The Luzumiyat of Abu’l-Ala, LXIX

translated from the Arabic by Ameen Rihani

And silent drink. The tumult of our mirth
Is worse than our mad welcoming of birth:—
      The thunder hath a grandeur, but the rains,
Without the thunder, quench the thirst of Earth.

Credit

The Luzumiyat of Abu’l-Ala (James T. White & Co., 1920) by Abū al-‘Alā’ al-Ma‘arrī. Translated from the Arabic by Ameen Rihani. Copyright © 1920 by Ameen Rihani. This poem is in the public domain.

Translators
Ameen Rihani
1876 –
1940