Portal logo
Tilth is concealed by the earth, and manifests itself through tilling.
A poet says:
When I met 'Abd Allah, I said to him, when he was going eastward
on the altitude of Raqmatayn: "Search the hidden crevices of the
earth and pray to God that He may grant thee victuals. Mayhap, He
might grant thee thy wish and thou might get victuals."
It is said that 'Abd Allah bin Jad'an saw inside a well carefully. People
had thought that the well had only a projecting rock. But the rock had
gold beneath it. 'Abd Allah, on looking at the water, saw gold hidden in
it. He recovered it, and grew to be very rich. He says:
1 search for food underneath the well of Jud and go under the earth
with a lamp.
Jud is the name of the well. 'Arwah bin Zubayr used to tell 'Abd Allah
bin Shihab:
What if thou hast no land? Hast thou heard the poet's dictum,
search for hidden crevices of the earth and pray to God.
Poets often compare wine goblets to pearls and pearl shells. While
the words are good, this could not be said of the comparisons. The good
attribute of a pearl is transparency so that the interior of it is reflected
on the surface. And this is the chief aim of the simile. Ibn al-Mu'tazz
thus says:
Liquid ruby has been dissolved in a goblet that is like the shell of a
white pearl.
Abu Nuwas says:
It appears as if pearl shells are studded on their faces, so tender and
delicate are their countenances.
And further:
She is like a hind whom God has graced with pearl-shells in place of
skin. The bloom of roses is all the time on her cheeks.
Sanawbari says:
The course of pure cornelian is on the run, and the wine to the aqua
of pure pearls.
Another poet writes about the non-transparent chalice:
As if our goblets are of silver filled with pure gold.
Ibn al-Rumi says:
It is saffron in white goblets which spurts like the dragon's blood
upon white cheeks.
Ibrahim Nazzam says:
Pearls are being offered for drinking in goblets of pearls. A pearl-like
hand has suffused all these colours.
Another poet says:
Their goblet is made of the skin-of-the-pearl, with the water being of
silver and the wine of gold.
94