The Sufistic Quatrains Of Omar Khayyam Part 39

117.

Alas for that cold heart, which never glows With love, nor e'er that charming madness knows; The days misspent with no redeeming love;-- No days are wasted half as much as those!

117. Bl. L. B.

118.

The zephyrs waft thy fragrance, and it takes My heart, and me, his master, he forsakes; Careless of me he pants and leaps to thee, And thee his pattern and ensample makes!

118. Bl. C. L. A. I. J. Also ascribed to Abu Sa'id bin Abul Khair. C.

writes _buyi_ with two _yas_, and _hamza_ on the first. The second _ya_ seems to be _ya i batni_ or _tausifi_, though that is usual only before adjectives. Bl., Prosody, p. 11.

119.

Drink wine! and then as Mahmud thou wilt reign, And hear a music pa.s.sing David's strain: Think not of past or future, seize to-day, Then all thy life will not be lived in vain.

119. Bl. C. L. A. I. J.

120.

Ten Powers, and nine spheres, eight heavens made He, And planets seven, of six sides, as we see, Five senses, and four elements, three souls, Two worlds, but only one, O man, like thee.

120. L. A summary of the Muhammadan doctrine of Emanations. See _Gulshan i Raz_, p. 21. Three souls, _i.e._, vegetive, animal and human, as in Aristotle's _De Anima_. _Akhtaram_ (?), also in Cambridge MS.

121.

Jewry hath seen a thousand prophets die, Sinai a thousand Musas mount the sky; How many Caesars Rome's proud forum crossed!

'Neath Kasra's dome how many monarchs lie!

121. L. J. Time is long and life short.

122.

Gold breeds not wit, but to wit lacking bread Earth's flowery carpet seems a dungeon bed; 'Tis his full purse that makes the rose to smile, While empty-handed violets hang the head.

122. L. Alluding to the golden stamens of the rose. I supply _tihi_ from the Cambridge MS.

123.

Heaven's wheel has made full many a heart to moan, And many a budding rose to earth has thrown; Plume thee not on thy youth and l.u.s.ty strength, Full many a bud is blasted ere 'tis blown.

123. L.

124.

What lord is fit to rule but Truth? Not one.

What beings disobey His rule? Not one.

All things that are, are such as He decrees; And naught is there beside beneath the sun.

124. C. L. A. I. The Truth is a Sufi name for the Deity.

125.

That azure coloured vault and golden tray Have turned, and will turn yet for many a day; And just so we, impelled by turns of fate,-- Come here but for a while, then pa.s.s away.

125. Bl. L. _Guzasht_, It is all over with us. Bl. Golden tray, the Sun.

126.

The Master did himself these vessels frame, Why should he cast them out to scorn and shame?

If he has made them well, why should he break them?

Yea, though he marred them, _they_ are not to blame.

126. C. L. A. I. J. In line 4 _suwar_ is an Arabic plural used as a singular. Bl., Prosody, p. 5.

127.

Kindness to friends and foes 'tis well to show, No kindly heart can prove unkind, I trow: Harshness will alienate a bosom friend, And kindness reconcile a deadly foe.

127. L. In line 2 scan _neykiyash_.

128.

To lovers true, what matters dark or fair?

Or if the loved one silk or sackcloth wear, Or lie on down or dust, or rise to heaven?

Yea, though she sink to h.e.l.l, he'll seek her there.

128. L. Probably Mystical.

129.

Full many a hill and vale I journeyed o'er; Yea, journeyed through the world's wide quarters four, But never heard of pilgrim who returned; When once they go, they go to come no more.

129. C. L. N. (in part) A. I. J.

130.