UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
LOS ANGELES
THE RUBA'IYAT OF OMAR KHAYYAM
OF THIS EDITION
1,000 Copies have been priiited.
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KHAYYAM
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A-FACSI M I LE-OFTHEMSj|p/
INTHE BODLE IAN- LI B RARY I
TRANS L AT E D-AND-EDIT E0|'|
ftmRD-HEROJALLEMi
LONDON
THE RUBA'IYAT
OF
OMAR KHAYYAM
BEING
A Facsimile of the Manuscript in the Bodleian Library at Oxford,
u'ith a Transcript into modern Persian Characters,
TRANSLATED, WITH AN INTRODUCTION AND NOTES,
AND A BIBLIOGRAPHY, AND SOME SIDELIGHTS
UPON EDWARD FITZGERALD'S POEM
BY
EDWARD HERON-ALLEN
J^ Ik&s )l ^ Jlc» wiuJ ,.^ii ^-Jb ^
49321^8
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
Introduction ........ i — xlii
English translation i
Photographic facsimile of MS. 29
Bibliographical references, for abbre\iations in the
notes 115
Facsimile pages with transcript, translation, and
notes 119
Bibliography of Omar Khayyam - • - - 381
Some Sidelights upon Edward Fit^Gerald's Poem,
" The Ruba'iyat of Omar Khayyam " ■ - 289
PREFATORY NOTE TO THE SECOND
EDITION
I CONFESS that I am surprised — and agreeably so — to
find that, within six months of the first publication of this
volume, a second and larger edition is called for. I am not,
however, so blinded with satisfaction as not to realize that the
success of my book has been brought about, not so much by
any intrinsic merits of its own, as by the ever-widening
interest that is felt in the matchless poem of FitzGerald
which was primarily responsible for its appearance. I have
taken advantage of the opportunity thus afforded me to make
several revisions suggested by scholarly critics, and to add a
considerable mass of material which was not selected, or not
discovered, in January last. I am glad to have found this
further occasion for addressing my readers, if for no other
reason than to record my indebtedness to Professor E.
Denison Ross, who has not only helped me very greatly with
the revision, but has had the kindness to correct the proofs of
this edition for me during my absence from England.
EDWARD HERON-ALLEN.
Venice,
May, i8g8.
With a pathetic insistence, equalled only by that with
which King Charles's head intruded upon the memorial of
Mr. Dick, a few biographical details concerning the Life of
Ghias ud-din Abul Fath 'Omar bin Ibrahim Al Khayyam ^
(as recorded in the Testament of Nizam ul Mulk, and cited
thence in Mirkhond's History of the Assassins,^ in Khondemir's
Habib us-Siyar, and in the Dabistan^) have intruded upon the
prefatory excursions of almost every author, poet, or translator
that has published any book or article having these quatrains
1. The European forms of our author's name vary in accordance with his
translators' and historians' nationalities and tastes in transliteration. In English
works and catalogues alone we get the variations Omar Khayyam, Omar-i-Khayyam,
and Omar al Khayyam. Mons. Nicolas, in his note on p. 2, says : " His real
name was Omar, but being constrained to follow the oriental custom which
requires every poet to assume a surname (takhallus), he preserved the name which
indicated the profession of his father, and his own, i.e., Khayyam — ' tent maker '
{vide note i to q. 22, post; vide also p. xl.). The Persians say that it was the extreme
modesty of Omar that prevented his taking a more brilliant surname, like that of
Firdausi (= the Celestial) ; Sa'di (= the Happy) ; Anwarl (= the Luminous) ; Hafiz
( = the Preserver)." Prof. Cowell favours me with the following observations : "The
Atash Kadah calls him ' Khayyam,' adding (and Persian authors generally do so)
'and they call him 'Omar' (JcJ»^ y4S> ••*> j)- Still, the Persian preface
of the Calcutta MS. has ' Omar Khayyam ' like us Europeans. . . . Sprenger
in his Catalogue calls him ' Omar Khayyam,' and so does Dr. Rieu in his British
Museum Catalogue. ' Omar Khayyam ' has therefore (as you see) plenty of
authority for it. ' Omar al Khayyam,' as far as I can see, has none."
2. Muhammad ibn Khavand Shah Mir Khwand. " History of the Early
Kings of Persia," translated by D. Shea. London, 1832. (Oriental Translation
Fund.)
3. The Dabistan is a treatise upon religious sects, the author of which
is not named, but which is supposed to have been written by one Mulla Mubad.
A translation by D. Shea and A. Troyer was issued in 1S43 by the Oriental
Translation Fund.
b
ii Intrudiiction
for theme. Broadly speaking, these may be said to include
the story of the tripartite agreement for their mutual advan-
tage of Omar Khayyam with Nizam ul Mulk and Hasan ibn
Sabah ; his reform of the calendar ; the critical exordium of
Shahrastani ; the story of his apparition to his mother ;
and the one about his tomb related by his pupil, NizamI of
Samarcand. It may be further observed that recent criticism
has cast grave doubts upon the authenticity of these details.
In like manner, since the death of Mr. FitzGerald, we may
apply the same observation to the biographical details of
his life, which have been sifted from his own charming
letters, or strained from the mass of magazine literature that
has appeared during the intervening periods, to appear as
integral portions of introductions, ever increasing in bulk and
weight.
As it is improbable that this work will reach the hands of,
or at any rate be seriously studied by, anyone who has not read
Edward FitzGerald's own preface to his poem, and as it is un-
likely that any student will read this volume unless his interest
in that poem has been sufficient to have caused him to read the
"Letters and Literary Remains of Edward FitzGerald," I will
allow myself to preserve a discreet silence upon these points,
and will not burden my introduction with stories that are
already wearisomely familiar to my readers. I would refer
those who desire to study the magazine literature of the subject
to the articles of Mr. Gosse {Fortnightly Review, July, 1889), Mr.
Groome {Blackwood's Magazine, November, 1889), Mr. Clodd
{English Illnstrated Magazine, February, 1894), and Mr. Schiitz-
Wilson {Contemporary Review, March, 1876). For the rest, the
enquirer is referred to the Bibliographical Appendix and to
Poole's Index of Periodical Literature.
There remains at our disposal the story 01 how the first
edition of FitzGerald's poem fell from grace to the penny box,
and rose thence to twenty guineas per copy — and an honoured
anecdotage. For the details of this progression the reader is
referred to the introduction to Mr. J. H. McCarthy's prose
Introduction iii
version, which is, as far as my studies have taken me, the most
scholarly, the most enthusiastic, and the most graceful essay
upon these more than triturated themes that has yet seen the
Hght. (7iWg Terminal Essay, p. 297.) Of critical essays upon
FitzGerald's poem, probably the best is that of Mr. Keene
{Macmillan's Magazine, November, 1887), though it will pre-
sently be seen that I disagree with the views he has expressed;
and of essays ex cathedrd — that is to say, written by oriental
scholars, since the fundamental essay of Professor Cowell
{Calcutta Review, March, 1858) nothing has surpassed that of
Professor Pickering {National Review, December, 1890).
Apart, however, from the anecdotal history of this collec-
tion of quatrains, and of the matchless poem which they
inspired, there is a chapter of history worthy our careful con-
sideration — the chapter containing the history of the period ex-
tending from about a.d. 1050-60, within which limits the birth
of Omar Khayyam has by consent of his historiographers been
fixed, until the year 1123 (a.h. 517), when his death is recorded
upon more or less contemporaneous authority. Within this
period our poet-mathematician lived, and from the events of that
period — events which were stirring Islam to the foundation of its
faith — came influences which may have tinged the philosophy
preached by the singer. The internal evidence of the collection
negatives the idea that the quatrains were written at one time
as components of a consecutive whole, and suggests that they
were written at intervals extending over the whole period ol
Omar's life, and collected, generally into the consecutive-
alphabetical, or familiar dlwan form, at the end of his life,
or, as is more probable, after his death. In point of fact, I
think it not unlikely that most of his quatrains were transmitted
as traditional epigrams, and collected at the instance of later
poets such as Hafiz or Jami, or his pupil NizamI, many of
whose recollections of Omar's quatrains, strongly imbued with
the proclivities of their recorders, have passed into currency
as the ipsissima verba of Omar, among the voluminous col-
iv Introduction
lections of quatrains which, during five centuries, have been
brought together and issued from time to time as his work.
It is reasonable to assume that passing events had little
or no influence upon Omar and his work until, at earliest,
A.D. 1076, when the conquest of Jerusalem by the Turks led
to that protracted convulsion of the Muhammadan world
whose opening phase was the First Crusade.^ The Sultan
Toghrul Beg had been succeeded in 1063 by Alp Arslan, who
extended his dominion from the Mediterranean Sea to Central
Asia, and, being assassinated on Christmas Day, 1072, was
succeeded by his son Malik Shah, the patron and protector
of Omar Khayyam. No more perfect picture of the era of
Omar can be found than that contained in the Makamat
(or "Assemblies") of El Hariri the silk merchant, who, born
in Bussorah in 1054, and dying in 1122, wrote the book of
which Professor Chenery and Dr. Steingass have given us
a masterly translation.^ The origin of this book was,
we are told, his accidental meeting with one of the few
survivors of the massacre of Seruj, when that city was
attacked and destroyed by Baldwin, brother of Godfrey of
Bouillon, in the year 1098, during the period when he ruled
the Christian Principality of Edessa.^ In 1084 the conquest
of Asia Minor may be said to have been completed by the
Turks, in 1088 began the series of persecutions of Christian
pilgrims to Jerusalem which led to the Crusades, and, in
1092, Malik Shah died, having, in addition to his territorial
conquests, reformed the calendar by means of the labours of
eight learned men, of whom Omar was one, and inaugurated,
by the correction of all errors of reckoning, either past or
future, the Jalali era, a computation of time which, says
1. For a simplified account, see "The Crusades" in the " Story of the
Nations " series, by T. A. Archer and C. L. Kingsford. London and New
York, 1894.
2. "The Assemblies of Al Hariri." London, 1867. This edition con-
tained only twenty-six " Assemblies," but the work has now been completed by
Dr. Steingass for the subscribers to the Oriental Translation Fund.
3. According to some authorities, the conquests of Syria and Palestine and
the Empire of the far East were accomplished by ISIalik Shah (c. 1074-5), but
this does not concern us in this place.
Introduction v
Gibbon, surpassed the Julian, and approached the accuracy
of the Gregorian style.^ It is difficult to resist the temptation to
touch upon some of the leading episodes of this period —
the disgrace of Nizam ul Mulk ; the successive reigns of the
Seljuk Sultans, Mahmud (1092), Bargiyaruk (1094), Malik
Shah II. (1104), Muhammad (1104), Sanjar (11 17), and
the period of comparative tranquillity which supervened,
during which Omar died ^ (1123) in retirement and philo-
sophical repose at Naishapur, his declining years softened
by the companions, the roses, and the wine whose Canticle
he sang to such lasting purpose, within sight of the still
beautiful and fertile valley of Meshed in Khorasan, that nursery
of Persian song, which boasted itself the birthplace in turn of
FirdausT, of AsadI, of Ferid ud-dln 'Attar, of Jalal-ud-din
Rumi, of JamI, of Hatifi, and many others, and which may
justly be named the Persian Parnassus.
In the West a sharp line of demarcation is apt to be drawn
between men of thought and men of action. The names of a
few soldier-poets and artisan-philosophers surge in the mind
as one writes this, but these are few and far between. It has
not been so in the East. Omar the tent-maker, Attar the
druggist occur to one's mind par nobile fratvum, and what
better examples could be cited than Omar the Mugherl
(who has been confused ere now with our Omar), " the noble-
man, the warrior, the libertine, but above all the poet — the
Don Juan of Mecca, the Ovid of Arabia and the East — Omar
1. " Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," chap. Ivii. Vide also
Dr. Hyde's work (p. xiv.), chap, xvi., pp. 200-211. Mr. Binning {vide note 2,
p. XXV.) states that this work was done under the auspices of Sultan Jalal-ud-din
of Khorasan, who ordered that, once every four years, six extra intercalary days,
instead of the usual five, should be added, so as to make up the complete solar
year, which consequently corresponds closely with our Gregorian year. (Vol. ii.,
p. 207.)
2. A. Houtum-Schindler, in a letter to the Academy (24th January, 1885),
states that Omar died in a.d. 1124, over one hundred years old; but he does not
give his authority for this information.
vi Introduction
the Mugherl, the f,'randson of Abu-Rabi'ah," ^ and above all,
Husain Ibn Sina, known to the western world as Avicenna,
the Philosopher, Doctor, Metaphysician, Poet, and Mystic,
whose works, varied as they are almost ad infinitum in manner
and matter, engaged the printing-presses of Europe (as may
be appreciated by a glance at the Bibliographies) at the end
of the 15th, through the i6th, and to the beginning of the
17th centuries, almost to the exclusion of contemporary poets
and scientists. He was born in a.d. 980 at Bokhara, son of
a Persian tax-collector, and died in 1036, and his compara-
tively recent fame may well have spurred the ambition of the
youthful Omar ; but his fame presents this contrast to that of
Omar : his science lived, and lives eternal, whilst his poetry is
relegated to the Walhalla of pre-historic verse, whereas the
science of Omar is disregarded, existing only for the curious in
the " Algebre d"Omar al Khayyami, traduite et accompagnec
d'extraits de MSS. inedits " (Paris, 185 1, Woepcke), whilst
his " Ruba'iyat " hav^e assumed the purple among classic poems.
Professor Pickering {loc. cit.) has ably dealt with this side of
Omar's fame. {Vide Terminal Essay, p. 290.)
It is not for me to enter upon a discourse concerning the
fundamental principles of his religion and philosophy; this is a
field that has been ploughed (and harrowed) by eminent
students of philosophical history and problems ; Professor
Cowell, Professor Pickering, and Mr. Schutz-Wilson, in the
articles above referred to, have argued and expounded the
matter from their various standpoints. Mr. Whinfield has
given us in his "Introduction" a masterly resume of the
subject. I think that every student of Omar reads into this
poet's quatrains his own pet philosophy, and interprets him
according to his own religious views. For me, Omar was
at once a transcendental agnostic and an ornamental pes-
simist, not always supported (as was natural, considering the
1. \V. G. Palgrave in Frascr's Magazine, April, 1871, "Arabiana." The
curious are referred to " "Umar ibn Abi Rebi'a, ein arabischer Dichter der
Umajjadenzeit." by P. Schwarz. Leipzig, iSgo. This Omar was born in the
year a.u. 644.
Introduction vii
era of religious hysteria in which he lived) by the courage
of his own opinions — in which respect, I think, Shahrastani
appreciated his peculiar attitude — but profoundly imbued
with the possible beauty of the present world, apart from
all ulterior speculations, and the everlasting and unendable
search after the absolute knowledge of truth.^ This trait in his
individuality led him often into amazing obscurity of metaphor,
an obscurity, however, that a modern translator resents the
less when he reflects that it was in most instances the object
and intention of the poet. His attitude reminds us, as a
writer in Frasefs Magazine for June, 1870, has observed, of
the saying of the French philosopher, Royer-Collard, to the
effect that philosophy is the art of tracing back human ignorance
to its fountain-head.^
A point which strikes one more forcibly than any other
c|,fter studying many hundreds of quatrains composed by, or
attributed to, him, is, that though the sensuous imagery
inseparable from Persian belles-lettres is abundantly present
in his work, it is singularly free from that coarseness — that
wealth of ignoble illustration and licentious anecdote which
render practically all Persian poems and romances unsuitable for
ears polite in an unexpurgated form. " We find in his verses,"
says Professor Cowell, "a totally different character to that
which we should naturally have expected from the prevailing
habit of thought in which he lived. . . . Every other poet of
Persia has written too much — even her noblest sons of genius
weary with their prolixity. The language has a fatal facility
of rhyme, which makes it easier to write in verse than in
prose, and every author heaps volumes on volumes, until he
buries himself and his reader beneath their weight. Our
mathematician is the one solitary exception. He has left
1. Mr. W. L. Phelps, in an able article in The New Englmuiev
(New Haven, Conn.), vol. xlix., 1888, draws a scholarly parallel between Omar
and Schopenhauer.
2. Vide "Academie de Paris. Faculte des Lettres. Cours de I'Histoire
de la Philosophic Moderne. Premiere le9on de la troisieme annee." P. P.
Royer-Collard.
viii Introduction
fewer lines than Gray." Were it not that one instinctively
recoils from instituting even a passing comparison between
Omar and the late Mr. Tupper, one would be inclined to write
him down the Sultan of proverbial philosophers, an attribute
which is generally enhanced by the want of sequence of idea in-
separable from the diwan form of poetic arrangement, in which
the quatrains follow one another strictly according to the alpha-
betical sequence of their rhyme-endings and without regard
to the series of thoughts expressed, or to the pictures evolved.
A primary difficulty which confronts the student of Omar
Khayyam is the great difficulty and doubt which exists as to
which of the ruba'iyat have reached us in a form most nearly
approaching that in which they left the master's hand.
Diligent search in the older cities of Central Asia, where
Persian is the language, or at least the elegant study of the
more cultured classes, may bring to light some MS. that may
fairly be regarded as a " Codex," and! serve as the point of
departure for the student. At present the oldest MS. available
for the student is that of the year a.h. 865 (a.d. 1460), in the
Bodleian Library at Oxford, which is reproduced by photo-
graphy, transcribed, and translated in the present volume. It
was discovered among an uncatalogued mass of Oriental MSS.,
forming the Ouseley collection in 1856 by Professor Cowell, who
made a transcript of it, which transcript lies before me, and has
been of the greatest assistance to me in deciphering the MS.
The original MS. is probably one of the most beautiful
Persian MSS. of its age^ in existence, and is written upon
thick yellow paper in purple-black ink, profusely powdered
with gold. These gold spots have frequently confused the
workman who made the line-blocks which accompany my
translation, a further element of difficulty being introduced
by the fact that the points are often merged into the borders,
and therefore invisible in the line-blocks. My publishers,
however, have with great liberality had executed for me, in
I. It is wriiten, according to the Catalogue, in Nasta'lik ; but I should be
inclined to describe it as written in a hand midway between Nasta'lik and
Introduction ix
addition, a set of half-tone blocks, which the student will fully
appreciate, as in them all the faint indications of the original
are reproduced with exact fidelity. The permanence of the
ink is extraordinary, the only places where it has faded being
here and there on the borders, and in the formal heading
dJUiajlj (" and likewise to him") which appears above each
quatrain. Internal evidence seems to point to the fact that the
borders and headings were added afterwards in a different
ink, which would account for this. The scribe has been
exceptionally careful in his work, even for a Persian (than
which praise could hardly go higher ^), but, even [so, the
diacritical points are omitted here and there ; these I have
supplied in the transcript."
Next in order of age among the MSS. come those in the
Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris, which I have made a point of
carefully examining before committing these sheets to the
press. There are three principal MSS., one, No. 349 of the
" Ancien Fonds," and two, Nos. 823 and 826 of the Supple-
Shikasta — Nim-Shikasta. There are three predominant classes or types of hand-
writing under which it is customary to class oriental MSS. : Naskh, Nasta'lik,
and Shikasta. Naskh is the equivalent of perfect modern printed characters,
Nasta'lik is small and cursive, but beautifully fine in execution, answering to our
"copper-plate" writing, whilst Shikasta {i.e. "broken") is the current hand in
which ordinary commercial writing and correspondence is carried on. A far-
reaching knowledge of the language and all its idioms and inflections is required
to decipher it. The three types are excellently illustrated in Sir William Jones's
Grammar.
1. In no country has the art of caligraphy been carried to so high a point,
and been so highly honoured as in Persia. Their MSS. are ornamented with
marvellous miniatures, the paper is powdered with silver and gold, and fre-
quently perfumed with the most costly essences. (Cf. Fitzgerald's " youth's
sweet-scented manuscript.") Sir William Jones recorded his opinion that the
MS. of Yusuf and Zuleika at Oxford (No. i of the Greaves' collection) is the
most beautiful MS. in the world. Since he wrote, however, many MSS. of
equally marvellous beauty have come to light, and copies of the Qur'an are to be
found in eastern mosques of surpassing workmanship. The learned Fakr-ud-din
Rasi, speaking of the Khalif Mustassim Billah, can find no higher eulogy than
" He knew the Qur'an by heart, and his handwriting was very beautiful." Some
of the finest specimens of Persian MSS. in existence are to be found in the
library of the Asiatic Society in London, and in the British Museum, where
some chosen specimens are generally on view in the King's Library.
2. As for instance in qq. 20, 50, 99, 112, 130, and elsewhere.
X Introduction
ment Persan. The first, which is dated a.h. 920 (a.d. 1514),
is beautifully written in Nasta'lik between blue and gold lines
and an ornamental heading in red, blue, and gold. It contains
213 ruba'iyat. The second MS. forms part of a large collection ot
poems transcribed by the same hand, the terminal leaf of which
bears the following inscription : " The copying of these quatrains
was finished by the aid of God and by the excellence of his
assistance, the fifteenth day of the month of Jumada, the
second of the year 934 " {i.e., i6th February, 1528).
This MS. is written in Nasta'lik between blue ruled borders,
and presents, like the first cited MS., the peculiarity that the
ruba'ij'at are not in alphabetical or dlwan order. The third
MS. also forms part of a collection of poems, dated a.h. 937
(a.d. 1530), written in a neat Nasta'lik, in a Turkish hand
which is extremely difficult to read. Another MS. in this
library has been cited, but Mons. Omont, the keeper of the
Oriental MSS., informs me that it has been missing for many
years. In addition, there are eight ruba'iyat written in a
handwriting of the late ninth or early tenth century, a.h., upon
the blank leaves of a dlwan of Emad which is dated a.h. 920 ;
six in an eleventh-century handwriting in a collection of poems,
undated; and thirty-one in a fine MS. of the Atash Kadah of
Azr dated a.h. 1217 (a.d. 1802), in the colophon of which Azr
is described as afsah dl niu'dsirtn, "the most eloquent of con-
temporaries," indicating that he was then alive. It will be
observed, therefore, that the Bodleian MS. is not only the
earliest MS. known, but is one of the very few which are complete
in themselves, and do not form part of collections in bdyaz or
commonplace books. There are a considerable number of
later MSS. in various public libraries, in which the number
of the quatrains is swelled by the addition of a vast number
which are for the most part either variants of those in the
earlier MSS., or frank repetitions of one another,^ until
we arrive at the comparatively modern Cambridge MS.,
in which the ruba'iyat reach the alarming total of 801.
I. I have found quatrains repeated even in the Paris MS. of a.h. 934
(e.g.. qq. 154 and 172).
Introduction xi
Of these the most valuable and interesting is, I think,
the MS. No. 1548 in the Bengal Asiatic Society's Library
at Calcutta, and it is especially interesting to English students
as having been the principal other authority consulted by
Professor Cowell when writing his article in the Calcutta
Review, and used by Edward FitzGerald in the construction
of his poem. Professor Cowell has kindly placed his copy of
this MS. at my disposal for the purposes of this work. (Vide
Terminal Essay, p. 296.) At the moment that the first
edition was leaving the press, I received through the courtesy
and pains of Mr. A. S. Pringle, Director of Indian Records in
the Home Department at Calcutta, a copy of a very impor-
tant MS. once the property of one Maulavi Khuda Baksh
Khan Bahadur, by whom it had been presented to the public
library at Bankipur. It forms (as usual) part of a collection
of literary extracts, written by two Indian scribes in the year
g6i A.H. It contains 604 ruba'iyat, of which 81 are not to
be found in any of the MSS. and other collections noted in
my Bibliographical References (p. 115). It will be observed
therefore that, for its age, this is the largest collection that
has hitherto been found, and, on account of the large number
of ruba'iyat not found elsewhere, one of the most important.
It will also be remarked by the student that, as a general rule,
the readings of this MS. are identical with those of the
Bodleian MS., even when all other texts are at variance with
it, and that the meaning is more clear in this MS. than in
any other under consideration. There are over 40 ruba'iyat
in the Bodleian MS. that are not in this MS., so that these
two alone give us nearly 650 ruba'iyat, of a date not later
than 1553 A.D.
Scarcely less important than the MSS. are the litho-
graphed editions of Teheran, Calcutta, Lucknow, Bombay,
and Tabriz, from the first of which Mons. Nicolas made
his printed text,^ and from the last of which Professor
I. It would ill-beseem me to criticise adversely so valuable and in many
respects scholarly a work as that of Mons. Nicolas, but it must be admitted that
the accuracy of his translation, in many places, leaves much to be desired.
Where the meaning is more than ordinarily obscure, he generally shirks the
xii Introduction
Schuchovsky, of St. Petersburg, made his lithographed
edition.^ These will be found duly noted in the Biblio-
graphical References (p. 115), and in the Bibliography
(p. 281). For the European student the text and translation
of Mons. Nicolas is probably the best, though as a text
alone, that of Mr. Whinfield, issued by Messrs. Triibner in
1883, is unsurpassed. This text Mr. Whinfield framed from
a comparison of the Bodleian, the Calcutta, and the two
India Office MSS., the Calcutta and Lucknow lithographs,
and the printed editions of MM. Blochmann and Nicolas.
It may seem churlish to look so valuable a text in the foot-
notes (so to speak), but regard being had to the very great
diversities existing in the various texts, it is a great pity
that Mr. Whinfield did not pursue a system of numbering
the quatrains in his authorities, and so save the conscientious
student a world of troublesome labour." A very interesting
collection of quatrains attributed to Omar is included in that
pantheon of Persian poetry, the Atash Kadah of Hajji Lutf
Ali Beg of Isfahan, known as Azr, a collection numbering
thirty-one quatrains, of which ten are represented in the
translation and merely gives the intention of the original, and the assistance that
Mr. McCarthy would seem, from internal evidence, to have derived from Mons.
Nicolas's translation, has caused the same observation to be applicable to his prose
rendering. Mons. Nicolas was essentially a Sufi, and dragged in Sufistic interpre-
tations wherever he could, attributing a mystic or divine interpretation to Omar's
most obviously materialistic passages, by way of apology for the " sensualite
quelquefois revoltante," which has passed into a proverb among students of Omar.
Edward FitzGerald dealt at length with this amiable weakness (if one may so call
it) in the preface to his second and subsequent editions. The reader is referred
to Nicolas's note 5 on p. 105, note 5 on p. 143, note i on p. 170, note 4 on p. 171,
and note 2 on p. 183 of his translation, to quote only five out of a great number of
such notes. The two last refer to qq. 128 and 137 of the Bodleian quatrains.
2. It must be borne in mind that in the MSS. and lithographs the
ruba'iyat are never numbered, and when in the course of this volume I refer to
them by numbers, it must be understood that I am referring to numbers I have
myself affixed in my copies to simplify the work of reference. Thus, therefore,
if Mr. Whinfield had numbered his Lucknow lithograph (for instance) his
numbers would differ from mine, as I have used a later edition, containing more
ruba'iyat than his.
Introduction xiii
Bodleian MS.^ and twenty-one are of different, and probably
later, origin.^ The Paris MS. of this work has already been
referred to. Azr was not born until a.d. 1722, and his
"new" quatrains are as a whole very inferior to those in
this MS. Everything, therefore, seems to point to the fact
that the quatrains have been multiplied in every succeeding
MS. by unscrupulous scribes, who boldly repeated quatrains,
with or without slight variations, in view of the fact that they
were probably paid "by the piece"; by religious objectors, who
either altered quatrains to suit their own views, or added new
ones to answer quatrains to which they especially objected ;
and by editors who have sought to give their work the im-
portance of mere bulk.
Thus Mr. Whinfield's copy of the Lucknow lithograph,
printed in 1868, contains 716 quatrains, the edition of 1878 con-
tains 763, and my own copy, a re-issue lithographed in 1894,
contains 770. Mrs. Jessie E. Cadell, who made the quatrains
of Omar Khayyam a principal study of her regrettably short
life, and published the results of her labours in Eraser's
Magazine (May, 1879), collated all the authorities to be found
in public libraries in Europe, and found over twelve hundred
distinct quatrains attributed to him. I have attempted a
catalogue of authorities available to the student in the Biblio-
graphical Appendix. Passons outre.
A history of this poem in its most widely accepted
European dress must necessarily partake largely of the nature
of a Bibliographical Essay, which would take us beyond
the purpose of an Introduction. A few words on the subject
are, however, permissible in this place. The first Persian
scholar to introduce Omar Khayyam to European readers was
1. These are Nos. g, 47, 77, 62, i, 103, 102, 109, 136, and 155. For fear
of overburdening my work with variant readings I have not compared these with
the Bodleian MS. quatrains in the following pages.
2. The editions of i860 and 1881, Hthographed by Fath-al-Kirim, at
Bombay, contain 42 quatrains, of which 13 are represented in the Bodleian MS.
The extra 11 quatrains are evidently recently added to the collection.
xiv Introduction
Dr. Thomas Hyde, Regius Professor of Hebrew and Arabic at
Oxford, who, in his " Veterum Persarum et Parthorum, et
Medorum religionis historia" (Oxford, 1700, 2nd edition, 1760),
recounts the story of the apparition of Omar, after his death,
to his mother, and his recital of the well-known quatrain to
her {vide post, note to q. i). The first to make an extended
study of the quatrains was Von Hammer-Purgstall, who, in
his " Geschichte der schonen Redekiinste Persiens " (Vienna,
1818), gave verse-translations of twenty-five quatrains, but
does not state from what MS. he translated. Friedrich
Riickert, who died in 1866, included two quatrains in his
" Grammatik, Poetik und Rhetorik der Perser " (published at
Gotha in 1874), ^^^ ^i^ Gore Ouseley, gave the same number
in his " Biographical Notices of Persian Poets " (London,
1846), one of which was q. 8g, post. Save for the pamphlet
in which Garcin de Tassy, in 1857, forestalled FitzGerald, from
materials derived from him, this brings us to the time when
Omar was taken in hand by Professor Cowell and Edward
FitzGerald.
It will not, I think, be uninteresting to gather from the
letters written by Edward FitzGerald to his friends, and
recently published by Messrs. Macmillan,^ his own account of
the Persian studies that culminated in the production of
the poem by which, it may fairly be said, the Ruba'iyat of
Omar Khayyam became known to European readers.'-^ In
1845 it is clear that he had no leaning towards oriental sub-
jects ; indeed, in a letter to Frederick Tenn5'son (6th February,
1845) he says :
1. " Letters of Edward FitzGerald " (edited by W. Aldis Wright). London
(Macmillan). 1894 2 vols. Extracted from L. R.
2. I wish, in this place, to record my sincere thanks to Mr. Aldis
Wright and Messrs. Macmillan for their permission, readily granted me, to
reprint the following voluminous extracts from their publication. Their edition
of FitzGerald's works, referred to throughout this work as " L. R.," is indispensable
to the student of the poem, for all FitzGerald's work was more or less tinged
by his studies of Omar Khayyam.
Introduction
XV
Eliot Warburton has written an Oriental book.^ Ye Gods !
In Shakespeare's day the nuisance was the Monsieur Travellers
who had " swum in a gundello," but now the bores are those who
have smoked Tschibouques with a Pcshcnv !
Early in 1846, however, we find him writing to his friend
E. B. Cowell (now Professor of Sanskrit at the University of
Cambridge) :
Your Hafiz is fine; 2 and his tavern world is a sad and just
idea. ... It would be a good work to give us some of the good
things of Hafiz and the Persians; of bulbuls and ghuls we have
had enough.
Two years later he writes to Cowell (25th January, 1848) :
Ten years ago I might have been vext to see you striding
along in Sanskrit and Persian so fast; reading so much; remem-
bering all; writing about it so well. But now I am glad to see
any man do anything well, and I know that it is my vocation to
stand and wait and know within myself whether it is well done.
, In answer to some queries about FitzGerald's early Persian
studies, Professor Cowell writes me as follows (21st October,
1896) :
Edward FitzGerald began to read Persian with me in 1853 ; he
read Jones's Grammar,^ which exactly suited him, as its examples of
the values are always beautiful lines of poetry from Hafiz, Sadi, &c.
FitzGerald himself records the matter in his Letters, thus,
to Cowell (25th October, 1853) :
I have ordered Eastwick's Gulistan;* for I believe I shall
potter out so much Persian. The weak Apologue goes on,^ for I
have not had time for much here,^ and I find it difficult enough
even with Jones's Translation.
1. " The Crescent and the Cross, or Romance and Realities of Eastern
Travel." London, 1S45, 2 vols. lamo.
2. This refers to certain translations of selected Odes of Hafiz, by
Cowell, which he sent to FitzGerald to read. They were subsequently incor-
porated by him in an article upon Hafiz, and published anonymously in
Fraser's Magazine for September, 1854.
3. "A Grammar of the Persian Language," by Sir William Jones. London,
1771. 7th edition, London, 1809.
4. An early edition of the translation cited in the Bibliographical Re-
ferences (p. 115).
5. "The Gardener and the Nightingale " in Sir William Jones's Persian
Grammar.
6. Richmond, Surrey.
xvi Introduction
Later (27th December, 1853) he writes to F. Tennyson :
I also amuse myself with poking out some Persian which
E. Cowell would inaugurate me with ; I go on with it because it is
a point in common with him and enables us to study a little together.
After mastering the rudiments, FitzGerald first addressed
himself seriously to Jaml's poem of Salaman and Absal ;
Professor Cowell tells me {lac. cit.) :
I read J ami's Salaman and Absal with him at Oxford in
1854 and '55, which he translated and published in 1856. J. W.
Parker and Son were the pubhshers.^ The Life of J ami appeared
in that volume.
Accordingly, we find FitzGerald writing to Cowell in 1855,
in reply to a letter concerning Hafiz:
Any such translation of such a writer as Hafiz by you into
pure, sweet and partially measured prose ^ must be better than
what I am doing for J ami, whose ingenuous prattle I am stilting
into too Miltonic verse. This I am very sure of. But it is done.
In the earliest days of 1856 the translation of Salaman
and Absal was for practical purposes complete, and FitzGerald
\vrites to Cowell :
I send you a sketch of Jami's Life, which cut, correct and
annotate as you like. Where there was so little to tell, I have
brought in all the fine names and extra bits I could to give it a
little sparkle. There is very little after all ; I have spread it over
paper to give you room to note upon it. Only take care not to
lose either these or yesterday's papers, for my terror at going over
the ground.
You must put in the corrected Notice about the Sultan
Hussein, both in the Memoir and in the Note to the Poem. The
latter will have room for at least four (I think five) lines of note
type, which you must fill, and not overflow: "Strong without
rage," etc.
I feel guilty at taking up your time and thoughts, and also at
dressing myself so in your plumes. But I mean to say a word about
this, (/jwi-ui'Ttt o-i'vcToicrtv', in my Preliminary Notice ; and would
gladly dedicate the little book to you by name, with due acknow-
ledgment, did I think the world would take it for a compliment to
you. But though I like the version, and you like it, we know very
1. " Salaman and Absal, an Allegory." Translated from the Persian of
Jaml. London, 1856. A reprint of this edition was made in 1871 by Cowell
and Sons, of Ipswich. The original was printed by Messrs. Childs, of Bungay.
2. This evidently refers to the article upon Hafiz cited in note 2, p. xv.
Introduction xvii
well the world — even the very little world, I mean, who will see it —
may not ; and might laugh at us both for any such compliment.
They cannot laugh at your scholarship ; but they might laugh at
the use I put it to, and at my dedicating a cobweb (as Carlyle
called Maud the other night) to you.
FitzGerald was evidently desirous of seeing his first
oriental translation in print, for a few days later (loth
February, 1856) he writes further to Cowell, as follows :
I sent you a string of questions about Salamiln last week, all
of which I did not want you to answer at once, but wishing at
least to hear if you had leisure and inclination to meddle with
them. There is no reason in the world you should, unless you
really have time and liking. If you have, I will send you the
proofs of the little book which Mr. Childs is even now putting in
hand. Pray let me know as soon as you can what, and how
much, of this will be agreeable to you.
You don't tell me how Hilfiz gets on. There is one thing
which I think I find in Salamiin which may be worth your con-
sideration (not needing much) in Hafiz : namely, in Translation to
retain the original Persian names as much as possible — " Shah "
for " King," for instance, " Yusuf and Suleyman" for " Joseph and
Solomon," etc. The Persian is not only more musical, but removes
such words and names further from Europe and European preju-
dices and associations. So also I think best to talk of " a moon "
rather than "a month," and perhaps "sennight" is better than
" week."
This is a little matter, but it is well to rub off as little Oriental
colour as possible.
As to a notice of Jaml's Life, you need not trouble j'ourself to
draw it up unless you like, since I can make an extract of
Ouseley's,^ and send you for any addition or correction you like.
This is the notice of Jaml's life referred to by Professor
Cowell in his letter to me. It was immediately after the pub-
lication of the Salaman and Absal in 1856 that Mr. Cowell
was appointed Professor of History at the Presidency College
in Calcutta, whither he went in August, 1856. In a letter
written to him (22nd January, 1857) FitzGerald says :
I have read really little except Persian since you went ; and
yet, from want of eyes, not very much of that. I have gone care-
fully over two-thirds of Hafiz again with Dictionary and Von
1. Sir Gore Ouseley. "Bibliographical Notices of the Persian Poets."
London, 1846. P. 131, No. 9, " Jami."
C
xviii Introduction
Hammer;^ and gone on with JamI and Nizaml. But my great
performance all lies in the last five weeks since I have been alone
here; when I wrote to Napoleon Newton- to ask him to lend me
his MS. of Attar's Mantic ut tair; and, with the help of Garcia de
Tassy, have nearly made out about two-thirds of it. For it has
greatly interested me, though I confess it is always an old story.
On the i2th March, 1857, FitzGerald writes to Cowell:
To-day I have been writing twenty pages of a metrical sketch
of the Mantic, for such uses as I told you of. It is an amusement
to me to take what liberties I like with these Persians, who (as I
think) are not poets enough to frighten one from such excursions,
and who really do want a little art to shape them. I don't speak
of Jelaleddin,'' whom I know so little of (enough to show me that
he is no great artist, however), nor of Hafiz, whose best is untrans-
latable, because he is the best musician of words. Old Johnson
said the poets were the best preservers of a language ; for people
must go to the original to relish them. I am sure that what
Tennyson said to you is true: that Hafiz is the most Eastern — or,
he should have said most Persian — of the Persians. He is the
best representative of their character, whether his Saki and Wine
be real or mystical. Their religion and philosophy is soon seen
through, and always seems to me cuckooed over like a borrowed
thing, which people, once having got, don't know how to parade
enough. To be sure their Roses and Nightingales are repeated
enough; but Hafiz and old Omar Khayyam ring like true metal
The philosophy of the latter is, alas ! one that never fails in the
world. " To-day is ours," etc.
While I think of it, why is the sea (in that Apologue of Attar
once quoted by Falconer) supposed to have lost God ? Did the
Persians agree with something I remember in Plato about the sea
and all in it being an inferior nature? in spite of Homer's " Divine
Ocean," etc.
This idea appears to have struck FitzGerald so much that
he introduced it into the 33rd stanza of his Omar. Professor
Cowell, writing on the subject to Mr. Aldis Wright, says :
1. Joseph von Hammer, " Der Diwan von Mohammed Schemsed-din
Hafis" . . . uLersetzt von J. von H. Stuttgart, 1812, 2 vols. lamo.
2. Vide note i, p. xxvi., post. The influence which this study of the
Mantik ut tair had upon Fitzgerald's paraphrase of the ruba'iyat will be seen
in the notes to the translation post.
3. More than one critic has called attention to the fact that so careful a
scholar as FitzGerald should have given this mistransliteration of the name of
Jalal-ud-din Ruml.
Introduction xix
I well remember showing it to Fitzgerald, and reading it with
him in his early Persian days at Oxford in 1855. I laughed at the
quaintness ; but the idea seized his imagination from the first, and
like Virgil with Ennius's rough jewels, his genius detected gold
where I had only seen tinsel. He has made two grand lines out of it.^
FitzGerald's correspondence with Garcin de Tassy would
appear to have commenced about this period, and on the
2gth March, 1857, he writes to Cowell, in a letter referring
to other oriental translations :
Well ; and I have had a note from Garcin de Tassy, whom I
had asked if he knew of any copy of Omar Khayyam in all the
Paris libraries; he writes: " I have made by means of a friend,"
etc. But I shall enclose his note to amuse you. Now what I mean
to do is, in return for his politeness to me, to copy out as well as
I can the Tetrastichs as you copied them for me, and send them
as a present to De Tassy. Perhaps he will edit them. I should not
wish him to do so if there were any chance of your ever doing it ;
but I don't think you will help on the old Pantheist, and De Tassy
really, after what he is doing for the Mantic, deserves to make the
acquaintance of this remarkable little fellow. Indeed, I think
you will be pleased that I should do this. Now for some more
iEschylus.
Friday, April ijth. — I have been for the last five days with my
brother at Twickenham ; during which time I really copied out
Omar Khayyam, in a way ! and shall to-day post it as a "cadeau"
to Garcin de Tassy in return for his courtesy to me. I am afraid
a bad return; for my MS. is but badly written, and it would
perhaps more plague than profit an English "savant" to have
such a present made him. But a Frenchman gets over all this
very lightly. Garcin de Tassy tells me he has printed four
thousand lines of the Mantic.
And in a letter enclosed in this one for Mrs. Cowell,
he says :
You may give him {i.e. E. B. C.) the enclosed instead of a
former letter from the same G. de T. For is it not odd he should
not have time to read a dozen of those 150 tetrastichs ? I pointed
out such a dozen to him of the best, and told him if he liked them,
I would try and get the rest better written for him than I could
write. I had also told him that the whole thing came from
E. B C, and I now write to tell him I have no sort of intention of
I. The first two lines of F. v. 33.
XX Introduction
writing a paper in the Journal Asiaticjite,^ nor I suppose E. B. C.
neither ; G. de Tassy is very civil to me, however.
Wednesday, April 22nd. — Now this morning comes a second
letter from Garcin de Tassy, saying that his first note about Omar
Khayyam was "in haste," that lie had read some of the tetrastichs,
which he finds not very difficult — some difficulties which are pro-
bably errors of the " copist " ; and he proposes his writing an
article in the Journal Asiatique on it, in which he will "honourably
mention" E. B. C. and E. F. G. I now write to deprecate all
this, putting it on the ground (and a fair one) that we do not
yet know enough of the matter ; that I do not wish E. B. C. to be
made answerable for errors which E. F. G. (the " copist ") may
have made ; and that E. F. G. neither merits nor desires any
honourable mention as a Persian scholar, being none.'*
In the following month (7th May, 1857) he writes to
Cowell :
To-day I have a note from the great De Tassy, which an-
nounces: " My dear Sir, — Definitively I have written a little paper
upon Omar, with some quotations taken here and there at random,
avoiding only the too badly-sounding Rubaiyat. I have read that
paper before the Persian Ambassador and suite, at a meeting of
the Oriental Society, of which I am Vice-President, the Due de
Doudeauville being President. The Ambassador has been much
pleased with my quotations." So you see I have done the part of an
ill subject in helping France to ingratiate herself with Persia when
England might have had the start. I suppose it probable Ferukh
Khan himself had never read or perhaps heard of Omar. I think
I told you in my last that I had desired De Tassy to say nothing
about you in any paper he should write ; since I cannot have you
answerable for any blunders I may have made in my copy, nor
may you care to be named with Omar at all. I hope the French-
man will attend to my desire ; and I dare say he will, as he will
then have all credit to himself. He says he cannot make out the
metre of the Rubaiyat at all, never could, though " I am enough
skilful in scanning the Persian verses, as you have seen" (Qy.) "in
my Prosody of the Languages of Mussulman Countries," etc. So
much for De Tassy.
