Love, may God honour you, begins in play and ends…

What starts as light attraction may acquire deep importance in a person’s life. Ibn Hazm describes a shift from playful beginnings to emotional commitment that is harder to control or dismiss.

The sentence opens the chapter on the nature of love in The Ring of the Dove. May God honour you is an address to the book’s recipient.

The chapter does not stop at this formula: it explores an experience that is difficult to define. The shift from play to seriousness introduces that enquiry. The book’s voice addresses a particular recipient, giving the reflection a conversational rather than impersonal character.

طوق الحمامة في الألفة والألاف, باب الكلام في ماهية الحب

The text appears in the indicated source. A traditional attribution remains distinct from proof of authorship: see the context.

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