UC-NRLF SbO 416 LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. GIFT OF .. ...... Class ; //r THE SUFISM OF THE RUBAIYAT OR THE SECRET OF THE GREAT PARADOX ITS SEAL BY NORTON F. W. HAZELDINE SECOND EDITION Copyrighted 1908 PREFACE In placing this volume before the public I only hope that I may be able to convey to my readers the higher and deeper truths of this most famous of Persian Poets, who so ably attempted to portray to his countrymen the benevolent God the subtle life within the grosser of our material forms. Also the mysterious force within the grape, which renders possible fermentation, thereby changing its character from matter to spirit. Therefore, I sin- cerely trust that this may be a means to enlighted many seekers after truth, and to my Critics will but add this line, * ' that they in me can find no opponent for them," for what little I have done has been to bless, to illuminate, not destroy the works of others, to whom myself with the rest of the world's readers owe our many thanks. Hoping that all may realize the spirit in which I here present it, and may it comfort and bless those who read to learn of its sublime truths, is the sincere wish of thy brother man. THE AUTHOR. NOTES RUBAIYAT. A reading between the lines, a meaning, within a meaning, a paradox. OMAR KHAYYAM. The Tent Maker, an ancient Persian manner of expression signifying the Su- preme Creator, for a tent to their minds repre- sented the universe, the earth formed its level or floor, and the heavens its canopy. Again, the expression Astronomer Poet was another title for the Creator. He who laid out the heavens as a garden and placed the stars in design or order. He was also the Controller of the seasons, the Lord of the Vernal Equinox and the Prince of Horsemen. IRAM. The nameless center of the universe, the womb from whence all things are born; the heavenly garden where Jamshyd the King of Splendor (or wisdom) sits enthroned, and reads from out the seven orbited cup (the inverted heaven) wherein the orbits of the seven planets cir- cle around within its sphere, and there divines the astronomical mysteries of the seasons, years and all hidden things. RUSTUM and ZAL. The personification of the universal positive and negative creative energies, the elements of causation, the great opposities, summer and winter, youth and age, etc. HATIM TAI. The personification of charity, be- nevolence and generosity. TAKHT-I- JAMSHYD. The thron^ofjjvisdom, the mid-heaven, whereon Jamshyd the Kingj^of Splendor (or wisdom) symbolized by the [sun 171857 NOTES Continued when he reaches his zenith at high noon. The ancient Persians like the more modern Parsee do not worship the Sun as God, but to them it is the symbol of God, the All Seeing Eye, the Surveyor of the worlds, etc. BAHRAM GUR. This character symbolizes the sun in the astronomical sign of Sagittarius wherein he represents the ass or old year, which will soon be lost in the swamps of winter or the sign of Capricorn, the extreme point of the south- ern ecliptic. SATURN. Lord of the Seventh Heaven, the sym- bol of old age or ripeness. MAH to MA HI. From fish to moon, an expression denoting the period from conception to birth, the state of transition between matter and spirit and between life and death, or as we use the same expression in the words "it is neither fish nor fowl/' PAR WIN. The Pleiades, the symbol of spiritu- ality, gentleness, kindness, etc. MUSHTARI. The Planet Jupiter, the symbol of benevolence, religion, toleration andjrig hearted- ness. RAMAZAN. The lunar month, beginning about the middle of March and ending about the middle of April; it is the Easter of the Mohammedans, the birth of regeneration or the spring. OF THE UNIVERSITY e &uftem of tfje &utmipat AWAKE! AWAKE! Oh, slumbering souls, Arise like HIM who rules the morn and leads forth the stars with song. Oh, Master hail to Thee! strike Thou with Wis- dom's shafts the enemies of man's progression, Thou who art known as the Dispeller of Mortal Darkness and the Light of the Life to Come. Lead us by that Sure Path to where the SPIRITUAL SUN doth rise and where MORTAL DARKNESS sets beyond the clouds of FEAR, ANGER, SORROW, INDOLENCE and CRIME, Where THE GREAT PEACE reigns and THOU OH LORD ABIDEST. And before the *FALSE MORN of Earthly Life doth fade, that Voice Supreme within this TAVERN cries, The Sacrifice is ready, loiter not outside, all is pre- pared, enter in, those wishing here to pray. This is the way by which the soul doth learn, of GOD, Of WORLDS, of THINGS KNOWN and UNKNOWN. Whilst those who worship through man's carved creeds, pomps, rituals and dumb forms, *The False Dawn is the reflection of the coming day upon the horizon before the sun is high enough to reflect himself or the true dawn. THE SUFISM OF THE Worship like tongueless bells seeking to sound their tidings to the world. All cries within THINK! THINK! THINK! It was not WORSE BEFORE, NOR BETTER THAN 'TIS NOW. Then the Higher Nature springs up the old to greet, which always dwells within the doors where intelligence doth live. And with a mighty shout calls OPEN WIDE! COME FORTH! MY PEACE i BRING, IN TRUTH i GREET ALL YE WHO LOVE THE TRUE. Earthly Life is short; oh, slumber not I pray, for once ye have onward passed, prayers and re- pentance then are vain. Seek while on earth the HEAVENLY GOAL to find, for MORTAL LIFE is short and Monies but once! Take heed, TIME is LIFE'S JEWEL! MARK WELL, THIS IS THE WAY. Thus the NEW YEAR OF LIFE has now commenced and the awakened soul is revived with a love of knowledge deep and true, Which was written of by *MOSA ; HE OF THE WHIT- *The White Hand of Moses does not here signify leprosy, but the white hand of truth, honesty and friendship. It did