Chapter 12

Khayyam! rejoice that wine you still can pour,And still the charms of tulip cheeks adore;You'll soon not be, rejoice then that you are,Think how 'twould be in case you were no more!

282. C. L. N. A. B. I. J.

283.

Once, in a potter's shop, a companyOf cups in converse did I chance to see,And lo! one lifted up his voice, and cried,«Who made, who sells, who buys this crockery?»

283. C. L. N. A. B. I. J. Men's speculations.

284.

Last night, as I reeled from the tavern door,I saw a sage, who a great wine-jug bore;I said, «O Shaikh, have you no shame?» Said he,«Allah hath boundless mercy in his store.»

284. C. L. N. A. I. J.Sar mast, a compound, henceizafatomitted.Saboyey, hamza(for conjunctiveya) followed byya i tankir. See Lumsden, ii. 269.

285.

Life's fount is wine, Khizir its guardian,I, like Elias, find it where I can,'Tis sustenance for heart and spirit too,Allah himself calls wine «a boon to man.»

285. C. L. N. A. I. J. Koran, ii. 216. Elias discovered the water of life.

286.

Though wine is banned, yet drink, for ever drink!By day and night, with strains of music drink!Where'er thou lightest on a cup of wine,Spill just one drop, and take the rest and drink!

286. C. L. N. A. I. J. To spill a drop is a sign of liberality.—Nicolas.

287.

Although the creeds number some seventy-three,I hold with none but that of loving Thee;What matter faith, unfaith, obedience, sin?Thou'rt all we need, the rest is vanity.

287. N. See note on Quatrain 194. Forms of faith are indifferent. SeeGulshan i Raz, p. 83.

288.

Tell one by one my scanty virtues o'er;As for my sins, forgive them by the score;Let not my faults kindle Thy wrath to flame;By blest Muhammad's tomb, forgive once more!

288. L. N. B.Rasul-ullah: the construction being Arabic,izafatis needed. Lumsden, ii. p. 251. Also ascribed to Zahir ud-din Faryabi.

289.

Grieve not at coming ill, you can't defeat it,And what far-sighted person goes to meet it?Cheer up! bear not about a world of grief,Your fate is fixed, and grieving will not cheat it.

289. L. Line 2 is a question.

290.

There is a chalice made with wit profound,With tokens of the Maker's favour crowned;Yet the world's Potter takes his masterpiece,And dashes it to pieces on the ground!

290. C. L. A. I. J. So Job, «Is it good unto Thee that Thou shouldest despise the labour of Thine hands?»

291.

In truth wine is a spirit thin as air,A limpid soul in the cup's earthen ware;No dull, dense person shall be friend of mineSave wine-cups, which are dense and also rare.

291. L. N. B.Layik . man izafatomitted because of the intervening words. Lumsden, ii. 250.

292.

O wheel of heaven! no ties of bread you feel,No ties of salt, you flay me like an eel!A woman's wheel spins clothes for man and wife,It does more good than you, O heavenly wheel!

292. C. L. N. A. I. J.

293.

Did no fair rose my paradise adorn,I would make shift to deck it with a thorn;And if I lacked my prayer-mats, beads, and Shaikh,'Those Christian bells and stoles I would not scorn.

293. C. L. N. A. I. (underTe). Line 2 is omitted in the translation. So Pope, «For forms and creeds let graceless zealots fight.»

294.

«If heaven deny me peace and fame,» I said,«Let it be open war and shame instead;The man who scorns bright wine had best beware,I'll arm me with a stone, and break his head!»

294. C. L. N. A. I. J.

295.

See! the dawn breaks, and rends night's canopy:Arise! and drain a morning draught with me!Away with gloom! full many a dawn will breakLooking for us, and we not here to see!

295. C. L. N A. I. J.Bisyar, «frequently.»

296.

O you who tremble not at fires of hell,Nor wash in water of remorse's well,When winds of death shall quench your vital torch,Beware lest earth your guilty dust expel.

296. L. Possibly written by some pious reader as an answer to Khayyam's scoffs. See note on Quatrain 223.

297.

