Poetic comparisons

“According to al-Saqundí, the Al-Andalús poets excelled in comparative imagination. Flowers sometimes serve to paint a loved one’s portrait. Ibn Labbana (11th century) wrote: “The qualities of a rose are nothing next to hers, birdsong is nothing next to hers”.

Ibn ‘Ammar, vizier at al-Mu’tamid in Seville (11th century) compared the garden to an Andalusian beauty:

“…The garden is like a beautiful women; its flowers have dressed her in a striped cloth, and dew adorns her with a string of pearls”.

From the book Los Aromas de al-Andalus, Cherif Abderrahman Jah, Editorial Alianza.