not signify the color of his skin then, any more than it does now, but simply a moral qualification. Thus the white hand of Moses (or wisdom) was des- cribed by the ancient Hebrews as "One who was slow of speech;" and though apparently it may take longer to express itself than untruth or dishonesty in the realm of mental evolution, yet in the end its victory is complete. THE SUFISM OF THE ENED HAND and TONGUE THAT WAS SLOW OF SPEECH. Under the TREE of LIFE whose roots in the lives of all are planted deep. This is the SAVIOUR OF WELL-BEING in which all EX- ISTENCE RESTS and BREATHES. The night indeed hath passed away, and with it gone that CAUSE OF ALL DECAY. *The King of Splendor holding the Seven Orbed Cup of Wisdom to the earth, Through which the Powers of Divination came to their birth in man; commanded, all life's powers to control, though living here in clay: None but the Wise may DIVINE this POWER! Nor none may of its commencement know, nor of its end, Till they the answer for themselves have wrung. fWhere gushes the RUBY of the VINE, that many a past recollection has stored in the Garden of Immortal Memory. Which when watered by past experience brings forth WELL RIPENED FRUIT. 6 JThe soul of man, the LIPS OF THE BELOVED, in that *The King of Splendor here represents the transcending of the SUPREME INTELLIGENCE into the realm of intellect or the objective world. tOr the fountain head from whence flows the life forces . jThe soul of man is here called the Lips of God, through which the Spiritual Voice speaks in a different tone, or a high, inspiring sound. THE SUFISM OF THE high inspiring voice with which that INNER MAN doth speak, Cries, LIVE! LIVE! Live an active useful life; the Nightingale, that Bird of night, Calls to the Beauteous Rose that blooms by day, to bring life's color to her sallow cheek. So doth this Voice Divine bid us, to turn to WINE the WATERS of DOUBT and COLD DESPAIR. Thus the DEEP from out the DEEP doth call, in voice of thunder, HEAR ye all! MAN is BORN TO LIVE. *Then take this CUP and with the FIRE of RESOLU- TION fill, lay now aside forevermore those gar- ments Of FEAR and INDOLENCE. The time on earth is far too short to waste on self upbraidings; Nor stand ye shivering on the banks of repentance, but seek deliverance within. For the BIRD of LIFE has TAKEN WING. 8 t Whether one in order or confusion lives, or whether *The cup here denotes the earthly life, which must be filled with resolution to succeed. tThe sweets of this life refers to the worldly pleasure, the sensu- ous enjoyments, which retard our spiritual progress here and for which we suffer in the next if we become a slave to them in this life. THE SUFISM OF THE one of the sweets of this life eats, which in the next the bitter must become, *Or those who on the bitter live which in the next the sweet becomes; the LAW OF COMPENSATION surely straightens out. The WINE of LIFE is KNOWLEDGE GAINED, On which no claims can Justice lay. The LEAVES of LIFE are USELESS WORKS for which Justice decrees that RIGHTEOUS ONES MUST BE PERFORMED TO BALANCE LIFERS ACCOUNT. 9 Each month a thousand new thoughts bring but of the thoughts of yesterday which brought the fSummer Bearing Rose to view, On which the King of Splendor sits and rules, all reverence be. OH, THOU OF PRISTINE PURITY, MASTER AND DREAD JUDGE OF ALL THAT BREATHES, WHO ART THE LIGHT WITHIN THE LIGHT, AND WHO OF NO DISTINCTIONS KNOWS. 10 Rest well content; what matters it to you, whether the dead do live? The quick do surely die. *The bitter here refers to the virtuous, strenuous life, the life of denying, renouncing the so-called pleasures, the seeking to conquer our animal qualities. fThe Rose is here used as an interrogation point, meaning to ask the question, where springs forth the spirit of regeneration I wherewith a man from evil is reclaimed? 10 THF, SUFISM OF THE Let argument and praise thunder as they may, and though the loud voice of orthodoxy bid you to the FEAST of DREAD, FEAR and ARROGANCE, take thou no heed. All life and death are but transcending states, all is LIFE and all is DEATH to those who know where DEATH is DEAD. *Thus learn of sleep its opposite awake, from sor- row learn of joy, for between these PARALLELS doth that STREAM most surely flow, Which is bereft of NAME, of FORM, of LIFE, of DEATH ! It is THAT which we know as THE INFINITE, from whence come all, and whither all again do go. 11 Thus between the lines of love and hate, of pure, and impure, the modest, and unchaste, lust of days and lust of fame, The RIVER of CONTENTMENT smoothly flows. The name of slave and monarch cease to be, PEACE IS THE NAMES OF ALL IN THE INFINITE UNITY. 12 The BOOK of LIFE beneath the fTREE, a Jjug of wine, *Death is not found in the state of Infinitude, thus death ceases to be when the Infinite is reached. tThe Tree of Knowledge. JThe jug of wine here denotes the life of opportunities, the loaf of bread experience, with which we wisdom learn and thus memory perfect. THE SUFISM OF THE a loaf of bread, and thou, oh Memory, well stored with SACRED LORE, What wilderness of life doth not then a paradise become? 