Chapter IX: Part 9

O heart! act as if all the good things of this world
belonged to you; imagine that this house is provided
with everything, that it is richly furnished, and live joyously
in this domain of disorder. Realize that thou restest
here for two or three days, and that thereafter thou
shalt rise and go away.

200.

The dogmas of religion admit only that which places
you under obligation to the Divinity. That morsel of
bread that you have, refuse not to others; keep from
speaking evil; render evil to no one, and it is I who
promise you a future life: bring wine.

201.

Dragged through the rapid course of time, which accords
its favors only to the least worthy, my life is passed
in a gulf of grief and sorrow. In this garden of being,
my heart is hard as is the green bud of a rose; and like
a tulip, it is dipped in blood.

202.

What belongs to youth is wine, the limpid juice of the
vine and the society of beauty; and since water once
brought ruin to this world by annihilating it, it is our
part to drown ourselves in wine, to pass our life in
drunkenness complete.

203.

Bring wine from this ruby vessel and pour it into a
simple crystal cup; bring that thing habitual and dear
to every noble man. Since you know that all beings are
but dust, and that a two-day tempest makes them disappear,
bring wine.

204.

O Thou, the quest of whom holds all in dizziness and
distress, the dervish and the rich are equally void of
means of reaching Thee. Thy name is in the speech
of all, but all are deaf; Thou art present to the eyes of
all, but all are blind.

205.

In company with one dear friend, how pleasing to me
is a cup of wine. When I become the prey of care, it
is fitting that my eyes should be filled with tears. Oh!
this abject world has nothing lasting for us, and best it
is to dwell inebriate.

206.

Keep thyself from drinking wine in the company of a
boorish, violent character, having no mind or self-control,
for such a man knows only how to cause unpleasantness.
For the time, thou wouldst have to undergo the disorder
of his drunkenness, his vociferations, his folly. And the
next day, his prayers for excuse and pardon would come
to weary thy head.

207.

Since you only possess what God has given you, torment
not yourself to obtain the object of your covetousness.
Keep from burdening the heart too much, for the
final drama consists in leaving all and passing beyond.

208.

O my soul! drink this limpid nectar which has not
been stirred; drink it in memory of the charming idols
which ravish the heart. Wine is the blood of the vine,
my friend, and the vine says to thee: Drink of me,
since I render it lawful to you.

209.

In the season of flowers, drink rose-colored wine; drink
to the plaintive sounds of the lute, to the melodious noise
of the harp. As for me, I drink and rejoice in it; may
it be salutary to me! If you do not drink, why not be
willing that I should? Go, then, and eat pebbles!

210.

Art thou sad? Take a piece of hasheesh as large as a
grain of barley, or drink a small measure of rose-colored
wine. Then you will become a Sufi. But, if you will
not drink of this or partake of that, nothing remains for
you but to eat pebbles; go, eat some pebbles!

211.

But yesterday, I saw a potter in a bazaar treading
most vigorously the clay he was molding. The clay
seemed to say to him: I also have been like thee; treat
me, then, with less harshness.

212.

If thou drinkest wine, drink it with intelligent people,
drink it in company with thy ravishing idols, with smiles
upon their lips and their cheeks tinted with the colors of
the tulip. Drink not too much or speak boastingly of
it; make it not a refrain, but drink a little from time
to time in quietude.

213.

Wine should be drunk in the company of slender creatures
who ravish the heart with the color of their cheeks.
Art thou bitten by the serpent of grief, friend--drink, then,
of this antidote. I myself drink of it and plume myself
on the strength of it; would that it might be propitious!
If you drink it not, why not be willing that I should?
Go, eat some earth.

214.

Here is the Dawn; arise, O beardless youth, and quickly
fill this crystal cup with ruby wine, for [later], you could
seek long time ere finding such a moment of existence as
is lent us in this world of nothingness.

215.

'Twixt wine and Jemshid's throne, give me the wine;
the bouquet of the cup is sweeter than the Virgin's
heaven-sent fruits. The morning sigh of one inebriate
the bygone night is more melodious than the longdrawn
lamentations of Adhem or Bou-Saïd.

216.

O my heart! since the foundation, even, of the things
of this world is only a fiction, why do you venture thus
in an infinite gulf of sorrow? Trust yourself to destiny,
endure the evil, for the lot which the heavenly brush
has traced for you will not be effaced.

217.

Of all those who have taken the long road, who is there
now returned of whom I may ask news? O friend! beware
of putting any hope whatever in this sordid world,
for, know well that thou here shalt ne'er return.

218.

Since each of these nights and each of these days cuts
off a part of thy existence, allow not the nights or the
days to cover thee with dust. Pass them gaily, for how
long, alas! shalt thou be absent, while the nights and
days will still be here!

219.

This wheel of heaven which tells its secrets to no man,
has killed a thousand Mahmouds [Sultans] and a thousand
Ayaz [favorites]; drink wine, for the life of none
shall ever be restored. Alas! not one of all those who
left the world can again return!

220.

O Thou who rulest the whole universe! knowest Thou
what are the days when wine rejoices the soul? They
are: Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday,
Friday and Saturday, all day long.

221.

