agreeable, though the color of my face rival that
of the tulip, and my figure be supple as the cypress,
it has not been demonstrated why my celestial author
placed me upon this earth.
14.
I would drink so much wine that the odor should come
out of the earth when I have been returned to it, and
that drinkers who wish to visit my tomb may fall
senseless from the sole effect of this odor.
15.
In the region of hope, form as many friends as you
can; in the time of existence, bind yourself to a perfect
friend, for, know well that a hundred Kaabas, made
of earth and water, are not worth one heart. Leave,
then, thy Kaabas and rather seek a heart.
16.
When I take in my hand a cup of wine and, in the
joy of my soul, become intoxicate, then, in that state of
fire which devours me, I see a hundred miracles grow
real, and words, clear as the most limpid water, come to
explain the mystery of all things.
17.
Since the duration of a day is only two stages, make
haste to drink wine, the limpid wine; for know well
that you near the end of your vanishing existence. And,
since you know that this world drags all to decay,
be wise, and, also, day and night be drenched in wine.
18.
We who give ourselves up to the will of wine offer
with joy our souls in holocaust to the laughing lips of
the juice divine. Oh! rapturous sight! Our cup-bearer
holds in one hand the neck of the flask and in the other
the cup overflowing, as if inviting us to receive the
purest of the blood!
19.
Yes, we, seated in the midst of this treasure in ruins,
surrounded by wine and dancers, have put in pawn [in
order to procure them] all that we possess: soul, heart,
goods--everything but the cup. We are thus freed from
hope of pardon and fear of punishment. We are beyond
the air, the earth, and fire and water.
20.
The distance which separates incredulity from faith is
but a breath,--that which separates doubt from certainty
is equally but a breath. Let us, then, pass this precious
space of a breath gaily, for our life also is only separated
[from death] by the space of a breath.
21.
O Wheel of Destiny! destruction comes of thy implacable
hate. Tyranny for thee is an act of predilection
which thou hast committed from the commencement of
centuries; and thou, also, O Earth, if one search in thy
bosom, what inappreciable treasures will he not find there!
22.
My turn of existence has slipped around in a few days.
It has passed as passes the wind over the desert. Then,
while remains to me a breath of life, two days shall
be for which I never need be troubled, the day which
has not come and that which now has passed.
23.
This priceless ruby comes from a mine of its own, this
rare pearl is pregnant with a character its own; our
different dogmas on this matter are erroneous, since the
enigma of perfect love is explained in a language of its
own [and that is not conveyed to us].
24.
Since to-day is my turn for youth, I intend to pass it
in drinking wine, for that is my pleasure. Begin not to
talk of its bitterness, to speak ill of this delicious juice,
for it is agreeable, and is only bitter because it enforces
the bitterness of my life.
25.
O my poor heart! Since thy lot is to be bruised to
death by chagrin, since nature wills that thou be wounded
each day with some new torment, tell me, O my soul,
why stay you in my body, since you must finally leave
it some day?
26.
Thou canst not count to-day on seeing the day after
to-morrow; even to think of this to-morrow would be the
part of folly; if thy heart is awakened, lose not in inaction
this instant of life [which remains to thee] and for
the duration of which I see no warranty.
27.
It is not necessary to knock at every door unless there
be a reason for it. It is better to accommodate oneself
to the good and the bad here below, for hereafter we
can only enjoy the number of moves which destiny presents
upon the chessboard of this terrestrial ball.
28.
This jug [earthen vessel] has been, like me, a loving
and unhappy creature; it has sighed for a lock of some
young beauty's hair; this handle that you see attached to
its neck was an amorous arm passed about the neck of
some girl.
29.
Before your time or mine, there were many twilights,
many dawns, and it is not without reason that the movement
of rotation is enforced upon the heavens. Be careful
as you place your foot upon this dust, for it has,
without doubt, formed the eyes of someone young and fair.
30.
The temple of idols and the Kaaba are places of
adoration; the chime of the bells is but a hymn chanted to
the praise of the All-Powerful. The _mehrab_ [Mohammedan
pulpit], the church, the chapel, the cross are, in truth,
but different stations for rendering homage to the Deity.
31.
Existing things were already predestined upon the
tablet of creation. The brush [of the universe] did not
paint good and bad. With destiny God imprinted whatever
should be so imprinted, and the efforts that we
make in these directions are wholly lost.
32.
I can but vaguely tell my secret to the bad or to the
good. I cannot elaborate or explain my thought, which
is essentially brief. I see a place of which I can only
trace a description; I possess a secret which I cannot unveil.
