Part 20

What advantage has our coming into this world produced? What advantage will result from our departure? What remains to us of the heap of hopes that we have conceived. Where is the smoke of all the pure men who under the celestial fire have been consumed and become dust?

352.

O Thou whose lips secrete the water of life, permit not those of the cup to come and kiss them! [Oh, if Thou shouldst permit it], may I lose the name of man if I am not soaked in the blood of the flask, for what is it, this cup, to dare to touch its lips to Thine?

353.

I am such as Thy power has made me. I have lived a hundred years filled with Thy benevolence and benefits. I would like still a hundred years to commit sin and to see if the sum of my faults outweighed Thy pity.

354.

Now take thy cup, carry away the gourd, O Charm of my Heart! and go, explore the plains, the borders of the brooks, for indeed idols, like to the moon in the light of their beautiful countenances, have a hundred times been transformed into cups, a hundred times have they become gourds.

355.

It is we who buy old wine and new wine, and it is we who sell the world for two grains of barley. Know where you will go after death? Bring me some wine and go where you will.

356.

Who is the man who here below has not committed sin; can you say? Had he not committed it, could he have lived, can you tell? If, because I do evil, you punish me for evil, what then is the difference between you and me, can you say?

357.

Oh! where is that one whose lips are of rubies, where that precious stone of Bedekhchan? Where is that wine full of perfume which gives repose to the soul? They say that the religion of Islam prohibits it; drink, friend, and have no fear, for where do you see Islam?

358.

Best is it to abstain from all that is not joyful; and best it is to receive the cup from the hands of odalisques shut up in the palaces of the princes; but best of all is drunkenness, indifference to the Kalendars, forgetfulness of self. A mouthful of wine, finally, is worth more than all that exists in the space between Mah and Mahi.

359.

For thee, that which is best is to flee from the seeking of knowledge and devotion; to finger the tresses of thy ravishing friend; to pour into the cup the blood of the vine ere time has spilled thine own.

360.

O friend! be in repose amidst human vicissitudes; disturb not thyself in vain because of the march of time. When the envelope of thy being shall be torn in tatters, what matters what thou hast done, what thou hast said, or how defiled thou mayest be?

361.

O thou who hast not done good, but who hast done evil, and who hast afterward sought refuge in the Divinity, guard thyself from relying upon pardon; for he who has done nothing resembles no more him who has sinned than he who has sinned resembles him who has done nothing!

362.

Count upon life not longer than the sixtieth year. Place thy foot in no direction without being overcome with wine. As long as thy skull hath not been made a pitcher, go always on thy way, nor take the wine-gourd from thy shoulder or the wine-cup from thy hand.

363.

This firmament is a porringer overturned upon our heads. Wise men, thereat, humble and unpresumptuous are. But see the friendship which obtains between the cup and the flask. Lip against lip are they, and twixt them ever flows the blood.

364.

I have swept the sill of the tavern with my hair. Yes, I have given up reflecting upon the good and the bad in this world and the next. I saw them, like two bowls, rolling in a ditch, when I was sleeping overcome with wine, and I no more occupied myself with them than if I had seen a grain of barley rolling along.

365.

The drop of water began to weep on being separated from the ocean. The ocean began to laugh, saying to it: It is we who are all; in truth, there is no other God beside us, and if we are separated, it is only by a simple point almost invisible.

366.

How long shall I trouble myself with the care of knowing whether I possess or do not possess--if I ought or ought not to pass life gaily? Fill ever the cup of wine, O cupbearer! for I do not know whether I shall breathe out this breath that I am actually breathing or not.

367.

Become not a prey to sorrow in this world of iniquity; recall not to thy soul the memory of those who are no longer here; give up thy heart only to a friend with sweet lips and fairy-like in form and never be deprived of wine, or throw life to the winds.

368.