O Being, exquisite in thy enticing and coquettish charm!
be seated: rise no more and thus appease the fire of a
thousand torments. Thou enjoinest me not to look upon
Thee; but it is as if Thou shouldst order me to incline
the cup and forbid me spilling its contents.

222.

Better to be with Thee in the tavern, and there tell
Thee my secret thoughts, than to go without Thee and
make a prayer in the mosque. Yea, O Creator of all
that was and all that is! such is my faith, whether Thou
burnest me, or accordest me Thy favor.

223.

Consort with honest and intelligent men. Flee a thousand
miles away from the ignorant. If a man of mind
give thee poison, drink it; if an ignorant one present
thee an antidote, pour it upon the ground.

224.

The clouds are still spread out above the roses and
seem to cover them as with a veil. The desire for wine
is not yet satiated in my heart. Then go not to rest, it is
not yet the hour. O my soul, drink of the wine; drink,
for the sun is still upon the horizon.

225.

Like unto a sparrow-hawk, I am flying away from this
world of mysteries, hoping to lift myself to a higher
world; but, fallen, here below, and finding no one worthy
to share my secret thoughts, I go out through the door
by which I entered.

226.

Thou hast put in us an irresistible passion [which is
equivalent to an order from Thee], and, on the other
hand, forbiddest us to give way to it. Poor human
beings are in extreme embarrassment between this order
and this prohibition, for it is as if Thou commandest me
to upset the cup but refrain from spilling the contents.

227.

They are gone, these transients, and no one of them
has returned to tell the secrets concealed behind the curtain.
O devotee! it is by humility that spiritual affairs
take favorable turn and not by prayer, for, what is
prayer without sincerity and humility?

228.

Throw dust upon the vault of heaven and drink some
wine; seek out the fair, for where see you a subject for
pardon, a subject for prayer, since, of all those who
have gone away, no one has returned?

229.

Although on my necklace of duty I have never strung
the pearl of submission, as is Thy due, although never
in my heart have I swept the dust from Thy steps, I
have never despaired reaching the sill of Thy throne of
pity, for never have I importuned Thee with my troubles.

230.

Let us recommence the course of our pleasures and
say the _tekbir_ [farewell] to the five prayers. Everywhere,
where the flask is present, you will see, like the neck of
the flask itself, our necks stretching out towards the cup.

231.

Here below, we are only the puppets with which the
Wheel of Heaven is amused. This is a truth and not a
metaphor. We are in fact the playthings upon this human
checkerboard, which finally we leave to enter one
by one the coffin of annihilation.

232.

You ask me what is this phantasmagoria of things here
below. To tell you the whole truth regarding it would
be too long: it is a fantastic image which comes out of
a vast sea, and which re-enters, later, the same vast sea.

233.

To-day we are lost in love, we are in deep distress,
and finally inebriate, within the temple of our idols
render to the cult of wine its due. To-day, entirely separate
from our being, we shall have attained the step of
the eternal throne.

234.

My well-beloved [would that her life might last as long
as my sorrows!] has commenced to be amiable to me
again. She cast in my eyes a sweet and furtive look
and disappeared, saying without doubt to herself: Do
good and cast it on the waters.

235.

Here is the Dawn! Rise Thou, O Source of all Delight!
Drink sweetly of the wine and let us listen to the harmonies
of the harp, for the life of those who sleep will
not be long, and of those who are no more, not one will
e'er return.

236.

O Thou, who knowest the secrets hidden most deeply
at the bottom of the heart of each, Thou who raisest with
Thy hand all those who fall in distress, give me the power
of renunciation and accept my excuses, O God!--Thou
who givest this power to all, who acceptest the excuses
of all!

237.

I saw on the walls of the city of Thous a bird hovering
before the skull of Kai-Kawous. The bird said to
the skull: Alas! what has become of the noise of thy
glory and the sound of the clarion?

238.

Raise no question of the vicissitudes of this world, nor
of affairs of the future. Consider what a prize we have
in the present moment, and disturb not thyself with the
past or question me about the future.

239.

Let not the fear of future things yellow thy cheeks; let
not present affairs make thee tremble with fright; rejoice,
in this world of annihilation, at the portion of pleasure
which comes to you, and wait not for that which the
kindness of heaven may withhold.

240.

If you will listen to me, I will give you some advice:
[Here it is] For the love of God put not on the mantle
of hypocrisy. Eternity is for all time, and this world
is but an instant. Then sell not for an instant the empire
of eternity.

241.

How long can I hold you by my ignorance? My own
annihilation oppresses my heart. Straightway I gird my
loins with the ephod of the priests. Do you know why?
Because it is the fashion of the Musulman, and I am one.

242.

O Khayyam! when intoxicate, be happy; when seated
near a beauty, joyous be. Since the end of things in this
world is annihilation, pretend that you are not, but
since you are, give yourself up to pleasure.

243.

Yesterday, I visited the workshop of a potter; there I
saw two thousand pitchers, some speaking, others silent.
Each one of these seemed to say to me: Where is the
potter? Where is the buyer of pitchers? Where the
seller?

244.

Yesterday, while passing drunk before an inn, I met an
old man overcome with wine and carrying a gourd of
wine upon his back. I said to him: O aged man! have
you no fear of God? He answered me: Pity comes from
Him; go, drink some wine.

245.

