Heron-Allen's translation

1
Oh burnt one of the burnt, destined (in turn) to burn,
And oh thou from whom the fires of Hell shall blaze,
How long wilt thou keep saying “Have mercy upon Omar!”
Wilt thou be a teacher of Mercy to God?

2
From ruby wine our nature became ruby-coloured
Out goblet comes away from our hands with lamentation
From the quantity that we drink on the top of other draughts
We find ourself is steeped in wine & our heads are full of it.

3
If thou drinkest not wine reproach not thou the drunkards
If thou hast power to do so, be penitent in God’s sight
Thou makest boast, saying: — “I do not drink wine”
Thou dost an hundred things of which drunkenness is an inferior.

4
Although my colour & fragrance are agreeable
Though my cheek is like a tulip and I am tall like a cypress
It is not clear in the earthly pleasure home
For what reason the (great) Artificer produced me.

5
There came one morning a cry from our tavern
“Ho ! profligate of our mad tavern,
“Come ! that we may fill the measure with wine
Ere they fill up our measure (of life)”

6 *
The Qurán which men call the best word
They read at intervals but not continually
On the lines upon the goblet there is a luminous text
Which they read at all times and in all places
[6]

7 *
Since no one becomes surety for tomorrow
Make thou happy now this heart full of passion
Drink wine in the moonlight, O Moon, for the moon
Shall often shine that shall not find us
[5]

8
No man is he whom his fellow men spurn
And (at the same time) for fear of his malice number among the good
If a drunkard shows reluctance in generosity
All his fellow drunkards hold him to be a mean fellow.

9
Where is the smoke from my fire here
And where is the profit from my stock in trade here
If any one gives me the name of tavern haunter
(Tell me) in the first place where is the tavern here ?

10
Why does the prudent man cherish hope in this unlucky abiding place ?
(Why), for God’s sake does he set his heart upon its dominion
Whenever he desires rest for his feet
His doom takes him by the hand and directs him to arise

11
Arise and come hither to delight my heart
Solve my difficulties with your own beauty
Bring a cup of wine that I may drink
Before they make cups out of my clay.

12
When I am dead wash me with wine
Say my funeral service with pure wine
(Perhaps) if you will, on the resurrection day you will not capture me
You must seek me in the earth of the tavern threshold.

13
To drunken me, who brought thee tonight ?
Who brought thee to me from behind the veil ?
Near to one who, in thine absence, is in flames,
Who brought thee hither to me like wind ?

14
O Teacher ! make one desire lawful to me
Hold thy tongue and give me thy blessing
We go straight, but thou seest crookedly
Go & cure thine eyes & give me absolution.

15
Walk in the path of humility and understand thine own heart
In the byway of contentment, snatch thou a caress
An hundred ka’abas of water & clay do not equal one heart in value
What have you to do with ka’abas, come & understand a heart.

16
I shall drink so much wine that this aroma of wine
Shall rise from the earth when I am beneath it
So that when a drinker shall pass above my body
He shall become drunk & degraded from the aroma of my potations.

17 *
Here are we and the wine & the singers, in this desolate corner
Our souls, hearts, goblets & garments full of the lees of wine
Careless of hopes of mercy and of fears of punishment
Independent of earth and air & fire & water
[7]

18
Once more in the tavern I am called “the fool of wine”
To be a drunkard & a wine-worshipper is my lot
Here am I with the scrapings of food in this ruined monastery
This picture of infamy entirely describes me.

19
From the state of infidelity to that of faith is but a breath
And from a state of doubt to that of certainty is but a breath
Hold thou dear this one moment that is pleasant
For of the outcome of our being there is but a moment.

20
If there is this complaint at the hands of anyone
And if at his hands there is an end of possessing your heart (in comfort)
Take heed that you be not entirely engrossed about this desire
The bad (you know) about yourself is badness enough.

21
If the rose fall not to our lot, the thorn is enough
If light does not reach us, hell-fire is enough
If we cannot attain the robe of sheik-doms & the monastery
The bell, the church, & zunnar are (good) enough.

22
O heaven ! ruin comes from thy malevolence.
From all time injustice has been your profession
O earth ! if they should rend your bosom
Many are the valuable gems that they would find there.

23 *
These two or three days of the period of my existence pass by
They pass as passeth the wind in the desert
So long as I live I will not grieve two days
The day that has not come, and the day that is past.
[20]

24
If the heart knows the secret of existence as it is,
In death it will know all the secrets of God
If today you know nothing about yourself
When will you know tomorrow when you abandon yourself.

25
To drink wine and be gay is my wont
To be careless alike of infidelity & faith is my faith
I said to the bride of the time “What is thy dowry ?”
She said “To be dead in the heart of the tomb is my dowry.”

26 = 85
God, when he fashioned the clay of my body
Knew by my making what would come from it
(Since) there is no sin of mine without his knowledge
Why should he seek to burn me at the day of resurrection?

27
That Idol on whose account my heart became afflicted
At when my heart was languishing,
When I strain in the search of a cure for myself
(I find that) he who is my doctor has become sick himself.

28
Saki ! since Time aims at thy destruction & mine
The world is no fit resting place for thee or me,
If therefore there is a cup of wine in our hands
Know thou for certain that our hands grasp the Truth

29
(Being) neither fit for the prayer carpet nor worthy of the mosque
God knows from what he fashioned my clay
I am like an infidel darvish & like an ugly courtesan
(Having) neither faith nor country, nor hope of heaven.

30 *
Today being the period of my youth
I make a wine-drinking for that is my life
Do not reproach it; even though acrid it is pleasant
It is acrid only in that it represents my life
[11]

31
The faults of my intelligence are of no profit to thine affairs
And my anxieties result only in supplications to you:
When shall I understand thy nature properly ?
He who understands thy nature is nothing but thy essence.

32
Save Truth there is no umpire that may be a commander
There is naught that is more powerful than Thy command
Everything that is, must be as it is
There is naught that is not as it must be.

33
The appointed time of our coming and going,
Its limit & its commencement are not apparent
No one is reliable for one moment in the matter
Of whence we come and whither we go.

34
When I am sober, joy is concealed from me,
And when I am drunk there is a falling off in my wisdom
There is a condition midway between drunkenness & sobriety
I am its slave, for that is life indeed !

35
It so happened that I passed my existence with roses and wine
(But) no worldly business of mine turned out satisfactorily
Since no favourable outcome results from wine
I have allowed myself to abandon everything that has befallen me.

36
I have travelled far in a wandering by valley & desert
It came to pass that I wandered in all quarters of the world
I have not heard from anyone who came from this road
The road he has travelled any traveller travels again.

37
Like a tulip in the spring uplift your cup
If you have (a duty to perform) with a moon-faced one
Drink wine with cheerfulness for this worn-out sky
Will suddenly invert you to the level of the earth.

38
Since our affairs will not go in accordance with our wishes
Whither will the anguish of our strife tend
We rest continually in the grief that
We came too late & that we must go too soon.

39
The Pagoda and the Ka’aba are both places of devotion
Striking the church gong is a music of devotion
The Zunnar, the Church, the Rosary, and the Cross
Are verily outward signs of devotion.

40
Place wine in my hand for my heart is light
And this fugitive existence has feet like quicksilver.
Arise ! for the wakefulness of good-fortune turns to slumber,
Know thou that the fire of youth is (fugitive) like water

40a
O heart! since it is your destiny to become all blood
(And) for your affairs to assume a different complexion every minute
O soul! on what business did you enter this my body
Since the end of your business is to be annihilated.

41
On the day that shall be, when the skies are riven
And at the moment that shall be, when the Orient is darkened
I will grasp thy skirt in petition
(And) say “O loved one ! do you reward sin with death ?”

42
If thine affairs go well, be not anxious about the result,
And, likewise, if they go badly it is no loss to you,
Make submission & acquiescence and live cheerfully
Since the good & the bad of the world are not of thy ordering.

43
Every heart in which the light of love has a place
Whether it is an inhabitant of the Mosque, or is of the people of the synagogue
Every one whose name is written in the Book of Love
Is free from hell, & careless concerning heaven.

44
All verdure that grows upon the margin of a stream
You may say grows from the lip of an angel
Beware not to set foot contemptuously upon the verdure
For that verdure grows from the clay of a tulip cheeked one.

45
If you will walk in the footsteps of lust & desire
(Learn the) news from me that you will depart helpless
Behold what manner of person you are and whence you have come,
Know that whatever you may do, whither you will go.

46 = 101
Every brick that is upon the parapet of a palace
Is the locks of a loved one & the calamity of a soul
The clay that like that is beneath thy feet like that (clay)
That prairie holds a wazir & the head of a sultan.

47
In every desert where there is a tulip-bed
Those tulips have come from the blood of a king
Every violet-shoot that grows from the earth
Is a mole that was once upon the cheek of a beauty
Is a mole that was once upon the cheek of a beauty

48 * = 426
This jug was once a plaintive lover as I am,
And was enslaved by the curly head of a sweetheart
This handle that thou seest upon its neck
Is an arm that once lay upon the neck of a friend.
[9]

48a
Night and day existed before me and thee
The revolving sky existed for the affairs (of the world)
Take heed that you set foot gently upon the earth
For that (earth) was once the pupil of a beauty’s eye.

49 *
Seeing that my coming was not for me the Day of Creation
And that my undesired departure (hence) is a purpose fixed (for me)
Arise ! and gird well thy loins, O nimble Cup-bearer,
For I will wash down the misery of the world with wine.
[21]

50
Why so much sorrow after riches and grief for the world
You never saw anyone who attained eternal life
This one breath that is in your body is lent to you
With borrowed (life) you can but live transiently.

51 *
They say that the Garden of Eden is pleasant with houris
And that that after-life will be pleasant with music and brightness,
Hold fast this cash and let that credit go
For it is pleasant to hear the noise of drums from afar off
[34]

52
In the throat of the flagon how pleasant is the the gurgling of wine,
How pleasant are the sound of melody and the music of flutes
With the heart-alluring lute and with pure wine in one’s hand
How pleasant is the wine cup when we are free from the cares of time

53
Wine is pleasant though in the “Law” it has a bad name
It is pleasant at the hands of a beautiful woman or a boy
It is acrid & forbidden, (but) joy comes to me (from it)
It is pleasant as long as everything that is forbidden is far off.

54
Since the spring clouds throw shade upon the cheeks of the tulips
Arise ! & pour wine into the cup—we are owed this much !
For this verdure which today is your pleasure-ground
Will tomorrow grow from your own clay.

55 *
Like water in a great river and like wind in the desert
Another day passes out of the period of my existence
So long as I live I will never grieve about two days
The day that has not come and the day that is past
[20]

56 *
No one can pass behind the Curtain of the Secret
The mind of no one is master of what is there
Save in the heart of dark earth we have no haven
Drink wine for to such talk there is no end.
[29]

57
One cup of wine is better than the Empire of Kawus
And it is better than the Throne of Kobad & the Empire of Tus
Every sigh that a lover heaves at dawn
Is better than the clamor of hypocritical zealots

58
My wine drinking is not for the purpose of enjoyment
Nor the outcome of depravity and the abandonment of Faith & propriety
I desire that I may give up the ghost in ecstasy
From this cause alone are my wine drinking and drunkenness

59 *
Khayyam who stitched at the tents of wisdom
Fell into the furnace of sorrow & was suddenly burnt
The shears of doom cut the tent-ropes of his existence
And the broker of Destiny sold him for a mere song.
[22]

60
They say that drunken men will go to hell
It is the saying of an opposing heart that cannot do likewise
If the lovers and drunkards go to hell
Tomorrow heaven will be (empty) like the palm of one’s hand.

