Part 18

No one has penetrated the secrets of the Principle [First Cause]. No one has taken a step outside himself. I look about and see only insufficiency from pupil to master, insufficiency in all that the mother brings forth.

176.

Restrain thy envy of the things of this world if thou wishest to be happy; break the bonds which enchain thee to the good and the bad here below; live contented, for the periodic movement of the heavens takes its course, and this life will not be of long duration.

177.

No one has had access behind the curtain of destiny; no one has knowledge of the secrets of Providence. For seventy-two years I have reflected day and night, I have learned nothing anywhere, and the enigma remains unexplained.

178.

They say that at the last day there will be judgments, and that our dear Friend [God] will be in anger. But from pure goodness only goodness emanates. Be then without fear, for finally you will see that He is full of gentleness.

179.

Drink wine, since it is that which will put an end to the disquiet of thy heart; it will deliver thee from thy meditations upon the seventy-two sects of the globe. Do not abstain from this alchemy for, if thou drinkest but a _men_ [a measure] of it, it will destroy for thee a thousand infirmities.

180.

Wine has been prohibited, perhaps, but it is only prohibited according to the person who drinks it, according to the quantity drunk, and according to the individual with whom we drink it. These points once observed, who would drink it if not the wise?

181.

For myself, I should pour some wine into a cup that would contain a pint. I should be content with two cups; but first I should divorce myself thrice from religion and reason, and then espouse the daughter of the vine.

182.

Yes, I drink wine, and whoever like me is far-seeing will find that this act is insignificant in the eyes of the Divinity. From all eternity God has known that I would drink wine. If I did not drink it, His prescience would be pure ignorance.

183.

The drinker, if he is rich, ruins himself. The disorder of his drunkenness provokes scandal in the world. For this I should put an emerald in the bowl of my ruby pipe, effectually to blind the serpent of my grief.

184.

There are some ignorant beings who have never passed a night in quest of truth, who have never taken a step outside themselves, who show themselves clothed in the garments of great lords and who are pleased to slander those whose conduct is irreproachable.

185.

When the azure of dawn shows itself, have the sparkling cup in thine hand. They say that truth is bitter in the mouth of mortals. That is a plausible reason for wine being truth itself.

186.

This is the moment when the verdure begins to ornament the world, when, like the hand of Moses, the buds begin to show themselves upon the branches; when, revivified, as if by the breath of Jesus, the plants spring forth from the earth; when finally the clouds begin to ope their eyes and weep.

187.

Keep from the trouble and vexation of aiming to acquire white silver or yellow gold. Eat with thy friend, ere thy warm breath be cooled, for after thee come enemies who will eat thee.

188.

Each mouthful of wine which the cupbearer pours into the cup helps to extinguish the fire of anger in thy burning eyes. Has it not been said, O great God, that wine is an elixir which drives from the heart a hundred sorrows that oppress it?

189.

When the violet has tinted her cheeks, when the zephyr has made the roses bloom, then he who is wise in company with the fact will drink wine until he can dash the cup against a stone [showing emptiness].

190.

The devotee knows not how to appreciate as well as we Thy divine pity. A stranger can never know Thee as perfectly as a friend. [They pretend] that Thou hast said: If you commit sin, I will send you into Hell. Go now--tell that to one who knows Thee not.

191.

A cup of wine is worth the empire of the universe; the brick which covers the jar is worth a thousand lives. The napkin with which one wipes lips moistened with wine is indeed worth a thousand turbans.

192.

O Friends! meet together [after my death]. Once reunited, rejoice in being together and, when the cupbearer takes in his hand a cup of old wine, remember poor Khayyam and drink to his memory.

193.

Not a single time has the Wheel of Heaven been propitious to me, never for one instant has it allowed me to hear a sweet voice, not a day has it given me a second of happiness but that very day it has plunged me into an abyss of grief.

194.

A cup of wine is worth a hundred hearts, a hundred creeds, a mouthful of this juice divine is worth the Empire of China. What is there, truly, on the earth preferable to wine? It is a bitter that is a hundred times sweeter than life.

195.

The Wheel of Heaven only multiplies our griefs! It places nothing here below that it does not soon bear away. Oh! if those who have not yet come knew the suffering this world inflicts, they would guard themselves well from coming here.

196.

Drink, drink this wine which gives eternal life; drink, for it is the source of youthful joy; it burns like fire, but, like life's essence, drives away your care. Then drink!

197.

O Friend, to what good art thou preoccupied with _being_? Why trouble thus thy heart, thy soul with idle thoughts? Live happily, pass thy time joyously, for you were not asked your opinion about the making of things as they are.

198.

The inhabitants of the tomb are returned to earth in dust; the atoms [of which they are composed] are scattered here and there, separated one from the other. Alas! what is this drink in which the human race is soaked and which holds it thus in dizzy ignorance of all things, even to the day of doom?

199.

O heart! act as if all the good things of this world belonged to you; imagine that this house is provided with everything, that it is richly furnished, and live joyously in this domain of disorder. Realize that thou restest here for two or three days, and that thereafter thou shalt rise and go away.

