The Sufistic Quatrains Of Omar Khayyam Part 43

171.

Whoso aspires to gain a rose-cheeked fair, Sharp p.r.i.c.ks from fortune's thorns must learn to bear.

See! till this comb was cleft by cruel cuts, It never dared to touch my lady's hair.

171. C. L. N. A. I. Lyttleton expresses a similar sentiment.

172.

For ever may my hands on wine be stayed.

And my heart pant for some fair Houri maid!

They say, May Allah aid thee to repent!

Repent I could not, e'en with Allah's aid!

172. C. L. N. A. B. I. J. Note the conjunctive p.r.o.noun separated from its noun.

173.

Soon shall I go, by time and fate deplored, Of all my precious pearls not one is bored; Alas! there die with me a thousand truths To which these fools fit audience ne'er accord.

173. C. L. N. A. I.

174.

To-day how sweetly breathes the temperate air, The rains have newly laved the parched parterre; And Bulbuls cry in notes of ecstasy, Thou too, O pallid rose, our wine must share!

174. L. N. B.

175.

Ere you succ.u.mb to shocks of mortal pain, The rosy grape-juice from your wine-cup drain.

You are not gold, that, hidden in the earth, Your friends should care to dig you up again!

175. C. L. N. A. B. I. J. Note the old form of the imperative.

176.

My coming brought no profit to the sky, Nor does my going swell its majesty; Coming and going put me to a stand, Ear never heard their wherefore nor their why.

176. C. L. N. A. B. I. J. Voltaire has some similar lines in his poem on the Lisbon earthquake.

177.

The heavenly Sage, whose wit exceeds compare, Counteth each vein, and numbereth every hair; Men you may cheat by hypocritic arts, But how cheat Him to whom all hearts are bare?

177. C. L. N. A. I. J.

178.

Ah! wine lends wings to many a weary wight, And beauty spots to ladies' faces bright; All Ramazan I have not drunk a drop, Thrice welcome, then, O Bairam's blessed night!

178. Bairam, the feast on the 1st Shawwal, after Ramazan. In line 2 _Khirad_ seems wrong, the rhyme would suggest _Kharo_?

179.

All night in deep bewilderment I fret, With tear-drops big as pearls my breast is wet; I cannot fill my cranium with wine, How can it hold wine, when 'tis thus upset?

179. C. L. N. A. I. Note _tashdid_ of _durr_ dropped.

180.

To prayer and fasting when my heart inclined, All my desire I surely hoped to find; Alas! my purity is stained with wine, My prayers are wasted like a breath of wind.

180. C. L. N. A. I. In line 2 scan _Kulliyam_. In line 4 note _izafat_ dropped after silent _he_.

181.

I worship rose-red cheeks with heart and soul, I suffer not my hand to quit the bowl, I make each part of me his function do, Or e'er my parts be swallowed in the Whole.

181. C. L. N. A. I. Line 4 alludes to reabsorption in the Divine essence. Note _juzwiyam_, and _tashdid_ of _kull_ dropped.

182.

This worldly love of yours is counterfeit, And, like a half-spent blaze, lacks light and heat; True love is his, who for days, months and years, Rests not, nor sleeps, nor craves for drink or meat.

182. L. N. B. Line 3 is in metre 17.

183.

Why spend life in vainglorious essay All Being and Not-being to survey?

Since Death is ever pressing at your heels, 'Tis best to drink or dream your life away.

183. C. L. N. A. I. J. In line 2 scan _payi_. Being, _i.e._, the Deity, the only real existence, and Not-being, the nonent.i.ty in which His attributes are reflected.

184.