Tenants of yon hallow'd fane!
Let me your devotions share,
There increasing raptures reign--
None are ever sober there.
Crowded gardens, festive bowers
Ne'er shall claim a thought of mine;
You can give in Khabbet's towers--
Purer joys and brighter wine.
Tho' your pallid faces prove
How you nightly vigils keep,
'Tis but that you ever love
Flowing goblets more than sleep.
Tho' your eye-balls dim and sunk
Stream in penitential guise,
'Tis but that the wine you've drunk
Bubbles over from your eyes.
[18] The three following songs were written by Mashdud, Rakeek, and
Rais, three of the most celebrated improvisators in Bagdad, at an
entertainment given by Abou Isy.