The Sufistic Quatrains Of Omar Khayyam Part 79

Keep from burdening the heart too much, for the final drama consists in leaving all and pa.s.sing beyond.

208.

O my soul! drink this limpid nectar which has not been stirred; drink it in memory of the charming idols which ravish the heart. Wine is the blood of the vine, my friend, and the vine says to thee: Drink of me, since I render it lawful to you.

209.

In the season of flowers, drink rose-colored wine; drink to the plaintive sounds of the lute, to the melodious noise of the harp. As for me, I drink and rejoice in it; may it be salutary to me! If you do not drink, why not be willing that I should? Go, then, and eat pebbles!

210.

Art thou sad? Take a piece of hasheesh as large as a grain of barley, or drink a small measure of rose-colored wine. Then you will become a Sufi. But, if you will not drink of this or partake of that, nothing remains for you but to eat pebbles; go, eat some pebbles!

211.

But yesterday, I saw a potter in a bazaar treading most vigorously the clay he was molding. The clay seemed to say to him: I also have been like thee; treat me, then, with less harshness.

212.

If thou drinkest wine, drink it with intelligent people, drink it in company with thy ravishing idols, with smiles upon their lips and their cheeks tinted with the colors of the tulip. Drink not too much or speak boastingly of it; make it not a refrain, but drink a little from time to time in quietude.

213.

Wine should be drunk in the company of slender creatures who ravish the heart with the color of their cheeks.

Art thou bitten by the serpent of grief, friend--drink, then, of this antidote. I myself drink of it and plume myself on the strength of it; would that it might be propitious!

If you drink it not, why not be willing that I should?

Go, eat some earth.

214.

Here is the Dawn; arise, O beardless youth, and quickly fill this crystal cup with ruby wine, for [later], you could seek long time ere finding such a moment of existence as is lent us in this world of nothingness.

215.

'Twixt wine and Jemshid's throne, give me the wine; the bouquet of the cup is sweeter than the Virgin's heaven-sent fruits. The morning sigh of one inebriate the bygone night is more melodious than the longdrawn lamentations of Adhem or Bou-Sad.

216.

O my heart! since the foundation, even, of the things of this world is only a fiction, why do you venture thus in an infinite gulf of sorrow? Trust yourself to destiny, endure the evil, for the lot which the heavenly brush has traced for you will not be effaced.

217.

Of all those who have taken the long road, who is there now returned of whom I may ask news? O friend! beware of putting any hope whatever in this sordid world, for, know well that thou here shalt ne'er return.

218.

Since each of these nights and each of these days cuts off a part of thy existence, allow not the nights or the days to cover thee with dust. Pa.s.s them gaily, for how long, alas! shalt thou be absent, while the nights and days will still be here!

219.

This wheel of heaven which tells its secrets to no man, has killed a thousand Mahmouds [Sultans] and a thousand Ayaz [favorites]; drink wine, for the life of none shall ever be restored. Alas! not one of all those who left the world can again return!

220.

O Thou who rulest the whole universe! knowest Thou what are the days when wine rejoices the soul? They are: Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Sat.u.r.day, all day long.

221.

O Being, exquisite in thy enticing and coquettish charm!

be seated: rise no more and thus appease the fire of a thousand torments. Thou enjoinest me not to look upon Thee; but it is as if Thou shouldst order me to incline the cup and forbid me spilling its contents.

222.

Better to be with Thee in the tavern, and there tell Thee my secret thoughts, than to go without Thee and make a prayer in the mosque. Yea, O Creator of all that was and all that is! such is my faith, whether Thou burnest me, or accordest me Thy favor.

223.

Consort with honest and intelligent men. Flee a thousand miles away from the ignorant. If a man of mind give thee poison, drink it; if an ignorant one present thee an antidote, pour it upon the ground.

224.

The clouds are still spread out above the roses and seem to cover them as with a veil. The desire for wine is not yet satiated in my heart. Then go not to rest, it is not yet the hour. O my soul, drink of the wine; drink, for the sun is still upon the horizon.

225.

Like unto a sparrow-hawk, I am flying away from this world of mysteries, hoping to lift myself to a higher world; but, fallen, here below, and finding no one worthy to share my secret thoughts, I go out through the door by which I entered.

226.

Thou hast put in us an irresistible pa.s.sion [which is equivalent to an order from Thee], and, on the other hand, forbiddest us to give way to it. Poor human beings are in extreme embarra.s.sment between this order and this prohibition, for it is as if Thou commandest me to upset the cup but refrain from spilling the contents.