ABU AL-ASWAD AND HIS SLAVE-GIRL.
Project Gutenberg EPUB3 edition
Burton, Richard Francis, Sir
Abu al-Aswad bought a native-born slave-girl, who was blind of an eye, and she pleased him; but his people decried her to him; whereat he wondered and, turning the palms of his hands upwards,[114] recited these two couplets:—
They find me fault with her where I default ne’er find, ✿ Save haply that a speck in either eye may show:
But if her eyes have fault, of fault her form hath none, ✿ Slim-built above the waist and heavily made below.
And this is also told of
Source notes
114. When reciting the Fátihah (opening Koranic chapter), the hands are held in this position as if to receive a blessing falling from Heaven; after which both palms are passed down the face to distribute it over the eyes and other organs of sense.