Part 19

O _mufti_ [grand judge] of the city! I am more a worker than art thou. Drunk as I am, I own more intelligence than thou; for thou, thou drinkest the blood of human beings and I that of the vine. Be just and tell me which is the more sanguinary of the two?

265.

That which is wisest is to seek joy in our hearts in a cup of wine; and not preoccupy ourselves too much with the present or the past; and, finally, were it only for an instant, to free from the shackles of reason that soul which has been loaned us and which groans in its prison.

266.

The moment I shall fly from death, when, like the dry leaves, the particles of my body shall detach themselves from the centers of life, oh, then! with what joy shall I pass across the universe, as through a sieve, before the mason comes to sift my own dust.

267.

That vault of heaven, under which we reel, we might, in thought, liken to a lantern. The universe is the lantern. The sun represents the light, and we, like the images with which the lantern is ornamented, dwell there in stupefaction.

268.

Thou hast formed me of earth and of water, what can I do? Whether I be wool or silk, it is Thou that hast woven, and what can I do? The good that I do, the evil that I am guilty of, were alike predestined by Thee; what can I do?

269.

O friend, come to me, and let us take no thought of to-day nor to-morrow, but consider our short instant of existence as spoils. To-morrow, when we shall have abandoned this old tent [the world], we shall be the companions of those who left it seven thousand years ago!

270.

Never for a moment be deprived of wine, for it is wine that gives reflection to intelligence, to the heart of man and to religion. If the devil had tasted it for one instant, he would have adored Adam and have made before him thousands of genuflections.

271.

Arise, dance, and we shall clap our hands. Drink to the presence of beauties with the languorous eyes of the narcissus. Happiness is not very great when one has emptied but a score of cups; it is strangely complete when one arrives at the sixtieth.

272.

I have shut upon myself the door of avarice, and am thus free from obligation to those who are men and those who do not merit the name. Since there exists but one friend [God] toward whom I can extend my hand, I am what I am, and that concerns only Him and me.

273.

I am constantly saddened by the motion of this Wheel of the Heavens. I am in revolt against my vile nature. I have neither enough knowledge to hide myself and not return to the world, nor intelligence enough to live there without preoccupying myself with it.

274.

How many people that I see upon the surface of the earth are plunged in sleep [superstition]! How many I perceive that are already buried in its depths! When I throw my eyes over this desert of Not-being, how many people I see who have not yet come--how many who have already departed!

275.

Thy pity being promised me, I have no fear of sin. With the provision that Thou possessest, I have no disquiet about the journey. Thy benevolence renders my visage white and of the black book I have no fear.

276.

Be not led to believe that I fear the world, or that I have fear of dying, or of seeing my soul go its way. Death being a truth, I have no fear of it. What I fear is that I have not lived well.

277.

How long shall we be slaves to reason and to every day? What matters it whether we remain a hundred years in this world, or whether we dwell here but a day? Go, bring some wine in a bowl before we are transformed into pitchers in the workshop of some potter.

278.

How long will you blame us, O ignorant man of God! We are the patrons of the tavern, we are constantly overcome with wine. You are given up entirely to your chaplet, to your hypocrisy, and your infernal machinations. We, cup in hand and always near the object of our love, live in accordance with our desires.

279.

Let us sell the diadem of Khan, the crown of Kai, let us sell it and buy the sound of a flute let us sell the turban and the silken cassock, yea, for a cup of wine let us sell the chaplet which in itself contains naught but hypocrisy.

280.

That day when the juice of the vine does not ferment in my head, the universe could offer me an antidote which would be a poison to me. Yea, sorrow over the things of this world is a poison, and its antidote is wine. I will take the antidote then that I may have no fear of the poison.

281.

How long shall we blush at the injustice of others? How long shall we burn in the fire of this insipid world? Arise, banish from thee the sorrow of the world, if thou art a man; to-day is a feast; come, drink rose-colored wine.

282.

I am in continual war with my passions, but what can I do? The memory of my deeds causes me a thousand regrets, but what can I do? I admit that in Thy clemency Thou mayest pardon my faults, but the shame of knowing that Thou knowest what I have done, that shame will remain, and what can I do?

283.

O my soul! we two form together the parallel of a compass. Although we have two points, we make but one body. Actually, we turn upon the same point and describe a circle, but the day will come finally, when these two points shall be united.

284.

Since this world is not a place of permanent sojourn for us, it would be an enormous error to deprive ourselves of wine and abstain from the favors of our well-beloved. Oh, peaceable man! how long these discussions upon the creation or upon the eternity of the world? When I no longer am, what will it matter to me whether it be ancient or modern.

285.

