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
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