Here is the Dawn! Rise Thou, O Source of all Delight!
Drink sweetly of the wine and let us listen to the harmonies
of the harp, for the life of those who sleep will
not be long, and of those who are no more, not one will
e'er return.
O Thou, who knowest the secrets hidden most deeply
at the bottom of the heart of each, Thou who raisest with
Thy hand all those who fall in distress, give me the power
of renunciation and accept my excuses, O God!—Thou
who givest this power to all, who acceptest the excuses
of all!
I saw on the walls of the city of Thous a bird hovering
before the skull of Kai-Kawous. The bird said to
the skull: Alas! what has become of the noise of thy
glory and the sound of the clarion?
Raise no question of the vicissitudes of this world, nor
of affairs of the future. Consider what a prize we have
in the present moment, and disturb not thyself with the
past or question me about the future.
Let not the fear of future things yellow thy cheeks; let
not present affairs make thee tremble with fright; rejoice,
in this world of annihilation, at the portion of pleasure
which comes to you, and wait not for that which the
kindness of heaven may withhold.