13 Sigh not in vain for what can never be, the glories of the morn depart as wanes the day. So with each succeeding race to come the Christian Heaven or the Heathen Hell will but live in the dead words of memory. Every generation a higher conception grasps of Creation's Laws the CAUSE DIVINE of LIFE. So take the real, no matter what 'tis styled, whether GOD, JEHOVAH, CHRIST, or BUDDHA, DJAINA, BRAHM. It is the same the sages say, though called by various names, and those who stand the PATH to bar, Which unto that TEMPLE of SUPREME PEACE leads, are but the wanton enemies of GOD and MAN. 14 Look around and note what in all nature sighs of self: Willingly she yields the bounty of her love, Spring unto Summer, Summer to Autumn pledged; 12 THE SUFISM OF THE Winter that Chariot of Sorrow to the Steeds of Spring is yoked fast. Live as it were in this sorrow, from its conquest comes the reward; what ended last night in tempest will with the dawn become calm. That for which self in sorrow sighs,would surely if gratified sting, for real prayer cannot be of- fered, till the *HEART FROM DESIRE HAS BEEN FREED. Hold thyself as the rose its petals, which when bloomed, casts its treasures of beauty and per- fume, into the GARDEN called EARTH. 15 Learn then in life from uselessness and use, and cast not aside OPPORTUNITY, YOUTH'S GOLDEN CROWN. For they who shun such moments like desert wastes become, which must be dug and watered again and yet again, Before the grain will start and bring forth well nourished fruit. 16 Vain are the worldly desires upon which men set their hearts: like a fool who in a mirror looks and wisdom there perceives, *Selfishness stands in the way of spiritual supplication; the prayers for the things which in themselves are forever changing cannot be profitable to any one, but the prayers which spring from the heart for its emancipation are the prayers which count. THE SUFISM OF THE So do the desires of men deceive them, for all CRE- ATED THINGS do surely perish. And though the like may prosper for awhile, there comes unerringly the fate to all structures that upon the sands are built! They from sight for aye do pass away. 17 Think not this life of joy and woe the only life there is to know? It is but here our earthly task, which when com- pleted, fades from view, when its destined hour arrives, INTO THAT PEACE WHICH FOR ETERNITY ENDURES. 18 *The Courts wherein the KING of SPLENDOR holds full sway, betwixt the EAGLE and the BULL and where the LION and the MAN do play; HE there glories and drinks deep each day at noon, then falling from HIS throne is speeded to HIS doom. This is the SPARKLING WINE of which all on earth may drink, that brings the harvest to the barn, And is that GREAT CAUSE OF LIFE which none can turn, nor yet its harmony destroy. *The Courts here represent the heavens, the King of Splendor the Sun in the month of JUNE when at twelve high noon the Sun is then in 15 degrees of Cancer, when the signs of TAURUS, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius which form the signs of the Equinox are at the feet as it were of the Celestrial King. 14 THE SUFISM OF THE 19 What puts value on some deed, some thought, some fondly cherished memory of a friend or future hope? Answer you who value give and take, WORK! LOVE! GRIEF! and PAIN! Work gives the value to deeds done and undone, love adds her charm as does the twilight to the sun; Grief brings us fear, that subtle mental pain, which binds to earth, till DEATH THE KNOT UNTIES. 20 Ah, this ^REVIVING HERB that's called the FUTURE STATE, upon its lovely lips, hangs the DEW OF HOLIER THINGS. Thine is the fRUBY which is set in VIRGIN GOLD, and those who know the -FOUNTAIN HEAD from whence streams forth that LIGHT DIVINE, Have stood FACE TO FACE WITH GOD, and from the BONDS OF DEATH ARE FREE. 21 Thus break thou from this wheel of strife and stress, with all its sorrows, fleeting, joys and chilling feaxs; *The Reviving Herb stands here for immortality. *The Ruby here represents the sum total of life's experience, which is set in Virgin Gold or the ring of eternity. THE SUFISM OF THE RUBAjyAT 15 Thine *arrow having plucked from out thy flesh, no more are pain and grief, thy sorrows ended are, Tomorrow, what? fThou with thy past totalities shall be joined again. 22 That which is JFINITE is revealed, that which is INFINITE is concealed, this pair the part of Father and Mother play, till time their pur- pose doth make plain. What to our senses seemed so fair, that which our minds so oft aside have cast; That which in void and emptiness lay hidden, has the FAIREST of the FAIR become, when freed from PRISON. 23 That which was the DARKNESS in the DARKNESS hidden, that which was JOY enrobed in SOR- ROW'S somber garb calls, We who make merry in this hostelry of life, return the robe of earth to HIM who will another body make, for some soul to upward take, upon its homeward way. *Pride, Anger, Fear, and Greed, which are the parents of all ills. fThe unity with your past existences for life belongs to all times and to all planes. JThe Finite is the objective or revealed, the Infinite is the sub- jective or concealed. vi i A OF THE " \ I UNIVERSITY ! 16 THE SUFISM OF THE 24 The only thing of profit here to take is the Good from all things, which causes hurt to none. Those who otherwise partake, the LAW pronounces invalid, which like the dust must to the dust descend. Yet in that dust the GOLDEN GERM is found, which like a thought, a seed brought forth that ripened fruit may bear. So comes forth again the BREATH, the BIRTH, the LIVING and the END. 25 Look not to the morrow to solve thy doubts, nor question oracles for good or better days, As naught from the SILENCE SPEAKS but THOU, OH VOICE DIVINE, the DWELLER of the HEART, who bidest all perform good works. No day on earth is better than the rest, each day is what you make it, neither more nor less. They who deliverance seek beyond the clouds, and they who look for reward of good works done, both here themselves deceive. REWARDS my friends are neither THEN nor THERE, REWARDS ARE SENT TO THOSE RIGHT HERE, WHO MAKE NO CLAIM ON MERIT WON. THE SUFISM OF THE RUBAjyAT 17 26 Neither the sages of the past, nor those yet forth to come, nor what the books have said though of Holy Men inspired, do Him reveal. To us HE only doth reveal HIMSELF in WORKS, in ACTS, in DEEDS done and undone, and by no other way may we hope HIM to KNOW or SEE. It is but the foolish who cry I SAVE! I SAVE!! For unto the smallest insect, not again can they impart that BREATH DIVINE when it has on- ward fled. Such claims as these, which some lips here do make, by WISER LORE are closed AT LAST. 27 Why then consult the Doctor or the Saint, they both from the same place came, and both to the same place go. But if for confirmation of the Future Life ye seek, look to the Universe and know the same GREAT CAUSE that cast its mould gave you your birth of clay. THINK! KNOW THAT THOU AND IT ARE PART AND PART, OF WHICH BEGINNING SAW NO DAWN, AND EVE NO ENDING. The same doth regulate the hours, the days, the weeks, the years, the INFINITE TIME SPACE, and likewise thine. 