The Sufistic Quatrains Of Omar Khayyam Part 70

35.

If a stranger shows you fidelity, consider him as a kinsman; but if a kinsman endeavors to betray you, regard him as an enemy. If poison cures you, consider it an antidote, and if the antidote does not agree with you, regard it as a poison.

36.

Except Thy absence there is nothing of worth that can bruise to the quick; he cannot be acute who is not taken with Thy subtle charms, and, although there exist in Thy mind no care for any one, there is none who may not be preoccupied with Thee.

37.

As long as I am not drunk, my happiness is incomplete.

When I am overcome with wine, ignorance replaces my reason. But there exists an intermediary state between drunkenness and sound reason. Oh! with what happiness do I enslave myself to such a state, since in it there is life!

38.

Who will believe that He who fas.h.i.+oned the cup could think of destroying it? All these beautiful heads, all these beautiful arms, all these dainty hands, are by what love created and by what hate destroyed?

39.

It is the effect of thy ignorance which makes thee fear death and abhor annihilation, for it is evident that from this annihilation shoots up a branch of immortality.

Since my soul has been revived by the breath of Jesus, eternal death has fled far from me.

40.

Imitate the tulip which flowers at New-year's; take, like her, a cup in thy hand and, if the occasion presents itself, drink, drink of wine in happiness with some fair girl whose cheeks are tinted with the color of this flower, for this blue wheel [dome], like a breath of wind, can suddenly overturn thee.

41.

Since things are not allowed to come to pa.s.s as we desire, to what purpose are our designs and our efforts?

We are constantly tormenting ourselves, speaking to ourselves with sighs of regret. Ah! we have arrived too late; too soon will it be necessary for us to depart!

42.

Since the celestial wheel and that of destiny have never been favorable, what matters it whether we are able to count seven heavens or believe that there are eight?

There are [I repeat it] two days for which I need not care; the day which has not come and that which now is gone.

43.

O Khayyam! why so much sorrow for a sin committed?

What comfort more or less do you find in this self-torment?

He who has not sinned cannot enjoy the sweetness of pardon. It is for sin that pardon must exist; in that event why entertain a fear?

44.

No one has access to the secrets of G.o.d behind the mysterious curtain; no one [even in mind] can penetrate there; we have no other dwelling than the earthly mind. Oh, regret! for this also is an enigma not less difficult to comprehend.

45.

Long time have I delved in this inconstant world, this momentary shelter; and in my searches have employed all faculties with which I am endowed. Ah, well! and I have found the moon to pale before the light of Thy visage, that the cypress is deformed beside Thy beauteous form.

46.

In the mosque, in the _medresseh_ [school annexed to the mosque], in the church, and in the synagogue, they have a horror of h.e.l.l and seek for Paradise, but the seed of such disquiet never germinates in the hearts of those who penetrate the secrets of the All-Powerful.

47.

You have traveled over the world! Ah, well! all that you have seen is nothing; all that you have seen and all that you have heard are equally nothing. You have gone from one end of the universe to the other, all that is nothing; you have summed it all up in one corner of your room, all that is nothing, still nothing.

48.

One night I saw in thought a sage who said to me: Sleep, O my friend, has never caused the rose of happiness to bloom for anyone; why lend yourself to aught so similar to death? Rather drink wine, for you will sleep enough when buried in the earth.

49.

Had the human heart an exact knowledge of the secrets of life, it would also know, at the point of death, the secrets of G.o.d. If to-day, when you are with yourself, you know nothing, what will you know to-morrow when you shall be separated from yourself?

50.

The day when the heavens shall be confounded, when the stars shall be obscured, I will stop Thee upon Thy way, O Idol! and, taking Thee by the hem of Thy robe, will ask of Thee why Thou hast robbed me of life [after giving it to me].

51.

We should tell no secrets to the vilely indiscreet; from the nightingale, even, should we conceal them. Consider, then, the torment you inflict on human souls by forcing them to disrobe thus before the gaze of all.

52.

O Cupbearer! since time is here, ready to break down you and me, this world for neither you nor me can be a place of permanence. But, equally, be well convinced that while this jug of wine is here 'twixt you and me, our G.o.d is in our hands.

53.