The Sufistic Quatrains of Omar KhayyamOmar Khayyam
ReligionSufism
The Sufistic Quatrains of Omar Khayyam
Omar Khayyam
FitzGerald, Edward, 1809-1883; Sufi poetry
I sometimes think that never blows so red
The Rose as where some buried Cæsar bled
That every Hyacinth the Garden wears
Dropt in her Lap from some once lovely Head.
The original of this quatrain is found in O. 43.
Everywhere that there has been a rose or tulip bed,
It has come from the redness of the blood of a king;
Every violet shoot that grows from the earth
Is a mole[41] that was (once) upon the cheek of a beauty.
_Ref._: O. 43, C. 47, L. 110, B. 106, B. ii. 105, T. 304, P. v. 159.--W.
104, E.C. 4, V. 109.
XX.
And this reviving Herb whose tender Green
Fledges the River-lip on which we lean--
Ah, lean upon it lightly! for who knows
From what once lovely Lip it springs unseen!
The original of this quatrain was C. 44.
All verdure that grows upon the margin of a stream,
You may say, grows from the lip of one angel-natured;
Beware not to set foot contemptuously upon the verdure,
For that verdure grows from the clay of one tulip-cheeked.
_Ref._: C. 44, L. 62, B. 59, S.P. 59, P. 64, T. 349, P. iv. 20.--W. 62,
N. 59, V. 61.
XXI.
Ah, my Belovéd, fill the Cup that clears
TO-DAY of past Regrets and future Fears:
_To-morrow!_--Why, To-morrow I may be
Myself with Yesterday's Sev'n thousand Years.
This quatrain is translated from C. 348.
Come, O friend! and let us not suffer anguish concerning the morrow.
Let us take advantage of these few ready-money moments,
When, to-morrow, we depart from the face of the earth
We shall be equal with those who went seven thousand years ago.
_Ref._: C. 348, L. 546, B. 540, S.P. 268, P. 122, B. ii. 351, T. 233, P.
v. 96.--W. 312, N. 269, V. 586.
XXII.
For some we loved, the loveliest and the best
That from his Vintage rolling Time hath prest,
Have drunk their Cup a Round or two before,
And one by one crept silently to rest.
The inspiration for this quatrain is found in C. 185.
All my sympathetic friends have left me,
One by one they have sunk low at the foot of Death.
In the fellowship of souls they were cup-companions,
A turn or two before me they became drunk.
_Ref._: C. 185, L. 381, B. 377, P. ii. 4, B. ii. 141.--W. 219, V. 379.
XXIII.
And we, that now make merry in the Room
They left, and Summer dresses in new bloom,
Ourselves must we beneath the Couch of Earth
Descend--ourselves to make a Couch--for whom?
The main inspiration of this quatrain comes from C. 388.
Arise, and do not sorrow for this fleeting world,
Be at peace, and pass through the world with happiness.
If the nature of the world were constant
The turn of others would not have descended to you yourself.[42]
_Ref._: C. 388, L. 585, B. 578, S.P. 322, P. 159 and 178, B. ii. 430, T.
264, P. iv. 29 and 62.--W. 366, N. 325, V. 632.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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