Wedding Vows of Vis and Ramin

Fakhreddin Gorgani, 1055 ce

Appears in

Food of Life

By Najmieh Batmanglij

Published 2011

About

“Yusef Gives a Royal Banquet in Honor of his Marriage.” Painting from Haft Awrang (Seven Thrones) of Jami. F1946.12.1-304. — Painting: Royal Banquet in Honor of Yusef’s Marriage

½is and Ramin then swore no force could sever

The love that bound the two of them forever.

Ramin spoke first: “I swear by God, and by

His sovereignty that rules the earth and sky,

I swear now by the sun, and by the light

The shining moon bestows on us at night,

I swear by Venus and by noble Jupiter,

I swear by bread and salt and flickering fire,

I swear by faith and God’s omnipotence,

And by the soul and all its eloquence,

That while winds scour the wastelands and the mountains,

While waters flow in rivers and in fountains,

While night has darkness, and while streams have fishes,

While stars have courses, and while souls have wishes,

Ramin will not regret his love, or break

The binding oath that he and Vis now make;

He’ll never take another love, or cease

To give his heart exclusively to Vis.”

Vis promised love when Prince Ramin had spoken

And swore her promises would not be broken.

She gave him violets then and murmured, “Take

This pretty posy, keep it for my sake,

Keep it forever, so that when you see

Fresh violets blooming you’ll remember me;

And may the soul that breaks this solemn vow

Darken and droop as these poor flowers do now.

Each time I see the spring’s new flowers appear

I will recall the oaths we swore to here;

May anyone that breaks this oath decay

And wither as fresh flowers do—in a day.”

And once these promises of love were given,

And they had called to witness God and heaven,

They lay beside each other telling tales

Of all their former sorrows and travails.

Vis lay beside her prince now, face to face,

The full moon lay in Prince Ramin’s embrace,

And when Ramin affectionately placed

His gentle arm about her yielding waist

It was as if a golden torque should grasp

A silver cypress in its circling clasp,

And then Rezvan himself could not declare

Which was the lovelier of this noble pair.

Their pillow smelt of musk, and jeweled bedcovers

Bestrewed with roses lay upon the lovers.

Now lip to lip and cheek to cheek they lay

And struck the ball of pleasure into play;

So close together were their bodies pressed

That rain could not have reached to either’s breast,

And Vis’s heart was now a balm that cured

The agonies Ramin’s heart had endured,

For every wound she’d dealt his heart before

He kissed her face a thousand times and more.

Now happiness emboldened him, and he

Placed in the lock of pleasure longing’s key,

And felt his joy and eagerness increase

As he discerned the virgin seal of Vis;

Ramin pressed on and pierced this precious pearl,

And Vis was now a woman, not a girl.

When he withdrew the arrow, blood was seen

On wounded Vis, and on her Prince Ramin,

But though Ramin had wounded her she knew

A heartfelt pleasure and contentment too;

And now that their desire was satisfied

Their love grew deeper and intensified.

So for two months of luxury and leisure

They gave themselves to happiness and pleasure.