And in a continuation of the above letter, dated June 5th,
FitzGerald says :
1. The Journal of the (London) Asiatic Society is here referred to; not
the Journal Asiatique of the Paris Society, in which De Tassy 's " Note" was subse-
quently published. Vide the Bibliographical References (p. 115).
2. Accordingly, in G. de Tassy's pamphlet and article [vide Bibliography)
there is no mention of E. B. C. or E. F. G., the discovery of the Ruba'iyat in the
Bodleian appearing to be De Tassy's own.
Introduction xxi
When in Bedfordshire, I put away almost all books, except
Omar Khayyam, which I could not help looking over in a paddock
covered with buttercups and brushed by a delicious breeze, while
a dainty racing filly of W. Browne's came startling up to wonder
and sniff about me. "Tempus est quo Orientis, Aura mundus
renovatur. Quo de fonte pluviali, dulcis Imber reseratur; Musi-
mantis undecumque ramos insuper splendescit, Jesu-spiritusque
salutaris terram pervagatur,"^ which is to be read as Monkish
Latin, like "Dies Irae," etc., retaining the Italian value of the
vowels, not the classical. You will think me a perfectly Aristo-
phanic old man when I tell you how many of Omar I could not
help running into such bad Latin. ^ I should not confide such
follies but to you, who won't think them so, and who will be pleased
at least with my still harping on our old studies. You would be
sorry, too, to think that Omar breathes a sort of consolation to me 1
Poor fellow; I think of him and Oliver Basselin^ and Anacreon;
lighter shadows among the shades, perhaps, over which Lucretius
presides so grimly.
Thursday, June nth. — Your letter of April is come to hand, very
welcome; and I am expecting the MS. Omar, which I have written
about to London.* And now with respect to your proposed Fraser
' Paper on Omar. You see, a few lines back, I talk of some lazy
Latin versions of his Tetrastichs, giving one clumsy example. Now
I shall rub up a few more of those I have sketched in the same
manner, in order to see if you approve.
The letter breaks off abruptly at this point, but is con-
tinued on the 23rd of June :
June 2yrd. — I begin another letter because I am looking into
the Omar MS. you have sent me, and shall perhaps make some
notes and enquiries as I go on. I had not intended to do so till I
had looked all over and tried to make out what I could of it ; since
it is both pleasant to oneself to find out for oneself if possible, and
1. Vide Ruba'i No. 13, post.
2. Mr. Herbert W. Greene, of Magdalen College, Oxford, has completed
this task, and turned FitzGerald's Omar into a most elegant and charming
volume of elegiacs, privately printed for him. — Vide the Bibliography (No. 94).
3. An apt illustration of the extent and breadth of FitzGerald's reading.
Many of Omar's quatrains must have reminded him of Olivier Basselin's line
(Vaux de Vire, xvii.), " Les morts ne boivent plus dedans la sepulture." I am
surprised that the analogy between Omar and Herrick never seems to have
struck FitzGerald. Compare with this, for instance, Herrick's " Anacreontike "
(Hesperides) :
Born I was to be old. But before that day comes.
And for to die here : Still I be Bousing ;
After that, in the mould For I know, in the Tombs
Long for to lye here. There's no Carousing.
Several such analogies are cited in the notes to the quatrains.
4. The copy of the MS. in the Bengal Asiatic Society's Library at Calcutta
to which I have referred above.
xxiv Introduction
Hamlet in representing him to j'our audience, for fear of mischief.
Now I do not wish to show Hamlet at his maddest ; but mad he
must be shown, or he is no Hamlet at all. G. de Tassy eluded all
that was dangerous, and all that was characteristic. I think these
free opinions are less dangerous in an old Mahometan or an old
Roman (like Lucretius) than when they are returned to by those
who have lived on happier food. I don't know what you will say
to all this. However, I dare say it won't matter whether I do the
paper or not, for I don't believe they'll put it in.^ . . .
I must, however, while I think of it, again notice to you about
those first Introductory Quatrains to Omar in both the copies you
have seen, taken out of their alphabetical place, if they be Omar's
own, evidently by way of putting a good leg foremost — or perhaps
not his at all. So that which Sprenger says begins the Oude MS.
is, manifestly, not any Apology of Omar's own, but a Denunciation
of him by someone else ; and is a sort of parody (in form at least)
of Omar's own quatrain 445,2 with its indignant reply by the Sultan.^
In January he sent the manuscript to his pubHsher, and
later again to Parker, and on the 3rd September, 1858, he says
to Covvell :
I have not turned to Persian since the spring, but shall one
day look back to it, and renew my attack on the "Seven Castles,"
if that be the name.* I found the Jami MS. at Rushmere; and
there left it for the present, as the other poem will be enough for
me for my first onslaught. I beUeve I will do a little a day, so as
not to lose what little knowledge I had. As to my Omar, I gave
it to Parker in January, I think; he saying Fraser was agreeable
to take it. Since then I have heard no more; so as, I suppose,
they don't care about it; and may be quite right. Had I thought
that they would be so long, however, I would have copied it out
and sent it to you ; and I will still do so from a rough and imperfect
copy I have (though not now at hand), in case they show no signs
of printing me. My translation will interest you from its form, and
also in many respects in its detail, very unliteral as it is. Many
quatrains are mashed together and something lost, I doubt, of
Omar's simplicity, which is so much a virtue in him.^ But there
1. This anticipation, as will presently be seen, was realised.
2. In the Calcutta MS.
3. These are the two quatrains Nos. 316 and 317 of Nicolas's text.
4. The seven castles of Bahram Giir alluded to by FitzGerald in his note
upon that hero. They were made the subject of a well-known poetical romance,
the Haft Paikar of Nizami, which is the work alluded to in the above letter.
5. Professor Cowell, writmg to me under date 31st December, 1896, says :
" You will be able to decide whether his first translation was made from the
Oxford MS. only, by seeing whether that will account for all the tetrastichs.
He altered and added, but he never, I fancy, invented an entire tetrastich of
his own."
Introduction xxv
it is, such as it is. I purposely said in the very short notice I
prefixed to the poem that it was so short because better infor-
mation might be furnished in another paper which I thought you
would undertake. So it rests.
And on the 2nd November he writes again to Cowell :
As to Omar, I hear and see nothing of it in Eraser yet ; and
so I suppose they don't want it. I told Parker he might find it
rather dangerous among his Divines; he took it, however, and
keeps it. I really think I shall take it back; add some stanzas,
which I kept out for fear of being too strong; print fifty copies
and give away ; one to you, who won't like it neither. Yet it is
most ingeniously tesselated into a sort of Epicurean eclogue in
a Persian garden.
On the 13th January, 1859, he writes to Cowell :
I am almost ashamed to write to you, so much have I forsaken
, Persian, and even all good books of late. There is no one now to
"prick the sides of my intent"; vaulting ambition having long
failed to do so ! I took my Omar from Fraser [? Parker] , as I saw
he didn't care for it ; and also I want to enlarge it to near as much
again of such matter as he would not dare to put in Fraser. If I
print it, I shall do the impudence of quoting your account of
Omar, and your apology for his freethinking ; it is not wholly my
apology, but you introduced him to me, and your excuse extends
to that which you have not ventured to quote, and I do. I like
your apology extremely also, allowing its point of view. I doubt
you will repent of ever having showed me the book. I should hke
well to have the Uthograph copy of Omar which you tell of in
your note.i My translation has its merit, but it misses a main one
in Omar, which I will leave you to find out. The Latin versions,
if they were corrected into decent Latin, would be very much
better. ... I have forgotten to write out for you a little quatrain
which Binning found written in Persepolis ; the Persian tourists
having the same propensity as English to write their names and
sentiments on their national monuments. This is the quatrain :
The palace that to Heav'n his pillars threw.
And kings the forehead on his threshold drew—
I saw the solitary ring-dove there.
And " Coo, coo, coo," she cried, and "Coo, coo, coo.""
And on the 27th of April, having printed his Quatrains,'
he wrote to Cowell :
1. The Calcutta edition of 1836.
2. Vide Robert B. M. Binning. " A Journal of Two Years' Travel in
Persia, Ceylon, etc." London, 1857. vol. ii.. p. 20.
3. The copy in the Library of the British Museum was received there
on the 30th March, 1S59.
xxvi Introduction
I sent you poor old Omar, who has his kind of consolation for
all these things. I doubt you will regret you ever introduced him
to me. And yet you would have me print the original, with many
worse things than I have translated. The Bird Epic might be
finished at once;i but ciii bono? No one cares for such things,
and there are doubtless so many better things to care about. I
hardly know why I print any of these things, which nobody buys ;
and I scarce now see the few I give them to. But when one has
done one's best, and is sure that that best is better than so many
will take pains to do, though far from the best that might be done,
one likes to make an end of the matter by print. I suppose very
few people have ever taken such pains in translation as I have,
though certainly not to be literal. But at all cost, a thing must
live, with a transfusion of one's own worse life if one can't retain the
originals better. Better a live sparrow than a stuffed eagle. I shall
be very well pleased to see the new MS. of Omar.
He evidently did not look upon this as the last word
to be said on the subject of Omar, for on the 7th December,
1861, we find him writing to Cowell :
I shall look directly for the passages in Omar and Hafiz which
you refer to and clear up, though I scarce ever see the Persian
character now. I suppose you would think it a dangerous thing
to edit Omar ; else, who so proper ? Nay, are you not the only
man to do it ? And he certainly is worth good re-editing. I
thought him from the first the most remarkable of the Persian
poets, and you keep finding out in him evidences of logical fancy
I. This was never printed in FitzGerald's lifetime. It occupies pp. 433-
4S2 of vol. ii. of the " Letters and Literary Remains." The following note by
Professor Cowell is prefixed to it : " FitzGerald was first interested in ' Attar's
Mantik-ut-tair ' by the extracts given in De Sacy's notes to his edition of that
poet's Pand-namah, and in 1S56 he began to read the original in a MS. lent to
him by Mr. Newton of Hertford. In 1857, Garcin de Tassy published his edition
of the Persian text, of which he had previously given an analysis in his ' La
Poesie philosophique et religieuse chez les Persans ' ; and FitzGerald at once
threw himself into the study of it with all his characteristic enthusiasm.
De Tassy subsequently published, in 1863, ^ French prose translation
of the poem ; but the previous analysis was, I believe, FitzGerald's only
help in mastering the difficulties of the original. He often wrote to me in
India, describing the pleasure he found in his new discovery, and he used to
mention how the more striking apologues were gradually shaping themselves into
verse, as he thought them over in his lonely walks. At last, in 1862, he sent me
the following translation, intending at first to offer it for publication in the
Journal of the Bengal Asiatic Society, but he soon felt that it was too free a
version for the pages of a scientific journal. He then talked of publishing it by
itself, but the project never assumed a definite shape, though I often urged him
to print the * Bird ParUament ' as a sequel to the ' Salaman." "
Introduction xxvii
which I had not dreamed of. I dare say these logical riddles are
not his best, but they are yet evidences of a strength of mind
which our Persian friends rarely exhibit, I thinlc. I always said
about Cowley, Donne, etc., whom Johnson calls the metaphysical
poets, that their very quibbles of fancy showed a power of logic
which could follow fancy through such remote analogies. This is
the case with Calderon's conceits also.^ I doubt I have given
but a very one-sided version of Omar; but what I do only comes
up as a bubble to the surface and breaks; whereas you, with
exact scholarship, might make a lasting impression of such an
author.
And writing to Prof. W. H. Thompson, who subsequently
became Master of Trinity, he says:
As to my own peccadilloes in verse, which never pretend to
be original, this is the story of Rubaiyat. I have translated them
partly for Cowell; young Parker asked me some years ago for
something for Fraser, and I gave him the less wicked of these
to use if he chose. He kept them for two years without using;
and as I saw he didn't want them I printed some copies with
Quaritch; and, keeping some for myself, gave him the rest.
Cowell, to whom I sent a copy, was naturally alarmed at it;
he being a very religious man ; nor have I given any other copy
but to George Borrow, to whom I had once lent the Persian,
and to old Donne when he was down here the other day, to
whom I was showing a passage in another book which brought
my old Omar up.
Omar drops out of his correspondence from this point
until the 28th December, 1867, when he writes to Cowell:
I don't think I told you about Garcin de Tassy. He sent
me (as no doubt he sent you) his annual Oration.- I wrote to
thank him ; and said I had been lately busy with another country-
man of his, Mons. Nicolas, with his Omar Khayyam. On which
De Tassy writes back by return of post to ask "Where I got
my copy of Nicolas? He had not been able to get one in all
Paris ! " So I wrote to Quaritch, who told me the book was to
be had of Maisonneuve, or any Oriental bookseller in Paris; but
I. FitzGerald's first translations from Calderon were published in 1853,
under the title " Six Dramas from Calderon." They were badly received by the
Press ; the Athememn, in particular, attacked the work so violently that he with-
drew them from circulation, and destroyed the whole edition. They are reprinted
in extenso in vol. ii. of the " Letters and Literary Remains."
2. As Professor of Oriental Languages in the Institut de France. There is
a Recueil Factice of these in the British Museum containing his annual orations
from 1853 to 1869.
xxviii Introduction
that probably the shopman did not understand when " Les
Rubaiyat d'Omar," etc., were asked for, that it meant *' Les
Quatrains," etc. This (which I doubt not is the solution of the
mystery) I wrote to Garcin, at the same time offering one of my
two copies. By return of post comes a frank acceptance of one
of the copies, and his own translation of Attar's Birds by way
of equivalent. ... At p. 256, Translation (v. 4620), I read,
" Lorsque Nizdm ul-Mulk fut a I'agonie, ildit: 'O mon Dieu! je
m'en vais entre les mains du vent.' " Here is our Omar in his
friend's mouth, is it not ? ^
In September, 1863, Mr. Ruskin addressed a letter to
" The Translator of the Rubaiyat of Omar," which he en-
trusted to Mrs. Burne Jones, who, after an interval of nearly
ten years, handed it to Charles Eliot Norton, Professor of
the History of Fine Art in Harvard University.^ By him
it was transmitted to Carlyle, who sent it to FitzGerald, with
the letter which follows, of which the signature alone is in
his own handwriting :
Chelsea, i^th April, 1873.
Dear FitzGerald, — Mr. Norton, the writer of that note, is
a distinguished American (co-Editor for a long time of the North
American Review), an extremely amiable, intelligent and worthy
man, with whom I had some pleasant walks, dialogues and other
communications of late months, in the course of which he brought
to my knowledge, for the first time, your notable Omar Khayyam,
and insisted on giving me a copy from the third edition, which I
now possess, and duly prize. From him, too, by careful cross-
questioning, I identified beyond dispute the hidden " FitzGerald,"
the translator ; and, indeed, found that his complete silence and
unique modesty in regard to said meritorious and successtui per-
formance was simply a feature of my own Edward F. I The
translation is excellent; the book itself a kind of a jewel in its way.
I do Norton's mission without the least delay, as you perceive.
Ruskin's message to you passes through my hands sealed. I am
ever your affectionate
T. Carlyle.
At the same time Carlyle wrote to Prof. Norton :
5 Cheyne Row, Chelsea,
i8th April, 1873.
Dear Norton, — It is possible FitzGerald may have written to
you ; but whether or not, I will send you his letter to myself, as a
1. Vide note 2 to Ruba'i No. 121, post.
2. Vide the Bibliography, No. 71.
Introduction xxix
slight emblem and memorial of the peaceable, affectionate, and
ultra-modest man, and his innocent far niente life, and the con-
nection (were there nothing more) of Omar, the Mahometan
Blackguard, and Oliver Cromwell, the English Puritan, dis-
charging you completely, at the same time, from ever returning
me this letter, or taking any notice of it, except a small silent one.
The following was enclosed :
ie,th April, 1873.
My dear Carlyle, — Thank you for enclosing Mr. Norton's
letter, and will you thank him for his enclosure of Mr. Ruskin's ?
It is lucky for both R. and me that you did not read his note ; a
sudden fit of fancy, I suppose, which he is subject to. But as it
was kindly meant on his part, I have written to thank him. Rather
late in the day, for his letter (which Mr. Norton thinks may have
lain a year or two in his friend's desk) is dated September, 1863. . . .
P.S. — Perhaps I had better write a word of thanks to
Mr. Norton myself, which I will do. I suppose he may be
found at the address he gives.
Accordingly, he wrote to Prof. Norton :
WooDBRiDGE, lytJi April, 1873.
Dear Sir, — Two days ago Mr. Carlyle sent me your note,
enclosing one from Mr. Ruskin "to the Translator of Omar
Khayyam." You will be a little surprised to hear that Mr.
Ruskin's note is dated September, 1863; all but ten years ago!
I dare say he has forgotten all about it long before this. How-
ever, I write him a note of thanks for the good, too good, messages
he sent me; better late than never; supposing that he will not be
startled, and bored by my acknowledgments of a forgotten favour
rather than gratified. It is really a funny little episode in the
ten years' dream. I had asked Carlyle to thank you also for
such trouble as you have taken in the matter. But as your
note to him carries your address, I think I may as well thank
you for myself. I am very glad to gather from your note that
Carlyle is well, and able to walk, as well as talk, with a congenial
companion. Indeed, he speaks of such agreeable conversation
with you in the message he appends to your letter. For which,
thanking you once more, allow me to write myself, yours sincerely,
Edward FitzGerald.
After this we hear nothing further of Omar from FitzGerald
until the ist March, 1882, when he writes to Mr. Schiitz
Wilson ^ the following letter :
I. Vide the Bibliography, No. 75.
XXX Introduction
ist March, 1882.
My dear Sir, — I must thank you sincerely for your thoughts
about Salaman, in which I recognise a good will towards the
Translator as well as liking for his work.
Of course, your praise could not but help that on ; but I scarce
think that it is of a kind to profit so far by any review as to make
it worth the expense of time and talent you might bestow upon it.
In Omar's case it was different ; he sang in an acceptable way, it
seems, of what all men feel in their hearts, but had not had
exprest in verse before. Jami tells of what everybody knows,
under cover of a not very skilful allegory. I have undoubtedly
improved the whole by boiling it down to about a quarter of its
original size, and there are many pretty things in it, though the
blank verse is too Miltonic for Oriental style.
All this considered, why did I ever meddle with it ? Why, it was
the first Persian poem I read, with my friend Edward Cowell, near
on forty years ago ; and I was so well pleased with it then (and now
think it almost the best of the Persian poems I have read or heard
about), that I published my version of it in 1856 (I think) with
Parker, of the Strand. When Parker disappeared, my unsold
copies, many more than of the sold, were returned to me ; some ot
which,ifnot all,I gave to little Quaritch, who, I believe, trumpeted
them off to some little profit, and I thought no more of them.^
But some six or seven years ago that Sheikh of mine, Edward
Cowell, who liked the version better than anyone else, wished it
to be reprinted. So I took it in hand, boiled it down to three-
fourths of what it originally was, and (as you see) clapt it on the
back of Omar, where I still believed it would hang somewhat of a
dead weight ; but that was Quaritch's look out, not mine. I have
never heard of any notice taken of it, but just now from you ; and
I believe that, say what you would, people would rather have the
old sinner alone. Therefore it is that I write all this to you. I
doubt not that any of your editors would accept an article from
you on the subject, but I believe also they would much prefer one
on many another subject ; and so probably with the pubUc whom
you write for.
Thus "liberavi animam meam" for your behoof, as I am
rightly bound to do in return for your goodwill to me.
As to the publication of my name, I believe I could well
dispense with it, were it other and better than it is. But I have
some unpleasant associations with it; not the least of them being
that it was borne. Christian and surname, by a man who left
college just when I went there. . . . What has become of him
I know not; but he, among other causes, has made me dislike
my name, and made me sign myself (half in fun, of course) to
my friends, as now I do to you, sincerely yours,
(The Laird of) Littlegrange,
where I date from.
I. It is strange that FitzGerald makes no allusion here to the reprint of
the first edition made by Cowell and Sons, of Ipswich, in 1S71.
Introduction xxxi
The FitzGerald referred to in this letter was Edward
Marlborough FitzGerald, who, I am informed, achieved some
notoriety in unenviable directions. To this correspondence
with Mr. Schiitz Wilson the year before his death he refers in
two of his letters to Fanny Kemble^ in the terms following:
February, 1882.
Mr. Schiitz Wilson, a litterateur en general, I believe, wrote
up Omar Khayyam some years ago, and I dare say somewhat
hastened another (and so far as I am concerned) final edition.
March, 1882.
Not content with having formerly appraised that Omar in
a way that, I dare say, advanced him to another edition, he
(S. W.) now writes me that he feels moved to write in favour
of another Persian who now accompanies Omar in his last
Avatar. I have told him plainly that he had better not employ
time and talent on what I do not think he will ever persuade
the public to care about, but he thinks he will. He may very
likelj' cool upon it ; but in the meanwhile such are his good
intentions, not only to the little poem, but, I believe, to myself
also — personally unknown as we are to one another.
Such is the history, as recorded by its author, of the
Poem which of late years has become in a manner the
gospel of a cult.
So many eminent scholars, poets and essayists have given
to the world critical essays and appreciations, having for their
theme this poem of Edward FitzGerald's, that were I to add
a further discourse on the subject I should be adding an item
of little or no value to the mass of analytical criticism. One
aspect of the poem I may, however, be allowed to consider,
on the ground that I have an intimate acquaintance with the
original in general and with FitzGerald's sources of inspiration
in particular ; and that is its claim to consideration as a
translation.^ A translation pure and simple it is not, but a
translation in the most artistic sense of the term it undoubtedly
is. In considering this question it is necessary to bear in mind
1. " Letter of Edward FitzGerald to Fanny Kemble, 1871-1883," edited by
William Aldis Wright. London (Bentley), 1895.
2. My researches upon this subject are embodied in the Terminal Essay
to this edition, p. 28S.
xxxii Introduction
the first and the second editions of the poem, for these were
written under the direct inspiration of the original Persian/
The first edition was written from the Bodleian MS. and
the transcript of the Calcutta MS. ; the second — but it
will profit us to read FitzGerald's own words from the
preface to the second (1868) edition: "While the present
edition of Omar was preparing, Mons. Nicolas, French
Consul at Rescht, published a very careful and a very good
edition of the text, from a lithograph copy at Teheran,
comprising 464 ruba'iyat, with translation and notes of his
own. Mons. Nicolas's edition has reminded me of several
things, and instructed me in others. . . ." In this second
edition FitzGerald expanded his original seventy-five quatrains
to one hundred and ten, nine of which were suppressed in the
third and subsequent editions. The method of construction
adopted by FitzGerald must be borne in mind. I assumed at one
time that he had made a more or less literal prose translation of
his originals, and, after steeping himself in these, wrote his poem ;
and I suggested this theory to Professor Cowell. He writes me
under date 8th July, 1897 : " I am quite sure that Mr. Fitz-
Gerald did not make a literal prose version first ; he was too
fond of getting the strong, vivid impression of the original as
a whole. He pondered this over and over afterwards, and
I. Dr. Talcott Williams, the eminent Arabic scholar, writing to Mr,
Nathan H. Dole (vol. i. of N. H. Dole's edition, p. 123), observes: "In
my judgment Omar owes more to FitzGerald than he does to himself, as far as
English readers are concerned. I do not mean by this that Omar's thought
differs with the utterances of FitzGerald's translation, but the utterance owes so
much in our language to the form in which FitzGerald has cast it, that I have
always felt, in the few quatrains which I have laboriously translated, that pretty
much everything had evaporated when the thought was taken out of FitzGerald's
setting. The truth is, in literature, form is everything. Everybody has the
same ideas, I fancy, and it is only the capacity for expression which makes
literature. ... I really cannot exaggerate the difference between native and
European knowledge of an oriental language. We generally know their formal
grammar, history and derivatives of their tongues especially, a hundredfold
better than they do ; but when it comes to the meaning of a particular passage,
we are simply nowhere. It is a simple and soul-humbling truth that the first
translation or two of almost any Oriental work is full of the wildest shot." The
student who undertakes the translation of any Persian author speedily realises
that not to Sa'adi alone might be applied the well-known Eastern saying, " Each
word of Sa'adi has seventy-two meanings."
Introduction xxxiii
altered it in his lonely walks, sometimes approximating nearer
to the original, and often diverging further. He was always
aiming at some strong and worthy equivalent ; verbal accuracy
he disregarded." Professor Cowell has honoured me with a
good deal of information on this matter of FitzGerald's
methods, supplementing the information contained in Fitz-
Gerald's own letters reproduced above. I will quote some of
this information at once :
2ist October, 1896. — In 1856 I found the MS. of 'Omar
Khayyam in the Bodleian and made a copy for him, which I sent
him just before I went to India in August of that year. He sent a
transcript of that copy to Garcin de Tassy. ... I reviewed Omar
Khayyam in the Calcutta Review in 1858. ... I made a French
edition of one of Khayyam's mathematical works my 'text.'
FitzGerald alludes to my article in his preface. . . , He read the
" Parliament of Birds " in a MS. directly I left England, and sent me
his account of it, and subsequently his verse translation. Garcin
de Tassy published his text and translation in 1858 and '59, and
this FitzGerald used for his revised translation, published after
, his death, 1 . . .
z^rd October, 1896. — The MS. in the Ouseley collection was
the only MS. I then (1856) knew — all the MSS. were then un-
catalogued. My copy is dated " May 31st, 1856. Bodleian
Library." I had never seen a MS. of the quatrains, so it was a
real " find I " . . .
2^th October, 1896. — I have the copy of the Oxford MS.
which I sent to E. F. G., but it is too sacred a legacy to be lent to
anyone'^ — it is filled with his notes as well as with letters of mine
to him from Calcutta. . . .
3isi December, 1896. — I got a copy made for him from
the one MS. in the Bengal Asiatic Society's Library at Calcutta
soon after I arrived in November, 1856. It reached FitzGerald,
June 14th, 1857, as I learn by a note in his writing. Some time
after this I sent him a copy of that rare Calcutta printed edition,^
which I got from my Munshi. I had just got it when I wrote my
article in the Calcutta Review, which was mainly compiled from
the two texts of the Calcutta and Oxford manuscripts. . . . You
will be able to decide whether his first translation was made from
the Oxford MS. only, by seeing whether that will account for all
the tetrastichs. He altered and added, but he never, I fancy,
invented an entire tetrastich of his own. ... I feel persuaded
1. Vide note i, p. xxvi.
2. I had asked Professor Cowell to lend me this.
3. The Calcutta lithograph of 1836.
xxxiv Introduction
that his first translation was compiled from the Oxford and
Calcutta MSS. combined. You will find tetrastichs from the
latter represented in his translation which have no parallel in the
brief Oxford MS. . . . I have no MS. copy of his translation.
That was all done after I had left England. He used to send me
questions by letter. . . .
I desire to record in this place my profound gratitude to
Professor Cowell for all this most interesting information,
which he alone is competent to give ex cathedra. To return,
in the light of these extracts, to the question of how far
Edward FitzGerald may be called the translator of the Quatrains
of Omar Khayyam, Professor Charles Eliot Norton, in the
North American Review (October, 1869), says: "He is to be
called * translator ' only in default of a better word, one which
should express the poetic transfusion of a poetic spirit from
one language to another, and the re-representation of the
ideas and images of the original in a form not altogether
diverse from their own, but perfectly adapted to the new
conditions of time, place, custom, and habit of mind in which
they reappear. It has all the merit of a remarkable original
production, and its excellence is the highest testimony that
could be given to the essential impressiveness and worth of
the Persian poet. It is the work of a poet inspired by the
work of a poet ; not a copy, but a reproduction ; not a trans-
lation, but the re-delivery of a poetic inspiration ... in its
English dress it reads like the latest and freshest expression
of the perplexity and of the doubt of the generation to which
we ourselves belong."
The opposition in the debate, if I may so call it, is sup-
ported by Mr. H. G. Keene in an article written for Macmillan's
Magazine (November, 1887). Reviewing FitzGerald's paraphrase,
he says: "This unique and beautiful poem does not in truth
show the real Khayyam. Unquestionably among the fine
things in modern English verse, these quatrains give no
accurate representation of the original in any of their versions ;
as indeed the variations of successive editions do themselves
Introduction xxxv
tend to show. ... In FitzGerald ... of the flighty Persian
freethinker, eclectic and unsystematic, we see little or
nothing." The want of system here described as lacking
in FitzGerald's poem is explained for the orientalist by the
exigencies of the dlwan form in which Omar's quatrains have
for the most part been preserved and published. It is beyond the
function of criticism from the standpoint of accurate rendering to
brand FitzGerald's compulsory marshalling and re-organisation
of his material with the stigma of inaccuracy. After presenting
us with some renderings of the original into English verse —
renderings, by-the-way, far above the average of such achieve-
ments, both as to manner and translation — Mr. Keene says :
** It is difficult to explain by isolated specimens FitzGerald's
deviations from his original, because his variation is general
and total. The difference between him and Khayyam is the
same as that between a group of epigrams and a long satire."
The essayist then illustrates by quoting two out of the four
quatrains (F. v. 78-81), in which FitzGerald has summed up
the philosophy of the whole poem, and appends a literal prose
translation of two out of the twenty or thirty quatrains of
the original that contain the inspiration of those four
verses. It is unfair to make this juxtaposition and to imply
that FitzGerald intended his two verses as translations of the
two originals given. During the twelve years that I have
been working at the subject, it has interested me to note
wherever I found a line in the Bodleian or in the Calcutta MSS.
that could be distinctly pointed out as " the original " of a
line of FitzGerald. A very few emendations were taken by him,
as he himself says, for his second and subsequent editions,
from the text of Nicolas, and at some future time I propose
to print an edition of FitzGerald's quatrains, giving the
original, or inspiration, of every quatrain, if not ot every
individual line. The reader of the following pages will be
able to judge for himself how close to the originals whole
quatrains of FitzGerald's poem really are.
xxxvi Introduction
Whilst these pages have been passing through the press I
have been following up the clue afforded by Professor Cowell's
observations {vide p. xviii. and xix.) as to the origin of the
distich beginning " Earth could not answer, nor the seas that
mourn,'' and FitzGerald's own quotation of the dying utter-
ances of Nizam ul Mulk from the Mantik ut tair of Ferld
ud din Attar, and I have made the discovery that most, if not
all of FitzGerald's lines which have baffled students of the
ruba'iyat of Omar Khayyam, are taken from that poem, which
FitzGerald had deeply studied immediately before he addressed
himself to his Omar. {Vide note i, p. xxvi.) These parallels
I propose to set forth in another place ; ^ for the present,
suffice it to say that I have found in the Mantik ut tair
the originals of the quatrain beginning " Oh Thou ! who man
of baser earth didst make," and that beginning, "Heaven but
the Vision of fulfilled desire," and many other quatrains and
isolated lines. A number of these parallels are indicated in
the notes accompanying the text {vide post).
The faults, if faults they be, which Mr. Keene attributes
to FitzGerald, are necessarily inseparable from any verse trans-
lation, the exigencies of rhyme and metre compelling a distor-
tion of the translated lines. These faults are abundantly
manifest in the verse translations of Mr. Keene himself. Mr.
Whinfield has observed : " Omar is a poet who can hardly be
translated satisfactorily otherwise than in verse. . . . The
successor of a translator like Mr. FitzGerald, who ventures to
write verse, and especially verse of the metre which he has
handled with such success, cannot help feeling at almost every
step that he is provoking comparisons very much to his own
disadvantage. But I do not think this consideration ought to
deter him from using the vehicle which everything else indi-
cates as the proper one." Even admitting this contention,
one cannot help regretting that Mr. Whinfield did not also
give us the literal prose translation he may be assumed to
have made in the first instance ; a comparison of the literal
I. Vide the Terminal Essay to this edition, p. 288.
Introduction xxxvii
translations comprised in the present volume with his verse
renderings of the same quatrains, will, I think, abundantly
justify this regret, from the point of view of the mere student.
It is next door to impossible to imitate in English the prevail-
ing metre of the ruba'iyat : Mr. Michael Kerney, the anonymous
editor of the American reprint of FitzGerald's collected works
(Boston, 1887), has attempted it in his notes to the quatrains,
with a result which must be seen to be believed. One
enthusiastic student of the ruba'iyat, however, has handled
the metre of the original with grace and felicity, and that is
Mr. Nathan H. Dole, editor of the Boston Variorum Edition
of i8g6, in his own introductory " ruba'iyat " ; these contain
the true lilt of the original without resorting to verbal quirks
that jar upon the occidental ear. Of verse translations, the best
I have seen are those of Professor C. J. Pickering, in the
National Review for December, 1890.^
' A few words in conclusion, by way of apology for my
own work. It does not aim at being an edition of the
Ruba'iyat of Omar Khayyam in general, but it is an attempt
to place before English readers a literal translation of the oldest
known MS. of the quatrains, and an exposition of the most
important section of the material used by FitzGerald in the
construction of his poem. In the case of the majority of
the quatrains the task is not an especially difficult one, but
in the case of the residual minority, the obscurity of the
original has made the work one of the greatest doubt and
anxiety. Such, for instance, are qq. 14, 19, 30, 50, 57,
98, 104, 106, 113, 142 — quatrains in which the correct rendering
of almost every individual line is highly debateable.^
Later scribes and editors have made bold emendations,
and these I have diligently marshalled, with the result that I
have decided to supplement and, where possible, elucidate the
readings of the Bodleian MS. by reference to the following texts :
1. The reader or critic who feels curious to know to what extent a trans-
lation can be abused is referred to the Spectator, vol. Ixiii., p. 215 (Aug. 17, 1889).
2. Vi.ie note i, p. xxxii.
/
/
xxxviii Introduction
1. The MS. No. 1458 in the Bengal Asiatic Society's
Library at Calcutta. It is a i2mo containing 49 leaves. It
has 9 ruba'iyat on each leaf, and 87 further ruba'iyat are
written upon the margins. Page b of leaf i contains a prose
preface ending with the anecdote of Omar's apparition to his
mother, which leads to the opening ruba'i of the MS. quoted in
the note to q. i, post.
la. The Bankipur MS. described at p. xi.
2. The Lucknow lithographed edition. My copy, referred
to as L. in the notes to this text, is one of the edition of a.h.
1312 (a.d. 1894), containing 770 quatrains.
3. The text printed opposite to his prose translation by
Mons. Nicolas. Taken from the edition Hthographed in
Teheran in a.h. 1278 (a.d. 1861).^
4. The text lithographed in St. Petersburg in 1888, taken
from the Tabriz edition of a.h. 1285 (a.d. 1868). It is identical
with the text of Mons. Nicolas, excepting that it contains one
ruba'i (No. 48) not in Nicolas, and does not contain the Nos. 35,
190, 316, 317, 365, 390, 439, and the concluding five ruba'iyat,
which are out of their diwan order at the end of that text.
5. The Paris MS. before referred to, containing 346
ruba'iyat, and dated a.h. 934 (a.d. 1538).^
6. The Bombay lithographed edition of a.h. 1297 (a.d.
1880), containing 756 ruba'iyat.
7. The text printed by Mr. Whinfield, described elsewhere.
1. Dr. Rieu, in his Catalogue of the Persian MSS. in the British Museum,
states that Nicolas's text is that of Sanjar Mirza, lithographed at Teheran in
A.H. 1278, with a few additional ruba'iyat from other sources.
2. The copy of the Paris MS. of a.h. 934 which I have had made
for me only reached me when these sheets were almost ready for the printer.
The first edition was, in fact, kept back in order that the information to be found
in so important a MS. might be included. My copy was unfortunately made by
hand instead of by photography, and contains clerical errors ; still, it is clear
that nearly all the Bodleian ruba'iyat are to be found in it, and that where this is
the case the readings are in the majority of cases identical. The haste in which
I compared this Paris MS. with this and the other texts may have caused me to
overlook some few references that might have been added, had it been in my
hands during the years that these notes have been in course of preparation.
Introduction xxxix
I have also consulted, for the elucidation of obscure
readings, but have not collated all through, or given cross-
references to, the following :
8. The MS. in the British Museum, Or. 330.
g. The MS. in the British Museum, Add. 27,318.
10. The Calcutta lithographed edition of 1836.
11. A collection of ruba'iyat by Omar Khayyam, Baba
Tahir, and Attar, lithographed at Teheran in 1857.
12. The 41 quatrains contained in the Atash Kadah of
Azr, described elsewhere (p. xiii. and note 2).
13. The Paris MS. of a.h. 920 (a.d. 1514).
14. The Paris MS. of a.h. 937 (a.d. 1530).
I have also noted, where necessary, the translations of
Nicolas, Whinfield, Cowell, and Garcin de Tassy.
It will therefore be observed that when it would appear
from the notes to my text that a ruba'i is " only to be found in the
Bodleian MS.," it must be borne in mind that I have actually
searched for it only among the 4,415 ruba'iyat comprised in the
first eight of the texts above referred to.
The exigences of time, space, my reader's patience, and
my publisher's pocket have made me, with some regret I own,
but, I think, with advantage to my book, omit a vast mass
of references to other ruba'iyat, not identical with, but more
or less closely corresponding to, ruba'iyat that are contained
in this MS. The inclusion of these would have swelled my
notes far beyond the dimensions of the whole work as it stands.
The curious who care to see what they have been spared
may make the following comparisons between this text and
that of Mons. Nicolas alone. They are picked at random
from several hundred references :
Compare Bodleian MS. q. 21 with Nicolas's text, q. 117
„ „ 29 „ „ 177
34 ». " 168-9
xl Introduction
Compare Bodleian MS. q. 85 with Nicolas's text, q. 191
116 „ „ 115
>> >> ^27 »> )t 04
>> >> ^29 >> )i 72
In like manner, when referring to parallel passages from
other authors, I have only given the originals (in the Persian
notes) in the cases where there exist printed or lithographed
texts available for reference and easily obtainable. It seems
a grievous thing to refer the student to an isolated MS. in
the British Museum or elsewhere, and I have avoided doing
so, but it may be observed that my quotations from the
Beharistan are taken from the British Museum MSS., Add.
18,579 3-^d 7,775. I do not think that the most exacting
critic will blame me for transposing the order of the pages
of the original MS. ; to have arranged them to read backwards,
according to oriental custom, would have savoured of pedantry.
Most translators of oriental works have given elaborate
explanations of the system they have adopted in transliterating
Persian words. It is pitiable that no universal system has
been established, for the diversities to be found in all trans-
literations are confusing in the extreme. One finds this even
in the name Khayyam, which will be found transliterated in
the Bibliography (p. 281) Khaiam, Khaiyam, Chiam, Chajjam,
etc., etc. I have adopted the expedient of noting only strong
vowel sounds represented in the original by Alif, Waw, and
Ye, giving always a supplementary note of the actual Persian
where I have been compelled to transliterate. Edward
FitzGerald crystallized (so to speak) for all time the trans-
literation " ruba'iyat," a transliteration which I would fain
see fall into disuse and thence into oblivion. The word
ruba'i is common to more than one oriental language, and
is correctly translated " quatrain." Between the letters of
the first part of the word " ruba " and the terminal -i, or -y,
occurs the purely oriental letter 9 = soft gh, as in our word
Introduction xli
" high," as opposed to the 6 = hard gh, as in our word
"ghost," the terminal -at being an artificial form of Persian
plural borrowed from the Arabic, in which language it is
the regular plural termination of feminine nouns. If, there-
fore, it be desired to retain this Persian word in the title
of an English translation (a pedantry which would be deemed
inexcusable were it to occur in such a title as, for instance,
"The Gedichte of Henry Heine"), it seems a pity that the
transliteration " ruba^^/iyat," which conveys an idea of the
rich sonority of the original, tajLob^ should not be adopted
in place of the spiritless and thin rendering " ruba'iyat," even
with the gh indicated as is usual by an inverted comma. I
have, however, taken counsel with Professor Cowell, Mr. Whin-
field and Dr. Ross, and they warn me earnestly against dis-
turbing an accepted rendering, and point out that my suggestion
would involve similarly transliterating the p which commences
the name "Omar" (or, as some purists have it, 'Umar), and
reading it " GAomar," which would offend widely spread
susceptibilities. It is also difficult to pronounce this gh with-
out giving it the value of the thick (grasseye) continental r.
I have, therefore, avoided attempting this innovation.
Finally, let me acknowledge the sympathetic assistance
that I have received in preparing these sheets for the press
from Professor Cowell, who placed his MSS. at my disposal,
and thereby greatly lightened my labours ; from Mr. Whinfield,
who has favoured me with his valuable opinion upon some
of the most obscurely-worded quatrains ; and from Professor
E. Denison Ross, who has taken a keen interest in my work,
even to the point of going through the whole with me line by
line and note by note, and without whose help I should even
now have hesitated to give the result of my labours to the world.
As regards the actual translation of the quatrains, it has
been my endeavour to give a literal rendering of the original
line for line, either in the translation proper or in the accom-
panying notes, and in this I have been very greatly assisted by
xlii Introduction
Mr. Barry Pain, who has gone through it with me and helped
me to turn the intricate Persian construction of the Hnes into
English, a task for which one is entirely unfitted after being
steeped, as I had been during the preparation of this volume
for the press, in the involved phrasing of the original. The
arrangement of the quatrains upon the pages of the MS.,
a bait, a ruba'i, and another bait on each, being very awk-
ward for the English reader, and the translation being much
confused by note-references, I have inserted between this In-
troduction and the text accompanied by the translation and
the facsimiles, etc., a clean copy of the English only, for the
convenience of readers who wish to gather a general impres-
sion of the whole poem, without going into the minutiae dealt
with in the notes. It must, however, be borne in mind by
those who read this English translation, that the nature of
the original is such that in many places it is quite incompre-
hensible without reference to the notes which accompany
the text. In conclusion, I cannot do better than quote the
concluding distich of the edition from which the Kama Shastra
Society's translation of the Gulistan was made :
Gratitude is due that this book is ended
Before my life has reached its termination.^
London, April, i8g8.
I. The originals of these lines will be found on p. 287. They are taken
from a text of the Gulistan lithographed in Bombay in 1875. The Editor remarks,
in a marginal note, that he has never seen them in any MS. other than that from
which his text was taken, and Mr. Ellis consulted a quantity of MSS. and texts
of the Gulistan at the British Museum before he found them for me in the 1875
lithograph.
'^^5\ I? €2
ENGLISH TRANSLATION
QUATRAINS OF OMAR KHAYYAM
(OusELY MS., 140, Bodleian Library, Oxford)
Note. — Words printed in italics are not, properly speaking, repre-
sented in the Persian text, but are ifiserted for the purpose of
converting Oriental into Occidental forms of phraseology.
I.
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 merc}^
for the reason that I have never said that One was Two.
2.
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.
3.
So far as in thee lies, reproach not drunkards,
lay thou aside pretence and imposture ;
if, henceforth, thou desirest rest from this life of thine,
do not for a moment shun humble folk.
