Chapter VI: Part 6

When false dawn streaks the east with cold, grey line,
Pour in your cups the pure blood of the vine;
The truth, they say, tastes bitter in the mouth,
This is a token that the «Truth» is wine.

200. C. L. N. A. I. J. False dawn, the faint light before sunrise.

201.

Now is the time earth decks her greenest bowers,
And trees, like Musa's hand, grow white with flowers!
As 'twere at 'Isa's breath the plants revive,
While clouds brim o'er, like tearful eyes, with showers.

201. C. L. N. A. B. I. Musa and 'Isa are often written without the _alif i maksur_. Bl., Prosody 3.

202.

O burden not thyself with drudgery,
Lord of white silver and red gold to be;
But feast with friends, ere this warm breath of thine
Be chilled in death, and earthworms feast on thee.

202. N.

203.

The showers of grape-juice, which cupbearers pour,
Quench fires of grief in many a sad heart's core
Praise be to Allah, who hath sent this balm
To heal sore hearts, and spirits' health restore!

203. C. L. N. A. B. I. In line 1 some MSS. reads _bakhak_. _Didayi garm_, «eyes of anguish.» Scan _garm atishi_ (_Alif i wasl_).

204.

Can alien Pharisees Thy kindness tell,
Like us, Thy intimates, who nigh Thee dwell?
Thou say'st, «All sinners will I burn with fire.»
Say that to strangers, we know Thee too well.

204. N.

205.

O comrades dear, when hither ye repair
In times to come, communion sweet to share,
While the cupbearer pours your old Magh wine,
Call poor Khayyam to mind, and breathe a prayer.

205. L. N. B. _Mayi_. The second _ya_ is the _ya i batni_.

206.

For me heaven's sphere no music ever made,
Nor yet with soothing voice my fears allayed;
If e'er I found brief respite from my woes,
Back to woe's thrall I was at once betrayed.

206. C. L. N. A. I.

207.

Sooner with half a loaf contented be,
And water from a broken crock, like me,
Than lord it over one poor fellow-man,
Or to another bow the vassal knee.

207. C. L. N. A. I. In line 2 note _izafat_ dropped after silent _he_, _Kam az Khude_, «one less than yourself.» Vullers, p. 254.

208.

While Moon and Venus in the sky shall dwell,
None shall see aught red grape-juice to excel:
O foolish publicans, what can you buy
One half so precious as the goods you sell?

208. C. L. N. A. B. I.

209.

They who by genius, and by power of brain,
The rank of man's enlighteners attain,
Not even they emerge from this dark night,
But tell their dreams, and fall asleep again.

209. C. L. N. A. I. J. _Fisanaye, ya i tankir_.

210.

At dawn, when dews bedeck the tulip's face,
And violets their heavy heads abase,
I love to see the roses' folded buds,
With petals closed against the wind's disgrace.

210. L. B.

211.

Like as the skies rain down sweet jessamine,
And sprinkle all the meads with eglantine,
Right so, from out this jug of violet hue,
I pour in lily cups this rosy wine.

211. B. Here read _mayi_, with one _ya_, and _kasra_, because the metre requires a word of only two consonants, and two short vowels, of the _wazn mafa_.

212.

Ah! thou hast snared this head, though white as snow,
Which oft has vowed the wine-cup to forego;
And wrecked the mansion long resolve did build,
And rent the vesture penitence did sew!

212. B. _Nabid_ is often written _nabiz_, probably a survival from the time when _dals_ were dotted. Bl., Prosody 17.

213.

I am not one whom Death doth much dismay,
Life's terrors all Death's terrors far outweigh;
This life, that Heaven hath lent me for a while,
I will pay back, when it is time to pay.

213. C. L. A. B. I. B. reads _nim_ for _bim_ in line 2.

214.

The stars, who dwell on heaven's exalted stage,
Baffle the wise diviners of our age;
Take heed, hold fast the rope of mother wit.
These augurs all distrust their own presage.

214. L. B. A hit at the astrologers.

215.

The people who the heavenly world adorn,
Who come each night, and go away each morn,
Now on Heaven's skirt, and now in earth's deep pouch,
While Allah lives, shall aye anew be born!

215. L. B. Earth's pouch, _i.e._, «beneath the earth.» _Rezaye._ L. reads _didaye_. Both readings are probably wrong.

216.

Slaves of vain wisdom and philosophy,
Who toil at Being and Nonentity,
Parching your brains till they are like dry grapes,
Be wise in time, and drink grape-juice, like me!

216. B. The vanity of learning.

217.

Sense, seeking happiness, bids us pursue
All present joys, and present griefs eschew;
She says, we are not as the meadow grass,
Which, when they mow it down, springs up anew.

217. C. L. A. B. I. J. _Goyid_, from _goyidan_. _Ya i maksur_ followed by another _ya_ is in Persian words always _hamzated_ (Lumsden, i. 29; Vullers, p. 24); and this _hamza i maksur_ is pronounced _ye_. Ibrahim, Grammar, p. 24.

218.

Now Ramazan is past, Shawwal comes back,
And feast and song and joy no more we lack;
The wine-skin carriers throng the streets and cry,
«Here comes the porter with his precious pack.»

218. B. I incline to read _pusht bast_ for _pusht pusht_, which I do not understand.

219.

My comrades all are gone; Death, deadly foe,
Has caught them one by one, and trampled low;
They shared life's feast, and drank its wine with me,
But lost their heads, and dropped a while ago.

219. C. L. A. I. Quoted by _Badauni_, ii. 159.

220.

Those hypocrites, all know so well, who lurk
In streets to beg their bread, and will not work,
Claim to be saints, like Shibli and Junaid,
No Shiblis are they, though well known in Karkh!

220. C. L. A. I. L. Reads _bakahna namad_, but the line will not scan with that reading. Line 4 is in metre 9. A saint called _Ma'ruf i Karkhi_, «the famed one of Karkh,» is mentioned in the _Nafahat ul Uns_. Karkh was a suburb of Bagdad.

221.

When the great Founder moulded me of old,
He mixed much baser metal with my gold;
Better or fairer I can never be
Than I first issued from his heavenly mould.

221. C. L. A. I.

222.