61
Since certainty of the truth is beyond your power
You cannot hope, and doubt rests upon your heart
Take heed that we lay not aside the wine cup from our hand
What matters drunkenness or sobriety in an ignorant man.

62 *
The good and the bad that are in man’s nature
The happiness and misery that are predestined for him
Do not impute them to the heavens for in the Way of Love
Those heavens are a thousandfold more helpless than thou art
[41]

63
They say “Do not drink wine for it is not lawful in Shaban
Neither in Rajab for that month is especially God’s
Shaban & Rajab are the months of God & the Prophet
I will drink wine in Ramazan for that is especially mine.

64 *
The elements of a cup which he has made to contain wine
A drinker will not permit to be scattered abroad
All these heads and delicate feet—with their hands & fingers
For love of whom does he make them,—on what account should he break them.
[19]

65
The tavern is peopled by my (habit of) wine-drinking
I bear the responsibility of two thousand sins
If I do not sin, what occupation has Mercy ?
The beauty of mercy becomes apparent by my sinning.

66
With that wine which is the spirit of another life
Fill the cup—what matters a headache to you
Give it full into my hand for the affairs of the world are dark
Hasten O boy, for your life passes away.

67 *
If in the season of spring a houri-shaped idol
Gives me a jar of wine on the edge of the prairie
However much, according to doctrine, this may be bad
I am worse than a dog if I remember heaven.
[25]

68
O heart ! as the Times make you melancholy,
Suddenly your pure spirit will leave your body,
Sit upon the grass, & drink pleasantly so many cups
Ere the grass shall grow from your clay.

69
Since the Director set in order the elements of nature
For what cause does he again disperse them into loss & deficiency
If they are good, why should he break them
And if they are bad he surely prefers them spoilt (thus).

70
You must not hasten vainly from door to door
You must adapt yourself to the good & the bad of the times
With the dice-box of heaven & the two dice of Fate
You must play with every blow that turns up.

71
When smites the sword of Fate, bucklers are of no avail
And all this treasure of gold & silver are naught
Whenever for a moment I observe the affairs (of the world)
That which is good is good, & all else is naught

72
That wine which is by nature skilled in metamorphosis
Is sometimes animal & sometimes vegetable
So long as you realize that nothing changes—alas !
Its nature only changes, but not its quality

73
It is my life to be employed in praise of wine
I can command wine & it is then within my power
If the zealot is your master, it is reasonable, now
Be happy for that teacher of yours, is a student of mine.

74
O fervent devotee, outcome of the age
You are bewildered about the five (senses) & the four (elements) & the seven (heavens)
Drink wine for the passing of youth approaches, it will sleep beneath the clay
Sorrow less for this world, for when you go it also is gone.

75 *
In cell & college & monastery and synagogue
Are those who fear hell & those who seek for heaven
He who has knowledge of the secrets of God
Sows none of such seed in his own heart.
[24]

76
Today whose name is Friday
Drink wine from the flagon itself, what need is there of a glass ?
If every day you drink one flagon of wine
Drink two today for today is the Seyyid of the Times

77
The elements of our nature like your desires are fleeting
Be just thyself even though everything is unjust
Repose with wise people for your origin and mine
Is dust & sparks,—the spring breeze is fragrant.

78
With dancers and wine & houri-shaped beings, if such there be,
By a running stream & the edge of the prairie, if such there be,
Seek not better than this, nor burn useless hell,
In truth there be a heaven it is no other than this

79 *
I fell asleep, (and) wisdom said to me:—
“Never from sleep has the rose of happiness blossomed for anyone.
Why do a thing that is the mate of death ?
Drink wine for thou must sleep beneath the earth.
[27]

80 *
Drink wine for thou wilt sleep long beneath the clay
Without an intimate, a friend, a comrade, or a mate;
Take heed that thou tell it not this hidden secret to anyone:—
The tulips that are withered will never bloom again.
[35]

81 *
I drink wine, & the critics from left & right
Say:— “Do not drink wine, for it is the foe of religion”
When I knew that wine was the foe of religion
(I said) “By Allah ! let me drink the foe’s blood, for that is lawful.
[38]

82
The cloud comes, and (in the) garden the tops of the verdure weep
Without Arghavan (coloured) wine I cannot remain alive
This verdure which is today my pleasure-ground
Until the verdure from my clay becomes a pleasure-ground for whom ?

83 *
Know this—that from thy soul thou shalt be separated,
Thou shalt pass behind the curtain of the secrets of God
Drink wine ! thou knowest not whence thou hast come
Be happy ! thou knowest not whither thou shalt go.
[26]

84 *
The spring breeze blows sweetly upon the face of the rose
In the shade of the garden plot a darling’s face is sweet;
Nothing thou canst say of yesterday that is past is sweet
Be happy & speak not of yesterday, for today is sweet.

85 * = 26
God when he arranged the clay of my body
Knew from my making what would come from it
Without his knowledge there is no sin of mine
Why should he on the last day desire to burn me.

86
Since of all that is there is naught but empty wind in our hands
Since with all that is there is (also) nothing, the loss is slight
Reflect thou that all that is in the world is naught
Reflect thou that everything that is naught, is in the world

87 *
What shall be is written upon the Tablet
Unhaltingly the Pen writes & is heedless of good and bad.
In Destiny, He appointed everything that must be
Our grief and our efforts are in vain.
[31]

88
I cannot tell the secret to all,—good & bad alike,
I cannot make my brief story a long one,
I am in a condition which I cannot explain
I hold a secret that I cannot tell again

89
Take thine ease with wine, for such is the empire of Mahmoud
Hearken to the lute, for such is the chant of David,
Concern thyself no more about thy coming & departure
Be happy, for this is the object of existence.

90 *
The heavenly vault is the girdle of my weary body,
Jihun is a watercourse worm by my strained eyes
Hell is a spark from my useless worries
Paradise is a moment of time when I am tranquil.
[33]

91 *
Thou hast no power today over the morrow
And anxiety over the morrow is naught but sorrow
Waste not thou this moment for thy heart is not eternal
For the end of this remnant of life is not manifest.
[12]

92
Now that the Heavenly abode is a desert (for us)
Sweep away the dust, you must cultivate the river in the garden
When, tomorrow, the world decks itself with the carpet of gladness
How can we call back the travellers who have passed away

93
Since the world came not to pass at the will of a wise man
The heavens are seven in number if you, or, if you like, eight,
Since you must die, & all things that must be are (fixed)
What dust it must swallow in the tomb, & what wolf in the wilderness

94
Do not seek happiness for the outcome of existence is but a moment
Every atom is of the dust of some Kaikobad or Jamshyd
The affairs of the world and the origin of this life that is
Are but sleep & dreams and cheating and fraud.

95
This battered caravanserai whose name is the world
Is the resting place of night and day
It is a pavilion that is the resting place of an hundred Jamshyds
It is a palace that is the resting place of an hundred Bahrams.

96 *
Khayyam ! why mourn thus for thy sins
From grieving thus, what advantage, more or less, dost thou gain ?
Mercy was never for him who sins not,
Mercy is granted for sins—why then grieve ?
[23]

97
When the nightingale in the garden takes up his plaint
One must arise, like the tulip
Ere that people from their ignorance of the secret
Say, “So-and-so has taken the wine cup in hand”

98
When your fragrance reached my heart, borne upon the zephyr,
Having left me, it leapt in search of you,
It no longer concerns itself about me, who am sick,
For, having absorbed your fragrance, becomes your idolater.

99
(In) that palace where Bahram grasped the cup
The foxes whelp & the lion takes his rest;
Bahram who continually caught the wild ass
Today behold that the grave has caught Bahram.

100
Mankind continues to call me a scoundrel
Behold how they are mistaken ! —I am without sin
O virtuous people ! against me, in contravention of the law,
Is there aught save drunkenness, effeminacy & subterfuge ? (what is the matter ?)

101 = 46
Every brick that is upon the parapet of a palace
Is the locks of a loved one & the calamity of a soul
The clay that like that is beneath thy feet like that (clay)
That prairie holds a wazir & the head of a sultan.

102 *
In this life it is best that thou should’st make but few friends
Distant intercourse with one’s fellows is good
That person whom thou adopt wholly as a friend
When thou openest the eye of wisdom he is thine enemy.
[8]

103
Now that the rose of happiness is in flower
Why is your hand idle with the wine-cup
Drink wine for Time is a perfidious enemy
It is difficult to know many such days

104
The moonlight has torn asunder the robe of night with light
Drink wine for you will not find a moment sweeter than this
Be happy & reflect that many moonlights
Shall shine one after another upon your tomb.

105
Ere now there have been many men & many women
The four quarters of the world have been adorned by all of them
Soon will come the time when thy body will be dust under-ground
The dust of thy body will become that of a thousand roads.

106
How long of the mosque lamp and the temple smoke ?
How long of talk about hell & the reward of heaven ?
Go ! see thou that the Master of Fate upon the face of the Tablet
Has written what shall be in that eternity.

107 *
I know not whether he who fashioned me
Made an inhabitant of pleasant heaven or of dreadful hell;
(But) a wine cup & an idol & a lute upon the green bank of the field
All these three are cash to me, be thine the credit-heaven !
[40]

108 *
I know not whether he who fashioned me
Made an inhabitant of pleasant heaven or of dreadful hell;
(But) a wine cup & an idol & a lute upon the green bank of the field
All these three are cash to me, be thine the credit-heaven !
[30]

109 *
The mystery must be kept hidden from all the ignoble,
and the secrets must be withheld from fools.
Consider thine actions towards thy fellow men:
our hopes must be concealed from all mankind.
[44]

110
Khayyam ! thy body surely resembles a tent
The soul of a Sultan is there, & its habitation is the perishable world
The ferrash of fate, to make another habitation of it
Takes down this tent when the sultan rises.

111
The face of the desert drapes itself in cloud,
O fools ! that the verdure may spring from the dust,
(With) this line of verdure, & a patch of green, a goblet
And ruined abode, the heart in you is surely renewed.

112
In the feast of wisdom intellect gave a proof of purity
Concerning Rum & Arabia, it said, “One is the left & one is the right”
“If any unworthy one says to you ‘wine is not pure’
How can I listen since God has said “It is propitious.”

113 *
How long shall I throw bricks upon the surface of the sea?
I am disgusted with the idol-worshippers of the pagoda.
Khayyám! who can say that he will be a denizen of hell,
who ever went to hell, and who ever came from heaven?
[18]

114 *
Whosoever has engrafted the leaf of love upon his heart,
not one day of his life has been wasted;
either he strives to meet with God's approbation,
or he chooses bodily comfort and raises the wine-cup.
[42]

115
I am a disobedient slave, where is thy mercy ?
My heart is dark—where is thy light & clearness ?
If, for thy service, thou givest me heaven,
This is a reward, and thy gifts— where are they ?

116
In the place of assembly drunkenness is vile,
Neither lute nor flute nor a heart are ready to my hand,
O drunkards ! the wine seekers abandon everything
Save the reckoner of the place who is always drunk.

117
Your lust remains certain as with the house-dog,
No prayer comes from it, save a noise in an empty space,
Its nature is foxlike and it sleeps like a hare
It is terrible as a tiger and vicious as a wolf.

118
From the fire of this congregation there is naught but smoke
And noone has any hope of my well being
(With) the hand, that from the power of heaven I raise to my head
I seize the robe of everyone—but I get no reward (by it)

119
The secret of the world as it is written in our book
You cannot tell, for it would prejudice our secret.
Since in this world there is not a wise man who is worthy
You cannot give expression to all that is in our thoughts.