4-
So far as in thee lies, cause no pain to anyone,
nor cause anyone to suffer from thy \vrath ;
if thou hast a desire for eternal peace,
fret thyself always and harass no one.
2 Rnhaiyat of Omar Khayyam
5.
Since no one will guarantee thee a to-morrow,
make thou happy now this love-sick heart;
drink wine in the moonlight, O Moon, for the moon
shall seek us long and shall not find us.
6.
The Qur'an, which men call the Supreme Word,
they read at intervals but not continually,
hut on the lines upon the goblet a text is engraved
which they read at all times and in all places.
7-
Here are we ; and so is the wine, and the drinking bench ;
and the ruined furnace ;
careless of hopes of mercy, and of fears of punishment ;
our souls, and our hearts, and our goblets, and our garments
full of the lees of wine,
independent of earth and air, and fire and water.
In this life it is best that thou shouldst make but few friends ;
distant intercourse with one's fellow men is good ;
that person upon whom thou leanest entirely,
when thou examinest him closely, he is thine enemy.
9.
This jug was once a plaintive lover as I am,
and was in pursuit of one of comely face ;
this handle that thou seest upon its neck
is an arm that once lay around the neck of a friend.
10.
Ah, woe to that heart in which there is no passion,
which is not spell-bound by the love of a heart-cheerer !
the day that thou spendest without love,
there is no day more useless to thee than that day.
English Translation 3
II.
To-day being the season of my youth,
I desire wine, for thence comes my happiness ;
reproach me not, even though acrid it is pleasant ;
it is acrid in that it represents my life.
12.
Thou hast no power to-day over the morrow,
and anxiety about the morrow brings thee only melancholy ;
waste not thou this moment if thy heart be not mad,
for the value of the remainder of this life is not manifest.
13.
Now that there is a possibility of happiness for the world,
every living heart has yearnings towards the desert,
upon every bough is the appearance of Moses' hand,
in every breeze is the exhalation of Jesus' breath.
14.
For him for whom the fruit ot the branch of truth has not grown,
the reason is that he is not firm in the Road.
Every one has feebly shaken with his hand the bough 0/
truth.
Know that to-day is like yesterday, and that to-morrow is like
the First Day of Creation.
15-
Already on the Day of Creation beyond the heavens my soul
searched for the Tablet and Pen and for heaven and hell ;
at last the Teacher said to me with His enlightened judgment,
" Tablet and Pen, and heaven and hell, are within thyself."
16.
Arise and give me wine — what time is this for words ?
for to-night thy little mouth fills all my needs ;
give me wine, rose-coloured as thy cheeks,
for this penitence of mine is as full of tangles as thy curls.
I — 2
4 RuhaHyat of Omar Khayyam
17-
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 and do not speak of yesterday, for to-day is sweet.
i8.
How long shall I throw bricks upon the surface of the sea ?
I am disgusted with the idol-worshippers of the pagoda.
Khayyam ! who can say that he will be a denizen of hell,
who ever went to hell, and who ever came from heaven ?
19.
The elements of a cup which he has put together,
their breaking up a drinker cannot approve,
all these heads and delicate feet — with his finger-tips,
for love of whom did he make them ? — for hate of whom did
he break them ?
20.
Like water in a great river and like wind m the desert,
another day passes out of the period of my existence;
grief has never lingered in my mind — concerning two days,
the day that has not yet come and the day that is past.
21.
Seeing that my coming was not tor me the Day of Creation,
and that my undesired departure hence is a purpose fixed for me,
get up and gird well thy loins, O nimble Cup-bearer,
for I will wash down the misery of the world in wine.
22.
Khayyam, who stitched at the tents of wisdom,
fell into the furnace of sorrow and was suddenly burnt ;
the shears of doom cut the tent-rope of his existence,
and the broker of hope sold him for a mere song.
English Translation 5
23-
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 ?
24.
In cell, and college, and monastery, and synagogue
are those who fear hell and those who seek after heaven ;
he who has knowledge of the secrets of God
sows none of such seed in his heart of hearts.
25-
If in the season of spring a being, houri-shaped,
gives me on the green bank of a field a goblet full of wine,
(though to everyone this saying may seem uncouth)
a dog is better than I am if thenceforth I pronounce the name
of heaven.
26.
Know this — that from thy soul thou shalt be separated,
thou shalt pass behind the curtain of the secrets of God.
Be happy — thou knowest not whence thou hast come :
drink wine — thou knowest not whither thou shalt go.
27.
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 for ages."
28.
My heart said to me: — "I have a longing for inspired knowledge;
teach me if thou art able."
I said the Alif. My heart said : — " Say no more.
If One is in the house, one letter is enough."
6 Ruba'iyat of Omar Khayyam
29.
No one can pass behind the curtain that veils the secret,
the mind of no one is cognizant of what is there ;
save in the heart of earth we have no haven.
Drink wine, for to such talk there is no end.
30.
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.
31.
From the beginning was written what shall be ;
unhaltingly the Pen writes, and is heedless of good and bad ;
on the First Day He appointed everything that must be —
our grief and our efforts are vain.
32.
In the spring, on the bank of the river and on the edge
of the field,
with a few companions and a playmate houri-shaped,
bring forth the cup, for those that drink the morning draught
are independent of the mosque and free from the synagogue
33-
The heavenly vault is the girdle of my weary body,
Jihun is a water-course worn by my filtered tears,
hell is a spark from my useless worries.
Paradise is a moment of time when I am tranquil.
34-
They say that the garden of Eden is pleasant with houris :
I say that the juice of the grape is pleasant.
Hold fast this cash and let that credit go,
for the noise of drums, brother, is pleasant from afar.
English Translation 7
35.
Drink wine, for thou wilt sleep long beneath the clay
without an intimate, a friend, a comrade, or wife ;
take care that thou tell'st not this hidden secret to anyone : —
The tulips that are withered will never bloom again.
36.
Drink wine, for this is life eternal,
this is thy gain firom the days of thy youth ;
a season of roses, and wine, and drunken companions —
be happy for a moment for this is life !
37-
Give me wine which is a salve for my wounded heart,
it is the boon companion of those who have trafficked in love ;
to my mind the dregs of a single draught are better
than the vault of heaven which is the hollow of the world's
skull.
38.
I drink wine, and my enemies from left and 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."
39-
Wine is a melted ruby and the cup is the mine thereof ;
the cup is a body and its wine is the soul thereof;
that crystal cup that is bubbling over with wine
is a tear in which the heart's blood is hidden.
40.
I know not whether he who fashioned me
appointed me to dwell in heaven or in dreadful hell,
but some food, and an adored one, and wine, upon the green
bank of a field —
all these three are cash to me : thine be the credit-heaven !
8 Rnba'iyat of Oniav Khayyam
41.
The good and the bad that are in man's nature,
the happiness and misery that are predestined for us —
do not impute them to the heavens, for in the way of Wisdom
those heavens are a thousandfold more helpless than thou art.
42.
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.
43-
Everywhere that there has been a rose or tulip-bed,
there has been spilled the crimson blood of a king ;
every violet shoot that grows from the earth
is a mole that was once upon the cheek of a beauty.
44.
Be prudent, for the means of life are uncertain ;
take heed, for the sword of destiny is keen.
If fortune place almond-sweets in thy very mouth,
beware ! swallow them not, for poison is mingled therein.
45.
One jar of wine and a lover's lips, on the bank of the sown
field—
these have robbed me of cash, and thee of the credit.
Some are pledged to heaven or hell,
but who ever went to hell, and who ever came from heaven ?
46.
O thou, whose cheek is moulded upon the model of the
wild rose,
whose face is cast in the mould of Chinese idols,
yesterday thy amorous glance gave to the Shah of Babylon
the moves of the Knight, the Castle, the Bishop, the Pawn,
and the Queen.
English Translation g
47-
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.
48.
Of those who draw the pure date wine
and those who spend the night in prayer,
not one is on the dry land, all are in the water.
One is awake : the others are asleep.
49.
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."
50-
Those who are the slaves of intellect and hair-splitting,
have perished in bickerings about existence and non-existence ;
go, thou ignorant one, and choose rather grape-juice,
for the ignorant from eating dry raisins have become like unripe
grapes themselves.
51-
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.
52.
We must be effaced in the way of love, '
we must be destroyed in the talons of destiny ;
O sweet-faced Cup-bearer, sit thou not idle,
give to me water, for dust I must become.
10 RubaHyat of Omar Khayyam
53.
Now that nothing but the mere name of our happiness
remains,
the only old friend that remains is new wine;
withhold not the merry hand from the wine-cup
to-day that nothing but the cup remains within our reach.
54.
What the Pen has written never changes,
and grieving only results in deep affliction ;
even though, all thy life, thou sufferest anguish,
not one drop becomes increased beyond what it is.
55-
heart, for a while seek not the company of the frail ones ;
cease for a while to be engrossed with the commerce of love.
Frequent the thresholds of the darvlshes —
perhaps thou mayest be accepted for awhile by the accepted
people.
56.
Those who adorn the Heavens for a fragment of time,
come, and go, and come again as time goes on ;
in the skirt of Heaven, and in the pocket of earth,
are creatures who, while God dies not, will yet be born.
57-
Those whose beliefs are founded upon hypocrisy,
come and draw a distinction between the body and the soul ;
1 will put the wine jar on my head, if, when I have done so,
they place a comb upon my head, as if I were a cock.
58-
The bodies which people this heavenly vault,
puzzled the learned.
Beware lest thou losest the end of the string of wisdom,
for even the controllers themselves become giddy.
English Translation ii
59-
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.
60.
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.
61.
Being old, my love for thee led my head into a snare ;
if not, how comes it that my hand holds the cup of date-wine?
My sweetheart has destroyed the penitence born of reason,
and the passing seasons have torn the garment that patience
sewed.
62.
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 ?
63.
So much generosity and kindness at the beginning, why was it ?
and that maintenance of me with delights and blandishments,
why was it ?
Now Thine only endeavour is to afflict my heart ;
after all, what wrong have I done — once more, why was it ?
64.
In my mind may there be desire for idols houri-like,
in my hand may there be, all the year round, the juice of the
grape ;
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 !
12 RubaHyat of Omar Khayyam
65.
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.
66.
I saw upon the terrace of a house a man, alone,
who trampled upon the clay, holding it in contempt ;
that clay said to him in mystic language : —
" Be still, for like me thou wilt be much trampled upon."
67.
It is a pleasant day, and the weather is neither hot nor cold ;
the rain has washed the dust from the faces of the roses ;
the nightingale in the Pehlevi tongue to the yellow rose
cries ever : — " Thou must drink wine ! "
68.
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.
69.
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.
70.
O Shah ! destiny appointed thee to sovereignty,
and saddled for thee the horse of empire ;
when thy golden-hoofed charger moved,
setting foot upon the clay, the earth became gilded.
English Translation 13
71.
A love that is imaginary has no value ;
like a fire half-dead, it gives no heat.
A true lover, throughout the month, and year, and night, and da}-,
takes neither rest, nor peace, nor food, nor sleep.
72.
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.
73.
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 ?
74-
The heavens rain down blossoms from the clouds,
thou mayest say that they shed blossoms into the garden ;
in a lily-like cup I pour rosy wine,
as the violet clouds pour down jessamine.
75-
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.
76.
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.
14 RuhaHyat of Omar Khayyam
77'
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.
78.
Even though wine is forbidden, for all that it depends tipon 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 ?
79-
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 ?
80.
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.
81.
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.
82.
Every morning the dew bedecks the faces of the tulips,
the crests of the violets in the garden are bent downward ;
verily, most pleasing to me is the rosebud
which gathers its skirts close around itself.
English Translation 15
83.
Friends, when ye hold a meeting together,
it behoves ye warmly to remember your friend ;
when ye drink wholesome wine together,
and my turn comes, turn a goblet upside down.
84.
Friends, when with consent ye make a tryst together,
and take delight in one another's charms,
when the Cup-bearer takes round in his hand the Mugh wine,
remember a certain helpless one in your benediction.
85.
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.
86.
// thou desirest Him, be separated from wife and children,
bravely move thine abode from thy relations and friends ;
whatever is, is an hindrance on the road for thee,
how canst thou journey with these hindrances ? — remove them !
87.
Bring me that ruby in a clear glass,
bring me that companion and intimate of all excellent people :
since thou knowest that the duration of this earthly world
is a wind that quickly passes by, — bring me wme.
88.
Arise ! bring physic to this oppressed heart,
bring that musk-scented and rose-coloured wine ;
if thou desirest the elements of sorrow's antidote,
bring ruby wine and the silk stringed lute.
i6 Ruba'iyat of Omar Khayyam
89.
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."
90.
Drink of that wine that is eternal life,
it is the stock-in-trade of youthful pleasure, drink !
it burns like fire, but sorrows
it makes like the water of life — drink !
gi.
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 !
92.
Wine is rose-red, and the cup is filled with the water of roses,
— maybe,
in the crystal casket is a pure ruby, — maybe,
a melted ruby is in the water, — maybe,
moonlight is the veil of the sun, — maybe.
93.
Every vow we make, we break again,
we shut once more upon ourselves the door of fame and
fair repute ;
blame me not if I act as a fool,
for once more am I drunken with the wine of love.
94.
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.
English Translation 17
95-
Oh, heart ! since in this world truth itself is hyperbole,
why art thou so disquieted with this trouble and abasement ?
resign thy body to destiny, and adapt thyself to the times,
for, what the Pen has written, it will not re-write for thy sake.
96.
On the face of the rose there is still a cloud-shadow,
in my nature and heart there is still a desire for wine ;
sleep not, what right hast thou to sleep yet ?
give me wine, sweetheart, for it is still daylight.
97-
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?
98.
Fill the cup ! for the day breaks white like snow,
learn colour from the wine that is ruby ;
take two fragrant aloe logs, and brighten the assembly,
make one into a lute, and burn the other.
99.
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.
100.
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."
}
i8 RuhaHyat of Omar Khayyam
lOI.
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.
102.
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 !
103.
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 ? "
104.
Of this spirit, that they call pure wine,
they say : — " It is a remedy for a ruined heart " ;
set quickly before me two or three heavily filled cups,
why do they call a good water "wicked water"?
105.
Regard my virtues one by one, and forgive my crimes ten
by ten,
pardon every crime that is past, the reckoning is with God !
let not the wind and air fan the flame of thy rancour,
by Muhammad's tomb ! forgive me.
106.
Verily wine in the goblet is a delicate spirit,
in the body of the jar, a delicate soul reposes,
nothing heavy is worthy to be the friend of wine
save the wine-cup, for that is, at the same time, heavy and
delicate.
English Translation 19
107.
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.
108.
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.
log.
I do not always prevail over my nature, — hut 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 ?
no.
Let me arise and seek pure wine,
make thou the colour of my cheek like that of the jujube fruit,
as for this meddling intellect, a fist-full of wine
will I throw in its face, to make it sleep.
III.
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.
112.
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 ?
20 RubaHyat of Omar Khayyam
113-
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 Judg-
ment Day.
114.
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.
115-
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.
116.
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.
117.
My heart does not distinguish between the bait and the trap,
one counsel urges it towards the mosque, another towards
the cup ;
nevertheless the wine-cup, and the loved one, and I continually
together,
are better, cooked, in a tavern, than raw, in a monastery.
118.
It is morning : let us for a moment inhale rose-coloured wine,
and shatter against a stone this vessel of reputation and honour;
let us cease to strive after what has long been our hope,
and play with long ringlets and the handle of the lute.
English Translation 21
119.
We have preferred a corner and two loaves to the world,
and we have put away greed of its estate and magnificence;
we have bought poverty with our heart and soul —
in poverty we have discerned great riches.
120.
I know the outwardness of existence and of non-existence,
I know the inwardness of all that is high and low ;
nevertheless let me be modest about my own knowledge
if I recognise any degree higher than drunkenness.
121.
For a while, when young, we frequented a teacher,
for a while we were contented with our proficiency ;
behold the foundation of the discourse: — what happened to us?
we came in like water and we depart like wind.
122.
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.
123.
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 Khayyam,
" Drink wine, rob on the highway, and be benevolent."
124.
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.
22 Riiba'iyat of Ouiar Khayyam
125.
Darvlsh ! rend from thy body the figured veil,
rather than sacrifice thy body for the sake of that veil ;
go and throw upon thy shoulders the old rug ot poverty —
beneath that rug thou art equal to a sultan.
126.
Behold the evil conduct of this vault of heaven,
behold the world — empty by the passing away of friends ;
as far as thou art able live for thyself for one moment,
look not for to-morrow, seek not yesterday, behold the present !
127.
To drink wine and consort with a company of the beautiful
is better than practising the hypocrisy of the zealot ;
if the lover and the drunkard are doomed to hell,
then no one will see the face of heaven.
128.
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.
129.
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.
130.
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 ?
English Translation 23
131-
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.
132.
Ah ! I have brushed the tavern doorway with my moustaches,
I have bidden farewell to the good and evil of both worlds ;
though both the worlds should fall like balls in my street,
seek me, — ye will find me sleeping like a drunkard.
133-
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.
134-
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.
135-
See, the skirt of the rose has been torn by the breeze,
the nightingale rejoices in the beauty of the rose ;
sit in the shade of the rose, for, by the wind, many roses
have been scattered to earth and have become dust.
136.
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.
24 RiihaHyat of Omar Khayyam
137-
Submit not to the sorrow of this iniquitous world,
remind us not of sorrow for those who have passed away,
give thine heart only to one jasmine-bosomed and fairy-born,
be not without wine, and cast not thy life to the winds.
138.
Though thy life pass sixty years, do not give up ;
wherever thou directest thy steps, walk not save when drunk ;
before they make the hollow of thy skull into a jar,
lower not the jar from thy shoulder, neither relinquish the cup.
139-
One draught of old wine is better than a new kingdom,
avoid any way save that of wine — 'tis better so ;
the cup is a hundred times better than the kingdom of Feridun,
the tile that covers the jar is better than the crown of Kal-
Khosru.
140.
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.
141.
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 ! but thou art strange, O Lord !
142.
O heaven ! thou givest something to every base creature,
thou suppliest baths, and millstreams, and canals ;
the pure man plays hazard for his night's provisions :
wouldst thou give a fig for such a heaven ?
English Translation 25
143-
O heart ! at the mysterious secret thou arrivest not,
at the conceits of the ingenious philosophers thou arrivest not ;
make thyself a heaven here with wine and cup,
for at that place where heaven is, thou mayst arrive, or mayst not.
144.
Thou eatest always smoke from the kitchen of the world ;
how long wilt thou suffer miseries concerning what is or is not ?
thou desirest not a stock in trade, for its source weakens,
and who will consume the capital, seeing that thou consumest
all the profit ?
145-
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.
146.
1 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."
147.
Grasp the wine-cup and the flagon, O heart's desire !
pleasantly, pleasantly, and cheerfully, wander in the garden
by the river brink ;
many are the excellent folk whom malicious heaven
has made a hundred times into cups, and a hundred times into
flagons.
148.
In a thousand places on the road I walk. Thou placest snares,
Thou sayest, " I will catch thee if thou placest step in them " ;
in no smallest thing is the world independent of Thee,
Thou orderest all things, and callest me rebellious.
3
26 RiibaHyat of Omar Khayyam
149.
I desire a little ruby wine and a book of verses,
just enough to keep me alive and half a loaf is needful ;
and then, that I and thou, should sit in a desolate place
is better than the kingdom of a sultan.
150.
Do not give way so much to vain grief, — live happily,
and, in the way of injustice, set thou an example of justice,
since the final end of this world is nothingness ;
suppose thyself to be nothing, and be free.
151.
Gaze as I may on all sides,
in the garden flows a stream from the river Kausar,
the desert becomes like heaven, thou mayst say hell has
disappeared,
sit thou then in heaven with one heavenly-faced.
152.
Be happy ! they settled thy reward yesterday,
and beyond the reach of all thy longings is yesterday ;
live happily, for without any importunity on thy part yesterday,
they appointed with certainty what thou wilt do to-morrow, —
yesterday !
153.
Pour out the red wine of pure tulip colour,
draw the pure blood from the throat of the jar,
for to-day, beside the wine-cup, there is not, for me,
one friend who possesses a pure heart.
154-
To the ear of my heart Heaven whispered secretly : —
"The commands that are decreed thou mayst learn from me:
had I a hand in my own revolutions,
I would have saved myself from giddiness."
English Translation 27
155-
If a loaf of wheaten-bread be forthcoming,
a gourd of wine, and a thigh-bone of mutton,
and then, if thou and I be sitting in the wilderness, —
that would be a joy to which no sultan can set bounds.
156.
If henceforth two measures of wine come to thy hand,
drink thou wine in every assembly and congregation,
for He who made the world does not occupy Himself
about moustaches like thine, or a beard like mine.
157-
Had I charge of the matter I would not have come,
and likewise could I control my going, where should I go ?
were it not better than that, that in this world
I had neither come, nor gone, nor lived ?
158.
The month of Ramazan passes and Shawwal comes,
the season of increase, and joy, and story-tellers comes ;
now comes that time when "Bottles upon the shoulder!"
they say, — for the porters come and are back to back.
END OF THE QUATRAINS.
Written by the humble slave, who is in need of mercies
of Eternal God, Mahmud Yerbudakl. Finished in the last
decade of Safar, with blessing and victory, in the year Eight
hundred and sixty-five of the Hijrah of the Prophet, upon
whom be peace, and benediction, and honour ; in the capital
Shiraz.
May God most high protect her from evils.
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The Original Manuscript
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The Original Manuscript
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The Original Manuscript
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The Original Manuscript
103
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The Original Manuscript
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The Original Manuscript
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TEXT, TRANSCRIPT, TRANSLATION
AND NOTES
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES
With the Ahbyeviations used in the Notes to the Text and Translation.
In order to save reiteration in referring to the translations,
texts, and other authorities consulted in the construction of this
work, they are referred to in the notes in the following manner : —
C. — The transcript of the MS. No. 1548 in the Asiatic Society's
Library at Calcutta, which Prof. Cowell had made for
Edward FitzGerald {vide Introduction).
P. — The MS. in the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris. Sup-
plement Persan, No. 823.
B. ii. — The Bankipur MS. described on page xi (Introduction).
L. — The Lucknow lithographed edition (1894).
S. P. — The edition lithographed at St. Petersburg in the year
A.H. 1306 (a.d. 1888), which is copied from an edition litho-
graphed at Tabriz, a.h. 1285 (a.d. 1868).
B. — The Bombay Hthographed edition of 1880. It is almost
identical with the Lucknow Edition.
Note. — The ruba'iyat are not numbered in any ot the above, but I
have numbered my copies for convenience of reference. The numbers
in the lithographs may be taken as correct ; those in the MS. are as
correct as ordinary care can make them, regard being had to the
Oriental habit of writing extra quatrains in the margins — at least, they
are very closely approximate.
N. — J. B. Nicolas. " Les Quatrains de Kheyam, traduits du
Persan." Paris, 1867. Imprimerie Imperiale.
W.— E. H. Whinfield. "The Quatrains of Omar Khayyam.
The Persian text with an English verse translation."
London, 1883. Triibner.
F. i. — Edward FitzGerald's poem, ist edition. London, 1859.
Quaritch.
F. ii. — Ditto, 2nd edition. London, 1868. Quaritch.
F. iii. — Ditto, 3rd edition. London, 1872. Quaritch.
F. iv. — Ditto, 4th edition. London, 1879. Quaritch.
F. V. — Ditto, 5th edition. London, 1890. Macmillan.
De T.— Garcin de Tassy. " Note sur les Rubaiyat de 'Omar
Khaiyam." Paris, 1857. Imprimerie Imperiale. (Extract
from ih& Journal Asiatique, 1857.)
L. R. — " Letters and Literary Remains of Edward FitzGerald."
London, 1889. Macmillan. 3 vols.
ii6 Bibliographical References
D. — N. H. Dole. " Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam: English,
French, and German translations. Comparatively arranged
in accordance with the text of Edward FitzGerald's version.
With further selections, notes, biographies, bibliography,
and other material." Boston, 1896. J. Knight.
E. C. — E. B. Cowell in the Calcutta Review, No. 59, March,
1858, p. 149. " A Review of the Algebra of Omar Khayyam
(Paris, 1851) and of Dr. Sprenger's Catalogue."
S. — A. Sprenger. " Catalogue of the Arabic, Persian, and
Hindustany Manuscripts of the Ubraries of the Kings of
Oudh." Vol. I. Calcutta, 1854.
M. — M antic ut tair, ou le langage des oiseaux, par Ferld ud din
Attar, publie en persan par M. Garcin de Tassy. Paris,
1857. Translation, Paris, 1863.
P.N. — " Pend Nameh, ou le livre des Conseils de Ferid-eddin
Attar, traduit et publie par M. le B"". Silvestre de Sacy."
Paris, 1 81 9. Persian text and translation with variorum
notes.
Gulistan. — When referring to this work I have used the text
printed from the Calcutta edition by Francis Gladwin in
1806, revised by Sir Wm. Gore Ouseley (London, 1809) ; the
Translation privately printed for members of the Kama
Shastra Society at " Benares " (London) in 1888 ; and the
standard translation of Edward B. Eastwick (last edition,
London, 1880; Triibner).
Beharistan. — When referring to this work, I have used the two
British Museum MSS. Add. 7775 and 18,579, and the
translation privately printed for the members of the Kama
Shastra Society at " Benares " (London) in 1887.
Steingass. — " A Comprehensive Persian-English Dictionary . . .
being Johnson and Richardson's Persian, Arabic, and
English Dictionary," revised, enlarged, and entirely re-
constructed, by F. Steingass, Ph.D. London (W. H.
Allen & Co.), n.d. (1892).
Note. — It may be taken as a general rule that, in the actual notes,
where N. is mentioned S. P. is also implied, and where
L. is mentioned B. is implied ; that is, of course, when
references are given to both authorities in the headnote to a
quatrain.
lO
NOTES.
This quatrain is C. 274, P. 4, B. ii. 302, L. 423, S. P. 228, B. 419, N. 229,
W. 268, and (as also the following one) is out of its diwan order, and was probably
placed at the commencement of this MS. to satisfy some scruple of the writer,
Mahmud Yerbfidakl. Edward FitzGerald (F. v., Preface, pp. 14, 15) remarks
concerning it: "The scribes of the Oxford and Calcutta MSS. seem to do their
work under a sort of protest, each beginning with a tetrastich (whether genuine
or not) taken out of its alphabetical order. . . . The Bodleian Quatrain pleads
Pantheism by way of justification :
" ' If I myself upon a looser Creed
Have loosely strung the Jewel of Good-deed,
Let this one thing for my Atonement plead,
That One for Two I never did mis-read.' "
The Calcutta MS. begins with one of expostulation, supposed (says a notice
prefixed to the MS.) to have arisen from a dream, in which Omar's mother
asked about his future fate. It may be rendered thus :
" O Thou who burn'st in Heart for those who burn
In Hell, whose fires thyself should feed in turn ;
How long be crying, ' Mercy on them, God ! '
Why, who art Thou to teach, and He to learn ? " 1
This is quoted by Dr. Sprenger as the first tetrastich of the MS. in the library of
the Kings of Oudh (S., p. 464), and may be literally rendered :
" O drunken student deserving to be burnt,
Woe ! that the fire of Hell shall blaze from you,
How long will you keep saying, ' Have mercy upon Omar ' ?
What claim have you to be a teacher of mercy to God ? "
It also figures as B. ii. 537, L. 769, B. 755, N. 459, W. 488.
1. Note the error of the scribe, zd'atat^ for td'atat.^ There are several such
errors in the MS., but, excepting where they obscure the meaning, I do not think
it worth while to call attention to them.
2. The phrase gauhar suftan* = " to thread pearls," and is used in Persian to
mean "to write verses," or to tell a story. Cf. M., 1. 378: "Behold the
pearls of the sword of my tongue ; every pearl that falls from my mouth on thy
path comes from the bottom of my heart."" Compare Hafiz's : "When thou
composest verses, thou seemest to make a string of pearls : come, sing them
sweetly." 1^
3. N.'s text reads, " And if I have never swept the dust of your path with
my heart." 2 In this line we have an echo of the expression in F. v., 81, "the
Sin wherewith the Face of Man is blacken'd," which he took from M., 11. 225-227.
Vide post, q. log.
4. The other texts read, " I am not hopeless of mercy at your tribunal." ^
5. C, B. ii., L., N., and W. begin zlril A» ' = because that.
6. In this line Omar boasts that he has never questioned the Unity of
God. taivhld kerdan^ = to acknowledge One God. C/. M., 11. 116, "Keep
steadfast in unity, and keep away from duality," 1* and 3210, and chap. xlii. :
" The valley of the Tawhid." i**
(Notes to page 119 continued on page 120.)
Transcript and Translation
119
J — ^j — 5> /^■^y ^j-^ j' ^^ ^^
I.
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.*^
2.
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
ID — 2
120 Notes
This quatrain is C. 272, P. 7. B. ii. 294, L. 427, S. P. 221, B. 423, N. 222,
W. 262. It is one of those that FitzGerald reproduced almost faithfully (F. i.,
No. 5G ; F. v., No. 77), and scarcely altered in his own four editions :
And this I know : whether the one True Light
Kindle to Love, or Wrath consume me quite,
One Flash of it within the Tavern caught
Better than in the Temple lost outright.
1. The Mihrab is the spot in a mosque giving the exact direction of Mecca,
towards which all Muslims turn in prayer.
2. The nemdz are the prayers prescribed by Muhammadan law to be
repeated five times a day, the panj irakt-i-uemaz^ {vide post, 99). They are
respectively the nemdz-i-bdniddd i" = morning prayers said before dawn ; the
nemds-i-pTshiii^^ = midday prayers; the nemdz-i-digav^'- = afternoon prayers;
the nemOz-i-shdm i-' = prayers immediately after sunset ; and the \neiiidz-i-khif-
tan^* = prayers before bed. L. reads the line, "Since then I do not make a
pretence of prayer before the Mihrab." '"
^_^^^ "tJu^y^ =6.Xi.^^ ^ (1)
r^f Jo^ ^A; ^u. jf (■■■) ^j^ti^ ybf (-1)
/o jUi (1^) ,^^. ;U (11) oU-b
J;J^ (1-^) ;UJ ^\^^. ^jj ^ 6^1; (1-^) .j^^ jU (1^)^
l=x»b. ^^1^ Ji.yi.
3. Cf. the appellation of Muhammad, "first and last of prophets." 1 Cf. M.,
1. 176: "Oh God! who but Thou is infinite? Who is without beginning or
ending? "-
4. Vide note 5, q. 122.
3-
I do not find this quatrain in any other text. L. 2 (B. ii. 13, S. P. 12,
B. 2, N. 12, W. 11) begins like it, but is really quite different.
I. Literally, " Do not give from (your) hand."
4-
This quatrain is W. 15, and is the first of those in de T., but I do not find it
in C, B. ii.. P., L., or N.
I. Literally, " Upon the fire of your own anger do not cause anyone to sit."
ft
Lol J, so*- ^T^ jy (1)
Transcript and Translation
121
c>j-^ d^i= ^jl^^j b'
jj-x I ™^i^ ^jiij^t* y^^) "-^^-^^ ^j> ^^
l^^«<«>i *IJj_X — * ^■iS^J
^^>
I »~>oJ A Lcujw* . W
J^i^ ^^UE.
It
i^f-r^^j';/
O Thou, the first and last of all created beings ! ^
burn me an Thou wilt, or cherish me an Thou wilt.*
3-
So far as in thee lies, reproach not drunkards,
lay thou aside pretence and imposture ;
if, henceforth, thou desirest rest from this life of thine,
do not for a moment shun^ humble folk.
So far as in thee lies, cause no pain to anyone,
nor cause anyone to suffer from thy wrath ; '
122 Notes
2. There is a parallel passage in M., 1. 3195 : " If thou art wounded, tell no
one of it, add wound to wound and do not complain." ^
5-
This quatrain is C. 7, P. 219, B. ii. 8, L. 5, S. P. 8, B. 4, N. 8, W. 7, E. C.
5, and is no doubt the source of FitzGerald's quatrain (F. i. 74) :
" Ah ! Moon of my Delight, who know'st no wane
The Moon of Heav'n is rising once again ;
How oft hereafter rising shall she look
Through this same Garden after me — in vain."
The quatrain is altered, but hardly, I think, improved in F.v. Cf. Purgatorio,
xii. 84 : " Pensa che questo di mai non raggiorna."
1. C, B. ii.. P., N., and W. read " becomes surety for." '
2. C, B. ii. , N., and W. read " this heart full of melancholy (or passion)." ^
L. reads " passionate " heart. '
3. Here we have three meanings of the word mdh.^ The moon (of heaven),
a beautiful mistress, and a month. Cf. M., 1. 74: "The moon wanes for love
of thee ; every month she swoons in her stupefaction." ^
4. N. reads bigardad ^ = " (many moons) shall revolve," etc. C. reads
bitdbad ki' = "(many a moon) shall shine that (shall not, etc.)." W. reads
bitdbadu =" shall shine and," etc. This is given as a good specimen of the kind
of verbal variations to be found between the various texts and MSS. In future I
do not propose to set out variations when so minute as this.
6
This quatrain is C. 6, P. 316, B. ii. 12, L, 22, S. P. 11, B. 20, N. 11, W. 10.
I. C, B. ii.. P., and W. read behTn^ = hest.
^^. (*) sU (3) 1^1^^ y^ Jo ^\ p) o^A ^ (1)
Transcript and Translation
123
at* d^ 2>t» ,^1 &L« ^^ i/*y cS*^
— ^pMpMll^lUIMmilUWU
^.
if thou hast a desire for eternal peace,
fret thyself always and harass no one.^
Since no one will guarantee thee^ a to-morrow,
make thou happy now this love-sick heart ;^
drink wine in the moonlight, O Moon, for the moon ^
shall seek us long* and shall not find us.
6.
The Qur'an, which men call the Supreme ^ Word,
they read at intervals but not continually.
124 Notes
2. kliatt may mean either a measuring mark or a written line ; so, khatt-i-
pjaleh ' may mean either the lines engraved upon the inside of a goblet to measure
the draughts, or the edge or rim of the goblet itself. P. reads " on the rim of
the cup." i"*
3. So, Ctyct- means either a mark or sign, or a verse of the (jur'iin. The
whole line is an elaborate play upon these words.
4. C. and W., lushan'i hast"' = "(a te.xt) is clear or luminous." N. reads
rawishl ast^ = " there is a precept or (divine) law."
5. The word muddm having also the meaning " wine," this line might be
rendered, "Which in all places they read as 'wine.'" This form of pun is
called iltam. Verses in praise of wine were, and are, frequently engraved round
wine-goblets in Persia. Allusion is made by Edward FitzGerald to Jamshyd's seven-
ringed cup. The seven lines alluded to were called respectively the khatt-i-jaur,^
or mark of oppression ; the khatt-i-BaghdudS' or mark of plenty; the kliatl-i-
basiah,'' or mark of all wisdom; the khatt-i-siyaJi," or black mark ; the kliatt-i-dslik,"
or mark of tears ; the khatt-i-kusagai-}'^ or potter's mark ; and the khatt-i-
farUdinah,^'^ or lowest mark.
7-
This quatrain is C. 17, P. 241, B. ii. 17, S. P. 19, B. 28, N. 19, W. 22, in all
of which lines 2 and 3 are transposed. It is also L. 30, which is a good deal varied.
1. C, B. ii., L., X., and W. read mutrib i- = singers. P. reads " mu'shnk " i'
= lovers.
2. C, P., B. ii., L., N., and W. read In kunj-i-khardb^" = this desolate
corner, i.e. a tavern, which in Persia is generally to be found in the waste
outskirts of a town. Cf. M., 11. 979-983 : " I am weak ; I was born among ruins
and I am happy there ; but not in drinking wine. . . . He who would live in
peace must retire, like a drunkard among ruins." '^
3. P., N., and W. read "in pawn for wine,"i^ meaning that the speaker had
renounced his future hopes for the forbidden pleasures of this world. L. reads
this, " Souls and hearts and faith and intellects in pawn for wine " i^ as the second
line. The third and fourth lines in L. are entirely different to the other texts.
Compare Hafiz : "Virtuous Sufi, he who, like me, pawns his garments at the
tavern to pay his score, will never be an inhabitant of Paradise." ^"^
8.
This quatrain is C. 102, P. 70, B ii. 32, L. 65, S. P. 75, B. 62, N. 75, W. 77.
I. iihli-zemdnah means probably "people of this time."
Transcript and Translatii
125
■:^ — Jb .ci^jj d3Lj k_fc. 5^
^-
>
\j^\ J-ol^^-i* ^Ij.^ U .Jl^
b^ ^>J^>|. <^^^^ fW^ J^^ O^^
/<-^^;''j-'^'
^/''>^>^,^I/> p
^Ufi
(v .. r ^
^
'fn'j^Z^\4^J^j'
- ^> v'
that person upon whom thou leanest entirely,^
when thou examinest him closely,^ he is thine enemy.
This jug was once a plaintive lover as I am,
and was in pursuit of one of comely face ; ^
this handle that thou seest upon its neck
is an arm that once lay around the neck^ of a friend.
10.
Ah, woe to that heart in which there is no passion,
which is not spell-bound by the love of a heart-cheerer !
128 Notes
I. B. ii. and L. read " without wine." "
This quatrain is C. 30, B. ii. 26, L. 133, S.P. 24, B. 130, N. 24, W. 28, and
in it we find the sentiment of Fitzgerald's quatrain (F. %•. S) that made its first
appearance in F. ii., and was never altered. The more direct inspiration of
that quatrain came, no doubt, from the 47th quatrain of this MS. (q. v. post).
1. C, B. ii., L., N., and W. read naniet,^ which conveys rather the idea
of a passing period or crisis, than that of a lengthy season.
2. C, B. ii., L., N., and W. read " I drink,'"- for " I desire. '
3. B. ii., L., N., and W. read kdmrilniye," a. synonym. C. reads for this
line, " I make a wine-drinking, for that is my life " ; < but I think this must be an
error of the scribe in my copy, his eye having wandered to the fourth line.
4. C, B. ii., N., and W. all read "Do not reproach it,"'' i.e., the wine,
not me.
5. L. reads " It is pleasant, because it is bitter." " Vide post, note to q. 89.
6. The word "acrid" is not quite right. Binning {vide p. xxv., note 2)
observes very appositely (vol. ii., p. 331, note): "The word mei-khoosh^ ex-
presses a combination of sweet and acid flavour, common to the juice of many
fruits and different wines, etc. It is singular that we have no English word to
express this ; for I suppose a mongrel term like ' dulco-acid ' can hardly be
called an English word."
This quatrain is C. 91, P. 124, B. ii. 37, L. 41, S. P. 26, B. 38, N. 26,
and W. 30. There is a strong suggestion of F. v. 25 (F. i. 24) in it.
I. dasi yusi,^ - literally, "arriving of the hand at," i.e., power.
^ 'J6^j> t^ f^ juy ^ (*) jy l^ (S) ^y (2) e^y (1)
Transcript and Translation
i2g
w
&^
«^ — '^ s?-^'>-^ r^>-^ *^^ ^^r
i^ — x^ JUoUs dXjJ ^) ^l^c:. -^
si fT**^ fcK.-w%a~Jj <%^) J^^s^^» z*--^
«i>wvj;>-/« JL-S'jJ^ dXjT)l '//?^
'(■
» * •
the day that thou spendest without love,^
there is no day more useless to thee than that day.
II.
To-day being the season^ of my youth,
I desire ^ wine, for thence comes my happiness ; ^
reproach me not,* even though acrid ^ it is pleasant ;°
it is acrid in that it represents my life.
12.
Thou hast no power ^ to-day over the morrow,
and anxiety about the morrow brings thee only melancholy ;
130 Notes
2. shaidd^ = literally, "love-sick." In C. the line ends "for your heart
cannot persevere."^
3. C, B. ii., N., and W. all read "bakd"^ for this, meaning "end,
upshot, remainder," rather than as here, " value, beauty."
13-
This quatrain is P. 194, W. 116, de T. 2, and this and No. 80 {q. v. post), but
especially this one, give us the original sources of FitzGerald's quatrain (No. 4 in
all his editions) :
Now the New Year, reviving old Desires,
The thoughtful Soul to Solitude retires,
Where the White Hand of Moses on the Bough
Puts out, and Jesus from the ground suspires.
It is one of the quatrains found only in the Bodleian MS. and in P.
1. Vide note i to q. 12. W. appends a note, " bakhushi dust ras'i,"* an aid to
Joy, i.e., Spring. The line might be rendered, " Now that happiness is within
reach of the world."
2. zendah delira means here the heart, alive in the spiritual sense of the
mystic or initiated, as opposed to the pleasure-seekers of the world indicated
in the first line. De Tassy (de T. 2) translates it " le spiritualiste " ; F.'s " thought-
ful soul" is a good rendering. W.'s rendering, "And lively hearts wend forth,
a joyous band," is, I think, unfortunate.
3. The White Hand of Moses is a reference to the sign of his election
given to Moses on Mount Sinai (Exodus iv. 6) : " And he put his hand into his
bosom, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous, ivhite as snow." We
find references to this also in the QurTm, in ch. vii. 205, and again in ch. xxvi. 32,
where the miracle is stated to have been performed before Pharaoh: "And he
drew forth his hand out of his bosom, and behold, it appeared white unto the
spectators." The learned commentator Al Beidawi says that Moses was a very
swarthy man, and that " his hand became bright like the sun." Cf. M., 1. 453,
a reference to this same miracle.
4. The revivifying properties of the breath of Jesus are alluded to alike in
Christian and Muhammadan traditions. In the QurTm, ch. iii., we find : " I will
make before you of clay as it were the figure of a bird ; then I will breathe thereon
and it shall become a bird." Jellal'ud-din, commenting on this passage, refers to
Christ's miracles of the raising of Lazarus, the widow's son, and the daughter of
the ruler of the synagogue. We find reference hereto also in the 43rd quatrain of
Whinfield's text : "Since Isa breathed new life into my soul."'' There is a beautiful
reference to this life-giving breath in the Masibat namah of Ferid-ud-din Attar.
Cf. also M., 1. 451 : " If someone was resuscitated by the breath of Jesus." 1°
14.
This quatrain is P. 66, B. ii. 135, L. 64, B. 61, W. 115, and is found
only in the Bodleian MS. and the Lucknow lithographed edition by W. The
objective dn-ra that commences the first line makes the meaning of the Bodleian
quatrain almost hopelessly obscure, or, rather, makes literal translation impossible,
and the ft-ra^ which begins the ruba'i in P. does not help us. W. has grasped
the meaning, but his charming lines do not exactly represent the Persian.
B. ii. reads ^i7_ya,3 "as one might say," "as it were," which makes sense and has
the authority of age.
1. L. reads " Torment grows not on every shoot of (the Tree of)
Knowledge." s
2. B. ii., L. and the Paris MS. read " Because in this path no one is
perfect."'
