The Sufistic Quatrains of Omar Khayyam

Oh, heart! since, in this world, truth itself is hyperbole,
Why art thou so disquieted with this trouble and abasement?
Resign thy body to destiny and adapt thyself to the times,
For, what the Pen has written, it will not re-write for thy sake.[76]

Ref.: O. 95, L. 430, B. 426, S.P. 215, P. 59, B. ii. 292.—W. 257, N. 216, E.C. 15, V. 468.

LXXIV.*

Yesterday This Day's Madness did prepare;
To-morrow's Silence, Triumph, or Despair:
Drink! for you know not whence you came, nor why
Drink! for you know not why you go, nor where.

The first half of this quatrain comes from O. 152 and the second half from O. 26, ll. 3 and 4.

Be happy! they settled thy business yesterday,
And beyond the reach of all thy longings is yesterday,

Live happily, for without any importunity on thy part yesterday,
They appointed with certainty what thou wilt do to-morrow—yesterday!

Ref.: O. 152, C. 473, L. 702, B. ii. 564, P. v. 196.—W. 489, V. 754.

Be happy!—thou knowest not whence thou hast come:
Drink wine!—thou knowest not whither thou shalt go.

Ref.: O. 26, C. 83, L. 192, B. 189, S.P. 85, B. ii. 110, T. 64, P. v. 34.—W 87, N. 85, V. 188.

LXXV.

I tell you this—When, started from the Goal,
Over the flaming shoulders of the Foal
Of Heav'n, Parwin and Mushtari they flung,
In my predestined Plot of Dust and Soul.

This quatrain is translated from C. 147.

On that day when they saddled the wild horses of the Sun,
And settled the laws of Parwin and Mushtari,[77]
This was the lot decreed for me from the Diwan of Fate:
How can I sin? (my sins) are what Fate allotted me as my portion.

Ref.: C. 147, L. 286, B. 282, S.P. 110.—W. 140, N. 110, V. 289.

LXXVI.

The Vine had struck a fibre; which about
If clings my Being—let the Dervish flout;
Of my Base metal may be filed a Key,
That shall unlock the Door he howls without.

The sentiment of this quatrain is contained in C. 143.

Since Eternity itself was He created me,
From the first he dictated to me the lesson of love,
At that time a small filing of the dust of my heart,
He made into a key of the treasure-house of substance.[78]

Ref.: C. 143, L. 311, B. 307, P. 81, T. 134.—V. 314.

LXXVII.

And this I know; whether the one True Light
Kindle to Love, or Wrath-consume me quite,
One Flash of It within the Tavern caught
Better than in the Temple lost outright.

This quatrain is translated from O. 2.

If I talk of the mystery with Thee in a tavern,
It is better than if I make my devotions before the Mihrab [79] without Thee.
O Thou, the first and last of all created beings,
Burn me an Thou wilt, cherish me an Thou wilt.

Ref.: O. 2, C. 272, L. 427, B. 423, S.P. 221, P. 7, B. ii. 294, T. 172.—W. 262, N. 222, V. 465.

LXXVIII.*

What! out of senseless Nothing to provoke
A conscious Something to resent the yoke
Of unpermitted Pleasure, under pain
Of everlasting Penalties, if broke!

It is not easy to deal with this and the three following quatrains separately, the sentiments of all four being closely interchangeable and largely identical. To avoid confusion, however, I have attempted the task. There are some scores of ruba'iyat that may be said to have contributed their imageries to the quatrain. The main sources of the first of them seem to be C. 85 and N. 226:

God, when he fashioned the clay of my body,
Knew by my making what would come of it;
(Since) there is no sin of mine without his order
Why should he seek to burn me at the Day of Resurrection?

Ref.: C. 85, L. 194, B. 191, S.P. 99, P. 18, T. 66.—W. 100, N. 99, V. 190.

Thou knowest that abstinence from that (sin) is impossible,
Having (nevertheless) ordered and ordained abstinence from it;
Thus between the order and the prohibition we stand helpless,
We mortals are helpless at the permission to slant
(the cup) but not to spill (its contents).[80]

Ref.: N. 226, L. 442, B. 438, S.P. 225, P. 317, B. ii. 297, T. 180.—W. 265, V. 479.

LXXIX.*

What! from his helpless Creature be repaid
Pure Gold for what he lent him dross-allay'd—
Sue for a Debt he never did contract,
And cannot answer—Oh the sorry trade!

