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Kiss
the hand you cannot sever.
(Tamasheq
proverb)
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Xanadu's
Abzaou
(owned
by me but bred by Alison Tyler from dogs of my breeding)
Tiwul
Idiiyat-es-Sahel
Following
are a few verses from a poem by Al Mutanabbi, considered the
greatest of classical Arabic poets (915-965). Since I also
raise asil Arabian horses it has a special appeal to me and the
final line could be applied equally to the Azawakh.
And
many a day I have ridden through
Watching
the sun when it should set
My eyes fixed on the ears of a bright-blazed horse
Which
was as if a star of the night remained between its eyes,
Having a superfluity of skin on its body which came and went
over a broad breast;
I cleaved with it in the darkness
Drawing
close its reins so that it rebelled,
At times slackening them so it played,
Felling with it any wild beast I followed,
And
it the same when I mounted.
Fine steeds, like true friends, are few, even if to the eye of
the inexperienced they are many;
If
you have seen nothing but the beauty of their markings and
limbs, their true beauty is hidden from you.
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