^j «^-,o ^^ (4) 15. (3) ^..^U J .^^ J (2) lo^ (1)
")/ v^ite* JW* ji j-^ "^J"^ (") o^ '^'^j (***^ S5>*~^ f**^ •^' ^ (^)
^-/ (:') W {') — ;>^ — ^ vT-f «b ^.j^ ^ U) (")
Transcript and Translation
^31
S^w<^ l«>-w8 fcs-Jj j] ^^ ^j ^jC« ^Ub
fa s ««>.<. ..... Tl fcJ) l^^<2-=> ^5**^ VcS''^ 5JJ^ *ifc
LTl?^ v.5'-^ y^ >J^
»^J 5[; ^„^»3 fc::... — J ^) dkS" fcc-. l\j
jUh
'^^c^jf^y/A
>' . y
waste not thou this moment if thy heart be not mad/
for the value ^ of the remainder of this life is not manifest.
13.
Now that there is a possibility of happiness ^ for the world,
every living heart -^ has yearnings towards the desert,
upon every bough is the appearance of Moses' hand,^
in every breeze is the exhalation of Jesus' breath.^
14.
For him for whom the fruit ot the branch of truth has not grown, ^
the reason is that he is not firm in the Road."
1 32 Notes
3. The precise meaning of this Hne in this place is obscure. I take it to
mean that men shake the loose bough that bears the fruit of knowledge in vain.
L. reads: "Everyone has struck the loose bough with impotent hand."i The
variant in the Paris MS. takes us no further.
4. Meaning, life begins anew each day, and the Last Day will be identical
with the Day of Creation.
15-
This quatrain is one of the few that seem to be linked with a preceding or
subsequent one. This again only occurs in the Paris, Bankipur and Bodleian
MSS. and the Lucknow edition; it is P. 114, B. ii. 69, L. 59, and B. 56, and is
reproduced as W. 114. It formed the original of F. v. 66, which did not make
its appearance until F. ii., in which it is No. 71, the two last lines differing
somewhat :
I sent my Soul through the Invisible,
Some letter of that After-life to spell ;
And by and by my Soul returned to me.
And answered, " I Myself am Heav'n and Hell."
Here we have an echo of FitzGerald's study of M. Cf. 1. 303 (Terminal Essay,
p. 310). Vide in his own translation of that poem (L. R., vol. ii., p. 451) :
I was the Sin that from Myself rebeli'd ;
I the Remorse that tow'rd Myself compell'd
Sin and Contrition — Retribution owed.
And cancell'd — Pilgrim, Pilgrimage, and Road,
Was but Myself toward Myself: and Your
Arrival but Myself at my own Door.
I. The Laiih ii Kalam are the Tablet and Pen wherewith divine decrees of
what should be from all time were written. Compare Qur'fin, ch. Ixviii. i :
"By the Pen and what they write, oh! Muhammad, thou art not distracted."
Cf. M., 1. 262 : " The Tablet of divine decrees, and the Kalam appeared
manifest." -
16.
This quatrain is not found elsewhere than in the Bodleian MS., and it is
W. 113, though W. 's translation of the first two hnes is more than free. We
find an echo of it in F. v. 41, which made its appearance in its original form
as F. ii. 55 :
Perplext no more with Human or Divine,
To-morrow's tangle to the winds resign.
And lose your fingers in the tresses of
The Cypress-slender Minister of Wine.
I. ruzJyi man ast : literally, " is my sustenance, or daily bread."
«< ' ^^^ J^ J=^ "= — '^ ''^j U-^ J^ (M
Transcript and Translation
133
\6
c
\i
W ■iifivi.'fTiiii^
/U)^
•• V. L/* * *
/.z±^
..A «•
jU-lj
Every one has feebly shaken with his hand the bough oj
tnith.^
Know that to-day is Hke yesterday, and that to-morrow is hke
the First Day of Creation.*^
15.
Already on the Day of Creation beyond the heavens my soul
searched for the Tablet and Pen^ and for heaven and hell ;
at last the Teacher said to me with His enlightened judgment,
" Tablet and Pen, and heaven and hell, are within thyself."
16.
Arise and give me wine — what time is this for words ?
for to-night thy little mouth fills all my needs ; ^
II
134 Notes
2. \V. reads jiawhet} i.e., " turn, condition, period ' ; but as he only collates
the Bodleian MS., one may assume that he was deceived by a clerical error in
his copy.
17-
This quatrain is C. 84, P. 126, B. ii. 59, L. 193, B. 190, and W. 112,
and is one of those (No. 6) translated by E. C. Vide post, note to q. 20. There
is an echo in it of F. v. 21.
1. nislm-i-iwruz : literally, "the breath of the spring." 710-ruz is the
Persian New Year's Day (21st March), on which the Sun enters Aries and begins
the Vernal Equinox of the old Solar year, as compared with the variable Lunar
year, which dates from the Hejra. It is commemorated to this day by a festival,
said to have been instituted by Jamshyd, whose calendar Omar Khayyam rectified,
and to which he refers in F. v. 57.
2. dil-fiirilz : literally, "heart enlightening," vide q 10, 1. 2.
3. L. reads " upon the lawn." ^
18.
This quatrain is C. 113, P. 201. B. ii. 75, L. 214, B. 211, and W. iii. C/.
Inferno, ix. 97 : " Che giova nelle fata dar di cozzo ? "
1. The meaning of this is " How long shall I perform empty ceremonies ? "
The futility of the operation is referred to in F. V. a,'] , q. v . suh (\. 51. It is a reference
to the game of " Ducks and Drakes," which was known to the ancient Egyptians,
and also to the Greeks under the name €Tro(TTpaKi(Tfio {-) «^y (^)
Transcript and Translation
135
w
'•^--- ^ ' ^ ^;»;y ^♦-y^ J_^ S^^^ ^
1^- — -> (j^y^ t^y" ^y^ *^ -.itSs ^S^^^^ j\
give me wine, rose-coloured as thy cheeks,
for this penitence^ of mine is as full of tangles as thy curls.
17-
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 and do not speak of yesterday, for to-day is sweet.
18.
How long shall I throw bricks upon the surface of the sea?^
I am disgusted with^ the idol- worshippers of the pagoda.^
II — 2
/
136 Notes
4. In L. and with a slight variation in B. ii. these two lines read :
" To-night I am occupied with fair youths,
I desire wine and a loved one — what are heaven and hell ? " ^
19.
This quatrain is C. 64, P. 95, B. ii. 77, L. 40, S.P. 37, N. 38, W. 42,
and is the original of Fitzgerald's quatrain (F. i. 62, ii. 92, v. 85) :
Then said a second — "Ne'er a peevish boy
Would break the bowl from which he drank in joy ;
And He that with his hand the vessel made
Will surely not in after wrath destroy."
1. C. is identical with this, but B. ii., N., and W. read ki(ja ravii ddrdd^ =
"Why should he permit," etc.
2. B. ii. and N. read sak 2 =" legs " ior pat, and L. reads dast — " hands."
3. N. and W. read If A^/ t7 (fas/ 3 = " and palms and hands." C. and B. ii. read
sar = " head " for kef, which is neater than this, which can only be rendered " from
(his) finger tips." Sir William Jones, in his delightful "Grammar" (London, 1771
and i8og, p. 91), justly observes ; " The noun sar has a number of different senses,
and is therefore the most difficult word in the Persian language ; it signifies the
head, the top, the poitit, the principal thing, the air, desire, love, ivill, intention, etc. ; and
sometimes its meaning is so vague that it seems a mere expletive."
4. C. reads az berd'i* = " on what account," etc.
5. P. and L. use the synonym ajzdl.^ I am not sure that " the ingredients
of a drink that he has compounded " would not be a better rendering of this line.
20.
The references to this quatrain are somewhat confusing ; compare C. 23 and
55, B. ii. 24 and 88, L. 84, N. 22 and 42, S. P. 22, B. 80 ; the nearest to it, as a
whole, is P. 162 :
Line i is the same as L. 84, line i, and W. 26, line 2. This line is not at all in
C. or N.
Line 2 is the same as C. 23, line i (var.) ; L. 84, line 2 (var.) ; N. 22, line i
(var.) ; and W. 26, line i (var.).
Line 3 is the same as in C. 23, L. 84, N. 22 (var.), and identical with N. 42.
Line 4 is the same in all the texts, and is repeated in N. 42.
It contains the germ of F. v. 28-9: "I came like water, and like wind I go,"
etc. ; and this quatrain and No. 17 doubtless suggested F. i. 37, which he eliminated
in its complete form from all subsequent editions :
Ah ! fill the Cup : what boots it to repeat
How Time is slipping underneath our Feet ;
Unborn To-morrow, and dead Yesterday,
Why fret about them if To-day be sweet !
Compare also the notes to q. 121.
1. juybdr means a great river formed of many small ones, or a place
abounding in streams, as opposed tojity,^ a small stream.
2. This line in C, B. ii., S. P., N., and W. reads; "These two or three
days of the period of my existence pass by."^
3. This line in C, B. ii., S. P., and N. reads: "They pass as passes the
wind in the desert."''
v5r^ (') Sf. j' (') — ^ ^'-^ }(:')^ ^^ (-) '^)^^ ^i) ^ {')
4,jS -♦* «-s^*> t'j^J fix-* «<>> <^ lOi' (^)
.^ (9) ^I^T (8)
Transcript and Translation
ny
\=1
/ '
Khayyam ! who can say that he will be a denizen of hell,
who ever went to hell, and who ever came from heaven ? *
ig.
The elements ^ of a cup which he has put together,
their breaking up a drinker cannot approve,^
all these heads and delicate feet'^ — with his finger-tips,^
for love of whom did he make them ? — for hate of whom * did
he break them ?
20.
Like water in a great river ^ and like wind in the desert,'
another day passes out of the period of my existence ; '
138 Notes
4. This line in C, P., B. ii., and N. reads; " So long as I live I will not
grieve for two days," etc.^
This quatrain is C. 49, B. ii. 86, L. 94, B. 90, and W. no, without
variation. We hear its echo in F. v. 29, and it forms the original of F. i.
and V. 30 ; ii. 33. E. C. translates it also (No. 8) :
What, without asking, hither hurried whence ?
And, without asking, ti'hither hurried hence !
Oh, many a Cup of this forbidden Wine
Must drown the memory of that insolence !
Cf. Inferno, xxiv. 119 : " O giustizia di Dio, quant' e severa ! "
1. Compare F.'s " First Morning of Creation."
2. No doubt, in composing his two first lines, FitzGerald had also in his mind
C. 235, which is N. 117 and W. 145, which may be rendered thus : ^
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 an end of it, and do not know what was
the purpose of this coming, and going, and being.
This quatrain is C. 59, P. 205, B. ii. 94, L. 74, S. P. 81, B. 70, N. 81,
W. 83, and FitzGerald himself gives a translation of it in his preface (F. v.,
p. 8), an unrhymed translation made by Prof. Cowell, and forming part of a
quotation from his Calcutta Review article, and therefore literally exact. The
original Persian is very clear and simple, and no variation of Prof. Cowell's
translation is necessary or desirable.
I. An allusion to his father's trade, tent-making, from which he took his
Takhallus or poetic name, and at the same time to his own philosophical labours.
0^-A# ^^o^^ ^^Jf ^^,^^\ ^^J
Transcript and Translation
139
fcs,..£uNi JIj \y j)ij^ ^J ^ 3^y^
«^..-si ))j J.J ^ ^JX.T ^^
s>.^J^-^ fca..^X e> ^gl^fc yjT. di (•Uc*
JUO
** ^^
grief has never lingered in my mind — concerning two days,*
the day that has not yet come and the day that is past.
21.
Seeing that my coming was not for me the Day of Creation/
and that my undesired departure hence is a purpose fixed for me,"^
get up and gird well thy loins, O nimble Cup-bearer,
for I will wash down the misery of the world in wine.
Khayyam, who stitched at the tents ot wisdom,^
fell into the furnace of sorrow and was suddenly burnt ;
140 Notes
2. C, B. ii., and W. rea.d dalldl-i-kasd^ =" the broker of destiny," and
N. reads dalldl-i-'ajl^ =" the broker in a hurry," as a pendant doubtless to
mikruz-i-'ajl = the shears of Fate in line 3. We have in this line an echo of the
concluding line of F. v. 93, "and sold ray reputation for a song."
23-
This quatrain is C. 96, P. 204, B. ii. g6, L. 82, S. P. 42, B. 78, N. 43, W. 46,
and is the third of de T.'s examples. It is one of a not infrequently recurrent
class of ruba'i which inspired FitzGerald's remarkable quartette of quatrains,
F. V. 78-81. Those quatrains, however, were directly inspired by one of the
finest passages in the Mantic-ut-tair. (M., 11. 215-218 and 218 bis (error of num-
bering) = 22o.) Compare, also, the Epistle to the Romans, ch. v. 20: "Where
sin abounded grace did much more abound." FitzGerald had also before him
another ruba'i (C. 65), whose concluding lines closely resemble this quatrain :
" If I do not sin, what is Mercy to do (with itself) ?
His Mercy is called into existence by my sins." ^
W. 120 is a variant of this latter quatrain.
24.
This quatrain is C. 75, P. 21, B ii. 108, L. 181, S. P. 45, B. 178, N. 46,
W. 49, and we find an echo of it in the first line of F. v. 63: "Oh, threats of
Hell and Hopes of Paradise." It is also the fourth of de T.'s examples.
I . sauma'ah is distinctively a Christian cell or monastery ; madraseh, the school
attached to a mosque; da'ir, a collective monastery or cloister ; and kinisht, a Jewish
synagogue.
.; 8L_^ ^ ^^ ^ (3) ^ JHo (2) UJ JJo (I)
Transcript and Translation
141
rr
Jl^)^
—
the shears of doom cut the tent-rope of his existence,
and the broker of hope^ sold him for a mere song.
23-
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 ?
24.
In cell, and college, and monastery, and synagogue ^
are those who fear hell and those who seek after heaven ;
\
142 Notes
2. Literally, "in the stomach of his heart." C, B. ii., P., N., and W.
read andrun-i-kbud} i.e., " in his own bowels (or heart)." W. appends a note:
" Meaning souls reabsorbed into the Divine essence have no concern with the
material heaven or hell." I think the simplicity of the original sufficiently
conveys the writer's meaning.
25-
In this precise form this quatrain is, as far as my researches go, only to be
found in this MS., in B. ii. 115, and in L., where it is No. 96, with trifling
verbal variations, and B. 92 ; but a variant so close in general form and meaning
as to be readily referred to as identical is P. 328, N. 82, and W. 84, and, with
slight variations which bring it nearer to our Bodleian MS., C. 67. This
quatrain (C, P., N., and W.) may be rendered :
In the season of Spring with a houri-shaped idol,
If there be one jar of wine on the edge of the field,
However much, according to doctrine, this may be bad,
I am worse than a dog if I remember heaven. 2
We have in this quatrain the sentiment of F. v. 12, 13 ; but a closer parallel
is found to them in qq. 149 and 155 of this MS. {q. v. post).
I. "Thenceforth" is perhaps a liberty, but in many places in this MS. it
seems indicated as the correct rendering of uz dnhi, or of uz anguh.
26.
This quatrain, which hardly varies in the texts I am using for reference, is
C. 83. B. ii. no, L. 192, S. P. 85, B. 189, N. 85, and W. 87. We have here the
sentiment of the first two lines of F. v. 47 :
When you and I behind the Veil are past,
Oh, but the long long while the World shall last ;
and the last two lines of F. v. 74, which made its first appearance as F. ii. 80 :
Drink ! for you know not whence you came, nor why,
Drink ! for you know not why you go, nor where.
Vide note to q. 29.
i,^ ;^ «i^ b ;IV? Jo* ;0 (2) O^ ^^^;^l (1)
/? v>>? /• cS- fij^ ^.
1^1 %iA\i Ou aI^ ^T^ >A^ Jb
V
Transcript and Translation
143
13
he who has knowledge of the secrets of God
sows none of such seed in his heart of hearts.^
25-
If in the season of spring a being, houri-shaped,
gives me on the green bank of a field a goblet full of wine,
(though to everyone this saying may seem uncouth)
a dog is better than I am if thenceforth^ I pronounce the name
of heaven.
26.
Know this — that from thy soul thou shalt be separated,
thou shalt pass behind the curtain of the secrets of God.
144 Notes
I. The other texts begin, line 3, " mai khur," and line 4, " khush bash."
The meaning is not affected.
27.
This is quatrain C. 79, P. 228, B. ii. 112, L. 200, S. P. 47, B. 197, N. 48,
and W. 51, which are identical as to the first three lines, save for unimportant
synonyms, such as budam for shudam in the first line, and kdri ^ for chtzi in the
third.
1. W. notes here KacrlyvrjTo^ Oavarolo. Compare the opening lines of
Shelley's " Queen Mab " :
How wonderful is Death —
Death, and his brother Sleep!
2. C, B. ii., L., N., and W. all read for umrahat, bt-zir-i-khdh^ =
" beneath the earth," and begin the line " mai khur," as passim.
28.
This, one of the most mystic and interesting quatrains known to me, occurs
only in this MS., and is reproduced as W. 109. A remote echo of it is to be found
in F. V. 50 :
" Yes, and a single Alif were the clue.
Could you but find it — to the Treasure-house,
And peradventure to the Master too."
^^ jiji e) ^j^
Transcript and Translation
145
rv
jdii
-^^^P^/Zl^^hi
} U»>h
^^f-y'/^
i^'
^^'^'/m
14
Be happy — thou knowest not whence thou hast come :
drink wine^ — thou knowest not whither thou shalt go.
27.
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 for ages."^
28.
My heart said to me: — "I have a longing for inspired knowledge;
teach me if thou art able."
146 Notes
I. Mr. Whinfield, instead of dividing the line after " Alif," reads: " I said
the Alifkafat," 1 and dispenses with the verb gtift ( = " it said"), and appends a note :
"The One (God) is enough; probably a quotation. Hafiz (Ode 416) uses the
same expression ' He who knows the One, knows all.' " With all respect, I differ,
for gu/t seems the necessary verb in the line, governed by dil = "the heart." The
Alt/ kafat is, however, a recognised oriental idiom, meaning " Alif sufficeth,"
i.e., the one necessary letter, meaning "the One God," referred to again in the
fourth line as kes, literally " Some-one = The One " and " One letter," i.e., the
Alif representing God, as well as the numeral "one." The whole quatrain is
mystical and doctrinal.
29.
This quatrain is C. 56, P. 63, B. ii. 103, L. 61, S. P. 43, B, 58, N. 44, and
W. 47, and we get the echo of it in F. v. 32, 34, and 47 :
There was the Door to which I found no Key ;
There was the Veil through which I might not see, etc.
Cf. M., 11. 3891-2. And again :
When you and I behind the Veil are past, etc.
F. infused into this quatrain the sentiment of M., 11. 146-153. (Terminal Essay,
p. 308.)
1. Literally, " there is not a way for anyone."
2. ta'biyah (or ta'hiyat), an Arabic word signifying " an array set out," as of
soldiers or furniture, etc. For this word C. has shu'badeh-yijdn'^ = "juggling about
of the soul." It will be observed that the coupling of these words gives quite a
new construction to the whole line.
3. C. and W. for hich read tlrah,^ obliterating the double negative and giving
us " save in the dark heart," etc. B. ii. and N. are identical with this.
4. C. and B. ii. are identical with this; but L., N., and W. begin: afsils hi
1)1 fasdnahd^ = "Pity (it is) that these fables are not short." The line trans-
lates literally, " Drink wine, for such fables are not short," meaning, " It
will take long to expound the fable (or illusion) of human life." The Paris
MS. reads, "Hear thou that such fables," etc. Cf. M., 11. 152-3: "They have
harassed themselves much, and reap in the end but feebleness and astoundment." ^
30-
This quatrain is C. 108, P. 155, L. 49, S. P. 51, B. 46, N. 51, and W. 54. It
is B. ii. 497, ending in he, and, in it we find the germ of more than one of F.'s
quatrains dealing with the Secret. The whole verse is a protest against the
mystery made of holy things by the self-styled " initiates."
1. C, B. ii., P., N., and W. for rdz read sirr.^ Note in these two lines the
words sirr and its broken Arabic plural asrdr, and its synonym rdz. rdz-i-nihdn
means idiomatically a profound secret, such as the place of one's death, future
events, etc.
2. S. P. and N. (alone) begin the line "rdz az hemeh bidbuldn," ^ etc., " the
secret must be hidden from every nightingale." P., B. ii., and L. begin " rdz az
hemeh ablahdn," etc., a slight variant of this MS.
LyL.i ^.1 (5.^ ^^1 (■') ij-i^ (■') o^ ao..;Jui. (-) «:^2^ <_all (l)
oJLL &^ j\ j\j (6) ^ (0)
Transcript and Translation
147
j^ ^^ j-^-^. >?"^
»|j Job ^^^-J ^^^li <'uJb ^j ^[;
Ji^tj
«»•/?
15
I said the Alif. My heart said:^ — "Say no more.
If One is in the house, one letter is enough."
29.
No one can pass^ behind the curtain that veils the secret,
the mind of no one is cognizant of what is there ; ^
save in the heart of earth we have no* haven.
Drink wine,* for to such talk there is no end.
30.
The mystery^ must be kept hidden from all the ignoble,
and the secrets must be withheld from fools.^
148 Notes
3. This line in C, P., N., and W. has the same meaning, but is constructed
differently.! B. ii., L. and N. for bejai read hejdn-i-mardavidn r giving us, " Consider
how you yourself act towards the souls of men." L., "men and souls," u for
the izdfat.
4. chashm means " eyes" and " hope" {vide post, q. 80, note 2). This pas-
sage might be rendered, " Our regard (for them)," etc., sed quare. Cf. Dante,
Convivio, iii. 8.
31-
This quatrain is P. 25, C. 87, B. ii. 60, L. 195, S. P. 31, N. 31, and W. 35.
Compare q. No. 95 (post). This quatrain inspired F. v. 71 :
The Moving Finger writes ; and having writ.
Moves on ; nor all your Piety nor Wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,
Nor all your tears wash out a Word of it.
And the same idea reappears in the parallel quatrain F. v. 73 :
With Earth's first Clay they did the Last Man knead,
And there of the Last Harvest sow'd the seed :
And the first Morning of Creation wrote,
What the Last Dawn of Reckoning shall read.
N. quotes in a note a parallel passage from Anwary : — " If the affairs of this
world are not governed by Fate, why do the projects of men turn out contrariwise
to their desires ? Yes, it is Fate that leads men irresistibly towards good and bad,
and that is why their endeavours come always to naught." ^ Compare Ephesians
iii. 9 : " The mystery which from the beginning of the world hath been hid
in God." Cf. Paradiso, xx. 52 : " '1 giudizio eterno non si trasmuta."
1. C, B. ii., L., N., and W. for zJn pish read bar /wA^ — upon the Tablet.
Compare lilh u kalam in q. 15.
2. C, B. ii., L., N., and W. read dsudah,^ meaning the same.
3. P., C, B. ii., L., N., and W. read andar takdiy^ = ln Destiny.
32.
This quatrain is B. ii. 129, L. 105, B. loi. I do not find it in C, N., or
W., but it is the fifth of the examples given in de T.'s pamphlet.
1. fasl-i-gul, the time of flowers (esp. roses) = the Spring.
2. kisht = a sown field as opposed to a wild prairie ; so F. in F. v. ii., " the
sown," vide qq. 40 and 45. The lab-i-kisht is the raised embankment of grass round
a cultivated field. Compare the passage in Jami's Beharistan (6th Garden) : "We
went out one spring day with a company of friends and acquaintances to enjoy the
air of the fields and obtain a view of the desert."
3. Literally, " With one, two, three people," etc.
4. sirisht means either "shaped" or " natured. L. for dhl reads tdzeh,''
giving us " with a few young houri-shaped playmates."
6j^ (J) ^aJ ;0ol (6) SJ^I {'■>) ey jf (^)
Transcript and Translation
149
^J^ ^^^ %,^^ 15* ^ ^ y^
j!j4 «A-.v^b dsJl ^ J^) )^j j^
rv
• V
'-^
16
Consider thine actions towards thy fellow men :*
our hopes ^ must be concealed from all mankind.
31-
From the beginning^ was written what shall be;
unhaltingly the Pen writes, and is heedless^ of good and bad;
on the First Day^ He appointed everything that must be —
our grief and our efforts are vain.
32.
In the spring,^ on the bank of the river and on the edge
of the field,'
with a few companions* and a playmate houri-shaped/
12
150 Notes
5. Independent alike of Islam and Judaism, the two principal creeds
followed in Iran.
33-
This quatrain is C. 90, P. 148, L. 199, S. P. 90, B. 196, N. 90, W. 92, and
inspired F. v. 67 :
Heav'n but the Vision of fulfilled Desire,
And Hell the Shadow from a Soul on fire,
Cast on the Darkness into which Ourselves,
So late emerged from, shall so soon expire.
He got his verse mainly, however, from M., 1. 1866. (Terminal Essay, p. 311.)
1. N.andW. for ten read '«7?;r= existence — a frequent interchange in the MSS.
2. Jihun = the river Oxus. Compare line 399 in "Prometheus Bound":
SaKpvcria-TaKTov d—' 6cr(rwv paSti'wi' S' eifSofieva peos Trapetav voriots erey^a
TTa-yat? = " shedding from tender eyes a trickling river of tears, I wet my cheeks
with fountains of rain."
3. C, P., L., and W. read chashn} giving us " my strained eyes."
4. It is interesting to note the interchange of "f" for "p" in Persian.
Firdus = paradise ; Farsi = Persian ; Peri = fairy ; Farsang = parasang (Gr.), etc.
34-
This quatrain is C. 51, P. 323, L. 95, B. 91, and W. 108, and contains the
original inspiration of F. i. 12 :
" How sweet is mortal sovran'ty ! " think some :
Others, " How blest the Paradise to come ! "
Ah, take the Cash in hand and wave the Rest,
Oh, the brave music of a distant Drum !
As F. ii. 13, it practically reached its final form :
Some for the glories of this World ; and some
Sigh for the Prophet's Paradise to come ;
Ah, take the Cash and let the Credit go.
Nor heed the rumble of a distant Drum !
1. L. and W. read mora chu sur^ for behisht-i-'Adan, meaning " for me like a
nuptial banquet with houris," etc. Paris MS. has a synonymous variant.
2. The second line in C. reads, " And that that after-life will be pleasant
with music and brightness." ^
iJ^r- jr ^ } ^y ^ 1^^ o^ ) (^) ;^ ^ '^ (-) r^ C)
Transcript and Translation
151
A^U Sj^b tM^l ^ ^^yi o^"^"*^
JU/j
f'jS'iu^'-^
yjj^^^}(fyjc/
;/
7-
17
bring forth the cup, for those that drink the morning draught
are independent of the mosque and free from the synagogue.^
33.
The heavenly vault is the girdle of m)' weary body,^
Jihun^ is a water-course worn by my filtered tears,*
hell is a spark from my useless worries.
Paradise* is a moment of time when I am tranquil.
34-
They say that the garden of Eden ^ is pleasant with houris :
I say that the juice of the grape is pleasant."
12 — 2
152 Notes
3. This is W. s line, which cannot be improved upon. It is a common
Persian proverb. Compare the last line of q. 40 (post). L. for be-dar reads
be-shu, synonymous.
4. C, L., and W. for birader read shinudan 1 = to hear.
5. Compare q. 125, 1. 4. This line refers to the kettledrums suspended at
the gates of oriental palaces to summon soldiers, etc. Compare Gulistfin, ch. v.,
story 20 ;
Till thou hearest the morning call from the Friday mosque,
Or the noise of kettledrums on Atabek's palace-gate. 2
Compare also the distich in FitzGerald's translation of M. in I,,. R., vol. ii.,
p. 463 :
Or lust of worldly Glory — hollow more
Than the Drum beaten at the Sultan's Door.
Cf. M., 11. 2162 and 2753. (Terminal Essay, p. 312.)
35-
This quatrain is C. 80, P. 284, L. 188, B. 185, and W. 107. In the first two
lines we recognise the sentiment of F. i. 23, v. 24, which remained unaltered in
all the editions :
Ah ! make the most of what we yet may spend.
Before we too into the Dust descend ;
Dust into Dust, and under Dust to lie.
Sans Wine, sans Song, sans Singer, and — sans End !
And in the last line we recognise the last lines of F. v. G^, which alone remain as
the last lines of F. i. 26. This (F. i. 26) is undoubtedly inspired by this ruba'i :
Oh ! come with old Khayyam, and leave the Wise,
To talk ; one thing is certain, that life flies ;
One thing is certain, and the Rest is Lies —
The Flower that once has blown for ever dies.
It occurs also as in the last line of F. ii., 23, which was omitted in F. iii. and iv.
Cf. Purgatorio, xiv. 86: "O gente umana, perche poni il core la 'v' e mestier di
consorto divieto? "
I. It is open to conjecture whether this word should be read ^il'^ — clay, or
gul* = roses; and in C. there is a zammah, making it gul;^ and W. affixes a
kasrah, making it gU.° Non nostrum tantas compo7iere lites.
36.
This quatrain is B. 93 ; it is found by W. only in this MS. and the Lucknow
edition, where it is 97, and it is reproduced as W. 106.
I. Literally, " This is your very interest from the period of your youth."
L. reads " your very self." ■>
KJ"^ 9^^ *^^ vS'r* J'^ )' ^-
Transcript and Translation
153
«— ^^ >>^^ J>^ j^^y. >^ >b^
^^1.
Hold fast this cash and let that credit go,"
for the noise of drums, brother,* is pleasant from afar.^
35-
Drink wine, for thou wilt sleep long beneath the clay^
without an intimate, a friend, a comrade, or wife ;
take care that thou tell'st not this hidden secret to anyone : —
The tulips that are withered will never bloom again.
36.
Drink wine, for this is life eternal,
this is thy gain from the days of thy youth ; ^
154 Notes
2. W.'s text reads (from the Lucknow edition) : "It is the season of roses and
wine and drunken friends." i
3. i.e., " for that is the only thing worth Hving for."
37-
I do not find this quatrain in C, L., N., or W., nor does F. appear to have
used it.
1. Note the objective >d governing all that goes before it.
2. Literally, " after my heart," i.e., " in my heart's opinion."
38.
This quatrain is C. 81, P. 261, L. 189, S. P. 93, B. i85, N. 93, and W. 95,
and we find in it the sentiment of F. v. 61, which made its first appearance as
F. ii. 63, and was never altered, though F. had C. Si before him when he made his
first edition :
Why, be this Juice the growth of God, who dare
Blaspheme the twisted tendril as a Snare ?
A Blessing, we should use it, should we not ?
And if a Curse,— why, then. Who set it there ?
Mr. Dole (D., p. 118) derives this from a quatrain N. 226 and W. 265, but he
had not studied the Calcutta and Bodleian MSS. It is true that F. had N. before
him when he made his second edition, but this C. and B. quatrain is nearer the
sentiment of his own, and N.'s translation takes unwarrantable liberties with
his text.
•y*- o';^ ^ J^ .> "'-~' v3^ (*^^^ (*)
Transcript and Translation
155
Ll.*-^jl ^^X.U^ b(3'^'~^ ^l—S^J^jj^
19
a season of roses, and wine, and drunken companions^ —
be happy for a moment for this is life ! ^
37.
Give me wine which is a salve for my wounded heart,
it is the boon companion of those who have trafficked in love ; ^
to my mind" the dregs of a single draught are better
than the vault of heaven which is the hollow of the world's
skull.
38.
I drink wine, and my enemies from left and right
say : — " Do not drink wine, for it is the foe of religion."
156 Notes
I. A reference to the permission given to Muhammadans in ch. ii. of the
Qur'an and elsewhere to slay all foes of Islam.
39-
This quatrain is B. 55, and is found by W. only in this MS. and in the
Lucknow edition, where it is 58, and it is reproduced as W. 105.
1. L. begins, " Wine ! thou art a melted ruby."i All the texts teem with
references to the ruby that " kindles in the vine " (F. v. 5), and the idea of the
" molten ruby " is commonly recurrent in oriental verse. Compare the passage in
the Beharistan (7th Garden) :
Wine is said to be a molten ruby,
Whoever beheld that cornelian wine
Cannot discern it from melted cornelian ;
Both are of one essence, but in nature,
The one is solid, the other fluid.
The one powdered colours the hand, the other tasted mounts to the head.
2. Literally, " that is laughing with wine."
3. L. begins, "Cup, thou art a charm" 2 (or hope). The change in these
two lines from the second to the third person is noteworthy.
40.
This quatrain is C. 107, L. 89, S. P. 92, B. 85, N. 92, and W. 94, and we get
again in it the images of the earthly cash and heavenly credit (F. v. 13), and the
sensuous repose of the desert verses (F. v. 11 and 12) before referred to.
I. N. begins bud — " was an inhabitant of Heaven " ; whilst C. and W. read
"Made an inhabitant of pleasant Heaven or," etc.^* L. reads herd for gtift,
" Made me to dwell," etc.
0/ (3) iJU y (w^ (2) M^ ^ r J*^ C)
Transcript and Translation
157
ce-wsl^^ <3L^ bi-J^^ 4^^ f^J^^ <^l?
r=)
ll^
i-'-wJ L-C>, ^jiUJ I Vi*^ «W I ; ■— I , <.:^A.vv>.»,W.fc,
IP.
J(i'^
m^j:-/;
'y
T^^
■^'iLiJ^^ji
';<
When I knew that wine was the foe of rehgion,
/ said : — *' By Allah ! let me drink the foe's blood, for that is
lawful."^
39-
Wine is a melted ruby ^ and the cup is the mine thereof ;
the cup is a body ^ and its wine is the soul thereof ;
that crystal cup that is bubbling over ^ with wine
is a tear in which the heart's blood is hidden.
40.
I know not whether he who fashioned me
appointed^ me to dwell in heaven or in dreadful hell,
158 Notes
2. Literally, "an idol."
3. C, L., N., and W. for "food" and "wine" read " goblet " 1 and "lute,"'
from which F. doubtless got his " Thou beside me singing in the wilderness."
4. i.e., " These are what I am enjoying (as ready cash) in this life, whilst
you are only expecting them (credit) in Heaven."
41.
This quatrain is C. 62^ P. 45, L. 80, S. P. 95, B. 76, N. 95, W. 96, and
contains the inspiration for F. v. 72 (F. i. 52) :
And that inverted Bowl they call the Sky,
Whereunder crawling coop'd we live and die.
Lift not your hands to It for help, for It
As impotently moves as you or L
Cf. M., 1. 24 : " The sky is like a bird that flutters in the direction commanded by
God." (Terminal Essay, p. 308.) Compare q. 154.
1. N. reads " Everything good." ^
2. nihad is " a thing placed," therefore nihdd-i-bashar = h-amai,n nature.
3. kaza and kadar : "The decree existing in the divine mind from all
eternity, and the execution and declaration of the decree at the appointed time ;
the Recording Angels " (Steingass, Diet.).
4. C. and N. read dar mk-i-'ishk,* in the way of (divine) love.
42.
This quatrain is C. 114, P. 149, L. 215, S. P. 98, B. 212, N. 98, and W. 99.
We get in it an echo of q. 10, ante.
I. waraki-zi-'ishk is eminently symbolical. It may be interpreted " a love
story " ; so in French, "une page d'amour." N. and W. read for this tarabi-zi-akl,^
"a joy from wisdom"; whilst C. and L. have rahami-zi-'ahl,^ "the study of
wisdom," and the verb is in the negative.'
.\^ (7) Js;. J ^j (6)
Transcript and Translation
I5Q
«-^ ^j-i ^^^^ s^^ s^>-5
islj^j ^Lo J^y=» .^j ^JV '■^^^^
7
6?fi some food, and an adored one,^ and vvine,^ upon the green
bank of a field —
all these three are cash to me : thine be the credit-heaven ! ^
41.
The good^ and the bad that are in man's nature,^
the happiness and misery that are predestined^ for us —
do not impute them to the heavens, for in the way of Wisdom •*
those heavens are a thousandfold more helpless than thou art.
42.
Whosoever has engrafted the leaf of love^ upon his heart,
not one day of his life has been wasted ;
i6o Notes
2. C, P., N., and W. for ten read khud ; i.e., hts own comfort. L. reads
idn ; i.e., "the comfort of his soul."
43-
This quatrain is C. 47, B. ii. 105, L. no, and W. 104 (W. does not collate
C), and it is included as E. C. 4. It is the original of one of F.'s most beautiful
verses, F. v. 19 (F. i. 18) :
I sometimes think that never blows so red
The Rose as where some buried Caesar bled ;
That every Hyacinth the Garden wears
Dropt in her Lap from some once lovely Head.
Compare Herrick's verse (Hesperides) :
In this little Urne is laid
Prewdence Baldwin (once my maid),
From whose happy spark here let
Spring the purple violet.
1. B. ii., L. and C. read, " In every desert where there is a tulip-bed." *
2. B. ii., L. and C. read, "Those tulips have come there from the blood
of a king." "
3. L. and W. for shdkh read barg^ = leaf.
4. This admiration for moles is universal in the East. Compare Beharis-
tan, 4th Garden : " He fell madly in love with her attractions, distracted by her
curls and her mole." And so Hafiz ;
If that lovely maid of Shiraz would accept my heart,
I would give for the black mole on her cheek the cities of
Samarcand and Bokhara.^
44.
This quatrain is C. 109, P. 165, L. 83, B. 79, and W. 103.
I. Literally, " Sit not secure."
l> Jo 0;l «^^ ^;l^ ^J ^] /I (4) ^j. (3)
Ijls^ * *A^ ■♦.WW «»-X«j&* iJ^itfJJJb A'C^
Transcript and Translation
i6i
JwN^k^ ^lj^ ijS^J «_-JJa Js^ b
rr
V/
^^.>><^:
'It
/1
'T^iijKJSj/Ky^
')y ,
a^>-^-^ti^y'
jii'^
either he strives to meet with God's approbation,
or he chooses bodily ^ comfort and raises the wine-cup.
43-
Everywhere that there has been a rose or tuHp-bed/
there has been spilled the crimson blood of a king;'^
every violet shoot ^ that grows from the earth
is a mole that was 07ice upon the cheek of a beauty.^
44-
Be prudent, for the means of life are uncertain ;
take heed,^ for the sword of destiny is keen.
1 62 Notes
45-
It wil be observed that this quatrain, which is not to be found in C, N., or
W., is practically a paraphrase of q. 40 (ante). Line 2 is practically identical with
line 4 of q. 40, whilst line 4 is identical with line 4 of q. 18 (ante). The quatrain is
probably spurious. Compare also q. 32 (ante) and q. 76 (post). P. 221 is almost
identical, and L. has a corresponding quatrain, No. 37 (B. 34), the first three lines
of which read :
A goblet, and wine, and a cup-bearer on the bank of the field ;
Let all these be mine, and mayst thou enjoy all heaven ;
Hearken not to discourse concerning heaven and hell from anyone. 1
1. See note 2, q. 32, ante.
2. Compare q. 40, 1. 4. "Cash" = present enjoyment; "credit" =
future bliss. It will be observed that, though the Persian is here practically
identical, the rendering is different. The laws of Persian prosody, to which
Omar ever paid strict attention, require that lines 2 and 4 should not end with a
word identical in sound and meaning, he-hisht, therefore, at the end of line 2, is
the third person singular of the aorist tense of the verb hishtan 2 = to rob.
3. Compare q. 18, 1. 4.
46.
This quatrain is P. 183, B. 225, and W. 135 (taken by him from this MS.
and the Lucknow edition, where it is No. 228), and is one of the pair (with q. 94,
post) from which F. derived his allusion to chess in F. v. 69. Cf. also C. 336.
I. To the Persian the Chinese type of countenance was singularly beauti-
ful, chin means also porcelain (or a porcelain idol). Compare Beharistan (7th
Garden) :
" When my love arranged the entangled hyacinth lock of hair.
She placed the stamp of envy upon the heart of Chinese painters.'
Transcript and Translation
fcax-Su^ <^^vJ 1^^ Jji3 j^ *^ eX^
Ju» dJ 5^ ^) JjT SyU Jua ^j
^J,'iS»i\i/^^^,^j
j^)^
24
yesterday thy amorous glance gave to the Shah of Babylon^
the moves of the Knight, the Castle, the Bishop, the Pawn,
and the Queen.^
47-
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.^
48.
Of those who draw the pure date wine ^
and those who spend the night in prayer,^
13
1 66 Notes
When the pure soul is on the point of departure,
What if one dies on a throne or on the face of the earth. ^
5. Here will be observed an echo of F.'s concluding quatrains. The P.
MS. for " Drink wine ! " reads the equally recurrent " Be happy ! "
48.
This quatrain is P. 214, B. 283, and W. 222, derived from this MS., and
No. 287 of the Lucknow edition.
1. L. reads sherdb for nablz. = "pure wine." P. reads "continual draughts
of date wine " " = mudam. Vide note 2, q. 117.
2. Literally, "and those who by night are always at the Mihrab." (Vide
q. 2, note i.) L. ior hemisheh gives the synonym mudam.^ There are other equally
unimportant variations in L.
o^ {') ^j u^ {*) ^J ^ (') e^>^ {-) o^'-^W, {')
i^ j,^ O^jJlj^ y^^ O"^ >X»\ «_-Jl; ^jIe. ^^^^ {^^ Jk*l «__Jj ^^l&■
i)l> ^ Ai£ y^^ liU*! ^^)^ (8) jt &S. ^ \:f.Ji^
o^ U f.\^ (11) ijj; U (10) ^ij^ (9)
3. i.e., "Not one is sure; all are at sea." Cf. M., 1. 387. "I trust that
Thou wilt rescue me from this dark water, and re-establish me in Thy path. ""^
Cf. Shahbistarl, Gnhhan i raz, 1. 27.
4. x.f., God. Compare P. v. 51: " They change and perish all — but He
remains."
49.
This quatrain is C. 140, P. 127, B. ii. 153, L. 264, B. 260, W. 217, and
is a good specimen of the quatrains that have " carpe diem" for their text.
There is a suggestion also in it of q. 68.
1. puyidan means literally " to run to and fro, to search."
2. B. ii. and L. read " this single moment of companionship." 1
3. Cf. Paradiso, xxvi. 137, " I'uso de' mortali e come fronda in ramo. che
sen va, ed altra viene."
50-
This quatrain occurs only in this MS. and L. 262 (in which there are unim-
portant variations), and is reproduced in W. 216. It contains, I think, the
inspiration of F. v. 54 :
Waste not your Hour, nor in the vain pursuit
Of this and that endeavour and dispute ;
Better be jocund with the fruitful Grape,
Than sadden after none, or bitter Fruit.
I. tcmy'iz, literally "discernment."
>j «»X"ic i>.«>. \ 5o (1^
Transcript and Translation
167
25
not one is on the dry land, all are in the water.^
One is awake : * the others are asleep.
49.
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."
50-
Those who are the slaves of intellect and hair-spHtting,^
have perished in bickerings about existence and non-existence;
13 — 2
i68 Notes
2. W. reads bakhabardn = " wise ones," but this is not in this MS., to which
alone he refers in his note.
3. The obscurity of the meaning here baffles satisfactory translation.
51-
This quatrain is C. 129, P. 55. B. ii. 158, L. 232, S. P. 157, N. 157, W. 176,
de T. 17, and doubtless inspired F. v. 47 ;
When You and I behind the Veil are past,
Oh, but the long long while the World shall last,
Which of our Coming and Departure heeds,
As the Sea's self should heed a pebble cast.