120
There is no one whose liver is not full of blood by reason of thy departure
There is no one who is not enlightened by your ecstasy
Nevertheless there is no one from whom you desire profit
There is no soul that seeks not to derive profit from you.

121
So far as you are able do not reckon upon the sorrow of the world
Until misery arrives do not burden your heart with anxiety
Drink pleasant wine and admit that from these five abodes,
Even though you have great hoards, you carry naught away

122
Where are the minstrel & the wine that I may do justice to the morning draught
Pleasant is the time when the heart remembers the morning draught
For me there are three things in the world that one must attain
Drunkenness, love & the clamour of the dawn-draught.

123 *
Since life passes; what is Baghdad and what is Balkh?
When the cup is full, what matter if it be sweet or bitter?
Drink wine, for often, after thee and me, this moon
will pass on from the last day of the month to the first, and from the first to the last.
[47]

124
My soul is devoted to him who is worthy of it
If I lay my head in his footsteps, the earth will seem soft
It may be that you know for certain what is hell
Hell-upon-earth is the society of unworthy people.

125 = 200
Those who traverse the whole world on foot
And in this search for the two worlds, wax old,
I do not become (aware) that they ever
Become masters of this present state, such as it is.

126
The heaven-born genius knows all secrets
For he knows hair by hair & vein by vein
I admit that you may deceive mortal blindness
(But) what can you do against Him who knows us all one by one.

127
Those who have become oceans of excellence & cultivation
And from the collection of their perfections have hence become lights
of their fellows
Have not made the road out of this dark night
They have told a fable and have gone to sleep.

128
Wine-worshippers know the condition of roses and wine
Misers and the miserly do not know it
The ignorant are forgiven for their ignorance
There is pleasure in this debauchery which drunkards know.

129 *
My coming was of no profit to the heavenly sphere,
and by my departure naught will be added to its beauty and dignity;
neither from anyone have my two ears heard
what is the object of this my coming and going.
[51]

130
The sweet perfume of the rose is worth the wound of the thorn
If you drink wine it compensates you for the after effects
I would that a thousand souls might be refreshed by it
Be just ! for it is as good as a respite

131
This assembly of the rich who hold high positions
Are wearied with anxiety & sorrow about their own souls.
There is no one who is so much the slave of avarice as they
And of surprise that all men are not like them.

132
Those who grow older & those who are destroyed
Every one (of them) who by his own tendency becomes destroyed, one by one,
The pastime of this world remains eternal for no one
We have come & they are gone, & again they come and go.

133
He who established the earth & the sky & the heavens
Many are the scars which he has inflicted upon disconsolate hearts
Many the ruby lips, & musk-scented curls
That he has cast into the drum of earth, & the coffin of the clay.

134
The sun casts the noose of morning upon the roofs
Kaikhosru of the day he throws a pebble into the cup
Drink wine ! for the herald of dawn, the time of uprising
With exulting voice proclaims into the sky.

135 *
This caravan of life passes by mysteriously;
mayest thou seize the moment that passes happily!
Cup-bearer, why grieve about the to-morrow of thy patrons?
give us a cup of wine, for the night wanes.
[60]

136
Those who have come hither are agitated
(And are) anxious for glory & mirth and drunkenness
They drink of the bowl & become silent
They are all embraced in the dust of eternity .

137
The wheel of heaven has oft-times poured down blessings
There is no advantage in cherishing useless grief
Fill the wine-cup & place it quickly in my hand
That I may drink again for will be will be.

138
Although the world may be decorated for your eyes
Do not agitate yourself, for the wise see it (also)
(There are) those who twist their destinies around your feet,
(But) many like you depart, & many others come.

139
Not translated
Old age bent over totters to its end,
My cheek's pomegranate flowers some color lend;
The roof and doors and cornerstones and walls
Of Being’s house to desolation tend.
[Thompson 1906 - 865]

140 *
This intellect that haunts the path of happiness
keeps saying to thee a hundred times a day: —
"Understand in this single moment of thine existence, that thou art not
like those herbs which when they gather them spring up again."
[49]

141
Very little is my heart forbidden to love
Little remains of the secret that is not understood
For seventy two years have I pondered day & night
It is clear only, that nothing is clear.

142
No one who is firm will make abjuration
From wine that is like the Water of Life
If anyone abjures during Ramazan
God grant that he may also have freedom from prayers

143 = 208
Since eternity itself was, he created me
From the first he dictated to me the study of love
At that time a small filing of me may become transmuted
A key of the treasury he may make efficacious

144
That goblet which they have fashioned very beautifully
Being broken they have scattered on the path
Beware lest you put your foot on it with contempt
For they have made that cup from the bowl of a skull

145
Whenever the rising of the false dawn happens
The bright goblet must be in your hand
They say in the rumour that truth is acrid
According to this director wine must be the Truth.

146
If I do not suffer the effects of the nights wine
My choice is not to drink wine by day
You say do not choose to drink wine by day
In day wine-drinking my choice does not lie.

147
That day that they saddled the wild horses of the sun
And (that) they settled the laws of Parwin & Mushtari
This was the destiny decreed for me from the divan
What sins are my destiny these shall I do

148
On the day when the rewards of all will be drawn up
On the day when the rewards of all will be set forth,
Your fate will be according to what is known of you
Strive after beautiful actions for on the day of doom
Your resurrection will be according yo the manner of your qualities.

149
There is no increase in your empire from my service
Nor is there decrease in it from my past revolt
It is acknowledge that you will pardon these & not seize me
Seizing tardily & pardoning suddenly.

150
That cup-maker who makes the cups of our heads
In the cup the maker made manifest his own earth
Over the table of our existence he placed an inverted cup
And he makes that inverted cup full of profit.

151 *
Ere that fate makes assault upon thy head,
give orders that they bring thee rose-coloured wine;
thou art not treasure, O heedless dunce, that thee
they hide in the earth and then dig up again.
[68]

152
When I am dead make small fragments of my clay
And let my condition be a warning to mankind
Moisten the clay of my body with wine
And make a tile for the head of a jar from my body

153
In the season when they give the cry for the wine
Order O Idol that they give wine with music
Of (care of) hell & heaven & houris & palaces
Sit free for that they give with music.

154 *
Drink wine, for thy body becomes atoms in the earth,
thine earth, after that, becomes goblets and jars;
be thou heedless of hell and heaven,
why should a wise man be deceived about such things?
[79]

155
They say that there will be heaven & houris & black-eyed virgins
And that there will be pure wine & honey
If I desire wine & sweethearts, they are lawful
Since there will be the end of all things.

156
They say that there will be heaven & the reservoir of Kausar
There there will be pure wine & honey & sugar
Fill the wine cup & place it in my hand
Cash is better than 1000 credits

157
They say that the congregation of ascetics
In everything which they command, in that they rise
We with wine & sweethearts, are constance to these
May it be that such may arise from my earth.

158 *
Take heed to stay me with the wine-cup,
and make this amber face like a ruby;
when I die, wash me with wine,
and out of the wood of the vine make the planks of my coffin.
[69]

159
They say that at the resurrection there will be discussion
And that that excellent friend will be hasty
Nothing but good ever came from the Unalloyed Supreme Goodness
Be happy for the upshot will be all right.

160
Those people who arrived with pomp in the resting place
And those people who variously journey in the road
Are decreed together to a sordid death
In the end they all depart wretchedly

161
So travel in the road that they do not remark you
So live among the people that they do not salute you
If you go into the mosque, go so that (to) you
They do not call you forward & make you an Imam.

162
If you desire that to you the degree of piety shall arrive
Do not choose than injury shall arrive to anyone from you
Do not give from death, & be not anxious about riches
For both of these in their appointed time will become wretched.

163
In the sky they spoke with sweet voice
And these fools threaded the pearls of his wisdom
No one knows the beginning of the string of the secret
They speak the first word & at the end fall asleep

164
These folk are all ridiculous asses
They are full of fire & empty inside like a drum
If you wish them to kiss your hands & feet
Acquire a good name for they are the slaves of fame.

165 *
Drink wine, that will banish thy abundant woes,
and will banish thought of the Seventy-two Sects;
avoid not the alchemist, for, from him,
thou takest one draught, and he banishes a thousand calamities.
[77]

166
When the beloved of the soul has abandoned the house
All its furniture returns to its original uses
These silken strings of existence being worn
By the plectrum of fate become useless

167
Wine is wings & affluence to the melancholy
Wine on the cheek of a lady is black and a mole
In Ramazan we have not drunk wine & it has gone
At length with the month of Shawwal the night of feasting is

168
Towards the house of the people who are asses why do you turn
Why do you carry book learning for they will not buy learning of you
During a year they will not give you (a drop of) spring water
For every day they rob you of your good name

169
Tomorrow when they award the recompenses of the ceremonially good
They will give a portion to me a distracted profligate
If I come out good I shall be reckoned from there (the good)
If I am bad I shall be rewarded with the bad of those.

170
When my nature is inclined to prayer & fasting
I say that all my desires are gained
Alas that that ablution is destroyed by wine
And that fasting is made null by half a measure of wine

171 *
One cup of wine is worth a hundred hearts and religions,
one draught of wine is worth the empire of China,
saving ruby wine there is not, on the face of earth,
any acrid thing that is worth a thousand sweet souls.
[85]

172 *
In the tavern thou canst not perform the Ablution save with wine,
and thou canst not purify a tarnished reputation;
be happy, for this veil of temperance of ours
is so torn that it cannot be repaired.
[65]

173 *
Do not allow sorrow to embrace thee,
nor an idle grief to occupy thy days;
forsake not the book, and the lover's lips, and the green bank of the field,
ere that the earth enfold thee in its bosom.
[76]

174 *
Even though wine is forbidden, for all that it depends upon who drinks it,
and then in what quantity, and also with whom he drinks it;
these three conditions being as they should be; say!
who drinks wine if a wise man does not do so?
[78]

175
I desire wine in a one-men goblet
I will make myself rich with two 1/2 mens of wine
First I will three times divorce learning & faith
And then I will make the daughter of the vine my wife.

176 *
No one has solved the tangled secrets of eternity,
no one has set foot beyond the orbit,
since, so far as I can see, from tyro to teacher,
impotent are the hands of all men born of woman.
[72]

177 *
We must be effaced from the Book of Existence.
We must be destroyed in the Hands of Destiny
Howsoever often your head rises superior to wisdom
In the end we must go beneath the dust.
[52]

178
How long will my life pass by in self examination
Or in footsteps in search of existence or non existence
Drink wine for lives that are thus on that track
It is better that it shall pass in sleep or drunkenness

179 *
Set limits to thy desire for worldly things and live content,
sever the bonds of thy dependence upon the good and bad of life,
take wine in hand and play with the curls of a loved one; for quickly
all passeth away—and how many of these days remain?
[73]

180 *
Every draught that the Cup-bearer scatters upon the earth
quenches the fire of anguish in some afflicted eye.
Praise be to God! thou realizest that wine
is a juice that frees thy heart from a hundred pains.
[81]

181
I go, & after me the era remains confounded
With that that of 100 pearls not one remains threaded
Alas that 100,000 subtle questions
From the dullness of men remain unexpended

182
Those who are praised by old & new
Stand in the road with water & 2 loaves in their hands
They say “we are Shibli & Junaid in one”
Shiblis are not famed as saints in Karkhi

183
The sect who cultivate the prayer mat are asses
For the reason that they are held beneath the burden of hypocrisy
And these (are) queerer than all, who under veil of sainthood
Barter away Islam & are worse than Kaffirs

184
If you offer up wine to a mountain it will dance
Imbecile is he who abuses wine
What abstinence do you order me to make from wine
It is a spirit that can educate (these) bodies (of ours)

185
All my agreeable friends have gone away
In the footsteps of fate one by one they are destroyed
In the fellowship of souls they were cup-companions
Two little existences before me they were drunk

186
I will drink wines so long as I have life
If the world lasts it will be all my life
Oh soul of the world we live happily in this world
How do I know that there will be another world.