How long will you speak to me of the mosque, of prayer and fasting? Go rather to the tavern and intoxicate yourself, and even for that ask alms. O Khayyam! drink wine, drink; for this earth of which thou art composed will be made into cups, bowls, and pitchers.

369.

So in this palace of brief being, you ought, O wise man, to give yourself up to rose-colored wine. Then each atom of your dust that the wind carries away will fall on the sill of the tavern, all saturate with wine.

370.

Note how the zephyrs have made the roses bloom! Note how their fragrant beauty glads the nightingale! Go, then, repose in the shadow of these flowers, for very speedily they depart from the earth and very often ne'er return again.

371.

Behold us re-united in the midst of lovers; behold us freed from the pain which time inflicts; having emptied the cup of His love, behold us all free, all tranquil, all o'ercome with wine.

372.

Suppose that you have lived in this world in accordance with your desires; ah, well! after that? Think to yourself that the end of your days has arrived; ah, well! after that? Admitting that you have lived for a hundred years surrounded by all that your heart could desire, imagine in your turn, that you have another hundred years to live; ah, well! after that?

373.

Do you know how the cypress and the lily have acquired the name for freedom which they enjoy among men? It is because one has ten tongues but remains mute, and the other possesses a hundred hands and keeps them all empty.

374.

O cupbearer! put into my hand some of that delicious wine, some of that juice attractive as a charming idol, some of that nectar, in short, which like a chain whose links, turning and returning upon each other, hold fools and sages alike in sweet captivity.

375.

O regret! that life should be passed in pure loss! How lawless all our eating and how defiled our bodies! I have the blame, O God! of not having done what Thou hast commanded. What will come to me for having done what Thou hast not commanded?

376.

Fret not thyself on account of the inconstancy of this world; seek wine and draw near to thy caressing mistress, for, thou seest that he whom his mother brought forth to-day to-morrow disappears from the earth--to-morrow returns to annihilation.

377.

I can renounce all else, but wine never; for I have the means of making amends for all else, but of wine, never. O God! could one like me become a Musulman and renounce old wine? Never.

378.

We are all lovers, all drunkards, all adorers of wine. We are all united in the tavern, having banished far from us all that is good, all that is evil, all reflection and revery. Oh! expect not intelligence or reason of us, for we are all overcome with wine.

379.

It is we who have confidence in the divine goodness, who have shaken off the ideas of obedience and sin; for where Thy benevolence exists, O God, he who has done nothing is equal to him who has done something.

380.

Thou hast imprinted on our being, O God, such singular phantasma of inconsequence, and hast made to rise such strange phenomena. Myself cannot be better than I am, for Thou hast taken me as I am from out creation's crucible.

381.

We have violated all the vows that we have made; we have closed upon us the door of what is called good and what is called bad. Then blame me not if you see me committing senseless deeds, for we are drunk with the wine of love, and all are drunk as we.

382.

A mouthful of old wine is of more worth than a new empire. The wise man will reject all that is not wine. A cup of this nectar is a hundred times preferable to the kingdom of Feridoun. The lid which covers the wine-jar is more precious than the diadem of Kai-Khosrou.

383.

O my heart! thou canst not penetrate the enigmatical secrets of the heavens; thou canst never reach the culminating point to which intrepid sages have attained. Be content, then, to organize a Paradise here below, in making daily use of cup and wine, for wilt thou ever reach that future Paradise? Thou never wilt.

384.

Those who are gone before us, O cupbearer! are imbedded in the dust of pride. Go, drink wine; go, listen to the truth that I tell you: All those who have gone ahead are but as the wind; know it well, O cupbearer!

385.

From afar has appeared a filthy shape. It is said that its body was covered with a shirt made of the smoke of Hell. It was neither a man nor a woman. It has broken our flask and spilled upon the earth the ruby wine it contained, glorifying itself at having done a deed worthy of a man.

386.