This quatrain would seem to be specially inspired by C. 201 and 433, which are so much alike (ll. 2, 3, and 4 are practically identical in both) that one or the other is obviously the addition of a later scribe.

When they mixed the earth of my shaping-mould,
They produced an hundred wonders from me;[81]
I cannot be better than I am,
For this is how I was turned out of the crucible.

Ref.: C. 201, L. 355, B. 351, T. 128.—W. 221, V. 354.

LXXX.

Oh Thou, who didst with pitfall and with gin
Beset the Road I was to wander in,
Thou wilt not with Predestined Evil round
Enmesh, and then impute my Fall to Sin!

This quatrain is translated from O. 148.

In a thousand places on the road I walk, Thou placest snares,
Thou say'st «I will catch thee if thou settest foot in them,»
In no smallest thing is the world independent of Thee,
Thou orderest all things, and (yet) callest me rebellious!

Ref.: O. 148, B. ii. 546.—W. 432, N. 390.

LXXXI.

Oh Thou, who Man of baser Earth didst make,
And ev'n with Paradise devise the Snake:
For all the Sin wherewith the Face of Man
Is blacken'd—Man's forgiveness give—and take!

* * * * * * *

This is a very composite quatrain, round which some controversy has raged. Professor Cowell has given the weight of his authority to the statement that «there is no original for the line about the snake.» This is true in so far as that the image does not occur in Omar, but FitzGerald had seen it in an important apologue in the Mantik ut-tair (beginning at distich 3229) in which we read of the presence of the Snake (Iblis) in Paradise, at the moment of the creation of Adam, and in the course of which, Satan himself addresses God thus:

If malediction comes from Thee, there comes also mercy,
The created thing is dependent upon Thee since Destiny is in Thy hands;
If malediction be my lot, I do not fear,
There must be poison, everything is not antidote.

The influence of the following is traceable in the quatrains, C. 115, C. 286, and C. 510:

I am a disobedient slave, where is Thy mercy?
My heart is dark, where is Thy light and clearness?
If, for serving Thee, Thou givest me heaven,
This a reward, but Thy grace and Thy gifts—where are they?

Ref.: C. 115, L. 217, B. 214, S.P. 91, P. 23.—W. 93, N. 91, V. 211.

Oh! Thou who knowest the secrets of the hearts of all,
Protector of all in their hours of helplessness:
Oh, Lord! grant me repentance and accept my excuses,
Oh! Thou who grantest repentance and acceptest the excuses of all.

Ref.: C. 286, L. 449, B. 445, S.P. 235, B. ii. 308, T. 188.—W. 276, N. 236, V. 488.

Professor Cowell attributes FitzGerald's quatrain to the above ruba'i. Vide the Editorial Note previously referred to.

The manager of the affairs of the dead and living art thou,
Thou art the keeper of this unstable heaven;
Though I am wicked, thou art my Master,
Who can sin, seeing that thou art the Creator (of all)?

Ref.: C. 510, L. 700, B. 691, S.P. 431, P. 2, B. ii. 584.—W. 471, N. 436, V. 753.

LXXXII.[82]

As under cover of departing Day
Slunk hunger-stricken Ramazan away,
Once more within the Potter's house alone
I stood, surrounded by the Shapes of Clay.

LXXXIII.*

Shapes of all Sorts and Sizes, great and small,
That stood along the floor and by the wall;
And some loquacious Vessels were; and some
Listen'd, perhaps, but never talk'd at all.

LXXXVII (post).

FitzGerald constructed these three quatrains from O. 103.

I went last night into the workshop of a potter,
I saw two thousand pots, some speaking, and some silent;
Suddenly one of the pots cried out aggressively:—
«Where are the pot-maker, and the pot-buyer, and the pot-seller?»

Ref.: O. 103, C. 301, L. 470, B. 466, S.P. 242, P. 102, B. ii. 323, T. 202 and 297, P. v. 37.—W. 283, N. 243, E.C. 26, V. 509.

It will be observed that the reading of quatrain 87, l. 4, in the third edition of FitzGerald is close to this original. «Who makes—Who buys—Who sells—Who is the Pot?»

«Hunger stricken Ramazan» is described in C. 198.

They say that the moon of Ramazan [83] shines out again
Henceforth one cannot linger over the wine;
At the end of Sha'ban I will drink so much wine
That during Ramazan I may be found drunk until the festival (arrives).

Ref.: C. 198, L. 352, B. 348, S.P. 172, P. 347, B. ii. 216, T. 125.—W. 188, N. 172, V. 351. See also the quatrain from the «Notes,» p. 155.