How long will lack of success in thy enterprises grieve
thee? Torment is the portion of those who think of the
future. Live then, in joy, grieve not thy heart with the
cares of this world, and know that wine increases not at
all the bitterness of pain.

246.

Wine, which the wise man knows how to appreciate,
is for me the water of life and I its prophet am. It is
balm for the heart, an elixir which fortifies the soul.
Has God Himself not said: The benefits of the human
race are found in wine.

247.

Although wine be prohibited, drink it without ceasing,
drink it in the evening and in the morning, drink it to
the noise of songs and to the sound of the harp. When
you can, procure that which sparkles like the ruby, throw
a drop on the earth and drink all the rest.

248.

Diversity of creed divides the human race into about
seventy-two sects. Amongst all these dogmas, I have
chosen that of Thy love. What signify these words:
Impiety, Islamism, creed, sin? My true aim is to seek
Thee. Far be from me all these vain, indifferent pretexts.

249.

Enumerate my good qualities one by one; my faults,
pass by in tens. Pardon each sin committed for the love
of God. Fan not the fire of hatred by the breath of
passion, pardon, rather, in memory of the tomb of the
Prophet of God [Mohammed].

250.

In truth, wine is a limpid spirit in the cup; in the body
of the flask, it is a transparent soul. No annoying person
is worthy of my society. It is only the cup of wine
which can figure there, for that is at once a solid and a
diaphanous body.

251.

O Wheel of Heaven! Thou art complete in Thy ingratitude.
Thou keepest me constantly bare [naked]
like a fish. The weaver's loom weaves clothes for human
beings; more charitable is it than Thou, O Wheel of
Heaven!

252.

O Khayyam! Time is ashamed of him who allows his
heart to be saddened by vicissitudes below; drink, then,
to the sound of the harp, drink some wine from the
crystal, before the crystal broken be upon a stone.

253.

If the rose is not our portion, do not the thorns remain?
If light divine does not reach us, is there not the fire [of
hell]? If we have not the clerical mantle, or that of
the temple, or the pontifical, do not the bells, the church,
and the ephod remain to us?

254.

If the Wheel of Heaven refuses me peace, am I not
ready for war? If I have not an honorable reputation,
have I not shame for myself? Here is the cup full of
wine the color of rubies; he who will not drink of it, has
he not his head and a stone?

255.

See Dawn appears. Already has it rent the veil of
night. Arise, then, and empty the morning cup. Why
this sadness? Drink, O my heart! drink, for these dawns
will succeed each other with face turned towards us,
when we shall have ours turned towards the earth.

256.

All that this world contains are but images and flourishes
of fiction. Ill-advised is he who does not comprehend
his place in the number of these images. Repose,
thou, friend, drink a cup of wine, give thyself up to joy
and thus be delivered from all these vain figures, from
these impossible reflections [which come to assail thy
mind].

257.

When you are in the company of a beauty with cypress-like
figure and a color fresher than the newly-culled
rose, put not far from thee the flowers of the field, nor
let the cup escape from thy hand; [do this] before the
north-wind of death, like a gale which disperses the
leaves of the roses, tears in tatters the envelope of thy
being.

258.

How long these cries, these groans against the things
of this world? Rise, rather, and pass gaily every instant.
When the universe shall be re-dressed in green from end
to end, drink wine in a ruby cup, full to the brim.

259.

Give not vain thoughts free access to thy mind. Drink
wine throughout the year, and always cups filled to the
brim. Pursue the daughter of the vine and aye rejoice,
for it is better to enjoy the daughter without leave of
law than know the mother with her full consent.

260.

My love is at the apogee of its flame. The beauty
of the one who captivates my soul [the Divinity] is complete.
My heart speaks, but my tongue remains mute,
refusing to express my sentiments. Great God! Has one
ever seen aught more strange? I am devoured by thirst,
and before me flows a fresh and limpid draught!

261.

Take a cup of wine in thy hand, then mingle thy voice
with that of the nightingale, for, if it were meet to drink
this juice of the vine without accompaniment of harmonious
sound, the wine itself would make no noise in
slipping out of the flask.

262.

Guard thyself from ever despairing for a crime committed,
and be mindful of the clemency of thy Creator,
the pity of the Master; for, should'st thou die to-day, in
a state of complete drunkenness, to-morrow he would
pardon thy decaying dust for all.

263.

O Wheel of Heaven, thy circular course does not satisfy
me. Deliver me from it, for I am unworthy of thy
chain. If thy good pleasure consists in according thy
favors only to the poor in mind, to idiots, I am neither
intelligent enough or wise enough [to be confounded
by it].

264.

O _mufti_ [grand judge] of the city! I am more a worker
than art thou. Drunk as I am, I own more intelligence
than thou; for thou, thou drinkest the blood of human
beings and I that of the vine. Be just and tell me
which is the more sanguinary of the two?

265.

That which is wisest is to seek joy in our hearts in
a cup of wine; and not preoccupy ourselves too much
with the present or the past; and, finally, were it only
for an instant, to free from the shackles of reason that
soul which has been loaned us and which groans in its
prison.

266.

The moment I shall fly from death, when, like the
dry leaves, the particles of my body shall detach themselves
from the centers of life, oh, then! with what joy
shall I pass across the universe, as through a sieve,
before the mason comes to sift my own dust.