It varies considerably in the texts under consideration, excepting in B. ii.,
which is identical. FitzGerald's last Une contains an echo of the first line of
q. 18 {vide ante).
1. N. reads for this line, "From»«>' creation the Age (derived) no advantage."*
C. and P. are identical with N., preserving gardunrd for dawrdnrd.
2. C, P., N., L., and W. read "burdan " 2 for "raftan," which gives a passive
rather than an active meaning to the process of departure.
3. C, P., L., N., and W. read jdh Ujaldlish'^ lor jemdl wajdhash, which conveys
the same idea.
4. N. reads this line (in conformity with his line i), "What might be the
object of my creation or extinction." ^ C, L., and P. retain the expression
az bahr=" on account of," as in this MS.
52.
This quatrain varies a good deal in the texts. The parallel quatrains are
C. 117, B. ii. 148, L. 358, S. P. 112, and N. 112, and it forms the sixth of de T.'s
examples from this MS. L. 371 and B. 367 are corresponding qq.
1. i.e., "The Path of (Divine) Love leads to destruction," i.e., to
spiritual annihilation. C. and N. for andar rdh-i-'ishk read az defter-i-'umr* =
"from the Book of Existence." Compare Hafiz :
The path of love is a path to which there is no end.
In which there is no remedy for lovers but to give up their souls.'
2. C, B. ii., L., and N. for chang read the weaker form dast = " hands."
Cf. M., 11. 1059-1062. "If thou becomest as I say, thou wilt not be God, but
thou wilt be annihilated in Him."'
3. Literally, " we must perish."
ui,v--o 6jU^ ij''^^ ^ &^^ ''b "•- — ^b (^) J** 'y*^ j' (*)
Transcript and Translation
i3jjw» yiyc-^ ^Jy*^' t!)'>5"®^ c)^"^
i6g
c/^X-J^V>^^
^'^r'ojj^'/ulirul/
JU'ij
^'^^'^^-^(/C
6\
^^ <^ y^- J>^ f*^^.? ^ O^^ ^
j^ jjb ^ ^\ <5^^ «2S^ J 6j ^i (3) COLO, fj\» )'/r^ y '^^ J—* (") 'r* i/'y^ J^y^ O
Transcript and Translation
171
jjij jjb ^^ jiJLfc. d^ &j^j ^T
^yu^ ^^^ ^J ^-^ ^ 6A»J j\
27
O sweet-faced Cup-bearer, sit thou not idle,*
give to me water, for dust I must become.^
53-
Now that nothing but the mere name of our happiness
remains,
the only old friend that remains is new wine;*
withhold not the merry hand from the wine-cup
to-day that nothing but the cup remains within our reach.^
54-
What the Pen has written never changes,*
and grieving only results in deep affliction ; "
172 Notes
3. A somewhat similar expression, khun hhuidan, "to eat blood"; ie., to
suffer affliction.
4. i.e., "You do not influence any part of your destiny." Compare
Matthew vi. 27: "And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit unto
his stature" (or "age"). — Revised Version.
55-
This quatrain is not to be found in any of the texts under consideration,
and it is not surprising that it has been avoided in the European editions, for
it is one of the most obscure and involved quatrains in the collection. I am
indebted to Mr. Whinfield and Dr. E. Denison Ross for my rendering.
1. ma'liili signifies " sick people," here taken to refer to the morally
diseased. It might be translated " the love-sick."
2. There is a play upon words here : mashguli, besides meaning " occu-
pation" or "commerce," is also a Sufi term, meaning "having spiritual concen-
tration."
3. The Darvish is a religious mendicant ; the word (like that denoting fakir-
dom) has a secondary meaning — "poor, indigent." {Vide q. iig, post.)
4. Another instance of Omar's affection for the use of words of similar sound.
makbuli is a term applied to Darvishes and the Faithful generally; i.e., the
accepted (of God) — the Elect.
56.
This quatrain is P. 79, B. 241, and is W. 215, drawn from this MS., and
No. 244 of the Lucknow edition. There is an echo of F. v. 46 in it, but this
was, no doubt, inspired by a quatrain in Nicolas' text (N. 137, W. 161), as F.
himself suggests. I think that the poet intends in this quatrain to compare
mortals (earthly bodies) with the planets (heavenly bodies).
I. Literally, " and come again with time."
Transcript and Translation
173
i^Jy^ 6^ ji^ j^
66
61
4^y^,l
•}^^J>^^^j
if:i"^K
UJJ
^'^w/
/
•'J>rJ>-^:^/3.
28
even though, all thy life, thou sufferest anguish,^
not one drop becomes increased beyond what it is.*
55-
O heart, for a while seek not the company of the frail ones ; ^
cease for a while to be engrossed with the commerce ^ of love.
Frequent the thresholds of the darvlshes^ —
perhaps thou mayest be accepted for awhile by the accepted
people.*
56.
Those who adorn the Heavens for a fragment of time,
come, and go, and come again as time goes on ; ^
174 Notes
2. L., for " in the pocket of," reads " beneath the." '
3. L. reads "who in God's own time will rise up "' P. reads "who until
they are annihilated will come again." ^
57-
This quatrain is P. 298, L. 313, B. 309, and W. 236. The meaning is very
obscure, and is involved in verbal gymnastics.
1. Literally, " fallacies."
2. This contracted " if " comes from the beginning of the next line.
3. Literally, " after this."
4. These latter two lines depend upon the double meaning oikhuyiis = " cock"
and "jar." W. reads azjah ^ (meaning " lime ") for arra in the last line, and renders
the two lines :
If they will shut their mouths with lime, like jars.
My jar of grape juice I will then forego.
He appends the following note : " B. reads arra, of which I can make no sense.
bay /ark luham, ' I will put aside ' ; bar fark (line 4), ' on their mouths.' " I think
he stretches the translator's licence too far here. I cannot hear of any authority
for his rendering. In the Paris MS. and the Lucknow edition also, it is quite
clearly arra, which means simply a cock's comb or a saw. We have here two
double puns (so to speak), each word playing on both its meanings in both places.
L. simplifies line 3 greatly by using " sabii-i-mal" ^ for " khurus." In line 4 we get
hamchu khurusem ; the second meaning of khurus, " like ajar," or " like a cock."
5. i.e., They wish to kill me (by striking my head with a saw). Dr. Denison
Ross sends me the following rendering from St. Petersburg : " Those who set
the foundations of faith upon hypocrisy, who come and draw a distinction
between soul and body, if they wish to place a saw upon my head (i.e., kill me),
I, after this, will (none the less) place on my head the wine-jar " (i.e., will con-
tinue to drink wine).
58.
This quatrain is P. 141, L. 270, B. 266, and W. 214, and it is one of the quatrains
that inspired F. v. 26. (The others were C. 236 (N. 120, W. 147) and No. 140 of
this MS., q. v. post.)
1. W. says this quatrain is a hit at the astrologers of the period. Omar
plays on the word aiwan, which may mean also " a palace " ; he refers at once to
the inhabitants of earth and to the planetary bodies.
2. Literally, " Are the cause of hesitation to wise men."
\S &^ (S) ^ ^^^ (4) oUiUT ^O ^\^ li (3) jt) ;0 (2) 8j| (1)
•X<>| jS O iJl> ,^^
Transcript and Translation
175
6V
6A
av « .11 1
Jlili
'j\/j^ij-'f^^^j\
-k^
^v'
^•/!.-yy
-^'/i^'c^^C^*!^^/
^ ^1/i * A
7'
u/
29
in the skirt of Heaven, and in the pocket of^ earth,
are creatures who, while God dies not, will yet be born.^
57-
Those whose beliefs are founded upon hypocrisy,^
come and draw a distinction between the body and the soul ;
I will put the wine jar on my head, if,^ when I have done so,^
they place a comb upon my head,"" as if I were a cock.*
58.
The bodies which people this heavenly vault,*
puzzled the learned.^
/
176 Notes
5. iiioM ki mmddeier-aad = " those who TSgalai&."
59-
Tcis -ziz-^ is C zj.-. P. 112. B ii. 155, L. =53, B 25-, W. 213. E. C. 16.
F. ii. &5
Piire G-::; ::r --' "r e": - - ir-iiivd—
I. " I aj= -:: ihax man (to ^rtiom) fe3r ::-;; i -r liea ci ~v oon-
ezLs'.e-ze >•';:= u:e use of mim and tea in tiicac r* j iirs: .^ea.
: r . L . ard W. read ioi far ns, making it " that /ear is pleasanter to me
th=- - • E C. translates practically as I have firom this MS. As we have
it bere, -:t :.i:t izl life hereafter are considered as ooe vast wfaoie. divided into
two halve: t .i:izii i^i ::' t ; 'i
3. P. readi, ' I: ii 1 = ;:.: :; —= in this world."*
60.
This quaxrain is C. 135. P. 223, B. ii. 146, L. 245, S. P. 106. N. 106,
W. 136, and E. C. 12, and coiitai:is the iasjaration of F. i. 38 :
Oae Moment in Annihilation's Waste,
Ore Moment of the Well of life to taste —
The Stars are setting, and the Caravan
Draws (F. ii. 49) to the Dawn of Nothing — Oh, make haste !
wtdcfa is mTjch closer to the oriatnal, and finer, I think, than the final form
F. V. 48 :
And lo '. the Phantc— Caravan has reach'd
The Nothing i: set cz: frcm — Oh, make haste!
;\C ij» ^^ ^;0
Transcript and Translation
177
6^
jjT ^ ^J^ yS ^ jj^ ^T
^.T ^ ^^>1 >^^ 'j^ (^ o^
;u»'^
v^^
I •
"^ hC
Beware lest thou losest the end of the string of wsdom,
for even the controllers^ themselves become giddy.
59.
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.
60.
This caravan of life passes by mysteriously ;
mayest thou seize the moment that passes happily !
178 Notes
1. /;a^//".
^O'^'-^-'^c/^^
■re
31
Cup-bearer, why grieve about the to-morrow of thy patrons ? ^
give us a cup of wine,^ for the night wanes.
61.
Being old, my love for thee led my head into a snare ;
if not, how comes it that my hand holds the cup of date-wine?
My sweetheart ^ has destroyed the penitence born of reason,'-^
and the passing seasons have torn the garment that patience
sewed.
62.
Although wine has rent my veil,^
so long as I have a soul I will not be separated from wine;
i8o Notes
2. This " they belongs, as indicated, to the fourth hne.
63
This quatrain is only to be found in B. ii., where it is No. 173, and in this
MS., and it is reproduced as W. 235. Its sentiment is recognisable in F. v. 61,
and in the great quatuor F. v. 78-81, but F. made no closer use of it.
64.
This quatrain (in varied forms) is C. 242, B. ii. 163, L. 340, S. P. 151,
B. 336, N. 151, W. 172. In it, as in q. 63, we find the sentiment of F. v. 79 and
perhaps 94. Line i of this quatrain is No. 2 in B. ii., L., N., and W., which
begin with line 2 of this quatrain.
1. C, B. ii., N., and W. (11. 2) read dar sar (as at the beginning of line i),
"in my head," a rare expression, though as W. notes, the Persians generally
regard the head as the seat of all human passions. Compare the line in N. 139
(L. 386, B. 386, a quatrain neither in W., C, nor in this MS.), "That hollow
head that you see is so sensual." ^ Note in 11. i and 2 the conjunctive pronoun
"m" (my) separated from sar and from kef, as is frequent in Persian poetry.
L. reads "dast" for " ke/."
2. B. ii., N. and W. read " always " 2 for " all the year round."
fi-i-.»-6 «i.*«o ^o (2^ j_5~o yj-'y^Sy 6^ j^ •&— l^ ^^l (l)
Transcript and Translation
i8i
sr*/ sT* /*^^ ^^ ^"^ *^^ c5>^^
kJ^ d^ ^b J.J 5J^ 2sUS' «ifc> ^T
If
^^ C>>^=^ c?>^ O^- cTl?-^ r^ >J^
ju /v^^ "-^"^ ''^^ *^'*^ ""^ y-
^^.^^JJJJ^^J,
PL
^^-
"O^.'
->'
• j'^
■ji^i;
32
I am in perplexity concerning vintners, for they^ —
what will they buy that is better than what they sell ?
63.
So much generosity and kindness at the beginning, why was it ?
and that maintenance of me with delights and blandishments,
why was it ?
Now Thine only endeavour is to afflict my heart ;
after all, what wrong have I done — once more, why was it ?
64.
In my mind^ may there be desire for idols houri-like,
in my hand may there be, all the year round,^ the juice of the
grape ;
i82 Notes
3. W. alone) reads for khuda, Izadat,^ your God. L. reads : •' Certain people
tell me God will give repentance.""
4. N. and W. read "gives"^ for "will not give"; i.e., "(even if) he gives it,
I will none of it."
5. duram had answers here to the exclamation " procul esto ! "
65.
This quatrain is C. 172, L. 312, S. P. 142, B. 308, N. 142, and W. 165, and it
contains the germ {inter alia) of F. v. 93-95, inculcating the vanity of regrets over
soiled reputation or lost honour, and the futility of repentance.
1. The Wuzu ablution, or ceremonial washing before prayers, which consists
in washing first the hands, then the inside of the mouth, then throwing water on
the forehead, washing the whole face, the arms, and lastly the feet. (Steingass.)
2. Vulg., " to whitewash " = nikU kerdan.^
3. N. and W. for "Be happy" read "give wine, for now this veil," etc.*
L. is identical with this MS., and C. begins " Drink wine, for this veil," etc.^
4. N. appends a note to the effect that this is an epigram against the
fatalism of the Qur'an with regard to pre-ordained punishment, which the Sufis
deny as being contrary to the infinite mercy of God.
66.
This quatrain in this identical form occurs only in this MS. Q. 8g
{q. v., post) is, however, so closely allied to it as to suggest that one or the other
has been added by a later scribe. Compare also q. 146.
1. A Persian acquaintance of mine reads this gid (rose) instead oi gil (clay).
Both readings are within the spirit of the poem, but the weight of evidence is,
I think, on the side oi gul. Vide note i, q. 35.
2. khvar kerdan — to despise.
Transcript and Translation
183
jL_fcJ 6i^ \j-J )J^ ^ ^>-4^
^b
in
^b:>!^'>s— jy;J/
■ ^'r''^A>i}xi
•-<-r^. .■••••/•'. "
'^V^:r-'-'^><'^^/
^/ s?" U^-^'->^^ j>. jX3 dj ^ / I • f-^T, ^h>'/,^'JJ
33
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!
65.
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.*
66.
I saw upon the terrace of a house a man, alone,
who trampled upon the clay,^ holding it in contempt ; ^
14 — 2
184 Notes
3. This expression, which occurs similarly in qq. 89 and 146, refers to the
language of the unknown world. Steingass gives as a rendering " language
expressed by one's condition," therefore "as well as it could," but the rendering
given here is more correct in this poem.
4. lakad khurdan, literally " to eat kicks."
67.
This quatrain is P. 230, L. 291, S.P. 153, B. 287, N. 153, W. 174, and is the
original of F. v. 6 :
And David's lips are lockt ; but in divine
High-piping Pehlevi with " Wine ! Wine ! Wine !
" Red Wine ! " the Nightingale cries to the Rose
That sallow cheek of hers to' incarnadine.
The reference to " David's lips " comes not from this MS., but from M., 1. 625,
and C. 89 (et passim), David being, in Oriental poetry, the type of a sweet singer,
as is Joseph of male beauty. Cf. M., 1. 3813. Compare the Gulistan (ch. v.,
story 10), " That David-like throat had changed, his Joseph-like beauty had
faded." 1 Persian poetry is filled with references to the love of the Nightingale
for the Rose. Cf. M., 11. 742-6. Vide q. 135, note 2. (Terminal Essay, p. 310.)
Binning {vide p. xxv., note 2) observes that the Persian nightingale arrives from
its migration with the roses in April, and disappears with them at the end of
the summer. (Vol. ii., p. 312.)
1. Literally, " the cloud."
2. Literally, " from the cheek of the rose-garden."
3. Pehlevi (or Pahlawi) was the language of the ancient Persians. F. calls
it in a note, "the old heroic Sanskrit," but this is a philological error. L., N.,
and W. read ha zahan-i-hal, as in the preceding quatrain. Vide q. 66, note 3.
4. Yellow is the colour indicative, in Persian literature, of illness, answering
to our word "sallow." Compare q. 69, line 2. Cf. Vita Nuova, viii. : " Lo viso
mostra lo color del core."
68.
This quatrain is C. 151, P. 336, L. 277, S.P. 156, B. 273, N. 156, W 175,
E.C. 31. The last two lines give us the origin of the last two in F. v. 15 :
And those who husbanded the Golden grain,
And those who flung it to the winds like Rain,
Alike to no such aureate Earth are turn'd
As, buried once, Men want dug up again.
1. E. C. translates "my," but sar-at can only mean "your head." P., C, L.,
N., and W., for bar sar-at, read ghammahat - = " your sorrows."
2. Literally, " a night attack," leading to the inference in line 4.
3. P., L., and W. are identical with this ; C. and N. read the line :
" Order, oh Idol, some rose-coloured wine." ^
C5- ^- ^ S^J> (')
Transcript and Translation
185
34
that clay said to him in mystic language:^ —
"Be still, for like me thou wilt be much trampled upon."^
67.
It is a pleasant day, and the weather is neither hot nor cold ;
the rain ^ has washed the dust from the faces of the roses ; ^
the nightingale in the Pehlevi tongue ^ to the yellow * rose
cries ever : — " Thou must drink wine ! "
68.
Ere thd± fate makes assault^ upon thy head,^
give orders that they bring thee rose-coloured wine ; ^
1 86 Notes
4. Literally, " gold." These two lines refer to the practice in the East of
burying treasure to hide it when a night attack (line i) of dacoits or robbers is
anticipated. Omar whimsically compares this practice with the resurrection of
the body after death, which he doubts.
5. E. C. translates "poor brain-sick fool!" which would aptly translate
P.'s variant, which, however, he had not seen.
6g.
This quatrain is C. 158, P. 212, B. ii. 199, L. 308, S. P. 109, N. 109, and W.
139. It is the original of F. v. 91 :
Ah ! with the Grape my fading life provide,
And wash the body whence the life has died.
And lay me, shrouded in the living Leaf,
By some not unfrequented Garden-side ;
which made its first appearance as F. i. 67, with the last two lines :
And in the Winding-sheet of Vine-leaf wrapt.
So bury me by some sweet Garden-side.
Cf. the story of Hippocrates in M., 11. 2360-2364: "When Hippocrates was at
the point of death one of his pupils said to him, ' Oh Master, when we have
washed and shrouded thy body, where shall we bury thee ? ' "s
1. zitthar = Beware ! C. L., N., and W. begin, " Oh Friends ! sustain
me," etc. ^
2. Compare q. 67, note 4. C, B. ii., L., N., and W. read " cheek "^ for
"face." hah-ruba means, literally, " attracting straws " ; hence "amber," the
^jXeKTpov of the Greeks. Cf. Gulshan i raz, 1. 194 : " The Truth, as amber,
attracts thee like a straw."''
3. N. and W. read chun murdah shavam,^ and C. and L. read chiin fawt
shavam,^ which mean the same. B. ii. is identical with this.
70.
This quatrain occurs only in this MS. (of those under consideration). It is
probably a casually interpolated address to Malik Shah.
^ *^^\. e* i r*)^ \J^ Oft
Transcript and Translation
187
^yJ^^hjjiUj,://,
i
Vyv— •'/'y^
35
thou art not treasure,^ O heedless dunce,^ that thee
they hide in the earth and then dig up again.
69.
Take heed^ to stay me with the wine-cup,
and make this amber face ' Hke a ruby ;
when I die,^ wash me with wine,
and out of the wood of the vine make the planks of my coffin.
70.
O Shah ! destiny appointed thee to sovereignty,
and saddled for thee the horse of empire ;
1 88 Notes
I. til in line 3, and na-nih'id in line 4, go together. Literally, " until he did
not place."
71-
This quatrain is P. iig, B. ii. 208, L. 294, S. P. 164, B. 290, N. 164, "W.
182, and is No. 8 of de T.'s examples. Cf. M., 1. 3316 :
The true lover must be like fire ....
There can be no second thoughts to the true lover ; etc. 1
1. Literally, "it has no water." One of the many figurative uses of db.
"It has no splendour," vulgarly speaking, cf. "it doesn't hold water." Cf.
M., 1. 1749 : " I am helpless," literally, " My liver holds no water." 2
2. khabish ; the third pers. sing, termination sh governs all the antecedents.
3. C/. M., 1. 3167 : "Can he who shares the torment and passion of love
find rest by day or night ?"3 Cf. also M., 11. 3499-3509, the story of "The
Sleepy Lover," and Purgatorio, xviii. 103: " Ratto, ratto, che il tempo non si
perda per poco amor."
72.
This quatrain is C. 176, B. ii. 211, L. 357, S. P. 175, B. 353, N. 175, and W.
190. In it we recognise the sentiment of F. v. 27 (concerning which, however,
vide post, q. 121), and also F. v. 32 :
There was the Door to which I found no Key ;
There was the Veil through which I might not see ; etc.
Compare Tennyson's lines in "In Memoriam " :
So runs my dream, but what am I ?
An infant crying in the night ;
An infant crying for the light,
And with no language but a cry.
I. i.e., the orbit of human understanding.
f^ )^ ^J' ^ (-)
Transcript and Translation
i8g
Jlgjj ^^)^. &jl^^ J^ (*^ <-^l yj^
36
when thy golden-hoofed charger moved/
setting foot upon the clay, the earth became gilded.
71-
A love that is imaginary has no value ; ^
like a fire half-dead, it gives no heat.
A true lover, throughout the month, and year, and night, and day,^
takes neither rest, nor peace, nor food, nor sleep.^
72.
No one has solved the tangled secrets of eternity,
no one has set foot beyond the orbit,^
I go Notes
2 Literally, " when I look." C, B. ii., L., N., and W. read man mi-nigaram,^
" I see."
3. Literally, "impotence is in the hand of," etc. Cf. Faradiso, vii. 62:
" Molto si mira e poco si discerne."
73-
This quatrain is C. 179, L. 256, S. P. 176, B. 253, N. 176, W. igi, and we
find in it the germ of F. v. 41, which made its first appearance as F. ii. 55.
Perplext no more with Human or Divine,
To-morrow's tangle to the winds resign,
And lose your fingers in the tresses of
The Cypress-slender Minister of Wine.
Cf. Paradiso, xv. 146 : " il mondo fallace il cui amor molte anime deturpa."
1. N. and W., for "live thou," read "that thou mayst be." 2 L. reads
jehan bemiri,^ " worldly empire."
2. Vide the original MS. The transcription of this word is doubtful, but
the best sense is made with begusil. C, L., N., and W. so read it, and I have so
transcribed it.
3. This line varies considerably in the texts. N. and W. read " Be happy
in that thou art (for) this revolving sky." * C. reads " Be happy, for bereft of me
and thee, these months and years." ^ L. reads "Be happy a moment, inasmuch
as this revolving sky."^
4. C. and L. follow this MS. N. and W. for "days" read "revolutions."*
74-
This quatrain occurs only in this MS., and is reproduced as W. 211, and this
and q. 82 contain that flower-sentiment which one traces in F. v. 40, which made
its first appearance in a slightly modified form as F. ii. 43.
I. ncstrin has many flower-meanings; one finds it used to mean narcissus
principally, but also dog-rose, white rose, and clover.
&^U^ Ji.lAy6, (4) ^5^^ ^^\^ (3)
^5;^0 (7) eU» ;,^0 ^J^I fi^Ue. ^^ ^J»\i Ji,yi, (6)
Transcript and Translation
igr
(J Jjj i> ^> i^^ ^^^^v*
37
since, so far as I can see,** from tyro to teacher,
impotent are the hands ^ of all men born of woman.
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 ?
74-
The heavens rain down blossoms^ from the clouds,
thou mayest say that they shed blossoms into the garden ;
192 Notes
2. W. reads this to mean a violet jug, but I fail to find his authority.
75-
This quatrain is C. 202, P. 324, B. ii. 234, L. 356, S. P. 182, B. 352, N. 182,
and W. 197. It contains a humorous protest against the doctrine of predesti-
nation, whose highest expression we find in F. v. 80. There is also here a strong
suggestion of F. v. 61, which made its first appearance as F. ii. 63.
Why, be this Juice the growth of God, who dare
Blaspheme the twisted tendril as a Snare ?
A Blessing, we should use it, should we not?
And if a Curse — why, then. Who set it there ?
1. i.e., " sensible."
2. N. and W. for tnan binazd read u nazd-i-khuda} that (wine-drinking of
mine), etc.
3. With the exception of B. ii. the other texts read az azal,"^ from earliest
eternity, for bi azal, on the Day of Creation. Concerning azal, vide post, q. 107,
note I.
76.
This quatrain is C. 173. P. 189, B. ii. 233, L. 315, B. 311, and is No. q of
de T.'s examples. We find in it the idea conveyed by F. v. 24 :
Ah ! make the most of what we yet may spend,
Before we, too, into the Dust descend ;
Dust into Dust, and under Dust to lie,
Sans Wine, sans Song, sans Singer, and — sans End.
Compare Herrick's verse " To Sappho," which might also be appended as a
parallel to qq. 5, 35, 73 and 97 :
" Let us now take time and play.
Love and live here while we may ;
Drink rich wine ; and make good cheere,
While we have our being here :
For once dead, and laid i'th grave,
No return from thence we have."
Jjljl(2) \^,,y)\(l)
Transcript and Translation
193
V6
T t/'^
jdl^
^>u/
^^^
38
in a lily-like cup I pour rosy wine,
as the violet clouds ^ pour down jessamine.
75.
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.
76.
Do not allow sorrow to embrace thee,
nor an idle grief to occupy thy days ;
194 Notes
I. Vide q. 32, note 2, and compare also q. 45. Line 3 in L. reads, " Drink
wine! on the verge of the verdure and of the flowing stream." ^ P. reads, "For-
sake not, for a moment, the bank of the river and the margin of the stream." ^
B. ii. combines these two readings, ^
77-
This quatrain is C. 165, P. 283, L. 305, B. 301, S. P. 179, N. 179, W. 194,
and is the original of F. v. 59 :
The Grape that can with Logic absolute
The Two-and-seventy jarring Sects confute ;
The sovereign Alchemist that in a trice
Life's leaden metal into Gold transmute.
1. Literally, " bear away." P. reads, " the calamities of time."*
2. i.e., wine.
3. Literally, "you drink."
4. P., N., and W. read, yck men,^ one measare. As to men, vide q. 155, note 2.
78.
This quatrain is C. 174, P. 282, B. ii. 228, L. 243, S. P. 180, B. 240, N. 180,
W. 195. Compare Herrick's verse :
"... I love to have it smirke and shine,
'Tis sin I know, 'tis sin to throtle Wine.
What Mad-man's he, that when it sparkles so,
Will coole his flames, or quench his fires with snow ? "
Transcript and Translation
fca.«J > .. ^ <_.Jj j\i «--~J^ <_»U^ ^JJvX^
195
vv
^j>l 6^ Jl ...*..;^ < ; ^^jJC >Jt.^.
J^ fcs-J^ ^^Jh** <^Jj^ ^^J^ '■^
VA
'/'•
IL^^/i'jhk
V
jtji l^ 'ly i /f
^^'4-e4(::<^.
*• I 4
A
> Yf(j?S^/,
■^^v^
'^yj
39
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.
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.
78.
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 ;
ig6 Notes
1. This line varies very much in the texts. C. and P. and B. ii., slightly
varying, read, " Whenever you have collected these four conditions." i L. is the
same, substituting cin-gdh'^ for har gdh. N. ends the line amad jam',^ "are
collected."
2. In L. the fourth line is the second repeated. In B. ii. and N. this
line reads, " After that who would drink save wise men." *
79-
This quatrain is P. 281, B. ii. 227, L. 293, B. 289, and is not elsewhere.
It recalls the lines in the Gulistfin (ch. i, story 2) :
" Many famous men have been buried underground,
Of whose existence upon earth not a trace has remained.
And that old corpse which had been surrendered to the earth
Was so consumed by the soil that not a bone remains."*
1. Note the double preposition bi-khak dar, etc.
2. L. reads hhttmrah " a synonym.
3. L. reads '»'= existence.
80.
This quatrain is C. 204, P. 157, L. 272, S. P. 186. B. 268, N. 186, and W. 201,
and has been referred to as one of the originals of F. v. 4, in the notes to
q. 13, ante.
1. Literally, " zephyrs." C, L., N., and W. read sebzah,'' verdure.
2. This is line 4 in the other texts, and varies considerably. C. reads, " In
the eyes of the clouds (or, in hope of rain) the veils are parted." " L., N., and P.
read d'ula,^ synonym for chashm-ha. The use of the word chashm, meaning
"hopes" and "eyes," imparts obscurity to this line. L. and N. make their
meaning clear.
^ (j-j (*) f-*j^ J-«T (•') sl^l (-) JkiT ^e. \oyi, Juif^ ^^>\ a.^ c\S js, (i)
Transcript and Translation
197
v=i
J^ 6;j^j ^LaJ
d^
^>=^sr-
J^ &y^^ ^^, ^^j^ jj~J. fci^-s^lc*
A.
^>j/ijf<^
J.
?^
/;/\
^c:^^^^
^ ^'p?)
O'^^^./
t
)\!i\>
-t^(7u»;/
&3D tj ji 4Jl;J 0.$:^-. (5)
sr^ (')
Transcript and Translation
199
^-"^ 0>?^ -^^J> 0^~-^ S?--^
A\
JiU^) ^LaJ ^jiu-jLs /^ >fc
jiU^ ^ jidT ^jS Sjjj ^j
^ *
^
BB
:.t.i^if.>l/;.
> u
JU'/j
41
the hands ^ of Moses appear like froth ^ upon the bough, ^
the breath of Jesus comes forth from the earth."'
Every draught that the Cup-bearer scatters upon the earth ^
quenches the fire of anguish in some afflicted eye.'^
Praise be to God! thou reahzest that wine^
is a juice that frees thy heart from a hundred pains.
82.
Every morning the dew bedecks the faces of the tuHps,'
the crests of the violets in the garden are bent downward ;
15—2
200 Notes
2. Literally, " from the rosebud pleasure comes to me."
. i.e., " whose petals are closed." W., copying L., begins the line, " (Even)
if^ it gathers," etc.. which is better than this ku,'^ which is a contraction of ki n.^
83-
NoTA. — The first line of 83 is line i of W. 205, the rest of which is 84, and vice versd.
.. 84 .. W.234 ., .. 83
This quatrain is only lo be found in this M.S., whence it became W. 234.
This and 84 are the originals of F. v. loi, which varied in all the editions. F. v.,
however, is as good as any, for us :
And when like her, oh Saki, you shall pass
Among the Guests Star-scattered on the Grass,
And in your joyous errand reach the Spot
Where I made One — turn down an empty Glass.
The first two lines come more especially from q. 84.
This quatrain is P. 226, B. ii. 245, L. 290 (as here), S. P. 191, B. 286,
N. 192, and W. 205 (with line i of W. 234). Here again we remark the
coincidence of two apparently connected quatrains coming together in a diwiin
arrangement.
,1 ^ (3) / (2) / (1)
Transcript and Translation
201
Ar
Jws-j;-^ ^Ijjj jjLoJLj ^-^ ^Ijli
d^ JjIj
Jw^JL^ ^IwJk^ Jw«^ Uj kC^ ei s'y
AP
jujji^ ^iUo ^«j^ J^-*^ b"^>-=*
43
verily, most pleasing to me is the rosebud'-^
which gathers its skirts close around itself.^
83.
Friends, when ye hold a meeting together,
it behoves ye warmly to remember your friend ;
when ye drink wholesome wine together,
and my turn comes, turn a goblet upside down.
84.
Friends, when with consent ye make a tryst together,
and take delight in one another's charms.
202 Notes
1. iiiughanah means anything connected with the Mughs or Magians {i.e.,
the Guebres, or Fire-worshippers), and came to be a synonym for age, superiority,
excellence, in which sense it is used here. S. Rousseau has a very interesting
note upon the history of this word at p. 176 of his " Flowers of Persian Literature "
(London, 1801),
2. dii'ct means here the invocation, or salutation before drinking. (C/.
" Your health ! " and " toasts " in general.)
85-
In this identical form this quatrain is not in any of the texts under con-
sideration ; but in a more or less varied form it is C. 171, P. 332, L. 310, S. P. 193,
and N. 194. A quatrain identical in sentiment, but quite different in expression, is
C. 221, B. ii. 143, L. 389, and N. 191, and I do not find either of these in W.
Compare q. 139.
1. C, P., and L. read this line, " One Cup is worth a thousand men and
their religions. 1 dil-u-din = "heart and faith," is a common Eastern phrase. Cf.
M., 1. 1707, " the value of an hundred lives." ^
2. Whether the scribes who made my copies of C. and P. erred or not,
I cannot tell, but they read memkket chnnin 2 '* (a thousand) such empires."
Perhaps the nun is interpolated. Sed quiere, it being in both MSS.
3. In C, L., and N. this Hne reads, " What is there on the face of earth
sweeter than wine." ^
86.
This quatrain is P. 20, B. ii. 250, B. 410, and W. 256, taken from this
and L. 414. The first line of L. is the second of this, the second of L. being
the first of this slightly altered.
I. L. reads, "Sever thyself from the bonds of wife and children."* Cf.
Gidshan i ruz, 11. 944-956, an absolutely identical passage. Also Qur'an, ch. 64,
V. 15 : " Oh ye believers ! your wives and children are nothing but dangerous
enemies to you, against which ye must be on your guard " (P.N., p. 229).
e**) c5^; :^ (') O^^ ^:^.S1^ (•-) ojj\ ^.o Ii o^ j\)t> r^ eii (1)
oi' '*;;' o^ *** (■") 0) '^ ) y b'^y^ (*) jr^}^ *'^^ ) *^ — <^
Transcript and Translation
203
Jwj^ jli L_£>jj 1^1.i a^L-s-J
A6
A1
y
V^^/. '-- U«^>^j u
J iif> iyUj',^(r
fM
\j,!0"fry{
^>^-^
.j^^
V
43
when the Cup-bearer takes round in his hand the Mugh* wine,
remember a certain helpless one in your benediction.^
85.
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.
86.
// thou desirest Him, be separated from wife and children,
bravely move thine abode from thy relations and friends;^
204 Notes
2. L. uses the word sadd-i-nlh ' for band-i-riih. Compare New Testament
(Matthew xix. 21, ct passim): "If thou wouldst be perfect, go, sell that thou hast
and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven."
87.
This quatrain is B. ii. 258, L. 403, S. P. 202, B. 399, N. 203, and E.C. 9
1. dzfidd, which means "free, noble, venerable," is often used in poetry to
mean the lily, and also the cypress, which is quite within the sentiment of the
poem.
2. aTilim-i-klidk means equally the earth or the human body. L. and N.
read, " since thou knowest that all creatures are earth." ^
3. N. reads, "that passes in two days."^ One may compare these lines
with the Gulistiin (Introduction) :
"The intention of this design was that it should survive,
Because I see no stability in my existence."*
Cf. Vita Nuova, xxiii. : " frale vita, '1 suo durar com' e leggiero ! "
88.
I have not found this quatrain in any of the texts under consideration. It
contains something of the sentiment of F. v. 60, quoted sub q. 81.
Transcript and Translation
205
ly <.a >....fr>M JjJ
6^
y^ y
^^-j-j J-o ^^^^ a^ j ^saU ''tu^T ^j J*J ^T
^1==. ^l5:> «^j^ 6^ ^)j ^ ^^
AA
^L*J ^.^S^y^ ^^ySj^^ S«jb »T
y:
-^.
>-'^V->y«> , jL^j>^[
Jlih
y^.
^l.
J'J/'^^//>l/
:^;fjl
u^
44
whatever is, is an hindrance" on the road for thee,
how canst thou journey with these hindrances ? — remove them !
87.
Bring me that ruby in a clear glass,
bring ni& that companion and intimate of all excellent people : ^
since thou knowest that the duration of this earthly world '^
is a wind that quickly passes by,^ — bring mc wme.
88.
Arise ! bring physic to this oppressed heart,
bring that musk-scented and rose-coloured wine ;
2o6 Notes
I. Literally, "the ingredients of the antidote." It is interesting to note that
Steingass defines mufarrih " a species of exhilarating medicine in which rubies are
an ingredient " ; this accords with line 4, and the whole sentiment of Omar.
This quatrain is C. 261, P. loo, B. ii. 274. L. 411, S. P. 210, B. 407, N. 211,
and W. 252. Compare with it q. 66, and also q. 146. It is the original of
F. V. 37, the first version of which, F. i. 36, is even closer to the Persian :
For in the Market-place one Dusk of Day
I watch'd the Potter thumping his wet clay :
And with its all obliterated Tongue
It murmur'd : "Gently, Brother, gently, pray!"
F. in his note tells the story told by the Taj-i-dar in the Mantik-ut-tair of
Ferld-ud-din 'Attar of the prophet who found that the same spring water that was
sweet in itself became bitter in an earthenware cup. (M., 11. 2345-2359.) To
whom the cup spoke as follows :
The Clay that I am made of, once was Man,
Who dying, and resolved into the same
Obliterated Earth, from which he came
Was for the Potter dug, and chased in turn
Through long vicissitude of Bowl and Urn :
But howsoever moulded, still the pain
Of that first mortal Anguish would retain.
And cast and re-cast, for a Thousand years
Would turn the sweetest Water into Tears.
Fitzgerald's Translation, L. R., vol. ii., p. 467.
1. N. for " fresh " reads " tank "' — a heap or lump. L. reads pdrali- — a
piece.
2. Vide note 3, q. 66.
3. L. for " well " reads ^araw; •'' = reverently.
90.
I find this quatrain only in P. 266, S. P. 196, and N. 196, which are identical
with it.
.5*'/ (*) *>v C) ^J>^ C)
Transcript and Translation
207
^b^ ^Jj) f.J^J^ ^^j-^dSj)^ 4^vi
^L-^ ii^ ^o**ft> **
J(^l.
'w l^f/lj h'
if thou desirest the elements ^ of sorrow's antidote,
bring ruby wine and the silk stringed lute.
89.
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." '
90.
Drink of that wine that is eternal life,
it is the stock-in-trade of youthful pleasure, drink !
45
2o8 Notes
91.
This quatrain is C. 260, B. ii. 275, L. 410, S. P. 199. B. 406, N. 200, and
W. 244. All vary more or less. In L. lines 2 and 4 are transposed. Cf. Qur'an
ii. 172 : "There is no piety in turning your faces to the east or west, but he is
pious who believeth in God . . . and disburseth his wealth to the needy."
Cf. Dante, Convito, iv. 28 : " Iddio non vuole religioso di noi se non il cuore."
1. The sunnat are the Traditions of Muhammad supplementing the Qur'an,
and held in almost equal reverence.
2. The far'izdt are the ordinances of God. Therefore the word hakk}
which in the other texts takes the place of the objective ra, is pleonastic. N. reads
the line, " Of religious exercises perform (only) those commanded by God." '^
3. Literally, " mouthful," i.e., share your goods with others.
4. N. and W. read, " and do not seek to afflict anyone." ^ C. reads, " and
do not afflict (your) fellow-mortals."^ In B. ii. and L. the line reads, "Do not
make designs upon the life or property of anyone." ^
5. W. for day 'iihda reads hem rm'da,^ a synonym implying obligation.
6. Compare P.N. chap. 55 : " Offer to the poor, oh my son, a portion of
what thou possessest, whether thy possessions be small or great."'
I do not find this quatrain in C., P., L., S. P., N., or W., but it is B. ii.
280 identically.
1. maguy expresses doubt, and answers to the phrase " sed quare."
2. i.e., the Cup.
^ _, (4) .\Ji \^ ^^ y (3) ^1^ ^ »&^^ i^lL ;.| (^) i^ (1)
6^_, r* ^) o^" '^* sT^ ^^ sT^ ^^ -'^ ^^) -''■^^ '-^^
r^, S u=^ .) ■^'^' *5;''^ *^'j 1*^ O'^)^ *^- ts^ .>' u=^v (")
Transcript and Translation
2og
Ij^ ^^51 jioT ^ esjjj)^
jLj esjb ^v:-« ^^^^ ^^T "esJ.^ j^
yJi-^ ^— J^ >J J^.' ^)^ ^J
jiS)^
jd'^
46
it burns like fire, but sorrows
it makes like the water of life — drink !
91.
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 !
92.
Wine is rose-red, and the cup is filled with the water of roses,
— maybe,^
in the crystal casket ^ is a pure ruby, — maybe,
210 Notes
93-
This also I do not find in the texts under consideration, with the excep-
tion of B. ii., where it is No. 283. It contains the inspiration of F. v. 93-4 :
Indeed the Idols I have loved so long
Have done my credit in this World much wrong :
Have drown'd my Glory in a shallow Cup,
And sold my reputation for a Song.
Indeed, indeed. Repentance oft before
I swore — but was I sober when I swore ?
I. Compare Hafiz: " Let us break again our vows of repentance in the midst
of the roses."! And also the passage which occurs in his first ode: "All my
actions, the outcome of my desire to satisfy my yearnings, have dragged me down
to an evil reputation." '-
94•
This quatrain is C. 280, P. 31, B. ii. 291, L. 443, S. P. 230, B. 439, N. 231,
W. 270, and is No. 27 of E. C.'s specimens. It is the original of F. v. 69 :
But helpless Pieces of the Game He plays
Upon this Chequer-board of Nights and Days ;
Hither and thither moves, and checks, and slays.
And one by one back in the Closet lays.
The first two lines in F. i. 49 read :
'Tis all a Chequer-board of Nights and Days
Where Destiny with Men for Pieces plays.
In all the other texts under consideration, except the Paris MS. and B. ii.,
the first two lines are transposed. I'ide note to q. 108, post.
I. Literally, " In the manner of truth, and not in the manner of
metaphor."
J? ^^Lm.;o /o i^y ,.-^5^ U (1)
Transcript and Translation
211
j-y * CK-v^Ui) fc^L-,sS=» «_>lx^
=ir
J\^h
y>^^^>T^j
J^y
I f'
47
a melted ruby is in the water, — maybe,
moonlight is the veil of the sun, — maybe.
93-
Every vow we make, we break again,*
we shut once more upon ourselves the door of fame and
fair repute ;
blame me not if I act as a fool,
for once more am I drunken with the wine of love.
94-
To speak plain language, and not in parables,*
we are the pieces and heaven plays the game,
212
Notes
95-
This quatrain is P. 59, B. ii. 292, L. 430. S. P. 215, B. 426, N. 216, and W. 257.
Together with q. 54 {q. v., ante), it supplied the inspiration for F. v. 71 and 98 :
The Moving Finger writes ; and, having writ,
Moves on : nor all your Piety nor Wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,
Nor all your Tears wash out a Word of it.
Would but some winged Angel, ere too late,
Arrest the yet unfolded Roll of Fate,
And make the stern Recorder otherwise
Enregister, or quite obliterate !