The joyous souls who quaff potations deep,
And saints who in the mosques sad vigils keep,
Are lost at sea alike, and find no shore,
ONE only wakes, all others are asleep.

222. L. B. One, _i.e._, the Deity.

223.

Not-being's water served to mix my clay,
And on my heart grief's fire doth ever prey,
And blown am I like wind about the world,
And last my crumbling earth is swept away.

223. L. This introduction of the four elements in one quatrain is called _Mutazadd_. Gladwin, p. 60.

224.

Small gains to learning on this earth accrue,
They pluck life's fruitage, learning who eschew;
Take pattern by the fools who learning shun,
And then perchance shall fortune smile on you.

224. C. L. A. I. _Bu_ contracted from _buzad_

225.

When the fair soul this mansion doth vacate,
Each element assumes its primal state,
And all the silken furniture of life
Is then dismantled by the blows of fate.

225. C. L. A. I. _Abresham tab'_, like _Hatim tab'_.

226.

These people string their beads of learned lumber,
And tell of Allah stories without number;
Yet never solve the riddle of the skies,
But wag the chin, and get them back to slumber.

226. Possibly a hit at the _Mutakallamin_, or scholastic theologians.

227.

These folk are asses, laden with conceit,
And glittering drums, that empty sounds repeat,
And humble slaves are they of name and fame,
Acquire a name, and, lo! they kiss thy feet.

227. C. L. A. I. _Ba afsos_ is an epithet, like _ba khabar_, and hence _kharan_, the noun qualified by it, takes the _izafat_. Lumsden, ii. 259. _Pur mash'ala_, «full of glitter»; compare _pur mae_ in No. 179.

228.

On the dread day of final scrutiny
Thou wilt be rated by thy quality;
Get wisdom and fair qualities to-day,
For, as thou art, requited wilt thou be.

228. C. L. A. I.

229.

Many fine heads, like bowls, the Brazier made,
And thus his own similitude portrayed;
He set one upside down above our heads,
Which keeps us all continually afraid.

229. C. L. A. I. «One upside down,» _i.e._, the sky. _Kansa_ is also spelled _kasa_.

230.

My true condition I may thus explain
In two short verses which the whole contain:
«From love to Thee I now lay down my life,
In hope Thy love will raise me up again.»

230. C. L. A. I. Scan _wakiayi_. Here _hamza_ stands for _ya i tankir_.

231.

The heart, like tapers, takes at beauty's eyes
A flame, and lives by that whereby it dies;
And beauty is a flame where hearts, like moths,
Offer themselves a burning sacrifice.

231. L. Metre Ramal, No. 50. In line 3 the first syllable is short. See Bl., Prosody, p. 43. In this form the metre is like Horace's «_Miserarum est_,» etc.

232.

To please the righteous life itself I sell,
And, though they tread me down, never rebel;
Men say, «Inform us what and where is hell?»
Ill company will make this earth a hell.

232. C. L. A. I. Also ascribed to Hafiz.

233.

The sun doth smite the roofs with Orient ray
And, Khosrau like, his wine-red sheen display;
Arise, and drink! the herald of the dawn
Uplifts his voice, and cries, «Oh, drink to-day!»

233. C. L. A. I. J.

234.

Comrades! when e'er you meet together here,
Recall your friend to mind, and drop a tear;
And when the circling wine-cups reach his seat,
Pray turn one upside down his dust to cheer.

234. B. A variation of No. 205.

235.

That grace and favour at the first, what meant it?
That lavishing of joy and peace, what meant it?
But now thy purpose is to grieve my heart;
What did I do to cause this change? What meant it?

235. B. So Job, «He multiplieth my wounds without cause.»

236.

These hypocrites who build on saintly show,
Treating the body as the spirit's foe,
If they will shut their mouths with lime, like jars,
My jar of grape-juice I will then forego.

236. L. B. B. reads _arra_, of which I can make no sense. _Bar fark niham_, «I will put aside»; _bar fark_ (line 4), «on their mouths.»

237.

Many have come, and run their eager race,
Striving for pleasures, luxuries, or place,
And quaffed their wine, and now all silent lie,
Enfolded in their parent earth's embrace.

237. C. L. A. I.

238.

Then, when the good reap fruits of labours past,
My hapless lot with drunkards will be cast;
If good, may I be numbered with the first,
If bad, find grace and mercy with the last.

238. C. L. A. I.

239.

Of happy turns of fortune take your fill,
Seek pleasure's couch, or wine-cup, as you will;
Allah regards not if you sin, or saint it,
So take your pleasure, be it good or ill.

239. C. L. N. A. I. J. Alluding to the _Hadis_, «These are in heaven, and Allah regards not their sins, and those in hell, and Allah regards not their good works.» See _Gulshan i' Raz_, p. 55.

240.

Heaven multiplies our sorrows day by day,
And grants no joys it does not take away;
If those unborn could know the ills we bear,
What think you, would they rather come or stay?

240. C. L. N. A. I. J. This recalls Byron's «Stanzas for Music.»

241.

Why ponder thus the future to foresee,
And jade thy brain to vain perplexity?
Cast off thy care, leave Allah's plans to him,
He formed them all without consulting thee.

241. C. L. N. A. I. J.

242.

The tenants of the tombs to dust decay,
Nescient of self, and all beside are they;
Their sundered atoms float about the world,
Like mirage clouds, until the judgment day.

242. C. L. N. A. I. J. In line 4 some MSS. read _sharab_ and change the order of the lines.

243.

O soul! lay up all earthly goods in store,
Thy mead with pleasure's flowerets spangle o'er;
And know 'tis all as dew, that decks the flowers
For one short night, and then is seen no more!

243. C. L. N. A. I. J. There are several variations of this.

244.

Heed not the Sunna, nor the law divine;
If to the poor his portion you assign,
And never injure one, nor yet abuse,
I guarantee you heaven, and now some wine!

244. C. L. N. A. B. I. J. See Koran, ii. 172: «There is no piety in turning your faces to the east or west, but he is pious who believeth in God ... and disburseth his wealth to the needy,» etc.

245.

Vexed by this wheel of things, that pets the base,
My sorrow-laden life drags on apace;
Like rosebud, from the storm I wrap me close,
And blood-spots on my heart, like tulip, trace.