267.

That vault of heaven, under which we reel, we might,
in thought, liken to a lantern. The universe is the lantern.
The sun represents the light, and we, like the
images with which the lantern is ornamented, dwell there
in stupefaction.

268.

Thou hast formed me of earth and of water, what can
I do? Whether I be wool or silk, it is Thou that hast
woven, and what can I do? The good that I do, the
evil that I am guilty of, were alike predestined by Thee;
what can I do?

269.

O friend, come to me, and let us take no thought
of to-day nor to-morrow, but consider our short instant
of existence as spoils. To-morrow, when we shall have
abandoned this old tent [the world], we shall be the
companions of those who left it seven thousand years
ago!

270.

Never for a moment be deprived of wine, for it is wine
that gives reflection to intelligence, to the heart of man
and to religion. If the devil had tasted it for one instant,
he would have adored Adam and have made before
him thousands of genuflections.

271.

Arise, dance, and we shall clap our hands. Drink to
the presence of beauties with the languorous eyes of the
narcissus. Happiness is not very great when one has
emptied but a score of cups; it is strangely complete
when one arrives at the sixtieth.

272.

I have shut upon myself the door of avarice, and am
thus free from obligation to those who are men and those
who do not merit the name. Since there exists but one
friend [God] toward whom I can extend my hand, I am
what I am, and that concerns only Him and me.

273.

I am constantly saddened by the motion of this Wheel
of the Heavens. I am in revolt against my vile nature.
I have neither enough knowledge to hide myself and not
return to the world, nor intelligence enough to live there
without preoccupying myself with it.

274.

How many people that I see upon the surface of the
earth are plunged in sleep [superstition]! How many I
perceive that are already buried in its depths! When I
throw my eyes over this desert of Not-being, how many
people I see who have not yet come--how many who
have already departed!

275.

Thy pity being promised me, I have no fear of sin.
With the provision that Thou possessest, I have no disquiet
about the journey. Thy benevolence renders my
visage white and of the black book I have no fear.

276.

Be not led to believe that I fear the world, or that I
have fear of dying, or of seeing my soul go its way.
Death being a truth, I have no fear of it. What I fear
is that I have not lived well.

277.

How long shall we be slaves to reason and to every
day? What matters it whether we remain a hundred
years in this world, or whether we dwell here but a day?
Go, bring some wine in a bowl before we are transformed
into pitchers in the workshop of some potter.

278.

How long will you blame us, O ignorant man of God!
We are the patrons of the tavern, we are constantly overcome
with wine. You are given up entirely to your
chaplet, to your hypocrisy, and your infernal machinations.
We, cup in hand and always near the object of our love,
live in accordance with our desires.

279.

Let us sell the diadem of Khan, the crown of Kai, let
us sell it and buy the sound of a flute let us sell the
turban and the silken cassock, yea, for a cup of wine let
us sell the chaplet which in itself contains naught but
hypocrisy.

280.

That day when the juice of the vine does not ferment
in my head, the universe could offer me an antidote which
would be a poison to me. Yea, sorrow over the things
of this world is a poison, and its antidote is wine. I will
take the antidote then that I may have no fear of the
poison.

281.

How long shall we blush at the injustice of others?
How long shall we burn in the fire of this insipid world?
Arise, banish from thee the sorrow of the world, if thou
art a man; to-day is a feast; come, drink rose-colored
wine.

282.

I am in continual war with my passions, but what can
I do? The memory of my deeds causes me a thousand
regrets, but what can I do? I admit that in Thy clemency
Thou mayest pardon my faults, but the shame of
knowing that Thou knowest what I have done, that shame
will remain, and what can I do?

283.

O my soul! we two form together the parallel of a compass.
Although we have two points, we make but one
body. Actually, we turn upon the same point and describe
a circle, but the day will come finally, when these two
points shall be united.

284.

Since this world is not a place of permanent sojourn for
us, it would be an enormous error to deprive ourselves
of wine and abstain from the favors of our well-beloved.
Oh, peaceable man! how long these discussions upon the
creation or upon the eternity of the world? When I no
longer am, what will it matter to me whether it be ancient
or modern.

285.

Although it may be through duty that I present myself
at the mosque, it certainly is not for the purpose of
making a prayer. One day I stole a _sedjaddeh_ [prayer-rug].
The _sedjaddeh_ is worn out; I have returned
again, and still again.

286.

Be not cast down by the troubles which we call vicissitudes
here below. Let us occupy ourselves only in
drinking pure wine, limpid wine, the color of a rose.
Wine, friend, is the blood of the world. The world is
our murderer; how shall we resist drinking the blood of
the heart of him who spills ours?

287.

For the love which I bring thee, I am ready to undergo
all sorts of blame, and if I violate my vow, I submit
to the penalty. Oh! had I to endure until the last day
the torment that thou causest me, that space of time
would still seem too short.

288.

We have arrived too late in this circle of being, and
have descended below human dignity. Oh! since life is
not passed in accordance with our vows, it is better
that it should be finished, for we are glutted with it!

289.

Since the world is perishable, I would devise some
scheme for it; I would think only of joy, or only of the
limpid wine. They say to me: Would God might make
thee renounce it! Nay, would that He might not give
such command, for if He gave it, I would not obey!