18 THE SUFISM OF THE 28 Thlc then is the Law of Fate and how of the way of Freedom all may learn, who freedom seek. Know thou that THOUGHTS MATURE INTO DEEDS AND ACTS! AND ALL SEEDS SOWN IN THE FLESH SHALL RIPEN WITH THY YEARS. This life is but the harvest of what you've sown before; sift out the tares before thou cast THE GRAIN FOR FUTURE YEARS. 29 Out of the Endless came I here! Into the Endless will I once more flow; Out of it again in trust I come! Better for the TRAILS OF DUST BELOW. 30 Ushered into being by an Endless Unspent Cause which moveth unto good, and by all on earth adored. Whence and where I went, only in deep reverence these words were spoke, Oh Cup, from whence the very Gods have drunk, *EXPERIENCE is thy name, Oh let me freely drink from THEE, THOU SLAYER OF MY FOES. ^Experience is the only teacher, and thus becomes our liberator from the bonds of selfishness and greed, the parents of crime and ignor- ance. THE SUFISM OF THE RUBAiyAT 19 31 What is it but madness to compare yesterday's sorrows with today's despairs, or tomorrow's triumphs? For they but lend the means to quicken our percep- tions of whence we came, why, and whither we go- Drink thou of Life's Ruby Wine, and to those who dare for more to ask within themselves the answer will be found! DRINK DEEP! THIS is ENOUGH!! 32 *What if the Sun of the Moon should question WHY? What if the Stars of the World should ask, where did you die, for what, when and why? Friends, deep in the hearts of all a Voice exclaims, cease, why, what, whence, and where, the solu- tion thus, is never found. Dismiss the I, dismiss the YOU, with you and I dis- missed, the UNIVERSE is THOU, in which is found neither what, why, whence, where nor how. *The moral to this paragraph is simply waste not your time ID questioning, but act, and thus through action the knowledge you will era in gain. 20 THE SUFISM OF THE 33 Then waste not thy life in the letter of dispute, argu- ment is death to the voicing of the Truth. Religion debate with none. For it but tends to widen out the breach and thus defeat its ends. Let thine acts declare the life within, happiness doth express the soul that dwells therein. While SADNESS that BITTER FRUIT which has been here maintained, is the VINE from which all LIFE its being drew, Ah friends, this is an error sad indeed, for HAPPI- NESS WAS THE GRAPE from which the WINE OF LIFE WAS PRESSED, NOT SORROW'S PRICKLY PEARS. 34 From those FAIR POINTS the *FIVE GREAT TRUTHS, by which we're RAISED by MASTER HANDS, Their SECRETS then within the MAN are placed, GUARD WELL! For once REVEALED NO MORE CAN THEY BE HID ! Thus born of FIRE the CAUSE of LIFE SUPREME, in EARTH your soul was cast, in AIR thy thoughts took wing. *Here refers to our intellectual senses, or Intuition, Perception, Retention, Imagination and Analization, which raise us from our lower or physical conditions, and exalt us into our spiritual or higher nature. THE SUFISM OF THE RUBAiyAx 21 And from the BROODING WATERS, KNOWLEDGE took shape and came, as the means of man's DELIV- ERANCE from BIRTH and from the GRAVE. This TRIPLE KNOWLEDGE has been told how EARTH the BODY is, and FIRE the SOUL, AIR is LIFE'S THOUGHTS, and the WATERS the SACRED LORE CONTAIN. EARTH the INFANT, FIRE the YOUTH, the WATERS ENLIGHTENED MANHOOD, and AIR the CARRIER tO the GREAT UNKNOWN BEYOND THE GRAVE. Of Which DEATH IS THE MESSENGER, NOT THE STING, and the GRAVE the SEPARATION OF LIFE'S ELEMENTS, AND HENCE THE VICTORY OF ALL LIVING "THINGS. 35 Thus in the earth thy roots of life are struck, and from thy mother receive their nourishment. Quickened into BEING by that CAUSE DIVINE, TO BE! WHO hands to thee the clay *to mould, Oh FRIEND, to mould? 36 And this all here may know, how came the FIRST GREAT LIGHT to earth, that KINDLER of LOV 's FLAME, that CONSUMER of earthly HATE. *A11 beings are created equal, and each for himself must indi vidualize his work or actions. 22 THE SUFISM OF THE When them hast received one ray of this IMPERISH- ABLE T JGHT then thou art saved *THOUGH THY TEMPLE IS DESTROYED. 37 Up to the Eternals cast thy weary eyes, earth is not thy home, no more than heavenly skies. Question those Heavenly fSymbols of Mars the God of War, Jupiter of Benevolence, Mercury of Lore, Venus of Life's Pleasures. Saturn of Old Age, ask Uranus of what is hidden, the Moon of Bringing Forth, and the Sun of Life's Fecundity, and each will in turn declare that they like thee are dependants, Upon that ONE GREAT CAUSE to share, the knowledge of their being, which all may read WHO DARE. 38 Here then is the Key, thy Will that Door unlocks, thy Future Faith must be the KNOWLEDGE of THYSELF. Shirk not this task for in it ye will find the way in which to solve, that the {UNIVERSE is I! *When we can perceive that through our conventionalities and self formed opinions we delay our spiritual progress through limitations, we can then embrace the inclusive and forego the exclusive, thus chang- ing our manner of living and entering the path that unto freedom leads. fThe planets, signs and constellations symbolized to the ancients the universal creative energies, their powers and equivalents. ^Through the analyzing of our natures we learn that we are as it were a miniature of the universe and that we are potentially its equal. THE SUFISM OF THE RUBAivAx 25 39 Earth, Fire, Air, Water, Ether, the elements that compose the sum of all that under heaven blows, And if ye then should ask, how they their birth received, or whence they came, or of what consist, or where they go, and of their final destiny? THIS WILL ALL AGES ANSWER 1 . HE ONLY KNOWS ! HE ONLY KNOWS! 