48 
External Religion betrayeth man to Fate. 
 
 
 
V 
 
THE DEBAUCH 
 
 
Wine is red, and so are thy lips ;  what wonder 
then if El Qahar is doubly intoxicated ?  Thy mouth 
brims over with laughter at the antics of thy lover, 
so that in thy mirth thy podex also brims 
over.1  Then the guests cry shame ;  and fall down 
with laughing, until the feast is disordered and be-
comes a debauch, so that the decorous are embar-
rassed.  So drunk am I, however, that I shameless-
ly demand thy love before them all.  Them the of-
ficers rush in and lead us before the Qazi.2 
But while I am punished, thou, the author of my 
offence, art bidden to sup.  Go not, O sweet Ha-
bib !  that ass-calibred Jew3 is as unsuited to thy 
tender podex as the elephant to the nightin-
gale.  By Allah, I say, go not !  ’twere shame, when 
thou returnest, that thou shouldest seem to thine 
El Qahar like Hatim Tai’s4 tunic to that Allah-
forgotten hunchback5 Ali Bukhti.6 
 
 
 
1.  To break wind is the worst breach of good 
taste possible to a Musalman.  Witness the famous 
story translated by Burton. 
2.  Qazi — magistrate. 
3.  It is exceedingly doubtful whether an actual 
Jew would be permitted to hold office, even if con-
verted to Islam.  The term is probably simple 
abuse.  Ass-membered (khar-nafsar, [Persian text]) 
is, with most Persian writers, a compliment.  El 
Haji had certainly never heard the English rime “ A