290.

When, with bowed head, I have fallen at the feet of
death; when this destroying angel shall have made me
like a bird robbed of its plumage, then of my dust make
nothing other than a flask, for the perfume of the wine
that it contains might revive me for an instant.

291.

When I examine closely the things of this world, what
I see is that human beings in general appropriate to themselves,
without merit on their part, the good it contains.
As for me, O God All-Powerful! I meet only
the reverse of my desires in all that falls under my eyes!

292.

It is I who am the chief of habitual patrons of the
tavern; it is I who am plunged in rebellion against the
law, it is I who, during the long nights, soaked in pure
wine, cry out to God the griefs of my heart imbrued with
blood.

293.

How grow the nights without which we could not
close our eyes, and before which a cruel fate comes first
to sadden us! Arise, and let us breathe an instant ere
the breath of the morning stirs, for, very long, alas!
will this Dawn breathe when we no longer breathe!

294.

Come, see the Dawn, and, with a full cup of rose-colored
wine in hand, let us breathe for an instant. As
for honor, reputation, that fragile crystal, let us break it
against a stone. Renounce insatiable desires, and stroke
the silken tresses of the fair and list the harmonies of the
harp.

295.

In this world, where each breath we breathe leads to
a new sorrow, it is better never to breathe an instant
without a cup of wine in hand. When the breath of
Aurora makes itself felt, arise and, time after time, empty
the cup, for [as I have told you] this Dawn will breathe
for long, long years when we no longer breathe.

296.

Should I commit all the sins of the universe, still Thy
pity, I dare believe, would extend its hand to me. Hast
Thou not promised to put off the day when I should be
a prey to my infirmities? [Accomplish Thy promise and
for that] exact not a state more frightful than that in
which Thou seest me at this moment.

297.

If I am drunk with old wine, ah, well! I am. If I am
an infidel, fire worshipper or idolater, ah, well! that I am.
Each group of individuals forms some idea on my account.
But what matters it? I belong to myself and I
am what I am.

298.

From the time since I am, I have not been for an instant
without drunkenness. This night is that of _Kidr_
and I this night am drunk; my lips are glued to that of
the cup and, leaning my breast against the jar, I have
held the neck of the flask in my hand until day.

299.

I am constantly attracted by the sight of limpid wine,
my ears are ever attentive to the melodious sounds of
the flute and of the _rubab_ [viol]. Oh, if the potter make
a pitcher of my dust, would that that pitcher might constantly
be full of wine!

300.

I understand all that annihilation and being apparently
mean; I know the foundation of lofty thought. Ah, well!
may all this knowledge be annihilated in me if I recognize
in man a higher state than that of drunkenness!

301.

I indeed drink wine, but I commit no disorder. I
stretch out my hand, but it is only to seize the cup.
Would you know why I am an adorer of wine? It is
because I do not wish to imitate you and be an adorer
of myself.

302.

Are you discreet enough for me to tell you in a few
words what man has been from the beginning? A miserable
creature, moulded in the clay of chagrin. He has,
for a few years, eaten his morsel here below, and then
has raised his foot and gone away.

303.

It is the rim of the wine-jar which we have chosen for
our place of prayer; it is in making use of wine that we
are rendered worthy of the name of man; it is in the
tavern that we get back the time lost in the mosque.

304.

It is we who are the true aim of universal creation; it
is we who, in the eyes of wisdom, are the essence of divine
regard. The circle of this world is like a ring and,
without doubt, we are the jeweled signet of it.

305.

Drunkenness has transported us from our own misery
here below to untold joys; from our humble condition, it
has raised our heads to the skies. Nevertheless, behold
us finally freed from our thraldom to the body! Behold
us returned again to the earth, whence we came!

306.

If I have eaten during the days of Ramazan, do not
believe I did it through inadvertence. The fatiguing
hardships of the fast have so turned about my days and
nights [the one for the other] that I have always believed
in eating the morning repast.

307.

We have constantly heads overcome with wine; the
presence of wine alone animates our society. Then
leave off thy counsel, O ignorant penitent! [you see
that] we are the adorers of wine, and that the lips of
the object of our love are turned to our desires.

308.

This is the season of roses. Oh! I would now give
rein to one of my desires. I would commit an act which
infringes on the law of the Koran. Yea, for some days,
in company of the fair with velvet and bright tinted cheeks
spreading rose-colored wine over the green turf, I would
transform the plain into a field of tulips.

309.

When in this world joy seizes us, when it gives to our
complexion the brilliant lustre of the courser of the firmament
[the sun], then I love to be in a green prairie
in the midst of beauties with velvet cheeks, and partake
with them of this sweet green hasheesh ere going again
myself under this earth covered with green sod.

310.

Never have we tasted in happiness a drop of water
without the hand of grief appearing to present to us its
bitter beverage. Never have we dipped a piece of bread
in salt without the salt returning to re-open half-healed
wounds of the heart.

311.

Take care, take good care of making noise in a tavern!
Pass the time there, but avoid all agitation. Sell the
turban, sell the book [the Koran] to buy wine. Finally,
let us pass through the _medresseh_ [school of the mosques],
but let us not stop there.

