The Sufistic Quatrains of Omar Khayyam, by Omar Khayyam -- a Project Gutenberg eBook.

O comrades dear, when hither ye repair
In times to come, communion sweet to share,
While the cupbearer pours your old Magh wine,
Call poor Khayyam to mind, and breathe a prayer.

205. L. N. B. Mayi. The second ya is the ya i batni.

For me heaven's sphere no music ever made,
Nor yet with soothing voice my fears allayed;
If e'er I found brief respite from my woes,
Back to woe's thrall I was at once betrayed.

206. C. L. N. A. I.

Sooner with half a loaf contented be,
And water from a broken crock, like me,
Than lord it over one poor fellow-man,
Or to another bow the vassal knee.

207. C. L. N. A. I. In line 2 note izafat dropped after silent he, Kam az Khude, «one less than yourself.» Vullers, p. 254.

While Moon and Venus in the sky shall dwell,
None shall see aught red grape-juice to excel:
O foolish publicans, what can you buy
One half so precious as the goods you sell?

208. C. L. N. A. B. I.

They who by genius, and by power of brain,
The rank of man's enlighteners attain,
Not even they emerge from this dark night,
But tell their dreams, and fall asleep again.

209. C. L. N. A. I. J. Fisanaye, ya i tankir.

At dawn, when dews bedeck the tulip's face,
And violets their heavy heads abase,
I love to see the roses' folded buds,
With petals closed against the wind's disgrace.

Like as the skies rain down sweet jessamine,
And sprinkle all the meads with eglantine,
Right so, from out this jug of violet hue,
I pour in lily cups this rosy wine.

211. B. Here read mayi, with one ya, and kasra, because the metre requires a word of only two consonants, and two short vowels, of the wazn mafa.

Ah! thou hast snared this head, though white as snow,
Which oft has vowed the wine-cup to forego;
And wrecked the mansion long resolve did build,
And rent the vesture penitence did sew!

212. B. Nabid is often written nabiz, probably a survival from the time when dals were dotted. Bl., Prosody 17.

I am not one whom Death doth much dismay,
Life's terrors all Death's terrors far outweigh;
This life, that Heaven hath lent me for a while,
I will pay back, when it is time to pay.

213. C. L. A. B. I. B. reads nim for bim in line 2.

The stars, who dwell on heaven's exalted stage,
Baffle the wise diviners of our age;
Take heed, hold fast the rope of mother wit.
These augurs all distrust their own presage.

214. L. B. A hit at the astrologers.

The people who the heavenly world adorn,
Who come each night, and go away each morn,
Now on Heaven's skirt, and now in earth's deep pouch,
While Allah lives, shall aye anew be born!

215. L. B. Earth's pouch, i.e., «beneath the earth.» Rezaye. L. reads didaye. Both readings are probably wrong.

Slaves of vain wisdom and philosophy,
Who toil at Being and Nonentity,
Parching your brains till they are like dry grapes,
Be wise in time, and drink grape-juice, like me!

216. B. The vanity of learning.

Sense, seeking happiness, bids us pursue
All present joys, and present griefs eschew;
She says, we are not as the meadow grass,
Which, when they mow it down, springs up anew.

217. C. L. A. B. I. J. Goyid, from goyidan. Ya i maksur followed by another ya is in Persian words always hamzated (Lumsden, i. 29; Vullers, p. 24); and this hamza i maksur is pronounced ye. Ibrahim, Grammar, p. 24.

Now Ramazan is past, Shawwal comes back,
And feast and song and joy no more we lack;
The wine-skin carriers throng the streets and cry,
«Here comes the porter with his precious pack.»

218. B. I incline to read pusht bast for pusht pusht, which I do not understand.

My comrades all are gone; Death, deadly foe,
Has caught them one by one, and trampled low;
They shared life's feast, and drank its wine with me,
But lost their heads, and dropped a while ago.

219. C. L. A. I. Quoted by Badauni, ii. 159.

Those hypocrites, all know so well, who lurk
In streets to beg their bread, and will not work,
Claim to be saints, like Shibli and Junaid,
No Shiblis are they, though well known in Karkh!

