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The pearl looks graceful upon the bosoms of maidens. Its beautiful
attributes do not manifest themselves in the shell.
Ibn al-Rumi says:
Noble attributes are but rarely found among the obese ones. They
are found the more among the slender ones. The pearl is strung by a
thread. Its nobility and excellence refuse to be strung by ropes.
Books on medicine state that unbored pearls are used in collyria and
electuaries to avoid poisoning. Jewellers are apt to fill the perforations
in the pearls with poisonous matter which might harm the intestines and
the eyes. People generally grind the pearls, although boring is also a kind
or grinding. In curative treatment there is no distinction between the
sizes of the pearls. But generally the smaller ones are used, being cheaper. It is the habit of the jewellers that, when they examine a pearl or a
jewel, they first insert it in their mouth, moisten it with their saliva, and
then dry it with their sleeves. This is a harmful practice, as it is quite
possible that some other trader might have filled the perforation with
some poisonous material in order to mask it, There are some poisons
which are lethal in even minute quantities. There are, in fact some
poisons whose odour is quite sufficient to kill a man. Therefore, no
pearl or jewel should be inserted into the mouth until and unless it has
been thoroughly washed and a thread passed through or tied round it.
It is said that Hasan bin 'Ali (peace be on them) possessed considerable
knowledge about jewels, and people, therefore, used to go to him to consult him about the prices of jewels. His death was due to poison from a
jewel, and death ordained by Allah acted in the form of poison.
Jewellers say that the pearl is not secure from harm even after it has
been taken out of the sea and preserved with care if there is miasma,
blemish, or a worm, or if one of its holes has been broken, giving rise to
some new kind of decomposition, or if one of its layers has separated.
This is why if a jewel has many holes, the jewellers hand them over to
their unskilled pupils who are not familiar with the prices of the jewels.
Unaware of the danger, they display eagerness and courage in working
upon it and their hands do not tremble or shake with fear. A slight shaking of the hand would result in the marring of a whole piece. In fact, at
times, they slap the pupils so that when they cry, they would become
oblivious to the danger and go ahead with their work in a sullen manner.
Once they have made the perforation, there is no danger, for what was
inside has come out and the heat which was the causal factor for the
miasma is driven off by the air which has entered it. Toothache is sometimes driven off when the teeth are drilled or a hole or cavity appears in
them. The heat which caused the inflammation in them is expelled
therefrom. In fact, occasionally the pain completely disappears if the
tooth is taken out by the root. One of the reasons is that the corrupt
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