Mine be the musk and the music, mine be the laughing girl;
Mine be the ample flagon, brimmed with the blood of the vine;
Mine the divan encushioned, watching the dancers twirl;
Mine the narghili serpent, breathing its soul divine.
Others can juggle with statecraft, others can lust for command;
Others can envy their fellows woman or vintage or gold;
Others can wrangle for title, fight for a rood of land;
Others think souls and bodies things to be bought and sold.
Such as they are, God made them; such as they are, God guides;
Such as they are, they do their task, fill place in the world awhile;
Such as they are, they eat and drink, and sleep on the breasts of their brides;
Such as they are, they sicken and die—may jackals their graves defile.
I for my part am happy, I for my part am calm,
I for my part rejoice to the full in the hour that glideth by,
I for my part with all my heart delight in the vineyard’s balm,
I for my part will love and laugh till my moment comes to die.
Grant me, Allah, digestion; grant me, Allah, desire;
Grant me a mistress with almond eyes and cinnamon-scented breath;
Grant me a golden vessel filled with the vineyard’s fire;
Grant me, Allah, a lazy life, and later a lazy death.
Dearest, I once was foolish; dearest, I once was young;
Dearest, I once would have sold my soul for the price of a passionate kiss;
Dearest, you know what your lover was when the songs of his youth were sung;
Dearest, the devil deserves your soul for driving me down to this.