40 The Heavenly signs are but the SYMBOLS of that BOOK, whose chemistry Birth's secrets here make plain. Thus are written in characters eternal, where none can erase one word of those recorded histories Of MEN, of THINGS, of WORLDS. From off its open pages bound in HEAVEN'S ETERNAL BLUE, Here then is the VEIL, the LAMP, the VOICE WITHIN; learn thou to be .LORD and MASTER, PROPHET, PRIEST and KING. Thy BIRTHRIGHT here now enter, and know ye the LAW OF LAWS, the WISE MAN RULES, THE FOOL DOTH TREAD WHERE ANGELS FEAR TO GO. 24 THE SUFISM OF THE 41 Thus from the Law of Life and Death we learn, and why with hate and strife this earthly urn doth burn. Yet a Voice from out of the DEPHTS doth SPEAK "MURMER NOT"! Make ye the best of life, Waste not thy OPPORTUNITIES! For when ye once have onward passed, to CLAY YE NEVER SHALL RETURN.!! 42 This is the way of Happiness and how to live free from vain regrets; Whatsoever thy mind findeth to think, think ye only on such things as ye will never have to here unthink. Whatsoever thy hands find to do, do only such things as ye will never have to here undo. That which ye give, seek never to reclaim, nor profit make of friendship, nor from the STRANGER within thy gates, excepting what the LAW pre- scribes as lawful and as just, This is an old but well proven Path, and KISSES FROM SUCH LIPS AS THESE DRY NEVER, NEITHER PARCH THEY THE MOUTH OF THE GIVER, OR THE GIVEN. THE SUFISM OF THE RUBAiyAT 25 43 In passing through this Life of Clay, I came across a Barren Waste of life, and questioned of a friend its name, he answer made, INSANE! iNSANja! And when I asked if here the Potter's hand had not surely blundered, seeing so many monstrous shapes in clay called MAN, He but answered "Nay, the same hand made the poison, that gave the antidote." Ah, Friends and Foes, let us here unite, and make war on this all consuming vice; don't blame the Potter or his clay, we have but here OUR- SELVES to BLAME. 44 Listen a moment whilst I quote from a book that no man wrote; it is from Mother Earth, so friends give ear, attend! attend! "It is you who knead and mould, not I, I'm but the plastic side of life, and THOU THE POTTER who doth spin this wheel of life continually." Thus, Oh Brothers and Sisters learn, who will while here give birth to child, Seek ye to mould it free from fear, seek ye to mould it strong and firm, let no thought its mind pervert, mould it TRUE and FIT for BIRTH. 26 THE SUFISM OF THK MOULD IT FRIEND, OH MOTHER MOULD, IN THAT LIKE- NESS GOD OF OLD, THOUGH THY NAME ON EARTH IS MAN, YET OF THAT KINGDOM, PRINCE!. A CHILD DIVINE ART THOU. 45 That which we mould again returns to earth, and this is a lesson, friends, which the Bright Ones unto thee have sent! "The Beauteous Lily that neither toils nor spins will to the earth return again. Pure was its perfume and its life, pure its color, snowy white; from its seed shall others come, which will bloom, then fade and die." May we in such simple trust, hope again a lip to tOUCh, FAIRER MOTHER, FAIRER CHILD, GOD and MAN UNITE AS ONE. 46 Let not this Cup of Life contain that Bitter Drug, Remorse by name, nor to Brother nor to Friend let us cause a burning tear; Since these tears again give back SALT FOR SALT AND SMART FOR SMART. Never let thy salt tears fall on this clay to bring forth more. Drink not then from this Cup of Pain, for here is the secret of the Potter and his wheel THE 8UFISM OF THE RUBAiyAr 27 Life is the clay with which the Soul doth spin, the Potter is the will by which the wheel is turned. The Pot so called the Mind, which doth the thoughts contain, Experience is Life's Wheel which ACTION TURNS! Do Good, it recompenses with PEACE and BLISS, the EVILS here performed with PAIN and DEATH. Thus do we learn of the unwinding of life's entangl- ed skeins, of FEAR, of HATE and of all THINGS UNLOVABLE. 47 Yet there's another WINE which fresh from Life's vintage into the CUP OF IMMORTALITY is drawn. *It is in color RUBY RED, resurrected from the DEAD. Drink ye! Drink ye! of this wine, the product^ of the VINE OF VINES. They who from this CUP do DRINK with ETERNAL BLISS do meet. Born of the perfumes of the flowers, watered by these tears of ours, nourished by the stress of life, OUR CROWN OF THORNS THE CROWN OF GLORY WINS. 48 So when Death's Angel doth us call, instead of pains its joys we know. *The grapes must pass through the press to give up the wine; so must we through our earthly experience give up the material before we can accept the spiritual. THE SUFISM OF THE RUfiAiyAT The FEATIS AND STINGS OF DEATH WERE MADE BY EARTHLY PRIESTS BUT NOT THE POTTER'S GEN- TLE HANDS. This dark wine quaff and the cup to earth return , for you that stream have crossed and the fur- ther shore attained. There's where thy soul its heavenly garb assumes, of which this dust of earth is too gross its frame to build. 49 This life is but the Pathway that unto FREEDOM LEADS, from pains and greivous sorrows, to where the soul is free. To roam to worlds and spheres sublime and gather there from off the vines those ripened grapes for wine. From limits then it's freed and towards its sun it soars, and there in BLISS SUPREME THAT SOUL IN GOD IS MERGED. 