Long time have I delved in this inconstant world, this momentary shelter; and in my searches have employed all faculties with which I am endowed. Ah, well! and I have found the moon to pale before the light of Thy visage, that the cypress is deformed beside Thy beauteous form. 46. In the mosque, in the _medresseh_ [school annexed to the mosque], in the church, and in the synagogue, they have a horror of Hell and seek for Paradise, but the seed of such disquiet never germinates in the hearts of those who penetrate the secrets of the All-Powerful. 47. You have traveled over the world! Ah, well! all that you have seen is nothing; all that you have seen and all that you have heard are equally nothing. You have gone from one end of the universe to the other, all that is nothing; you have summed it all up in one corner of your room, all that is nothing, still nothing. 48. One night I saw in thought a sage who said to me: Sleep, O my friend, has never caused the rose of happiness to bloom for anyone; why lend yourself to aught so similar to death? Rather drink wine, for you will sleep enough when buried in the earth. 49. Had the human heart an exact knowledge of the secrets of life, it would also know, at the point of death, the secrets of God. If to-day, when you are with yourself, you know nothing, what will you know to-morrow when you shall be separated from yourself? 50. The day when the heavens shall be confounded, when the stars shall be obscured, I will stop Thee upon Thy way, O Idol! and, taking Thee by the hem of Thy robe, will ask of Thee why Thou hast robbed me of life [after giving it to me]. 51. We should tell no secrets to the vilely indiscreet; from the nightingale, even, should we conceal them. Consider, then, the torment you inflict on human souls by forcing them to disrobe thus before the gaze of all. 52. O Cupbearer! since time is here, ready to break down you and me, this world for neither you nor me can be a place of permanence. But, equally, be well convinced that while this jug of wine is here 'twixt you and me, our God is in our hands. 53. Long time, indeed, with cup in hand, I walked among the flowers; nevertheless none of my projects has been realized in this world. But, although wine has not led me to the goal of my desires, I will not stray from its path, for when one follows a road he cannot retrogress. 54. Put a cup of wine in my hand, for my heart is inflamed, and my life slips away as quicksilver. Arise, then, for the favors of fortune are only a dream; arise, for the fire of thy youth is running away like the water of a torrent. 55.