The Sufistic Quatrains Of Omar Khayyam - LightNovelsOnl.com
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90. C. L. N. A. I. J. This change of persons is called _Iltifat_.
Gladwin, Persian Rhetoric, p. 56.
91.
Who treads in pa.s.sion's footsteps here below, A helpless pauper will depart, I trow; Remember who you are, and whence you come.
Consider what you do, and whither go.
91. C. L. N. A. I. _Khabarat_: see Bl., Prosody, p. v.
92.
Skies like a zone our weary lives enclose, And from our tear-stained eyes a Jihun flows; h.e.l.l is a fire enkindled of our griefs; Heaven but a moment's peace, stolen from our woes.
92. C. L. N. A. B. I. J. This balanced arrangement of similes is called _Tirsi'a_. Gladwin, p. 5.
93.
I drown in sin--show me Thy clemency!
My soul is dark--make me Thy light to see!
A heaven that must be earned by painful works, I call a wage, not a gift fair and free.
93. C. L. N. A. I. J. Arabic words like _raza_, drop the _hamza_ in Persian, except with the _izafat_: (Bl., Prosody 14). For this _hamza, ya_ is often used, as here.
94.
Did He who made me fas.h.i.+on me for h.e.l.l, Or destine me for heaven? I cannot tell.
Yet will I not renounce cup, lute and love, Nor earthly cash for heavenly credit sell.
94. C. L. N. A. B. I. In line 4 the _izafat_ is dropped after silent _he_. Bl., Prosody, p. 15.
95.
From right and left the censors came and stood, Saying, Renounce this wine, this foe of good; But if wine be the foe of holy faith, By Allah, right it is to drink its blood!
95. C. L. N. A. B. I. J. See Koran, ii. 187.
96.
The good and evil with man's nature blent, The weal and woe that heaven's decrees have sent,-- Impute them not to motions of the skies,-- Skies than thyself ten times more impotent.
96. C. L. N. A. I. J. Fate is merely the decree of Allah. For the distinction between _kaza_ and _kadar_, see Poc.o.c.k, _Specimen Historiae Arab.u.m_, p. 207.
97.
Against death's arrows what are buckles worth?
What all the pomps and riches of the earth?
When I survey the world, I see no good But goodness, all beside is nothing worth.
97. N. Possibly written on the margin by some pious reader as an answer to No. 86.
98.
Weak souls, who from the world cannot refrain, Hold life-long fellows.h.i.+p with rule and pain; Hearts free from worldly cares have store of bliss, All others seeds of bitter woe contain.
98. L. N. _Tajrid_, see _Gulshan i Raz_, p. 8, n.
99.
He, in whose bosom wisdom's seed is sown, To waste a single day was never known; Either he strives to work great Allah's will, Or else exalts the cup, and works his own.
99. C. L. N. A. B. I. J. _Tarabe_, query, _takhme?_ giving a line in metre 23.
100.
When Allah mixed my clay, He knew full well My future acts, and could each one foretell; Without His will no act of mine was wrought; Is it then just to punish me in h.e.l.l?
100. C. L. N. A. I. Of the Moslem theory of predestination, Khayyam might truly say, Ten thousand mortals, drowned in endless woe, for doing what they were compelled to _do_.
101.
Ye, who cease not to drink on common days, Do not on Friday quit your drinking ways; Adopt my creed, and count all days the same, Be wors.h.i.+ppers of G.o.d, and not of days.
101. L. N. In line 3 scan _yakist_.
102.
If grace be grace, and Allah gracious be, Adam from Paradise why banished He?
Grace to poor sinners shown is grace indeed; In grace hard earned by works no grace I see.
102. N. The _tashdid_ of _rabb_ is dropped. Bl., Prosody, p. iv.
103.
Dame Fortune's smiles are full of guile, beware!
Her scimitar is sharp to smite, take care!
