It were to be wished that he spoke more of his mistress and less of his camel.
-William Jones, 18th C. British Orientalist, on the pre-Islamic poet Tarafa ibn al-Abd’s Ode to his Beloved, Khaula
To be candid, many will share his regrets, for the anatomical dissection of the camel is not everyone’s favorite reading.
-A.J. Arberry, 20th C. British Orientalist, on Jones’ opinion of Tarafa’s Ode
…straight away I ride off on my swift, lean-flanked camel, night and day racing, sure footed…her dry udders withered like an old water skin. Perfectly firm is the flesh of her two thighs, they are the gates of a lofty, smooth-walled castle…Reddish the bristles under her chin…her legs are twined like rope uptwisted…Her long neck is very erect when she lifts it up…Her cheek is smooth as Syrian parchment…her eyes are a pair of mirrors sheltering in the caves of her brow…Her ears are true…her trepid heart pulses strongly…Such is the beast I ride…Come to me when you will, I’ll pour you a flowing cup, and if you don’t need it, well, do without, and good luck to you!
-Ode, Tarafa ibn al-Abd, translated by A.J. Arberry
But what could Tarafa possibly say about his beloved Khaula that would be more interesting than this? That her name means female gazelle? That its triliteral root generates the words for maternal uncle, maternal aunt, slave, gift, pimple, cross-dressing male dancer, and naturally, camel? As KhairAllah might say, Let us not talk of niswan (womens, the plural form of the plural noun) but of ibl, and I’ll pour you another. Luwees, Koob (Cup!, the imperative of the verb) shai!