Page:The Sacred Books and Early Literature of the East, Volume 08.djvu/44



In drinking thus it is not my design

To riot, or transgress the law divine,

No! to attain unconsciousness of self

Is the sole cause I drink me drunk with wine.

Drunkards are doomed to hell, so men declare,

Believe it not, 'tis but a foolish scare;

Heaven will be empty as this hand of mine,

If none who love good drink find entrance there.

'Tis wrong, according to the strict Koran,

To drink in Rajab, likewise in Sha'ban,

God and the Prophet claim those months as theirs;

Was Ramadan then made for thirsty man?

Now Ramadan is come, no wine must flow,

Our simple pastimes we must now forego,

The wine we have in store we must not drink,

Nor on our mistresses one kiss bestow.

What is the world? A caravanserai,

A pied pavilion of night and day;

A feast whereat a thousand Jamshids sat,

A couch whereon a thousand Bahrams lay.

Now that your roses bloom with Sowers of bliss,

To grasp your goblets be not so remiss;

Drink while you may! Time is a treacherous foe,

You may not see another day like this.