245. N.

246.

Youth is the time to pay court to the vine,
To quaff the cup, with revellers to recline;
A flood of water once laid waste the earth,
Hence learn to lay you waste with floods of wine.

246. C. N. A. I. J.

247.

The world is baffled in its search for Thee,
Wealth cannot find Thee, no, nor poverty;
Thou'rt very near us, but our ears are deaf,
Our eyes are blinded that we may not see!

247. N. So Hafiz, Ode 355 (Brockhaus): «How can our eyes behold Thee as Thou art?»

248.

Take care you never hold a drinking-bout
With an ill-tempered, ill-conditioned lout;
He'll make a vile disturbance all night long,
And vile apologies next day, no doubt.

248. C. L. N. A. I. J. In line 3 scan _badmastiyo_ and in line 4 _Khwahiyash_.

249.

The starry aspects are not all benign;
Why toil then after vain desires, and pine
To lade thyself with load of fortune's boons,
Only to drop it with this life of thine?

249. C. L. N. A. I. J.

250.

O comrades! here is filtered wine, come drink!
Pledge all your charming sweethearts as you drink;
'Tis the grape's blood, and this is what it says,
«To you I dedicate my life-blood! drink!»

250. C. L. N. A. I. J.

251.

Are you depressed? Then take of _bhang_ one grain,
Of rosy grape-juice take one pint or twain;
Sufis, you say, must not take this or that,
Then go and eat the pebbles off the plain!

251. N. In line 1 and 2 scan _yakjawaki_ and _manaki_, _ak_ being the diminutive, and _ya_ the _ya i tankir_, displacing the _izafat_: Lumsden, ii, 269. _Bhang_, a narcotic, made from hemp.

252.

I saw a busy potter by the way
Kneading with might and main a lump of clay;
And, lo! the clay cried, «Use me gently, pray;
I was a man myself but yesterday!»

252. C. L. N. A. B. I. J. _Hal_, ecstasy.

253.

Oh! wine is richer that the realm of Jam,
More fragrant than the food of Miriam;
Sweeter are sighs that drunkards heave at morn
Than strains of Bu Sa'id and Bin Adham.

253. C. L. N. A. I. J. Abu Sa'id Abu'l Khair and Ibrahim Bin Adham are both mentioned in the _Nafahat ul Uns_. «Miriam's food.» See Koran, xix. 24. Note _izafat_ dropped after silent _he_.

254.

Deep in the rondure of the heavenly blue,
There is a cup, concealed from mortals' view,
Which all must drink in turn; Oh, sigh not then,
But drink it boldly, when it comes to you!

254. C. L. A. I. J. _Jawr_, a «bumper.»

255.

Though you should live to four, or forty score,
Go hence you must, as all have gone before;
Then, be you king, or beggar of the streets,
They'll rate you all the same, no less, no more.

255. L.

256.

If you seek Him, abandon child and wife,
Arise, and sever all these ties to life;
All these are bonds to check you on your course.
Arise, and cut these bonds, as with a knife.

256. L. B. So _Gulshan i Raz_, l. 944.

257.

O heart! this world is but a fleeting show,
Why should its empty griefs distress thee so?
Bow down, and bear thy fate, the eternal pen
Will not unwrite its roll for thee, I trow!

257. L. N. B. The «pen» is that with which Allah writes his decrees.

258.

Who e'er returned of all that went before,
To tell of that long road they travel o'er?
Leave naught undone of what you have to do,
For when you go, you will return no more.

258. C. N. L. A. I. J. _Amadaye, ya i tankir_.

259.

Dark wheel! how many lovers thou hast slain,
Like Mahmud and Ayaz, O inhumane!
Come, let us drink, thou grantest not two lives,
When one is spent, we find it not again.

259. L. N. Mahmud, the celebrated king of Ghazni, and Ayaz his favourite. Scan _wayaz_ (_alif i wasl_).

260.

Illustrious Prophet! whom all kings obey,
When is our darkness lightened by wine's ray?
On Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday,
Friday, and Saturday, both night and day!

260. C. L. N. A. I. J. The _jim_ in _panjshamba_ is dropped in scanning. See Bl., Prosody, p. 10. In line 4 note silent _he_ in _shauba_ scanned long as well as short.

261.

O turn away those roguish eyes of thine!
Be still! seek not my peace to undermine!
Thou say'st, «Look not.» I might as well essay
To slant my goblet, and not spill my wine.

261. N. Line 4, a proverb denoting an impossibility.

262.

In taverns better far commune with Thee,
Than pray in mosques, and fail Thy face to see!
O first and last of all Thy creatures Thou,
'Tis Thine to burn, and Thine to cherish me!

262. C. L. N. A. B. I. J. This is clearly an address to the Deity.

263.

To wise and worthy men your life devote,
But from the worthless keep your walk remote;
Dare to take poison from a sage's hand,
But from a fool refuse an antidote.

263. L. N. Line 2 is in metre 17.

264.

I flew here, as a bird from the wild, in aim
Up to a higher nest my course to frame,
But, finding here no guide who knows the way,
Fly out by the same door where through I came.

264. C. L. N. A. I. J.

265.

He binds us in resistless Nature's chain,
And yet bids us our natures to restrain;
Between these counter rules we stand perplexed,
«Hold the jar slant, but all the wine retain.»

265. L. N. In line 3 scan _nahyash_. So Lord Brooke in «Mustapha»; Ward's English Poets, i. 370.

266.

They go away, and none is seen returning,
To teach that other world's recondite learning;
'Twill not be shown for dull mechanic prayers,
For prayer is naught without true heartfelt yearning.

266. C. L. N. A. I. The _formal_ prayers of Moslems are rather ascriptions of praise, and repetitions of texts, than petitions.

267.

Go to! Cast dust on those deaf skies, who spurn
Thy orisons and bootless prayers, and learn
To quaff the cup, and hover round the fair;
Of all who go, did ever one return?

267. C. L. N. A. B. I. J. An answer to the last.

268.

Though Khayyam strings no pearls of righteous deeds,
Nor sweeps from off his soul sin's noisome weeds,
Yet will he not despair of heavenly grace,
Seeing that ONE as two he ne'er misreads.

