Re: you could talk about Arabic some more......

Posted by Kenzi on February 19, 2000 at 04:27:59:

In Reply to: you could talk about Arabic some more...... posted by Catherine Cartwright Jones on February 19, 2000 at 04:15:13:

: Could you shed some light on the finer points of the word that
: translates "ornaments" from Arabic? I've wondered about several
: 7th century Arabic and Koranic passages that refer to women's
: ornaments (and whether or not it's cool for her to let folks see
: them....)and it would help me figure some stuff out if I knew
whether
: "ornaments" referred to henna, tattooing or something else.....
: because it's plausible in the context of these passages that henna
: patterning or tattooing was being discussed.

You know, I was reading that passage in Mernissi's "Beyond the Veil"
where she refers to the Quranic verse about not showing off your
ornaments. The word "ornaments" grabbed my attention too because I
have always heard that verse or idea translated as "beauty" as
in "don't show off your beauty". "Ornaments" is more ambiguous; it
could mean your natural beauty, or it could mean what you add to
augment your beauty, like jewelry, henna, harquus etc. Maybe showing
off your jewelry is in bad taste because it creates envy in others
and separates people into "haves" and "have-nots". The idea that we
are usually presented with is that a woman should hide her natural
beauty....and in some cultures that means the hair, in others the
face, in some the skin in general, in others everything but one eye.

I will have to ask the resident expert to see what the original word
is and what the possible interpretation is.

On another note, Mernissi seems to talk about the veil as a kind of
portable private space that you wear in public, and doesn't really
emphasize the "hiding of one's beauty" aspect. She also seems to
discount the traditional translation. I would love to have the
chance to sit and talk with her...I have so many questions.

Follow-ups:

• Re: you could talk about Arabic some more...... Catherine Cartwright Jones 06:23:53 2/19/00 (6)
  • Re: you could talk about Arabic some more...... Kenzi 03:39:26 2/22/00 (1)
    • ornaments and Sirius expenses Catherine Cartwright Jones 14:39:30 2/22/00 (0)
  • Re: you could talk about Arabic some more...... Jewel 16:34:31 2/20/00 (3)
    • Re: you could talk about Arabic some more...... Catherine Cartwright Jones 04:26:18 2/21/00 (2)
      • Re: you could talk about Arabic some more...... Amy L. 07:42:02 2/24/00 (1)
        • Re: you could talk about Arabic some more...... Catherine Cartwright Jones 14:18:55 2/24/00 (0)