312.

Every day, at dawn, I go to the tavern. There I give
myself to the company of _kalendar_ hypocrites. O Thou,
who art the master of secrets most concealed, give me
faith, if Thou wishest me to apply myself to prayer.

313.

To the cares of this world, let us not accord as much
value, even, as to a grain of barley; oh! let us be happy!
If we have something for breakfast, we may have nothing
for dinner; oh! let us be happy! Although nothing
well cooked comes to us from the kitchen, let us not address
our troublesome prayers to any one; oh! let us be
happy!

314.

Not a single day do I feel myself free from the troublesome
bonds of this world; not for a single instant do I
breathe contented with my being. I have long served
an apprenticeship to human vicissitudes, and I have not
yet become master, either in that which concerns this
world, or in what has to do with the other.

315.

We, in one hand, take the Koran; with the other we
seize the cup: sometimes you see us carried away with
that which is lawful, sometimes with what is prohibited.
We, then, beneath this azure vault, are not completely
infidel, or absolutely Musulman.

316.

Present a salutation on my account to Mostapha, and
afterward say to him with all the deference due: O
Lord Hachemite! why, in accordance with the law of the
Koran, is the sharp _doug_ [whey] lawful, yet pure wine
prohibited?

317.

Present a salutation on my part to Khayyam, and then
say to him: O Khayyam! you are an ignorant man. When
have I said that wine was prohibited? It is lawful for
intelligent men; it is prohibited only to the ignorant.

318.

O thou that lusteth night and day for the goods of
this world, dost thou not reflect upon the terrible day?
Take into consideration thy last breath, come back to
self, and see how time deals with others.

319.

O thou who art the summing up of the universal creation,
cease for an instant to occupy thyself with gain or
loss; take a cup of wine from the hand of the etern
cupbearer, and free thyself thus altogether from the cares
of this world and from those of the other!

320.

If you know to what to cling upon this walk around
a circle without end, you must recognize two classes
of men: those who understand perfectly its good and its
bad side, and those who have no notion either of themselves
or of things here below.

321.

Render light to my heart the weight of the vicissitudes
of this world. Conceal from mortals my reprehensible actions.
Render me happy to-day, and to-morrow make me
what thou deemest worthy of Thy pity.

322.

For him who makes account of human ills, joy, sorrow,
pain are all identical. The good and the bad of
this world must one day end. What matters it whether
all be torment or pleasure for us?

323.

Now that the nightingale has made its voice heard,
think no longer of anything, but seize the ruby cup of
wine from the hand of the drinkers; arise, come, for the
rose blossoms are breathing out joy; avenge thyself,
avenge thyself for two or three days for the torments
thou hast endured.

324.

Notice this cup made of clay; it is possessed of a
soul! They say a jasmine produces the flowers of the
Judas-tree. But what do I say? The shining purity of
wine is a cause of my error? Oh, no [it is not wine], it is
diaphanous water shot with a liquid fire.

325.

Arise, leave the cares of this world which are fleeting;
be joyous, pass gaily this life of a moment, for if the
favors of heaven had been constant to others, this turn
of joy would not have come to you.

326.

Listen to me, O thou who hast not seen old friends
[of experience]! Vex not thyself with this Wheel of
Heaven which has neither surface nor foundation: content
thyself with what thou hast and, as a peaceable spectator,
observe here below the various games to which men are
destined.

327.

Employ all thy efforts to be agreeable to drinkers,
and follow the good counsel of Khayyam. O friend!
demolish the bases of prayer and of fasting, drink wine,
steal if you will, but do good.

328.

Justice is the soul of the universe, the universe is the
body. The angels are the wit of the body, the heavens
the elements, the creatures in it are the members; behold
here the eternal unity. The rest is only trumpery.

329.

Yesterday evening, in the tavern, the object of my
heart that ravishes my soul [God] presented me a cup
with a ravishing air of sincerity and a desire to please
me, inviting me to drink. No, said I to him, I will
not drink. Drink, he answered me, for the love of my
heart.

330.

Do you wish the universe to submit itself to your will?
Occupy yourself without ceasing in fortifying your soul.
Share my mood, which consists in drinking wine and
never taking to myself the cares of things here below.

331.

The sages who have well considered this world of
dust, this sojourn of inconstancy from one end to the
other, see nothing in it agreeable but wine in ruby
cups and beautiful countenances.

332.

Thanks to the iniquity of this Wheel of Heaven which
resembles a mirror, thanks to the periodic motion of
time which accords its favors only to the most abject,
my cheeks, hollowed like a cup, are bathed in tears; but,
like a flask, my heart is full of blood.

333.

Yesterday [before day], in company with a charming
friend and a cup of rose-colored wine, I was seated on
the border of a brook. Before me stood the cup, that
shell, of which the pearl [contained in the cup] shed
such a brilliant light that the herald of the sun, awaking
with a start, announced the Dawn.

334.

Forget the day which has been cut off from thy existence;
disturb not thyself about to-morrow, which has not
yet come; rest not upon that which is or that which
is no more; live happily one instant and throw not thy
life to the winds.

335.

Art not ashamed to give thyself to corruption?--to
neglect thus both what is commanded and what is forbidden?
Even if you succeed in appropriating all the
goods of the earth to yourself, what can you do with
them except to abandon them in your turn?