33.
False money is not current among us. The broom has
rid our joyous dwelling of it completely. An old man,
returning from the tavern, said to me: Drink wine, my
friend, for other lives shall follow yours in your long
sleep.
34.
In the face of the decrees of Providence, nothing avails
but resignation. Among men nothing avails but seeming
and hypocrisy. I have employed every ruse, the strongest
that the human mind can invent, but destiny has always
overturned my projects.
35.
If a stranger shows you fidelity, consider him as a kinsman;
but if a kinsman endeavors to betray you, regard
him as an enemy. If poison cures you, consider it an
antidote, and if the antidote does not agree with you,
regard it as a poison.
36.
Except Thy absence there is nothing of worth that can
bruise to the quick; he cannot be acute who is not taken
with Thy subtle charms, and, although there exist in
Thy mind no care for any one, there is none who may
not be preoccupied with Thee.
37.
As long as I am not drunk, my happiness is incomplete.
When I am overcome with wine, ignorance replaces
my reason. But there exists an intermediary state
between drunkenness and sound reason. Oh! with what
happiness do I enslave myself to such a state, since in it
there is life!
38.
Who will believe that He who fashioned the cup could
think of destroying it? All these beautiful heads, all
these beautiful arms, all these dainty hands, are by what
love created and by what hate destroyed?
39.
It is the effect of thy ignorance which makes thee fear
death and abhor annihilation, for it is evident that from
this annihilation shoots up a branch of immortality.
Since my soul has been revived by the breath of Jesus,
eternal death has fled far from me.
40.
Imitate the tulip which flowers at New-year's; take, like
her, a cup in thy hand and, if the occasion presents itself,
drink, drink of wine in happiness with some fair girl
whose cheeks are tinted with the color of this flower, for
this blue wheel [dome], like a breath of wind, can suddenly
overturn thee.
41.
Since things are not allowed to come to pass as we desire,
to what purpose are our designs and our efforts?
We are constantly tormenting ourselves, speaking to ourselves
with sighs of regret. Ah! we have arrived too late;
too soon will it be necessary for us to depart!
42.
Since the celestial wheel and that of destiny have never
been favorable, what matters it whether we are able to
count seven heavens or believe that there are eight?
There are [I repeat it] two days for which I need not
care; the day which has not come and that which now
is gone.
43.
O Khayyam! why so much sorrow for a sin committed?
What comfort more or less do you find in this self-torment?
He who has not sinned cannot enjoy the sweetness
of pardon. It is for sin that pardon must exist; in
that event why entertain a fear?
44.
No one has access to the secrets of God behind the
mysterious curtain; no one [even in mind] can penetrate
there; we have no other dwelling than the earthly
mind. Oh, regret! for this also is an enigma not less
difficult to comprehend.
45.
Long time have I delved in this inconstant world, this
momentary shelter; and in my searches have employed
all faculties with which I am endowed. Ah, well! and I
have found the moon to pale before the light of Thy
visage, that the cypress is deformed beside Thy beauteous
form.
46.
In the mosque, in the _medresseh_ [school annexed to
the mosque], in the church, and in the synagogue, they
have a horror of Hell and seek for Paradise, but the seed
of such disquiet never germinates in the hearts of those
who penetrate the secrets of the All-Powerful.
47.
You have traveled over the world! Ah, well! all that
you have seen is nothing; all that you have seen and all
that you have heard are equally nothing. You have gone
from one end of the universe to the other, all that is
nothing; you have summed it all up in one corner of your
room, all that is nothing, still nothing.
48.
One night I saw in thought a sage who said to me:
Sleep, O my friend, has never caused the rose of happiness
to bloom for anyone; why lend yourself to aught so
similar to death? Rather drink wine, for you will sleep
enough when buried in the earth.
49.
Had the human heart an exact knowledge of the secrets
of life, it would also know, at the point of death,
the secrets of God. If to-day, when you are with yourself,
you know nothing, what will you know to-morrow
when you shall be separated from yourself?
50.
The day when the heavens shall be confounded, when
the stars shall be obscured, I will stop Thee upon Thy
way, O Idol! and, taking Thee by the hem of Thy robe,
will ask of Thee why Thou hast robbed me of life [after
giving it to me].
51.
We should tell no secrets to the vilely indiscreet; from
the nightingale, even, should we conceal them. Consider,
then, the torment you inflict on human souls by forcing
them to disrobe thus before the gaze of all.
52.