O my heart! when thou art admitted to sit at the banquet of this idol [the Divinity], it is after thou hast gone out of thyself in order to re-enter thyself again. When thou hast tasted a mouthful of the wine of annihilation, thou art entirely separate from those that are and from those that are no more.

387.

Yes, I have found myself in close acquaintance with wine, with drunkenness. But why does the world blame me for it? Oh! would to God that all which is illegal might produce drunkenness! For then never here below should I have seen a shadow of sound reason.

388.

Thou hast broken my pitcher of wine, my God! Thou hast shut upon me the portals of joy, my God! Thou hast poured upon earth my limpid wine, my God! Oh! [would that my mouth were filled with earth!] couldst Thou have been drunk, my God?

389.

O thou who art the result of the four [elements] and the seven [heavens], I see you in perplexity amongst these four and seven. Drink wine, for, as I have said to you more than four times, you will return no more; once departed, you are gone indeed.

390.

On one hand, Thou hast raised a hundred ambushes about us; on the other, Thou sayest to us: If ye put foot there, ye shall be caught by death. It is Thou who spreadest snares, and whoever falls there, Thou bringest to a stand! Thou givest him to death and callest him rebel!

391.

O Thou whose mysterious essence is impenetrable to intelligence, Thou who carest no more for our obedience than our faults, I am drunk with sin, but the confidence that I have in Thee renders it right for me. Know Thou, that I count upon Thy pity.

392.

If this world's things were only based on show, oh! then each day would be a feast. Oh! were it not for these vain threats, each could attain below the aim of his desires, without a fear.

393.

O Wheel of Heaven! thou fillest constantly my heart with woe. Thou killest in me the germ of joy, with water ladening the air which, would breathe, and changest into mud the water that I drink.

394.

O my heart! if thou free thyself from the grief inherent in matter, thou shalt become a soul in all its purity; thou shalt mount to the heavens, thy residence shall be the firmament. Oh! how thou shouldst suffer from shame at inhabiting the earth!

395.

O potter! be attentive, if thou possessest sound reason! How long wilt thou abase man in moulding his clay? It is the finger of Feridoun, the hand of Kai-Khosrou which you thus put upon your wheel.

396.

O rose! thou art the face of some young ravishing fair! O wine! thou art the ruby whose brightness joys my soul! O fateful fortune! each instant thou appearest more strange to me, and nevertheless I seem to know thee.

397.

From the cookery of this world, thou only absorbest the smoke. How long, plunged in the search for being and annihilation, wilt thou be the prey of sorrow? This world contains only loss for those who attach themselves to it. Now disregard this loss, and all for thee will benefit become.

398.

As for us, let us not try to torment men in their sleep; let us refrain from making them utter at midnight the lamentable cry _O my God! O my God!_ [as others do]. Rest not upon riches or beauty, for the one will take wings in the night, and the other, in the night also, will be ravished.

399.

If from the commencement Thou hadst wished to make me known to _myself_, why later, hast Thou separated me from this _myself_? If from the first day Thy intention was to abandon me, why hast Thou thrown me, all amazed, into the midst of the world?

400.

Oh! would to God that there existed some place of repose--that the road we follow had some settled end! Would God that, after a hundred thousand years, we could conceive the hope of one new birth of heart upon the earth as the green turf is born again!

401.

While I was drawing a horoscope in the book of love, suddenly, from the burning heart of a wise man came these words. Happy is he who entertains in his dwelling a friend as beautiful as the moon, and who has in prospect a night as long as a year!

402.

The constant sequence of springtime and autumn makes the leaves of our existence disappear. Drink wine, my friend, for sages have well said that grief in this world is a poison and its antidote is wine.

403.

O my heart! drink of wine, drink of it in a garden and enjoy the presence of thy friend [the Divinity]; renounce hypocrisy and show. Is it the doctrine of Ahmed you follow? In that case, draw from the fountain-head a cup of wine into the bowl which Ali, in his round of cupbearing, shall serve.

