141.
Ah! seasoned wine oft falls to rawest fools,
And clumsiest workmen own the finest tools;
And Turki maids, fit to delight men's hearts,
Lavish their smiles on beardless boys in schools!
142.
Whilom, ere youth's conceit had waned, methought
Answers to all life's problems I had wrought;
But now, grown old and wise, too late I see
My life is spent, and all my lore is naught.
143.
They, who of prayer-mats make such great display,
Are fools to bear hypocrisy's hard sway;
Strange! under cover of this saintly show
They live like heathen, and their faith betray.
141. N. So Hafiz, 'If that Turki maid of Shiraz,' etc.
142. N. [C. A. and I. give another version of this.]
143. C. L. N. A. I. In line 2, note the arrangement of the prepositions ba . . . . dar, Bl., Prosody 13. There is a proverb, "The Devil lives in Mecca and Medinah."