LXXXIV.

Said one among them—«Surely not in vain
My substance of the common Earth was ta'en
And to this Figure moulded, to be broke,
Or trampled back to shapeless Earth again.»

The sentiment of this quatrain is traceable in C. 293.

There is a cup which wisdom loud acclaims,
And for its beauty gives it a hundred kisses on the brow,
Such a sweet cup, this Potter of the World
Makes, and then shatters it upon the ground.

Ref.: C. 293, L. 456, B. 452, B. ii. 321, T. 194.—W. 290, V. 495.

LXXXV.

Then said a Second—«Ne'er a peevish Boy
Would break the Bowl from which he drank in joy;
And he that with his hand the Vessel made
Will surely not in after Wrath destroy.»

The inspiration for this quatrain comes from O. 19.

The elements of a cup which he has put together,
Their breaking up a drinker cannot approve;[84]
All these heads and feet—with his finger-tips,
For love of whom did he make them?—for hate of whom did he break them?

Ref.: O. 19, C. 64, L. 40, S.P. 37, P. ii. 7, P. 95, B. ii. 77, T. 309.—W. 42, N. 38, V. 220.

LXXXVI.

After a momentary silence spake
Some Vessel of a more ungainly make;
«They sneer at me for leaning all awry:
What! did the Hand then of the Potter shake?»

This quatrain is a perfect reflection and companion of all these Kuza Nama quatrains, but I have not found a ruba'i in O. or C. which can be pointed out as having directly inspired [85] it. It must, I think, be considered together with No. 88.

LXXXVII.

Whereat some one of the loquacious Lot—
I think a Sufi pipkin—waxing hot—
«All this of Pot and Potter—Tell me, then,
Who is the Potter pray, and who the Pot?»

LXXXVII. Ante sub LXXXIII.

LXXXVIII.

«Why,» said another, «Some there are who tell
Of one who threatens he will toss to Hell
The luckless Pots he marr'd in making—Pish!
He's a Good Fellow, and 'twill all be well.»

The inspiration for this quatrain, and I think for No. 86, comes from C. 69 and C. 159:

Since the Director set in order the elements of natures,
For what cause does He again disperse them into loss and deficiency?
If they are good, why should He break them?
And if they turn out bad, well, why is there any blame to these forms?

Ref.: C. 69, L. 103, B. 99, P. 94, B. ii. 107.—W. 126, V. 103.

They say that at the resurrection there will be much searching,
And that that excellent Friend will be hasty;
Nothing but good ever came from the Unalloyed Goodness,
Be happy! for the upshot will be all right!

Ref.: C. 159, L. 316, B. 312, S.P. 178, P. 197.—W. 193, N. 178, V. 318.

LXXXIX.

«Well,» murmured one, «Let whoso make or buy,
My Clay with long Oblivion is gone dry:
But fill me with the old familiar Juice,
Methinks I might recover by and by.»

This quatrain is inspired by C. 188 and O. 116:

At that moment when the plant of my existence shall be rooted up,
And its branches scattered in all directions;
If then they make a flagon of my clay,
When they fill it with wine it will live again.

Ref.: C. 188, S.P. 115.—N. 115.

When I am abased beneath the foot of Destiny,
And am rooted up from the hope of life,
Take heed that thou makest nothing but a goblet of my clay,
Haply when it is full of wine I may revive.

Ref.: O. 116, C. 345, L. 539, B. 534, S.P. 289, P. 227, B. ii. 385, T. 230, P. v. 146.—W. 330, N. 290, V. 579.

XC.

So while the Vessels one by one were speaking,
The little Moon look'd in that all were seeking:
And then they jogg'd each other, «Brother! Brother!
Now for the Porter's shoulder-knot a-creaking!»

* * * * * * *

This quatrain which concludes the Kuza Nama is inspired by the concluding quatrain of O. 158.

The month of Ramazan passes and Shawwal comes,
The season of increase, and joy, and storytellers comes;
Now comes that time when «Bottles upon the shoulder!»
They say—for the porters come and are back to back.[86]

Ref.: O. 158.—W. 218.

XCI.

Ah, with the Grape my fading life provide,
And wash the Body whence the Life has died,
And lay me, shrouded in the living Leaf,
By some not unfrequented Garden-side.

This quatrain owes its inspiration to C. 12.

