The maiden's eyes are here compared to doves, peeping out from behind the veil (RV). As is usual with Syrian brides her hair is not braided, but hangs loosely down, like a flock of black goats which graze along the slope of a mountain, and look as though they were suspended from it (RV).
Description of her Charms. Her Invitation
1-7. This short poem belongs to the class which the Arabs call wasf, in which the bride's charms are described: they are sung while she is being dressed, or when she exhibits herself in her nuptial array, or on the day subsequent to the ceremony. Here is one that is still to be heard in Palestine:
'Oh, her eyes are like the hue of ink drawn by the stylus,
And her hair, when she dyed it with henna, like birds'feathers;
Her nose as the handle of a ghttering Indian sword;
Her teeth like hailstones, yea, even more lovely;
Her cheeks like rosy apples of Damascus;
And her breasts lovely pomegranates, hanging on the tree;
Her neck like that of a scared antelope;
And her arms staves of pure silver;
And her fingers sharp-pointed pens of gold.'