has compared his qasidah 41 of praise with rubies, by denying the presence of holes in the string, with the intention of moving to- |
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