Wedding Night Advice

No doubt, to-be-married couples get a lot of advice from a variety of people. On the night of their wedding, this advice-giver has two pieces of advice for the couple. One is the admonition for the bride to finally act on her desires and kiss the groom right away. The second is perhaps less immediate.

Observing that the kind God has brought the two hearts together, the man says:

As life lasts only two days,
God forbid that you lose those two days
Over petty things.
Travel through the desert of love
For as long as you can.

The reference to life lasting only two days is a point heard in other Persian poems/songs. Evidently, the belief is that we are born today and tomorrow we die. Therefore we only have the present. Tonight.

The association of love and desert is also a popular one in Persian literature. It probably goes back, at least, to the story of Leili and Majnoon, an 800-year-old story of teen lovers not unlike Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet. In the story, out of his love for Leili, Majnoon fled to the desert.

Incidentally, in urging her to kiss the groom right away, he points out:

The groom has already kissed you,
He has cut the bud of your lips,
For the pigeon of your heart,
He has dispersed seeds tonight.

From Manoochehr Sakhaee's Flower-Haired Bride (Gol Be Sar Aroos)