46
THE QUATRAINS OF
66.
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.
67.
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.
68.
'Tis wrong, according to the strict Korán,
To drink in Rajab, likewise in Sha'bán,
God and the Prophet claim those months as theirs;
Was Ramazan then made for thirsty man?
66. C. L. N. A. I. J. Perhaps a hit at the Sufis.
67. C. L. N. A. I. J. Line 4 is in metre 17.
68. C. L. N. A. I. J. The point, of course, is that Ramazán is the Muhammadan Lent.
