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.
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.