268. C. L. N. A. B. I. J. _Tauhid_, or Unitarianism, is the central doctrine of Islam. So Hafiz, Ode 465.

269.

Again to tavern haunts do we repair,
And say «Adieu» to the five hours of prayer;
Where'er we see a long-necked flask of wine,
We elongate our necks that wine to share.

269. C. L. N. A. B. I. J. _Takbir_, or _tekbir_ the formula «_Allah akbar_,» in saying which the mind should be abstracted from worldly thoughts; hence «renunciation.» See Nicolas.

270.

We are but chessmen, destined, it is plain,
That great chess-player, Heaven, to entertain;
It moves us on life's chess-board to and fro,
And then in death's dark box shuts up again.

270. L. N. B. _Hakikati_, see Bl., Prosody 3.

271.

You ask what is this life so frail, so vain,
'Tis long to tell, yet will I make it plain;
'Tis but a breath blown from the vasty deeps,
And then blown back to those same deeps again!

271. C. L. N. A. I. J. Some MSS. read _naksh_. Deeps, _i.e._, the ocean of Not-being.

272.

To-day to heights of rapture have I soared,
Yea, and with drunken Maghs pure wine adored;
I am become beside myself, and rest
In that pure temple, «Am not I your Lord?»

272. C. L. N. A. I. J. _Alasto birabbikum_, Allah's words to Adam's sons: Koran vii. 171. So in Hafiz, Ode 43 (Brockhaus).

273.

My queen (long may she live to vex her slave!)
To-day a token of affection gave,
Darting a kind glance from her eyes, she passed,
And said, «Do good and cast it on the wave!»

273. L. N. Meaning, hope not for a return to your love. _Nekuyey_, «a good act,» _ya_ conjunctive and _ya i tankir_, Vullers, p. 250.

274.

I put my lips to the cup, for I did yearn
The hidden cause of length of days to learn;
He leaned his lip to mine, and whispered low,
«Drink! for, once gone, you never will return.»

274. C. L. A. B. I. J. Some MSS. give line 4 differently.

275.

We lay in the cloak of Naught, asleep and still,
Thou said'st, «Awake! taste the world's good and ill»;
Here we are puzzled by Thy strange command,
From slanted jars no single drop to spill.

275. L. Naught, _i.e._, Not-being. See note to No. 183.

276.

O Thou! who know'st the secret thoughts of all,
In time of sorest need who aidest all,
Grant me repentance, and accept my plea,
O Thou who dost accept the pleas of all!

276. C. L. N. A. I. J. Note _tashdid_ on _rabb_ dropped.

277.

I saw a bird perched on the walls of Tus,
Before him lay the skull of Kai Kawus,
And thus he made his moan, «Alas, poor king!
Thy drums are hushed, thy 'larums have rung truce.»

277. C. L. N. A. Tus was near Nishapur.

278.

Ask not the chances of the time to be,
And for the past, 'tis vanished, as you see;
This ready-money breath set down as gain,
Future and past concern not you or me.

278. C. L. N. A. I. J. In line 1 note _izafat_ dropped after silent _he_. Compare Horace's Ode to Leuconoe.

279.

What launched that golden orb his course to run,
What wrecks his firm foundations, when 'tis done,
No man of science ever weighed with scales,
Nor made assay with touchstone, no, not one!

279. L. The vanity of science.

280.

I pray thee to my counsel lend thine ear,
Cast off this false hypocrisy's veneer;
This life a moment is, the next all time,
Sell not eternity for earthly gear!

280. C. L. N. A. B. I. Note _ra_ separated from its noun, as before. Vullers, p. 173.

281.

Ofttimes I plead my foolishness to Thee,
My heart contracted with perplexity;
I gird me with the Magian zone, and why?
For shame so poor a Musulman to be.

281. C. L. N. A. I. J. In line 1 scan _nadaniyi_, dissolving the long _ya_.

282.

Khayyam! rejoice that wine you still can pour,
And still the charms of tulip cheeks adore;
You'll soon not be, rejoice then that you are,
Think how 'twould be in case you were no more!

282. C. L. N. A. B. I. J.

283.

Once, in a potter's shop, a company
Of cups in converse did I chance to see,
And lo! one lifted up his voice, and cried,
«Who made, who sells, who buys this crockery?»

283. C. L. N. A. B. I. J. Men's speculations.

284.

Last night, as I reeled from the tavern door,
I saw a sage, who a great wine-jug bore;
I said, «O Shaikh, have you no shame?» Said he,
«Allah hath boundless mercy in his store.»

284. C. L. N. A. I. J. _Sar mast_, a compound, hence _izafat_ omitted. _Saboyey, hamza_ (for conjunctive _ya_) followed by _ya i tankir_. See Lumsden, ii. 269.

285.

Life's fount is wine, Khizir its guardian,
I, like Elias, find it where I can,
'Tis sustenance for heart and spirit too,
Allah himself calls wine «a boon to man.»

285. C. L. N. A. I. J. Koran, ii. 216. Elias discovered the water of life.

286.

Though wine is banned, yet drink, for ever drink!
By day and night, with strains of music drink!
Where'er thou lightest on a cup of wine,
Spill just one drop, and take the rest and drink!

286. C. L. N. A. I. J. To spill a drop is a sign of liberality.--Nicolas.

287.

Although the creeds number some seventy-three,
I hold with none but that of loving Thee;
What matter faith, unfaith, obedience, sin?
Thou'rt all we need, the rest is vanity.

287. N. See note on Quatrain 194. Forms of faith are indifferent. See _Gulshan i Raz_, p. 83.

288.

Tell one by one my scanty virtues o'er;
As for my sins, forgive them by the score;
Let not my faults kindle Thy wrath to flame;
By blest Muhammad's tomb, forgive once more!

288. L. N. B. _Rasul-ullah_: the construction being Arabic, _izafat_ is needed. Lumsden, ii. p. 251. Also ascribed to Zahir ud-din Faryabi.

289.

Grieve not at coming ill, you can't defeat it,
And what far-sighted person goes to meet it?
Cheer up! bear not about a world of grief,
Your fate is fixed, and grieving will not cheat it.

289. L. Line 2 is a question.

290.

