Muntakhab al-tawarikh 31.7

31.7

It befits not a king to be drunken with wine, Nor become entangled in lust and desire; The king should be always the guardian of his people, It is a sin that a guardian should be drunken. When the shepherd becomes full of new wine, The flock sleeps in the belly of the wolf. Heavy cups of wine used he to drink from the hands of the light-living cup-bearers, and used to snatch a portion from his short ephemeral existence, and in this state malicious time used to foretell this calamity: Oh thou whose reign is the reign of faithless friends, From thy love springs hate, from thy honour disgrace, Thou art as full of turmoil, but as empty, as the drum, Lasting for one night like the candle, and for one day like the rose.