187
Fill the wine cup & place it in my hand quickly
That I may drink for what will be will be
This wheel of heaven has killed many like us
To sorrow is useless, where is the advantage of it ?

188
The body that may be made the offshoot of my life
And the bodies that may be expanded from one another
If after that they make a flagon of my clay
The moment that they fill it with wine it may live again

189
Be happy for that time will come
(When) all bodies will be hidden in the earth
Drink thou wine & do not sorrow for the world
Let him sorrow who will come into the world.

190
The folk who are foolhardy in the matter of death
Will be abject from their chatter until the judgment day
How long will you say “Some one has got us news”
In ignorance of what news they give us.

191
Do not perform abstinence from wine if wine there be
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The rose tearing its skirt & the nightingales singing their song
At such a time what abstinence would be proper.

192
So long as the friend does not give me my soul refreshing wine
The heavens will not give 100 kisses upon my head & feet
They say “Be penitence if time (for it) comes”
How shall I make penitence if my God does not give it me.

193
For no one is there a way behind the curtain of Destiny
No one is aware of the Secret of Fate
Every one tells news of the road of wisdom
Nothing is known, & the story is not shortened.

194
If one loaf in two days be man’s allotted portion
And a drop of cold water out of a broken jug
Why must you be ordered by some one else
Or why must one do the service of an equal.

195
My whole nature is kindred to cheeks like the rose
My hand is always joined to the cup of wine
I exact from every part (of me) its own function
Ere that those parts (of me) shall be mixed with the clay.

196 *
Although wine has rent my veil,
so long as I have a soul I will not be separated from wine;
I am in perplexity concerning vintners, for they —
what will they buy that is better than what they sell?
[62]

197
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Continually he makes an enemy of every affair
They say the flagon maker is not a muslim
Give him salutation ! he makes the cup

198
They say that the moon of Ramazan returns clear
Hereafter in the assembly the wine cannot circulate
At the end of Sha’ban I will drink so much wine
That during Ramazan I may be found drunk till the festival.

199
If you remain a friend forsake (your) idle talk
Compensate me for my sorrows with wine
When I die make a brick of my earth
And put me in a hole in a ruined tavern wall

200 = 125
Those who traverse the whole world on foot
And in this search for the two worlds, wax old,
I do not become (aware) that they ever
Become masters of this present state, such as it is.

201
When they mixed my mould
They produced 100 wonders from me
I cannot be better than this
That as they poired me out of the crucible.

202 *
I drink wine, and every one drinks who like me is worthy of it;
my wine-drinking is but a small thing to Him;
God knew, on the Day of Creation, that I should drink wine;
if I do not drink wine, God's knowledge was ignorance.
[75]

203
Oh potters who plunge hands into the clay
Skill & wisdom & intelligence you devote to that
Blows & kicks & thumps how long will you strike
You must think it is the dust of bad men.

204 *
Now is the time when by the spring-breezes the world is adorned,
and in hope of rain it opens its eyes,
the hands of Moses appear like froth upon the bough,
the breath of Jesus comes forth from the earth.
[80]

205
Every night my intellect is full of amazement
And from my weeping my bosom is sprinkled with pearls
From this traffic, the cup of my skull is not full of wine
No cup that is upside down can remain full.

206
How many in the evenings search have not lasted till morning
How many have not placed food beyond the limits of their own desires
In a fine raiment how many boors have wine
How many have reviled those of good name.

207
In the heart you must not plant the tree of sorrow
Study always the book of gladness
You must drink wine & gratify the wishes of your heart
It is clear that so long (& no longer) you will remain in the world

208 = 143
Since Eternity itself was he created me
From the first he dictated to me the study of love
At the supreme moment a small filing of me may be transmuted
He may make (of it) an efficacious key to the treasure-house.

209
How long will you be prisoners of colour & perfume
How long of ugly & fair will you be (prisoners)
If the fountain of Zemzem & the Water of Life (you find)
In the end you must descend into the heart of earth.

210
Happy hearted is he who is not celebrated
He is not in cuirass or cloak or woolen robe
Like the Simurgh roost upon the throne
Do not be like an owl in a ironed corner of the world.

211
Alas that profit has fallen from our hands
And that by the hands of fate many livers are bleeding
No one comes from the other world that we may ask of him
How the affairs of the travelers of the world are

212
Be happy for there will be immense anxiety
The spirit will be wailing after the body
These skulls that you are once
Will be under the feet of the potters.

213
Be happy for there will be passing souls
In heaven there will be the congregation of the stars
The brick which they will strike from your body
Will be the parapet of the palace of others

214
Your substance will not become a covering for your existence
Nor will anyone’s desire become his desire
Oh Saki whether you give wine or do not give it
Know that all heads will descend (into the dust)

215
The sky does not bring forth any rose from the earth
None destroys it, & all fly to the earth
As the cloud sprinkles the earth
Till the resurrection brings forth every excellent soul

216
Since affairs will not turn out as I wish them
What profits me my anxiety & strife
I remain continually in (little ?) amazement about it
I came so late & I go so soon

217
Since your wishes whatever the justice of Fate orders
Not me alone becomes less, nor will increase
One must be careless concerning whatever is
One must be independent of whatever is

218
Be happy for the moon of your feasting will arrive
The means of mirth will all be good
By 2 mouths the crooked trunk has become injured
You may say that in this trouble, it will be thrown down.

219
Fever sickness is a trial to me
Not drinking wine is with intention of curing me
See this strange thing, that whatever I drink in sickness
Save drinking wine everything hurts me

220
Wine & lees with a beautiful face & the brink of the stream
As long as I can I will go in for luxury & cheerfulness
So long as I have been, & am & will be
I have drunk, do drink & will drink wine.

221
One draught of wine is worth the kingdom of the world
The tile covering the jar is worth 100 souls
That old (rag) with which they purify the lip from wine
Truly it is worth 1000 turban sashes.

222
As soon as Ramazan comes this year
To the foot of wisdom the time of chains comes
O for Gods sake make the peoplee forgetful
that they may think Shawwal has come.

223
Alas ! that the book of youth is closed
And this fresh spring flower is of yesterday
That bird of joy whose name is youth
Alas ! I know not whence it came nor where it goes

224
A wine drinker if he is rich becomes poor
And from his quarrelsomeness the world is full of strife
I will cast into my ruby hookah some of that emerald
So that the basilisk eyes of sorrows may become blind

225
Mankind are fallen from daydreams into vainglory
And are destroyed in the search for houris & palaces
If they draw the veil from the face of affairs
It is evident that they have fallen far far away.

226
Tomorrow I shall travel the milestones that separate (us)
Fortune favoring me, I have this intention
The time is propitious & the loved one is willing
If I am not happy now, when shall I be ?

227
Lip to lip with the jar you know not what is intended
That is to say my lip also was like your lips (employed)
In the end since existence is no longer available
Your lips should be thus employed according to the friendly order

228
In the world whoever has half a loaf
Or in a palace finds no repose
Is not the servant of any or the master of any
Say ! live happy for the world contains happiness

229
In the destined time when my business you will prepared
Make all the bed of my dust smooth from trouble
When you will set a brick in the earth of the tomb
Take heed that you make mine the water of its clay.

230
If one breath passes from thy life
Do not let it pass save joyfully
Beware ! for the profit from this earthly world
Is such existence that its passing passeth away

231
I hopefully abandoned my lot to the winds
Not one happy day came from my lot itself
thence I fear that Fate will not give to me
As much justice as I exact from Fate.

232
Never for one day did heaven give means for my affairs
But that day the power of my 100 sorrows did not relax.
Never for a moment have I found joy from the secret
Never did it give me fame from pleasant wine

233
Give wine for the companions of the cup are drinking
He listens when you make pleasant songs & melody
Much time is necessary to make a meeting.
May be that they will forget my offences.

234
You say my heart is not proud of its recorded knowledge
There is less of the secret that is not understood
Now that I closely examine the way of wisdom
My life is past & nothing is clear to me.

235
In the beginning to my surprise he brought me into existence
What do I gain from life save my amazement at it
We come to the end of it & do not know what was
The purpose of this coming & going & being.

236
Those who are the very essence of existence & mankind
Drive the Burak of your thoughts to the highest heaven
In the service of your soul, like the sky
Their heads are turned, & overset, & spinning.

237
Since there is no profit from learning in this world
Except the unlearned (people) do not eat the fruits of the world
That being so bring forth that wisdom, (or) remove it
So that the world may look in our direction

238
May the tavern be continually cheerful with drunkards
May fire be in the skirts of the devout zealots
That dervish robe in 100 pieces, & that blue wool (habit)
May they be fallen beneath the feet of the drug drinkers

239
In the world no one gets a rosy cheeked one
Until his heart has received scars from time
In the comb see that until there are 100 prongs
Its hand does not arrive at the curls of a beauty.

240
This oppressive sky of lofty fabric
Has never unravelled the knot of any bad man
Whenever it sees a heart that is scarred
It places another scar on the top of the first.

241
I will give you news of your condition
And I will do that with two small letters
In love of you I shall sink beneath the earth
By your love my head will rise from the earth

242 *
In my hand may there be always the juice of the grape
In my mind may there be desiree for houri-like idols
They say to me “may God give thee repentance
He himself will not give it, I will none of it, let it be far off
[64]

243
There is no night that my lamentation does not reach the
And that my plaint does not reach the ocean in a torrent
You say that with you I shall drink wine on many a morrow
May be that for me the soul will not reach a tomorrow

244 = 248
The inhabitants of the grave are dispersed into earth & dust
Every atom has flown asunder from every atom
Alas these are like vapour which until the last day
Come out of their senses & unconscious of everything.

245 = 257
The sky which increases again only our sorrows
It places nothing in its place but to steal it again
If those who have not come knew what we
Suffer from the world, they would not come again.

246
Seize something from the turns of Fate
Sit on the throne of joy & take the cup in hand
God is disdainful of penitence & impenitence
For heavens sake snatch your desires from the world

247
It is dawn arise oh queer boy
Fill the crystal cup with ruby wine
For this moment of sufferance in this ugly corner
You may seek much but you will not find it again

248 = 244
The tenants of the tomb are dispersed into earth & dust
Every atom has separated itself from the others
Alas ! they are like unto vapour, which until the last day
Are senseless & unconscious of everything.

249 *
I am not the man to dread my non-existence,
for that half seems pleasanter to me than this half;
this is a life which God has lent me,
I will surrender it when the time of surrender comes.
[59]

250
From drinking generous & cheerful wine a dead man rises
And from all expounding dryness & coldness arises
If you drink wine the explanation will be easy
For from drinking, whiskers grow from the face !

251
With the rabble rough mannered & without wit or decorum
Beware not to drink wine for it will cause trouble
Intoxication & contention & uproar in the night of pleasure
(And) it will want headache & excuses on the day of after-effects.

252
Since you have no repose save what he has given you
Do not cultivate so much anxiety for the foundation of your heart’s
desire
Beware not to place on your heart so much burden
The end of all things is to pass away & go.