There is a chalice made with wit profound,
With tokens of the Maker's favour crowned;
Yet the world's Potter takes his masterpiece,
And dashes it to pieces on the ground!

290. C. L. A. I. J. So Job, «Is it good unto Thee that Thou shouldest despise the labour of Thine hands?»

291.

In truth wine is a spirit thin as air,
A limpid soul in the cup's earthen ware;
No dull, dense person shall be friend of mine
Save wine-cups, which are dense and also rare.

291. L. N. B. _Layik . man izafat_ omitted because of the intervening words. Lumsden, ii. 250.

292.

O wheel of heaven! no ties of bread you feel,
No ties of salt, you flay me like an eel!
A woman's wheel spins clothes for man and wife,
It does more good than you, O heavenly wheel!

292. C. L. N. A. I. J.

293.

Did no fair rose my paradise adorn,
I would make shift to deck it with a thorn;
And if I lacked my prayer-mats, beads, and Shaikh,
'Those Christian bells and stoles I would not scorn.

293. C. L. N. A. I. (under _Te_). Line 2 is omitted in the translation. So Pope, «For forms and creeds let graceless zealots fight.»

294.

«If heaven deny me peace and fame,» I said,
«Let it be open war and shame instead;
The man who scorns bright wine had best beware,
I'll arm me with a stone, and break his head!»

294. C. L. N. A. I. J.

295.

See! the dawn breaks, and rends night's canopy:
Arise! and drain a morning draught with me!
Away with gloom! full many a dawn will break
Looking for us, and we not here to see!

295. C. L. N A. I. J. _Bisyar_, «frequently.»

296.

O you who tremble not at fires of hell,
Nor wash in water of remorse's well,
When winds of death shall quench your vital torch,
Beware lest earth your guilty dust expel.

296. L. Possibly written by some pious reader as an answer to Khayyam's scoffs. See note on Quatrain 223.

297.

This world a hollow pageant you should deem;
All wise men know things are not what they seem;
Be of good cheer, and drink, and so shake off
This vain illusion of a baseless dream.

297. L. N. All earthly existence is «_Maya_»

298.

With maids stately as cypresses, and fair
As roses newly plucked, your wine-cups share,
Or e'er Death's blasts shall rend your robe of flesh
Like yonder rose leaves, lying scattered there!

298. C. L. N. I. J. The Lucknow commentator says _daman i gul_ means the maid's cheek.

299.

Cast off dull care, O melancholy brother!
Woo the sweet daughter of the grape, no other;
The daughter is forbidden, it is true,
But she is nicer than her lawful mother!

299. N. «Daughter of the grape,» _i.e._, wine, a translation of an Arabic phrase.

300.

My love shone forth, and I was overcome,
My heart was speaking, but my tongue was dumb;
Beside the water-brooks I died of thirst.
Was ever known so strange a martyrdom?

300. N. _Dil rubaye_, «that well-known charmer.» Lumsden, ii. 142. _Pur sukhan_. See note on No. 227.

301.

Give me my cup in hand, and sing a glee
In concert with the bulbul's symphony;
Wine would not gurgle as it leaves the flask,
If drinking mute were right for thee and me!

301. C. L. N. A. I. J.

302.

The «Truth» will not be shown to lofty thought,
Nor yet with lavished gold may it be bought;
But, if you yield your life for fifty years,
From words to «states» you may perchance be brought.

302. L. Line 3, literally, «Unless you dig up your soul, and eat blood for fifty years.» «States» of ecstatic union with the «Truth,» or Deity of the Mystics.

303.

I solved all problems, down from Saturn's wreath
Unto this lowly sphere of earth beneath,
And leapt out free from bonds of fraud and lies,
Yea, every knot was loosed, save that of death!

303. C. L. A. I. J.

304.

Peace! the eternal «Has been» and «To be»
Pass man's experience, and man's theory;
In joyful seasons naught can vie with wine,
To all these riddles wine supplies the key!

304. C. L. A. B. I. J.

305.

Allah, our Lord, is merciful, though just;
Sinner! despair not, but His mercy trust!
For though to-day you perish in your sins,
To-morrow He'll absolve your crumbling dust.

305. C. L. N. A. I. J. A very Voltairean quatrain.

306.

Your course annoys me, O ye wheeling skies!
Unloose me from your chain of tyrannies!
If none but fools your favours may enjoy,
Then favour me,--I am not very wise!

306. C. L. N. A. I. J.

307.

O City Mufti, you go more astray
Than I do, though to wine I do give way;
I drink the blood of grapes, you that of men:
Which of us is the more bloodthirsty, pray?

307. C. L. N. A. I. J. Alluding to the selling of justice by Muftis.

308.

'Tis well to drink, and leave anxiety
For what is past, and what is yet to be;
Our prisoned spirits, lent us for a day,
A while from season's bondage shall go free!

308. C. L. N. A. I. J. _'Ariyati rawan_, «this borrowed soul.»

309.

When Khayyam quittance at Death's hand receives,
And sheds his outworn life, as trees their leaves,
Full gladly will he sift this world away,
Ere dustmen sift his ashes in their sieves.

309. C. L. N. A. I. J.

310.

This wheel of heaven, which makes us all afraid,
I liken to a lamp's revolving shade,
The sun the candlestick, the earth the shade,
And men the trembling forms thereon portrayed.

310. C. L. N. A. B. I. _Fanus i khiyal_, a magic or Chinese lantern.

311.

Who was it that did mix my clay? Not I.
Who spun my web of silk and wool? Not I.
Who wrote upon my forehead all my good,
And all my evil deeds? In truth not I.

311. C. L. N. A. I. In line 2 rhyme shows the word to be _rishtai_, not _rushtai_.

312.

O let us not forecast to-morrow's fears,
But count to-day as gain, my brave compeers!
To-morrow we shall quit this inn, and march
With comrades who have marched seven thousand years.

312. C. L. N. A. I. J. Badauni (ii. 337) says the creation of Adam was 7000 years before his time. Compare Hafiz, _Ruba'i_ 10.

313.

Ne'er for one moment leave your cup unused!
Wine keeps heart, faith, and reason too, amused;
Had Iblis swallowed but a single drop,
To worship Adam he had ne'er refused!