200.

The dogmas of religion admit only that which places you under obligation to the Divinity. That morsel of bread that you have, refuse not to others; keep from speaking evil; render evil to no one, and it is I who promise you a future life: bring wine.

201.

Dragged through the rapid course of time, which accords its favors only to the least worthy, my life is passed in a gulf of grief and sorrow. In this garden of being, my heart is hard as is the green bud of a rose; and like a tulip, it is dipped in blood.

202.

What belongs to youth is wine, the limpid juice of the vine and the society of beauty; and since water once brought ruin to this world by annihilating it, it is our part to drown ourselves in wine, to pass our life in drunkenness complete.

203.

Bring wine from this ruby vessel and pour it into a simple crystal cup; bring that thing habitual and dear to every noble man. Since you know that all beings are but dust, and that a two-day tempest makes them disappear, bring wine.

204.

O Thou, the quest of whom holds all in dizziness and distress, the dervish and the rich are equally void of means of reaching Thee. Thy name is in the speech of all, but all are deaf; Thou art present to the eyes of all, but all are blind.

205.

In company with one dear friend, how pleasing to me is a cup of wine. When I become the prey of care, it is fitting that my eyes should be filled with tears. Oh! this abject world has nothing lasting for us, and best it is to dwell inebriate.

206.

Keep thyself from drinking wine in the company of a boorish, violent character, having no mind or self-control, for such a man knows only how to cause unpleasantness. For the time, thou wouldst have to undergo the disorder of his drunkenness, his vociferations, his folly. And the next day, his prayers for excuse and pardon would come to weary thy head.

207.

Since you only possess what God has given you, torment not yourself to obtain the object of your covetousness. Keep from burdening the heart too much, for the final drama consists in leaving all and passing 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-Saïd.

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. Pass 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 Saturday, 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 passion [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 embarrassment between this order and this prohibition, for it is as if Thou commandest me to upset the cup but refrain from spilling the contents.

227.

They are gone, these transients, and no one of them has returned to tell the secrets concealed behind the curtain. O devotee! it is by humility that spiritual affairs take favorable turn and not by prayer, for, what is prayer without sincerity and humility?

228.

Throw dust upon the vault of heaven and drink some wine; seek out the fair, for where see you a subject for pardon, a subject for prayer, since, of all those who have gone away, no one has returned?

229.

Although on my necklace of duty I have never strung the pearl of submission, as is Thy due, although never in my heart have I swept the dust from Thy steps, I have never despaired reaching the sill of Thy throne of pity, for never have I importuned Thee with my troubles.

230.

Let us recommence the course of our pleasures and say the _tekbir_ [farewell] to the five prayers. Everywhere, where the flask is present, you will see, like the neck of the flask itself, our necks stretching out towards the cup.

231.

Here below, we are only the puppets with which the Wheel of Heaven is amused. This is a truth and not a metaphor. We are in fact the playthings upon this human checkerboard, which finally we leave to enter one by one the coffin of annihilation.

232.

You ask me what is this phantasmagoria of things here below. To tell you the whole truth regarding it would be too long: it is a fantastic image which comes out of a vast sea, and which re-enters, later, the same vast sea.

233.

To-day we are lost in love, we are in deep distress, and finally inebriate, within the temple of our idols render to the cult of wine its due. To-day, entirely separate from our being, we shall have attained the step of the eternal throne.

234.

My well-beloved [would that her life might last as long as my sorrows!] has commenced to be amiable to me again. She cast in my eyes a sweet and furtive look and disappeared, saying without doubt to herself: Do good and cast it on the waters.

235.

Here is the Dawn! Rise Thou, O Source of all Delight! Drink sweetly of the wine and let us listen to the harmonies of the harp, for the life of those who sleep will not be long, and of those who are no more, not one will e'er return.

236.

O Thou, who knowest the secrets hidden most deeply at the bottom of the heart of each, Thou who raisest with Thy hand all those who fall in distress, give me the power of renunciation and accept my excuses, O God!--Thou who givest this power to all, who acceptest the excuses of all!

237.

I saw on the walls of the city of Thous a bird hovering before the skull of Kai-Kawous. The bird said to the skull: Alas! what has become of the noise of thy glory and the sound of the clarion?

238.

Raise no question of the vicissitudes of this world, nor of affairs of the future. Consider what a prize we have in the present moment, and disturb not thyself with the past or question me about the future.

239.

Let not the fear of future things yellow thy cheeks; let not present affairs make thee tremble with fright; rejoice, in this world of annihilation, at the portion of pleasure which comes to you, and wait not for that which the kindness of heaven may withhold.

240.

If you will listen to me, I will give you some advice: [Here it is] For the love of God put not on the mantle of hypocrisy. Eternity is for all time, and this world is but an instant. Then sell not for an instant the empire of eternity.

241.

How long can I hold you by my ignorance? My own annihilation oppresses my heart. Straightway I gird my loins with the ephod of the priests. Do you know why? Because it is the fashion of the Musulman, and I am one.