220. C. L. A. I. L. Reads bakahna namad, but the line will not scan with that reading. Line 4 is in metre 9. A saint called Ma'ruf i Karkhi, «the famed one of Karkh,» is mentioned in the Nafahat ul Uns. Karkh was a suburb of Bagdad.

When the great Founder moulded me of old,
He mixed much baser metal with my gold;
Better or fairer I can never be
Than I first issued from his heavenly mould.

221. C. L. A. I.

The joyous souls who quaff potations deep,
And saints who in the mosques sad vigils keep,
Are lost at sea alike, and find no shore,
ONE only wakes, all others are asleep.

222. L. B. One, i.e., the Deity.

Not-being's water served to mix my clay,
And on my heart grief's fire doth ever prey,
And blown am I like wind about the world,
And last my crumbling earth is swept away.

223. L. This introduction of the four elements in one quatrain is called Mutazadd. Gladwin, p. 60.

Small gains to learning on this earth accrue,
They pluck life's fruitage, learning who eschew;
Take pattern by the fools who learning shun,
And then perchance shall fortune smile on you.

224. C. L. A. I. Bu contracted from buzad

When the fair soul this mansion doth vacate,
Each element assumes its primal state,
And all the silken furniture of life
Is then dismantled by the blows of fate.

225. C. L. A. I. Abresham tab', like Hatim tab'.

These people string their beads of learned lumber,
And tell of Allah stories without number;
Yet never solve the riddle of the skies,
But wag the chin, and get them back to slumber.

226. Possibly a hit at the Mutakallamin, or scholastic theologians.

These folk are asses, laden with conceit,
And glittering drums, that empty sounds repeat,
And humble slaves are they of name and fame,
Acquire a name, and, lo! they kiss thy feet.

227. C. L. A. I. Ba afsos is an epithet, like ba khabar, and hence kharan, the noun qualified by it, takes the izafat. Lumsden, ii. 259. Pur mash'ala, «full of glitter»; compare pur mae in No. 179.

On the dread day of final scrutiny
Thou wilt be rated by thy quality;
Get wisdom and fair qualities to-day,
For, as thou art, requited wilt thou be.

228. C. L. A. I.

Many fine heads, like bowls, the Brazier made,
And thus his own similitude portrayed;
He set one upside down above our heads,
Which keeps us all continually afraid.

229. C. L. A. I. «One upside down,» i.e., the sky. Kansa is also spelled kasa.

My true condition I may thus explain
In two short verses which the whole contain:
«From love to Thee I now lay down my life,
In hope Thy love will raise me up again.»

230. C. L. A. I. Scan wakiayi. Here hamza stands for ya i tankir.

The heart, like tapers, takes at beauty's eyes
A flame, and lives by that whereby it dies;
And beauty is a flame where hearts, like moths,
Offer themselves a burning sacrifice.

231. L. Metre Ramal, No. 50. In line 3 the first syllable is short. See Bl., Prosody, p. 43. In this form the metre is like Horace's «Miserarum est,» etc.

To please the righteous life itself I sell,
And, though they tread me down, never rebel;
Men say, «Inform us what and where is hell?»
Ill company will make this earth a hell.

232. C. L. A. I. Also ascribed to Hafiz.

The sun doth smite the roofs with Orient ray
And, Khosrau like, his wine-red sheen display;
Arise, and drink! the herald of the dawn
Uplifts his voice, and cries, «Oh, drink to-day!»

233. C. L. A. I. J.

Comrades! when e'er you meet together here,
Recall your friend to mind, and drop a tear;
And when the circling wine-cups reach his seat,
Pray turn one upside down his dust to cheer.

234. B. A variation of No. 205.

That grace and favour at the first, what meant it?
That lavishing of joy and peace, what meant it?
But now thy purpose is to grieve my heart;
What did I do to cause this change? What meant it?

235. B. So Job, «He multiplieth my wounds without cause.»

These hypocrites who build on saintly show,
Treating the body as the spirit's foe,
If they will shut their mouths with lime, like jars,
My jar of grape-juice I will then forego.