253 = 258
Oh friend why do you cultivate sorrow concerning what will be
O friend ! why do you sorrow so much about what will be
Why wound your heart with vain array of thoughts.
Life joyful and & pass existence peacefully
They did not consult you as to the end of things.

254
The tile on the top of the jar is better than the empire of Jamshyd
The perfume of the cup is sweeter than the food of Miriam
The morning sigh from the breast of the drunkard
Is sweeter than the voice of Bu Said or of Adhem

255
With a pleasant friend a cup of wine is better
And from the power of its sorrows the eyes full of tears are better
Since the vile world will not keep faith (with us)
In the vile world it is better (to be) drunk & ruined.

256
In the invisible depths of the abode of heaven
There is a cup which in due time they will hand all to drink
When your turn comes do not utter complaints
Drink the wine gaily for the tyranny is far off

257 = 245
That sky which increases nothing but our sorrows
Sets nothing in its place excepting to take it away again
If those who have not come, knew what we
Suffer from the world, they would not come at all.

258 = 253
O friend ! why do you sorrow so much about what will be
Why wound your heart with a vain array of thought.
Life happily and & pass your existence peacefully
You were not consulted as to the end of things

259
Since in this 2 door’d place the lot of mankind
Is nothing else save to suffer anguish & give up the ghost
Happy hearted is he who is not learned
And careless is he that never was born of woman

260 *
Follow not the Traditions, and leave alone the Commands,
withhold not from anyone the morsel that thou possessest:
neither slander, nor afflict the heart of anyone,
I guarantee you the world beyond—bring wine!
[91]

261 *
I saw a potter in the bazaar yesterday,
he was violently pounding the fresh clay,
and that clay said to him, in mystic language,
"I was once like thee—so treat me well."
[89]

262
Friends drink the unalloyed pure wine
Drink upon the memory of idols & amiable clamour
Wine is the blood of the vine & the vine says to you
I make my blood lawful for you, drink wine happily.

263
How long this knavery & hypocrisy of soul
How long the desire & repulse of the Saki Omar
Verily I from that perversity & cup
I pour this remainder of life to the earth like a cup.

264
Drink the wine always with wise people
Or drink it with a laughing mistress with smooth cheeks
Do not drink much or publicly & do not grieve
Drink a little, drink from time to time & drink quite secretly.

265
Supposing the world from end to end to be according to your wish
Suppose life to be gone & Fate to have come
You say “We have laid hands on our heart’s desire”
You can not do so or again you can; suppose it done then

266
Oh heart suppose all this worlds affairs within your power
From end to end the world as you desire
And then on its face like snow in the desert
Two or 3 days resting & then understand yourself risen

267
Oh Master Pedagogue since you have no knowledge
Why gaze so anxiously on your property in expectant desire
They all talk arguing about their cleverness
You of ceremonial uncleanness only.

268
Do not suffer so much sorrow for the world from the friend ?
Do not continually suffer sorrows of this world
Since being is past, not being you have not seen
Be happy & do not suffer sorrow of my existence & non existence.

269
It is the time of youth wine is better
With sweet boys a cup of wine is better
When this vile world is destroyed by flood
In a ruined place all ruin is bitter

270
Of all the travellers upon this long road
Who has returned that you may tell us the secret of it
Beware in this mansion of the road you travel
You leave nothing for you will not come back

271 *
Go! throw dust upon the face of the heavens,
drink wine, and consort with the fair of face;
what time is this for worship ? and what time is this for supplication?
since, of all those that have departed, not one has returned?
[97]

272 *
If I talk of the mystery with Thee in a tavern,
it is better than if I make my devotions before the Mihrab without Thee.
O Thou, the first and last of all created beings!
burn me an Thou wilt, or cherish me an Thou wilt.
[2]

273
It is the dawn arise O essence of delights
Softly & gently drink wine O harp player
For those who are asleep will not find much
And ye ? who are gone come not back

274 *
If I have never threaded the pearl 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.
[1]

275
Today we are lovers & insane & drunk
In the street of the Mughs we seek wine today
Altogether reft of our own existence
Today we are constantly in the Mihrab of God.

276 *
We have returned to our wonted debauch,
we have renounced—the Five Prayers!
wherever the goblet is, there thou mayst see us,
our necks stretched out like that of the bottle.
[99]

277
They go, & of the departed not one returns
That they may tell you a word of the secret behind the veil
You discover your affairs by humility not (by) prayer
Prayer is a baby game without sincerity & humility

278
O man of wisdom arise thou at dawn
And say to that clay-headed boy arise
Then tell him “do not stand up carelessly
(For you stand upon) the brain of Kaikobad & the blood of Parviz

279
Pour not water on the faces of the pure lovers themselves
Pour only the hearts blood of disconsolate penitents
The blood of 2000 foolish ascetics
Pour upon the earth, & do not pour the cup upon the earth.

280 *
To speak plain language, and not in parables,
we are the pieces and heaven plays the game,
we are played together in a baby-game upon the chessboard of existence,
and one by one we return to the box of non-existence.
[94]

281
It happened I was a falcon, I asked a secret from existence
That it might be that I arrive from below to the heights above
Since I found not here any one an intimate friend
From that door wherein I went I came out again

282
By the running stream & verdure of robe-maker
Give wine & break your penitence & strike the lute
Be happy for the running stream makes a wave
& says “I go, for I come not back again”

283 *
In great desire I pressed my lips to the lip of the jar,
to enquire from it how long life might be attained;
it joined its lip to mine and whispered: —
"Drink wine, for, to this world, thou returnest not."
[100]

284
O thou victorious over all the kings of the earth
Thou knowest when wine shall be enlightening our affairs
Sunday & Monday & Tuesday & Wednesday
Thursday and Friday & Saturday, every day

285
You ask what it is this fleeting breath
If I tell (you) the truth about it, it is long
It is an illusion brought to light from the sea
And then it returns to the bottom of that sea

286
O student of the secrets of the hearts of all
Protector of all in a state of impotence
O Lord give me repsntance & accept my excuses
O thou who gives repentance & accepts the excuses of all

287
I am a bird sitting on the battlements of Tus
Before it was placed the skull of Kai Kawus
It said to the skull, “Alas ! Alas !”
Where are (your) faithful guards & the sound of (your) drums”

288
Do not fear for the accidents of time which may come
And do not fear any thing which may arrive since nothing is lasting
Know that this momentary earth is your booty
Do not worry for what is past neither fear what is coming.

289
O friend withdrew your heart from the oppression of the enemy
Enjoy a friend & good wine & sparkling wine
Say to men of skill draw in your collars
And from the vulgar unworthy people draw in your skirt

290
Leave alone O heart anxiety of the passing science
From your existence let everything be like that
Sitting while I like a foolish Kalandar
Be independent, drink wine & be happy

291 *
Khayyam, if thou art drunk with wine, be happy,
if thou reposest with one tulip-cheeked, be happy,
since the end of all things is that thou wilt be naught;
whilst thou art, imagine that thou art not,—be happy !
[102]

292
How long shall I take credit for my own ignorance
My heart is snatched away from its own orthodoxy
I will bind round my waist the Mugh Zunnar
From the distress not from the honour of its own orthodoxy

293
It is a cup that produces excellent wisdom
And of its beauty gives 100 kisses on the brow
This Potter of the World so many charming cups
Makes & again strikes them to the ground.

294 *
I will give thee counsel if thou wilt give ear to me,
for the sake of God do not wear the garment of hypocrisy,
the hereafter will fill all hours, and the world is but a moment,
do not sell the kingdom of eternity for the sake of one moment.
[101]

295
Do not make your cheeks yellow for what has not yet happened
And for what has happened do not turn your bile into water
Lift from this house of destruction your own portion
Ere the world shall pour out its own poison (for thee)

296
Although wine is forbidden drink it continually
With melody & harp drink it morning & evening
If your hand holds a cup of ruby wine
Throw a drop on the road & drink to the dregs.

297
Yesterday being drunk I was passing a tavern
I saw a drunken old man & a wine jar on his shoulder
I said “Have you not shame from God Oh old man
He said “Mercy is from God, go drink wine

298
The time of youth is past & all its cavalcade & retinue
Life is bitter to me but wine is its hoped for thing
This stature is as if my arrow became bent like a bow
Of my members I have made a cord & I draw it tighter

299
To wine over which some happy one keeps guard
It is the water of life & I am its Ali
I call it the power of the soul & spirit
Since God has said “It is an advantage for mankind”

300
The love of a very sweet beauty has seized me
She said “I have come, come out (to me)
In a word she so scorched my heart in that misery
That my fire was all virtue & my virtue all fire

301 *
I went last night into the workshop of a potter,
I saw two thousand pots, some speaking, and some silent;
suddenly one of the pots cried out aggressively: —
"Where are the pot maker, and the pot buyer, and the pot seller?"
[103]

302
Khayyam the age is distress about one
Who in sorrow of the world & its heart-afflicted
Drink wine from the glass with the sound of the harp
Before the glass is shattered on the stone.

303
Very many the skirts of existence which every night the heavens
Fasten together & make holes in its pocket
Every day many periods of joy & sorrow
He draws from the water & carries below the earth.

304
If I do not find peace from heaven, behold (my) talons
And if I have not a good name, behold (my) reputation
Behold the cup of ruby wine of Arghavan colour
He who will not drink it, behold his head & a stone.

305
Behold the dawn breaks & the skirt of night is torn
Arise & drink the morning draught, why are you disconsolate
Drink wine Oh heart for many dawns will break
Their faces will be towards us & ours will be towards the earth.

306
The spirit that is pure from the pollution of earth
Has come as your guest from the pure abode
Give thou from the wine in the morning draught (O) drunkard
Ere it (spirit) says, May God grant abstinence

307
How long of thy oppression oh vault of heaven
For God’s sake strike (me) more gently
In the end I am burnt (&) every moment (is) yours also
On the burnt one you scatter a worn subsistence.

308
O wheel of heaven you recognize neither bread nor salt
Continually you make me naked as a fish
By a woman’s spinning wheel two people are clothed
O woman’s wheel, better than thou oh wheel of heaven

309
How much of the sorrow & anxiety of the world brimful
Arise & pass your present condition with cheerfulness
Like as the grass grows in succession on the face of the earth
Taste ruby wine from the brimful goblet

310
With a cypress-statured one more fresh than the cheeks of the rose
Do not forsake the wine cup and the skirt of the rose
Ere suddenly shall be by the blast of fate
The robe of your existence (torn) like the robe of the rose.

311
O heart leave alone anxiety of the thought of deceit
Taste the wine cup & let be vexation
Free alike is he who stands alone & he who cultivates a friend
And ere you die you will arrive at the limit of perfection

312 *
Where is the limit to eternity to come, and where to eternity past?
now is the time of joy, there is no substitute for wine:
both theory and practice have passed beyond my ken,
but wine unties the knot of every difficulty.
[107]

313
Place wine in my hand & produce the gurgle (of the bottle)
With the song of the nightingale & the cry of the bulbul
It is lawful to drink wine without melody
Let the wine gurgle from the neck of the bottle.

314
From the Nadir of the earthly globe up to the Zenith of Saturn
I made solution of all the problems of heaven
I escaped from the bondage of all trickery & deceit
All obstacles were removed but not the bondage of Destiny

315
How long shall we blush for the oppression of every one
And utter lamentations for the deceits of existence
Arise & do not suffer sorrow of the world if you are a man
It is a feast day, come, that we may draw rose coloured wine

316
We are the intention of all creation
In the eye of wisdom we are the pearl of its vision
This abode of the world is like a ring
Without any doubt we are the engraving upon its stone.