O Cupbearer! since time is here, ready to break down
you and me, this world for neither you nor me can be a
place of permanence. But, equally, be well convinced
that while this jug of wine is here 'twixt you and me,
our God is in our hands.
53.
Long time, indeed, with cup in hand, I walked among
the flowers; nevertheless none of my projects has been
realized in this world. But, although wine has not led
me to the goal of my desires, I will not stray from its
path, for when one follows a road he cannot retrogress.
54.
Put a cup of wine in my hand, for my heart is inflamed,
and my life slips away as quicksilver. Arise,
then, for the favors of fortune are only a dream; arise,
for the fire of thy youth is running away like the water
of a torrent.
55.
We are the idolaters of love, but the Musulman differs
from us; we are like the pitiful ant, but Salomon is our
foe. Our visages should aye be paled with love, and our
apparel in rags, and yet the mart for silken stuffs is here
below.
56.
To drink wine and rejoice is my gospel of life. To
be as indifferent to heresy as to religion is my creed. I
asked the bride of the human race [the world] what her
dowry was, and she answered: My dowry consists in the
joy of my heart.
57.
I am worthy neither of Hell nor a celestial abode; God
knows from what clay he has moulded me. Heretical as
a dervish and foul as a lost woman, I have neither
wealth, nor fortune, nor hope of Paradise.
58.
Thy passion, man, resembles in all things a house dog
which never leaves his kennel. It has the slyness of the
fox, it lies low like a hare, and to the rage of the tiger
adds the voracity of a wolf.
59.
How beautiful they are, these different greens which
mingle on the edge of a brook! One thinks they must
have had their birth upon the lips of one divinely fair.
Place not thy foot upon them with disdain; they spring
from dust which, once a face, was tinted with the colors
of a rose.
60.
Each heart that God illumines with the light of
love, as it frequents the mosque or synagogue, inscribes
its name upon the book of love, and is set free from
fear of Hell while it awaits the joys of Paradise.
61.
A cup of wine is better than the kingdom of Kawous,
and preferable to Kobad's throne or to the realm of
Thous. The sighs to which, at dawn, a lover is the prey
are sweeter than the groans of praying hypocrites.
62.
Though sin hath made me ugly and forlorn, not without
hope am I like some idolater relying on his temple
gods. So, on the morn I die of yesternight's carouse,
give me some wine and call the one Beloved, for Hell
and Paradise are one to me.
63.
If I drink wine 'tis not for mere desire; nor for the
rousing of the mob or insult to the Faith. No, 'tis for a
passing knowledge of relief from self. No other motive
could enwreath the cup.
64.
Men claim fore-knowledge, predicating Hell or Heaven.
How plain their fault! How asinine their faith! For
know that if all lovers of the fair and of the cup deserve
a Hell, then Paradise will be a void.
65.
In Cheeban [a month] I must not embrace the vine; in
Redjeb I am consecrate to Him. By right these sixty
suns to Allah and his Prophet are assigned: let Ramazan
in mercy bring the cooling cup again.
66.
Now Ramazan has come, the vintage passed, and
pledging of the cup and simple customs are afar. Yet
full the wine pots are, and still untouched, and houris wait
for us in fond suspense.
67.
This rolling hostelry we call the world, where light and
darkness alternate, is but the ruin of a Jamshid's entertainment
of a hundred Kings, or e'en a faint memento
of a host of hunters like to Bahram's self.
68.
To-day when fortune's rose is burgeoning, fill high the
cup. Drink deep, O friend, drink deep, for time is not
thy friend or ever willingly repeats a day like this.
69.
This palace where great Bahram loved to drink now
herds the young gazelle, and in it lions sleep. Where
Bahram snared the swift wild ass, the snare of Time has
in its turn snared him.
70.
The clouds expand and weep upon the earth. No
longer can we live without the amaranthine cup. The
tender green glads weary eyes to-day, but oh! that emerald
verdure growing from our dust, whose sight will it
rejoice?
71.
To-day, which we call Adine [Wednesday], leave
the tiny cup and drink wine from a bowl. If other days
you drank but one fair bowl, to-day drink two, for Adine
ranks its fellow days, save one.
72.
O heart! since this world makes you sad, since souls
so pure must leave the tenement of clay, go, sit upon
the verdure of the field sometimes, ere verdure springs
in turn from your own dust.
73.
This wine, which by its nature hath a multitude of
forms, which now is animal and now is plant, can never
cease to be, for its imperishable self ordains a lasting
life though forms may disappear.
74.
