Someone with a bitter, sick mouth finds even pure water…

A judgement can be distorted by the state of the person making it. Pure water represents something good that seems unpleasant because the faculty assessing it is already troubled.

The image comes from al-Mutanabbi’s poem praising Badr ibn Ammar. It appears in a defence of his poetry against unfavourable criticism.

The example rests on an everyday experience: disturbed taste changes the perception of a drink. The poet applies that mechanism to judging a literary work. He suggests that a perceived fault may come from the critic’s perspective, while defending his own position in a dispute.

بقائي شاء ليس هم ارتحالا, من قصيدته في مدح بدر بن عمار

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

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