The Commentary of Al-Qasidah — Page 98
98 The commentary of al-Qa si dah /G; 4 AG 9 [ = u B [ ":E*M A &I : W 7 /> ":E5"N nc W 6= O my love, pick up the glass and give me all the liquor that has been made in the town of Andar i n, and make sure that nothing is left in the cellar. I tasted the wine from the town Ba‘labek, and Damascus and I used to drink in the place Q as ir i n. ( Shar h ul-Mu‘allaq a til-‘Ashri, Mu‘allaqah ‘Amr bin Kulth u m, p. 113–114, D a ru I h y a ’it-Tur a thil-‘Arabiyy) In the ancient religions, such as Judaism and Christianity, drinking of wine was allowed in one form or another. However, Christians developed the habit of drinking more than others. Even in this age, Christian nations are the centre of wine production and drinking. Alcohol consumption increased in every country the Christian powers took over. In the current age, a powerful nation like the United States, which is considered to be the leader in methods of governance, worldly power and wealth, made laws against the production and consumption of alcohol. They attempted to remove this disgrace from their country through the consolidated efforts of police, military and department of taxation, but they failed. As a matter of fact, the consumption of alcohol increased after the passing of these laws.