This world a hollow pageant you should deem;All wise men know things are not what they seem;Be of good cheer, and drink, and so shake offThis vain illusion of a baseless dream.

297. L. N. All earthly existence is «Maya»

298.

With maids stately as cypresses, and fairAs roses newly plucked, your wine-cups share,Or e'er Death's blasts shall rend your robe of fleshLike yonder rose leaves, lying scattered there!

298. C. L. N. I. J. The Lucknow commentator saysdaman i gulmeans the maid's cheek.

299.

Cast off dull care, O melancholy brother!Woo the sweet daughter of the grape, no other;The daughter is forbidden, it is true,But she is nicer than her lawful mother!

299. N. «Daughter of the grape,»i.e., wine, a translation of an Arabic phrase.

300.

My love shone forth, and I was overcome,My heart was speaking, but my tongue was dumb;Beside the water-brooks I died of thirst.Was ever known so strange a martyrdom?

300. N.Dil rubaye, «that well-known charmer.» Lumsden, ii. 142.Pur sukhan. See note on No. 227.

301.

Give me my cup in hand, and sing a gleeIn concert with the bulbul's symphony;Wine would not gurgle as it leaves the flask,If drinking mute were right for thee and me!

301. C. L. N. A. I. J.

302.

The «Truth» will not be shown to lofty thought,Nor yet with lavished gold may it be bought;But, if you yield your life for fifty years,From words to «states» you may perchance be brought.

302. L. Line 3, literally, «Unless you dig up your soul, and eat blood for fifty years.» «States» of ecstatic union with the «Truth,» or Deity of the Mystics.

303.

I solved all problems, down from Saturn's wreathUnto this lowly sphere of earth beneath,And leapt out free from bonds of fraud and lies,Yea, every knot was loosed, save that of death!

303. C. L. A. I. J.

304.

Peace! the eternal «Has been» and «To be»Pass man's experience, and man's theory;In joyful seasons naught can vie with wine,To all these riddles wine supplies the key!

304. C. L. A. B. I. J.

305.

Allah, our Lord, is merciful, though just;Sinner! despair not, but His mercy trust!For though to-day you perish in your sins,To-morrow He'll absolve your crumbling dust.

305. C. L. N. A. I. J. A very Voltairean quatrain.

306.

Your course annoys me, O ye wheeling skies!Unloose me from your chain of tyrannies!If none but fools your favours may enjoy,Then favour me,—I am not very wise!

306. C. L. N. A. I. J.

307.

O City Mufti, you go more astrayThan I do, though to wine I do give way;I drink the blood of grapes, you that of men:Which of us is the more bloodthirsty, pray?

307. C. L. N. A. I. J. Alluding to the selling of justice by Muftis.

308.

'Tis well to drink, and leave anxietyFor what is past, and what is yet to be;Our prisoned spirits, lent us for a day,A while from season's bondage shall go free!

308. C. L. N. A. I. J.'Ariyati rawan, «this borrowed soul.»

309.

When Khayyam quittance at Death's hand receives,And sheds his outworn life, as trees their leaves,Full gladly will he sift this world away,Ere dustmen sift his ashes in their sieves.

309. C. L. N. A. I. J.

310.

This wheel of heaven, which makes us all afraid,I liken to a lamp's revolving shade,The sun the candlestick, the earth the shade,And men the trembling forms thereon portrayed.

310. C. L. N. A. B. I.Fanus i khiyal, a magic or Chinese lantern.

311.

Who was it that did mix my clay? Not I.Who spun my web of silk and wool? Not I.Who wrote upon my forehead all my good,And all my evil deeds? In truth not I.

311. C. L. N. A. I. In line 2 rhyme shows the word to berishtai, notrushtai.

312.

O let us not forecast to-morrow's fears,But count to-day as gain, my brave compeers!To-morrow we shall quit this inn, and marchWith comrades who have marched seven thousand years.

312. C. L. N. A. I. J. Badauni (ii. 337) says the creation of Adam was 7000 years before his time. Compare Hafiz,Ruba'i10.