317 = 319
Since God does not desire what I have desired
When will what I have desired become proper
If everything is right that he has desired
Then everything that I have desired is a blunder.

318 = 321
From that creator of creatures the lord of mercy
Be not hopeless though great your sins of rebellion
If you die drunk & ruined today
Tomorrow he will pardon (your) decomposed bones

319 = 317
Since God does not desire what I have desired
When will what I have desired become proper
If everything is right that he has desired
Then everything that I have desired is a blunder.

320
So long as I have galloped the horse of search on thy road
In the house of woe I have built my nest
What shall I say ! That so far as I know
I am not perfected with a moment of luxury & cheerfulness

321 = 318
From that creator of creatures the lord of mercy
Be not hopeless though great your sins of rebellion
If you die drunk & ruined today
Tomorrow he will pardon (your) decomposed bones

322
If I have committed (all) the sins on the face of the earth
There is hope that your strength would take me by the hand
You said “In the day of weakness I will take your hand
Do not desire one weaker that this that now I am

323
They say to me that I am a wine seeker
They say to me that I am lover & a drunkard
Look very much at my exterior
For in my interior I am just as drunk

324
I have not been without wine so long as I have been
Tonight is Kadr & I tonight am drunk
My lip on the lip of the cup & my breast in the breast of the jar
My hand on the neck of the wine jar until morning

325
So long as you think that I came to existence of myself
Or that I have pursued this blood devouring way of own accord
Since your justice exists I exist from that
I myself who am I where am I & whence am I

326
You compounded me of clay & water what can I do
And you wove this wool & fine linen what can I do
Every good & bad that from me comes into existence
You wrote upon my forehead, what can I do.

327
I have closed the door of desire upon myself.
And I avoid the favours of noble & ignoble alike
Since there is no one will take my hand save the Friend
He & I know that whatever I am I am.

328 = 359
I fear that after me, I shall not return to the world
With my intimate friends also I shall not be gathered
This moment that I hold & count as gain
May it be that with my own existence I may not return to this moment

329
I say that I will not again drink rose colored wine
Wine is its blood, I will not drink blood again
The companions have said “Are you talking seriously?”
I say “this is my temperament since I do not drink it”

330
That day that there is not in my head the juice of the vine
Let there be poison, from the world my antidote is given
The sorrow of the world is a poison & its antidote is wine
I will drink the antidote & will not fear the poison.

331 *
I do not always prevail over my nature, — but what can I do ?
and I suffer for my actions, — but what can I do ?
I verily believe that Thou wilt generously pardon me
on account of my shame that Thou hast seen what I have done, — but what can I do?
[109]

332 *
This vault of heaven, beneath which we stand bewildered,
we know to be a sort of magic-lantern:
know thou that the sun is the lamp-flame and the universe is the lamp,
we are like figures that revolve in it.
[108]

333
May my inclination be always towards pure wine
May my ears be always (turned) to the flute & viol
If the potters make a jar out of my clay
May that jar be always full of wine

334 = 371
Oh wheel of heaven I am not contented with your revolutions
I am not free that I am not worthy of chains
If your inclination is not towards the ignorant & unworthy
I also am likewise not worthy or a wise man.

335
I am the chief of the circle (of friends) of the tavern.
I am fallen into disobedience from boasting speech
He who through the long night with pure wine
From anguish makes silent prayer, I am.

336
O Queen permit me not fall drunk with sorrow for you,
By your oppression I have become from a knight a pawn
When I abandon the game of bishop & king
My rook is taken by yours and I am checkmated

337
I cannot exist without pure wine
Without the poured cup I cannot (bear) the burden of the flesh
I am the slave of that moment when the Saki says
Take one more cup, and I cannot.

338 = 366
O mufti of the city we are more full of business than you
We are more sober than you with all this drunkenness
You drink the blood of people & we that of the vines
Give justice ! which of us is most blood thirsty

339
I drink wine and nevertheless I do not practice drunkenness
Except in the goblet I do not practice tyranny
You know what is my disgust at wine drunkenness
So long as like you I do not study myself

340
One hand on the Quran & one hand on the cup
At one time I am a lawful man & at another an unlawful
I am in this vault of blue marble
Neither an independent infidel nor a perfect muslim

341
Alas that we have become worn out uselessly
And that we have become consumed by the inverted bowl of heaven
O pity & regret that (painfully & regretfully have we lived) until we
closed our eyes (?)
Not being according to our desire (yet) we have been

342
We came from nonentity pure, we depart impure
Peaceful we came in & vexed we depart
O pity & regret that until we close our eyes
We give our lives to the win & depart into the earth.

343
We sell the crown of Khan & the crown of Kai
We barter the turban & the fine robe for bang
The rosary which is the sentinel of the camp of falsehood
We sell suddenly for one goblet of wine.

344 *
Since our abode in this monastery is not permanent
without the Cup-bearer and the beloved, it is painful to support life;
how long of ancient creeds or new, O philosopher?
when I have left it what matter if the world be old or new?
[112]

345 *
When I am abased beneath the foot of destiny
and am rooted up from the hope of life,
take heed that thou makest nothing but a goblet of my clay,
haply when it is full of wine I may revive.
[116]

346
Never have we obtained repose from the world’s sorrow a moment
If your hope of last night we have not pleasantly
Since experience never came to me from the kitchen of love
From none have I obtained pleasure of my vain expectation

347
Ere that we get splendour from the times
Let us drink wine with one another today
For this wheel of heaven in time, to sweep us away
Will not give us much pardon as we drink water

348
Come O friend, let us not suffer sorrow for tomorrow
Let us reckon this one moment of cash as booty
Tomorrow when from the surface of earth we depart
We shall be carried away with 7000 anniversaries

349
So long as you think that I fear the world
And that I fear dying & giving up the ghost
Death is like truth of it there is origin
I fear having sorrow from not finding a friend

350
Nights pass that we do not close our eyes
That many of these dawns will break when we do not draw breath
Arise & draw breath before the breath of dawn
That we may strike the foot of joy upon the head of sorrow

351
With very acrid old wine let us drink
And in Ramazan let us drink on Friday night
The lawful grape itself we will put into the jar
That God may make it acrid, for us to drink on Friday

352
Every morning early I go into the tavern
I am the co-traveller of boasting Kalendars
Since the world of secrets & mysteries is yours
Give me guidance that I may be in prayer.

353
So long as you can be not a moment without wine
For from wine your wit & heart become joyful,
If Satan had drunk wine for one moment
He would have made 2000 prayer-bows before Adam.

354
In the tavern I have thy love of a lover
By the light of his cheek I am burnt & consumed
Then love having made ablution with wine
To his own idol-face I offer prayers

355
I am continually sorrowful at the revolutions of the sky
With my own ignoble composition I am in hatred
I have not the skill to rise from upon the earth
I have not the art to sit free from the world

356 *
How long shall we continue slaves to every-day problems?
what matter whether we live one year, or one day, in this world?
pour out a cup of wine, before that we
become pots in the workshop of the potters.
[111]

357
How long O immature zealot will you make reproaches
I am always a profligate of the tavern & drunk
You are in sorrow of the rosary, of hypocrisy & of imposture
I am with wine & singers & with my desire

358
On the carpet of earth I see sleepers
And beneath the earth I see (people) concealed
As often as I examine the desert of non-existence
I see those who have not come & those who have gone

359 = 328
I fear that after me, I shall not return to the world
With my intimate friends also I shall not be gathered
This moment that I hold & count as gain
May it be that with my own existence I may not return to this moment

360
We are those whose heads are always drunk with wine
In our assembly there is nothing but the wine cup
Leave off advising me oh immature zealot
We are wine seekers & the lip of the friend is our desire

361
With your mercy I do not trouble myself about sin
Provided for by you I do not trouble about the anxieties of the road
If I am agreeable to you they will make my face
I will not trouble myself one jot about the black book

362
It is a feast day, come, that I may draw more rose coloured wine
With melody of the lute & song of harp we draw (it)
With a smooth cheeked friend we sit
Taking 2 or 3 measures of wine we drink to the dregs

363
If I am drunk with Mugh wine
And if I am an infidel & idol worshipper
Every sect looks on me with suspicion
I am of my own (sect) & whatever I say I am

364
Come ! arise ! that I amy strike the harp with my fingers
I drink wine again, & strike the harp with my fingers
When I drink wine I drink it in a tavern
And this cup of reputation of yours we strike upon a stone.

365
This cup which I see to be the business of existence
Since the world is all gratuitously given to man
God be praised, in whatever direction I look
Till my own desire I see in it.

366 = 338
O Mufti of the city we are better employed than you
With all tour drunkenness we are more sober than you
You drink the blood of men, & we that of the vines
Be just, now ! which of us is more bloodthirsty.

367
On the skirt of the disloyal friend I lay my hand
I drink and shatter my good name against a stone
I barter the prayer carpet for one cup of wine
I give my reputation to the wine & drink to the dregs

368
You are an unlawful person for me to speak with one moment
What from the beginning was man’s affair.
You have fashioned him with toil in clay of affliction
One time he tastes of earth and passes away

369 *
The world being fleeting, I practise naught but artifice,
I hold only with cheerfulness and sparkling wine;
they say to me: — " May God grant thee penitence."
He himself does not give it, and if He gives it, I will none of it.
[114]

370
Be careful that we do not make a noise in the tavern
Let us go there & drink
Let us barter the turban & the book for wine
Let us pass the madrasseh & do not let us run.

371 = 334
Oh wheel of heaven I am not content with your revolutions,
I am not free, I that am not worthy of chains
If you have a leaning towards the ignorant & unworthy
I also like them are neither wise nor worthy.

372 *
In loving Thee I incur reproaches for a hundred sins,
and if I fail in this obligation I pay a penalty:
if my life remain faithful to Thy cruelty,
please God, I shall have less than that to bear till the Judgment Day.
[113]

373
It is better that we should make the heart glad with the wine cup
And take less thought about coming and going
And this passing life that is lent us
Let us free for a moment from the bonds of wisdom

374 *
Although I have come with an air of supplication to the mosque,
by Allah ! I have not come to pray;
I came one day and stole a prayer-mat -
that sin wears out, and I come again and again.
[115]

375
If we pass away from the heavens like fire
Though we are more pure than running water
We go into the earth because we are by nature earthy
The world is wind let us drink some wine

376
One day that I pass in the street of the potters
I reckoned myself from the middle of the pots
Ere that I make a present of my clay to the potters
May it be that I am now a pot when I drink wine

377
That moment when I take flight from destiny
When I scatter the leaves of that bough.
Let me investigate the world with a cheerful heart
Ere that we turn into earth for the earth sifters

378
You and I together are like a pair of compasses
Though we make 2 heads we have one body
When we place a point in it is our home
At the end of business we bring our heads together again.

379
We never drink a draught of water with joy
Until we drink wine from the hand of anguish
I have not at any time dipped bread in salt
But that I ate a kebab of my own liver

380
I am not for one day free from the bondage of intellect
Not one breath have I drawn happily from my own existence
Long time I have served an apprenticeship to fate
I am not yet a professor in the business of the world.

381
Enemies in error say that I am a philosopher
God knows that I am not what they say
But since I have come into this nest of woe
In the end less than that, for I do not know who I am

382
O Soul give wine for my heart is full of grief
That wine may burn me pure from the grief of the world
Ho ! give wine for the verdure has sprung from the earth
Ere that my earth becomes invisible

383
The rose said I have brought a gold scattering hand
Laughing laughing have I brought my head to the world
I have taken the noose off the head of my purse & I am gone
Every ready money that was I fling into the midst

384
So long as we strike hands together in agreement
I do not set foot out of pleasure upon the head of grief
Let us arise & breathe one breath before the breath of dawn
For this dawn will often breath when we no longer draw breath

385
The rose said just as now I am come
Truly I am come crazy by nature
It is right that I come spattered with blood
Since I come out from the wound of the bad

386
How far is our boundary in this iniquitous halting place
Day after day passing its fellows
Behold the gourd of wine which the souls in ignorance
From one with wine may be, oh Fools.