50 Thus the body is a tent wherein the soul a day or so must dwell, when Death again that life relieves, And that freed soul above must speed to some new realm of thought unknown to it. Would that all this simple truth did know, there would be then no fear of that after life to come. ^x F THE \ UNIVERSITY 1 TTTT* CTTWTCM r\Tt TWT* UTTwAlvAT 29 51 Here then we learn that Law of Fate, as into this world we're born from different planes of life. And here we all must tarry till this Earthly Life has run, when turning down this earthen cup, The fluid of the soul is poured into a vase of finer ware. Countless thousands have come and gone through these SILENT GATES OF FATE, Which but open once for birth, then close till death, as ripples follow ripples on a wind swept lake. 52 Thus do we lift veil after veil before, thus do we drop veil after veil behind, Onward, ever onward, do all who are born progress, none from this wheel break free, none can this law control. Born of endless rounds, from sphere to sphere we climb, through countless suns of systems, through countless terms of years. Systems of worlds we leave, whilst approaching unknown suns, with colors of nameless hues, for which no tongue a name hath found. ON THOSE HEAVENS THE SUNSETS REST, AND THE TINTS OF THE MORNING SKIES. 30 THE SUFISM OF THK 53 Ah, questioning Friend, what is it you would know, from whence Existence came, and how Ex- istence stays? This is the Cross you'll carry, as long as you will cast the RUBY of the PRESENT in the DUST HEAP OF THE PAST. It was not BORN, nor does it ever DIE; it from no place came, nor of anything was it; UNBORN, ETERNAL, EVERLASTING, DEATHLESS, IT WILL REMAIN, though all should PASS AWAY. This is the Secret that the Wise alone can solve, how EXISTENCE the thread doth cut, which perchance divides those FOUR. THE FINITE FROM THE INFINITE, AND THE FALSE FROM EVERY TRUE. 54 Could you right here this problem solve of what is false and true, no more would heaven yonder be, no more would erring thought heaven's truths obscure, For at last the false is here out grown, and the Finite Mind ceases to reflect the evils of the past, which are forever lost in f orgetf ulness ; And only the Infinite Thoughts (which are life's pearls) are then reflected in that Mind Su- preme. THE SUFISM OF THE RUBAiyAT 31 So whilst in this home of clay we live, could we for a moment grasp this CAUSE SUPREME in its en- tirety, which moveth all, that life doth know, tO GOOD, TO BETTER, THEN TO BEST; God will here and there alike be known, and of that SUPREME PEACE we will stand on earth pos- sessed. So seek within this TREASURE HOUSE, for the KEY you'll surely find, which will unlock the Palace Gates and all mysteries ther contained. And seated there, all pure and white, that KING OF KINGS who reigns supreme is known of all celestial hosts, as THOU, OH SOUL, DIVINE. 55 A secret here I have to tell which I'll write between these lines, how one may find *the SERPENT COILED within the HUMAN SPINE. Deep in the Breath of the Senses its secret presence you will find, running divided, yet united, it is the BREATH OF LIFE DIVINE. It brings to name and form all thought, and though these change and pass from sight, it ever here remains to bring that WISDOM OF THE GODS TO MEN. *This means the seat of all functional activity. 32 THE SUFISM OF THE 56 Look to thy body there to find the Mystic Numbers it contains, the Coccyx Four on which the Sac- rum Five do rest, where spirit matter joins, and the TREE OF LIFE AGAIN PUTS FORTH. Upon this NINE, though to FIVE this NINE returns, rest the DORSAL TWELVE, the Sacred Temples of those Mysteries from which the tribes of is and RA were named, In the Cervical Seven dwell supreme THOSE POWERS OF GOD ENTHRONED IN MAN; these do contain the THREE IN ONE of which the ages have all sung, about that TRINITY SUBLIME which moves the worlds to GOOD. Now THREE in ONE, and FOUR PLUS FIVE, and TWELVE plus SEVEN, and you have found those MARKS THIRTY AND TWO OF PERFECT BIRTH. 57 There is a LINE that all may find, stretched from the utmost heavens (or maybe far beyond) which towards the earth comes unerringly, Which has by all Sages here been called "THE PLUMB LINE OF THE UNIVERSE," adored and reverenced by all the Wise. And where this Line the Earth doth GREET the LEVEL*FORMS on which all MEET, THE SUFISM OF THE RUfiAlYAT 33 There the SETTING SUN YOU WILL THEN FACE, AND LIFERS FATAL SQUARE will Upon THEE FALL NO MORE. Being thus FREE and ACCEPTED of the GODS, RAISED by the MASTER'S HANDS, EXALTED from the DEAD, to GREET again, and yet again, THY BRETHREN. Brothers, tell them who have the rule forgot, how time is measured dot by dot; how the MASTER from the EAST must RISE and in splendor sit upon the noonday skies. How at HIGH TWELVE upon that ARCH DIVINE HE SITS, and the QUARTERS of the world doth there survey each noon. And upon that *TRESTLE-BOARD, which is watched and guarded by the FOUR REGENTS, HE the orders writes, for the MASTERS to transcribe. Then that MYSTIC LINE HE crosses and hastens to HIS FALL, and thus are the days all reached, in which HE and all HIS FELLOW-CRAFT REPOSE MUST SEEK. None can here deny that this forms not a perfect day, for it has been TRIED and PROVED by that UNERRING LINE. *These Jewels of Masonic Lore must appeal to all true readers of the TRESTLE-BOARD. May they hear the fraternal voice of the past, which is now speaking through the lips of the present, and seek that reward which alone can come when the earthly lodge is closed and the heavenly is declared open for the work to all who have been found worthy and qualified. 