The Sufistic Quatrains Of Omar Khayyam Part 89

O potter! be attentive, if thou possessest sound reason!

How long wilt thou abase man in moulding his clay? It is the finger of Feridoun, the hand of Kai-Khosrou which you thus put upon your wheel.

396.

O rose! thou art the face of some young ravis.h.i.+ng fair! O wine! thou art the ruby whose brightness joys my soul! O fateful fortune! each instant thou appearest more strange to me, and nevertheless I seem to know thee.

397.

From the cookery of this world, thou only absorbest the smoke. How long, plunged in the search for being and annihilation, wilt thou be the prey of sorrow? This world contains only loss for those who attach themselves to it. Now disregard this loss, and all for thee will benefit become.

398.

As for us, let us not try to torment men in their sleep; let us refrain from making them utter at midnight the lamentable cry _O my G.o.d! O my G.o.d!_ [as others do]. Rest not upon riches or beauty, for the one will take wings in the night, and the other, in the night also, will be ravished.

399.

If from the commencement Thou hadst wished to make me known to _myself_, why later, hast Thou separated me from this _myself_? If from the first day Thy intention was to abandon me, why hast Thou thrown me, all amazed, into the midst of the world?

400.

Oh! would to G.o.d that there existed some place of repose--that the road we follow had some settled end!

Would G.o.d that, after a hundred thousand years, we could conceive the hope of one new birth of heart upon the earth as the green turf is born again!

401.

While I was drawing a horoscope in the book of love, suddenly, from the burning heart of a wise man came these words. Happy is he who entertains in his dwelling a friend as beautiful as the moon, and who has in prospect a night as long as a year!

402.

The constant sequence of springtime and autumn makes the leaves of our existence disappear. Drink wine, my friend, for sages have well said that grief in this world is a poison and its antidote is wine.

403.

O my heart! drink of wine, drink of it in a garden and enjoy the presence of thy friend [the Divinity]; renounce hypocrisy and show. Is it the doctrine of Ahmed you follow? In that case, draw from the fountain-head a cup of wine into the bowl which Ali, in his round of cupbearing, shall serve.

404.

But yesterday, at eve, I broke a china cup against a stone. I was drunk when committing this senseless act.

This cup seemed to say to me: I have been like thee; thou wilt, in thy turn, be like me.

405.

The flowers are in blossom, O cupbearer! bring wine.

Leave thy acts of wors.h.i.+p, O cupbearer! Ere the angel of death put a watch upon us, come, and with a cup of ruby wine in hand, let us rejoice while yet there are some days with the sweet presence of the friend [the Divinity].

406.

Arise, get off thy bed, O cupbearer! and pour the limpid wine. Before they yet make pitchers of our skulls, pour out some wine from pitcher into bowl, O cupbearer!

407.

This hypocrisy [which I everywhere see], O cupbearer!

crushes my heart with weariness. Arise, and gaily bring me wine, O cupbearer! and to procure it, put in p.a.w.n the prayer-rug and the turban. Perhaps my arguments will then rest upon a solid basis.

408.

Examine thyself, if thou art intelligent, and observe what thou hast brought in the beginning and what thou wilt carry away at the end. Thou sayest that thou dost not drink because one must die. Whether thou drinkest friend, or dost not drink, thou needs must die.

409.

Open the door, for it is only Thou who canst open it; show me the way, for it is only Thou who canst show a way of safety. I will give my hand to none of those who wish to lead me, for all are perishable, and only Thou eternal.

410.

All that you tell me emanates from hatred [O mullah]!

You never cease to treat me as an atheist, a man without religion. I am convinced of that which I am, and I avow it; and should I be right, is it for you to lecture me thus?

411.

Resign yourself to grief if you would find a remedy, and do not complain of your suffering if you would cure it. In poverty, be thankful to Providence, if you wish some day to have riches for your portion.

412.

I have seen a wise man in the house of a drunken man at evening. I asked him if he could give me some news of the absent. He answered me: Drink wine, friend, for many like you have gone out but have never returned.

413.

I seek a flask of ruby wine, a book of verse, a momentary peace in life and bread enough. And if with these, my friend, in some lone spot with thee I could repose, 'twould be a happiness above a Sultan's regal joy.