313. C. L. (in part) N. A. I. J. See Koran, ii. 31.

314.

Come, dance! while we applaud thee, and adore
Thy sweet Narcissus eyes, and grape-juice pour;
A score of cups is no such great affair,
But 'tis enchanting when we reach three score!

314. N. Narcissus eyes, _i.e._, languid.

315.

I close the door of hope in my own face,
Nor sue for favours from good men, or base;
I have but ONE to lend a helping hand,
He knows, as well as I, my sorry case.

315. C. L. N. A. I. J. A «_Haliya_» quatrain, lamenting his own condition.

316.

Ah! by these heavens, that ever circling run,
And by my own base lusts I am undone,
Without the wit to abandon worldly hopes,
And wanting sense the world's allures to shun!

316. C. L. N. A. I. J.

317.

On earth's green carpet many sleepers lie,
And hid beneath it others I descry,
And others, not yet come, or passed away,
People the desert of Nonentity!

317. C. L. N. A. I. J. The sleepers on the earth are those sunk in the sleep of superstition and ignorance.

318.

Sure of Thy grace, for sins why need I fear?
How can the pilgrim faint whilst Thou art near?
On the last day Thy grace will wash me white,
And make my «black record» to disappear.

318. C. L. N. A. I. J. Lumsden, ii, 72. See Koran, xiii. 47.

319.

Think not I dread from out the world to hie,
And see my disembodied spirit fly;
I tremble not at death, for death is true,
'Tis my ill life that makes me fear to die!

319. C. L. N. A. I. J. «Death is true,» _i.e._ a certainty. So Sir Philip Sidney (after M. Aurelius), «Since Nature's works be good, and death doth serve as Nature's work, why should we fear to die?»

320.

Let us shake off dull reason's incubus,
Our tale of days or years cease to discuss,
And take our jugs, and plenish them with wine,
Or e'er grim potters make their jugs of us!

320. C. L. N. A. B. I. J.

321.

How much more wilt thou chide, O raw divine,
For that I drink, and am a libertine?
Thou hast thy weary beads, and saintly show,
Leave me my cheerful sweetheart, and my wine!

321. C. L. N. A. I. J.

322.

Against my lusts I ever war, in vain,
I think on my ill deeds with shame and pain;
I trust Thou wilt assoil me of my sins,
But even so, my shame must still remain.

322. C. L. N. A. B. I.

323.

In these twin compasses, O Love, you see
One body with two heads, like you and me,
Which wander round one centre, circlewise.
But at the last in one same point agree.

323. C. L. N. A. I. Mr. Fitzgerald quotes a similar figure used by the poet Donne, for which see Ward's «English Poets,» i. 562. The two heads are the points of the compasses.

324.

We shall not stay here long, but while we do,
'Tis folly wine and sweethearts to eschew;
Why ask if earth etern or transient be?
Since you must go, it matters not to you.

324. C. L. N. A. B. I. J.

325.

In reverent sort to mosque I wend my way,
But, by great Allah, it is not to pray;
No! but to steal a prayer-mat! When 'tis worn,
I go again, another to purvey.

325. C. L. N. A. B. I. J. To «steal a prayer-mat» is to pray to be seen of men.--Nicolas. A satire on some hypocrite, perhaps himself.

326.

No more let fate's annoys our peace consume,
But let us rather rosy wine consume,
The world our murderer is, and wine its blood,
Shall we not then that murderer's blood consume?

326. L. N. See Koran, ii. 187.

327.

For Thee I vow to cast repute away,
And, if I shrink, the penalty to pay;
Though life might satisfy Thy cruelty,
'Twere naught, I'll bear it till the judgment-day!

327. C. L. N. A. B. I.

328.

In Being's rondure do we stray belated,
Our pride of manhood humbled and abated;
Would we were gone! long since have we been wearied
With this world's griefs, and with its pleasures sated.

328. L. N.

329.

The world is false, so I'll be false as well,
And with bright wine, and gladness ever dwell!
They say, «May Allah grant thee penitence!»
He grants it not, and, did he, I'd rebel!

329. C. L. N. A. B. I. J. A pun in the original.

330.

When Death shall tread me down upon the plain,
And pluck my feathers, and my life-blood drain,
Then mould me to a cup, and fill with wine,
Haply its scent will make me breathe again.

330. C. L. N. A. B. I. J.

331.

So far as this world's dealings I have traced,
I find its favours shamefully misplaced;
Allah be praised! I see myself debarred
From all its boons, and wrongfully disgraced.

331. C. L. N. A. I. _Alam hama_, etc., «states entirely gratuitous.» Write _baran_ without a _madd_. Bl., Prosody, p. 11. Compare Shakespeare, Sonnet 66.

332.

'Tis dawn! my heart with wine I will recruit,
And dash to bits the glass of good repute;
My long-extending hopes I will renounce,
And grasp long tresses, and the charming lute.

332. L. N. B.

333.

Though I had sinned the sins of all mankind,
I know Thou would'st to mercy be inclined;
Thou sayest, «I will help in time of need»
One needier than I where wilt Thou find?

333. C. L. N. A. I. J. The _waw_ in _'afw_ is a consonant, and therefore takes _kasra_ for the _izafat_, without the intervention of conjunctive _ya_.

334.

Am I a wine-bibber? What if I am?
Gueber or infidel? Suppose I am?
Each sect miscalls me, but I heed them not,
I am my own, and, what I am, I am.

334. C. L. N. A. I. J. _Zan i khud_ for _azan i khud_, «my own property.»

335.

All my life long from drink I have not ceased,
And drink I will to-night on Kadr's feast;
And throw my arms about the wine-jar's neck,
And kiss its lip, and clasp it to my breast!

335. C. L. N. A. I. J. _Kadr_ the night of power. Koran, xcvi. 1.

336.

I know what is, and what is not, I know
The lore of things above, and things below;
But all this lore will cheerfully renounce,
If one a higher grade than drink can show.

336. L. N. B. Line 1, Being and Not-being, «Grade,» _i.e._, of learning.

337.

Though I drink wine, I am no libertine,
Nor am I grasping, save of cups of wine;
I scruple to adore myself, like you;
For this cause to wine-worship I incline.