236. L. B. B. reads arra, of which I can make no sense. Bar fark niham, «I will put aside»; bar fark (line 4), «on their mouths.»

Many have come, and run their eager race,
Striving for pleasures, luxuries, or place,
And quaffed their wine, and now all silent lie,
Enfolded in their parent earth's embrace.

237. C. L. A. I.

Then, when the good reap fruits of labours past,
My hapless lot with drunkards will be cast;
If good, may I be numbered with the first,
If bad, find grace and mercy with the last.

238. C. L. A. I.

Of happy turns of fortune take your fill,
Seek pleasure's couch, or wine-cup, as you will;
Allah regards not if you sin, or saint it,
So take your pleasure, be it good or ill.

239. C. L. N. A. I. J. Alluding to the Hadis, «These are in heaven, and Allah regards not their sins, and those in hell, and Allah regards not their good works.» See Gulshan i' Raz, p. 55.

Heaven multiplies our sorrows day by day,
And grants no joys it does not take away;
If those unborn could know the ills we bear,
What think you, would they rather come or stay?

240. C. L. N. A. I. J. This recalls Byron's «Stanzas for Music.»

Why ponder thus the future to foresee,
And jade thy brain to vain perplexity?
Cast off thy care, leave Allah's plans to him,
He formed them all without consulting thee.

241. C. L. N. A. I. J.

The tenants of the tombs to dust decay,
Nescient of self, and all beside are they;
Their sundered atoms float about the world,
Like mirage clouds, until the judgment day.

242. C. L. N. A. I. J. In line 4 some MSS. read sharab and change the order of the lines.

O soul! lay up all earthly goods in store,
Thy mead with pleasure's flowerets spangle o'er;
And know 'tis all as dew, that decks the flowers
For one short night, and then is seen no more!

243. C. L. N. A. I. J. There are several variations of this.

Heed not the Sunna, nor the law divine;
If to the poor his portion you assign,
And never injure one, nor yet abuse,
I guarantee you heaven, and now some wine!

244. C. L. N. A. B. I. J. See Koran, ii. 172: «There is no piety in turning your faces to the east or west, but he is pious who believeth in God ... and disburseth his wealth to the needy,» etc.

Vexed by this wheel of things, that pets the base,
My sorrow-laden life drags on apace;
Like rosebud, from the storm I wrap me close,
And blood-spots on my heart, like tulip, trace.

Youth is the time to pay court to the vine,
To quaff the cup, with revellers to recline;
A flood of water once laid waste the earth,
Hence learn to lay you waste with floods of wine.

246. C. N. A. I. J.

The world is baffled in its search for Thee,
Wealth cannot find Thee, no, nor poverty;
Thou'rt very near us, but our ears are deaf,
Our eyes are blinded that we may not see!

247. N. So Hafiz, Ode 355 (Brockhaus): «How can our eyes behold Thee as Thou art?»

Take care you never hold a drinking-bout
With an ill-tempered, ill-conditioned lout;
He'll make a vile disturbance all night long,
And vile apologies next day, no doubt.

248. C. L. N. A. I. J. In line 3 scan badmastiyo and in line 4 Khwahiyash.

The starry aspects are not all benign;
Why toil then after vain desires, and pine
To lade thyself with load of fortune's boons,
Only to drop it with this life of thine?

249. C. L. N. A. I. J.

O comrades! here is filtered wine, come drink!
Pledge all your charming sweethearts as you drink;
'Tis the grape's blood, and this is what it says,
«To you I dedicate my life-blood! drink!»

250. C. L. N. A. I. J.

Are you depressed? Then take of bhang one grain,
Of rosy grape-juice take one pint or twain;
Sufis, you say, must not take this or that,
Then go and eat the pebbles off the plain!

251. N. In line 1 and 2 scan yakjawaki and manaki, ak being the diminutive, and ya the ya i tankir, displacing the izafat: Lumsden, ii, 269. Bhang, a narcotic, made from hemp.