Although it may be through duty that I present myself at the mosque, it certainly is not for the purpose of making a prayer. One day I stole a _sedjaddeh_ [prayer-rug]. The _sedjaddeh_ is worn out; I have returned again, and still again.

286.

Be not cast down by the troubles which we call vicissitudes here below. Let us occupy ourselves only in drinking pure wine, limpid wine, the color of a rose. Wine, friend, is the blood of the world. The world is our murderer; how shall we resist drinking the blood of the heart of him who spills ours?

287.

For the love which I bring thee, I am ready to undergo all sorts of blame, and if I violate my vow, I submit to the penalty. Oh! had I to endure until the last day the torment that thou causest me, that space of time would still seem too short.

288.

We have arrived too late in this circle of being, and have descended below human dignity. Oh! since life is not passed in accordance with our vows, it is better that it should be finished, for we are glutted with it!

289.

Since the world is perishable, I would devise some scheme for it; I would think only of joy, or only of the limpid wine. They say to me: Would God might make thee renounce it! Nay, would that He might not give such command, for if He gave it, I would not obey!

290.

When, with bowed head, I have fallen at the feet of death; when this destroying angel shall have made me like a bird robbed of its plumage, then of my dust make nothing other than a flask, for the perfume of the wine that it contains might revive me for an instant.

291.

When I examine closely the things of this world, what I see is that human beings in general appropriate to themselves, without merit on their part, the good it contains. As for me, O God All-Powerful! I meet only the reverse of my desires in all that falls under my eyes!

292.

It is I who am the chief of habitual patrons of the tavern; it is I who am plunged in rebellion against the law, it is I who, during the long nights, soaked in pure wine, cry out to God the griefs of my heart imbrued with blood.

293.

How grow the nights without which we could not close our eyes, and before which a cruel fate comes first to sadden us! Arise, and let us breathe an instant ere the breath of the morning stirs, for, very long, alas! will this Dawn breathe when we no longer breathe!

294.

Come, see the Dawn, and, with a full cup of rose-colored wine in hand, let us breathe for an instant. As for honor, reputation, that fragile crystal, let us break it against a stone. Renounce insatiable desires, and stroke the silken tresses of the fair and list the harmonies of the harp.

295.

In this world, where each breath we breathe leads to a new sorrow, it is better never to breathe an instant without a cup of wine in hand. When the breath of Aurora makes itself felt, arise and, time after time, empty the cup, for [as I have told you] this Dawn will breathe for long, long years when we no longer breathe.

296.

Should I commit all the sins of the universe, still Thy pity, I dare believe, would extend its hand to me. Hast Thou not promised to put off the day when I should be a prey to my infirmities? [Accomplish Thy promise and for that] exact not a state more frightful than that in which Thou seest me at this moment.

297.

If I am drunk with old wine, ah, well! I am. If I am an infidel, fire worshipper or idolater, ah, well! that I am. Each group of individuals forms some idea on my account. But what matters it? I belong to myself and I am what I am.

298.

From the time since I am, I have not been for an instant without drunkenness. This night is that of _Kidr_ and I this night am drunk; my lips are glued to that of the cup and, leaning my breast against the jar, I have held the neck of the flask in my hand until day.

299.

I am constantly attracted by the sight of limpid wine, my ears are ever attentive to the melodious sounds of the flute and of the _rubab_ [viol]. Oh, if the potter make a pitcher of my dust, would that that pitcher might constantly be full of wine!

300.

I understand all that annihilation and being apparently mean; I know the foundation of lofty thought. Ah, well! may all this knowledge be annihilated in me if I recognize in man a higher state than that of drunkenness!

301.

I indeed drink wine, but I commit no disorder. I stretch out my hand, but it is only to seize the cup. Would you know why I am an adorer of wine? It is because I do not wish to imitate you and be an adorer of myself.

302.

Are you discreet enough for me to tell you in a few words what man has been from the beginning? A miserable creature, moulded in the clay of chagrin. He has, for a few years, eaten his morsel here below, and then has raised his foot and gone away.

303.

It is the rim of the wine-jar which we have chosen for our place of prayer; it is in making use of wine that we are rendered worthy of the name of man; it is in the tavern that we get back the time lost in the mosque.

304.

It is we who are the true aim of universal creation; it is we who, in the eyes of wisdom, are the essence of divine regard. The circle of this world is like a ring and, without doubt, we are the jeweled signet of it.

305.

Drunkenness has transported us from our own misery here below to untold joys; from our humble condition, it has raised our heads to the skies. Nevertheless, behold us finally freed from our thraldom to the body! Behold us returned again to the earth, whence we came!

306.

If I have eaten during the days of Ramazan, do not believe I did it through inadvertence. The fatiguing hardships of the fast have so turned about my days and nights [the one for the other] that I have always believed in eating the morning repast.