1. P., N., and W. read, " \Vhy grieve so much about this protracted
affliction." 1 B. ii. presents a slight variant compounded of both readings.
2. P., L., N., and W. read "suffering"'- for "the times."
3. Vide note i, q. 15, ante.
4. Literally, "does not come back."
96.
This quatrain is P. 264, B. ii. 296, L. 439, S. P. 223, B. 435, and N. 224.
1. Literally, "a veil of cloud."
2. B. ii., L. and N. omit this ii, connecting nature and heart with
the izafat.
Ojo (2) )\jO g=; ^^.jl (^ y ^5;^ «^ ^.'■^^ (1)
Transcript and Translation
213
^^^ ^ >-J (^^ >>J^
:ir.
jd'h
48
we are played together in a baby-game upon the chessboard
of existence,
a7td one by one we return to the box of non-existence.
95-
Oh, heart ! since in this world truth itself is hyperbole,
why art thou so disquieted with this trouble and abasement ? '
resign thy body to destiny, and adapt thyself to the times,^
for, what the Pen has written,^ it will not re-write for thy sake.*
96.
On the face of the rose there is still a cloud-shadow,'
in my nature and heart '" there is still a desire for wine ;
16
214 Notes
3. L. reads "time"' for "place"— /.c, "What time is this for sleep?
Vide q. 97, note 2.
4. P., L., and N. read "Drink"'- for "Give"
5. Compare Hafiz :
It is morning, oh Saki, fill the cup with wine,
The rolling vault of heaven does not linger, make haste !
The Sun of Wine rises from the east of the cup,
If thou seekest the pleasure of mirth, bid farewell to sleep.'
97-
This quatrain is C. 271, P. 262. B. ii. 299, L. 425. S. P. 227, B. 421, N. 228,
and W. 267, and in the last line we find the inspiration of F. v. 64 :
Strange, is it not ? that of the myriads who
Before us passed the door of Darkness through,
Not one returns to tell us of the Road
Which to discover we must travel too.
1. "To throw dust upon "'^ is a common Persian idiom for expressing
contempt, or for counting as nothing.
2. Literally, "There is time (or place) yet for," etc.
3. For 'abadat C. reads 'itdb amad*=^" rebuke comes," and N. 'atdbCishad,^
" favours there may be," and for nemdz (vide note 2, q. 2) both read mijdz^ = \onging.
4. B. ii., N. and W. read "travellers."^ Cf. M., 1. 3206, which F. probably
had in his mind. (Terminal Essay, p. 316.)
5. P. reads "moon-faced"^ for "fair of face."
98.
I do not find this quatrain in any of the texts under consideration.
.U IL* (5) OW.T wUe (4) ^^jX:i^\ Ji\^ (3) j^ (2) «^^ (1)
Transcript and Translation
215
^Ijj) ^le. ^l^ jiJAi) ^ ^ V)
=1A
Jo? ^^"^ c)/ *-^^ ^ v/ ->^- -^^
/. t* '/^^ iV
^'^^u/L:^y(P^^
yl
jj->^
XT
^L';
49
sleep not, what right hast thou to sleep yet ? ^
give me^ wine, sweetheart, for it is still daylight.^
97-
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 ?
98.
Fill the cup ! for the day breaks white like snow,
learn colour from the wine that is ruby ;
16 — 2
2i6 Notes
99.
This quatrain is C. 276, P. 346, B. ii. 301, L. 435, S. P. 229, B. 431, N.
230, and W. 269, practically without variation.
1. takbir zadaji is to make renunciation of self and all things worldly, by
means of the formula Allah akhbar, before beginning prayer. Hence the takbir
comes to signify any renunciation ; thus, to pronounce the takbiy of anyone is to
renounce his friendship. Here Omar indulges in an irreverent jest, and renounces
the nemiiz themselves, it being orthodox to renounce sometliing.
2. gardroi darciz khdan : to stretch the neck means in Persian idiom " to
passionately desire."
This quatrain is C. 283, P. 99, B. ii. 303, L. 446, B. 442, W. 274, and is No. 25
of E.C.'s examples. It forms the original of F. v. 35 :
Then to the Lip of this poor ear them Urn
I lean'd the Secret of my Life to learn;
And Lip to Lip it murmur'd, " While you live,
Drink ! for, once dead, you never shall return."
1. C. reads az ghayat-i-naz} with great persuasiveness.
2, Literally, " the cause or means of long life."
•ji Mfala •j\ (1^
Transcript and Translation
217
'^^y-su ^p^^ b^>-^ }^ ^^^y-
j^, jjc> ^j ^T^ ^Lj jy:> c^
jUc>T <^^^ "^^Jtr^ y-^'^ f*^''^y^
jT «:^l^ jl j»J^ 6)^' ^-Jji c_J
d l fL wol^ a.Jl1=> ^^ Ij
J l^lj
:^l
■(A
;//
^^^V>-^0-
JU
J I
/ji'^j'
50
take two fragrant aloe logs, and brighten the assembly,
make one into a lute, and burn the other.
99-
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.
100.
In great desire ' I pressed my lips to the lip of the jar,
to enquire from it how long life might be attained ; '^
2i8 Notes
3. Literally, "and said in secret." B. ii. and L. read this line, " In mystic
language it told me this secret." ^ P. reads :
" The cup said to me in mystic language,
I was a soul like thee, enjoy the moment like me."'
4. Compare Gulistan, ch. i., story 9.
I spent my life in precious hopes, alas !
That every desire of my heart will be fulfilled ;
My wishes were realised, but to what profit ? since
There is no hope that my past life will return.^
This quatrain is C. 294, P. 154, B. ii. 315, L. 468, S. P. 239, B. 464, N. 240,
and W. 280. It contains the sentiment of the shortness of life and duration of
eternity which signalises many of F.'s finest verses. (C/. M., ch. xxvii.) P. 172
repeats this ruba'i with very slight verbal change.
1. L. reads " days " ^ for " hours."
2. Compare P.N., ch. Ixxi., and de Sacy's notes upon it.
This quatrain is C. 291, P. 202, B. ii. 322, L. 454, S. P. 241, B. 450, N. 242,
and W. 282, and we find in it the germ of F. v. 42 :
And if the Wine you drink, the Lip you press,
End in what All begins and ends in — Yes ;
Think then you are To-day what Yesterday
You were — To-morrow you shall not be less.
It will be observed that the original form of this verse was much closer to the
original Persian, F. i, 47, the last three lines of which run :
End in the Nothing all things end in — yes —
Then fancy while Thou art. Thou art but what
Thou shalt be — Nothing — Thou shalt not be less.
1. C. for " wine " reads " love,"'' and B. ii. and L. for "with wine" read
"full of wine." <>
2. The familiar Idla riikh, L. and N. read " with a smooth-cheeked one " ; ^
C. reads " fresh-cheeked." ^
■jiyS- j^S- ^.J>^ >Jwi< ^;-~i» «J>--«I ^^J^ (')
OuiT jlj» j»^0 j\ fca-»-~JiJ jO fi^sil 6^
Transcript and Translatiun
2ig
)\y, «^^ ^^ jl^ ^ ^^ ^
Jii^y^ \j^i] C£>1. ^J ^4J 3I
jj!i»b Ji»>=» sS^^"**^ &^^.j ^^ f\p-
a-'i/^^ll-^:;-
^^>
/,J
'J'yr^ll
'-^•L^^tr;<'/-'-Y'^
V>''^>
51
it joined its lip to mine and whispered^: —
"Drink wine, for, to this world, thou returnest not."*
lOI.
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.'
102.
Khayyam, if thou art drunk with wine,' be happy,
if thou reposest with one tulip-cheeked,- be happy,
220 Notes
3. C. reads this line, "Since in this world of nothingness you must pass
away " ; 1 and P., L., and N., " Since the end of this world's business is annihila-
tion." ^ B. ii. reads: "Do not slumber thus, for thou wilt be nothing to-
morrow."'' Compare lines 3 and 4 of q. 150, which are almost identical.
103.
This quatrain is C. 301, P. 102, B. ii. 323, L. 470, S. P. 242, B. 466, N.
243, W. 483, and E. C. 26. It gave to F. three verses of the section, called in
F. i. ktlsa ndmah, " The Book of Pots." They are F. v. 82, 83, and 87 :
As under cover of departing Day
Slunk hunger-stricken Ramazan away,
Once more within the Potter's house alone
I stood, surrounded by the Shapes of Clay :
Shapes of all Sorts and Sizes, great and small,
That stood along the floor and by the wall ;
And some loquacious Vessels were ; and some
Listen'd, perhaps, but never talked at all.
Whereat some one of the loquacious lot —
I think a Sufi pipkin — waxing hot —
" All this of Pot and Potter— Tell me, then.
Who is the Potter, pray, and who the Pot ? "
The quatrain in C. is practically identical with the lines transposed thus: i, 4, 3, 2.
I. B. ii., L. and N. read this line, "Every one of them said to me in
mystic language"" (ba zaban-i-hal).
104.
I do not find this quatrain in any of the texts under consideration, excepting
the Paris MS., where it is No. 248, and in B. ii., where it is No. 324.
1 . Here we have a play upon the words rah = wine and vfih = " the incorporeal
spirit, the breath of God, the Qur'an, i.e.. Revelation " (Steingass). Paris MS.
reads, " that wine which they call pure spirit."^
2. Compare q. 7, note 2. B. ii. and Paris MS. begin the line, "A restorer
(architect) of a ruined heart."
Transcript and Translation
221
^J^ ^\y^ ^^..^ j\S ji.'S ^^
ji»^4i»^ b^ iSj)^ >>^>^ ^-^ f*^*^
JaJ-ol^ ^ c^li ^1; ^iS" ^;|; ^j^
WA
h^^i^
ij>ijih'^fi(f''0^
'^JjJ>/j/,/^jf/
^-'^j^i'^^;
^^^r,
,i;
^'0>^k
since the end of all things is that thou wilt be naught ; ^
whilst thou art, imagine that thou art not, — be happy!
103.
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 ? "
104.
Of this spirit, that they call pure wine,^
they say : — " It is a remedy for a ruined heart " ; "^
222 Notes
3. P for "cups" reads "half-men measures."' Vide note 2, q. 145.
4. Here we have another of the ingenious puns which are typical of the poem :
A/iat> = "good," 5/ia>T = " wicked," and so he gets the juxtaposition of khairdb =
" good water," and sho.yy-ab — " wicked water," or shardb, which means " wine."
5. It must be borne in mind that in the East wine is sold by weight, i.e., by
the men or maund (vide note 2, q. 155).
105-
This quatrain is P. 26, B. ii. 329, L. 469, S. P. 248, B. 465, N. 249, and
W. 2S8. It does not vary.
1. hasbatan lillah, a common Arabic interjection.
2. Literally, "By the head of the Tomb of the Prophet of God."
106.
This quatrain is B. ii. 330, L. 473, S. P. 249, B. 467, N. 250, and W. 291.
It does not vary, save infinitesimally.
>^o
Transcript and Translation
223
iJJ
^^v
J^l^ ^J
-■'/J^C'^^/
//
J UN
53
set quickly before me two or three heavily^ filled cups/
why do they call a good water "wicked water"?*
105.
Regard my virtues one by one, and forgive my crimes ten
by ten,
pardon every crime that is past, the reckoning is with God ! '
let not the wind and air fan the flame of thy rancour,
by Muhammad's tomb ! forgive me.^
106.
Verily wine in the goblet is a delicate spirit,
in the body of the jar, a delicate soul reposes.
224
Notes
1. The other texts read the last word man = " my friend." (B. ii. reads
" its friend," supra.)
2. In which case hlch girdn should be rendered " no dull person."
107.
This quatrain is C. 312, B. ii. 341, L. 489, B. 484, and W. 304. It contains
the sentiment that appears in many of F.'s quatrains, but nowhere more strongly
than in F. v. 54 :
Waste not your Hour, nor in the vain pursuit
Of This and That endeavour and dispute ;
Better be jocund with the fruitful Grape,
Than sadden after none, or bitter Fruit.
The whole quatrain suggests one of Sa'di's "Maxims": "Life is in the
keeping of a single breath. The world is an existence between two annihilations." 1
(Gulistan, ch. viii., maxim 33.)
I. dzal in Persian dogma is eternity without beginning, i.e., "from all time "
as opposed to abad, eternity without end, i.e., " to all eternity."
108.
This quatrain is C. 332, P. 40, B. ii. 356, L. 505, S. P. 266, B. 501, N.
267, W. 310, de T. 10, E. C. 28, and is the original of F. i. 46 :
For in and out, above, about, below,
'Tis nothing but a Magic Shadow-show,
Play'd in a Box whose Candle is the Sun
Round which we Phantom Figures come and go.
In its final form, F. v. 68, it runs as follows :
We are no other than a moving row
Of Magic Shadow-shapes that come and go.
Round with the Sun-illumin'd Lantern held
In Midnight by the Master of the Show ;
and it is coupled with F. v. 6g, quoted sub q. 94. C/. M., 1. 7, as to the vault of
Heaven and the story of Ayaz (1. 3368-3405), from which F. took "the idea of"
his verse, F. v. 70.
1. E. C.'s "at which we gaze bewildered " is, I think, too free.
2. These lanterns are of varying shapes. In Persia, says Nicolas, it is made
of two copper basins separated by a shade of waxed calico about a yard high.
The lower one contains the candle, and the upper one has a handle for the arm of
the ferrash who carries it. The shade is folded like the familiar " Chinese lantern."
Ornaments are painted on the cloth, and it is to the vacillation of these as the carrier
shifts it from one hand to another that Omar refers. The editor of the Calcutta
Review appends a note at the foot of E. C. as follows : " These lanthorns are very
common in Calcutta. They are made of a tall cylinder, with figures of men
and animals cut out of paper and pasted on it. The cylinder, which is very light,
is suspended on an axis, round which it easily turns. A hole is cut near the
bottom, and the part cut out is fixed at an angle to the cylinder, so as to form a
vane. When a small lamp or candle is placed inside, a current of air is produced
which keeps the cylinder slowly revolving."
Transcript and Translation
225
S^ |.Ju^ ^^1^ ^ ^^ ^^J
LA
^'
54
nothing heavy ^ is worthy to be the friend of wine *
save the wine-cup, for that is, at the same time, heavy and
delicate.
107.
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.
108.
This vault of heaven, beneath which we stand bewildered,*
we know to be a sort of magic-lantern : "
226 Notes
3. E. C. exactly conveys the meaning : " The sun is the candle, the world
the shade " (or globe).
4. C. and P. read, " that are bewildered in it," repeating the haimnhn of
line I, which makes me think it is an error of the copyist. There are several signs
of weariness on the part of the scribe in the verse in my copies. Sed quare.
109.
This quatrain is C. 331, B. ii. 365, L. 503, S. P. 281, B. 499, N. 282, W. 322.
and does not vary. It accounts for many such lines as in F. v. 93 and 94, q. v. suh
q. 93 ante, and, what is more interesting, it contains a strong suggestion of the
quatrain F. v. 81, which has baffled so many commentators:
Oh Thou, who Man of baser Earth didst make,
And ev'n with Paradise devise the Snake ;
For all the Sin wherewith the Face of Man
Is blacken'd — Man's forgiveness give— and take !
{Vide, however, note 3 to q. i, ante; and cf. M., 11. 3229-3253, and the passage
beginning at 1. 225. (Terminal Essay, p. 309.)
no.
This quatrain I do not find in any of the texts under consideration.
T. 'azm kerdan is " to make intention."
2. nab, here and elsewhere in this poem, means " pure " in the sense of being
" undiluted."
3. The Zisyphus vulgaris, or common Syrian jujube-tree. Its fruit is made into
sweetmeats, and its juice is used for coughs, but the British jujube-lozenge take';
nothing from it but its name.
Transcript and Translation 227
*»-j)^^ ) ^Jjl^ f*i>?>^ 0>^ ^
know thou that the sun is the lamp-flame and the universe is
the lamp,^
we are like figures that revolve in it.*
log.
I do not always prevail over my nature, — hut what can I do ?
and I suffer for my actions, — hut 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, — hut what can I do ?
no.
Let me arise and seek^ pure" wine,
make thou the colour of my cheek like that of the jujube fruit,"
228 Notes
4 Literally, " professing exuberance.
This quatrain is C. 356, P. 118. B. ii. 372, L. 554, S. P. 276, B. 547, N. 277,
and W. 320.
1. Literally, "intellect."
2. B. ii., L., N., and W. read " sad"^ = " 100 years."
3. dalir means also " eternity." C. Tea.dsjirm,'- " in the body."
4. The other texts begin this line, " Pour thou wine into the cup," etc.^
This quatrain is C. 344, B. ii. 373, L. 537, S. P. 283, B. 532, N. 284, and
W. 324. The first line suggests F. v. 48 : "A moment's halt, a momentary taste
of Being," etc.
1. Compare makdm, a halting-place, and mukim, which signifies a more
permanent abode.
2. Literally, " food is painful."
3. L. for saki reads ma) — wine. C, N., and W. end the line, " is a great
error," * a reading which I have found in an isolated transcript of this ruba'i
written upon the flyleaf of a diwan of Emad (dated 920 a.h.) in a contemporary
handwriting. (Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris.)
f,A^ ^ JiUi (*) ^ t^^ iojo (3) (.^ (2) J^ (1)
Transcript and Translation
^ '^^^.^^ bLfl_e>, Jo^ Lj^ __^4^ j_S
^■^ cr*j>; '^^^ ^^ «^b >^
57
how long of ancient creeds or new,* O philosopher ? ^
when I have left it what matter if the world be old or new ?
113-
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 Judg-
ment Day.*
114.
The world being fleeting, I practise naught but artifice,'
I hold only- with cheerfulness and sparkling wine;
17 — 2
232 Notes
3. L. reads this line in different words : " They say, God will grant thee
pardon for wine (drinking)."^ B. ii. has a combination of the two readings
4. Compare q. 64, line 4.
115.
This quatrain is C. 374, P. 340, B. ii. 382, L. 532, B. 527, S. P. 284, N. 285,
and W. 325.
1. niydz means here "with humility, fawning." N. reads it to mean,
" Though I come to the mosque from a sense of duty," sed quare.
2. P., L., N., and W. begin halika 2 = " really," also " O God ! "
3. The other texts read the stronger form, "I stole," ^ for this, which
equals " I abstracted " (literally, made less).
4. The sejjadeh^ is the Muslim prayer-mat upon which the srjjad^ or cere-
monial prostration is performed.
5. i.e., that prayer-mat.
6. i.e., to steal others.
ii6.
This quatrain is C. 345, P. 227, B. ii. 385, L. 539, S. P. 2S9, B. 534, N. 290,
and W. 330. F. has taken one of his Kuza Nameh verses from this, F. v. 89 :
" Well," murmur'd one, " Let whoso make or buy,
My Clay with long Oblivion is gone dry ;
But fill me with the old familiar Juice,
Methinks I might recover by-and-by."
There is a quatrain in the texts N. 115, etc., ending in d, which has an almost
identical meaning, though the phraseology is much varied.
I. N. and W. read this line, " In the hand of destiny I become like a bird's
feather (floating away)." ° C. reads "And by the hand of destiny I am rooted up." '
Transcript and Translation
233
116
^yia £Jwo O
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.*
115.
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.^
116.
When I am abased beneath the foot of destiny
and am rooted up from the hope of life,'
234 Notes
2. N. and W. read " May it be that with the perfume of the wine I may revive
for a moment." 1 C. reads " So long as it is full of the perfume of wine I may
live " ; ' and L. reads " May it be that when it is very moist (or ' moist with wine,' *
the lithograph is bad) I may live."^ B. ii. has another variant, but P. is the same
as here.
117.
I do not find this quatrain in any of the texts under consideration. We get
in it an echo of F. v. 77, q. v. ante sub q. 2.
1. dana = grain or seed scattered to attract birds, also science, learning.
2. muddm gives a meaning of perpetuity ; it has also the meaning of " wine
drunk all day long," as opposed to sabilh,^ the morning draught {vide q. 32, 1. 3), or
ghdbuk,^ the evening draught (Steingass).
3. i.e., " Wise or strong in a tavern, than ignorant or weak in a sauma'ah,"
which means, especially, a Christian cell or hermitage. Vide q. 24, note i, and cj.
M., 1. 1356. " Thou wert formerly raw in love, but now that thou hast acquired
experience, thou art cooked : salaam ! " '
4. Cf. M., 1. 1887. " At one moment my passionate heart urges me towards
the tavern, at another my spirit urges me to prayer." ^
118.
This quatrain is B. ii. 391, L. 571, S. P. 293, B. 564, N. 294, and W. 332, and is
invariable. In this we have echoes of F. v. 93-5, and also of F. v. 41, which
made its first appearance as F. ii. 55 :
Perplext no more with Human or Divine,
To-morrow's tangle to the winds resign.
And lose your fingers in the tresses of
The Cypress-slender Minister of Wine.
I. i.e., "inhale the fumes of," literally, "strike."
f^i, 6*xij O^ii 6w»U jt j), 6^ y \S ('-j ftyii, 4Ja^ ^o ^ ^^y.y> iS OwiU (1^
Transcript and Translation
235
J.*jX-.
(•yij &Jj) J^ &^[i J y^ j^ ^\i ^y^
1
''^..^^'' •
let us cease to strive after what has long been our hope,^
and play with long ringlets and the handle' of the lute.
119.
We have preferred a corner and two loaves to the world,
and we have put away greed of its estate and magnificence;'
we have bought poverty with our " heart and soul —
in poverty we have discerned great riches."
120.
I know the outwardness' of existence and of non-existence,
I know the inwardness of all that is high and low ; ^
238 Notes
3. Literally, "with all this." C/. q. i, 1. 3.
4. The other texts read, " I am weary 1 of my knowledge." Compare
Gulistan, ch. i., story 9 :
" My life has lapsed in ignorance ;
I have done nothing ; be on your guard ! " ^
This quatrain is B. ii. 420, L. 544 (and B. 538), whence it becomes W. 353 ;
it is the source of F. v. 27 and 28 :
Myself, when young, did eagerly frequent
Doctor and Saint, and heard great argument
About it and about ; but evermore
Came out by the same door wherein I went.
With them the seed of Wisdom did I sow.
And with mine own hand wrought to make it grow ;
And this was all the Harvest that I reap'd —
" I came like Water, and like Wind I go."
1. L. and W. reads "hear." ^
2. In L. this line reads, " We came up from the earth and depart upon the
wind," * which even more closely suggests the observation attributed by Attar to
Nizam-ul-Mulk when dying : " Oh God ! I am passing away in the hand of the
Wind." M., 1. 4620. Nizam-ul-MuIk was assassinated, at the instance of Omar's
patron Malik Shah, by one of the followers of Hassan Sabah, the other partner
to the "tripartite agreement," but it may be observed that though Malcolm
(vol. i., p. 220; vide note 3, q. 139) gives the dying speech of Nizam-ul-Mulk at
great length (an eulogy, by-the-way, of his murderer), there is no trace in it of this
observation attributed to him by Attar. Cf. also M., 11. 1559 (Terminal Essay,
p. 311) and 2288, which refers to the^dispersal of the dust of the body by the wind
after death (Terminal Essay, p. 311).
3. B. ii. for "water" reads " cloud-mist." ^
This quatrain is C. 411, P. 58, B. ii. 424, L. 618, S. P. 319, B. 610, N. 322,
and W. 365.
1. B. ii., L., N., and W., for "mysteries " read " vicissitudes."*
2. B. ii., L., N., and W., for " of the world " read " and annoyance." "
3. B. ii., C, L., and N., for " all the same " read " of little account "= easy.^
^loLu O^ ^j\Sjf; (2) f^j\j^ (1)
Transcript and Translation
239
j4'j
b^
i3..jj^^ d^ I^L* d^ ^y_^ ij^>-* .5^^.
nevertheless^ let me be modest^ about my own knowledge
if I recognise any degree higher than drunkenness.
121.
For a while, when young, we frequented a teacher,
for a while we were contented with our proficiency ;
behold^ the foundation of the discourse: — what happened to us?
we came in like water ^ and we depart like wind.^
122.
To him who understands the mysteries' of the world,
the joy and sorrow of the world ^ is all the same;'
240
Notes
4. N. reads bc-su,^ meaning the same.
5. W. begins the Hne, "Thou wilt have pain- (and also the remedy)."
The meaning of the line is obscure. W. appends the note, " 'Twill all be one
a hundred years hence." I should like to render khwaJii here by the German
" mcinctii'cgeit," or the French "d la bonne heure!" There is no good English
equivalent ; in q. 2 I have rendered it " an Thou wilt."
123.
This quatrain is C. 410, B. ii. 435, L. 617, S. P. 324, B. 609, N. 327, and
W. 36S, and is practically invariable.
1. The word rind is also used to designate the Sufis, who, according to the
popular reading of his philosophy, were Omar's pet detestation.
2. netndz. Vide ante, passim.
3. rftzeh means "a day's allowance of food," and, ceremonially, "a fast."
4. B. ii., N. and W. omit " Omar," and end the line " Oh Friend ! " *
5. Literally, " strike the road."
6. i.e., but. There is a Turkish proverb akin to this: " Be a robber, be a
thief, but do not put conscience aside. ' ' ^
124.
This quatrain is C. 402, P. 53, B. ii. 436, L. 605, B. 598, and W. 387.
No. 76 in the Paris MS. and No. 270 in B. ii. (both ending in >) are identical in
meaning, and practically so in phraseology.
1. Literally, " this salt-marsh."
2. Literally, "to cut away the soul." C. ends the line, "and agony of
heart and soul." ^ B. ii. has practically the same ending.
Transcript and Translation
241
c)^>?>^ ^.^J ^jT J-olr. ^^^
• • • t »
Jl^'j
j6u
•* T
62
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.''
123.
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 Khayyam,*
" Drink wine, rob on the highway,^ and ^ be benevolent."
124.
Since the harvest for the human race, in this wilderness,^
is naught but to suffer affliction or to give up the ghost,*
242 Notes
125-
This is one of the quatrains that appear to be found only in this MS.
1. Literally, "the dress of face," a "veil in which figures are woven."
Vide q. 63, note i.
2. Vide q. 55, note 3. Cf. M., 1. 3653: " A celebrated shaikh, clad in the
robe of voluntary poverty." ^
3. Literally, "strike the drum of Sultanate." Vide q. 34, notes, and M.,
11. 2162 and 2753, there cited.
126.
This quatrain is P. 186, L. 623, B. 615, whence it becomes W. 386. We find
in it an echo of F. v. 22, and the complete sentiment of F. v. 25 :
Alike for those who for To-day prepare.
And those that after some To-morrow stare,
A Muezzin from the Tower of Darkness cries
" Fools ! your Reward is neither Here nor There."
See also F. v. 22, sub q. 137.
1. Literally, " this revolving cupola." W. reads " overturned " 1 for
" revolving," but gives no authority for the rendering.
2. P. and L. read "empty of all friends." ^
jlO (•U y ^^. 6ijfe. ^j»*A. Oy (•) jj)U~o^o 6J.4J> j (2) wj-^j^ (^)
Transcript and Translation
243
-^<^'>
^w.^..f^V^,,
-fv>^.
v>
^^j^y;^/j^:.
63
light-hearted is he who passes quickly from this world,
and he who never came into the world is at rest.
125.
Darvish ! rend from thy body the figured veil,'
rather than sacrifice thy body for the sake of that veil
go and throw upon thy shoulders the old rug of poverty* —
beneath that rug thou art equal to a sultan.^
126.
Behold the evil conduct of this vault of heaven,'
behold the world — empty by the passing away of friends ; -
244 Notes
3. Compare F. i. 37, quoted sub q. 20. L. reads this line, " Seek not to-
morrow, leave yesterday alone," etc.'
127.
This quatrain is P. 330, B. ii. 453, L. 608, S. P. 339, B. 601, N. 342, and
W. 381. F. took from it a verse that occurs only in his second edition, F. ii. 65 :
If but the Vine and Love-abjuring Band
Are in the Prophet's Paradise to stand,
Alack, I doubt the Prophet's Paradise
Were empty as the hollow of one's Hand.
1. Literally, a circle or ring.
2. P. and L. read " rosy -cheeked ones." ^
3. zerk here means rather " mental blindness."
4. P. and L. read this line, " Is better than practising the distemper of
piety."'
5. P. and L. read this line, " If when dead the wine-drinkers will go to
hell."*
6. P. and L. read this Hne, " Then who will see the face of heaven ? " *
This quatrain is C. 393, B. ii. 455, L. 588, S. P. 341, B. 581, N. 344, and
W. 382.
I. Literally, " the stone of trial."
Transcript and Trandation
545
*'^0^^)JjoiJj
'^J
>M^,w/:U^jv/x
f^-T.
*K '4'/ ' •• • ..-
64
as far as thou art able live for thyself for one moment,
look not for to-morrow, seek not yesterday, behold the present ! ^
127.
To drink wine and consort with a company^ of the beautiful*
is better than practising the hypocrisy' of the zealot;*
if the lover and the drunkard are doomed to hell,^
then no one will see the face of heaven/'
128.
One cannot consume one's happy heart with sorrow,
nor consume the pleasure of one's life upon the touchstone ; ^
18
246 Notes
2. Literally, "The person is invisible (absent) who knows," etc. L. and
W. begin the line, "In this world he who knows," etc.;' and C. begins, "In
the obligation of knowing," etc-
3. N. appends a note, " God," a good specimen of his Sufistic tendency to
" whitewash " poor Omar.
129.
This quatrain is C. 416, B. ii. 4C4, L. 634, S. P. 345, B. C26, N. 348, W. 390,
and E C. 3, and we recognise in it the sentiment of F. v. 23 :
And v.e, that now make merry in the Room
They left, and Summer dresses in new bloom.
Ourselves must we beneath the Couch of Earth
Descend — ourselves to make a Couch — for whom ?
1. C. begins with the familiar )iiai klifirfii, " Drink wine, for, for the sake," etc.
2. N. for " Idol " reads " Come," a probable, but harmless, misplacement of
the diacritical points.^ B. ii. and L. read here, " grasp the goblet."^ C. ends the
line "for many prayers," ^ an error, I think, of the scribe. Compare Gulistan,
ch. i., story 26 :
For how many years and long lives
Will the people walk over my head on the ground ; '^
and again, story 15 of ch. iii :
Wah ! how — every time the plants in the garden
Sprouted — glad became my heart !
Pass by, O Friend ! that in the spring
Thou mayst see plants sprouting from my clay.''
130.
This quatrain is C. 420, P. 36, B. ii. 460, L. 624, S. P. 348, B. G16, N. 351,
and W. 393, and contains, like q. 51, the germ of F. v. 47, q. v. sub q. 51.
I. i.e., "Our life is an incomplete thing— where is the rest of it?" The
other texts for "essence" read "hope."^ N. reads the line, " and where is the
realisation of the burden of our hopes in this world."'*
j]j^ v5U> j^ ) ^^f\^\Ji ^l(PL- 6J^. ('') jUi jLwi
(jU — » JO CJ-— ' 6^ iS jjb 6^ St (~\
^^ ^ j\ 50--»0 ^^ ijf^
Transcript aud Translation
247
y^ ^ ^ls»^ Jw«J c)-?^- *.)"!"^ ^
'/I'/^/Tiiv^Jy
'7 .V -''*'' r.*
V'-ir-^^wZ-X*'
X
V^'.
»yi^ ^j>
65
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.
129.
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.
130.
What profits it, our coming and going ?
and where is the woof for the warp of the stuff of our life ? '
18—2
2^8 Notes
2. Literally, " so many delicate hands and feet."
3. The other texts (except B. ii., which is identical) read this line, " Beneath
the circle of the heavens, how many pure bodies " ^ (P., L., and W., " souls " '^).
131-
This quatrain is C. 443, P. 296, B. ii. 480. L. 670, S. P. 356, B. 662, N. 359,
and W. 426. It is, with q. 16, the source of inspiration of F. v. 41, q. v. sub q. 16.
1. B. ii., C. and N. for " all sciences " read " science and piety." -
2. Literally, " to hang, is best."
3. For surahi, "bottle," L. reads " harrabat,"^ flagon, or vat; N. reads
"AiHHiMrt^"* a glass bottle; P. rea.ds p'laleh ; B. ii. reads /i /?(/;,' " doctor of law " ;
and C. reads 'adxvat,^ i.e., " as much blood as you can.",
132.
This quatrain is P. 300, B. ii. 482, L. 654, S. P. 361, B. 646, N. 364, and
W. 409, and does not vary. The freedom of N.'s translation amounts to licence.
4u-A> (*^ fijl^ ^8\ jjj,jj ^ ^2^
O^^. e^-*^-^
r-^ tJ^ j^^ J^ C)
&*n* (")
0^> (C) ^^ass (i)
Transcript and Translation
249
dJ i^'jlyA ^^^■^^^ f*>^ Lr*>?"^ ^'
dXi^ c::-J^;.*tf dJ dil&-w« ^J ^ ,^1
JU>'i
'^r/;:/^j'-^-^^^'
/
^uo
66
How many delicate bodies^ the world ^
burns away to dust ! and where is the smoke of them ?
131-
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.
132.
Ah ! I have brushed the tavern doorway with my moustaches,
I have bidden farewell to the good and evil of both worlds ;
250 Notes
I. i.e., at my feet. Note the vowel points in the text to make the meaning
clear. C/. M., 1. 3224 : " When he has drunk a little of this wine he will forget
the two worlds."*
133-
This quatrain is C. 442, B. ii. 478, L. 672, S. P. 355. B. 664, N. 358, and
W. 404.
1. For "wine" N. reads "gladness,"^ and L. reads " rectitude,"^ which
W. thinks is a gloss by a Sufi scribe.
2. Literally, "shortness — deficiency."
3. The other texts read this line, " Wine also from the hand of Idols in a
pavilion, is best."^
4. Kalendars (with whom we are familiar in the pages of the "Arabian
Nights") are "a kind of itinerant Muhammadan monk with shaven head and
beard, who abandon everything, wife, friends, and possessions, and wander about
the world " (Steingass). W. calls them " bibulous Sufis." The term has come to
be applied to persons who have abandoned all respectability. Compare R. B. M.
Binning {riJc note 2, p. x.xv.), vol. ii., pp. 72-3, for an accurate account of these
mendicants. An extract will suffice: "They lay claim to great sanctity, and
pretend to be inspired, while their profession of holiness, self-denial, and austerity
of life is often a mere cloak for all manner of profligacy and villainy."
5. This means "continually"; literally, "from the Moon-month to the
Fish-month." mali is the Moon, and main, the sign Pisces, upon which, according
to the Persian cosmogony, the world is supposed to rest. All Persian poetry is
full of references to this condition of things. Vide {e.g.) in M. alone, 11. 38, 48, 640,
ct passim.
134-
This quatrain is C. 435, P. 34, B. ii. 481, L. 657, S. P. 360, B. 649, N. 363.
and W. 408, and from this and q. 134 we get F. v. 72 :
And that inverted Bowl they call the Sky,
Whereunder, crawling coop'd we live and die,
Lift not your hands to It for help — for it
As impotently moves as you or L
C/. M., 11. 145 and 2290, which probably gave F. his first idea of this quatrain.
(Terminal Essay, p. 308.)
Transcript and Translation
251
I 7^' ^
dilB£>,
l^^y
y^ ^j^- cT* y-
irr
6i ^^J-*^ J S?>>-^^" ^ ^^^i—
O"
-vv^
;>^
'/
fi-^r (4) JS" ^^J ;L-a ii- (3)
Transcript and Translation
253
«/^^^^JV^i'
J uo
/
^Ii^p7C>j^
j:
68
choose thou the manner of friendship of the goblet and the jar,
they are lip to lip, and blood has fallen between them.^
135.
See, the skirt ^ of the rose has been torn by the breeze,
the nightingale rejoices in the beauty of the rose ; '
sit in the shade of the rose, for, by the wind, many roses ^
have been scattered to earth and have become dust.*
136.
How long shall I grieve about what I have or have not,
and whether I shall pass this life light-heartedly or not ?
254
Notes
I. Compare Gulistan, ch. viii. : " Life is in the keeping of a single breath.
Vide note to q. 107.
137-
This quatrain is P. 21S, B. ii. 485, L. 643, S. P. 363, B. 635, N. 367, and
\V. 412. We get in it an echo of F. v. 22 :
For some we loved, the loveliest and the best,
That from his Vintage rolling Time hath prest,
Have drunk their Cup a Round or two before,
And one by one crept silently to rest.
1. Literally, " do not give thy body."
2. N. and W. read " thy soul." ^
3. N. reads " do not remind thy soul 0/ discourse ." '
4. Persian is full of these compound attributes. B. ii., N. and W. read
'■ sugar-lipped," •' and L. reads "curly-headed." * Cf. Ldla nikh, tulip-
cheeked, and ^ul diulamj' rose-bodied.
138-
This quatrain is P. 236, B. ii. 4S6, L. 647, S. P. 359, B. 639, N. 362, and
W. 407.
1. Literally, "lay it not aside." N. and W. read this line, "do not
calculate the measure of your life," etc.* P. and L. for " measure " read "anxiety." '
These readings are preferable to that of this MS., which has only age to
recommend it.
« e^ &13 (5) ^3 ^ (4) wJ ^ili^ (3) ,,,=^ (2) »yL^ (1)
Tramcript and Translation
255
•^ (^^i^aj* di 5jIj ^Jj -S
&J>^ vib^J ^^-^-^^ ip^'* ^"^^ cs-
'i^U.,1^
■^^■■■i
.rt^t.
^..
^ ..
^z-
69
Fill up the wine-cup, for I do not know
that I shall breathe out this breath that I am drawing in.^
Submit not ^ to the sorrow of this iniquitous world,
remind us'" not of sorrow^ for those who have passed away,
give thine heart only to one jasmine-bosomed * and fairy-born,
be not without wine, and cast not thy life to the winds.
138.
Though thy life pass sixty years, do not give up ; ^
wherever thou directest thy steps, walk not save when drunk;
256 Notes
2. The other texts (with the exception of B. ii.) read " hair,"* which is not
so good.
3. it., "Before they make thy head into a jar." P. reads "Before
they make thy head and dust into jars." *
4. The other texts (with the exception of B. ii.) begin the line, "Go
thou ! " 2 L. reads " Go, sell ' the jar, and do not let go the cup."
139-
This quatrain is P. 246, B. ii. 511, L. 650, S. P. 378, B. 642, N. 382. and
does not vary. Compare q. 85, and vide the note to that quatrain.
1. Literally, " From whatever is not wine let the road out be best."
2. Ferldun was the sixth King of the Paish-dadian dynasty of Persian rulers.
He was the son of Abten, and was elevated to the throne by the exertions of the
heroic blacksmith Kaf (or Kawah) after the overthrow of the tyrant Zohiik.
3. Kal-Khosru was the grandson of Kai-Kilwus (the Greek Cyaxares).
He was identical with Cyrus the Mede of Greek history, and was the most bril-
liant of all the kings of the Kaianian dynasty. He conquered and killed Afrasiab,
extended the kingdom of Persia to Syria, Asia Minor, and Egypt, and be-
came a personage of occidental history by his conquest of Babylon and subse-
quent manumission of the Jews there in captivity. (Compare Isaiah, ch. xliv.,
V. 28, and ch. xlv., v. i.) See Sir John Malcolm's "History of Persia" (2nd
edition; London, 1829; Murray) and Sir Clements R. Markham's "General
Sketch of the History of Persia" (London, 1874).
Compare Hafiz : " When Hfifiz is drunk, why should he value at a grain of
barley the Empires of Kawus and Kal ? " ^
140.
This quatrain is C. 453, P. 260, B. ii. 525, L. 687, S. P. 380, B. 678, N. 384,
W. 428, and probably inspired F. v. 26. Compare also C. 127 (L. 261, P. 86,
B. 258, W. 209, N. 464), which is a corresponding quatrain:
" Why, all the Saints and Sages who discuss'd
Of the Two Worlds so wisely — they are thrust
Like foolish Prophets forth ; their Words to scorn
Are scatter'd, and their Mouths are stopt with Dust."
I. B. ii. and C. read " in the slumber," etc*
Transcript and Translation
257
s5-
• L* ^1 v3s3i dxo&K ^^^ jgJU. ^^
; ui
^
>':^.-. .ir^/. '^i.
• J^
^
Z:.^-/^
L
70
before they make the hollow'^ of thy skull into a jar,^
lower not the jar from thy shoulder, neither relinquish the cup.*
139.
One draught of old wine is better than a new kingdom,
avoid any way save that of wine — 'tis better so ; *
the cup is a hundred times better than the kingdom of Ferldun,'
the tile that covers the jar is better than the crown of Kal-
Khosru.^
140.
Those, O Saki, who have gone before us,
have fallen asleep, O Saki, in the dust ' of self-esteem ;
258 A'o/«
141.
This quatrain is C. 476, B. ii. 527, L. 703, S. P. 3S4, B. G93, and N. 3SS.
1. L. reads " You threw away my rose-coloured wine 1 upon the earth."
2. kJiakem ha dihan, literally, "earth on my mouth ! " a frequent expletive in
the East, khkish-ba-dihiin, " maj' he perish," etc.
3. ttirfa = strange, incomprehensible, new, etc. The other texts are easier
to render ; they read, " Perhaps you are drunk, my lord ! " -
4. B. ii. reads " tulip-coloured " for " pure."
T42.
This quatrain is P. 339 and B. ii. 530, and is found by \V. only here,
and as L. 728 (\V. 492).
I. L., for "baths" and "canals," reads " all capital " and "courtyards.""
B ii. also reads " courtyards "
^O _ iaU^ (3) ^j j^ y ^ (2) ^^ ^ ^„^ l\
Transcript and Translation
259
^'^J-^'^^ri/y,'
'^'iST'O^-'^'.
y ^i,\
iUi/-
y^J^,'
££
jdij
.. .. V
71
go thou and drink wine, and hear the truth from me,
whatever they have said, O Saki, is b^it wind.
141.
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 ! ' but thou art strange/ O Lord !
142.
O heaven ! thou givest something to every base creature,
thou suppliest baths, and millstreams, and canals ; '
26o Notes
2. Literally, " the evening loaf."
3.
143-
This quatrain is C. 495, P. 209, B. ii. 529, L. 733, S. P. 379, B. 721, N. 383,
W. 427, and it is virtually invariable. It would seem to have inspired F. v. 62
(which made its first appearance as F. ii. 64) :
I must abjure the Balm of Life, I must,
Scared by some After-reckoning ta'en on trust.
Or lured with Hope of some Diviner Drink,
To fill the Cup — when crumbled into Dust !
144.
This quatrain is B. ii. 569, L. 710, S. P. 392, B. 700, N. 397, and W. 439.
Compare also C. 40 (L. 63, W. 57, B. 60, N. 54, S. P. 54), which is a corresponding
quatrain.
I. i.t., " From the scheme of the universe you suffer only hardships."
Transcript and Translation
261
^ o^^j^ ^^ o^^ ^^b'^
Sa
the pure man plays hazard for his night's provisions : -
thou shouldst give readily " for such a heaven ? '
143-
O heart ! at the mysterious secret thou arrivest not,
at the conceits of the ingenious philosophers thou arrivest not ;
make thyself a heaven here with wine and cup,
for at that place where heaven is, thou mayst arrive, or mayst not.
