Omar Khayyam

“ Dragged through the rapid course of time, which accords
its favors only to the least worthy, my life is passed
in a gulf of grief and sorrow. In this garden of being,
my heart is hard as is the green bud of a rose; and like
a tulip, it is dipped in blood.
202.
What belongs to youth is wine, the limpid juice of the
vine and the society of beauty; and since water once
brought ruin to this world by annihilating it, it is our
part to drown ourselves in wine, to pass our life in
drunkenness complete. ”

“ Put a cup of wine in my hand, for my heart is inflamed,
and my life slips away as quicksilver. Arise,
then, for the favors of fortune are only a dream; arise,
for the fire of thy youth is running away like the water
of a torrent.
55.
We are the idolaters of love, but the Musulman differs
from us; we are like the pitiful ant, but Salomon is our
foe. Our visages should aye be paled with love, and our
apparel in rags, and yet the mart for silken stuffs is here
below.
56.
To drink wine and rejoice is my gospel of life. To
be as indifferent to heresy as to religion is my creed. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Bring wine from this ruby vessel and pour it into a
simple crystal cup; bring that thing habitual and dear
to every noble man. Since you know that all beings are
but dust, and that a two-day tempest makes them disappear,
bring wine.
204.
O Thou, the quest of whom holds all in dizziness and
distress, the dervish and the rich are equally void of
means of reaching Thee. Thy name is in the speech
of all, but all are deaf; Thou art present to the eyes of
all, but all are blind.
330 205.
In company with one dear friend, how pleasing to me
is a cup of wine. ”

“ You may indeed be taken with lips tinted with the
color of the ruby, you may indeed appreciate the cup of
wine, you may indeed call for the noise of the drum, the
sound of the harp and of the flute, but these are only
trifles. God is my witness, while you do not break the
bonds of this dark world, you nothing are.
418.
Bestir yourself, since you are under this tyrannic vault;
drink wine, since you are in this world, a seat of woe.
And, from beginning to the end, being only earth, act
like a man who is upon the earth, and not as if thou
wert beneath the earth. ”

“ 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! ”

“ The disquiet
which possesses me keeps the bowl of my head from
filling itself with wine, can a bowl overturned ever be
filled?
162.
When my nature has seemed disposed to fasting and
prayer, I have a moment's hope that I am going to attain
the aim of my desires; but alas! a breath of wind has
sufficed to destroy the efficacy of my ablutions, and a
mouthful of wine has annihilated my fast.
163.
All my being is attracted by the sight of beautiful,
rose-colored faces; my hand is aye ready to seize a cup
of wine. ”

“ Oh, if the potter make
a pitcher of my dust, would that that pitcher might constantly
be full of wine!
300.
I understand all that annihilation and being apparently
mean; I know the foundation of lofty thought. Ah, well!
may all this knowledge be annihilated in me if I recognize
in man a higher state than that of drunkenness!
354 301.
I indeed drink wine, but I commit no disorder. I
stretch out my hand, but it is only to seize the cup.
Would you know why I am an adorer of wine? It is
because I do not wish to imitate you and be an adorer
of myself. ”

“ Be not cast down by the troubles which we call vicissitudes
here below. Let us occupy ourselves only in
drinking pure wine, limpid wine, the color of a rose.
Wine, friend, is the blood of the world. The world is
our murderer; how shall we resist drinking the blood of
the heart of him who spills ours?
287.
For the love which I bring thee, I am ready to undergo
all sorts of blame, and if I violate my vow, I submit
to the penalty. Oh! had I to endure until the last day
the torment that thou causest me, that space of time
would still seem too short. ”

“ How long shall we blush at the injustice of others?
How long shall we burn in the fire of this insipid world?
Arise, banish from thee the sorrow of the world, if thou
art a man; to-day is a feast; come, drink rose-colored
wine.
282.
I am in continual war with my passions, but what can
I do? The memory of my deeds causes me a thousand
regrets, but what can I do? I admit that in Thy clemency
Thou mayest pardon my faults, but the shame of
knowing that Thou knowest what I have done, that shame
will remain, and what can I do? ”

“ It is Thou who disposest of the lot of the living and
of the dead. It is Thou who governest this unruly Wheel
of the Heavens. Although I am bad, I am only Thy
slave, Thou art my master. Who then is guilty here
below? Art Thou not the Creator of all?
388 437.
O my King! how can such a man as I, finding himself
in the season of roses, in the midst of joyous society,
surrounded by wine, by dancers, remain a passive spectator?
Oh! to find oneself in a garden with a flask of
wine and a lute are things preferable to Paradise with
its houris and its Koocer. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Thy mind no care for any one, there is none who may
not be preoccupied with Thee.
288 37.
As long as I am not drunk, my happiness is incomplete.
When I am overcome with wine, ignorance replaces
my reason. But there exists an intermediary state
between drunkenness and sound reason. Oh! with what
happiness do I enslave myself to such a state, since in it
there is life!
38.
Who will believe that He who fashioned the cup could
think of destroying it? All these beautiful heads, all
these beautiful arms, all these dainty hands, are by what
love created and by what hate destroyed? ”

“ Yesterday, at evening, I put myself in pawn at
the tavern for a cup of wine. The wine merchant never
ceased to say: O excellent security that here I hold.
443.
Sometimes Thou art concealed, showing Thyself to
none; sometimes Thou revealest Thyself in all things
created. It is for Thyself, without doubt, and for Thy
pleasure that Thou hast produced these marvellous effects,
for Thou art at once the maker of the spectacle we see
and Thine own beholder.
444.
Should you come to people the whole earth, that action
would not make a saddened soul rejoice. ”

“ Alas! No problem
of creation has been solved for us, and behold! we
leave it with hearts full of regret at knowing naught
about it.
280 5.
O Khadja, give us lawfully a single one of our desires;
reserve thy breath and lead us into the way of God.
Surely we walk aright, it is thou that seest crosswise;
heal, then, thine eyes and leave us here in peace.
6.
Come, come, arise, and, for the healing of my heart,
one problem solve for me: yet quickly bring me a pitcher
of wine, and let us drink before they make pitchers out
of our own dust. ”

“ No annoying person
is worthy of my society. It is only the cup of wine
which can figure there, for that is at once a solid and a
diaphanous body.
251.
O Wheel of Heaven! Thou art complete in Thy ingratitude.
Thou keepest me constantly bare [naked]
like a fish. The weaver's loom weaves clothes for human
beings; more charitable is it than Thou, O Wheel of
Heaven!
252.
O Khayyam! Time is ashamed of him who allows his
heart to be saddened by vicissitudes below; drink, then,
to the sound of the harp, drink some wine from the
crystal, before the crystal broken be upon a stone. ”

“ They pretend that there exists a Paradise where there
are houris, where the Koocer flows, where there is limpid
wine, honey and sugar. Oh! fill quickly a cup of wine
and put it in my hand, for one present joy is worth more
than a thousand promised for the future.
170.
Even a mountain would dance for joy if you soaked it
in wine. Poor is the fool who scorns the cup. You dare
order me to renounce the juice of the vine! Know then
that wine is a soul which helps to bring man to perfection. ”

“ Khayyam, who sewed the tents of philosophic lore, is
suddenly engulfed within the crucible of grief, and there
is burned. The shears of Fate have cut the thread of
his existence; the Auctioneer of Life has sold him for
a song.
82.
In springtime let me sit upon the edge of a broad
field with one fair girl, and wine in plenty if wine is at
hand. Though this may culpable be thought, I should
be worse than any dog did I not dream of Paradise.
83.
Rose-colored wine in crystal cups delights. It charms
when sipped to lutes' melodious airs or to the plaintive
throbbing of the harp. ”

“ If the rose is not our portion, do not the thorns remain?
If light divine does not reach us, is there not the fire [of
hell] ? If we have not the clerical mantle, or that of
the temple, or the pontifical, do not the bells, the church,
and the ephod remain to us?
254.
If the Wheel of Heaven refuses me peace, am I not
ready for war? If I have not an honorable reputation,
have I not shame for myself? Here is the cup full of
wine the color of rubies; he who will not drink of it, has
he not his head and a stone? ”

“ Yea, O Creator of all
that was and all that is! such is my faith, whether Thou
burnest me, or accordest me Thy favor.
223.
Consort with honest and intelligent men. Flee a thousand
miles away from the ignorant. If a man of mind
give thee poison, drink it; if an ignorant one present
thee an antidote, pour it upon the ground.
224.
The clouds are still spread out above the roses and
seem to cover them as with a veil. The desire for wine
is not yet satiated in my heart. Then go not to rest, it is
not yet the hour. O my soul, drink of the 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.
Examine thyself, if thou art intelligent, and observe
what thou hast brought in the beginning and what thou
wilt carry away at the end. Thou sayest that thou dost
not drink because one must die. ”

“ To annihilate reason, or at least to subordinate it to feeling; to attack liberty, in order to subject the whole of life to love; and, furthermore, the blind abandoning of self—such is the aim of Sufism, as it is of all Mystic philosophy.
The doctrine of the Sufis has been set forth in a great number of treatises, notably that of Sohrawdi. God alone exists; He is in everything and everything is in Him. All beings emanate from Him, without being really distinct from Him. The world exists for all eternity; the material is only an illusion of the senses. ”