gar to which sal ammoniac has been added. When it is taken out, the inscription desired to be preserved in the unetched shape goes down, while
the waxed portion becomes raised. I think citron juice to which sal ammoniac has been added should prove to be even more effective.
A Chinese variety, known as khushk ab, is associated with the city of
Qata'i. It has a pale colour, with its white colour informed by the colour
of lime. It is, on the whole, lustreless and without glitter. It has the
characteristics of gravel, and, for this reason, as opposed to khush ab, it
is called khushk ab (without glitter). It is priced lower than the other
varieties. People believe this variety to be artificial. Once Amir Shahid
Mas'ud importuned a (pearl) trader upon the genuineness of a pearl. The
trader took out the peel of a piece with the knife, and asked the Amir ,
"Could this have been made by hand?" But this cannot serve as an argument, since he who can make a pearl can also make its layers in such a
manner that one peel comes after another.
The Quiz it mi (of Red Sea) variety is similar as regards colour to the
Qata'i kind, but for the fact that the colour of Qata'i is jaded, tinny, and
darkish. Razi brothers say that sometimes the khush ab variety gets
mixed with the qiilzurni pearls. They have also mentioned that they
bought aghulami pearl in Qata'i weighing three and a quarter mithqal.
Hamzah has mentioned the names of different pearls. One of them is
the shahwar kind, meaning regal. This is the best and the highest kind.
Another name given to it is gushab, meaning a large pearl. It is one
whole pearl but seems to be compounded of several pearl grains. It is
quite possible that the mudarras kind is also compounded like the
mutarakkab kind. Another synonym for the pearl is marwarid which is
also called aramarwarid Marwarids are small. One other name that has
been mentioned is that of darham marwarid. It is the biggest pearl, its
Arabic adoption being the durrah.
Only the learned know about the noble attributes of the stars, whereas the commonalty of mankind has knowledge about the beauty and
delicacy of pearls. Big and luminous stars are like the durrah (pearl).
In some readings al-kawkab al-durri is associated with these (stars). If we
take cognizance of the claims of proper lexicography, and ignore the
merely traditional usage of the language, we would find that the phrase.
al-durr al-kawkabi (a star-like pearl) is more acceptable than al-kawkab
al-durri (a pearl-like star). The Arabs designate a kind of pearl as uajm
(star). The people of Arabia are fully aware of the fact that the Qur'an
has been made to descend upon them in accordance with their national
ethos and customs so that the reader or the listener could fully understand and appreciate the text of the address. Abu Tammam thus says:
(It is) the pearl of favour, and not the shell, that has put a skin upon
pearls glittering like the luminous stars.
