Don't cry for Layla, don't rave about Hind!
But drink among roses a rose-red wine,
A draught that descends in the drinker's throat,
bestowing its redness on eyes and cheeks.
The wine is a ruby, the glass is a pearl,
served by the hand of a slim-fingered girl,
Who serves you the wine from her hand, and wine
from her mouth — doubly drunk, for sure, will you be.
Thus I am drunk twice, my friends only once:
a favor special, for me alone!

When the poet died – around 814 AD – it was recorded that the reigning caliph of the time, Al-Ma’mun announced, ‘The charm of our time has departed. God’s curse on anyone who has insulted him.’