404.

But yesterday, at eve, I broke a china cup against a stone. I was drunk when committing this senseless act. This cup seemed to say to me: «I have been like thee; thou wilt, in thy turn, be like me.»

405.

The flowers are in blossom, O cupbearer! bring wine. Leave thy acts of worship, O cupbearer! Ere the angel of death put a watch upon us, come, and with a cup of ruby wine in hand, let us rejoice while yet there are some days with the sweet presence of the friend [the Divinity].

406.

Arise, get off thy bed, O cupbearer! and pour the limpid wine. Before they yet make pitchers of our skulls, pour out some wine from pitcher into bowl, O cupbearer!

407.

This hypocrisy [which I everywhere see], O cupbearer! crushes my heart with weariness. Arise, and gaily bring me wine, O cupbearer! and to procure it, put in pawn the prayer-rug and the turban. Perhaps my arguments will then rest upon a solid basis.

408.

Examine thyself, if thou art intelligent, and observe what thou hast brought in the beginning and what thou wilt carry away at the end. Thou sayest that thou dost not drink because one must die. Whether thou drinkest friend, or dost not drink, thou needs must die.

409.

Open the door, for it is only Thou who canst open it; show me the way, for it is only Thou who canst show a way of safety. I will give my hand to none of those who wish to lead me, for all are perishable, and only Thou eternal.

410.

All that you tell me emanates from hatred [O mullah]! You never cease to treat me as an atheist, a man without religion. I am convinced of that which I am, and I avow it; and should I be right, is it for you to lecture me thus?

411.

Resign yourself to grief if you would find a remedy, and do not complain of your suffering if you would cure it. In poverty, be thankful to Providence, if you wish some day to have riches for your portion.

412.

I have seen a wise man in the house of a drunken man at evening. I asked him if he could give me some news of the absent. He answered me: Drink wine, friend, for many like you have gone out but have never returned.

413.

I seek a flask of ruby wine, a book of verse, a momentary peace in life and bread enough. And if with these, my friend, in some lone spot with thee I could repose, 'twould be a happiness above a Sultan's regal joy.

414.

How long these arguments upon the five and the four, O cupbearer? In comprehending one, O cupbearer! it is difficult to grasp a hundred thousand. We are all of earth, O cupbearer! strike the harp: we are all as the wind, bring the wine, O cupbearer!

415.

How long will you speak of Yassin and Berat, O cupbearer? Give me a treatise upon the tavern, O cupbearer! The day that it is closed will be for me the night of Berat, O cupbearer!

416.

While you have in your body bones, veins, and nerves, place not your foot outside the limits of your destiny. Yield never to your enemy, be that enemy Rustum, son of Zal; accept nothing which puts you under obligation to a friend, be that friend Hatim-tai.

417.

You may indeed be taken with lips tinted with the color of the ruby, you may indeed appreciate the cup of wine, you may indeed call for the noise of the drum, the sound of the harp and of the flute, but these are only trifles. God is my witness, while you do not break the bonds of this dark world, you nothing are.

418.

Bestir yourself, since you are under this tyrannic vault; drink wine, since you are in this world, a seat of woe. And, from beginning to the end, being only earth, act like a man who is upon the earth, and not as if thou wert beneath the earth.

419.

Since you all secrets know, my friend, why be a prey to so many vain torments? Suppose things do not fall in touch with your desires, you can at least be gay while you still breathe.

420.

Everywhere I cast my eyes I believe I see the sod of Paradise and the brook of Koocer. They say the field outside of Hell is transformed into a celestial sojourn. Rest then in that celestial place near some celestial fair.

421.

Follow no other way than that which the Kalendar follows; seek no other place than the tavern; occupy yourself only with wine, song and the friend [the Divinity]; place in your hand a cup of wine, upon your back a gourd; drink, O dear object of my heart! drink and speak not of foolish things.

422.