144.
Thou eatest always smoke from the kitchen of the world ;
how long wilt thou suffer miseries concerning what is or is not ?
19
262 Notes
1. In the other texts (excepting B. ii., which varies a little only in 1. 3)
the last two lines vary much : "The world is a grievous detriment for those who
inhabit it ; renounce this detriment and everything becomes profitable for you."i
145-
This quatrain is C. 447, P. iii, B. ii. 523, L. 707, S. P. 389, B. 697, N. 394,
\V. 43G, and is the seventh of E. C.'s examples. It is the original of F. v. 44 :
Why, if the Soul can fling the Dust aside,
And naked on the Air of Heaven ride,
Were't not a Shame — were't not a Shame for him
In this Clay carcase crippled to abide ?
This quatrain of F. made its first appearance in the poem proper as F. ii. 49, in he
form in which it appeared in the Preface to F. i. :
Oh, if my Soul can fling his Dust aside,
And naked on the air of Heaven ride,
Is't not a Shame — is't not a Shame for Him
So long in this Clay Suburb to abide ?
Cf. M., 11. 126-7: "The soul's portion was elevation, and the body's terrestrial
degradation ; a mixture of vile earth and pure spirit was formed."''
1. C. and N. read "griefs'"'^ for "dust," and for "body' B. ii. and
L. use the commoner word "ten.""
2. Literally, " thou becomest upon the heavens."
3. i.e.. The heavenly sphere in general.
4. C. uses the words " thou adornest."^
5. E. C. translates " in a city of clay " ; but even "suburb " is better. The
Arabic word khittat means essentially a " boundary " or " confine."
146.
This quatrain is C. 4S0, P. 106, B. ii. 539, I^. 706, S. P. 399, B. 696, N. 404,
and W. 446. It is another of the quatrains in which the idea recurs of the
despised clay or jug warning its contemner of the transient nature of human life.
1. Literally, " I was head-happy." The other texts read, " I was drunk." °
2. aubaslt signifies the mob, the common herd. E. C. translates, " And at
the reckless freak my heart was glad," which is strangely free for so conscientious
a scholar.
s5)3P' '^>~' ^ t^ O^-J ^f f
Transcript and Translation
263
JJ
d^ .^l»ai> diU
i3 J»s» \^y^ ^ di dJ L«
r
s^^ S?>^~* U^^^ f '^^
^
v^^^' cy-' f^/ *^ c^-^^ d^f^ y-^
u^^
^'^9>-r^^^J'j'
ii^
73
thou desirest not a stock in trade, for its source weakens,
and who will consume the capital, seeing that thou consumest
all the profit ? ^
145-
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.
146.
1 smote the glass wine-cup upon a stone last night,
my head was turned' that I did so base a thing ;-
19—2
264 Notes
3,4. Vide ante, fl^ jSl Jj Om> le>» fUb (*)
ojj ^J:,^J^ll^ j\j tsiii i^j^ j\S j>
^ ^to a^ jO ^1 ;0 ^^ yt ;0 (*)
Transcript and Translation
JS
r.c7r^,.;/ju^i
74
the cup said to me in mystic language,'
" I was like thee, and thou also wilt be like me." ^
147.
Grasp ^ the wine-cup and the flagon, O heart's desire ! ^
pleasantly, pleasantly,^ and cheerfully, wander in the garden
by the river brink;
many are the excellent folk whom malicious heaven *
has made a hundred times into cups, and a hundred times into
flagons.
148.
In a thousand places on the road I walk, Thou placest snares,'
Thou sayest, " I will catch thee ' if thou placest step in them " ;
266 , Notes
3. Literally, " Not one speck of the world is free from thy wisdom."
4. N. reads these two lines :
Thou hast placed the snares thyself, and every one who steps into them
Thou catchest, and slayest, and callest a sinner. *
149.
This quatrain is S. P. 408, N. 413, and W. 452, and it is No. 13 of E. C.'s
examples. It is with q. 155 the true and close original of the beautiful F. v. 12 :
A Book of Verses underneath the Bough,
A Jug of Wine, a Loaf of Bread — and Thou
Beside me singing in the Wilderness —
Oh, Wilderness were Paradise enow.
Compare qq. 25, 32, 40, et passim.
1. tangi means also " a sack," and W. renders it " a skin of wine."
2. dlwan or " divan" : a collection of verses in the alphabetical order of the
final letters of the end rhymes (Steingass). Like this collection of quatrains,
in fact.
3. i.e., a bare subsistence, enough to keep life in one. Steingass renders the
phrase, "the last remains of life, or, the agonies of death." W. translates " a
moment of respite in life," which is hardly strong enough. "A stopper of the
last breath " would accurately render the opening of the line.
4. Compare F. v. ai, line 3 ; " Where name of Slave and Sultan is forgot."
150.
This quatrain is B. ii. 562, L. 729 and B. 717, whence (and from here)
it becomes W. 500. It shares with q. 102 the sentiment of F. v. 42, q. v. sub
q. 102.
I. Literally, " live thou justly."
ov ^l^ y ;o &^ ^ ^ ^1o o^ (1)
Transcript and Translation
267
'j'fyiv./^t _/
fl'^'"'^''/
^ii'j
7
in no smallest thing is the world independent of Thee,"
Thou orderest all things, and callest me rebellious.*
149.
I desire a little' ruby wine and a book of verses,^
just enough to keep me alive " and half a loaf is needful ;
and then, that I and thou, should sit in a desolate place
is better than the kingdom of a sultan.^
150.
Do not give way so much to vain grief, — live happily,
and, in the way of injustice, set thou an example of justice,*
2 68 Notes
2. Literally, " business."
151
This quatrain is C. 485. B. ii. 557. L. 713. S. P. 415, B. 702. N. 420, and
W. 459-
1. Literally, " as often as I gaze."
2. ravait-isi is an obscure phrase in this place. It may mean as rendered
here, or " there is life from the stream Kausar." The other texts begin the line,
" There is heavenly verdure and the stream Kausar." 1
3. Kausar, in Persian mythology, is the head-stream of the Muhammadan
Paradise, whence all other rivers are supposed to flow. A whole chapter of the
QurTin is devoted to this miraculous stream. The bed is formed of gems, its
water is whiter than milk, fresher than snow, sweeter than sugar, more perfumed
than musk, inter alia. The cup-bearer charged with the duty of serving the
blessed with this water in silver cups is Ali, the son-in-law of Muhammad.
C/. M., 11. 445 to 456, " The Praise of Ali."
4. kirn guftan is " to abandon, or consider as lost." B. ii., N. and W.
omit the word kem. The line refers to Winter being transformed into Spring, as
Hell might be replaced by Heaven. Mr. Binning {loc. cii., vol. ii., p. 1S5)
observes upon the garden of Kohrood, "the Shahzadah called it hihisht : but
water and trees are such rarities in this kingdom that any place in which these
are to be found in abundance is Paradise to a Persian."
5. bchishti-rni , an oriental exaggeration for a beautiful person.
This quatrain is C. 473, B. ii. 564, L. 702 (not in B.), and W. 489. It
contains the inspiration of F. v. 74 :
Yesterday This Day's Madness did prepare ;
To-morrow s Silence, Triumph, or Despair ;
Drink ! for you know not whence you came, nor why :
Drink ! for you know not why you go, nor where.
1. Literally, "they matured — they cooked." Vide q. 117, 1. 4.
2. Literally, "profit, interest on capital."
3. Compare Beharistfin, ist Garden:
Thy share has been allotted to thee from all Eternity ;
How long wilt thou distress thyself for a livelihood.
4. aman shudan means "to be in safety — secure from."
5. L. reads " thy clamour." -
r ^^y* (') — =^ *>- ;' (^)
Transcript and Translation
269
S^'V yt ^^ ^ &1^5
J>-^ yy-^j ^--'hj i^. j^
^rV'r^^'^
^,^J'//J>lfJ9}^'
^}>-^)3jj^^L^i
yy
jj
"^i
^
Jtil.
76
since the final end^ of this world is nothingness ;
suppose thyself to be nothing, and be free.
151.
Gaze as I may ^ on all sides,
in the garden flows ^ a stream from the river Kausar,'
the desert becomes like heaven, thou mayst say hell has
disappeared/
sit thou then in heaven with one heavenly-faced.^
152.
Be happy! they settled' thy reward- yesterday,'
and beyond the reach of^ all thy longings^ is yesterday;
270 Notes
6. Literally, "your to-morrow's business." L. reads "the place of your
tomb to-morrow." 1
153-
This quatrain is C. 498, P. 334, B. ii. 570, L. 693, S. P. 422, B. 684, N. 427,
and \V. 464. It is also L. 739, the only repetition that I have noticed in that text.
1. Here we have /(('/, meaning the colour red, instead of the " ruby " gem ;
i.e., " ruby " wine, reinforced by " tulip-coloured."
2. L. for " pure " ends the line like the first, di silki.
3. L. for " pure " in this line uses the common word pdk,'^ and ends the line
as before, di saki.
154-
I do not find this quatrain in any of the texts under consideration. We find
in it the idea of F. v. 72, quoted sub q. 134 {q. v.), which contains the inspiration
for the remainder of F.'s quatrain. Compare q. 41.
I. kazd, fate, fatality. t
^\, (2) filT^V (1)
Transcript and Translation
271
^L^ ^^ dJi! J*3 ^ &^j^
^U=> ^y:. diu-jis <3^) .^U-^J
(j'/i^^^J-Cy^Cy
^'(jl^Jyl^^^^fh
j6>u
'/n
'jd
0/»
V"
77
live happily, for without any importunity on thy part yesterday,
they appointed with certainty what thou wilt do to-morrow,^ —
yesterday !
153-
Pour out the red wine of pure tulip colour/
draw the pure blood ^ from the throat of the jar,
for to-day, beside the wine-cup, there is not, for me,
one friend who possesses a pure "' heart.
154-
To the ear of my heart Heaven whispered secretly : —
"The commands that are decreed' thou mayst learn from me:
272 Notes
2. Compare Gulistiln, Introduction :
Cloud, and wind, and moon, and sun, move in the sky.
That thou mayst gain bread, and not eat it unconcerned.
For thee all are revolving and obedient,
It is against the requirements of justice if thou obeyest not.^
155-
This quatrain is C. 474, P. 229, B. ii. 591, L. 697, S. P. 442, B. 688, N. 448,
and W. 479. Compare q. 149, which is identical in sentiment and idea, and with
this quatrain gives us the original of F. v. 12, q. v. sub q. 149.
1. dast dadan = to happen, or, come to pass.
2. B. ii., L., N., and W. read "two mens of wine."- Vide q. 77, note 4,
and q. 104, note 5. Men (or mann) is a variable measure. The mcii-i-tabyizi^
equals about 7^ lbs., the luen-i-shdhl* equals 14^-15 lbs., the mcn-i-rar' equals
30 lbs., and the meii-i-shaliimi^ equals 116 lbs. Herrick uses the term twice to
indicate a measure. C/. : (Hesperides : To Anthea).
Behold for us the Naked Graces stay.
With maunds of roses for to strew the way.
And again :
There, filling maunds with cowslips, you
May find your Amaryllis.
{lb., a. Dialogue.)
3. P., N., and W. read " with a tulip-cheeked one sitting," etc.,' and C. and
L., "with a moon-faced one.""*
4. C. reads " That would be a lu.xury, fit pastime for any sultan."" L. reads
" It is a luxury the proceeding of any sultan." i"
156.
This quatrain is C. 469, B. ii. 589, L, 694, S. P. 441, B. 685, N. 447, and W. 478.
Whether by accident or by design, it seems to be connected with the preceding
ruba'i, which is rare in a diwan arrangement.
yi^CO d^U J^ (9) ^^ fiU (8) ^^ ^]) U (7) ^^U. ^^(6)
Transcript and Translation
273
JU j»J-;S ^>*-^^ J^J ^=^^J ^
J'*^
I
.AtJ^j
tytV
jii;^'^
rr
^/'Ay^j%iJl^fJ
"^/jLi^^if^^
O^^^K^/J^jJj-.^
J'
>->/,
Vt^'*—^^ ' ' ^ -^ 0> Ll^ >-^yV
had I a hand in my own revolutions,"
I would have saved myself from giddiness."
155-
If a loaf of wheaten-bread be forthcoming/
a gourd of wine,^ and a thigh-bone of mutton,
and then, if thou - and I he sitting in the wilderness, —
that would be a joy to which no sultan can set bounds/
156.
If henceforth two measures of wine come to thy hand,
drink thou wine in every assembly and congregation.
274 Notes
1. N. and W. read "for he who acts thus,"i ehminating the reference
to God.
2. Literally, " has freedom from care " — " leisure."
3. A good specimen of oriental imagery. W. translates " from SEiintly airs
like yours, or grief like mine." N. translates " he is spared the unpleasantness of
seeing moustaches like yours," etc. Cf. M., 1. 2955
157-
This quatrain is C. 494, P. 88, B. ii. 590, L. 732, B. 720, W. 490, and it
is No. 30 of E. C.'s examples. B. ii. 593, N. 450 (S. P. 44.^) is a paraphrase of it.
We recognise in it the sentiment of F. v. 99 :
Ah Love ! could you and I with Him conspire
To grasp this sorry Scheme of Things entire,
Would we not shatter it to bits — and then
Remould it nearer to the Heart's desire !
The quatrain in N. runs :
If I were free and could use my own volition.
And independent of the griefs of Fate and of good and bad.
It were better that in this hole of depravity
I had neither come, nor gone, nor lived. -
Orientalists will recognise here a coarseness, common in oriental literature, but
very rare in Omar Khayyam.
1. Literally, " if my coming was by me."
2. 'alam-i-khah, the world, or, the human body. C, P., and L. read " in
this ruined monastery."-'
158-
This quatrain (which, ending in d, is out of its dlwan order) is W. 218,
taken from this MS. P. 190, B. ii. 235, L. 331, and B. 327 are somewhat similar
in sentiment, but may be regarded as only corresponding quatrains.
We have here the germ of the opening and closing verses of F.'s " Kilza
namah" section, with their references to "hunger-stricken Ramazan " (F. v. 82),
and F. v. go :
The little Moon look'd in that all were seeking,
And then they jogg'd each other, " Brother! Brother !
Now for the Porter's shoulder-knot a-creaking ! "
1. Ramazan is the ninth month of the Muhammadan year, which is
observed as a month of fasting and penance, during which rigid Muslims neither
eat, drink, wash, or caress their wives. The first day of Shawwal is therefore
eagerly looked forward to in the East.
2. Literally, " of growing, burgeoning," i.e., Spring.
3. The kawwcil is the professional story-teller, or improvisatore of the oriental
coffee-house.
Transcript and Translation
275
\6V
-^fcj>>i^j';.
■'/^ u»^^
'i'^tJ^i''^/l5i>
79
for He who made the world ^ does not occupy Himself"
about moustaches like thine, or a beard like mine/
157-
Had I charge of the matter^ I would not have come,
and likewise could I control my going, where should I go ?
were it not better than that, that in this world ^
I had neither come, nor gone, nor lived ?
158.
The month of Ramazan ^ passes and Shawwal comes,
the season of increase,^ and joy, and story-tellers ^ comes ;
276 Notes
4. pusht means the back, and also the " knot " upon which porters carry
their burdens. W. inchnes to read this pusht bast,^ a load, or pack, rather than
pusht pusht, which he says he does not understand. It is undoubtedly a poetic form
oi pushtu pusht,'^ which means " back to back," as porters help one another to raise
their loads.
The final passage, containing the history of this MS., related by the scribe
Mahmiid Yerbudaki, is written in Arabic, as is commonly the case in Persian MSS.
^,U^, (2) « — , «.w^ (1)
Transcript and Translation
277
Jw.T JUk w.^. t::^^. d^ JJJ^
5 ^-Oi--«^ vJ^-*^ dA~~) jiJaJ 1^ ^)^jfi>J VJ /♦iy=» ySLtO
lL.f,s^\^ aLJ) aJ._£> dJ^-jJ) dJ^^ci^JI dJUiUJ'
'^>>'U^^L>'^
*Jt_^_^
I^JBH
•r
>.'/^^>'^
pfc aB MjMi
''/^J/ji^Jii6>
i
80
now comes that time when " Bottles upon the shoulder ! "
they say, — for the porters come and are back to back.^
END OF THE QUATRAINS.
Written by the humble slave, who is in need of mercies
of Eternal God, Mahmud YerbudakT. Finished in the last
decade of Safar, with blessing and victory, in the year Eight
hundred and sixty-five of the Hijrah of the Prophet, upon
whom be peace, and benediction, and honour ; in the capital
Shiraz.
May God most high protect her from evils.
20
BIBLIOGRAPHY
BIBLIOGRAPHY
The following Bibliography of the Ruba'iyat of Omar Khayyam
cannot, and does not pretend to anything like completeness. It is
merely a catalogue of the literature of the subject so far as it is in
my own possession, or is known to me. For some of the references
to MSS. and to American editions, I am indebted to Mr. Nathan
Haskell Dole.
MSS.
British Museum.
1 Original MSS., No. 330, ff. log, containing 423 ruba'iyat (i8th century).
2 Original MSS., No. 331, ff. 92, containing 540 ruba'iyat (a.h. 1033,
A.D. 1624).
3 Additional MSS., No. 27,261, containing a few ruba'iyat in Section 15
(i6th century).
Bodleian Library, Oxford.
4 MS., No. 524, containing 405 ruba'iyat.
5 „ No. 525 (this MS.).
6 ,, No. 1210. A collection of Miscellaneous Poems, containing
several ruba'iyat on pp. 88-90.
Cambridge University Library.
7 MS., Add. 1055, ff. 222, containing 801 ruba'iyat. Not dated, but
its first owner inscribed his name in it in a.h. 1195 (a.d. 1781).
India Office.
8 MS., No. 2420, pp. 212-267, containing 512 ruba'iyat.
9 „ No. 2486, pp. 158-194, „ 362 „
Bengal Asiatic Society's Library, Calcutta.
ID MS., No. 1548, containing 516 ruba'iyat.
Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris.
lOfl MS., Supplement Persan 745. A Diwan of Emad dated a.h. 7S6
(a.d. 1384). One of the owners of this has written 6 ruba'iyat of
Omar upon the blank side of fol. 64, in a handwriting of the end
of the 9th or beginning of the loth century, a.h. They are
i. = L. 769; ii. = L. 84; iii. = L. 120; iv. = L. 381; v. = L. 545; vi.
not in L. ; vii. = L. 40. And on the leaf containing the colophon
he has written a variant of q. 112 of the Bodleian MS.
282 Bibliography
10b Ancien Fonds 349, ff. 181-210, 213 ruba'iyat, dated a.h, 920 (a.d. 1514).
IOC Supplement Persan 823, ff. 92-113, 349 ruba'iyat, dated a.h. 934
(A.D. 1527).
lod Supplement Persan 826, ff. 391-394, 75 ruba'iyat, dated a.h. 937
(a.d. 1530).
IOC Supplement Persan 793, f. 104, 6 ruba'iyat in an nth century (a.h.)
handwriting.
10/ Supplement Persan 833. A MS. of the Atash Kadah, containing 31
ruba'iyat, dated a.h. 1217 (a.d. 1802).
Koniglichc Bibliothek, Berlin.
11 MS., No. 35, containing 238 ruba'iyat.
12 „ No. 566, „ 65 „
13 ,, No. 671, ,, a collection of ruba'iyat, many of which
appear to be Omar's.
14 MS., No. 673, ditto.
15 „ No. 672, containing 40 ruba'iyat.
16 „ No. 674, „ 380 „
17 „ No. 697, „ 43
Herzogliche Bibliothek, Gotha.
18 A MS. and a Turkish version by Daulat Shah.
i8rt The Bankipur MS. This was discovered at Bankipur at the moment
that these sheets were leaving the press. It is dated a.h. 961-2
(a.d. 1554), and contains 603 ruba'iyat. It is the largest collection
known of so early a date.
LITHOGRAPHS.
19 Calcutta, 1836, containing 492 ruba'iyat.
igfl Teheran, 1861, ,, 460
20 Tabriz, 1868, ,, 453
21 Lucknow, 1868, „ 716
22 „ 1878, „ 763
23, 24 Other Lucknow editions were issued in 1882 and 1883, but I have
not seen them.
25 Lucknow, 1894, containing 770 ruba'iyat.
26 St. Petersburg, 1888, ,, 453 ,,
27 In the Atash Kadah of Azr of Isfahan, Bombay, a.m. 1299
(a.d. 1882), 31 ruba'iyat. {Vide supra, 10/.)
28 A selection of poems published at Teheran, 1857, containing 230
ruba'iyat of Omar, and other ruba'iyat of Baba Tahir, Abu Sa'id,
Attar, etc.
29 I have a similar collection lithographed at Bombay, in a.h. 1297
(a.d. 1880), containing 756 ruba'iyat attributed to Omar.
PRINTED TEXTS.
30 Nicolas, Paris, 1867, containing 464 ruba'iyat. Described elsewhere.
31 Whinfield, London, 1883 ,, 500 „ „ ,,
Bibliography 283
FOREIGN TRANSLATIONS.
32 J. Von Hammer-Purgstall. Geschichte der Schonen Redekunste
Persiens. Vienna, 1818, pp. 80-83, containing 25 quatrains.
33 The fourth part of A. Wolffs " Die Classiker aller Zeiten und
Nationen " (Berlin, 1860-77) is entitled " Die National Literatur
sammtliche Vblken des Orients," by A. E. Wollheim da Fonseca;
pp. 206-209 contain an essay upon Omar, and nineteen of Von
Hammer- Purgstall's quatrains, which are stigmatised as inaccu-
rate and badly put together.
34 Garcin de Tassy. Note sur les Ruba'iyat de Omar Khaiyam. Paris,
1857, containing 10 ruba'iyat with prose translations. Vide
Introduction.
35 A. F. von Schack. Strophen des Omar Chijam. Stuttgart, 1878;
contains 336 quatrains.
36 F. Bodenstedt. Die Lieder und Spriiche des Omar Chajjam.
Breslau, 1881. 3rd edition, 1882; 4th edition, i88g ; contains
467 quatrains.
36rt J. Pizzi. Storia della Poesia Persiana. Turin, 1894. Translation ot
63 ruba'iyat.
36^ V. Rugarli. Dieci Quartine di Omar Khayyam tradotte dal Persiano.
Bologna, 1895.
37 V. Rugarli. " Dodici Quartine di Omar Khayyam tradotte dal
Persiano." Bologna, 1895; 12 quatrains translated from Nicolas
(77. 83. 85, 94, 138, 152, 235, 269, 346, 370, 396, and another).
38 Bela Harrach [Translation]. Eastern Pearls by the Persian Cynic
Poet, Omar Khayyam. Budapest, n.d. ; 130 pp., i6mo. (Follows
the order of Nicolas.)
EDWARD FITZGERALD'S TRANSLATION.
39 ist edition, London, 1859. Quaritch. Containing 75 quatrains.
40 2nd „ „ 1868. „ „ no
41 3rd „ „ 1872. „ „ lOI „
42 4th „ „ 1879. „ „ lOI „
43 5th „ „ 1889, Macmillan. In the " Letters and Literary
Remains of Edward FitzGerald," edited by W. Aldis Wright.
44 The same, reprinted separately. London, 1890; Macmillan. This
has been reprinted as required.
45 An anonymous edition privately printed at Madras (Adiyar), 1862,
containing a reprint of the 1859 edition, of Garcin de Tassy's
Note (No. 34, supra), and Professor Cowell's article (No 69, in/ra),
with a translation of a few additional quatrains.
46 A pirated edition, got up by Mr. Quilter and a few friends. London,
1883, J. Campbell; royal 4to.
47 An edition made up from all four FitzGerald editions, printed on his
own private press (the Ashendene Press), 1S96, by H. St. John
Hornby and his sisters. Fifty copies only ; printed for private
circulation.
284 Bibliography
AMERICAN REPRINTS.
48 ist American, from the 3rd London edition. Boston, 1878. (The
23rd edition of this was published in 1894.)
49 Elihu Vedder's Illustrated edition.- Boston, 1884; folio.
49« A small quarto print of the text alone was issued at the same time as
the above, printed on one side only of strips of paper, the fore-
edge being left uncut, like a Chinese or Japanese book. It has 45
pages, and no title-page, imprint, or date. A Note on page i ex-
plains that it is printed as an accompaniment to the Vedder
illustrations. The quatrains are in the order in which Vedder
rearranged them, and FitzGerald's Introduction and Notes come
after the poem, at the end of the book.
50 The same, reduced in size only. Boston, 1886; 4to.
51 ,, Popular edition. Boston, 1894; small 4to. With an
Introduction, etc., by M. K.
52 The Grolier Club edition. New York, 1885.
53 The Works of Edward FitzGerald. Boston, 1887. Two vols. Vol. I.
contains the Ruba'iyat.
54 The Ruba'iyat, separately printed, with Introduction and M. K.'s
Notes. Boston, 1888.
55 Pamphlet edition, issued at 20 cents, in a green paper wrapper.
San Francisco, 1891.
56 The Bibelot edition. Portland (Maine), 1893. Mosher.
57 The Old World edition. Portland (Maine), 1895. Mosher.
58 The St. Paul edition. St. Paul (Minnesota), 1895 and 1897. Porter.
59 The Multivariorum Edition of Nathan Haskell Dole, in 2 vols.
Boston, 1895 (J. Knight Co.). This monumental work is a
marvel of careful collation and compilation. In it the fullest
references are given to all other translations, and the four
editions are minutely compared. All the best magazine litera-
ture is included, and most of the poetry inspired by Omar.
It is a work that no student of Omar can do without ; but I
understand that the representatives of Edward FitzGerald
have refused to allow it to be published in England.
59(7 The same, 2nd edition, greatly enlarged and illustrated. Boston,
1897. L. C. Page & Co.
There are other American reprints appearing almost daily, which are
copied or re-arranged from Messrs. Macmillan's current edition.
OTHER ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS.
60 E. H. Whinfield. ist edition, 1882; containing 253 quatrains.
61 „ „ 2nd „ 1883; „ 500 „ and
the text.
62 E. H. Whinfield. 3rd edition, 1893; containing 267 quatrains.
63 Anonymous. [E. A. Johnson.] "The Dialogue of the Gulshan i
Raz . . ." With Selections from the Ruba'iyat of Omar
Khayyam. London, 1887.
Bibliography 285
64 Louisa S. Costello. "The Rose Garden of Persia." London, 1S87;
pp. 66-76. Omar Khayyam.
65 John L. Garner. "The Strophes of Omar Khayyam." Milwaukee,
1888; i2mo.
66 Justin H. McCarthy. A Prose translation, entirely printed in capital
letters. London, 1889.
67 There is an American reprint of this published in the Ribelot Series
by Mosher, Portland (Maine), 1S96, in which the translations
are put into ordinary print and numbered.
67^ The Quatrains of Omar Kheyyam of Nishapour, now first com-
pletely done into English verse from the Persian, in accordance
with the original forms, with a biographical and critical intro-
duction by John Payne, etc. London, 1898. Printed for the
Villon Society by private subscription, and for private circulation
only.
MAGAZINE ARTICLES.
To attempt to compile anything like a complete catalogue of these
would be to attempt a vain task. The following are articles that I have
myself had occasion to consult, and consider to be of sufficient importance
to warrant their inclusion in a bibliography of Omar Khayyam :
68 Journal Asiatique (Paris), No. g, 1857. Garcin de Tassy. "Note
sur les Ruba'iyat de Omar Khaiyam."
69 Calcutta Review, January, 1858. E. B. Cowell. Described elsewhere.
70 Le Moniteur Universel, December 8, 1867. ■' Les Quatrains
d'Omar."
71 North American Review, October, 1869. C. E. Norton. Review of
Nicolas's edition and Fitzgerald's and edition.
72 Eraser's Magazine, June, 1870. " Omar Khayyam, the Astronomer-
Poet of Persia."
73 Old and New (Boston, U.S.A.), May, 1872. The Rev. J. W. Chad-
wick. " The Poems of Omar Khayyam."
74 Canadian Monthly (Toronto). Vol. X. (1876), p. 399. Eidelis
[A. M. Machar] . "An Old Persian Poet."
75 Contemporary Review, March, 1876. H. Schiitz-Wilson. "The
Ruba'iyat of Omar Khayyam."
76 The Galaxy (New York), September, 1876. J. H. Siddons. "A
Persian Poet."
77 Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, No. 46, 1877. P. Whalley
and C. S. Muradabad. " Metrical Translations from the Qua-
trains of 'Umar Khayyam " (with text ; 9 quatrains).
78 Atlantic Monthly, April, 1878. Thos. B. Aldrich. "A Persian Poet."
79 Eraser's Magazine, May, 1879. Jessie E. Cadell. " The True Omar
Khayyam."
80 Academy, January 17, 1885. Whitley Stokes. "Translation of 18
Ruba'iyat."
21
286 Bibliography
8i Saturday Review, January i6, 1886. (J. H. McCarthy.)
82 Macmillan's Magazine, November, 1887. H. G. Keene. "Omar
Khayyam."
83 The New Englander (New Haven, U.S.A.). Vol.XLIX. (1888), p. 328.
W. L. Phelps. " Schopenhauer and Omar Khayyam."
84 Harvard Monthly (Cambridge, Mass.), December, 1885. A. B.
Houghton. " A Study in Despair."
85 Fortnightly Review, July, 1889. E. Gosse. " Edward FitzGerald."
86 Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, November, i88g. F. H. Groome.
" Edward FitzGerald."
87 Cornhill Magazine, December, i8go. "Omar Khayyam's Ruba'iyat."
(Translation of 10 Ruba'iyat.)
88 National Review, December, 1890. C. J. Pickering. " 'Umar of
Naishapur."
89 The Nation, October 26, 1893. Moncure D. Conway. "The Omar
Khayyam Cult in England."
90 Enghsh Illustrated Magazine, February, 1894. E. Clodd. " Edward
FitzGerald."
gi Calcutta Review, 1895. H. G. Keene. "Loose Stanzas."
92 II Convito (Rome), June, 1895, pp. 397-415. A. de Bosis. "Note su
Omar Khayyam e su Elihu Vedder."
93 Fortnightly Review, December, i8g6. J. A. Murray. " Omar
Khaiyam."
93(7 Indian Magazine, March 1898. B. B. Nagarkar. " Lecture on
Omar Khaiyam."
I have purposely avoided Foreign Magazine Articles, except
where they are of great importance.
I do not propose to give references to poems in praise or in
imitation of Omar. Their name is legion. The most notable will
be found among the works of Andrew Lang, Mathilde Blind,
Christopher Cranch, Theodore Watts, and Rosamund Marriott
Watson, R. le Gallienne has filled the upper half of a small
book with such verses. All these find a place in Mr. N. H. Dole's
monumental edition.
GENERAL ITEMS.
94 One of the most interesting and at the same time unattainable items
in the literature of Omar is the fulfilment of FitzGerald's idea of
putting the quatrains into Latin verse, as follows :
" Ruba'iyat of Omar Khayyam, the Astronomer-poet of Persia,
rendered into English verse by Edward FitzGerald, and into
Latin verse by Herbert Wilson Greene, M.A., B.C.L., Fellow
of Magdalen College, Oxford." Privately Printed (Oxford), 1893.
95 There should also be mentioned Miss Liza Lehmann's Song Cycle,
" In a Persian Garden," in which all, or parts of, tliirty-one
quatrains are arranged for four voices. It was performed for
Bibliography 287
the first time (in public) at St. James's Hall, 14th December,
1896, and is fully described in the " Programme and Analytical
Remarks" for that evening {CItappell).
96 V. Schukovsky. " Omar Khayyam. I ' Strastvuyushchiya Chet-
veroctishiya.' " {Trans. : Omar Khayyam and the " wandering "
Quatrains.) St. Petersburg, 1S98.
97 E. Heron-Allen. " Some Sidelights upon Edward FitzGerald's
Poem, ' The Ruba'iyat of Omar Khayyam.' Being the sub-
stance of a Lecture delivered at the Grosvenor Crescent Club
and Women's Institute on the 22nd March, 1898." London,
o J 2
SOME SIDELIGHTS UPON EDWARD
FITZGERALD'S POEM,
"THE RUBA'IYAT OF OMAR KHAYYAM."
Being the Substance of a Lecture delivered at the
Grosvenor Crescent Club and Women's Institute
ON the 22ND MaRCH, 1898.
There is material for much subtle argument — material
indeed for discussion such as is dear to the souls of the self-
proclaimed Wise Men of the East — in the following problem :
Did Omar Khayyam give fame to Edward FitzGerald, or did
Edward FitzGerald give European fame to Omar Khayyam ?
And by fame I mean, not the respect paid to a great poet by
students of the language in which he wrote, but that far-
reaching and universal popularity which enshrouds the names
of Edward FitzGerald and Omar Khayyam in every quarter of
the known world where the English language is spoken by
natives or colonists. Though the recent utterances of Colonel
Hay, the United States Ambassador to this country, may seem,
even to Omar's most fervent devotees, a trifle exaggerated,'
it is not, I think, too much to say that, even in this latter
half of the igth century, when the cult of particular poets
has drawn bands of men and women together and given us
Shakespeare Societies, Shelley Societies, Browning Societies,
and the like, there is no freemasonry so infallible, no sympathy
I. Daily Chronicle, gth December, 1897.—" The exquisite beauty, the fault-
less form, the singular grace of those amazing stanzas, were not more wonderful
than the depth and breadth of their profound philosophy, their knowledge of
life, their dauntless courage, their serene facing of the ultimate problems of life
and death. ... I came upon a literal translation of the Ruba'iyat, and I saw
that not the least remarkable quality of FitzGerald's poem was its fidelity to the
original. . . . It is not to the disadvantage of the later poet that he followed so
closely in the footsteps of the earlier. . . . There is not a hill-post in India or a
village in England where there is not a coterie to whom Omar Khayyam is a
familiar friend and a bond of union."
290 SoDie Sidelights
so profound, as that which unites the lovers of the quatrains of
Omar Khayyam, in the form in which they have been made
known to us by the beautiful, the eternal poem of " Old Fitz "
— the Laird of Littlegrange.
The incunabulum, the earliest archive of the cult, is
admittedly the single verse attributed to the ghost of Omar
(by whom it was recited in a dream to his mother) and re-
corded in the " History of the Religion of the Ancient Persians,
Parthians and Medes," by Dr. Thomas Hyde, Regius Pro-
fessor of Arabic in the University of Oxford, in the year 1700.'
This is the quatrain which was rendered by FitzGerald in the
Introduction to his poem :
O thou who burn'st in Heart for those who burn
In Hell, whose fires thyself should feed in turn ;
How long be crying, " Mercy on them, God ! "
Why, who art thou to teach, and He to learn.^
The German renderings of Josef von Hammer-PurgstalH and
Friedrich Riickert^ would not by themselves have called Omar
to the position which he holds to-day among the poets of the
world, and without the poem of FitzGerald the record of the
astronomer-poet might have closed with the publication of his
treatise upon Algebra and the higher mathematics, which was
given to the world in 1851 by Dr. Woepcke, Professor of Mathe-
2. " Veterum Persarum et Parthorum et Medorum religionis historia."
Oxford, 1700; 2nd Edition, 1760. Appendix, pp. 529, 530.
3. Dr. Hyde's rendering runs:
O combustus combustus Combustione !
Vae, a te est Ignis Gehennae Accensis !
Quousque dicis, Omaro misericors esto ?
Quousque Deum, Caput Misericordiae, docebis ?
which is a more correct rendering than FitzGerald's of the original, which is
C. I, L. 769, B. 755, S. P. 453, B. ii. 537, W. 4S8, N. 459. Persian;
i.s'^^^J^^ y )' ^j)"^ U^^ '^ S?'^ iS^^^}^ *<5Jld.^— "dxi.^ ^3!
4. " Geschichte der schonen Redekiinste Persiens, &c." Vienna, 1S18,
p. 80, 20.
5. " Grammatik, Poetik und Rhetorik der Perser," herausgegeben von
\V. Pertsch. Gotha, 1S74.
upon Edivard FitzGcraliVs Poem 291
matics in the University of Bonn ^/k.*^ Dr. Woepckc has
pointed out in the Introduction to his translation that the
Algebra of Omar Khayyam first attracted the notice of
mathematicians in 1742, when a Dutch savant, Gerard
Meerman, called attention to a manuscript of his treatise,
bequeathed by one Warner to the town of Leyden. The
citation occurs in the Introduction to Moorman's " Specimen
calculi fluxionalis." Succeeding mathematicians called atten-
tion to the work ; but the first important consideration that it
received was at the hands of L. A. Sedillot, who announced in
the Nouveau Journal A siatique, in May, 1834, the discovery of an
incomplete MS. of the same treatise in the Bibliotheque Royale
in Paris. It was reserved for Professor Libri to discover, in the
same place, a complete MS. of the work, and it was from the
Leyden MS., the Sedillot fragment, and the Libri MS. that
Dr. Woepcke edited his admirable text and translation. In his
Introduction Dr. Woepcke gives a translation of the account
of Omar from the Tarikh ul hukama of Jamal ud Din 'Ali, which
has been so often quoted in articles upon the poct,^ and
observes upon it that Omar " is a detestable man, but an un-
equalled astronomer ; he is perhaps a heretic, but surely he is a
philosopher ofthe first order." This opinion would appear to have
been shared by Elphinstone,'^ who, in his account of Cabul, places
on record what may, perhaps, be looked upon as an undesirable
precursor of the Omar Khayyam Club. He says: "Another
sect, which is sometimes confounded with the Sufis, is one
which bears the name of Moollah Zukkee, who was its great
patron in Cabul. Its followers hold that all the prophets were
impostors and all revelation an invention. They seem very
doubtful of the truth of a future state, and even of the being of
6. " L'Algebre d'Omar Alkhayyami." publiee, traduite et accompagnee
d'extraits de manuscrits inedits par F. Woepcke. Paris. 185 1.
7. Vide Nathan H. Dole's Multivariorum edition of the " Ruba'iyat of
Omar Khayyam," Boston (Mass.). 1896. Vol. ii.. pp. 457-461-
8. The Hon. Mountstuart Elphinstone. " An account of the Kingdom of
Caubul and its Dependencies in Persia. Tartary, and India." London, 1815.
Ch. v., p. 209.
292 ' Some Sidelights
a God. Their tenets appear to be very ancient, and are
precisely those of the old Persian poet Khayyam (sic, Kheioom),
whose works exhibit such specimens of impiety as probably
never were equalled in any other language. Khayyam dwells
particularly on the existence of evil, and taxes the Supreme
Being with the introduction of it in terms which can scarcely
be believed. The Sufis have unaccountably pressed this
writer into their service ; they explain away some of his
blasphemies by forced interpretations ; others they represent
as innocent freedoms and reproaches such as a lover may pour
out against his beloved. The followers of Moollah Zukkee are
said to take the full advantage of their release from the fear of
hell and the awe of a Supreme Being, and to be the most
dissolute and unprincipled profligates in the kingdom. Their
opinions nevertheless are cherished in secret, and are said to
be very prevalent among the licentious nobles of the Court
of Shah Mahmoud." And, notwithstanding that Professor
Cowell made the Algebra of Omar Khayyam the text for his
article in the Calcutta Review (January, 1858), here, but for
FitzGerald, might have rested the fame of him who, as Dr.
Hyde described him, was "one of the Eight who settled the
Jalali era, in 1079," a computation of time which, says Gibbon,^
surpassed the Julian and approached the accuracy of the
Gregorian style.
The object of the present essay, however, is, not to
analyse the quatrains composed by, or attributed to Omar
Khayyam, but to examine by the light of diligent research the
poem of Edward FitzGerald, which was founded upon and
took its title from those quatrains, or i.::^Ls>[ij (ruba'iyat).
Almost from the day upon which FitzGerald's poem first
saw the light, a controversy, in which question and doubt
have been uppermost, has raged round the problem of how
far it can claim to be regarded as a correct rendering — I will
9. " Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," chap. Ivii., Gibbing's
edition, 1890, vol. iv., p. 180. Vide also Dr. Hyde, loc. cit., chap, xvi., pp. 200-211.
upon Edujard FitzGcrald's Poem 293
not say translation, for that is an expression that cannot be
properly applied to it— of the original quatrains. I have
remarked in another place/" " A translation pure and simple
it is not, but a translation in the most classic sense of the
term it undoubtedly is." Since expressin;^' that view, however
I have had occasion to modify it somewhat. Prof. Charles Eliot
Norton has summed up the position in a passage unsur-
passed in the literature of criticism." He says : " F"itzGerald
is to be called ' translator ' only in default of a better word,
one which should express the poetic transfusion of a poetic
spirit from one language to another, and the re-representation
of the ideas and images of the original in a form not altogether
diverse from their own, but perfectly adapted to the new
conditions of time, place, custom and habit of mind in which
they reappear. ... It is the work of a poet inspired by the
work of a poet ; not a copy, but a reproduction; not a transla-
tion, but the re-delivery of a poetic inspiration."
, FitzGerald's poem is, however, something more than
this. Stated in the fewest possible words, the poem familiar
to English readers as the " Ruba'iyat of Omar Khayyam " is
the expressed result of FitzGerald's entire course of Persian
studies. There are many isolated lines and ideas, and more
than one entire quatrain for which diligent study has revealed
no corresponding passages in the original quatrains of Omar
Khayyam — notably, for instance, the quatrain :
O Thou who Man of baser Earth did'st make,
And ev'n with Paradise devised the Snake :
For all the Sin wherewith the Face of Man
Is blacken'd — Man's forgiveness give — and take !
and the opening quatrain, which Mr. Aldis Wright, the editor
of his " Letters and Literary Remains,"^- says " is entirely his
own." Even Professor Cowell has said, ex cathedra, " there
is no original for the line about the snake," and attri-
10. Vide Introduction, p. xxxi.
11. In the North American Review, October, 1869.
12. London, 1889. Macmillan, 3 vols.
294 Some Sidelights
butes the last line to a mistake of FitzGerald's in
translating a quatrain from Nicolas, which led him to
"invent" the line. We shall presently see that this is
not so, save in so far as that FitzGerald took these lines by
a process of automatic cerebration, not from Omar, but from
other sources. The manner in which he wrote his poem must
be borne in mind. Professor Cowell, writing to me (under
date 8th July, 1897), says : " I am quite sure that he did not
make a literal prose version first ; he was too fond of getting
the strong vivid impression of the original as a whole. He
pondered this over and over afterwards, and altered it in his
lonely walks, sometimes approximating nearer to the original,
and often diverging farther. He was always aiming at some
strong and worthy equivalent; verbal accuracy he disregarded."
Composing his poem in this manner, with the original ruba'iyat
not before him, all the impressions stored in his brain as the
result of his extensive studies of Persian poetry, and Persian
history, manners and customs, were present in his mind, and
the echoes of those studies are clearly recognisable in the lines
and passages which have defied the research of students of the
original quatrains.
That no one should have called attention to this before,
surprises me, for the process was indicated clearly by Pro-
fessor Cowell in his note upon the opening lines of quatrain
No. 3S :
Earth could not answer ; nor the seas that mourn
In flowing Purple, of their Lord forlorn.