387
Neither you nor I know the secret of eternity
And neither you nor I can decypher this riddle
There is a talk behind the curtain of me & you
When the curtain is lifted neither you nor I remain

388
Arise & do not sorrow for this fleeting world
Rest, & go through the world with happy desires
If you had permanence in the nature of the world
The turn of others would not have come to you yourself

389
They say concerning wine “Drink less of this
Finally with what excuse do you not withhold your head from this
My excuse is the cheek of my friend & the wine of the moment of dawn
Be just, what excuse (could be) more brilliant than this

390
Not translated
You who both day and night the world pursue,
Of Judgment Day are you not mindful too?
An instant then bethink yourself and see,
Consider what Time doth to others do.
[Thompson 1906 - 405]

391
It is an honour to be conspicuous with a name of honour
It is a shame to be afflicted about the revolutions of the sky
To be chipping with the smell of the water of grapes
Is better than to be proud of ones own zealotry

392
Have mercy on my feeble heart & soul
Have mercy on my bosom charged with grief
Forgive my traveling over the threshold of the tavern
Have mercy on my hand holding the wine cup.

393 *
One cannot consume one's happy heart with sorrow,
nor consume the pleasure of one's life upon the touchstone;
no one is to be found who knows what is to be;
wine, and a loved one, and to repose according to one's desire, — these things are necessary.
[128]

394
In this chattering world no one is my intimate
My lament has come, he is my friend
Either my moist eye is never without tears
Or I lay down in sleep that I may bring my grief to an end

395
If I had power over the sky like God
Would I not consider this heaven from the centre
Would I not so construct another sky from the beginning
Which should easily be excellent according to the heart’s desire

396
One sect is amazed by doctrine & faith
Many are stupefied between doubt & certainty
Suddenly a crier cries from his lurking place
Oh ! fools the road is neither here nor there

397
My wretched afflicted & foolish heart
Is not sober from the love of my friend
The day that they gave me the wine of love
In anguish they moulded my cup

398 = 403
Hear from me oh best of old friends
Do not sorrow for this heaven without head or love
Get in search of the soul of contentment
Make the baby-game of heaven your entertainment

399
Comes not shame to you from this wickedness
From this abandonment (both) of commands & prohibitions
Let us admit that the whole of the world is your empire
Save to abandon it what will you do.

400
You came not to be a shah
With your own body you come to do this wickedness
Yesterday was nothing & likewise tomorrow
It is clear what you want to do today

401
Oh thou who art the essence of creation & of this world
Leave alone for a moment anxiety of gain & loss
Seize one cup of wine from the eternal cup-bearer
That you may travel back from the sorrow of both worlds

402 *
Since the harvest for the human race, in this wilderness,
is naught but to suffer affliction or to give up the ghost,
light-hearted is he who passes quickly from this world,
and he who never came into the world is at rest.
[124]

403 = 398
Listen to me, O best of old friends
Suffer not anguish for this headless & foundationless heaven,
Rest from the search after the courts of contentment
And amuse yourself with the baby-game of heaven.

404
From the revolutions of this limitless abode
Know thou that there are two kinds of “boarded domestics”
Either those who have complete knowledge of good & bad
Or those who are ignorant of themselves & of the world’s affairs

405
Souls become all water & hearts all blood
To (know) what is the truth that comes not from behind the curtain
O with your own being, from the heave is vileness
The 2 worlds are outside thee & thou (art) outside both worlds

406
Make easy for my heart the affairs of both worlds
And hide my evil actions from people
Give me ease today & tomorrow to me
Make that which thy mercy produces.

407
Oh Lord from pride of my own glory set me free again
Occupy me with thyself & set me free from myself
When I am sober I know good & bad
Make me drunk & set me free from good & bad

408
Raise yourself up from the skirt of this wheel (of L)
With 2 friends rise from one collar
The flagon which to the time is not strong of head & foot
Do not curtail your wine, for this is a long story

409
I have from the oppression of heaven ?
And from the revolutions of destiny beauty ?
From the eyes of (my) face, thus the cup is full of tears
And from the verdure of (my) heart thus the flagon is full of blood.

410 *
So far as in thee lies, follow the example of the profligate,
destroy the foundations of prayer and fasting:
hear thou the Word of Truth from Omar Khayyám,
"Drink wine, rob on the highway, and be benevolent."
[123]

411 *
To him who understands the mysteries of the world,
the joy and sorrow of the world is all the same;
since the good and the bad of the world will come to an end;
what matter, since it must end? an thou wilt, be all pain, or, an thou wilt, all remedy.
[122]

412
Do not remember the day that is passed away from you
Do not impart to tomorrow that has not come
Do not think of your own coming or going
Drink wine now & do not cast your existence to the winds

413
Now that 1000 hands are uplifted
Save ruby wine take nothing from the hands of drunkards
Arise & come for the rose has blossomed with joy
A few days pluck them yourself from the garden

414
When your & my pure souls shall have left our bodies
They will place two bricks upon my tomb & yours
And then for the purpose of bricks for the graves of others
They will press your clay & mine into the mould

415
The day that shall be the day of my death & yours
And from the body goes, my pure soul & thine
This is enough that we do not remain in this vile abode
The moon & sun will shine upon your earth & mine

416 *
This heavenly vault, for the sake of my destruction and thine,
wages war upon my pure soul and thine;
sit upon the green sward, O my Idol ! for it will not be long
ere that green sward shall grow from my dust and thine.
[129]

417
Raise the wine cup & goblet of agreeable one
With grace & perfectness the meadow & the brink of the stream
For this what with the faces of moonfaced idols
100 times makes cups & 100 times makes goblets.

418
O the water of life is concealed within your lips
Let alone that the lip of the bowl shall kiss your lips
If I do not drink the blood of the jar I am not a man
Who is it that it should place its lips upon yours.

419
That palace which to heaven sends up its pillars
On its threshold kings prostrated themselves
I saw that upon its battlements the dove
Uttered its cry “Where, where, where, where ?”

420 *
What profits it, our coming and going?
and where is the woof for the warp of the stuff of our life?
How many delicate bodies the world
burns away to dust! and where is the smoke of them?
[130]

421
I am he that came to light from your power
I have lived 100 years by thy kindness & blessing
100 years I will for a teat & will commit sin
Whether my sins or your mercy may be the greater

422
Oh driven with the mallet of fate like a ball
Goes to the left or right say nothing
For he that poured you into motion & running
He knows he knows he knows he —

423
O thou who hast remained in humbug, & whose pledge is dispersed
And who make of 2 days bread, in a trot run thou (?)
You say after death whither will you go
Bring forth wine & go wherever you like

424
If you are wise be not a slave to avarice
Be not wounded & confused in the bonds of hope
Be sharp as fire, & like running water
Do not be dispersed by every wind like dust

425
Alas ! that existence passes uselessly
Every morsel that is forbidden & with every tainted breath
Ordered things not done have made my face black
Alas for my doings which were not ordered.

426 * = 48
This jug was once a plaintive lover as I am
And was lip to lip with a sweet sweetheart
This handle that thou seest on its neck
Is an arm that once lay upon the neck of a friend
[9]

427 * = 504
How long shall I grieve about what I have or have not,
and whether I shall pass this life light-heartedly or not?
Fill up the wine-cup, for I do not know
that I shall breathe out this breath that I am drawing in.
[136]

428
Where is the ruby lips, that ruby of Badakhshan ?
That sustenance of the soul & life supporting satisfaction, where ?
They say that it is unlawful for Moslems
Go drink wine & do not grieve—where is there a Moslem ?

429
When all light shall have left your body
All of a kind they will not choose your dwelling
They come & go and no one has heard
Till beneath the earth what will happen to your body

430
You see me one day when you have fallen drunk
Fallen a worshipper of the ringed curls of an idol
The turban gone from (my) head & the goblet fallen
(My) head lying in your path, fallen drunk

431
Every day, I agree that in the evening I will repent
Repentance from the goblet & cup brimful
Now that the time of roses has come there is no sorrow
In the season of roses penitence for the repentance oh head.

432
Oh fool set no store upon the things of the world
Their foundation is upon the wind set no reliance on them
It may be that the world is for 100 existences & non existences
Look carefully that you do not risk anything

433
Thou hast spread an imprint upon my existence
Thou hast brought forth 400 wonders from me
I cannot be from that better than this
Than what you poured down thus from my crucible

434
How much of inclination to avarice & ancient tradition
O friend, what does the iniquitous world do
We go away & travel & what ever comes goes away
Not one moment is according to your own desire

435 *
This heavenly vault is like a bowl, fallen upside down,
under which all the wise have fallen captive,
choose thou the manner of friendship of the goblet and the jar,
they are lip to lip, and blood has fallen between them.
[134]

436
O Soul from whose hands, do you desire
That from your self study the moon is lessened
The goodness of the world go to a feast
Your feast is adorned with your own face

437
Suppose the world satisfies your wishes what is the upshot ?
Suppose the book of life to be read, what is the upshot ?
We will suppose that you abide in the desire of your heart 100 years
Suppose another 100 years to have attained, what is the upshot ?

438
They say that hashish is good for heart sickness
And is better than the wine cup & the melody of the harp
In the religion of the perfect this is not true
One drop of wine is better than the blood of 100 Bhang eaters

439 *
Every vow we make we break completely
We shut upon ourselves the door of fame & fair repute completely
Blame me not if I act as a fool
For we are completely drunk with the wine of love.
[93]

440
We are being friends with thy forgiveness
And from obedience & disobedience we are ruined
There where thy mercy is let it be
Not done as done, & done as not done

441
O not-doer of good, you having done only ill things
And then having made friends with the mercy of God
Do not rely upon forgiveness for he will not let you account to him
Not done as done & done as not done

442 *
From everything save wine abstinence is best,
and that wine is best when served by drunken beauties in a pavilion,
drinking, and Kalendarism, and erring, are best,
one draught of wine from Mah to Mahi is best.
[133]

443 *
Flee from the study of all sciences—'tis better thus,
and twine thy fingers in the curly locks of a loved one—'tis better thus,
ere that fate shall spill thy blood;
pour thou the blood of the bottle into the cup—'tis better thus.
[131]

444
O (thou) who hast gone & come again & become twisted
Thy end is that from among men thou has disappeared
(Thy) nails have grown together & become a hoof
(Thy) beard has come behind thy codex & is become a tail

445
It is a soul that has become stained in this road of danger
The body has become pure of good & bad beneath the earth
Afterwards the traveller who shall travel over me and you
Ignorant of both worlds, (we shall have) become pure.

446
My liver has become blood bring forth the cup O Saki
For this worlds business is a breath & an illusion O Saki
Give wine for existence passes and suppose it passed
Upon the wind, bring forth the cup O Saki

447 *
O soul! if thou canst purify thyself from the dust of the body,
thou, naked spirit, canst soar in the heavens,
the Empyrean is thy sphere,—let it be thy shame,
that thou comest and art a dweller within the confines of earth.
[145]

448
Behold the moment of dawn & the cry of the morning
Knowest thou why thou makes this lamentation
that is to say that they have shown in the mirror of morning
That an evening has gone from your existence & you know nothing (of
That another night has passed from thine existence, & thou art ignorant.