336.

I have seen a man betake himself to sterile soil. He
was neither a heretic nor a Musulman; he had neither
riches nor religion, nor God, nor truth, nor law, nor certitude.
Who in this world or in the other would have
so much courage?

337.

One host of men is pondering upon belief, or on the
faith; others are hovering between doubt and certainty.
But suddenly behind the veil there's one will cry: O
ignorant ones! the way that you seek is neither here
nor there!

338.

There hangs in the heavens a bull called Parwin
[Pleiades], and another bull is underneath the earth. To
the eyes of intelligence or those who live in certainty,
I show a herd of asses placed between two beeves.

339.

Some said to me: Drink less of wine. What reason
have you for not giving it up? The reason that I give
is first the face of my friend [God] and secondly the
morning cup. Be just and tell me, Is it possible to give
a more luminous reason?

340.

If I possessed in the heavens the power which God
exercises there, I would destroy the people of this world,
and others I would make in my own way, so that man,
freed [from the bonds of superstition], could attain here
below the desires of his heart.

341.

My poor heart, full of grief and folly, has not been
able to free itself from drunkenness where passion for
my well-beloved has plunged it. Oh! the day when the
wine of this love was distributed, my portion was, without
doubt, drawn from the blood of my heart!

342.

To drink wine and seek beautiful faces is wiser than
to practise hypocrisy and apparent devotion. It is evident
that if there exist a Hell for lovers and drinkers,
no one would wish for Paradise.

343.

Scorn the words of coquettish women, but accept limpid
wine from the hand of those whose mien is irreproachable.
You know that all those who have made their appearance
in this world are partly of one kind and partly
of the other, and it is not given to any to see a single
one that may come back.

344.

It is not necessary to soften and disgrace a joyous heart
by sorrow, to break under the stones of torment our
moments of delight. As no one is able to tell what is
to be, what is necessary is some wine, a beloved mistress
[the Divinity], and repose according to our desires.

345.

Yes, it is beautiful to enjoy good fame; it is shameful
to complain of the injustice of heaven; it is better to
become drunk with the juice of the grape, than to be
puffed up with false devotion.

346.

O God! be pitiful to my poor imprisoned heart; show
pity to my bosom, susceptible to so much sorrow; pardon
my feet which lead me to the tavern; pardon my hand
which seizes the cup!

347.

O God! deliver me from calculating, more or less, upon
the things of this world; make me preoccupied with Thee,
and free me from myself. While I have my sound reason
good and bad are known to me; render me drunk and
free me from this knowledge of good and bad.

348.

This Wheel of Heaven runs after my death and thine,
my friend· it conspires against my soul and thine.
Come, seat thyself upon the turf, for, indeed, small time
remains to us before new turf shall germinate from my
dust and from thine.

349.

When we shall have lost my soul and thine, they will
place bricks upon thy tomb and mine. Then, in order
to cover other tombs with bricks, they will throw my dust
and thine into the kiln of the brick-maker.

350.

In this castle which by its splendor rivals the heavens,
this castle to which sovereigns succeeded with delight, we
have seen a turtledove seated on the ruined battlements
crying: Kou, kou, kou, kou [Where? Where?].

351.

What advantage has our coming into this world produced?
What advantage will result from our departure?
What remains to us of the heap of hopes that we have
conceived. Where is the smoke of all the pure men who
under the celestial fire have been consumed and become
dust?

352.

O Thou whose lips secrete the water of life, permit
not those of the cup to come and kiss them! [Oh, if
Thou shouldst permit it], may I lose the name of man
if I am not soaked in the blood of the flask, for what is
it, this cup, to dare to touch its lips to Thine?

353.

I am such as Thy power has made me. I have lived a
hundred years filled with Thy benevolence and benefits.
I would like still a hundred years to commit sin and to
see if the sum of my faults outweighed Thy pity.

354.

Now take thy cup, carry away the gourd, O Charm of
my Heart! and go, explore the plains, the borders of
the brooks, for indeed idols, like to the moon in the light
of their beautiful countenances, have a hundred times
been transformed into cups, a hundred times have they
become gourds.

355.

It is we who buy old wine and new wine, and it is we
who sell the world for two grains of barley. Know where
you will go after death? Bring me some wine and go
where you will.

356.

Who is the man who here below has not committed
sin; can you say? Had he not committed it, could he
have lived, can you tell? If, because I do evil, you
punish me for evil, what then is the difference between
you and me, can you say?

357.

Oh! where is that one whose lips are of rubies, where
that precious stone of Bedekhchan? Where is that wine
full of perfume which gives repose to the soul? They
say that the religion of Islam prohibits it; drink, friend,
and have no fear, for where do you see Islam?

358.

Best is it to abstain from all that is not joyful; and
best it is to receive the cup from the hands of odalisques
shut up in the palaces of the princes; but best of all is
drunkenness, indifference to the Kalendars, forgetfulness
of self. A mouthful of wine, finally, is worth more
than all that exists in the space between Mah and
Mahi.

359.

For thee, that which is best is to flee from the seeking
of knowledge and devotion; to finger the tresses of
thy ravishing friend; to pour into the cup the blood
of the vine ere time has spilled thine own.