337. C. L. N. A. I. J. A hit at the vain and covetous Mollas. Also ascribed to Anwari.

338.

To confidants like you I dare to say
What mankind really are--moulded of clay,
Affliction's clay, and kneaded in distress,
They taste the world awhile, then pass away.

338. C. L. N. A. I. J. Note the archaic form.

339.

We make the wine-jar's lip our place of prayer,
And drink in lessons of true manhood there,
And pass our lives in taverns, if perchance
The time mis-spent in mosques we may repair.

339. L. N. This quatrain is probably Mystical.

340.

Man is the whole creation's summary,
The precious apple of great wisdom's eye;
The circle of existence is a ring,
Whereof the signet is humanity.

340. C. L. N. A. I. Man is the microcosm. See _Gulshan i Raz_, p. 15. «The captain jewel of the carcanet.»

341.

With fancies, as with wine, our heads we turn,
Aspire to heaven, and earth's low trammels spurn;
But, when we drop this fleshly clog, 'tis seen
From dust we came, and back to dust return.

341. L. N.

342.

If so it be that I did break the fast,
Think not I meant it; no! I thought 'twas past;--
That day more weary than a sleepless night,--
And blesséd breakfast-time had come at last!

342. L. N. _Roza khwardan_, «to avoid fasting.» In line 2, for _bekhabar_ read _bakhabar_.

343.

I never drank of joy's sweet cordial,
But grief's fell hand infused a drop of gall;
Nor dipped my bread in pleasure's piquant salt,
But briny sorrow made me smart withal!

343. C. L. N. A. I. Line 4, literally, «eat a roast of my own liver.»

344.

At dawn to tavern haunts I wend my way,
And with distraught Kalendars pass the day;
O Thou! who know'st things secret, and things known,
Grant me Thy grace, that I may learn to pray!

344. C. L. N. A. I. J. _Khafiyyat_ means «manifest,» as well as «concealed.» Lucknow commentator.

345.

The world's annoys I rate not at one grain,
So I eat once a day I don't complain;
And, since earth's kitchen yields no solid food,
I pester no man with petitions vain.

345. C. L. N. A. I. J. In line 3 the _Alif_ in _az_ is not treated as an _Alif i wasl_. Bl., Pros. 10.

346.

Never from worldly toils have I been free,
Never for one short moment glad to be!
I served a long apprenticeship to fate,
But yet of fortune gained no mastery.

346. C. L. N. A. I. J. _Ek dam zadan_, «For one moment.»

347.

One hand with Koran, one with wine-cup dight,
I half incline to wrong, and half to right;
The azure-marbled sky looks down on me
A sorry Moslem, yet not heathen quite.

347. C. L. N. A. I. J. Khayyam here describes himself as _akrates_ rather than _akolastos_, «_Video meliora proboque_,» etc.

348.

Khayyam's respects to Mustafa convey,
And with due reverence ask him to say,
Why it has pleased him to forbid pure wine,
When he allows his people acid whey?

348 and 349. L. These two quatrains are also found in Whalley's Morababad edition. _Mustafa_, _i.e._, Muhammad. So Avicenna. See Renan, Averroes, 171.

349.

Tell Khayyam, for a master of the schools,
He strangely misinterprets my plain rules:
Where have I said that wine is wrong for all?
'Tis lawful for the wise, but not for fools.

350.

My critics call me a philosopher,
But Allah knows full well they greatly err;
I know not even what I am, much less
Why on this earth I am a sojourner!

350. C. L. A. I. J. Filsafat meant the Greek philosophy as cultivated by Persian rationalists, in opposition to theology. Renan, Averroes, p. 91.

351.

The more I die to self, I live the more,
The more abase myself, the higher soar;
And, strange! the more I drink of Being's wine,
More sane I grow and sober than before.

351. L. Clearly Mystical.

352.

Quoth rose, «I am the Yusuf flower, I swear,
For in my mouth rich golden gems I bear»:
I said, «Show me another proof.» Quoth she,
«Behold this blood-stained vesture that I wear!»

352. B. L. Yusuf is the type of manly beauty. The yellow stamens are compared to his teeth. So Jami, in _Yusuf wa Zulaikha_.

353.

I studied with the masters long ago,
And long ago did master all they know;
Here now the end and issue of it all,
From earth I came, and like the wind I go!

353. L. B. Mr. Fitzgerald compares the dying exclamation of Nizam ul-Mulk, «I am going in the hands of the wind!» _Mantik ut Tair_, 1. 4620.

354.

Death finds us soiled, though we were pure at birth,
With grief we go, although we came with mirth;
Watered with tears, and burned with fires of woe,
And, casting life to winds, we rest in earth!

354. C. L. A. I. J.

355.

To find great Jamshid's world-reflecting bowl
I compassed sea and land, and viewed the whole;
But, when I asked the wary sage, I learned
That bowl was my own body, and my soul!

355. L. King Jamshid's cup, which reflected the whole world, is the Holy Grail of Persian poetry. Meaning «man is the microcosm.» See note on No. 340. In line 2 scan _naghnudem_.

356.

Me, cruel Queen! you love to captivate,
And from a knight to a poor pawn translate,
You marshal all your force to tire me out,
You take my rooks with yours, and then checkmate!

356. C. L. A. I. J. The pun on _rukh_, «cheek,» and _rukh_, «castle,» is untranslatable.

357.

If Allah wills me not to will aright,
How can I frame my will to will aright?
Each single act I will must needs be wrong,
Since none but He has power to will aright.

357. C. L. A. I. J.

358.

«For once, while roses are in bloom,» I said,
«I'll break the law, and please myself instead,
With blooming youths, and maidens' tulip cheeks
The plain shall blossom like a tulip-bed.»

358. L. N. _Rozi_, _ya i batni_, or _tankir_ (?).

359.

Think not I am existent of myself,
Or walk this blood-stained pathway of myself;
This being is not I, it is of Him.
Pray what, and where, and whence is this «myself»?

359. C. L. A. I. J. In line 3 I omit _wa_ after _Lu bud_. Meaning, Man's real existence is not of himself, but of the «Truth,» the universal _Noumenon_.

360.