449
Like me & you especially O Saki
The earth will consume many below O Saki
How long will you sorrow about these O Saki
Seeing that existence passes in delight O Saki

450
All verdure grows over other verdure O Saki
Every rose has rose-water in its body O Saki
The blood of the bough is broken by kind heaven
When will our penitence be proper O Saki.

451
How long will you talk of the 4 & the 7 O Saki
How long of the 4 & 7 & 8 O Saki
Take heed to say this saying, that the page oh ! Joy
Beware, give wine & existence passes O Saki

452
I & the wine & the loved one & the morning draught O Saki
There is no true repentance from me O Saki
How long will you read the tale of Noah O Saki
Bring forth quickly the wine of the spirit O Saki

453 *
Those, O Saki, who have gone before us,
have fallen asleep, O Saki, in the dust of self-esteem;
go thou and drink wine, and hear the truth from me,
whatever they have said, O Saki, is but wind.
[140]

454
Give me ruby & musk scented wine O Saki
That I may again escape from all this chatter, O Saki,
Give one cup of wine before this world
Makes goblets of your clay & mine O Saki.

455
A zealot profits naught by his zealotry O Saki
Because he makes a practice of observance O Saki
Fill quickly the wine cup O Saki
For in eternity what will be, will be, O Saki.

456
With your merriment & wine & liquors, O Saki
And a mistress quite drunk with wine, O Saki
Raise this heart full of fire from the earth
Do not cast your undiluted wine to the winds, O Saki.

457
Give a cup of pure tulip (coloured wine) O Saki
Quench my fire with water O Saki
How long will you tell stories of the wit that “collars” my heart
My hand and my robe are wine O Saki

458
Since my friend the Saki knows my qualities
The Saki will find a hundred kinds of each sort
When I am sad he gives wine of his own accord
And the Saki transgresses all my limitations.

459
My melancholy heart becomes sad O Saki
If there be such actions as this in thy heart O Saki
Bring forth the cock-crow from the wine’s mouth
From wine like the eye of wisdom O Saki

460
The flowers are blooming, bring wine O Saki,
Abandon the practices of the zealot, O Saki,
For these few days ere Fate sets a snare
Seek the cup of ruby wine & the friend O Saki

461
It is the time of dawn and cock-crow O Saki
Here are we & the wine & the street of the vintners, O Saki
What time is this for devotion, be silent O Saki,
Let be the traditions & grief, & drink O Saki.

462
Since there is existence (only) & (therefore) we must hurry O Saki
Place pure wine in my hand, O Saki
It is the time of the dawn-drink, the caravan reaches the door;
Give wine for the sun rises O Saki

463
Since wine gives no certainty of Fate O Saki
Ho give me a cup of wine, O Saki,
It is no business of our hearts to sorrow uselessly
During these two or three days that we are in the world, O Saki.

464
Though you be based on stone
All the water of Fate passes by O Saki
The world is earth sing Ghazels O minstrel
The world is breath, bring wine O Saki

465
How long of Yasin & Barat O Saki
Write a draft on the wine-house O Saki
The day that they present my draft at the tavern (for payment)
That day will be better than the night of Barat O Saki.

466
The morning is pleasant & fresh, arise O Saki
Pour into the jar the wine left over from last night
That we may drink again & take pleasure anew
In this one moment of existence which tomorrow will be but a legend

467
O Pot ! give out water if you are sober
How long will you inflict scars upon the clay of man
The finger of Feridun & the hand of Kai Khosru
You have placed on your wheel—what are you thinking about ?

468
From that jug of wine which contains no evil
Fill the cup, drink with me, & give yet another
Ere that at the crossroads—O my love
The potter make pots of your earth & mine.

469 *
If henceforth two measures of wine come to thy hand
Drink thou wine in every assembly & congregation
For He who made the world does not occupy himself
About mustaches like thine or a beard like mine
[156]

470
If the whole universe should roll into the street like a ball
You will find me drunk & fallen in ruins
Yesterday they pawned me at the tavern
And the vintner said “A fine pledge you are !”

471
Being helpless with wine & drunkenness is my business
Why in heaven’s name should people abuse me ?
O would that every holy man would get drunk
That I might not see any sobriety in the world.

472
Take heed that you pass not by the tavern
Lest you go to practice the business of Kalandarism.
This road is that of men, that one, of foolhardiness
They are over-venturesome, go not there save to play.

473 *
Be happy, they settled thy reward yesterday,
And yesterday is beyond the reach of all thy longings,
Live happily, for without any importunity on thy part, yesterday
They appointed with certainty what thou wilt do tomorrow, yesterday
[155]

474
If a loaf of wheaten-bread be forthcoming
A gourd of wine and a thigh-bone of mutton,
And then if you and I be sitting in the wilderness
That would be a luxury, fit pastime for any sultan.

475
I made my way into the workshop of a potter
In the shadow of the wheel I saw that the master with his feet
Made goblets & jars, handles & covers
Out of the skulls of kings & the feet of beggars.

476 *
Thou hast broken my jug of wine, O Lord,
Thou hast shut upon me the door of happiness, O Lord,
Thou hast spilled my pure wine upon the earth
May I perish ! perhaps thou art drunk O Lord !
[141]

477
For heaven’s sake take heed now whilst you can,
Lift a load from the minds of the excellent
For this vain world will not last for anyone
One day everything will pass out of your power

478
O Heart ! when you sat at the banquet of the loved one
You were rapt from yourself, & remained there
When you drank a draught from the ignoble cup
You became independent of those who are & are not.

479
Hidden sometimes, you show your face to none
Sometimes you appear in the forms of created beings
You exhibit this spectacle to yourself
Yourself the spectator & yourself the spectacle.

480 *
I smote the glass wine-cup upon a stone last night,
my head was turned that I did so base a thing;
the cup said to me in mystic language,
"I was like thee, and thou also wilt be like me."
[146]

481
Behold the dawn ! O loved one of happy foot
Lift up your song & bring forth the wine
For they have flung to earth a hundred thousand Jams & Kais
The coming month of Tir & the departing Dai

482
O boy since you are learned in all secrets
Why do you grieve so much after vain things ?
Since things will not shape themselves according to your desire
For heaven’s sake be happy in this moment of your existence

483
Man is like a goblet & his soul is like wine,
Thy body is like a flute & thou art the sound in it,
Knowest thou Khayyam what earthy man is,
A magic lantern with a lamp in it

484
Oh heaven you fill my heart with vexation
And you tear my garment of joy
Whatever wind reaches me you turn it into water
And the water I drink you turn to dust in my mouth

485 *
Gaze as I may upon all sides
There is heavenly verdure and the stream Kausar,
The desert becomes like heaven, thou mayst say hell has disappeared
Sit thou then in heaven with a heavenly faced one.
[151]

486
If drunkenness is the object of your desires in this world
Take heed that your life pass only in happy moments
After me & you … … … … … … … … ...
The world will not repeat itself for any one, O thou afflicted

487
O World you avow your actions
In the monastery of tyranny & oppression you make a retreat
You give blessings to the vile and pain to anyone
It is not outside one of these two, stupidity or dotage.

488
I made my way into the abode of the potters
Every moment he shewed ruins of earth
I saw—any one who saw not is sightless
My ancestor’s dust on the hands of every potter.

489
O thou who art the offspring of the four (elements) & seven (heavens)
And who argues constantly about those seven & four
Drink wine for I have told you a thousand times
There is no returning for you, when you have gone, you are gone

490
I took an omen from the book of existence
(When) suddenly from his burning breast a Master of the Times
Said “O happy is he who has in his mind
A friend like the moon and a night long as a year.

491
O Eloquent Wine ! if you are good in the cup
You bind fetters upon the feet of wisdom,
O you give protection to no one who drinks of you
Until you place its very essence in his hand

492
Oh Lord ! open for me the door of good fortune
Provide me with a home without making an obligation of it
Keep me so drunk with wine
That I may be ignorant even of my own headache

493
Open me the door for you are the door opener
Shew me the road for you are the road shewer
I will not trust my hand to any leader
For they are all illusory, whilst you are reliable

494 *
Had I charge of the matter I would not have come,
And could I control my going, whither should I go ?
Were it not better that in this ruined monastery
I had neither come, nor gone, nor lived.
[157]

495 *
O heart ! thou arrivest not at the mysterious secret
Thou arrivest not at the conceits of the ingenious philosophers
Make thyself a heaven here with wine & cup
For, at that place where heaven is, thou mayst arrive, or mayst not.
[143]

496
If you wish to find the foundations of existence firm
And to find your heart for once without sorrow in the world
Do not neglect to drink ruby wine
So that from time to time you may be content with your own existence.

497
Take heed that you be not severe upon drunkards
Neither be rude at the door of the righteous
Drink wine ! for whether you drink or not
If you are doomed to hell, you will not go to heaven

498 *
Pour out the red wine of pure tulip colour
Draw the pure blood from the throat of the jar,
For today, beside the wine cup, there is not, for me
One friend who possesses a pure heart.
[153]

499
Whatever you say, you say from faith
You call me continually pagan & infidel
I confess that I am vile as I am, but then
Be just ! what you say reflects upon yourself.

500
By the coming of Spring & the return of December (Dai)
The leaves of our life are continually folded
Drink wine & do not suffer anguish, for, as the pundit has said
Sorrows are like poison and their antidote is wine.

500
By the coming of Spring & the return of December (Dai)
The leaves of our life are continually folded
Drink wine & do not suffer anguish, for, as the pundit has said
Sorrows are like poison and their antidote is wine.

501
If you are famed in the city you are the wickedest of men
If you sit in retirement you are considered morbid,
Things would not be better if you were Khizr or Elias
No one would know you & you would know no one.

502
The advantages of the world which you consume or rely upon
You are impotent if you do not strive in search of them,
Put aside the remainder of it, it is valueless, beware !
Lest you barter the advantage of this existence, for that of another.

503
So long as your body retains its bones & veins & members
Do not try to avoid your destiny
Do not bow your neck though Rustam & Zal be your foes
Accept no favours from a friend, though he be Hatim Tai

504
How long shall I grieve about what I have or have not
And whether I shall pass this life lightheartedly or not
Fill up the wine cup for I do not know
That I shall breathe out this breath that I am drawing in.

505
They say do not drink wine for you will suffer for it
On the day of rewards you will be cast into the fire,
That is so; but what is worth both the worlds
Is the moment where you are elated with wine

506
Be patient, for beneath this everlasting sky
Drink wine for in the world [you are exposed to fate]
Since your origin & ending are but earth
Imagine when in the earth that you are not earth.

507
If you find your pleasure in this
Inflicting sorrow upon a heart that is at rest
All your life you may be mourning for your own intellect
Misfortune seize you ! for you are an ignorant prig.

508 = 448
Behold the breath of dawn & the cry of the morning
Knowest thou why thou makes this lamentation
It is to say that they have shown in the mirror of morning
That another night has passed from thine existence, & thou art ignorant.

509
O would that there were a place of repose
Or that we might come to the end of the road
Would that from the heart of earth after a hundred thousand years
We might all hope to blossom again like the verdure

510
The manager of the affairs of the dead & of the living art Thou
Thou art the keeper of this unstable heaven
Though I am bad thou art the Kwaja of me
To whom will you be the condemner of what sins
[Who can sin, since Thou art the Creator]

511
If you are wise reckon with yourself
O heart ! what did you bring hither & what will you carry away
You say “Do not drink wine for you must die”
But you must die whether you drink or not.