The Sufistic Quatrains Of Omar Khayyam Part 88

Fret not thyself on account of the inconstancy of this world; seek wine and draw near to thy caressing mistress, for, thou seest that he whom his mother brought forth to-day to-morrow disappears from the earth--to-morrow returns to annihilation.

377.

I can renounce all else, but wine never; for I have the means of making amends for all else, but of wine, never.

O G.o.d! could one like me become a Musulman and renounce old wine? Never.

378.

We are all lovers, all drunkards, all adorers of wine.

We are all united in the tavern, having banished far from us all that is good, all that is evil, all reflection and revery. Oh! expect not intelligence or reason of us, for we are all overcome with wine.

379.

It is we who have confidence in the divine goodness, who have shaken off the ideas of obedience and sin; for where Thy benevolence exists, O G.o.d, he who has done nothing is equal to him who has done something.

380.

Thou hast imprinted on our being, O G.o.d, such singular phantasma of inconsequence, and hast made to rise such strange phenomena. Myself cannot be better than I am, for Thou hast taken me as I am from out creation's crucible.

381.

We have violated all the vows that we have made; we have closed upon us the door of what is called good and what is called bad. Then blame me not if you see me committing senseless deeds, for we are drunk with the wine of love, and all are drunk as we.

382.

A mouthful of old wine is of more worth than a new empire. The wise man will reject all that is not wine.

A cup of this nectar is a hundred times preferable to the kingdom of Feridoun. The lid which covers the wine-jar is more precious than the diadem of Kai-Khosrou.

383.

O my heart! thou canst not penetrate the enigmatical secrets of the heavens; thou canst never reach the culminating point to which intrepid sages have attained.

Be content, then, to organize a Paradise here below, in making daily use of cup and wine, for wilt thou ever reach that future Paradise? Thou never wilt.

384.

Those who are gone before us, O cupbearer! are imbedded in the dust of pride. Go, drink wine; go, listen to the truth that I tell you: All those who have gone ahead are but as the wind; know it well, O cupbearer!

385.

From afar has appeared a filthy shape. It is said that its body was covered with a s.h.i.+rt made of the smoke of h.e.l.l. It was neither a man nor a woman. It has broken our flask and spilled upon the earth the ruby wine it contained, glorifying itself at having done a deed worthy of a man.

386.

O my heart! when thou art admitted to sit at the banquet of this idol [the Divinity], it is after thou hast gone out of thyself in order to re-enter thyself again. When thou hast tasted a mouthful of the wine of annihilation, thou art entirely separate from those that are and from those that are no more.

387.

Yes, I have found myself in close acquaintance with wine, with drunkenness. But why does the world blame me for it? Oh! would to G.o.d that all which is illegal might produce drunkenness! For then never here below should I have seen a shadow of sound reason.

388.

Thou hast broken my pitcher of wine, my G.o.d! Thou hast shut upon me the portals of joy, my G.o.d! Thou hast poured upon earth my limpid wine, my G.o.d! Oh!

[would that my mouth were filled with earth!] couldst Thou have been drunk, my G.o.d?

389.

O thou who art the result of the four [elements] and the seven [heavens], I see you in perplexity amongst these four and seven. Drink wine, for, as I have said to you more than four times, you will return no more; once departed, you are gone indeed.

390.

On one hand, Thou hast raised a hundred ambushes about us; on the other, Thou sayest to us: If ye put foot there, ye shall be caught by death. It is Thou who spreadest snares, and whoever falls there, Thou bringest to a stand! Thou givest him to death and callest him rebel!

391.

O Thou whose mysterious essence is impenetrable to intelligence, Thou who carest no more for our obedience than our faults, I am drunk with sin, but the confidence that I have in Thee renders it right for me. Know Thou, that I count upon Thy pity.

392.

If this world's things were only based on show, oh!

then each day would be a feast. Oh! were it not for these vain threats, each could attain below the aim of his desires, without a fear.

393.

O Wheel of Heaven! thou fillest constantly my heart with woe. Thou killest in me the germ of joy, with water ladening the air which, would breathe, and changest into mud the water that I drink.

394.

O my heart! if thou free thyself from the grief inherent in matter, thou shalt become a soul in all its purity; thou shalt mount to the heavens, thy residence shall be the firmament. Oh! how thou shouldst suffer from shame at inhabiting the earth!

395.