The Sufistic Quatrains Of Omar Khayyam Part 13

What, without asking, hither hurried _Whence_?

And, without asking, _Whither_ hurried hence!

Oh, many a Cup of this forbidden Wine Must drown the memory of that insolence!

This quatrain owes its origin to two ruba'iyat in O., viz., 21 and 151.

Seeing that my coming was not in my power at the Day of Creation,[47]

And that my undesired departure hence is a purpose fixed (for me), Get up and gird well thy loins, O nimble cup-bearer, For I will wash down the misery of the world in wine.

_Ref._: O. 21, C. 49, L. 94, B. 90, B. ii. 86, P. v. 123.--W. 110, V.

94.

Had I charge of the matter I would not have come, And, likewise, could I control my going, how should I have gone?

There could have been nothing better than that in this world I had neither come, nor gone, nor lived?

_Ref._: O. 157, C. 494, L. 732, B. 720, P. 88, B. ii. 590 and 593, P.

iv. 17, P. v. 130.--W. 490, E.C. 30, N. 450, V. 785.

x.x.xI.

Up from Earth's Centre through the Seventh Gate I rose, and on the Throne of Saturn sate, And many a Knot unravel'd by the Road; But not the Master-knot of Human Fate.

This quatrain is translated from C. 314.

From the Nadir of the earthly globe, up to the Zenith of Saturn I solved all the problems of heaven; I escaped from the bondage of all trickery and deceit, All obstacles were removed save only the Bond of Fate.

_Ref._: C. 314, L. 491, B. 487, B. ii. 338, T. 215.--W. 303, V. 531.

x.x.xII.

There was the Door to which I found no Key; There was the Veil through which I might not see: Some little talk awhile of ME and THEE There was--and then no more of THEE and ME.

The main inspiration of this quatrain is found in C. 387.

Neither thou nor I know the secret of Eternity, And neither thou nor I can de-cypher this riddle; There is a talk behind the Curtain[48] of me and thee But when the Curtain falls neither thou nor I are there.

_Ref._: C. 387, L. 581, B. 574, P. 33, B. ii. 421, T. 260.--W. 389, V.

628.

We also see in the quatrain the influence of O. 29 and C. 193, ll. 1 and 2.

No one can pa.s.s behind the Curtain (that veils) the secret, The mind of no one is cognizant of what is there:[49]

_Ref.:_ O. 29, C. 56, L. 61, B. 58, S.P. 43, P. 63, B. ii. 103, P. v.

188.--W. 47, N. 44, V. 60.

No one can pa.s.s behind the Curtain of Fate No one is master of the Secret of Destiny.

_Ref.:_ C. 193, L. 345, B. 341, S.P. 177, B. ii. 212.--W 192, N. 177, V.

346.

x.x.xIII.*

Earth could not answer; nor the seas that mourn In flowing Purple, of their Lord forlorn; Nor rolling Heaven, with all his Signs reveal'd And hidden by the sleeve of Night and Morn.

This is the quatrain (not No. 31 as stated by Mr. Aldis Wright in his Editorial Note) taken by Edward FitzGerald from the Mantik ut-tair of Ferid ud din Attar. The story which inspired it begins at distich No.

972, and is as follows:

An observer of spiritual things approached the sea And said O sea, why are you blue?

Why do you wear the robe of mourning?

There is no fire, why do you boil?

The sea made answer to that good-hearted one, I weep for my separation from the Friend, Since by reason of my impotence I am not worthy of Him, I have made my robe blue on account of my sorrow for Him.

x.x.xIV.

Then of the THEE in ME who works behind The Veil, I lifted up my hands to find A lamp amid the Darkness; and I heard, As from Without--THE ME WITHIN THEE BLIND!

That Edward FitzGerald was not following any particular ruba'iyat of the original MSS. is clearly indicated by the great variation observable in the forms that this quatrain successively a.s.sumed in the first, second and third editions. It suggests an exposition of the Sufi doctrine of the emanation of the mortal Creature from G.o.d the Creator, and his reabsorption into G.o.d. There is a quatrain in L. (No. 641) and in B. ii.

(No. 457) which is akin to it, but FitzGerald was not acquainted with these texts. (It is No. 400 in W.) I have no doubt that FitzGerald's 34th quatrain was suggested to him by two intricate pa.s.sages in the Mantik ut-tair, commencing respectively at distich 3090 and distich 3735. The first of these may be translated:

The Creator of the World spoke thus to David from behind the Curtain of the Secret: For everything in the world, good or bad, visible or invisible, thou canst find a subst.i.tute, but for Me, thou canst find neither subst.i.tute nor equal. Since nothing can be subst.i.tuted for Me, do not cease to abide in Me. I am thy Soul, destroy not thou thy Soul, I am necessary to thee, O thou my servant. Seek not to exist apart from Me.

The second pa.s.sage reads: Since long ago, really, I am thee, and thou art Me, we two are but One. Art thou Me, or am I thee? is there any duality in the matter? Either I am thee, or thou art Me, or thou, thou art thyself. Since thou art Me and I am thee for ever, our two bodies are One: Salutation!

x.x.xV.

Then to the Lip of this poor earthen Urn I lean'd, the Secret of my Life to learn; And Lip to Lip it murmur'd--While you live, Drink!--for, once dead, you never shall return.

This quatrain is translated from O. 100:

In great desire I pressed my lips to the lip of the jar, To enquire from it how long life might be attained; It joined its lip to mine and whispered, Drink wine! for to this world thou returnest not.

_Ref._: O. 100, C. 283, L. 446, B. 442, P. 99, B. ii. 303, T. 185, P. v.

193.--W. 274, E.C. 25, V. 482.

C. 489 is a mystic and doctrinal quatrain containing the same injunction.

Drink wine! for I have told you a thousand times There is no returning for you; when you are gone, you are _gone_!

_Ref._: C. 489, L. 723, B. 712, S.P. 385, B. ii. 526, P. iv. 67, P. v.

104--W. 431, N. 389, V. 775.

x.x.xVI.