360.

O friend! be in repose amidst human vicissitudes; disturb
not thyself in vain because of the march of time.
When the envelope of thy being shall be torn in tatters,
what matters what thou hast done, what thou hast said,
or how defiled thou mayest be?

361.

O thou who hast not done good, but who hast done
evil, and who hast afterward sought refuge in the Divinity,
guard thyself from relying upon pardon; for he who
has done nothing resembles no more him who has sinned
than he who has sinned resembles him who has done
nothing!

362.

Count upon life not longer than the sixtieth year.
Place thy foot in no direction without being overcome
with wine. As long as thy skull hath not been made a
pitcher, go always on thy way, nor take the wine-gourd
from thy shoulder or the wine-cup from thy hand.

363.

This firmament is a porringer overturned upon our
heads. Wise men, thereat, humble and unpresumptuous
are. But see the friendship which obtains between the
cup and the flask. Lip against lip are they, and twixt
them ever flows the blood.

364.

I have swept the sill of the tavern with my hair. Yes,
I have given up reflecting upon the good and the bad
in this world and the next. I saw them, like two bowls,
rolling in a ditch, when I was sleeping overcome with
wine, and I no more occupied myself with them than if
I had seen a grain of barley rolling along.

365.

The drop of water began to weep on being separated
from the ocean. The ocean began to laugh, saying to
it: It is we who are all; in truth, there is no other God
beside us, and if we are separated, it is only by a simple
point almost invisible.

366.

How long shall I trouble myself with the care of knowing
whether I possess or do not possess--if I ought or
ought not to pass life gaily? Fill ever the cup of wine,
O cupbearer! for I do not know whether I shall breathe
out this breath that I am actually breathing or not.

367.

Become not a prey to sorrow in this world of iniquity;
recall not to thy soul the memory of those who are no
longer here; give up thy heart only to a friend with sweet
lips and fairy-like in form and never be deprived of
wine, or throw life to the winds.

368.

How long will you speak to me of the mosque, of
prayer and fasting? Go rather to the tavern and intoxicate
yourself, and even for that ask alms. O Khayyam!
drink wine, drink; for this earth of which thou
art composed will be made into cups, bowls, and pitchers.

369.

So in this palace of brief being, you ought, O wise man,
to give yourself up to rose-colored wine. Then each
atom of your dust that the wind carries away will fall
on the sill of the tavern, all saturate with wine.

370.

Note how the zephyrs have made the roses bloom!
Note how their fragrant beauty glads the nightingale!
Go, then, repose in the shadow of these flowers, for
very speedily they depart from the earth and very often
ne'er return again.

371.

Behold us re-united in the midst of lovers; behold us
freed from the pain which time inflicts; having emptied
the cup of His love, behold us all free, all tranquil, all
o'ercome with wine.

372.

Suppose that you have lived in this world in accordance
with your desires; ah, well! after that? Think to
yourself that the end of your days has arrived; ah, well!
after that? Admitting that you have lived for a hundred
years surrounded by all that your heart could desire,
imagine in your turn, that you have another hundred
years to live; ah, well! after that?

373.

Do you know how the cypress and the lily have acquired
the name for freedom which they enjoy among men?
It is because one has ten tongues but remains mute, and
the other possesses a hundred hands and keeps them all
empty.

374.

O cupbearer! put into my hand some of that delicious
wine, some of that juice attractive as a charming idol,
some of that nectar, in short, which like a chain whose
links, turning and returning upon each other, hold fools
and sages alike in sweet captivity.

375.

O regret! that life should be passed in pure loss! How
lawless all our eating and how defiled our bodies! I
have the blame, O God! of not having done what Thou
hast commanded. What will come to me for having done
what Thou hast not commanded?

376.

Fret not thyself on account of the inconstancy of
this world; seek wine and draw near to thy caressing
mistress, for, thou seest that he whom his mother brought
forth to-day to-morrow disappears from the earth--to-morrow
returns to annihilation.

377.

I can renounce all else, but wine never; for I have the
means of making amends for all else, but of wine, never.
O God! could one like me become a Musulman and renounce
old wine? Never.

378.

We are all lovers, all drunkards, all adorers of wine.
We are all united in the tavern, having banished far
from us all that is good, all that is evil, all reflection
and revery. Oh! expect not intelligence or reason of us,
for we are all overcome with wine.

379.

It is we who have confidence in the divine goodness,
who have shaken off the ideas of obedience and sin; for
where Thy benevolence exists, O God, he who has done
nothing is equal to him who has done something.

380.

Thou hast imprinted on our being, O God, such singular
phantasma of inconsequence, and hast made to rise such
strange phenomena. Myself cannot be better than I am,
for Thou hast taken me as I am from out creation's
crucible.

381.

We have violated all the vows that we have made; we
have closed upon us the door of what is called good and
what is called bad. Then blame me not if you see me
committing senseless deeds, for we are drunk with the
wine of love, and all are drunk as we.

382.

A mouthful of old wine is of more worth than a new
empire. The wise man will reject all that is not wine.
A cup of this nectar is a hundred times preferable to
the kingdom of Feridoun. The lid which covers the wine-jar
is more precious than the diadem of Kai-Khosrou.

383.