No smoke ascends above my holocaust of crime: could
man ask more? This hand, which man's injustice raises
to my head, no comfort brings, even though it touch the
hem of saintly robes.
75.
The one on whom you surely most rely, will be your
enemy, if but you cleanse the eyes that are within. Far
better, for the short time which remains, to count but
little on our friends. The talk of men to-day is but a
broken reed.
76.
O heedless man! this veil of flesh is naught; this nine-fold
vault of brilliant heaven is naught. Then give thyself
to joy in this disordered place [the world], for life is
but an instant wed to it, and that is equally naught.
77.
Now bring me dancers, wine, and a houri with charming,
ravishing features--if houris there be. Or find a
beautiful brook within a green ravine, if such there be.
Ask nothing better; think no more of Hell's hot penalties,
for, verily, none is, nor any Paradise more fair than
that I sing, if Paradise there be.
78.
Came an old man from out the tavern drunk, his
prayer-rug on his shoulders and a bowl of wine in
hand. I said to him: Aged man! what meaneth this?
He answered me: Drink wine, my friend, for this world
is naught but wind.
79.
A nightingale, inebriate [with love of the rose], within
a garden saw the roses laughing with a cup of wine. To
me he came and whispered in my ear, in tones appropriate
to the circumstance: Be on thy guard, my friend; one
cannot hold the life that slips away.
80.
Naught is thy body but a tent, Khayyam, thy soul is
its inhabitant, and its last, long home annihilation is.
When thy soul leaves the tent, the slaves arise and
strike it ere they pitch it for the oncoming soul.
81.
Khayyam, who sewed the tents of philosophic lore, is
suddenly engulfed within the crucible of grief, and there
is burned. The shears of Fate have cut the thread of
his existence; the Auctioneer of Life has sold him for
a song.
82.
In springtime let me sit upon the edge of a broad
field with one fair girl, and wine in plenty if wine is at
hand. Though this may culpable be thought, I should
be worse than any dog did I not dream of Paradise.
83.
Rose-colored wine in crystal cups delights. It charms
when sipped to lutes' melodious airs or to the plaintive
throbbing of the harp. The devotee who knows not of
the joy that is in wine is charming [to himself] or
when a thousand miles between us yawn.
84.
The time we pass in this world has no worth without
the wine-cup and the wine. It also needs the swelling
sound of Irak's flute. Incessant watching of things here
below has told me that in pleasure and in joy alone are
worth: the rest is naught.
85.
Be on thy guard, my friend, for soon thou wilt be
separate from thy soul; thou then shalt go behind the
curtain of God's secrecy. Drink, for thou knowest not
whence thou here hast come; make haste, for thou art
ignorant where thou shalt go.
86.
Since we must die, why do we live? Why agonize to
reach a problematic bliss? Since, for some unknown
cause, we may not here remain, why not concern ourselves
about the future pilgrimage? Why disregard our
fate?
87.
Occasion makes me sing the praise of wine when I surround
myself with men and things I love. O Devotee!
canst thou be happy here below knowing that wisdom is
your Lord? Then know, at least, that wisdom is my
slave.
88.
The world will ever count me as depraved. Natheless
I am not guilty, Men of Holiness! Look on yourselves
and question what you are. Ye say I contravene the
Koran's law. Yet I have only known the sins of drunkenness,
debauchery and leasing.
89.
Free yourselves from your own passions and insatiate
greed and lo! you shall go out poor as a mendicant.
Look, rather, unto what you are, whence you have come,
and learn what you are doing and where bound.
90.
The universe is but a point in our poor round of life;
the Djeihoun [Oxus] but a feeble trace of tears and
blood; Hell but a spark of useless worry which we give
ourselves, and Paradise an instant of repose, which here
below we rarely catch.
91.
A slave in dire revolt am I: where is Thy will? Black
with all sin my heart: where is Thy light and Thy control?
If Thou giv'st Paradise to our obedience alone
[to Thy laws], it is a debt of which Thou quit'st
Thyself and in such case we need Thy pity and benevolence.
92.
I know not at all whether He who created me belongs
to a delicious Paradise or a detestable Hell. [But I do
know] that a cup of wine, a charming girl and a zither
at the edge of a green field are three things which I enjoy
at present, and that you will find them in the promise
that is made you of a future Paradise.
93.
I drink wine, and those who are opposed to it come
from the left and from the right to ask me to abstain
from it, because, say they, wine is an enemy of religion.
But, for that very reason I would drink it, now that I
hold myself an adversary of faith, because we are permitted
by God to drink the blood of an enemy.