307.

We have constantly heads overcome with wine; the presence of wine alone animates our society. Then leave off thy counsel, O ignorant penitent! [you see that] we are the adorers of wine, and that the lips of the object of our love are turned to our desires.

308.

This is the season of roses. Oh! I would now give rein to one of my desires. I would commit an act which infringes on the law of the Koran. Yea, for some days, in company of the fair with velvet and bright tinted cheeks spreading rose-colored wine over the green turf, I would transform the plain into a field of tulips.

309.

When in this world joy seizes us, when it gives to our complexion the brilliant lustre of the courser of the firmament [the sun], then I love to be in a green prairie in the midst of beauties with velvet cheeks, and partake with them of this sweet green hasheesh ere going again myself under this earth covered with green sod.

310.

Never have we tasted in happiness a drop of water without the hand of grief appearing to present to us its bitter beverage. Never have we dipped a piece of bread in salt without the salt returning to re-open half-healed wounds of the heart.

311.

Take care, take good care of making noise in a tavern! Pass the time there, but avoid all agitation. Sell the turban, sell the book [the Koran] to buy wine. Finally, let us pass through the _medresseh_ [school of the mosques], but let us not stop there.

312.

Every day, at dawn, I go to the tavern. There I give myself to the company of _kalendar_ hypocrites. O Thou, who art the master of secrets most concealed, give me faith, if Thou wishest me to apply myself to prayer.

313.

To the cares of this world, let us not accord as much value, even, as to a grain of barley; oh! let us be happy! If we have something for breakfast, we may have nothing for dinner; oh! let us be happy! Although nothing well cooked comes to us from the kitchen, let us not address our troublesome prayers to any one; oh! let us be happy!

314.

Not a single day do I feel myself free from the troublesome bonds of this world; not for a single instant do I breathe contented with my being. I have long served an apprenticeship to human vicissitudes, and I have not yet become master, either in that which concerns this world, or in what has to do with the other.

315.

We, in one hand, take the Koran; with the other we seize the cup: sometimes you see us carried away with that which is lawful, sometimes with what is prohibited. We, then, beneath this azure vault, are not completely infidel, or absolutely Musulman.

316.

Present a salutation on my account to Mostapha, and afterward say to him with all the deference due: O Lord Hachemite! why, in accordance with the law of the Koran, is the sharp _doug_ [whey] lawful, yet pure wine prohibited?

317.

Present a salutation on my part to Khayyam, and then say to him: O Khayyam! you are an ignorant man. When have I said that wine was prohibited? It is lawful for intelligent men; it is prohibited only to the ignorant.

318.

O thou that lusteth night and day for the goods of this world, dost thou not reflect upon the terrible day? Take into consideration thy last breath, come back to self, and see how time deals with others.

319.

O thou who art the summing up of the universal creation, cease for an instant to occupy thyself with gain or loss; take a cup of wine from the hand of the etern cupbearer, and free thyself thus altogether from the cares of this world and from those of the other!

320.

If you know to what to cling upon this walk around a circle without end, you must recognize two classes of men: those who understand perfectly its good and its bad side, and those who have no notion either of themselves or of things here below.

321.

Render light to my heart the weight of the vicissitudes of this world. Conceal from mortals my reprehensible actions. Render me happy to-day, and to-morrow make me what thou deemest worthy of Thy pity.

322.

For him who makes account of human ills, joy, sorrow, pain are all identical. The good and the bad of this world must one day end. What matters it whether all be torment or pleasure for us?

323.

Now that the nightingale has made its voice heard, think no longer of anything, but seize the ruby cup of wine from the hand of the drinkers; arise, come, for the rose blossoms are breathing out joy; avenge thyself, avenge thyself for two or three days for the torments thou hast endured.

324.

Notice this cup made of clay; it is possessed of a soul! They say a jasmine produces the flowers of the Judas-tree. But what do I say? The shining purity of wine is a cause of my error? Oh, no [it is not wine], it is diaphanous water shot with a liquid fire.

325.

Arise, leave the cares of this world which are fleeting; be joyous, pass gaily this life of a moment, for if the favors of heaven had been constant to others, this turn of joy would not have come to you.

326.

Listen to me, O thou who hast not seen old friends [of experience]! Vex not thyself with this Wheel of Heaven which has neither surface nor foundation: content thyself with what thou hast and, as a peaceable spectator, observe here below the various games to which men are destined.

327.

Employ all thy efforts to be agreeable to drinkers, and follow the good counsel of Khayyam. O friend! demolish the bases of prayer and of fasting, drink wine, steal if you will, but do good.

328.