I saw a busy potter by the way
Kneading with might and main a lump of clay;
And, lo! the clay cried, «Use me gently, pray;
I was a man myself but yesterday!»

252. C. L. N. A. B. I. J. Hal, ecstasy.

Oh! wine is richer that the realm of Jam,
More fragrant than the food of Miriam;
Sweeter are sighs that drunkards heave at morn
Than strains of Bu Sa'id and Bin Adham.

253. C. L. N. A. I. J. Abu Sa'id Abu'l Khair and Ibrahim Bin Adham are both mentioned in the Nafahat ul Uns. «Miriam's food.» See Koran, xix. 24. Note izafat dropped after silent he.

Deep in the rondure of the heavenly blue,
There is a cup, concealed from mortals' view,
Which all must drink in turn; Oh, sigh not then,
But drink it boldly, when it comes to you!

254. C. L. A. I. J. Jawr, a «bumper.»

Though you should live to four, or forty score,
Go hence you must, as all have gone before;
Then, be you king, or beggar of the streets,
They'll rate you all the same, no less, no more.

If you seek Him, abandon child and wife,
Arise, and sever all these ties to life;
All these are bonds to check you on your course.
Arise, and cut these bonds, as with a knife.

256. L. B. So Gulshan i Raz, l. 944.

O heart! this world is but a fleeting show,
Why should its empty griefs distress thee so?
Bow down, and bear thy fate, the eternal pen
Will not unwrite its roll for thee, I trow!

257. L. N. B. The «pen» is that with which Allah writes his decrees.

Who e'er returned of all that went before,
To tell of that long road they travel o'er?
Leave naught undone of what you have to do,
For when you go, you will return no more.

258. C. N. L. A. I. J. Amadaye, ya i tankir.

Dark wheel! how many lovers thou hast slain,
Like Mahmud and Ayaz, O inhumane!
Come, let us drink, thou grantest not two lives,
When one is spent, we find it not again.

259. L. N. Mahmud, the celebrated king of Ghazni, and Ayaz his favourite. Scan wayaz (alif i wasl).

Illustrious Prophet! whom all kings obey,
When is our darkness lightened by wine's ray?
On Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday,
Friday, and Saturday, both night and day!

260. C. L. N. A. I. J. The jim in panjshamba is dropped in scanning. See Bl., Prosody, p. 10. In line 4 note silent he in shauba scanned long as well as short.

O turn away those roguish eyes of thine!
Be still! seek not my peace to undermine!
Thou say'st, «Look not.» I might as well essay
To slant my goblet, and not spill my wine.

261. N. Line 4, a proverb denoting an impossibility.

In taverns better far commune with Thee,
Than pray in mosques, and fail Thy face to see!
O first and last of all Thy creatures Thou,
'Tis Thine to burn, and Thine to cherish me!

262. C. L. N. A. B. I. J. This is clearly an address to the Deity.

To wise and worthy men your life devote,
But from the worthless keep your walk remote;
Dare to take poison from a sage's hand,
But from a fool refuse an antidote.

263. L. N. Line 2 is in metre 17.

I flew here, as a bird from the wild, in aim
Up to a higher nest my course to frame,
But, finding here no guide who knows the way,
Fly out by the same door where through I came.

264. C. L. N. A. I. J.

He binds us in resistless Nature's chain,
And yet bids us our natures to restrain;
Between these counter rules we stand perplexed,
«Hold the jar slant, but all the wine retain.»

265. L. N. In line 3 scan nahyash. So Lord Brooke in «Mustapha»; Ward's English Poets, i. 370.

They go away, and none is seen returning,
To teach that other world's recondite learning;
'Twill not be shown for dull mechanic prayers,
For prayer is naught without true heartfelt yearning.

266. C. L. N. A. I. The formal prayers of Moslems are rather ascriptions of praise, and repetitions of texts, than petitions.

Go to! Cast dust on those deaf skies, who spurn
Thy orisons and bootless prayers, and learn
To quaff the cup, and hover round the fair;
Of all who go, did ever one return?