94.
The light of the moon has cut the black robe of night:
drink then of wine, for one finds not often moments so
precious. Yes, abandon thyself to joy, for this same
moon will shine over the surface of the earth a long time
[after our day].
95.
Impute not to the wheel of the heavens all the good
and all the bad which are in man, all the joys and sorrows
which come to us by destiny; for this wheel, friend, is
a thousand times more embarrassed than thou, in the path
of love [divine].
96.
There is no shield which is proof against an arrow
hurled by Destiny. Grandeur, money, gold all go for
nothing. The more I consider the things of this world,
the more I see that the only good is good, all else is
nothing.
97.
A heart which does not contain in itself complete abstinence
[from things here below] is to be pitied, for it is
at all times the prey of regret. It is only the heart free
from care that can be joyous; all that exists beyond this
is but a subject of torment.
98.
He who has had the intelligence to sow joy in his
heart has not lost a single day in sorrow; he has employed
his faculties in seeking the will of God, or has procured
repose for his soul by taking a cup of wine.
99.
When God fashioned the clay of my body, he knew
what would be the result of my acts. It is not without
His orders that I have committed the sins of which I am
guilty; in that case, why should I burn in hell-fire at
the last day?
100.
If thou hast drunk wine every consecutive day of the
week, take care not to deprive thyself of it on Wednesday,
for, according to our religion, there is no difference
between this day and Saturday. Be an adorer of the All-Powerful
and not an adorer of days.
101.
O my God! Thou art merciful, and mercy is kindness.
Why then has the first sinner been thrown out of
the terrestrial Paradise? If Thou pardonest me when
I obey Thee, it is not mercy. Mercy is present only
when Thou pardonest me as the sinner that I am.
102.
Leave knowledge and take the cup in thy hand. Disturb
thyself not about Paradise or Hell, but seek rather
the _Koocer_ [the celestial river of wine]. Sell thy silken
turban to buy wine and have no more fear. Rid thyself
of that head-dress and envelop thy head in a simple woolen
band [emblem of Sufism].
103.
Tell me, friend, have I acquired riches in this world?
No. Have I given myself up to time as it was slipping
away? No. I am the torch of joy; but that torch once
extinguished, I am nothing. I am the cup of Djem [the
royal cup], but that cup once broken, I am no longer
anything.
104.
Where are the dancers? Where is the wine? Quick!
that I may do honor to the gourd! Happy the heart
who remembers his morning cup! Oh! there are three
things in this world which are dear to me: a head lost in
wine, an amorous girl, and the noise of the dawn.
105.
Since life so soon slips away, what matters it whether
it be sweet or bitter? Since the soul must pass through
the lips, what matters whether it be at Nishapur or at
Balkh? Drink then of wine, for after thee and me, the
moon will long pass on from its last quarter to its first,
and from the first to last.
106.
This caravan of life passes in curious guise! Be on thy
guard, my friend, for it is joy that thus escapes! Disturb
not thyself with the sorrow which to-morrow waits
our friends, and bring me my cup quickly, for the night
fast slips away!
107.
He who has made the foundations of the world, the
wheel of the heavens, how He has crucified the heart of
man with affliction! How many ruby-colored lips has He
buried in this little globe of earth! How many locks of
hair perfumed with musk has He hidden in the bosom of
the dust!
108.
O careless men! be not duped by this world, since
you know its pursuits. Throw not to the wind your
precious lives; hasten to seek a friend [God], and quickly
drink of wine.
109.
O my companions! pour me some wine and thus
change my face, from yellow as amber, to the color of
the ruby. When I am dead, lave me in wine, and of
the wood of the vine make my coffin and bier.
110.
The day when the celestial war-horse of the golden
stars was saddled, when the planet Jupiter and the
Pleiades were created, from that day the Divan [Chief
Justice] of destiny fixed our lot. In what respect, then,
are we guilty, since such is the part that was made
for us?
111.
Oh! what damage may the vessels filled to flowing do,
and how incomplete are they who possess riches! The
eyes of beautiful Turkish women are a feast to the heart,
yet they are simple learners from the slaves who own
them.
112.
It is necessary that our existence be effaced from the
book of life, that we expire in the arms of death. O
charming cupbearer, go, gaily bring me wine since my
poor earth to earth must come.
113.
At this moment, when my heart is not yet deprived of
life, it seems to me that there are few problems that I
have not solved. However, when I call intelligence to
my aid, when I examine myself with care, I perceive
that my existence has slipped away and that I have still
defined nothing.
114.