Note 251 — TALE OF KAMAR AL-ZAMAN,
Richard Francis Burton translation
Strong perfumes, such as musk (which we Europeans dislike and suspect), are always insisted upon in Eastern poetry; and Mohammed's predilection for them is well known. Moreover the young and the beautiful are held (justly enough) to exhale a natural fragrance which is compared with that of the blessed in Paradise. Hence in the Mu'allakah of Imr al-Kays:—
Breathes the scent of musk when they rise to rove, ✿ As the Zephyr's breath with the flavour o' clove.
It is made evident by dogs and other fine-nosed animals that every human being has his, or her, peculiar scent which varies according to age and health. Hence animals often detect the approach of death.