313.

Ne'er for one moment leave your cup unused!Wine keeps heart, faith, and reason too, amused;Had Iblis swallowed but a single drop,To worship Adam he had ne'er refused!

313. C. L. (in part) N. A. I. J. See Koran, ii. 31.

314.

Come, dance! while we applaud thee, and adoreThy sweet Narcissus eyes, and grape-juice pour;A score of cups is no such great affair,But 'tis enchanting when we reach three score!

314. N. Narcissus eyes,i.e., languid.

315.

I close the door of hope in my own face,Nor sue for favours from good men, or base;I have but ONE to lend a helping hand,He knows, as well as I, my sorry case.

315. C. L. N. A. I. J. A «Haliya» quatrain, lamenting his own condition.

316.

Ah! by these heavens, that ever circling run,And by my own base lusts I am undone,Without the wit to abandon worldly hopes,And wanting sense the world's allures to shun!

316. C. L. N. A. I. J.

317.

On earth's green carpet many sleepers lie,And hid beneath it others I descry,And others, not yet come, or passed away,People the desert of Nonentity!

317. C. L. N. A. I. J. The sleepers on the earth are those sunk in the sleep of superstition and ignorance.

318.

Sure of Thy grace, for sins why need I fear?How can the pilgrim faint whilst Thou art near?On the last day Thy grace will wash me white,And make my «black record» to disappear.

318. C. L. N. A. I. J. Lumsden, ii, 72. See Koran, xiii. 47.

319.

Think not I dread from out the world to hie,And see my disembodied spirit fly;I tremble not at death, for death is true,'Tis my ill life that makes me fear to die!

319. C. L. N. A. I. J. «Death is true,»i.e.a certainty. So Sir Philip Sidney (after M. Aurelius), «Since Nature's works be good, and death doth serve as Nature's work, why should we fear to die?»

320.

Let us shake off dull reason's incubus,Our tale of days or years cease to discuss,And take our jugs, and plenish them with wine,Or e'er grim potters make their jugs of us!

320. C. L. N. A. B. I. J.

321.

How much more wilt thou chide, O raw divine,For that I drink, and am a libertine?Thou hast thy weary beads, and saintly show,Leave me my cheerful sweetheart, and my wine!

321. C. L. N. A. I. J.

322.

Against my lusts I ever war, in vain,I think on my ill deeds with shame and pain;I trust Thou wilt assoil me of my sins,But even so, my shame must still remain.

322. C. L. N. A. B. I.

323.

In these twin compasses, O Love, you seeOne body with two heads, like you and me,Which wander round one centre, circlewise.But at the last in one same point agree.

323. C. L. N. A. I. Mr. Fitzgerald quotes a similar figure used by the poet Donne, for which see Ward's «English Poets,» i. 562. The two heads are the points of the compasses.

324.

We shall not stay here long, but while we do,'Tis folly wine and sweethearts to eschew;Why ask if earth etern or transient be?Since you must go, it matters not to you.

324. C. L. N. A. B. I. J.

325.

In reverent sort to mosque I wend my way,But, by great Allah, it is not to pray;No! but to steal a prayer-mat! When 'tis worn,I go again, another to purvey.

325. C. L. N. A. B. I. J. To «steal a prayer-mat» is to pray to be seen of men.—Nicolas. A satire on some hypocrite, perhaps himself.

326.

No more let fate's annoys our peace consume,But let us rather rosy wine consume,The world our murderer is, and wine its blood,Shall we not then that murderer's blood consume?

326. L. N. See Koran, ii. 187.

327.

For Thee I vow to cast repute away,And, if I shrink, the penalty to pay;Though life might satisfy Thy cruelty,'Twere naught, I'll bear it till the judgment-day!

327. C. L. N. A. B. I.

328.

In Being's rondure do we stray belated,Our pride of manhood humbled and abated;Would we were gone! long since have we been weariedWith this world's griefs, and with its pleasures sated.

328. L. N.

329.

