253.
Oh! wine is richer that the realm of Jam, More fragrant than the food of Miriam; Sweeter are sighs that drunkards heave at morn Than strains of Bu Sa'id and Bin Adham.
253. C. L. N. A. I. J. Abu Sa'id Abu'l Khair and Ibrahim Bin Adham are both mentioned in the _Nafahat ul Uns_. Miriam's food. See Koran, xix.
24. Note _izafat_ dropped after silent _he_.
254.
Deep in the rondure of the heavenly blue, There is a cup, concealed from mortals' view, Which all must drink in turn; Oh, sigh not then, But drink it boldly, when it comes to you!
254. C. L. A. I. J. _Jawr_, a bumper.
255.
Though you should live to four, or forty score, Go hence you must, as all have gone before; Then, be you king, or beggar of the streets, They'll rate you all the same, no less, no more.
255. L.
256.
If you seek Him, abandon child and wife, Arise, and sever all these ties to life; All these are bonds to check you on your course.
Arise, and cut these bonds, as with a knife.
256. L. B. So _Gulshan i Raz_, l. 944.
257.
O heart! this world is but a fleeting show, Why should its empty griefs distress thee so?
Bow down, and bear thy fate, the eternal pen Will not unwrite its roll for thee, I trow!
257. L. N. B. The pen is that with which Allah writes his decrees.
258.
Who e'er returned of all that went before, To tell of that long road they travel o'er?
Leave naught undone of what you have to do, For when you go, you will return no more.
258. C. N. L. A. I. J. _Amadaye, ya i tankir_.
259.
Dark wheel! how many lovers thou hast slain, Like Mahmud and Ayaz, O inhumane!
Come, let us drink, thou grantest not two lives, When one is spent, we find it not again.
259. L. N. Mahmud, the celebrated king of Ghazni, and Ayaz his favourite. Scan _wayaz_ (_alif i wasl_).
260.
Illustrious Prophet! whom all kings obey, When is our darkness lightened by wine's ray?
On Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, both night and day!
260. C. L. N. A. I. J. The _jim_ in _panjshamba_ is dropped in scanning.
See Bl., Prosody, p. 10. In line 4 note silent _he_ in _shauba_ scanned long as well as short.
261.
O turn away those roguish eyes of thine!
Be still! seek not my peace to undermine!
Thou say'st, Look not. I might as well essay To slant my goblet, and not spill my wine.
261. N. Line 4, a proverb denoting an impossibility.
262.
In taverns better far commune with Thee, Than pray in mosques, and fail Thy face to see!
O first and last of all Thy creatures Thou, 'Tis Thine to burn, and Thine to cherish me!
262. C. L. N. A. B. I. J. This is clearly an address to the Deity.
263.
To wise and worthy men your life devote, But from the worthless keep your walk remote; Dare to take poison from a sage's hand, But from a fool refuse an antidote.
263. L. N. Line 2 is in metre 17.
264.
I flew here, as a bird from the wild, in aim Up to a higher nest my course to frame, But, finding here no guide who knows the way, Fly out by the same door where through I came.
264. C. L. N. A. I. J.
265.
He binds us in resistless Nature's chain, And yet bids us our natures to restrain; Between these counter rules we stand perplexed, Hold the jar slant, but all the wine retain.
265. L. N. In line 3 scan _nahyash_. So Lord Brooke in Mustapha; Ward's English Poets, i. 370.