Endure this world without my wine I cannot!
Drag on life's load without my cups I cannot!
I am the slave of that sweet moment, when
They say, «Take one more goblet,» and I cannot!

360. C. L. N. A. I. J.

361.

You, who both day and night the world pursue,
And thoughts of that dread day of doom eschew,
Bethink you of your latter end; be sure
As time has treated others, so 'twill you!

361. C. L. N. A. I.

362.

O man, who art creation's summary,
Getting and spending too much trouble thee!
Arise, and quaff the Etern Cupbearer's wine,
And so from troubles of both worlds be free!

362. C. L. N. A. I. J. So Wordsworth, «The world is too much with us,» etc. The Sufis rejected _talab ud dunya_, «worldliness,» and _talab nl ukharat_, «other-worldliness,» for _talab nl maula_, «disinterested godliness.» So Madame Guyon taught «Holy Indifference.»

363.

In this eternally revolving zone,
Two lucky species of men are known;
One knows all good and ill that are on earth,
One neither earth's affairs, nor yet his own.

363. C. L. N. A. I. J. _Taman_, «entirely.» The two classes seem to be practical men and mystics.

364.

Make light to me the world's oppressive weight,
And hide my failings from the people's hate,
And grant me peace to-day, and on the morrow
Deal with me as Thy mercy may dictate!

364. C. L. N A. I. J. In line 4 scan _anchaz_.

365.

Souls that are well informed of this world's state,
Its weal and woe with equal mind await:
For, be it weal we meet, or be it woe,
The weal doth pass, and woe too hath its date.

365. C. L. N. A. B. I. J. 'Twill all be one a hundred years hence.

366.

Lament not fortune's want of constancy,
But up! and seize her favours ere they flee;
If fortune always cleaved to other men,
How could a turn of luck have come to thee?

366. C. L. N. A. I. J. This was a saying of Kisra Parviz to his Sultana. Bicknell's Hafiz, p. 73.

367.

Chief of old friends! hearken to what I say,
Let not heaven's treacherous wheel your heart dismay;
But rest contented in your humble nook,
And watch the games that wheel is wont to play.

367. C. L. N. A. I. J.

368.

Hear now Khayyam's advice, and bear in mind,
Consort with revellers, though they be maligned,
Cast down the gates of abstinence and prayer,
Yea, drink, and even rob, but, oh! be kind!

368. C. L. N. A. B. I. J. A rather violent extension of the doctrine, Mercy is better than sacrifice.

369.

This world a body is, and God its soul,
And angels are its senses, who control
Its limbs--the creatures, elements, and spheres;
The ONE is the sole basis of the whole.

369. L. N. So Pope, «All are but parts,» etc.

370.

Last night that idol who enchants my heart,
With true desire to elevate my heart,
Gave me his cup to drink; when I refused,
He said, «Oh, drink to gratify my heart!»

370. N.

371.

Would'st thou have fortune bow her neck to thee,
Make it thy care to feed thy soul with glee;
And hold a creed like mine, which is to drain
The cup of wine, not that of misery.

371. So the Ecclesiast, «There is nothing better for a man than that he should eat, and drink, and make his soul enjoy good in his labour.»

372.

Though you survey O my enlightened friend,
This world of vanity from end to end,
You will discover there no other good
Than wine and rosy cheeks, you may depend!

372. N. Note _izafat_ dropped after _sahib_. Bl., Prosody, p. 14.

373.

Last night upon the river bank we lay,
I with my wine-cup, and a maiden gay,
So bright it shone, like pearl within its shell,
The watchman cried, «Behold the break of day!»

373. N. _Nigare_. Here _ya_ may be _ya i tankir_, the _izafat_ being dispensed with (Lumsden, ii. 269) [?], or perhaps _ya i tausifi_ before the «sifat» _marvzum_.

374.

Have you no shame for all the sins you do,
Sins of omission and commission too?
Suppose you gain the world, you can but leave it,
You cannot carry it away with you!

374. C. L. N. A. I. J.

375.

In a lone waste I saw a debauchee,
He had no home, no faith, no heresy,
No God, no truth, no law, no certitude;
Where in this world is man so bold as he?

375. L. N. A _beshara'_ or antinomian Sufi.

376.

Some look for truth in creeds, and forms, and rules;
Some grope for doubts or dogmas in the schools;
But from behind the veil a voice proclaims,
«Your road lies neither here nor there, O fools.»

376. C. L. N. A. I. Truth, hidden from theologians and philosophers, is revealed to mystics. See _Gulshan i Raz_, p. 11.

377.

In heaven is seen the bull we name Parwin,
Beneath the earth another lurks unseen;
And thus to wisdom's eyes mankind appear
A drove of asses, two great bulls between!

377. L. N. The bulls are the constellation Taurus, and that which supports the earth.

378.

The people say, «Why not drink somewhat less?
What reasons have you for such great excess?»
First, my Love's face, second, my morning draught;
Can there be clearer reasons, now confess?

378. C. L. N. A. I. J.

379.

Had I the power great Allah to advise,
I'd bid him sweep away this earth and skies,
And build a better, where, unclogged and free,
The clear soul might achieve her high emprise.

379. C. L. N. A. I. J. This recalls the celebrated speech of Alphonso X., king of Castile.

380.

This silly sorrow-laden heart of mine
Is ever pining for that Love of mine;
When the Cupbearer poured the wine of love,
With my heart's blood he filled this cup of mine!

380. C. L. N. A. I. Meaning, «the wine of life, or existence, poured by the Deity into all beings at creation.» See _Gulshan i Raz_, p. 80.

381.

To drain the cup, to hover round the fair,
Can hypocritic arts with these compare?
If all who love and drink are going wrong,
There's many a wight of heaven may well despair!

381. L. N. B.

382.

'Tis wrong with gloomy thoughts your mirth to drown,--
To let grief's millstone weigh your spirits down;
Since none can tell what is to be, 'tis best
With wine and love your heart's desires to crown.

382. C. L. N. A. B. I. J.

383.

'Tis well in reputation to abide,
'Tis shameful against heaven to rail and chide;
Still, head had better ache with over drink,
Than be puffed up with Pharisaic pride!

383. C. L. N. A. I. J. Compare «Tartufe,» i. 6.

384.