FitzGerald corresponded with Professor Cowell upon these
two very lines — or rather upon the idea contained in them —
in March, 1857, but it was reserved for the latter to call atten-
tion to the fact that they were taken from the Mantik-ut-Tair
(the Parliament, or Language of Birds) of Ferid-ud-din Attar.
FitzGerald himself never acknowledged in his printed works
the assistance of anyone, or (except in the case of Mr. Binning's
Journal) the sources of any of his information, but I have
followed the clue given by Professor Cowell, and by dint of
ttpon Edward FitzGcrald's Poem 295
reading every work to which FitzGerald refers in his letters,
during the time when he was composing his poem, I have
traced the actual originals of those debatable lines, and
discovered the sources from which his information concern-
ing Persia and the Persians was derived.
FitzGerald, in 1845, was repelled rather than attracted by
Oriental matters, as we know from the contempt he expressed
concerning Eliot Warburton's " The Crescent and the Cross,"
published in that year ; but in 1846 Professor Cowell was
translating some Odes of Hafiz," and sent some of his render-
ings to FitzGerald, who was greatly impressed by them. It
was not, however, until 1853 that, fired by Cowell's enthusiasm,
he addressed himself seriously to the study of the Persian
language, reading as a foundation Sir Wm, Jones's Persian
Grammar, which exactly suited him, as all the examples of the
rules are given in beautiful lines from Hafiz, Sa'adi, and other
Persian poets. He records buying a Gulistan (of Sa'adi) "
whilst still studying the Grammar, but it did not very greatly
influence his later work. In 1854 he read and paraphrased
Jaml's " Salaman and Absal," which he printed for private
circulation in 1856, and reprinted in 1871. After Salaman
came Hafiz, the text he used being the Calcutta edition of
1791, bought for him by Professor Cowell. In 1856 he had
received, also from Professor Cowell, a copy of the MS. of
Omar Khayyam, which Cowell had found uncatalogued
and unknown among the Ouseley MSS. in the Bodleian
Library at Oxford. It was about this time also that he
began to correspond with the eminent French Orientalist
Gar9in de Tassy, about the latter's critical essay upon the
Mantik-ut-Tair of Ferid-ud-din Attar, with which he had
already become acquainted in De Sacy's notes to the Pend
Namah of the same poet;'' and early in 1857 he borrowed
13. These were not published until September, 1854. when they appeared
anonymously in Frasey's Magazine, and called forth further praise from FitzGerald.
14. E. B. Eastwick. " The Gulistan, or Rose Garden." London, 1852.
15. " Pend-Nameh, ou Livre des Conseils de Ferid eddin Attar." Traduit
et pubUe par M. le B°n Silvestre de Sacy. Paris, 1810. At p. 41 of this work
the parable of Jesus and the bitter water in the jar is given at length in French
2g6 Some Sidelights
a MS. of the original poem from Napoleon Newton, the
associate of Stephen Austin, the Oriental publisher at Hertford.
The two poems, the Ruba'iyat and the Mantik-ut-Tair,
took violent hold of his imagination, and already, in
March, 1857, he had completed " twenty pages of a
metrical sketch of the Mantik," This sketch, though even-
tually finished, was never published until after his death, when
it was included in his " Letters and Literary Remains " ; but the
influence of the original upon his Ruba'iyat of Omar Khayyam
and Persian, and at pp. 168-173 there is a complete resume of the entire Mantik-
ut-Tair. Though we know that this volume formed part of FitzGerald's course of
study, I have not made it one of the works to be analysed in this essay, for the
reason that its teaching was, without doubt, merged in that of the same author's
Mantik-ut-Tair. At the same time, besides the passage cited in Note 38, there are
several passages to which one might refer in such an essay as this, exempli gratia,
the story from Sa'adi's Mujaliss, which is worthy of transcription in its entirety:
" One day, Ibrahim bin Adhem was seated at the gate of his palace, and his
pages stood near him in a line. A dervish, bearing the insigna of his condition,
came up and attempted to enter the palace. ' Old man,' said the pages, 'whither
goest thou?' 'I am going into this caravanserai,' said the old man. The pages
answered, ' It is not a caravanserai ; it is the palace of Ibrahim, Shah of Balkh.'
Ibrahim caused the old man to be brought before him, and said to him : ' Darvish,
this is my palace.' 'To whom,' asked the old man, 'did this palace originally
belong ? ' 'To my grandfather.' ' After him, who was its owner ? ' ' My father.'
' And to whom did it pass on his death ? ' ' To me.' ' When you die, to whom
will it belong?" 'To my son.' 'Ibrahim,' said the Darvish, 'a place whither
one enters and whence another departs is not a palace, it is a caravanserai.' "
We have here a powerful suggestion of FitzGerald's 17th and 45th quatrains:
Think, in this batter'd Caravanserai,
Whose Portals are alternate Night and Day,
How Sultan after Sultan with his Pomp
Abode his destined Hour, and went his way.
'Tis but a Tent where takes his one day's rest
A Sultan to the realm of Death addrest :
The Sultan rises, and the dark Ferrash
Strikes, and prepares it for another Guest.
At pp. 236-244, we have a collection of passages in eulogy of generosity,
and at p. 309, de Sacy quotes an ode of Shahi containing the image of the rose
tearing asunder its garment of purple silk,
y&J^ 1:7* f- "^^ '^jh ^^^ kit^b y ^y ^^ oljjjl ^ U
which suggests FitzGerald's No. 14 :
Look to the blowing Rose about us, " Lo,
Laughing," she says, " into the world I blow.
At once the silken tassel of my Purse
Tear, and its Treasure on the Garden throw."
Such parallels might be greatly extended, but, for the most part, the images
are repeated in the Mantik-ut-Tair.
upon Edward FitzGerald's Poem 297
was so great, that whole quatrains and a great many isolated
lines came, consciously or unconsciously, from the Mantik into
his poem. It is not in any way surprising that this was so, for
Attar's poems are a perfect reflection of the Ruba'iyat of Omar,
on which it is more than probable that much of their philo-
sophy was founded, seeing that Ferid-ud-din Attar was born
at Nishapur in Khorasan four years before Omar Khayyam
died there, and was, no doubt, brought up to revere the
recently deceased poet-mathematician and his works. In 1857
FitzGerald received from De Tassy his magnificent text of the
Mantik; but De Tassy's translation was not published until
1863, so FitzGerald had nothing but the introductory analysis
to help him. Professor Cowell being at that time in India. By
June, 1857, he had received from Professor Cowell a copy of
the MS. of Omar Khayyam in the Bengal Asiatic Society's
Library at Calcutta,^^ and addressed himself at once to the
arduous task of deciphering it. We may infer with some
degree of certainty that his poem was primarily constructed
on the foundation of the Bodleian MS. from the fact that
within three weeks of the arrival of the Calcutta MS. he had
practically finished the first draft of his poem, having surveyed
the Calcutta MS. "rather hastily," as he himself says. During
the remaining months of 1857 he polished and prepared his
poem for the press, and sent it (in January, 1858) to Fraser's
Magazine for publication ; but the editor of that eminently
respectable serial did not consider it, evidently, up to the
standard demanded by his other contributors and readers, and
in January, 1859, FitzGerald took it away from him, added a
few of the more antinomian quatrains that he had suppressed
out of consideration for Fraser's families, schools, and the
Young Person, and gave them to our mutual friend "little
Quaritch " to sell The oft-told tale of how the edition fell
16. This MS. has been lost or stolen, so that Professor Cowell's copy is now
the only means of ascertaining what were the materials from which F"itzGerald
worked. A copy is now being remade from Professor Cowell's copy for the
Asiatic Society's Library in Calcutta.
298 Sojue Sidelights
from grace to " the penny box," and rose thence to seven
guineas a copy, has become a gem of classic antiquity, like
most of the anecdotes concerning Omar, FitzGerald and Fitz-
Gerald's poem. This particular story, however, has paled
into insignificance, for a copy of this first edition was sold at
auction on the loth February, i8g8, to Mr. Quaritch for ;£'2i,
and I have received an offer from America of ;^45 for a copy.
Meanwhile, he had read Mr. Binning's charming journal of his
travels in Persia," and culled therefrom the historical, topo-
graphical, legendary and sociological information that is to be
found in the notes to his Ruba'iyat, including a prose transla-
tion of the quatrain which appeared in his second edition, and
which he quotes in his notes to the third and fourth editions :
The Palace that to Heav'n his pillars threw,
And Kings the forehead on his threshold drew —
I saw the solitary Ringdove there,
And "Coo, coo, coo," she cried; and "Coo, coo, coo." ^^
(C. 419, L. 627, B. 619, S. P. 347, ;P. 140, B. ii. 459, W. 392,
N. 350-) This is merely quoted by Mr. Binning, without
reference to Omar Khayyam, but FitzGerald identified it, of
course, in the Calcutta MS. where it occurs, though it is not
to be found in the Bodleian MS.^^
In 1867, Mons. Nicolas published his text and prose
translation,^^ which, as FitzGerald tells us, " reminded him of
17. Robert B. M. Binning. " A Journal of Two Years' Travel in Persia,
Ceylon, &c." London, 1857. Vol. ii., p. 20.
tf ^ ^ ^ i>£ oL wA jl^I (SOfc-li ^jiiSt^^ ji i^ (*n>^<^
ig. FitzGerald had also before him a very similar passage from the Pend-
Nameh of Attar {vide Note 15), to which de Sacy had appended notes from Omar
Khayyam and other poets, which impressed it on his mind. The passage runs as
follows: "Though thou may'st rear thy palace towards heaven, thou wilt one day
be buried beneath the earth. Though thy power and strength equal those of
Rustam, thou shalt be one day reduced like Bahram to the abode of the tomb."
20. J. B. Nicolas. " Les Quatrains de Kheyam traduits du Persan."
Paris, 1867.
upon Edward FitzGerald's Poem 299
several things and instructed him in others," and his interest
being once more aroused in Omar Khayyam, he prepared his
second edition (that of 1868), in which we find several new
quatrains (ten in all), the originals of most of which are common
to Nicolas's translation and the Calcutta MS. FitzGerald's
note upon the dying utterance of Nizam ul Mulk came from
De Tassy's translation of the Mantik-ut-Tair, which he sent to
FitzGerald in exchange for a copy of this translation by Nicolas,
After this, FitzGerald practically dropped the study of Persian
literature ; he reduced the number of his quatrains to loi, and
gave us what for all practical purposes was the final form of
his poem in the third edition (of 1872).
In this recapitulation of FitzGerald's study of the Ruba'iyat,
I fear that I have perforce travelled over well-trodden ground,
but it has been necessary for the purpose I have in view of
showing how those studies influenced his poem. We have,
then, as his acknowledged materials :
(i.) The Odes of Hafiz, translated by Professor
Cowell in 1846, and published in 1854,
and later, the Calcutta text.
(ii.) Sir William Jones's Grammar of the Persian
Language,
(iii.) The Gulistan of Sa'adi.
(iv.) The Salaman and Absal of Jaml.
(v.) The Mantik-ut-Tair of Attar,
(vi.) Binning's Journal.
And of Omar Khayyam's Ruba'iyat,
(vii.) The Bodleian MS.
(viii.) The Calcutta MS.
(ix.) Nicolas's Translation and Text.
I propose to examine these materials in their chronological
order, and call attention to those passages whose echoes we
find in FitzGerald's poem.
I. It is not surprising that the future "translator" (in
default of that better word for which Professor Norton appeals)
of the Ruba'iyat of Omar Khayyam should first have been
300 Some Sidelights
attracted to the study of Persian by the Odes of Hafiz as
presented by Professor Cowell's translations, and the examples
of Sir Wm. Jones, for the two poets are brothers in song
indeed. There is recorded a saying of the great Akbar himself
that " an ode of Hafiz is the wine, and a quatrain of Omar is
the relish." ^^ I take the following parallels from the Odes of
Hafiz translated by Cowell :
Cowell's Hafiz. FitzGerald's Ruba'iyat.
I. Thou knowest not the secrets 52. A moment guess'd — then back
of futurity, behind the Fold
There are hidden games behind Immerst of Darkness round the
the Veil; do not despair. Drama roU'd
Which, for the Pastime of
Eternity,
He doth himself contrive, enact,
behold.
There is a parallel for this in the Bodleian MS. :
94. To speak plain language and not in parables,
we are the pieces and heaven plays tlie game,
we are played together in a baby game upon the chessboard
of existence,
and one by one return to the box of non-existence.^'
FitzGerald took from this his quatrain :
69. But helpless Pieces of the Game He plays
Upon this Chequer-board of Nights and Days
Hither and thither moves, and checks, and slays,
And one by one, back in the Closet lays.
So that the sentiment of No. 52 comes clearly from Hafiz.
II. Rest not thy trust on that 9-10. And this first Summer Month-*
night-patrolUng star,^^ for that that brings the Rose
cunning thief Shall take Jamshyd and Kaiko-
Hath stolen Kawus' crown and bad away,
the girdle of Kay Khusraw. Well, let it take them ! What
have we to do
With Kaikob.ad the Great, or
Kaikhosru ?
21. H. S. Jarrett. Ain-i-Akbari, by Abu Fazl-i-Allami. Calcutta, 1891.
Ft. ii., p. 392.
23. i.e., the Moon.
24. Moon — Month = Mah (iU — 6-«) Persian synonym.
upon Edward FitzGerald's Poem
301
And, as the Cock crew, those
who stood before
The Tavern shouted, " Open
then the Door 1
You know how little while we
have to stay,
And, once departed, may return
V. The morning dawns and the
cloud has woven a canopy.
The morning draught, my friends,
the morning draught! . . .
It is strange that at such a
season
They shut up the wine-tavern !
oh, hasten ! no more."
Have they still shut up the door
of the tavern ?
Open, oh thou Keeper of the
Gates !
The parallel here is obvious, the more so as there is no
quatrain in the Bodleian or Calcutta MSS. that so com-
pletely conveys this picture of the unopened tavern.
VII. The foundations of our peni- 93-4- Indeed, the Idols I have loved
tence, whose solidity seemed so long
as of stone —
See, a cup of glass, how easily Have drown'd my Glory in a
shallow Cup
hath it shattered them
Since from this caravanserai
with its two gates departure
is inevitable.
Indeed, indeed Repentance
oft before
I swore . . .
And then and then came
Spring, and Rose-in-hand
My thread - bare Penitence
a-pieces tore.
Think, in this battered Cara-
vanserai
Whose Portals are alternate
Night and Day,
How Sultfm after SuUan with
his Pomp
Abode his destined Hour, and
went his way.
'Tis but a Tent where takes
his one day's rest
A Sultan to the realm of
Death addrest ;
&c. &c. (C.95&110.)
It will be borne in mind that FitzGerald read these Odes
over again in Fraser's Magazine (as he himself indicates in his
" Letters ") whilst his poem was in course of construction.
22
45
302 SpDie Sidelights
II. We have not, however, finished with Hafiz. His lines
predominate in Sir Wm. Jones's Grammar, and these isolated
passages, with some from other poets, evidently fixed them-
selves in FitzGerald's mind when he was deciphering them
word by word for the purpose of learning the language.
Jones's Quotations.^'' FitzGerald's Ruba'iyat.
p. 22. Boy, bring the wine, for the 94. Quoted above.
season of the rose ap-
proaches;
let us again break our vows
of repentance in the midst
of the roses.'^'^
The phrase fasl-i-gul ( \S' J^sj), "the season of roses,"
is a common Persian expression to indicate spring. It may
be observed that this passage was his first introduction to the
connection of the Rose and Nightingale, so constantly recurring
in Persian belles-lettres.^'''
p. 27. The Cypress is graceful, but 41. The Cypress-slender minister
thy shape is more graceful of wine,
than the cypress.^
p. 89. It is morning; boy, fill the
cup with wine,
the rolling heaven makes no
delay; therefore hasten.
The sun of the wine rises
from the east of the cup :
if thou seekest the delights of
mirth, leave thy sleep.^
25. The Seventh Edition. London, 1S09.
27. Save in No. 6 and remotely in No. 96, FitzGerald has not introduced
the loves of the Nightingale and the Rose into his poem. There are many
references to it in Jones. Cf. pp. 80, 90, 112, 120, etc.
upon Edward FttzGerald's Poem 303
Here we have again the inspiration for the opening
quatrains cited above.
p. 102. By the approach of Spring 8. The leaves of life keep falling
and the return of December one by one.
the leaves of our life are
continually folded.'*
This is a distich culled by Sir Wm. Jones from Omar
Khayyam himself, and from a quatrain which occurs in the
Calcutta MS. (No. 500), but FitzGerald was evidently "re-
minded of it" by Nicolas's text, where it is No. 402, for the line
does not occur in his first edition. It was doubtless the above
quotation that originally fixed it in his mind.
On p. 106. The spider holds the veil in the palace of Caesar;
The owl stands sentinel on the watch-tower of Afrasiab.''
This is a constantly recurring illustration of the vanity of
earthly glory in Persian belles-lettres. FitzGerald took his
quatrain No. i5 from this, and from the Calcutta MS.
p. III. A garden more fresh than Iram indeed is gone with all
the bower of Iram."- his rose.
I cannot ascertain whether FitzGerald had studied
S. Rousseau's " Flowers of Persian Literature," which was
published in 1801 as " a companion to Sir W. Jones's Persian
Grammar," but at p. 71 of that work is an account of the
" Garden of Iram," translated by Jonathan Scott from the
wJUJI c=.-i.aJ (Tohfet al Mujalis). References to this
fabulous garden, however, occur constantly in all Persian
literature.
At pp. 123-124 occur quotations referring to the images of
the Caravan in the desert, and the cock-crow rousing the
apathetic sleepers. At p. 132, in an ode from Hafiz we find
the inaccessibility of the secrets of futurity and the ignorance
^L-,|^"| o^y ^j^ «.-v^y ^y ^yS^ jK^ jr^ jo ^xi^ ^^;lo so^, 31
22 — 2
304 Some Sidelights
of the wise on this subject/^ and finally in the list of works
recommended to the student at the end of the Grammar, we
find the Salaman and Absal of JamI to which FitzGerald next
turned his attention.
III. We have seen that, whilst FitzGerald's study of
Jones's Persian Grammer was still in progress, he had
obtained Eastwick's translation of the Gulistan of Sa'adi,
and the text printed at Hertford by Napoleon Newton ; he
also studied Semelet's text and translation (Paris, 1834).
It is readily comprehensible that a mind already strongly
attracted by the Sufistic and antinomian verses of Hafiz did
not enter into warm sympathy with the rhapsodies of the
essentially pious Sa'adi, but certain isolated passages must
have impressed him, for we gather distinct echoes of them in
his poem. The principal are as follows :
Gulistan.'^ FitzGerald's Ruba'ivat.
Chapter I., Story 2.
Many famous men have been
buried underground
Of whose existence on earth not
a trace has remained,
And that old corpse which had
been surrendered to the earth
Was so consumed by the soil
that not a bone remained.^
Here again is a vivid picture of the transitory nature of earthly
pomp, which is everywhere apparent in Omar Khayyam and
in FitzGerald's poem.
Story 9. I spent my precious life
in hopes, alas I
That every desire of my heart
will be fulfilled ;
My wishes were realised, but to
what profit ? since
34. I quote the Kama Shastra Society's translation, "Benares" (London,
1888), as being more literally accurate than the rhymed translation of Eastwick.
ojUi j^LiJ ctb (^r^j '^^yf- ^' " ■' ■ ' " ^ J^ '^' '"^J^ '^^ er^3 j'J '^ )^^ (j*^ ^^
upon Edward FitzGeraWs Poem 305
There is no hope that my past
life will return.
* » »
My life has elapsed in ignorance,
I have done nothing — be on
your guard ! ^
This is quite in the spirit of Omar, and the quatrains in Fitz-
Gerald's poem which echo the sentiment are too numerous to
quote.
Story 26. For how many years 23-4. Ourselves must we beneath
and long hves the couch of earth
Will the people walk over my Descend— ourselves to make a
head on the ground ? ^^ Couch — for whom ?
Ah ! make the most of what we
yet may spend,
Before we too into the Dust
descend.^
In chapter ii. we find references to the hospitality of
Hatim Tai (F. 10) and the sweet voice of David (F. 6). In
chapter v. we recognise the " rumble of a distant drum "
(F. 13), and in chapter vii. the image of the verdure and
flowers sprouting from the clay of those who have died before
us (F. ig-2o). But these images are also to be found in Omar,
so we can only say that FitzGerald met with them originally
in the Gulistan.
IV. The Salaman and Absal of Jam! occupies a small but
not unimportant place in this examination, for it was one of the
works of which FitzGerald laboriously studied the original
text and made a metrical paraphrase — his first printed volume.
I have not read the original of this, save in a desultory and
Oul j\f l>jO j\ ui-w-Jo j^ (Soil 6^ ji^ j*^ (JL)^ "-^-^ J-^. 'N?*' e^y'* ""
ouT jlj iJUi.oiS' ^e 6^ i.;i->--;i >y^\ ai^lj fiOil* ^ ijy 'J-'l / <^^;~^ '^i-'l
38. FitzGerald had had before him a passage very analogous to this from
the Bostan of Sa'adi, quoted in Sacy's notes to the Pend Nameh (loc. cit.. pp. 225-6).
"After having brought and accumulated goods like the ant, hasten to consume
them ere that thyself art consumed by the worms of the grave,"
j^ ff o;^ «^ o' J)' u^» )y^- iy' y^ ^''-^ **-^-> ^^^ ^' ^^'
3o6 Some Sidelights
superficial manner, for I found it difficult to arouse my own
interest in it, but readers of FitzGerald's paraphrase will
recognise many lines which contain thoughts which reappeared
in his ruba'iyat. One passage, however, occurs in it to which
especial reference must be made, and that is the couplet :
Drinking, that cup of Happiness and Tears
In which " Farewell " had never yet been flung.
This image recurs in FitzGerald's opening lines of his
first edition :
Awake ! for Morning in the Bowl of Night
Has flung the Stone that puts the Stars to Flight :
V. The Mantik-ut-Tair of Ferid-ud-din Attar is by far the
most important of the materials under examination, for it is
not too much to say that it might properly have been cited on
the title-page of FitzGerald's poem as one of the sources of
that work. It is one of the most important expositions that
have come down to us of that alliance of religious revelation
and mundane philosophy which the Muslims in general, and
the Sufi philosophers in particular, have frogi all time attempted
to demonstrate. The philosophical study of religions is neither
more nor less than an attempt to solve the enigma of nature,
and in Persia this study has been the constant care of the
Sufis. They commence by the postulation of a vast Pantheism
in which everything is God save alone God himself, everything
being regarded by them as an emanation from God and every-
thing being finally reabsorbed into God. As opposed to this,
Muhammadanism is the gospel of the abstract and personal
Unity of God, and it is interesting to note that Muhammad,
admitting the personalities of Moses, the Prophets and Christ,
looked upon Christianity as a kind of developed Judaism,
which authorises us in concluding that Islam itself is nothing
more than an aberration of Christianity.
Sufism, as it presents itself to the student of Omar Khay-
yam and Ferid-ud-din Attar, has been admirably described by
upon Edward FitzGeraWs Poem 307
the great English traveller and Oriental scholar Sir Richard
Burton ; he says : " It is the religion of beauty, whose leading
principle is that of earthly, the imperfect type of heavenly love.
Its high priests are Anacreontic poets ; its rites, wine, music
and dancing, spiritually considered ; and its places of worship,
meadows and gardens where the perfume of the rose and the
song of the nightingale, by charming the heart, are supposed
to improve the mind of the listener.'"' The first Sufi (a word
derived from «-J^ suf = wool, the material of which the robes
of dervishes and fakirs are made) was one Abu Hashim Kufa,
who lived in the second half of the eighth century a.d., so that
Sufism was only two centuries old when Omar Khayyam
flourished, and undoubtedly its greatest priest and poet
was Muhammad bin Ibrahim Nishapuri Ferld-ud-dln Attar
(meaning " Pearl of the Faith, the Druggist," from his trade,
which was that of an oil-presser), born, as his name denotes,
at Omar's own town of Nlshapur in iiig a.d., and massacred
by the soldiers of Gengiz Khan in 1230, and in the iioth
year of his age. The story of his conversion to philosophical
religion is told to the effect that a Sufi Darvish apostrophized
him one day in his shop, congratulating himself that he had
no merchandise to carry on the Mystic Road, or Oriental
" Way of Salvation," and exhorting Attar to prepare himself
for the journey.
Attar, like almost every other Persian poet, wrote an immense
quantity of verse, but his most interesting and important work
is undoubtedly his " Language of Birds," a title which he
borrowed from the passage in the Qur'an, where Solomon
declares, on his accession to the throne of David, " Oh, men !
I understand the language of the birds."" No exposition of
the doctrines of Sufism could be more complete than that
contained in this book, and as those doctrines are prominent
39. R. F. Burton. " Sindh. and the Races that inhabit the Valley of the
Indus." London, 185 1. Ch. viii., p. 201.
40. Chap, xxvii., v. 16.
308 Sotne Sidelights
in the sentiments of Omar Khayyam, we may shortly state
them, as follows :
(i.) All created beings are emanations from God
and are finally reabsorbed in God.
(ii.) Since God orders all things, good and bad
are indifferent, a doctrine identical with that of the
early Christian schismatics called "Adamites," whose
rites and tenets, by the way, leave much to be desired
on the score of social ethics.
(iii.) The soul is everything and the body im-
prisons it, therefore death is merely a return to God."
And these doctrines are clothed in a wealth of imagery,
often licentious, which, like the doctrine of Platonism, invoke
God under the form of beauty, pleasure, and woman — which
are one. It may be observed that the Sufis do not admit the
contention of the strict Muhammadans that they are heretics ;
indeed, Attar himself, in the epilogue to this poem, sa)^s
(as Omar said before him^^), " I am neither a Muslim nor an
infidel," ^^ and immediately after implores God to keep him
firm in the faith of Islam, *^ and to make him die therein.^^
I will now, following as far as possible the system observed
above, point out some of the principal parallels between the
Mantik-ut-Tair and FitzGerald's Ruba'iyat. The lines in the
Mantik are counted by distichs {d).
41. Qur'an, chap, i., v. 151 : " We are of God and return to him.
42. " Beneath this heaven of azure marble I am neither an independent
infidel nor a perfect Muslim," which is L. 527, C. 340, W. 347, N. 315, S.P. 314,
P. 302, B. 532, B. ii. 417.
j»Ui ^^\.^.^^ &» ^_^Ua* ^U" ^ j»li.^ ^))j^ -^"^ i^i^ 1^^
43. d. 4592. I remain neither an infidel nor a Muslim,
Between the two I remain bewildered.
44. d. 4595. Open this door to worthless me,
And indicate a path to this pathless {lost) one.
upon Edward FitzGerald's Poem
309
Mantik-ut-Tair.
d. 4. To this {i.e., the sky) he has
imparted a perpetual motion.*^
d. 24. The sky is Hke a bird that
flutters along the path God
has appointed for it."
d. 145, What is the sky, like a bowl
turned upside down, unstable,
stationary and revolving at the
same time.***
d. 2290. The sky is Hke a dish
turned upside down. ^9
d. 38. From the back] of the Fish
(Mahi) to the Moon (Mah)
every atom attests Him.^"
FitzGerald.
72. And that inverted Bowl they
call the Sky,
As impotently moves as you
or I.
5i.
Taking all shapes from Mah
to Mahi.
They change and perish all,
but He remains I
A score of passages might be quoted in which this figure
occurs. FitzGerald's quatrain came, as a whole, from the
Calcutta MS. (C. 72).
d. 147-8. Can he who during so 3
many years . . . has impotently
' frequented the Door, know
what is behind the veil.^^
This is also an image which constantly recurs
d. 152. Those who before uj
There was the Door to which
I found no key ;
There was the Veil through
which I might not see.
entered upon the Path
have studied the Mystery time
and again.
They have agitated themselves
profoundly and in the end
their result is feebleness and
astonishment.^^
26. Why all the Saints and Sages
who discuss'd
Of the Two Worlds so wisely
— they are thrust
Like foolish Prophets forth ;
their words to scorn
Are scattered and their Mouths
are stopt with Dust.
^J
o>^ r' i£^^ y^** oi"^^
61/
LT-
;io
,ljO " ^ Il^. -T - iUj I* j_^L
80^. ^^^)'^ ^ •^''^ '^ ^'
•^ tJi' csi
•,i a is:
^- i
4li
Aisi^ ••^ji->'} j^ O • ''Jt^
310 Some Sidelights
There is a quatrain in Omar (L. 326, C. 236, B. 322,
W. 147, N. 120, S. P. 120) which is almost identical with this.
At d. 216-8. Oh ! Thou who pardonest my faults and acceptest my excuses, I
am an hundred times consumed, why burn me again. It is by
thy impulsion that my blood boils ; let me shew my ardour.^'''
Here we have part of the sentiment of the quatuor of
quatrains 78-81. There is a parallel quatrain for this in Omar,
(L. 449, C. 286, W. 276, N. 236, S. P. 235, B. 445, B. ii. 308)
but the whole of this great quatuor is a redelivery of the
sentiments conveyed in the parable quoted here ; a little
further on we find dd. 217 (6ts^*) to 220. "Oh! Thou
my Creator ! the good and the bad actions that I com-
mit, I commit with my body. Pardon my weakness and
efface my faults, I am led away by my natural instincts
and cast by Thee into uncertainty ; therefore the good and
the bad I do comes from Thee."^^ And further, d. 225:
" Thou hast planted in the centre of my soul a black mole
{i.e., original sin). Thou hast marked me with a spot as
black as the skin of an Abyssinian ; but if I do not become
Thy mole, how can I become accepted by Thee ? There-
fore to attain that state I have made my heart like a black
Abyssinian slave." ^^ Here we have the original of the lines :
For all the Sin with which the face of Man
Is blackened, Man's forgiveness give — and take !
This plea for reciprocal forgiveness appears again with
great force at d. 4618 : " Deign to notice neither the good nor
the bad that I have done. Since Thou createdst me gratuitously,
Thou must pardon me gratuitously."^' We shall presently
O"* J^*** t5*'^ ^ ^J '^'^ [» ^; ^-_ ^l>« y^^ j^] jOkP jy] aUS" ^l *3
tr*^ C'^j^ Kjr^ v5^^!>^ ^ ij'y^ '^T y j>yts j,i ^^^
54. By an error of the Editor the numbers 215 to 220 are repeated twice.
(•1 SO^ 0^ ^^)i U f>^>J> 6^ jjb
H
io/ ^ /) . »u / ifljia. 55
•j- v^W^^ t^ 0^ >=^
•t* ySW^** O.^*^ 0^ ^
y J Cj'^ ^i-i^^ O^-^ g'*^
y
) r;' 0^ ji 0^ Kpy-^^ ^®
(^A-ix Jo ^_^J tia^jOOa (VX6. l»
r^
J^ 0>5- «i>^'*^ f^ f
) '■^y^ r^/ ^ y» ;' k3j-^
67
**—'>- <3)j*^ / r^^b
«»— ''.^; ^S)yt ^^) o'^i^T
upon Edward FitzGerald's Poem
311
43-
31
find other passages in the Mantik-ut-Tair which are iden-
tical in sentiment with this quatuor. We will proceed again
with the parallel passages.
Mantik-ut-Tair.
d. 240. So long as my Soul comes
not forth to my lips, I will
cherish these thoughts.^s
dd. 2501 and 3031 open passages
containing this same meta-
phor.53
d. 302. One night he (Muhammad)
ascended to heaven, and all
secrets were revealed to
him from God he
obtained complete under-
standing of all things. «•
The " Seven Gates," or " Seven Heavens," recur con-
tinually all through the poem, sc. dd. 271''^ and 1818,''- etc.
At d. 451 we find a reference to the life-giving breath of
Jesus,^3 and at d. 453 to the White Hand of Moses." At
(/. 742 et passim the loves of the Nightingale and the Rose.^
At ■ i^ jiA |»o ^«o (a)
69
jUioil
ji t^^f
i£> Ub.sfiS'
'&^\i ^L^ ^ ^ ^ (Ut
5l5C 69
— ^■ ' y^ ) «-JikJ ^j-i^ e;^o ^ o>k- «i— j ^^ )| ^^UiU.^^ ti,j>Uo 70
upon Edward FitzGerald's Poem 313
more, by quatrain 33 of the Bodleian, and 90 of the Calcutta
MSS., which reads :
The heavenly vault is the girdle of my weary body,
Jihun is a watercourse worn by my filtered tears,
Hell is a spark from my useless worries,
Paradise is a moment of time when I am tranquil."
We trace in this quatrain the original of " the Soul on Fire."
We find the first mention of " the rumble of the distant
drum," at d. 2162, " He whose lofty station is indicated by the
drum and the standard, cannot become a darvish,"" and at
d. 2753, " Were it not better to strike the drum of sovereignty,"
etc."
At d. 2340. He who controlled the world beneath his signet-ring {i.e., Solomon)
is actually an element beneath the earth. '^
This figure occurs in various forms in Omar, and has been
freely made use of by FitzGerald.
At d. 2342. The dead sleep beneath 29 the fire of Anguish
the earth, but though asleep in some Eye
I they are anguished.'^ There hidden, far beneath and
long ago.
Closely following these passages, we find the following
fable :
d. 2345. (On a certain occasion) Jesus drank of the water of a clear stream
whose flavour was more sweet than that of rose-water. By his
side, a certain one filled his jar at this same stream and then
withdrew. Then Jesus drank a little from this jar, and pursued
his way, but now he found the water bitter, and stood amazed.
" Oh, God I" he said,, "the water of the stream and that in the
jar are identical : explain to me the mystery of this difference in
the flavour, why is the water in the jar bitter and that in the
stream more sweet than honey." Then spake the jar these
words to Jesus: " I am, of old, a man. I have been fashioned
«-— I ioyij. t'Uil J, ^J\ OV^ «i.^U io^^ ^^ )\ ^j*^ Oi^^ ''
«;,^l So^l y^i^y J ^o ij^)Oj» «i.^U l^yleii g>; J i3Jjr^ C))^
j^ ^J^f .iSJU ^^\^ ^ ;l j^o «^.-^ ^.^jo (Jc _, ^/ jl 4^ ^ '-
314 Some Sidelights
a thousand times beneath the seven-domed heavens, now into
a vase, now into a jar, and again into a bowl. They may
refashion me again a thousand times, but I shall always be
tainted with the bitterness of death. It so impregnates me that
water contained in me can never be sweet." '°
FitzGerald, in his paraphrase of the Mantik," rendered
this answer very beautifully :
The Clay that I am made of, once was Man,
Who dying, and resolved into the same
Obliterated Earth from which he came
Was for the Potter dug and chased in turn
Through long vicissitude of Bowl and Urn :
But, howsoever moulded, still the pain
Of that first mortal Anguish would retain,
And cast and re-cast, for a Thousand years
Would turn the sweetest Water into Tears.
And it was to this passage of the Mantik, and to this
alone, that we owe the quatrain No. 38.
And has not such a Story from of Old
Down Man's successive generations roll'd,
Of such a clod of saturated Earth
Cast by the Maker into Human mould ?
In the comment upon this parable in the Mantik we find
the original of another quatrain of Fitzgerald.
"^>j ^ ^j}^ ts?' ;-^ r^ ;' ts-^ "-^J^ '^Z' ^ r^ s-=l ob t/^ o'
v5^^ O^J** ''^ — ?' "^ ^'^ J^ K3y^ •-H'Ij I*^ {^} •-r^l «-P^ k «Ji-^
^^ OjM ^ 45~«* v^l tJijoS . ^JS— ^o a-»I ^ ^T ,_5-~*s ^j!^_
jlii ^ ^ ^ 6)^ f^ |») iX-iS ji\jJb ^jj ^^ / (^ bj^-y^ '^
3i6 Some Sidelights
Some little talk awhile of Me and Thee
There was — and then no more of Thee and Me.
34. Then of the Thee in Me who works behind
The Veil, I lifted up my hands to find
A lamp amid the Darkness : and I heard,
As from Without, " The Me within Thee blind !"
There are those, I believe, " who by Genius and by Power
of Brain" have found these two quatrains quite simple and
self-explanatory. For my own part, I confess that I never
understood them in the least until I found the two passages in
Ferid-ud-din Attar, which evidently surged up in FitzGerald's
brain when he read the Calcutta quatrain. They are as
follows :
d. 3090. The Creator of the world spoke thus to David from behind the
Curtain of the Secret : " Everything in the world, good or bad,
visible or invisible, is mere substitute, unless it be Me, Me for
whom thou canst find neither substitute nor equal. Since
nothing can be substituted for Me, do not cease to abide in Me.
I am thy soul, be not separated from Me ; I am necessary, thou
art dependent upon Me . . . Seek not to exist apart from Me.""
and
d. 3735. " Since long ago, really, I am Thee and Thou art Me, we two are
but one. Art thou Me or am I Thee, is there any duality
in the matter ? Or else, I am thee, or thou art me, or thou,
thou art thyself. Since thou art me and I am thee for ever, our
two bodies are one. That is all 1 " ^-
This is an admirable specimen of the Sufistic argument of
Unity with God, or the Thee-in-Me that FitzGerald has
introduced with such mystic skill into his Ruba'iyat.
^LJi^ o* "^ r^^ y i"^ j^ (^y^jf y o-*^ cs^^ o-* y oys-
upon Edward FitzGerald's Poem 317
I have never found in Omar any mention of
The Mighty Mahmoud Allah-breathing Lord
That all the misbelieving and black Horde
Of Fears and Sorrows that infest the Soul
Scatters before him with his whirlwind Sword.
The reference is to Mahmoud the Ghasnawi, who made war
upon the black infidels of Hindostan, whose conquest and
its sequelae are related at d. 3117 of the Mantik. The main
image of the quatrain, the dispersal of fears and sorrows by
wine, comes primarily to FitzGerald from a quatrain which is
No. 81 in the Bodleian and No. 180 in the Calcutta MSS.
In like manner, though Omar is full of allusions to the
dead that come not back again, the precise image of our
ignorance of the road they travel comes primarily from the
Mantik :
d. 3205. No one has returned to 64. Strange is it not ? that of the
the world after having myriads who
travelled that Road, no Before us pass'd the door of
one knows how many para- Darkness through
sangs it extends . . . Fool Not one returns to tell us of
that thou art ! how can the Road,
those who have been lost Which to . discover, we must
in the Road for ever tell travel too.
us of it.^''
This passage is quoted in the Notes to De Sacy's Pend
Nameh, where FitzGerald originally saw it.
At d. 3229 we find an allegory related by Amru Osman, in
which we read of the presence of the Snake (Iblis) in Paradise
at the moment of the creation of Adam (FitzGerald 81), and at
d. 3248 Satan argues with the Creator quite in the manner of
FitzGerald's great quatuor of quatrains: "If malediction comes
from thee, there comes also mercy ; the created thing is de-
pendent upon thee since destiny is in thy hands. If maledic-
23
3i8 Some Sidelights
tion be my lot, I do not fear ; for every poison there is an
antidote."*'
Finally, at d. 4620, we find the dying words of Omar's
reputed friend Nizam ul Mulk, recorded by FitzGerald in his
letter to Professor Cowell of 28th December, 1867,^^ and quoted
in a note to his Introduction.
The parallel passages cited at so much length above
might have been considerably increased, but I think that
enough have been recorded to exhibit the intimate connection
between Fitzgerald's study of this Author and his own poem.
VI. We now come to the last of the authorities cited as
FitzGerald's material for his work, the Journal of Mr. Binning,
from which he drew very largely for his notes. To the
student of Oriental manners and customs no more interesting
or delightful work has been written, the conservative tendencies
of the Persians having militated successfully against any pro-
gress in their social conditions, so that the reader of the latest
travel-journal of Persia finds little or nothing altered in the
state of the country from what was described by Binning, and
before him by Dr. Wolff,^^ by the Hon. Mountstuart Elphin-
stone,^"* and by even earlier travellers.
FitzGerald's first note about the False Dawn is taken
from vol. i., p. 176, practically word for word. It is curious
to note that in speaking of the subh i sadik (^JjjLo ?---o), or
True Dawn, FitzGerald has followed Binning in his Persian
phrase for False Dawn, the siibh i karAb («-r^^^ f-^^) a phrase
that does not occur in Omar. In quatrain 145 of the Calcutta
MS. we find the synonym stibh i azrak (jj^^^ rT^)> literally
oU «: — .0 jO ^^^^ ^1 wsu^aS' oUJy gy JO lilUll f»llai ^J,^
S6
86. Joseph Wolff, D.D., LL.D. "Narrative of a Mission to Bokhara in
the years 1843-1845." London, 1846.
87. Viie Note S.
upon Edward FitzGeraWs Poem 319
" the blue dawn," having the same meaning, which one would
have expected FitzGerald (who had it before him) to use.
Mr. Binning's work, besides referring at some length to
the Mantik-ut-Tair of Attar, contains translations of a dozen
odes of Hafiz which we know were in FitzGerald's mind
(together with those of Cowell) when he was constructing his
poem. One or two passages from these translations will show
what I mean :
III. The season of Spring has arrived : endeavour now to
be merry and gay while thou art able ; for the roses will blow
again and again, after thou art laid under the sod.
V. Bring the right medicine for all the pains and troubles
of love — namely, the juice of the grape — for that is the true
panacea for all ills that beset both the young and the old.
VI. When Hafiz has become fairly intoxicated, he cares
not a barleycorn for the whole Empire of the Cyruses.
VII. At early dawn I walked forth into the garden to pluck
a rose, when suddenly the plaintive voice of a nightingale fell on
mine ear. The poor bird like myself, was in love with the rose,
and, sick with the passion, warbled its complaint.
XII. Bring the wine, O cupbearer, for the season of roses
has arrived, that we may again break our vows of abstinence
among the rosebushes.
It will be observed that some of these have already been
quoted by Professor Cowell and Sir William Jones.
Mr. Binning's information about the festival of the Nu-
ruz (New Year), reproduced by FitzGerald, is to be found at
vol. i., p. 346, and vol. ii., pp. 160, 165 and 207, and the
account of Bahram Gur is taken from vol. ii., pp. 353 and
357, though we have it recorded by FitzGerald himself in his
letters ^ that he made a superficial study of the Haft Paikar
of Nizami, which contains the legend of that hero's Seven
Castles and the seven ladies inhabiting them, who recount
their stories in turn in true Oriental style.
88. Loc. at., Note 12, vol. i., p. 266.
320 So)ue Sidelights upon Edward FitzGerald's Poem
At the risk of being wearisomely prolix, I have set out the
above parallels seriatim, encouraged by the belief that nothing
that adds to our knowledge of the history of Fit2Gerald's
beautiful poem can lack interest for the students and admirers
of that poem. The array might have been largely extended,
but not, I think, with any great advantage. It has been enough
to show that, as I stated at the outset, FitzGerald's '* Ruba'iyat
of Omar Khayyam " is, in addition to being a remarkable para-
phrase of Omar's incomparable quatrains, a S3mthetical result
of our poet's entire course of Persian studies.
London, July, 1898.
(Gratitude is due that this book is finished
Before my life has readied its termination.)
4 327
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