And the man is thus described in the same poem:—­

“My beloved is fair and ruddy,
The chiefest among ten thousand. 
His head as the most fine gold,
His locks are bushy (or curling), and black as a raven. 
His eyes are like doves beside the water-brooks,
Washed with milk and fitly set. 
His cheeks are as a bed of spices, as banks of sweet herbs;
His lips are as lilies, dropping liquid myrrh. 
His hands are as rings of gold, set with beryl;
His body is as ivory work, overlaid with sapphires. 
His legs are as pillars of marble, set upon sockets of fine gold. 
His aspect is like Lebanon, excellent as the cedars. 
His mouth is most sweet; yea, he is altogether lovely.”

“The maiden whose loveliness inspires the most impassioned expressions in Arabic poetry,” Lane states, “is celebrated for her slender figure:  She is like the cane among plants, and is elegant as a twig of the oriental willow.  Her face is like the full moon, presenting the strongest contrast to the color of her hair, which is of the deepest hue of night, and falls to the middle of her back (Arab ladies are extremely fond of full and long hair).  A rosy blush overspreads the center of each cheek; and a mole is considered an additional charm.  The Arabs, indeed, are particularly extravagant in their admiration of this natural beauty spot, which, according to its place, is compared to a drop of ambergris upon a dish of alabaster or upon the surface of a ruby.  The eyes of the Arab beauty are intensely black,[132] large, and long, of the form of an almond:  they are full of brilliancy; but this is softened by long silken lashes, giving a tender and languid expression that is full of enchantment and scarcely to be improved by the adventitious aid of the black border of kohl; for this the lovely maiden adds rather for the sake of fashion than necessity, having what the Arabs term natural kohl.  The eyebrows are thin and arched; the forehead is wide and fair as ivory; the nose straight; the mouth, small; the lips of a brilliant red; and the teeth, like pearls set in coral.  The forms of the bosom are compared to two pomegranates; the waist is slender; the hips are wide and large; the feet and hands, small; the fingers, tapering, and their extremities dyed with the deep orange tint imparted by the leaves of the henna.”

Lane adds a more minute analysis from an unknown author quoted by El-Ishakee:  “Four things in a woman should be black—­the hair of the head, the eyebrows, the eyelashes, and the dark part of the eyes; four white—­the complexion of the skin, the white of the eyes, the teeth, and the legs; four red—­the tongue, the lips, the middle of the cheeks, and the gums; four round—­the head, the neck, the forearms, and the ankles; four long—­the back, the fingers, the arms, and the legs; four wide—­the forehead, the eyes,