The Sufistic Quatrains of Omar Khayyam — John Shaqi
The Sufistic Quatrains of Omar KhayyamOmar Khayyam
ReligionSufism
The Sufistic Quatrains of Omar Khayyam
Omar Khayyam
FitzGerald, Edward, 1809-1883; Sufi poetry
I next addressed myself to the discovery of «that rare Calcutta
_printed_ edition,» of whose existence, after searching in vain every
European State library and many others, and every library in India of
which I could learn, I began to have grave doubts, thinking that Prof.
Cowell had inadvertently confused it with an edition _lithographed_
simultaneously at Calcutta and Teheran in 1836. In the summer, however,
when I had given up all hope, one of Mr. Pringle's clerks picked up a
copy of the long sought book in the Bazar at Calcutta, printed from type
at Calcutta in 1836. A circumstance that greatly adds to the interest of
this discovery, whilst at the same time it very greatly lessened my
labours, lies in the fact that this edition is evidently printed from
the lost Calcutta MS. itself, both introduction and quatrains being
identical in readings and sequence. A few quatrains, including the
repetitions, forming part of the MS. and nearly all those written in the
margins of the MS. are omitted, but nearly all of these are added as an
appendix to the book, the printer explaining in a short note that they
were found in a _bayaz_ (or book of extracts), and were added in that
place instead of in their _diwan_ (or alphabetical) order on account of
their more than ordinarily antinomian tendency. A very interesting
question arises hereon, whether these latter were printed into the book
from the margins of the MS. after being purposely or accidentally
omitted, _or_ whether they were written on to the margin of the MS. from
this book at some date between 1836 and 1856. I think that the former is
the more likely explanation, but in the absence of the MS. this question
cannot be solved.
I find myself therefore in the interesting position of having the whole
of FitzGerald's material before me; and though (so perfectly did Edward
FitzGerald identify himself with his author's habit of mind) many other
MSS. contain quatrains that closely resemble his marvellous paraphrase,
there is nothing written by or attributed to Omar Khayyam which served
FitzGerald for inspiration in making his first edition, other than what
is to be found in the three, or rather two, texts above referred to. I
have spoken already (and at length, in the Terminal Essay to my former
volume) of the influences exerted by other Oriental poets upon his work,
and especially that of the Mantik ut-tair, or Parliament of Birds of
Ferid ud din Attar; where it was direct or exclusive I have set it down
in the parallels which follow. The result of my observations may be
summarised as follows:
Of Edward FitzGerald's quatrains, forty-nine are faithful and beautiful
paraphrases of single quatrains to be found in the Ouseley or Calcutta
MSS., or both.[14]
Forty-four are traceable to more than one quatrain, and therefore may be
termed «composite» quatrains.
Two are inspired by quatrains found by FitzGerald only in Nicolas' text.
Two are quatrains reflecting the whole spirit of the original poem.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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