The Neck Ring of the Dove

Ibn Hazm's Tawq al-Hamama - The Ring of the Dove

A youth work of an Andalusian poet and philosopher Abu Muhammad `Ali Ibn Hazm al-Andalusi (Córdoba, 994-1064 CE), The Ring of the Dove is a book about love. In it Ibn Hazm talks about love at first sight, about how to recognize whether people are in love, about the butterfies in one stomach when one gazes upon the person that they love. The book was written around 1022 CE in Játiva, south of Valencia and also provide observations of daily life through poetry, giving readers a enthralling view on life and love in Islamic Córdoba (A city in southern Spain).

The Neck Ring of the Dove - The Signs of Love

" LOVE has certain signs, which the intelligent man quickly detects, and the shrewd man readily recognizes. Of these the first is the brooding gaze: the eye is the wide gateway of the soul, the scrutinizer of its secrets, conveying its most private thoughts, and giving expression to its deepest-hid feelings. You will see the lover gazing at the beloved unblinkingly; his eyes follow the loved one's every movement, withdrawing as he withdraws, inclining as he inclines, just as the chameleon's stare shifts with the shifting of the sun. I have written a poem on this topic, from which the following may be quoted. "

My eye no other place of rest
Discovers, save with thee;
Men say the lodestone is possessed
Of a like property.

To right or left it doth pursue
Thy movements up or down,
As adjectives in grammar do
Accord them with their noun.

-

[ Excerpt form The Ring of the Dove. Translated by A.J. Arberry ]

The Neck Ring of the Dove - The Signs of Love

" The lover will direct his conversation to the beloved, even when he purports however earnestly to address another: the affectation is apparent to anyone with eyes to see. When the loved one speaks, the lover listens with rapt attention to his every word; he marvels at everything the beloved says, however extraordinary and absurd his observations may be; he believes him implicitly even when he is clearly lying, agrees with him though he is obviously in the wrong, testifies on his behalf for all that he may be unjust, follows after him however he may proceed and whatever line of argument he may adopt. The lover hurries to the spot where the beloved is at the moment, endeavors to sit as near him as possible sidles up close to him, lays aside all occupations that might oblige him to leave his company, makes light of any matter however weighty that would demand his parting from him, is very slow to move when he takes his leave of him. I have put this somewhere into verse. "

No captive for the gallows bound
With more reluctance quits his cell
Than I thy presence, in profound
Regret to say farewell.

But when, my darling, comes the time
That we may be together, I
Run swiftly as the moon doth climb
The ramparts of the sky.

At last, alas! That sweet delight
Must end anew; I, lingering yet,
Turn slowly, as from heaven's height
The fixed stars creep to set.

" Other signs of love are that sudden confusion and excitement betrayed by the lover when he unexpectedly sees the one he loves coming upon him unawares, that agitation which overmasters him on beholding someone who resembles his beloved or, on hearing his name suddenly pronounced. This I have put into verse, as the following extract indicates. "

Whene'er my ranging eyes descry
A person clad in red,
My heart is split with agony
And sore discomforted.

His roguish glance, as I conclude,
Has shed such human blood
That now his garments are imbrued
All saffron from the flood.

-

[ Excerpt form The Ring of the Dove. Translated by A.J. Arberry ]

The Neck Ring of the Dove - The Signs of Love

" A man in love will give prodigally to the limit of his capacity, in a way that formerly he would have refused; as if he were the one receiving the donation, he the one whose happiness is the object in view; all this in order that he may show off his good points, and make himself desirable. How often has the miser opened his purse strings, the scowler relaxed his frown, the coward leapt heroically into the fray, the clod suddenly become sharp-witted, the boor turned into the perfect gentleman, the stinker transformed himself into the elegant dandy, the sloucher smartened up, the decrepit recaptured his lost youth, the godly gone wild, the self-respecting kicked over the traces-and all because of love!

All these signs are to be observed even before the fire of Love is properly kindled, ere its conflagration truly bursts forth, its blaze waxes fierce, its flames leap up. But when the fire really takes a hold and is firmly established, then you will see the secret whispering, the unconcealed turning away from all present but the beloved. I have some verses in which I have contrived to bring together many of these signs, and will now quote from these. "

I love to hear when men converse

And in the midst his name rehearse;

The air I breathe seems redolent

That moment with the amber's scent,

But when he speaketh, I give ear

Unto no other sitting near,

But lean to catch delightedly

His pretty talk and coquetry,

Nor yet, though my companion there

The Prince of All the Faithful were,

Permit my mind to be removed

On his account from my beloved.

And if, through dire compulsion,

I Stand up at last to say good-bye,

Still glancing fondly at my sweet

I stumble, as on wounded feet;

My eyes upon his features play

The while my body drifts away,

As one the billows tumble o'er

Yet gazes, drowning, on the shore.

When I recall how distant he

Now is, I choke in sorrow's sea,

Weary as one who sinks, to expire

In some deep bog, or raging fire.

Yet, if thou sayest, " Canst thou still

Aspire to heaven? " " That I will ",

I answer boldly, " and I know

The stairs that to its summit go! "

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[ Excerpt form The Ring of the Dove. Translated by A.J. Arberry ]