Muntakhab al-tawarikh 244: THE SONG OF THE CUPBEARER.

244

“ Come, my heart, to the wine-shop of the people of the Secret, Drink of the cup of truth which melts outward semblance ; So free thyself from the outward form That thou mayst, like the fairy, become invisible to vulgar eyes. Perchance the desire of that guide shall seize thee So that thou mayst obtain a place in the street of the wine-shops. Bring me, cupbearer, that candle which lies in privacy, Which is hidden, like the hand of Moses, in his sleeve : Give it into my hand and thus make my hand resplendent That in its light I may stretch forth my hand to perform miracles. Come, O cupbearer, and for the sake of the drunken debauchees Stretch forth thy hand to shed the blood of the bottle. Look to the circulation of the bottle and reck not of punishment.
For in times of famine it becomes lawful to drink blood. Give me, O cupbearer, that amber of existence That by means of its attraction I may ascend And may pitch my tent above this lowly place, And, like ambition, may set my foot on whatever is! Bring me, O cupbearer, that warm-blooded wine Which increases love in my head"
This "Song of the Cupbearer" clearly contains many vulgarisms, for everywhere he has used "come" in the sense of "bring," and he has reproduced the expressions used by masters of poetry on the same subject, forgetting that their expressions are used in brief fragments, of which the second couplet is dependent on the first.
In his ode on the sun the following couplet occurs:— The sun's reflection makes manifest in water the properties of oil When he makes of the dust of his worth a crown."
He has written odes on sublime subjects, but in a mean style, and to him the proverb applies "Their houses are lofty, their spirit is low, O Lord! make these two things equal."