by Hafis (Mohammed Schemsed-din) (c1327 - 1390)
Translation by Edwin Arnold (1832 - 1904)
Alá yá! send the Cup round! O Sáki! brim...
Language: English  after the Persian (Farsi)
Alá yá! send the Cup round! O Sáki! brim and send; Love, which at first was easy, grows harder at the end; For ache of what the Breeze brought from that musk-scented brow, Those purple tangled tresses, hearts' blood is dropping now. Well! dye the prayer-mat darker with wine, then; as 'tis bid; Such solace of Love's stages from Magians is not hid; But this stage, Best-Belovèd! is too long! when the bell Calls to unpack the camels, by God! it will be well. The Black Nights, and the fearful Wave, and whirpool wild of Fate; -- Oh, lightly-burdened ones ashore! what reck ye of our state? Wending mine own way, unto woe and ill-fame I was brought; How, in the loud Assemblies, could such high lore be taught? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . If thou wilt find The Presence, Hafiz! why, seek it so! This world or the Belovèd, choose one, and let one go!
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship:
- by Edwin Arnold (1832 - 1904), "Ghazal I", appears in The Tenth Muse, and Other Poems, in The Four First Ghazals of Hafiz, no. 1, first published 1895 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in Persian (Farsi) by Hafis (Mohammed Schemsed-din) (c1327 - 1390) [text unavailable]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Granville Ransome Bantock, Sir (1868 - 1946), "Alá yá! send the cup round", 1903, published 1905, orchestrated 1937 [baritone and orchestra or piano], from Five Ghazals of Hafiz, no. 1, Trinity, Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel [text verified 1 time]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2010-03-05
Line count: 15
Word count: 167