242.

O Khayyam! when intoxicate, be happy; when seated near a beauty, joyous be. Since the end of things in this world is annihilation, pretend that you are not, but since you are, give yourself up to pleasure.

243.

Yesterday, I visited the workshop of a potter; there I saw two thousand pitchers, some speaking, others silent. Each one of these seemed to say to me: Where is the potter? Where is the buyer of pitchers? Where the seller?

244.

Yesterday, while passing drunk before an inn, I met an old man overcome with wine and carrying a gourd of wine upon his back. I said to him: O aged man! have you no fear of God? He answered me: Pity comes from Him; go, drink some wine.

245.

How long will lack of success in thy enterprises grieve thee? Torment is the portion of those who think of the future. Live then, in joy, grieve not thy heart with the cares of this world, and know that wine increases not at all the bitterness of pain.

246.

Wine, which the wise man knows how to appreciate, is for me the water of life and I its prophet am. It is balm for the heart, an elixir which fortifies the soul. Has God Himself not said: The benefits of the human race are found in wine.

247.

Although wine be prohibited, drink it without ceasing, drink it in the evening and in the morning, drink it to the noise of songs and to the sound of the harp. When you can, procure that which sparkles like the ruby, throw a drop on the earth and drink all the rest.

248.

Diversity of creed divides the human race into about seventy-two sects. Amongst all these dogmas, I have chosen that of Thy love. What signify these words: Impiety, Islamism, creed, sin? My true aim is to seek Thee. Far be from me all these vain, indifferent pretexts.

249.

Enumerate my good qualities one by one; my faults, pass by in tens. Pardon each sin committed for the love of God. Fan not the fire of hatred by the breath of passion, pardon, rather, in memory of the tomb of the Prophet of God [Mohammed].

250.

In truth, wine is a limpid spirit in the cup; in the body of the flask, it is a transparent soul. No annoying person is worthy of my society. It is only the cup of wine which can figure there, for that is at once a solid and a diaphanous body.

251.

O Wheel of Heaven! Thou art complete in Thy ingratitude. Thou keepest me constantly bare [naked] like a fish. The weaver's loom weaves clothes for human beings; more charitable is it than Thou, O Wheel of Heaven!

252.

O Khayyam! Time is ashamed of him who allows his heart to be saddened by vicissitudes below; drink, then, to the sound of the harp, drink some wine from the crystal, before the crystal broken be upon a stone.

253.

If the rose is not our portion, do not the thorns remain? If light divine does not reach us, is there not the fire [of hell]? If we have not the clerical mantle, or that of the temple, or the pontifical, do not the bells, the church, and the ephod remain to us?

254.

If the Wheel of Heaven refuses me peace, am I not ready for war? If I have not an honorable reputation, have I not shame for myself? Here is the cup full of wine the color of rubies; he who will not drink of it, has he not his head and a stone?

255.

See Dawn appears. Already has it rent the veil of night. Arise, then, and empty the morning cup. Why this sadness? Drink, O my heart! drink, for these dawns will succeed each other with face turned towards us, when we shall have ours turned towards the earth.

256.

All that this world contains are but images and flourishes of fiction. Ill-advised is he who does not comprehend his place in the number of these images. Repose, thou, friend, drink a cup of wine, give thyself up to joy and thus be delivered from all these vain figures, from these impossible reflections [which come to assail thy mind].

257.

When you are in the company of a beauty with cypress-like figure and a color fresher than the newly-culled rose, put not far from thee the flowers of the field, nor let the cup escape from thy hand; [do this] before the north-wind of death, like a gale which disperses the leaves of the roses, tears in tatters the envelope of thy being.

258.

How long these cries, these groans against the things of this world? Rise, rather, and pass gaily every instant. When the universe shall be re-dressed in green from end to end, drink wine in a ruby cup, full to the brim.

259.

Give not vain thoughts free access to thy mind. Drink wine throughout the year, and always cups filled to the brim. Pursue the daughter of the vine and aye rejoice, for it is better to enjoy the daughter without leave of law than know the mother with her full consent.

260.

My love is at the apogee of its flame. The beauty of the one who captivates my soul [the Divinity] is complete. My heart speaks, but my tongue remains mute, refusing to express my sentiments. Great God! Has one ever seen aught more strange? I am devoured by thirst, and before me flows a fresh and limpid draught!

261.

Take a cup of wine in thy hand, then mingle thy voice with that of the nightingale, for, if it were meet to drink this juice of the vine without accompaniment of harmonious sound, the wine itself would make no noise in slipping out of the flask.

262.

Guard thyself from ever despairing for a crime committed, and be mindful of the clemency of thy Creator, the pity of the Master; for, should'st thou die to-day, in a state of complete drunkenness, to-morrow he would pardon thy decaying dust for all.

263.

O Wheel of Heaven, thy circular course does not satisfy me. Deliver me from it, for I am unworthy of thy chain. If thy good pleasure consists in according thy favors only to the poor in mind, to idiots, I am neither intelligent enough or wise enough [to be confounded by it].

264.