Bois, ô lune d'amour, à la coupe vermeille, 
Car la lune du ciel, après nous, [très]1 longtemps 
Luira sur ces vergers des milliers de printemps, 
Mais sans nous retrouver par une nuit pareille.2

About the headline (FAQ)

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Confirmed with Jean Lahor, Les Quatrains d'Al-Ghazali, Paris, Alphonse Lemerre, 1896, page 13.

Note: This is not a translation. Al-Ghazali left no known poetry; these quatrains were written by Jean Lahor (pseudonym of Henri Cazalis), who imagined himself into Al-Ghazali's life and thought, adopting the quatrain form because it was current in Omar Khayyam's era.

¹ Fairchild: "bien"
² Fairchild adds "Aimons-nous et rêvons, et rêvons."

Text Authorship:

• by Henri Cazalis (1840 - 1909), as Jean Lahor, no title, appears in En Orient, in 1. Les Quatrains d'Al-Ghazali, in 1. Les amours, in 1. L'Amour de la Femme, no. 39, Paris, Éd. Alphonse Lemerre [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

• by Ernest Moret (1871 - 1949), "Bois à la coupe vermeille", subtitle: "Page oubliée du Poème 'Sous le ciel de l'Islam'", published 1923 [ soprano and piano ], Paris, Éd. 'Au Ménestrel' Heugel [sung text not yet checked]

The text above (or a part of it) is used in the following settings:

• by Blair Fairchild (1877 - 1933), "Aimons-nous et rêvons", op. 40 no. 5, published 1915 [ high voice and piano ], from Quatrains d'Al-Ghazali, no. 5, London, Augener
      Score: IMSLP [external link]
  • View the full text. [sung text checked 1 time]
    

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

• ENG English (Grant Hicks) , "Drink from the Ruby Goblet", copyright © 2025, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2023-05-03
Line count: 4
Word count: 35

Drink, O moon of love, from the ruby goblet,
For after us the moon in the sky will for ages
Shine on these orchards, across thousands of springs,
Without once finding us again on such a night.