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I have no need for wine.
The flowers within the garden
breathe out a magic scent;
I’m drunk with that divinity.
Forgive me for not drinking your
wine at the party. It can’t compare
with the elixir I’ve sipped — its
fragrance haunts me night and day.
My heart is a bird that can never
soar nor sing in joy. Imprisoned in
its cage of sorrow, this bird can only
see the garden in her gauzy dreams.
Every cell within my body rebels
against your tyranny, cruel skies.
You make my days so dark, so painful.
What can I do but cry out, complain?
Fate, grant me this wish: Give me
one day of joy, of gladness, when even
in its cage my heart-bird might sing.
You know that Death comes too soon.
Although I seem poor, don’t pity me or
think that I have nothing. I still possess
my haughty eagle soul, my pride.
I have had the courage to endure.
How many years will I stay caged inside
these walls of loneliness and sorrow?
How long will my useless tears blind
my eyes? How long until I gain release?
Although cruel fate may have ripped
my proud soul from its saddle and cast
it down into the dust, I know that I will
reach my goal, step by step by step.
Love’s pilgrims wander, lost in the desert.
Makhfi, you shall guide their caravan
to the realm of Love. Your footsteps
make the path that leads them there.