Do you wish life to rest upon a rock? Do you wish life for some time free to be from grief? Dwell for one instant without drinking wine, then at each breath you'll find a new attraction in existence.

423.

In this world, this house of pilferers, it is useless to count upon a friend. Listen to the counsel I give you, and confide it to no one. Bear your suffering and seek no remedy here, be happy in your sorrows and try not to divide them with another.

424.

There are two things which are the foundation of wisdom and which ought to be put among the number of the most important unproclaimed revelations. Not to eat of anything which eats of other things, and to keep oneself unsullied by all that lives.

425.

How is it that at the commencement of springtime the verjuice of the vine is sharp? And afterwards, how does it become so sweet? And then how do we find the wine so bitter? If one makes viols of a piece of wood by means of a curvèd knife, who would say on seeing it that a flute could be fashioned by the same means?

426.

Know you why, at the break of day, the early-rising cock makes its voice heard each moment? It is to tell you, through the mirror of the morning, that one more night has slipped away from your existence, and that you are still in ignorance.

427.

Give me some of this ruby wine, tinted like the tulip. Pour from the neck of the flask the pure blood it contains, for, to-day I can see, outside this cup of wine, no friend whose inner man is pure.

428.

Pour me, O cupbearer! some wine colored like the flowers of the Judas-tree, pour, O cupbearer! for grief comes to oppress my soul; pour for me the nectar, for it is possible that in making me a stranger to myself, it will free me one instant from the vicissitudes of this world.

429.

Thy cup, O my cupbearer! contains liquid rubies; give some to my soul, O cupbearer! Let it reflect that precious stone; put in my hand, O cupbearer, this incomparable cup, for through this I will give new life unto my soul.

430.

In philosophy, if you are an Aristotle or a Bouzourdj-mehr; in power, if you are some Roman emperor or some potentate of China, drink ever, drink wine from the cup of Djem, for the end of all is the tomb. Oh! though you are Bahram himself, the coffin is your last sojourn.

431.

I entered the studio of a potter. I watched him work at his wheel, actively occupied in moulding the necks and handles of pitchers, forming some of them like the heads of kings, others like the feet of beggars.

432.

Go, choose bliss, if you are wise, and finally you may be able to drink wine from the hand of the drinkers of eternity, but you are one of the ignorant and joy is not in you, it is not given to every ignorant one to taste the sweets that ignorance gives.

433.

O idol, while you are on your journey through this world, draw from the fountain-head into the pitcher, draw this salutary wine and, ere the potter makes another pitcher of my dust and thine, fill out a cup, drink it and pass me one.

434.

Be attentive, friend, and while thou still art able, lighten the grief of a loving heart, for this kingdom of grace that now thou hast will not last always, but, like so many others thou shalt unexpectedly be called.

435.

Before you are made drunk by the cup of death, before the revolutions of time are full behind you, endeavor to make a foundation here below, for you will profit nothing by going away empty-handed.

436.

It is Thou who disposest of the lot of the living and of the dead. It is Thou who governest this unruly Wheel of the Heavens. Although I am bad, I am only Thy slave, Thou art my master. Who then is guilty here below? Art Thou not the Creator of all?

437.

O my King! how can such a man as I, finding himself in the season of roses, in the midst of joyous society, surrounded by wine, by dancers, remain a passive spectator? Oh! to find oneself in a garden with a flask of wine and a lute are things preferable to Paradise with its houris and its Koocer.

438.

See the clearness of the light, the sparkle of the wine and of the moon, O cupbearer! See the ravishing beauty of the rose's face, like a shining ruby, O cupbearer! Recall nothing of what belongs to the earth to this heart that burns like fire, throw it not to the wind, but bring wine, O cupbearer!

439.

O limpid wine, wine full of sheen! Fool that I am, I'd drink thee in such quantity, that all perceiving me from far would my identity confound with thine, and say to me: O master wine! tell me, whence do you come?

440.