Abu'l-Ala was another great poet-philosopher. He lost his sight from
small-pox early in life, was a cynic and pessimist, and may have often
been copied by Omar Khayyam. He refers to his affliction and to the
fact that he lived and died an unmarried man (so as to have no
children) in a well-known verse:
"Here am I--wronged by my father
Who gave me birth--while I have done wrong to no one."
Some of his poetry has been put into English quatrains by Ameen F.
Rihany, in imitation of Omar Khayyam's _Rubaiyat_, and the following,
from the _Quatrains of Abu'l-Ala_, are a few striking examples:
"What boots it, in my creed, that man should moan
In Sorrow's Night, or sing in Pleasure's Dawn?
In vain the doves all coo on yonder branch,
In vain one sings or sobs: lo! he is gone.
So solemnly the Funeral passes by!
The march of Triumph, under this same sky.
Trails in its course--both vanish into Night:
To me are one, the Sob, the Joyous Cry.
Many a grave embraces friend and foe,
And grins in scorn at this most sorry show;
A multitude of corses passed therein--
Alas! Time almost reaps e'er he doth sow!
How oft around the Well my Soul would grope
Athirst; but lo! my Pail was without Rope:
I cried for Water, and the deep, dark Well
Echoed my wailing cry, but not my hope.
The door of What-May-Be none can unlock,
But we can knock and guess, and guess and knock:
Night sets her glittering sail, and glides along,
Ship-like; but where, O Night-ship, is thy dock?
Oh, when will Fate come forth with his decree,
That I might clasp the cool clay, and be free?
My Soul and Body, wedded for a while,
Are sick, and would that separation be.
If miracles were wrought in bygone years,
Why not to-day, why not to-day, O seers?
This Leprous Age most needs a healing hand,
Oh, why not heed his cries, and dry his tears?"