267. C. L. N. A. B. I. J. An answer to the last.

Though Khayyam strings no pearls of righteous deeds,
Nor sweeps from off his soul sin's noisome weeds,
Yet will he not despair of heavenly grace,
Seeing that ONE as two he ne'er misreads.

268. C. L. N. A. B. I. J. Tauhid, or Unitarianism, is the central doctrine of Islam. So Hafiz, Ode 465.

Again to tavern haunts do we repair,
And say «Adieu» to the five hours of prayer;
Where'er we see a long-necked flask of wine,
We elongate our necks that wine to share.

269. C. L. N. A. B. I. J. Takbir, or tekbir the formula «Allah akbar,» in saying which the mind should be abstracted from worldly thoughts; hence «renunciation.» See Nicolas.

We are but chessmen, destined, it is plain,
That great chess-player, Heaven, to entertain;
It moves us on life's chess-board to and fro,
And then in death's dark box shuts up again.

270. L. N. B. Hakikati, see Bl., Prosody 3.

You ask what is this life so frail, so vain,
'Tis long to tell, yet will I make it plain;
'Tis but a breath blown from the vasty deeps,
And then blown back to those same deeps again!

271. C. L. N. A. I. J. Some MSS. read naksh. Deeps, i.e., the ocean of Not-being.

To-day to heights of rapture have I soared,
Yea, and with drunken Maghs pure wine adored;
I am become beside myself, and rest
In that pure temple, «Am not I your Lord?»

272. C. L. N. A. I. J. Alasto birabbikum, Allah's words to Adam's sons: Koran vii. 171. So in Hafiz, Ode 43 (Brockhaus).

My queen (long may she live to vex her slave!)
To-day a token of affection gave,
Darting a kind glance from her eyes, she passed,
And said, «Do good and cast it on the wave!»

273. L. N. Meaning, hope not for a return to your love. Nekuyey, «a good act,» ya conjunctive and ya i tankir, Vullers, p. 250.

I put my lips to the cup, for I did yearn
The hidden cause of length of days to learn;
He leaned his lip to mine, and whispered low,
«Drink! for, once gone, you never will return.»

274. C. L. A. B. I. J. Some MSS. give line 4 differently.

We lay in the cloak of Naught, asleep and still,
Thou said'st, «Awake! taste the world's good and ill»;
Here we are puzzled by Thy strange command,
From slanted jars no single drop to spill.

275. L. Naught, i.e., Not-being. See note to No. 183.

O Thou! who know'st the secret thoughts of all,
In time of sorest need who aidest all,
Grant me repentance, and accept my plea,
O Thou who dost accept the pleas of all!

276. C. L. N. A. I. J. Note tashdid on rabb dropped.

I saw a bird perched on the walls of Tus,
Before him lay the skull of Kai Kawus,
And thus he made his moan, «Alas, poor king!
Thy drums are hushed, thy 'larums have rung truce.»

277. C. L. N. A. Tus was near Nishapur.

Ask not the chances of the time to be,
And for the past, 'tis vanished, as you see;
This ready-money breath set down as gain,
Future and past concern not you or me.

278. C. L. N. A. I. J. In line 1 note izafat dropped after silent he. Compare Horace's Ode to Leuconoe.

What launched that golden orb his course to run,
What wrecks his firm foundations, when 'tis done,
No man of science ever weighed with scales,
Nor made assay with touchstone, no, not one!

279. L. The vanity of science.

SUFI MYSTICS GATHERED FOR MEDITATION. From an old painting by a Pushtu artist SUFI MYSTICS GATHERED FOR MEDITATION
From an old painting by a Pushtu artist

I pray thee to my counsel lend thine ear,
Cast off this false hypocrisy's veneer;
This life a moment is, the next all time,
Sell not eternity for earthly gear!

280. C. L. N. A. B. I. Note ra separated from its noun, as before. Vullers, p. 173.

Ofttimes I plead my foolishness to Thee,
My heart contracted with perplexity;
I gird me with the Magian zone, and why?
For shame so poor a Musulman to be.

281. C. L. N. A. I. J. In line 1 scan nadaniyi, dissolving the long ya.