When I am dead wash me with wine,
Say my funeral service with pure wine,
If thou wishest that thou shouldst see me on the resurrection-day
Thou must seek me in the earth of the tavern threshold.

Ref.: C. 12, L. 13, B. 12, S.P. 7, P. 299, B. ii. 9, T. 12.—W 6, N. 7, V. 11

THE APPROACH TO NAISHAPUR
From a painting by I.R. Herbert

O. 69 may also be quoted:

Take heed to stay me with the wine-cup,
And make this amber [87] face like a ruby;
When I die, wash me with wine,
And out of the wood of the vine make the planks of my coffin.

Ref.: O. 69, C. 158, L. 308, B. 304, S.P. 109, P. 212, B. ii. 199, T. 143, P. v. 153.—W. 139, N. 109, V. 311.

XCII.

That ev'n my buried Ashes such a snare
Of Vintage shall fling up into the Air
As not a True-believer passing by
But shall be overtaken unaware.

This quatrain is translated from C. 16.

I will drink so much wine that this aroma of wine
Shall rise from the earth when I am beneath it;
So that when a drinker shall pass above my body,
He shall become drunk and degraded from the aroma of my potations.

Ref.: C. 16, L. 28, B. 26, S.P. 14, B. ii. 11.—W. 17, N. 14, V. 27.

XCIII.

Indeed the Idols I have loved so long
Have done my credit in this World much wrong;
Have drown'd my Glory in a shallow Cup,
And sold my Reputation for a Song.

The inspiration for this quatrain comes from C. 170.

When my mood inclined to prayer and fasting,
I said that all my salvation was attained;
Alas! that those Ablutions [88] are destroyed by my pleasures,
And that Fast of mine is annulled by half a draught of wine.

Ref.: C. 170, L. 366, B. 362, S.P. 162, P. 343, B. ii. 207, T. 118.—W. 180, N. 162, V. 365.

The last line is suggested by O. 22.

XCIV.

Indeed, indeed, Repentance oft before
I swore—but was I sober when I swore?
And then and then came Spring, and Rose-in-hand
My thread-bare Penitence apieces tore.

This quatrain is inspired by C. 431.

Every day I resolve to repent in the evening,
Making repentance of the brimful goblet and cup;
Now that the season of roses [89] has come, I cannot grieve
Give penitence for repentance in the season of roses, O Lord!

Ref.: C. 431, L. 655, B. 647 B. ii. 510.—W. 425, V. 704.

XCV.

And much as Wine has play'd the Infidel,
And robb'd me of my Robe of Honour—Well,
I wonder often what the Vintners buy
One half so precious as the stuff they sell.

The original of this quatrain is O. 62.

Although wine has rent my veil (of reputation),
So long as I have a soul I will not be separated from wine;
I am in perplexity concerning vintners, for they—
What will they buy that is better than what they sell?

Ref.: O. 62, C. 196, L. 350, B. 346, P. 311, B. ii. 167, T. 123, P. iv. 63, P. v. 202.—W. 208, N. 463, E.C. 11, V. 350.

XCVI.

Yet Ah, that Spring should vanish with the Rose!
That Youth's sweet-scented manuscript should close!
The Nightingale that in the branches sang,
Ah whence, and whither flown again, who knows!

This quatrain is translated from C. 223.

Alas! that the book of youth is folded up?
And that this fresh purple spring is winter-stricken;[90]
That bird of joy, whose name is Youth,
Alas! I know not when it came nor when it went.

Ref.: C. 223, L. 332, B. 328, S.P. 128, B. ii. 155, T. 161.—W. 155, N. 128, V. 334.

XCVII.*

Would but the Desert of the Fountain yield
One glimpse—if dimly, yet indeed, reveal'd,
To which the fainting Traveller might spring,
As springs the trampled herbage of the field!

This quatrain is inspired by C. 509.

Oh! would that there were a place of repose,
Or that we might come to the end of the road;
Would that from the heart of earth, after a hundred thousand years,
We might all hope to blossom again like the verdure.

Ref.: C. 509, L. 768, B. 754, S.P. 395, B. ii. 522.—W. 442, N. 400, V. 820.

XCVIII.*

Would but some wingéd Angel ere too late
Arrest the yet unfolded Roll of Fate,
And make the stern Recorder otherwise
Enregister, or quite obliterate!

This quatrain in its original form in the second edition was closer to the original Persian.

Oh if the World were but to re-create,
That we might catch ere closed the Book of Fate,
And make the Writer on a fairer leaf
Inscribe our names, or quite obliterate!