The world is false, so I'll be false as well,And with bright wine, and gladness ever dwell!They say, «May Allah grant thee penitence!»He grants it not, and, did he, I'd rebel!

329. C. L. N. A. B. I. J. A pun in the original.

330.

When Death shall tread me down upon the plain,And pluck my feathers, and my life-blood drain,Then mould me to a cup, and fill with wine,Haply its scent will make me breathe again.

330. C. L. N. A. B. I. J.

331.

So far as this world's dealings I have traced,I find its favours shamefully misplaced;Allah be praised! I see myself debarredFrom all its boons, and wrongfully disgraced.

331. C. L. N. A. I.Alam hama, etc., «states entirely gratuitous.» Writebaranwithout amadd. Bl., Prosody, p. 11. Compare Shakespeare, Sonnet 66.

332.

'Tis dawn! my heart with wine I will recruit,And dash to bits the glass of good repute;My long-extending hopes I will renounce,And grasp long tresses, and the charming lute.

332. L. N. B.

333.

Though I had sinned the sins of all mankind,I know Thou would'st to mercy be inclined;Thou sayest, «I will help in time of need»One needier than I where wilt Thou find?

333. C. L. N. A. I. J. Thewawin'afwis a consonant, and therefore takeskasrafor theizafat, without the intervention of conjunctiveya.

334.

Am I a wine-bibber? What if I am?Gueber or infidel? Suppose I am?Each sect miscalls me, but I heed them not,I am my own, and, what I am, I am.

334. C. L. N. A. I. J.Zan i khudforazan i khud, «my own property.»

335.

All my life long from drink I have not ceased,And drink I will to-night on Kadr's feast;And throw my arms about the wine-jar's neck,And kiss its lip, and clasp it to my breast!

335. C. L. N. A. I. J.Kadrthe night of power. Koran, xcvi. 1.

336.

I know what is, and what is not, I knowThe lore of things above, and things below;But all this lore will cheerfully renounce,If one a higher grade than drink can show.

336. L. N. B. Line 1, Being and Not-being, «Grade,»i.e., of learning.

337.

Though I drink wine, I am no libertine,Nor am I grasping, save of cups of wine;I scruple to adore myself, like you;For this cause to wine-worship I incline.

337. C. L. N. A. I. J. A hit at the vain and covetous Mollas. Also ascribed to Anwari.

338.

To confidants like you I dare to sayWhat mankind really are—moulded of clay,Affliction's clay, and kneaded in distress,They taste the world awhile, then pass away.

338. C. L. N. A. I. J. Note the archaic form.

339.

We make the wine-jar's lip our place of prayer,And drink in lessons of true manhood there,And pass our lives in taverns, if perchanceThe time mis-spent in mosques we may repair.

339. L. N. This quatrain is probably Mystical.

340.

Man is the whole creation's summary,The precious apple of great wisdom's eye;The circle of existence is a ring,Whereof the signet is humanity.

340. C. L. N. A. I. Man is the microcosm. SeeGulshan i Raz, p. 15. «The captain jewel of the carcanet.»

341.

With fancies, as with wine, our heads we turn,Aspire to heaven, and earth's low trammels spurn;But, when we drop this fleshly clog, 'tis seenFrom dust we came, and back to dust return.

341. L. N.

342.

If so it be that I did break the fast,Think not I meant it; no! I thought 'twas past;—That day more weary than a sleepless night,—And blesséd breakfast-time had come at last!

342. L. N.Roza khwardan, «to avoid fasting.» In line 2, forbekhabarreadbakhabar.

343.

I never drank of joy's sweet cordial,But grief's fell hand infused a drop of gall;Nor dipped my bread in pleasure's piquant salt,But briny sorrow made me smart withal!

343. C. L. N. A. I. Line 4, literally, «eat a roast of my own liver.»

344.

At dawn to tavern haunts I wend my way,And with distraught Kalendars pass the day;O Thou! who know'st things secret, and things known,Grant me Thy grace, that I may learn to pray!

344. C. L. N. A. I. J.Khafiyyatmeans «manifest,» as well as «concealed.» Lucknow commentator.

345.