34 THE SUFISM OF THE NO YESTERDAY, NO TOMORROW, ALL IS ENDLESS DAY ENWRAPPED IN ENDLESS NIGHT, IN WHICH ALL SLEEP, IN WHICH ALL WAKE, BOTH HERE AND THERE. 58 Thus in the hands of mortals are placed the BUILD- ER'S TOOLS, the PLUMB, the GUIDING LINE 'twixt HEAVEN and the TOMB. The SQUARE most blessed of all KNOWN TOOLS for it reveals THAT GLORIOUS CROSS from which the WISE their LORE OF LIFE HAVE GAINED. And though it's hidden FOURFOLD DEEP its ROOT can be obtained, which will the CUBE-STONE form again, OH, MYSTERY SUBLIME. Born thus of Earth, by Air, by Fire and Water Tried, NAILED to the CROSS the PROOF OF LIFE TO FIND. Ushered in the EAST the way of birth for all, in the SOUTH is MANHOOD reached, in the WEST where all must FALL, it is the PLACE OF PEACE which all must haste to reach; It is there that you MARK WELL and the FATAL SQUARE REVERSE, the NORTH of DEATH doth know from whence ye have come forth, To take within thy hand THE BUILDER'S MYSTIC TROWEL. THE SUFISM OF THE RUBAiyAr 35 59 And having built my EARTHLY HOME, one day in its porch I sat, and coming through its shades and glooms was a FACE THAT FIXED ITSELF upon my memory. It was my SOUL INVISIBLE that brought a MESSAGE DIVINE, which from EARTHLY FETTERS SAVED ME and in FREEDOM bade me RISE; To those EFFULGENT SKIES OF SKIES, the FOUNTAIN HEADS FROM WHENCE DO FLOW THE WATERS OF ETERNITY. And from a CHALICE wrought of GOLD the WINE of IMMORTALITY WAS POURED and having drunk that Wine of Wines, I returned the *Cup which from Gold was made. 60 Thus having quenched my thirst of years wherefore I asked of Him, are there so many here, who spend their lives in tears, And waste their days in arguments over what is RIGHT Or WRONG? He in these powerful words His answer gave ! "ALL MEN AND WOMEN WERE EQUAL MADE! AND OF TEARS AND SORROWS GAVE HE NONE TO MAN; NONE CAN SUFFER EXCEPT THOSE WHO SUFFER- ING CHOOSE/' *The Cup wrought out of gold here refers to our collective ex- periences. 36 THE SUPISM OF THE Which sufferings being but DELIVERANT PAINS OF BIRTH, GIVE TO THE SOUL ITS FREEDOM. To my second question He answered thus! WHO DARES OF RIGHT OR WRONG TO JUDGE, since the motive of a crime in ages past has disap- peared, and crimes that were unknown to them are living here with you? But to those who seek TRUE JUDGMENT this is the way it's found! There is a Judge who never errs who sits in the hum- an heart, whose judgments are not heard with- out, but in life's deeds are PROVEN. No human tongue can yet define, nor will it here be given, that power on earth to understand the INFINITE LAW OF HEAVEN. 61 To meet my needs through life HE gave these beaute- ous words of praise! THOU MIGHTY PEACE, TRUTH BREATHING LORD, OF ALL THE HORDES OF DARKNESS AND OF LIGHT ADORED. THOU subduer of fears and sorrows which this earthly life infest, and LEADER FORTH TO THAT FUTURE REST BEYOND THE GRAVE, WHERE DWELL THE SAGES OF ALL THE PAST. In that NAME thy refuge seek, take thou thy refuge in its LAW OF PEACE, take thou its hand of THE SUFISM OF THE RUfiAiyAT 37 FUTURE HOPE, and rest thou in its LAW which worketh unto GOOD, to BETTER and to BEST. Thus was I taught of the LOVE DIVINE. 62 *This life is the vine on which the grape doth grow, and fresh from its PRESS THE WINE OF LIFE DOTH FLOW. And there on the WASTE HEAP of sorrow lies the PULP OF WANTONNESS, from which the fool a strong and hurtful beverage brews, that works DESTRUCTION UNTO ALL WHO OF IT DRINK! THEY WHO ARE CLEAN NEED NO STIMULANTS, EX- CEPT THAT ONE CONTAINED WITHIN THE VINT- AGE OF LIFE'S EXPERIENCE. All other wines are rods of pain in which REMORSE is FOUND in many garments dressed. BE- WARE! BEWARE!! Many men do question thus, Why was it put here if a curse? The swine the question here might put, Why must he eat what's on him thrust? Present no more such reasoning pray for the answer is here given. NONE BUT THE FOOL THE WINE OF EARTH DOTH QUAFF, NONE BUT THE WISE THE WINE OF LIFE DO DRAW. *A11 that this life is, is the sum total of what the preceding one was. 38 THE SUPISM OF THE 63 Here I am compelled to write about another form of vice; some endure it in its LEGAL FORM whilst others are slaves to a NAMELESS FORM; Never Brother, never Friend, wreck thy life on the shoals of shame, nor cast thy virtue in the dust. NO TWO WRONGS WILL ONE RIGHT MAKE, NO HANDS IN PRAYER CAN A FOUL DEED CHANGE, OR A VIRTUE MAKE! Ah, this is the BITTER CUP OF LIFE and whosoever from it drinks, into the dust descends. BE- WARE! BEWARE!! 64 The means that do the ends of life defeat, are: DRINK! FORNICATION and other UNLAWFUL ACTS committed by the FLESH, GAMBLING and UN- TRUTH. No threats of HELL, no hope of HEAVEN, can lift the cloud that doth enshroud a DEFILED EARTHLY TEMPLE. SUCH FLOWERS AS THESE FOREVER DIE, USELESSNESS HAS NO PLACE IN CREATION'S FERTILE FIELDS. 65 Oft has the WAY on earth been blazed, that all the PATH might see and rightly follow. THE SUFISM OF THE RUBAiyAT 39 Sages the *PATERAN have placed at every cross- road. And though so many have pushed those DARKENED DOORS aside, NONE HAVE RETURNED OF THAT WAY HERE TO TELL! WHICH TO DISCOVER, ALL FOR THEMSELVES MUST TREAD. 66 Yet some may question the Wisdom of the Law, that FREE SALVATION grants TO ALL ON EARTH WHO FALL. Yet falling they must rise again, OH SLAYER OF OUR FOES, RENUNCIATION IS THY NAME! With THEE we fight the hordes of PAIN, and PASSION SLAY, and thus destroy the CAUSE OF ALL OUR ILLS. EACH HIS OWN SALVATION WINS! EACH ALL EARTHLY SIN MUST HERE RENOUNCE! THUS HAVE THE WISE ALL TAUGHT. 67 Let us call HIM THE ALL MERCIFUL for HE the PATH doth LIGHT, so man from MORTAL DARKNESS may be led into the LIGHT. . Hear ye then this simple, yet most ancient of the truths, how man can gain the knowledge of life beyond the tomb. *Pateran means a leaf which travelers used to place at the cross roads to show the way to their followers. 