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TO A GRIEVED SOUL AT THE GREAT SAQI'S TAVERN (GHAZAL)
Ah, the way that you are smiling!
What heartaches are you hiding?
Despair in eyes and facade on lips,
What inner turmoil are you fighting?
Drop by drop they will become poison,
The very tears which you are gulping.
Why scratch the wounds which time wants to heal?
Why give your sorrows a new beginning?
It is all but a travesty of fate:
The tragedy which you are undergoing.
Come, drench yourself in the drink of healing,
It's the best balm for a heartbroken being.
At the Tavern of the universal Saqi*,
We learn the art of coping with living.
Come, dry up your tears and forget grief,
Rejoice and revel with the cup of merry-making...
It is no sin to soothe a wounded heart,
God is our Saqi and He is Most Loving.
Kick the world and its woes and just unwind,
Abandon your cares and relish the evening.
This world is a world of false living, false love,
And very soon you too will accept O darling!
The Saqi knows the secret of hearts, minds,
And drinking here is no sin but a blessing.
