The _very_ wine a myriad forms sustains, And to take shapes of plants and creatures deigns But deem not that its essence ever dies, Its forms may perish, but its self remains. 75. Bl. C. L. N. A. I. J. On this Bl. notes «The Arabic form _hayawan_ is required by the metre.» And _Suwar_ is the Arabic plural, used as a singular. Bl., Prosody 5. Wine means the divine «_Noumenon_.» _Gulshan i Raz_, 825. 76. 'Tis naught but smoke this people's fire doth bear, For my well-being not a soul doth care; With hands fate makes me lift up in despair, I grasp men's skirts, but find no succour there. 76. Bl. C. L. N. A. I. J. Scan _tayifa_. 77. This bosom friend, on whom you so rely, Seems to clear wisdom's eyes an enemy; Choose not your friends from this rude multitude, Their converse is a plague 'tis best to fly. 77. Bl. C. L. N. A. I. J. The MSS. transpose the lines. 78. O foolish one! this moulded earth is naught, This particoloured vault of heaven is naught; Our sojourn in this seat of life and death Is but one breath, and what is that but naught? 78. Bl. L. N. _Shakl i mujassam_, «the earth.» Bl. 79. Some wine, a Houri (Houris if there be), A green bank by a stream, with minstrelsy;-- Toil not to find a better Paradise If other Paradise indeed there be! 79. Bl. C. L. N. A. I. J. _Dozakh i farsuda_, «an old hell,» _i.e._, vain things which create a hell for you. Bl. 80. To the wine-house I saw the sage repair, Bearing a wine-cup, and a mat for prayer; I said, «O Shaikh, what does this conduct mean?» Said he, «Go drink! the world is naught but air.» 80. N. 81. The Bulbul to the garden winged his way, Viewed lily cups, and roses smiling gay, Cried in ecstatic notes, «O live your life, You never will re-live this fleeting day.» 81. N. The MSS. have a variation of this beginning, _Bulbul chu. Jam . ra_. See Bl., Prosody, p. 12. 82. Thy body is a tent, where harbourage The Sultan spirit takes for one brief age; When he departs, comes the tent-pitcher death, Strikes it, and onward moves, another stage. 82. C. L. N. A. I. J. _Manzil_, in line 2, «lodging»; in line 3, «stage» _Khimaye_, a «tent.» 83. Khayyam, who long time stitched the tents of learning, Has fallen into a furnace, and lies burning, Death's shears have cut his thread of life asunder, Fate's brokers sell him off with scorn and spurning. 83. C. L. N. A. B. I. J. 84. In the sweet spring a grassy bank I sought, And thither wine, and a fair Houri brought; And, though the people called me graceless dog, Gave not to Paradise another thought! 84. C. L. N. A. B. I. J. _Batar_, a contraction. See Bl., Prosody, p. 10. 85.