and jarid ah (being unique). Pearls are strung in one thread and they are
worn round the wrist in two strings. These strings are called akras, i.e.
tara'iq. It is said that the word, kurrasah (a sheet of paper folded so as
to form a tract of several leaves) follows from the former. When the
pearls are strung around with a pearl in the middle, and face each other,
they are no longer incomparable and unique, since there are other pearls
present in the string with them and they become arranged one upon the
other. This is what is meant by takarus. Dhu al-Rummah says:
Dew-drops upon sprays at sunrise look like studded pearls.
The poet has compared the dew that has deposited at sunrise with pearls.
1'awam is said to be a separate single pearl by itself, and not a twin.
Aswad bin Ya'far says:
The pearl-adorned, steady cup-bearer has begun to pass the winegoblet from hand to hand, her fingers stained red with mulberries.
That is, the cup-bearer's hands have become stained with wine in the
manner of henna. She is squeezing the mulberries carefully and softly,
and therefore, only the fingers have become stained. The poet has not
mentioned dyeing with henna but only reddening through mulberries, so
that the youth and wantonness of the cup-bearer may be emphasised.
Some have held that yatimah is made from silver just as women's
philtres are made from small pearls. The same thing has been said about
jummanah which is taken to be lu'ln by some and to be a product of
silver by others. These words frequently occur in verses. Imr'al-Qays,
for instance, says:
When she bathes, drops of hot water upon her hair
look like polished pearls.
And further:
Tears began to trickle out of my eyes like jumman and durr.
Another poet 77 has said:
Did thy tears begin to trickle upon the camel-litter when thou heardest the dove moaning in the tree?
Hatim Ta'i says:
They have suspended.from their necks rubies, jummans, and rows of
pearls so that the eyes of the gazers may feast upon them.
Abu al-Tayyib says:
When we journeyed in the morning, the trees began to shed pearllike drops upon the manes of our steeds.
Abu Bakr al-Khwarazmi says:
We tippled (the wine) when the hem of the garment of the night was
fluttering at half-mast and her eye-lids had been closed by sleep. As
if (someone) had split a white jummanah into twain, joining the two
by a thread.
Another poet has said:
