The Sufistic Quatrains Of Omar Khayyam Part 23

This quatrain in its original form in the second edition was closer to the original Persian.

Oh if the World were but to re-create, That we might catch ere closed the Book of Fate, And make the Writer on a fairer leaf Inscribe our names, or quite obliterate!

It owes its inspiration to N 457.

I would that G.o.d should entirely alter the world, And that he should do it now, that I might see him do it; And either that he should cross my name from the Roll, Or else raise my condition from want to plenty.[91]

_Ref._: N. 457, S.P. 451.--W. 486, V. 841.

XCIX.

Ah, Love! could you and I with Him conspire To grasp this sorry Scheme of Things entire, Would not we shatter it to bits--and then Re-mould it nearer to the Heart's Desire!

This quatrain is translated from C. 395.

Had I, like G.o.d, control of the heavens, Would I not do away with the heavens altogether, Would I not so construct another heaven from the beginning That, being free, one might attain to the heart's desire?

_Ref._: C. 395, L. 594, B. 587, S.P. 337, P. 98, B. ii, 450, T. 268.--W.

379, N. 340, V. 641.

C.

Yon rising moon that looks for us again-- How oft hereafter will she wax and wane; How oft hereafter rising look for us Through this same Garden--and for _one_ in vain.

This quatrain in its various forms is inspired by O. 5.

Since no one will guarantee thee a to-morrow, Make thou happy now this lovesick heart;[92]

Drink wine in the moonlight, O Moon, for the moon[93]

Shall seek us long and shall not find us.

_Ref._: O. 5, C. 7, L. 5, S.P. 8, P. 219, B. 4, B. ii. 8, T. 6, P. v.

168.--W. 7, N. 8, E.C. 5, V. 4.

CI.

And when like her, Oh Saki, you shall pa.s.s Among the Guests Star-scatter'd on the Gra.s.s, And in your joyous errand reach the spot Where I made One--turn down an empty Gla.s.s!

This quatrain is taken from O. 83 and 84.

Friends when ye hold a meeting together, It behoves ye warmly to remember your friend; When ye drink wholesome wine together, And my turn comes, turn (a goblet) upside down.

_Ref_.: O. 83.--W. 234, V. 459.

Friends, when with consent ye make a tryst together, And take delight in one another's charms, When the Cup-bearer takes (round) in his hand the Mugh[94] wine, Remember a certain helpless one in your benediction.

_Ref._: O. 84, L. 290, B. 286, S.P. 191, P. 226, B. ii. 245.--W. 205, N.

192, V. 293.

APPENDIX.

In addition to the quatrains composing the final form in which we know his poem, there are a few stray quatrains scattered about Edward FitzGerald's Introduction and Notes. There are also two quatrains which appeared in the first edition only, and nine that appeared in the second edition only. I do not think that this work would be complete without an attempt to identify these quatrains in the original texts which inspired them.

IN THE INTRODUCTION.[95]

PAGE 4.

Khayyam, who st.i.tched the Tents of Science, Has fallen in Grief's furnace and been suddenly burned; The shears of Fate have cut the tent-ropes of his life, And the Broker of Hope has sold him for nothing!

The quatrain upon p. 4 is a literal translation by Prof. Cowell of O.

22.

_Ref._: O. 22, C. 59, L. 74, B. 70, S.P. 81, P. 205, B. ii. 94, T. 307, P. iv. 65, P. v. 195.--W. 83, N. 81, V. 73.

PAGE 7.

Oh, Thou who burn'st in Heart for those who burn In h.e.l.l, whose fires thyself shall feed in turn; How long be crying, Mercy on them, G.o.d!

Why, who art Thou to teach, and He to learn?

The quatrain upon p. 7 is FitzGerald's rendering of C. I.

O, burnt one (born) of the burnt! destined in turn to burn, And oh, thou! from whom the fires of h.e.l.l shall blaze,[96]

How long wilt thou keep saying, Have mercy upon Omar!

Wilt _thou_ be a teacher of mercy to _G.o.d_?

_Ref._: C. 1, L. 769, B. 755, S.P. 453, P. ii. 1, B. ii. 537, T. 1.--W.

488, N. 459, V. 821.

PAGE 7.

If I myself upon a looser Creed Have loosely strung the Jewel of Good deed, Let this one thing for my Atonement plead.

That One for Two I never did misread.

The quatrain on p. 7 is FitzGerald's rendering of O. 1.

If I have never threaded the pearl[97] of thy service, And if I have never wiped the dust of sin from my face, Nevertheless, I am not hopeless of thy mercy, For the reason that I have never said that One was Two.[98]