The Sheikh is right, Akbar, that obedience to God is mandatory. However, renouncing both wine and the beloved is a feat of greatness unique to him.

Akbar Allahabadi brings his signature wit and gentle irony to this couplet, engaging in playful banter with the moral preacher. While he readily agrees that devotion and obedience to the Divine are undeniably essential, he subtly distances himself from extreme asceticism. Giving up both the warmth of wine and the charm of earthly beauty may suit the austere elder, but the poet slyly implies that such joyless renunciation is neither natural nor desirable for a true lover of life.