The Sufistic Quatrains Of Omar Khayyam Part 16

L.*

A Hair perhaps divides the False and True; Yes; and a single Alif were the clue-- Could you but find it--to the Treasure-house, And peradventure to THE MASTER too;

This pair of quatrains must also be considered together. The idea contained in them is, I think, collected from C. 482 and 19, and from O.

28.

Oh Boy! since thou art learned in all secrets, Why grieve so much after vain cares?

If things will not shape themselves according to thy desire, At any rate be happy in this moment of thy existence.

_Ref._: C. 482, L. 714, B. 703, S.P. 414, B. ii. 560.--W. 458, N. 419, V. 766.

From the state of infidelity to that of faith is but a breath, And from a state of doubt to that of certainty is but a breath, Hold thou dear this one precious moment, For of the outcome of our being there is but a moment.

_Ref._: C. 19, L. 131, B. 127, S.P. 20, B. ii. 22, T. 20.--W. 24, N. 20, V. 130.

My Heart said to me: I have a longing for inspired knowledge, Teach me if thou art able, I said the Alif. My Heart said: Say no more.

If One is in the house, one letter is enough.[59]

_Ref._: O. 28.--W. 109.

LI.*

Whose secret Presence, through Creation's veins Running Quicksilver-like eludes your pains; Taking all shapes from Mah to Mahi; and They change and perish all--but He remains;

In this quatrain FitzGerald has made a masterly conversion of C. 72.

That Moon which is by nature skilled in metamorphosis Is sometimes animal and sometimes vegetable, Do not imagine that it will become non-existent--away with thought!

It is always possessed of its essence though its qualities cease to be.[60]

_Ref._: C. 72, L. 179, B. 176, S.P. 73, B. ii. 31, T. 51.--W. 75, N. 73, V. 175.

C. 40 may also be cited.

Place wine in my hand for my heart is aglow, And this fleet-footed existence is like quicksilver.

Arise! for the wakefulness of good fortune turns to slumber; Know thou that the fire of youth is (fugitive) like water.

_Ref._: C. 40, L. 63, B. 60, S.P. 54, T. 45.--W. 57, N. 54, V. 62.

From Mah to Mahi--_i.e._, from Moon to Fish is a common Oriental metaphor for universality. See FitzGerald's note on this subject, and the Terminal Essay to my former volume, p. 309.

LII.*

A moment guess'd--then back behind the Fold Immerst of Darkness round the Drama roll'd Which, for the Pastime of Eternity, He doth Himself contrive, enact, behold.

This quatrain is translated from C. 479.

Hidden sometimes thou shewest thy face to none, Sometimes thou appearest in the forms of created beings, Thou exhibitest this spectacle to thyself.

Thou art thyself both the real thing seen and the spectator.

_Ref._: C. 479, L. 705, B. 695, S.P. 437.--W. 475, N. 443, V. 757.

LIII.*

But if in vain, down on the stubborn floor Of Earth, and up to Heav'n's unopening Door, You gaze TO-DAY, while You are You--how then TO-MORROW, when You shall be You no more?

The original of this quatrain is C. 24.

If the heart understood the secret of existence as it _is_, In death it would know all the secrets of G.o.d: If to-day thou knowest nothing, being _with_ thyself, What wilt thou know to-morrow when thou abandonest thyself?

_Ref._: C. 24, L. 78, B. 74, S.P. 49, P. 85, B. ii. 106, T. 25.--W. 52, N. 49. V. 77.

LIV.

Waste not your Hour, nor in the vain pursuit Of this and That endeavour and dispute; Better be jocund with the fruitful Grape Than sadden after none, or Bitter, Fruit.

The inspiration for this quatrain comes from O. 50 and O. 107:

Those who are the slaves of intellect and hair-splitting,[61]

Have perished in bickerings about existence and non-existence; Go, thou dunce! and choose (rather) grape juice, For the ignorant from (eating) dry raisins, have become (like) unripe grapes (themselves).[62]

_Ref._: O. 50, L. 262, T. 102, P. v. 164.--W. 216, V. 267.

How long this talk about the eternity to come, and the eternity past?[63]

Now is the time of joy, there is no subst.i.tute for wine!

Both theory and practice have pa.s.sed beyond my ken, (But) Wine unties the knot of every difficulty.

_Ref._: O. 107, C. 312, L. 489, B. 485, B. ii. 341, T. 213, P. v.

207.--W. 304, V. 259.

LV.

You know, my friends, with what a brave Carouse I made a Second Marriage in my house; Divorced old barren Reason from my Bed, And took the Daughter of the Vine to Spouse.

This quatrain is translated from C. 175.

I will fill a one-maund goblet with wine, I will enrich myself with two half-maunds of wine: First I will thrice p.r.o.nounce the divorce from learning and faith,[64]

And then I will take the daughter of the vine[65] to spouse.

_Ref._: C. 175, L. 267, B. 263, P. 288, P. v. 209.--V. 271.

LVI.