Tuesday, May 15, 2007

 

Cyclops

The niqāb worn by some Muslim women is a type of veil that covers the entire head and face, with a slit for the eyes.


St. Jerome, Letter 130.18 (to the virgin Demetrias), thought it was too provocative for a woman to show both eyes. Only a single eye should be exposed:
Let that one be beautiful in your regard, let that one be lovable, let that one be admitted among your companions who does not know that she is beautiful, who is heedless of her good looks, who when she goes out in public does not expose her breast and neck, who does not unfold her cloak and reveal the nape of her neck, but who instead conceals her face and walks with scarcely one eye showing, to find her way.

illa tibi sit pulchra, illa amabilis, illa habenda inter socias quae se nescit esse pulchram, quae negligit formae bonum, et procedens ad publicum, non pectus et colla denudat, nec pallio evoluto cervicem aperit; sed quae celat faciem, et vix uno oculo, qui viae necessarius est, patente ingreditur.
Related post: Mark Twain on the Muslim Veil.



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