The courtiers surrounding ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan were not particularly erudite. One day, he asked them, "What is the best kind of handkerchief?"
"The handkerchiefs of Egypt," said one of them "They're like the membrane of an eggshell."
"The handkerchiefs of Yemen," said another. "They're as [colorful as] the flowers of spring."
"That's all you've come up with?" said ‘Abd al-Malik. "That's nothing. The best of handkerchiefs was described by a man of the Banu Tamim," meaning ‘Abda ibn al-Tabib (meter: basīṭ):
When we halted and rigged up a screen from the sun,
pots of meat for the party were put on to boil.
The cook's time was short. Some of the cuts
were eaten pink, and some were just turning pale.
We remounted then our branded horses. Their close-cropped
manes were kerchiefs for [wiping] our hands.
From al-Kamil of al-Mubarrad (cf. Imru’ al-Qays)