It owes its inspiration to N 457.

I would that God should entirely alter the world,
And that he should do it now, that I might see him do it;
And either that he should cross my name from the Roll,
Or else raise my condition from want to plenty.[91]

Ref.: N. 457, S.P. 451.—W. 486, V. 841.

XCIX.

Ah, Love! could you and I with Him conspire
To grasp this sorry Scheme of Things entire,
Would not we shatter it to bits—and then
Re-mould it nearer to the Heart's Desire!

* * * * * * *

This quatrain is translated from C. 395.

Had I, like God, control of the heavens,
Would I not do away with the heavens altogether,
Would I not so construct another heaven from the beginning
That, being free, one might attain to the heart's desire?

Ref.: C. 395, L. 594, B. 587, S.P. 337, P. 98, B. ii, 450, T. 268.—W. 379, N. 340, V. 641.

Yon rising moon that looks for us again—
How oft hereafter will she wax and wane;
How oft hereafter rising look for us
Through this same Garden—and for one in vain.

This quatrain in its various forms is inspired by O. 5.

Since no one will guarantee thee a to-morrow,
Make thou happy now this lovesick heart;[92]
Drink wine in the moonlight, O Moon, for the moon [93]
Shall seek us long and shall not find us.

Ref.: O. 5, C. 7, L. 5, S.P. 8, P. 219, B. 4, B. ii. 8, T. 6, P. v. 168.—W. 7, N. 8, E.C. 5, V. 4.

CI.

And when like her, Oh Saki, you shall pass
Among the Guests Star-scatter'd on the Grass,
And in your joyous errand reach the spot
Where I made One—turn down an empty Glass!

This quatrain is taken from O. 83 and 84.

Friends when ye hold a meeting together,
It behoves ye warmly to remember your friend;
When ye drink wholesome wine together,
And my turn comes, turn (a goblet) upside down.

Ref.: O. 83.—W. 234, V. 459.

Friends, when with consent ye make a tryst together,
And take delight in one another's charms,
When the Cup-bearer takes (round) in his hand the Mugh [94] wine,
Remember a certain helpless one in your benediction.

Ref.: O. 84, L. 290, B. 286, S.P. 191, P. 226, B. ii. 245.—W. 205, N. 192, V. 293.

APPENDIX.

In addition to the quatrains composing the final form in which we know his poem, there are a few stray quatrains scattered about Edward FitzGerald's Introduction and Notes. There are also two quatrains which appeared in the first edition only, and nine that appeared in the second edition only. I do not think that this work would be complete without an attempt to identify these quatrains in the original texts which inspired them.

IN THE INTRODUCTION.[95]

Page 4.

Khayyam, who stitched the Tents of Science,
Has fallen in Grief's furnace and been suddenly burned;
The shears of Fate have cut the tent-ropes of his life,
And the Broker of Hope has sold him for nothing!

The quatrain upon p. 4 is a literal translation by Prof. Cowell of O. 22.

Ref.: O. 22, C. 59, L. 74, B. 70, S.P. 81, P. 205, B. ii. 94, T. 307, P. iv. 65, P. v. 195.—W. 83, N. 81, V. 73.

Page 7.

Oh, Thou who burn'st in Heart for those who burn
In Hell, whose fires thyself shall feed in turn;
How long be crying, «Mercy on them, God!»
Why, who art Thou to teach, and He to learn?

The quatrain upon p. 7 is FitzGerald's rendering of C. I.

O, burnt one (born) of the burnt! destined in turn to burn,
And oh, thou! from whom the fires of Hell shall blaze,[96]
How long wilt thou keep saying, «Have mercy upon Omar!»
Wilt thou be a teacher of mercy to God?

Ref.: C. 1, L. 769, B. 755, S.P. 453, P. ii. 1, B. ii. 537, T. 1.—W. 488, N. 459, V. 821.

Page 7.

If I myself upon a looser Creed
Have loosely strung the Jewel of Good deed,
Let this one thing for my Atonement plead.
That One for Two I never did misread.

The quatrain on p. 7 is FitzGerald's rendering of O. 1.

If I have never threaded the pearl [97] of thy service,
And if I have never wiped the dust of sin from my face,
Nevertheless, I am not hopeless of thy mercy,
For the reason that I have never said that One was Two.[98]

Ref.: O. 1, C. 274, L. 423, B. 419, P. 4, S.P. 228, B. ii. 302, P. iv. 8.—W. 268, N. 229, V. 461.