The universe is but a point in our poor round of life;
the Djeihoun [Oxus] but a feeble trace of tears and
blood; Hell but a spark of useless worry which we give
ourselves, and Paradise an instant of repose, which here
below we rarely catch.
A slave in dire revolt am I: where is Thy will? Black
with all sin my heart: where is Thy light and Thy control?
If Thou giv'st Paradise to our obedience alone
[to Thy laws], it is a debt of which Thou quit'st
Thyself and in such case we need Thy pity and benevolence.
I know not at all whether He who created me belongs
to a delicious Paradise or a detestable Hell. [But I do
know] that a cup of wine, a charming girl and a zither
at the edge of a green field are three things which I enjoy
at present, and that you will find them in the promise
that is made you of a future Paradise.
I drink wine, and those who are opposed to it come
from the left and from the right to ask me to abstain
from it, because, say they, wine is an enemy of religion.
But, for that very reason I would drink it, now that I
hold myself an adversary of faith, because we are permitted
by God to drink the blood of an enemy.
The light of the moon has cut the black robe of night:
drink then of wine, for one finds not often moments so
precious. Yes, abandon thyself to joy, for this same
moon will shine over the surface of the earth a long time
[after our day].