40 THE SUFISM OP THE RUBAlYAT "CONTROL THYSELF, and with thy senses send thy soul unto its elements, there to wring out the SECRET of itS BIRTH and END." And the gentle voice of the SILENCE whispers soft and low, and bids me reader, write you the ans- wer here below! I MYSELF AM HEAVEN, I MYSELF AM HELL, I AM THE CAUSE CREATIVE, I AM THE WAY, THE END. 68 This then is a vision of heaven that FULFILLER OF ALL DESIRES, and this is the shade of GEHENNA the sorrows that life acquires. Cast thyself boldly on this ocean, FEAR NOT THOUGH THE CURRENT is STRONG, thy body's the BOAT, thy WILL the HELM, thy LIFE the SAILS doth fill. And serenely sitting, all composed, thy Soul doth grasp the helm and steers thy Barque through storms and stress, in safety past the SHOALS of DEATH. With its cargo that's consigned to HIM WHO RULES THE WINDS, THE TIDES. OH MASTER PILOT, HAIL TO THEE! THOU GIVER OF ETERNITY. 69 Coming events their shadows cast, on this all have agreed; THE SUFISM OF THE RUBAiyAx 41 In an endless procession that Mirror reflects the acts, the thoughts, the deeds, Oh, happy the man who has led a good life, who fears not in that Mirror to gaze, For he sees that VIRTUE REWARD HATH WON, AND THAT THE WAGE OF SIN IS DEATH. 70 Some in this life would have you believe that this FATE you cannot evade, for all EMBODY here again, and thus by the LAW OF BIRTH outrun the ACTIONS Of PAST LIVES? Friends, you're reasoning in quicksands which in the end engulf; last night no more returns to earth though followed by countless suns; Neither the soul once freed from clay to a body of clay returns, nor doth the Spirit inhabit again this cast off garment of earth. THIS is THE LAW; OH MORTALS LEARN, ALL YE WHO LOVE THE TRUE. 71 This is the LAW of LIFE written bold that all may read aright and learn THE WAY OF MASTERSHIP! THOUGHTS ARE THE SHUTTLE OF LIFE'S WORKS, EXPERIENCE THE WARP, AND LIFE THE WOOF, THE CLOTH THE DEEDS WHEN SPUN, which CUt 42 THE SUFISM OF THE according to RIGHT MEASUREMENT fit well, and the garment of every soul becomes. REASON MEASURES ALL! AND WISDOM GUIDES, and thus are the garments of life both small and great by a strict measurement made, wherein the law declares. THOU THYSELF THE LAW OF LIFE DOTH RULE; LIFE! THOU ART RULED BY ALL THE WISE; HE WHO THUS DOTH KNOW, KNOWS ALL IN LIFE TO BE, AS THE FUTURE LIFERS DETERMINED BY THE PRESENT ONE WE LEAD. 72 *There is a GARDEN of which the Wise have told, with a RIVER that flows throughout, which when divided has FOUR HEADS, Oh, Students find this out. There is a "WORD" the Wise declare though "LOST" its yours to find, that would unite these FOUR again; of this there is no doubt. It is FOUR-FOLD when opened out and the CROSS it brings to view; your life's engraved upon its "SQUARE" of which no erasion can be made nor "THY MARK" carved there be effaced. *This paragraph refers to the center of creative energy or the Garden of Iram. The Four Rivers symbolize the seasons, body, mind, soul, spirit, earth, fire, air, water, in their process of ivolution and evo- lution and its symbolic character is the Swastika Cross. THE SUFISM OF THE RUBAiyAr 43 73 This inverted bowl we call the sky, is that Garden we've been told; the FOUR HEADS there have thus been named the LION, the MAN, the BULL, the BIRD. * Within these names four more are found; SPIRIT, SOUL, MIND, and BODY and yet again four more you have BIRTH, YOUTH, MANHOOD and AGE. When added TWELVE all told they make, and the names of the TRIBES reveal, from which all things their being take, and yet there are four to spare; REPTILES, BEASTS and BIRDS of song, with FISH of various kinds, when added go to make the MAN, OF SIXTEEN PARTS ALL TOLD. 74 Who then doth hold this SECRET of the WAY, which from this CARNAL HOUSE of clay to FREEDOM makes? Or are we like the ever changing sea, IMPOTENT to change its currents or the wind? It is only a sluggard who doth question the reason of his birth; the Brave like soaring eagles rise high above the earth, *This paragraph gives the symbolic names of the divine qualities that are found in man. 44 THE SUFISM OF THE They but know the PATH of DUTY, its GOLDEN WAY they tread, where trod the ANCIENT FATHERS who dissolved this life of earth. Thus look not on HIGH the GOOD TO FIND, nor search for it BELOW; GOOD is THE WHOLE, AND DEATH BUT LIFTS THE SCENES AS THEY UNFOLD. 75 This world no more endures than THOU or i, only the MAKER for 'twas HE who loosed its soul and thine to learn, From whence came all, to where all go, the destiny, the end. And should'st thou not learn from whence all pain doth spring, as ripple follow ripple so doth pain forever follow pain. Till FREED FROM SENSUOUS YEARNINGS, THY HEART TO GOD RETURNS, THIS IS THE FINAL CONQUEST, THIS IS THE FINAL END. 76 And thus was man made and placed in this GARDEN OF IRAM fair, with his soul to comfort and give cheer, till DEATH makes free again. He in this INVERTED BOWL is poured, and there must remain 'tis said, till dust to dust returns again and that FREED SOUL has winged its way to where the DEATHLESS DWELL. THE SUPISM OF THE RUBAiyAT 45 77 He out of his earthly origin wrought his desire for upward striving, for the Wise the RIGHT do prefer to the SWEET, Whilst the Foolish the SWEET do prefer to the RIGHT and thus they're bound on this WHEEL of PAIN till they the KNOT untie again, Which is the END AND THE BEGINNING OF THINGS. 78 Now in this GARDEN a SERPENT was placed and a man from the hand of a woman did taste, Not the WOMAN of this CLAY nor any FRUIT of earthly NAME, but EXPERIENCE wrung from life and handed down from birth to birth.