The world's annoys I rate not at one grain,So I eat once a day I don't complain;And, since earth's kitchen yields no solid food,I pester no man with petitions vain.

345. C. L. N. A. I. J. In line 3 theAlifinazis not treated as anAlif i wasl. Bl., Pros. 10.

346.

Never from worldly toils have I been free,Never for one short moment glad to be!I served a long apprenticeship to fate,But yet of fortune gained no mastery.

346. C. L. N. A. I. J.Ek dam zadan, «For one moment.»

347.

One hand with Koran, one with wine-cup dight,I half incline to wrong, and half to right;The azure-marbled sky looks down on meA sorry Moslem, yet not heathen quite.

347. C. L. N. A. I. J. Khayyam here describes himself asakratesrather thanakolastos, «Video meliora proboque,» etc.

348.

Khayyam's respects to Mustafa convey,And with due reverence ask him to say,Why it has pleased him to forbid pure wine,When he allows his people acid whey?

348 and 349. L. These two quatrains are also found in Whalley's Morababad edition.Mustafa,i.e., Muhammad. So Avicenna. See Renan, Averroes, 171.

349.

Tell Khayyam, for a master of the schools,He strangely misinterprets my plain rules:Where have I said that wine is wrong for all?'Tis lawful for the wise, but not for fools.

350.

My critics call me a philosopher,But Allah knows full well they greatly err;I know not even what I am, much lessWhy on this earth I am a sojourner!

350. C. L. A. I. J. Filsafat meant the Greek philosophy as cultivated by Persian rationalists, in opposition to theology. Renan, Averroes, p. 91.

351.

The more I die to self, I live the more,The more abase myself, the higher soar;And, strange! the more I drink of Being's wine,More sane I grow and sober than before.

351. L. Clearly Mystical.

352.

Quoth rose, «I am the Yusuf flower, I swear,For in my mouth rich golden gems I bear»:I said, «Show me another proof.» Quoth she,«Behold this blood-stained vesture that I wear!»

352. B. L. Yusuf is the type of manly beauty. The yellow stamens are compared to his teeth. So Jami, inYusuf wa Zulaikha.

353.

I studied with the masters long ago,And long ago did master all they know;Here now the end and issue of it all,From earth I came, and like the wind I go!

353. L. B. Mr. Fitzgerald compares the dying exclamation of Nizam ul-Mulk, «I am going in the hands of the wind!»Mantik ut Tair, 1. 4620.

354.

Death finds us soiled, though we were pure at birth,With grief we go, although we came with mirth;Watered with tears, and burned with fires of woe,And, casting life to winds, we rest in earth!

354. C. L. A. I. J.

355.

To find great Jamshid's world-reflecting bowlI compassed sea and land, and viewed the whole;But, when I asked the wary sage, I learnedThat bowl was my own body, and my soul!

355. L. King Jamshid's cup, which reflected the whole world, is the Holy Grail of Persian poetry. Meaning «man is the microcosm.» See note on No. 340. In line 2 scannaghnudem.

356.

Me, cruel Queen! you love to captivate,And from a knight to a poor pawn translate,You marshal all your force to tire me out,You take my rooks with yours, and then checkmate!

356. C. L. A. I. J. The pun onrukh, «cheek,» andrukh, «castle,» is untranslatable.

357.

If Allah wills me not to will aright,How can I frame my will to will aright?Each single act I will must needs be wrong,Since none but He has power to will aright.

357. C. L. A. I. J.

358.

«For once, while roses are in bloom,» I said,«I'll break the law, and please myself instead,With blooming youths, and maidens' tulip cheeksThe plain shall blossom like a tulip-bed.»

358. L. N.Rozi,ya i batni, ortankir(?).

359.

Think not I am existent of myself,Or walk this blood-stained pathway of myself;This being is not I, it is of Him.Pray what, and where, and whence is this «myself»?

359. C. L. A. I. J. In line 3 I omitwaafterLu bud. Meaning, Man's real existence is not of himself, but of the «Truth,» the universalNoumenon.

360.

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