Justice is the soul of the universe, the universe is the body. The angels are the wit of the body, the heavens the elements, the creatures in it are the members; behold here the eternal unity. The rest is only trumpery.

329.

Yesterday evening, in the tavern, the object of my heart that ravishes my soul [God] presented me a cup with a ravishing air of sincerity and a desire to please me, inviting me to drink. No, said I to him, I will not drink. Drink, he answered me, for the love of my heart.

330.

Do you wish the universe to submit itself to your will? Occupy yourself without ceasing in fortifying your soul. Share my mood, which consists in drinking wine and never taking to myself the cares of things here below.

331.

The sages who have well considered this world of dust, this sojourn of inconstancy from one end to the other, see nothing in it agreeable but wine in ruby cups and beautiful countenances.

332.

Thanks to the iniquity of this Wheel of Heaven which resembles a mirror, thanks to the periodic motion of time which accords its favors only to the most abject, my cheeks, hollowed like a cup, are bathed in tears; but, like a flask, my heart is full of blood.

333.

Yesterday [before day], in company with a charming friend and a cup of rose-colored wine, I was seated on the border of a brook. Before me stood the cup, that shell, of which the pearl [contained in the cup] shed such a brilliant light that the herald of the sun, awaking with a start, announced the Dawn.

334.

Forget the day which has been cut off from thy existence; disturb not thyself about to-morrow, which has not yet come; rest not upon that which is or that which is no more; live happily one instant and throw not thy life to the winds.

335.

Art not ashamed to give thyself to corruption?--to neglect thus both what is commanded and what is forbidden? Even if you succeed in appropriating all the goods of the earth to yourself, what can you do with them except to abandon them in your turn?

336.

I have seen a man betake himself to sterile soil. He was neither a heretic nor a Musulman; he had neither riches nor religion, nor God, nor truth, nor law, nor certitude. Who in this world or in the other would have so much courage?

337.

One host of men is pondering upon belief, or on the faith; others are hovering between doubt and certainty. But suddenly behind the veil there's one will cry: O ignorant ones! the way that you seek is neither here nor there!

338.

There hangs in the heavens a bull called Parwin [Pleiades], and another bull is underneath the earth. To the eyes of intelligence or those who live in certainty, I show a herd of asses placed between two beeves.

339.

Some said to me: Drink less of wine. What reason have you for not giving it up? The reason that I give is first the face of my friend [God] and secondly the morning cup. Be just and tell me, Is it possible to give a more luminous reason?

340.

If I possessed in the heavens the power which God exercises there, I would destroy the people of this world, and others I would make in my own way, so that man, freed [from the bonds of superstition], could attain here below the desires of his heart.

341.

My poor heart, full of grief and folly, has not been able to free itself from drunkenness where passion for my well-beloved has plunged it. Oh! the day when the wine of this love was distributed, my portion was, without doubt, drawn from the blood of my heart!

342.

To drink wine and seek beautiful faces is wiser than to practise hypocrisy and apparent devotion. It is evident that if there exist a Hell for lovers and drinkers, no one would wish for Paradise.

343.

Scorn the words of coquettish women, but accept limpid wine from the hand of those whose mien is irreproachable. You know that all those who have made their appearance in this world are partly of one kind and partly of the other, and it is not given to any to see a single one that may come back.

344.

It is not necessary to soften and disgrace a joyous heart by sorrow, to break under the stones of torment our moments of delight. As no one is able to tell what is to be, what is necessary is some wine, a beloved mistress [the Divinity], and repose according to our desires.

345.

Yes, it is beautiful to enjoy good fame; it is shameful to complain of the injustice of heaven; it is better to become drunk with the juice of the grape, than to be puffed up with false devotion.

346.

O God! be pitiful to my poor imprisoned heart; show pity to my bosom, susceptible to so much sorrow; pardon my feet which lead me to the tavern; pardon my hand which seizes the cup!

347.

O God! deliver me from calculating, more or less, upon the things of this world; make me preoccupied with Thee, and free me from myself. While I have my sound reason good and bad are known to me; render me drunk and free me from this knowledge of good and bad.

348.

This Wheel of Heaven runs after my death and thine, my friend· it conspires against my soul and thine. Come, seat thyself upon the turf, for, indeed, small time remains to us before new turf shall germinate from my dust and from thine.

349.

When we shall have lost my soul and thine, they will place bricks upon thy tomb and mine. Then, in order to cover other tombs with bricks, they will throw my dust and thine into the kiln of the brick-maker.

350.

In this castle which by its splendor rivals the heavens, this castle to which sovereigns succeeded with delight, we have seen a turtledove seated on the ruined battlements crying: Kou, kou, kou, kou [Where? Where?].

351.