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THE INDIAN EMPIRE : ITS PEOPLE, HISTORY, AND PRODUCTS.
By the Hon. Sir W. W. HUNTER, K.C.S.I., C.S.I., CLE., LL.D.,
Member of the Viceroy's Legislative Council,
Director-General of Statistics to the Government of India.
Being a Eevised Edition, brought up to date, and incorporating the general results of the Census of iBBi.
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THE FOLLOWING WORKS HAVE ALREADY APPEARED:—
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ESSAYS ON THE SACRED LANGUAGE, WRITINGS, AND RELIGION OF THE PARSIS.
By MAHTIN HAUG, Ph.D.,
Late of the Universities of Tubingen, Gottingen, and Bonn ; Superintendent of Sanskrit Studies, and Professor of Sanskrit in the Poona College. Edited and Enlaiiged by Dk. E. W. WEST. To which is added a Biographical Memoir of the late Dr. Haug by Prof. E. P. Evans. I. History of the Eesearches into the Sacred Writings and Religion of the Parsis, from the Earliest Times down to the Present. ] F. Languages of the Parsi Scriptures. III. 'J'heZend-Avesta, or the Sciipture of the Parsis. 1 V. The Zoroastrian lleligiou, as to its Origin and Development.
" ' Essays on the Sacred Language, Writings, and Reli!,don of the Parsis,' by the Lite Dr. Martin Haug, edited by Dr. E. W. West. The author intended, on his return fi'om India, to expand the materials contained in this work into a comprehensive .account of the Zoroastrian religion, but the design whs frustrated by his untimely (Jeiitli. We have, however, in a concise .and readable form, a history of the researches into tlie sacred writings and relitfiou of the Parsis from the earliest times down to the present— a di.sscrtation on the languages of tiie Parsi Scriptures, a translation of the Zend-Avesta, or the Scripture of the Parsis, and a dissertation on the Zoroas- trian religion, with especial reference to its origin and development." — Times.
Post 8vo, cloth, pp. viii. — 176, price 7s. 6d.
TEXTS FROM THE BUDDHIST CANON
COMMONLY KNOWN AS " DHAMMAPADA."
With Accompaniihui Narratives.
Translated from the Chinese by S. liEAL, B.A., Professor of Chinese,
University College, London.
Tlie Dhammapada, as hitherto known by the Pali Text Edition, as edited by Fausboll, by Max Jliiller's English, and Albrecht Weber's German translations, consists only of twenty-six chapters or sections, whilst the Chinese version, or rather recension, as now translated by Mr. Beal, con- sists of thirty-nine sections. The students of Pali who iiossess FausboU's text, or either of tlie above named translations, will therefore needs want Mr. Ijeal's English rendering of the Chinese version ; the thirteen above- named additional sections not being accessible to them in any other form ; for, even if they understand Chinese, the Chinese original would be un- obtainable by them.
"Mr. Deal's rendering of the Chinese translation is a most valuable aid to the critical study of the work. It contains authentic texts gathered from ancient canonical books, and generally connected with some incident in the history of Buddha. Their great interest, however, consists in the light which they throw upon everyday life in India at the remote period at which they were wi-itten, and upon the method of teaching adopted by the founder of the religion. The method employed was principally parable, and the simplicity of the tales and tlie excellence of the morals inculcated, as well as the strange hold which they have retained upon the minds of millions of peofile, make them a very remarkable study." — Times.
" Mr. Beal, by making it accessible in an English dress, has added to the great ser- vices he has already rendered to the comparative study of religious Yiisiory. "—Acodemy.
" Vahiable as exhibiting the doctrine of the Buddhists in its purest, least adul- terated form, it brings the modern reader face to fage with that simple creed and rule of conduct which won its way over the minds of myriads, and which is now nominally professed by 145 millions, who have overlaid its austere simplicity with innumerable ceremonies", forgotten its maxims, perverted its teaohmg, and so inverted its leading principle that a religion wlicse founder denied a God, now worships that founder as a god iiin self." — Scolsraan.
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Second Edition, post 8vo, cloth, pp. xxiv. — 360, price los. 6d. THE HISTORY OF -INDIAN LITERATURE.
By ALBRECHT WEBER.
Translated from the Second German Edition by John Mann, M.A., and Theodok Zachariae, Ph.D., with the sanction of the Author.
Dr. BuHLER, Inspector of Schools in India, writes: — "When I was Pro- fessor of Oriental Languages in Elphinstone College, I frequently felt the want of such a work to which I could refer the students."
Professor Cowell, of Cambridge, writes: — "It will be especially useful to the students in our Indian colleges and universities. I used to lon<'- for such a book when I was teaching in Calcutta. Hindu -students are intensely interested in the history of Sanskrit literature, and this volume will supply them with all they want on the subject."
Professor Whitney, Yale College, Newhaven, Conn., U.S.A., writes :— " I was one of the class to whom the work was originally given in the form of academic lectures. At their first appearance they were by far the most learned and able treatment of their subject ; and with their recent additions they still maintain decidedly the same rank."
" Is perhaps the most comprehensive and lucid survey of Sanskrit literature extant. The essays contained in the volume were originally delivered as academic lectures, and at the time of their first publication were acknowledged to be by far the most learned and able treatment of the subject. They have now been brought
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Post 8vo, cloth, pp. xii. — 198, accompanied by Two Language Maps, ijrice 7s. 6d.
A SKETCH OF THE MODERN LANGUAGES OF THE EAST INDIES.
By ROBERT N. CUST.
The Author has attempted to fill up a vacuum, the inconvenience of which pressed itself on his notice. Much had been written about the languages of the East Indies, but the extent of our present knowledge had not even been brought to a focus. It occurred to him that it might be of use to others to publish in an arranged form the notes which he had collected for his own edification.
" Supplies a deficiency which has long been felt." — Times.
" The book before us is tlien a valuable contribution to philological science. It passes under review a vast number of languages, and it gives, or professes to give, in every case the sum and substance of the opinions and judgments of the best-informed writers." — Saturday/ Review.
Second Corrected Edition, post Bvo, pp. xii. — 116, cloth, price 5s.
THE BIRTH OF THE WAR-GOD.
A Poem. By K A LID ASA.
Translated from the Sanskrit into English Verse by Ralph T. H. Griffith, M.A.
" A very spirited rendering of the Kiimdrasambhava, which was first published twenty-six years ago, and which we are glad to see made once more accessible." — Times.
" Mr. Griffith's very spirited rendering is well known to most who are at all interested in Indian literature, or enjoy the tenderness of feeling and rich creative imagination of its author." — Indian Antiquart/.
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A CLASSICAL DICTIONARY OF HINDU MYTHOLOGY
AND RELIGION, GEOGRAPHY, HISTORY, AND
LITERATURE.
Ey JOHN DOWSON, M.R.A.S., Late Professor of Hiudustani, Staff College.
"This not only forms an indispensable book of reference to students of Indian literature, but is also of gi-eat genei-al interest, as it gives in a concise and easily- accessible form all that need be known about the personages of Hindu mythology whose names are so familiar, but of whom so little is known outside the limited circle of sarants." — Times.
" It is no slight gain when such .subjects are treated fairly and fully in a moderate space ; and wo need only add that the few wants which we may hope to see supplied in new editions detract but little from the general excellence of Mr. Dowson's work." — Satunitt!/ Review.
Post 8vo, with View of Mecca, pp. cxii. — 172, cloth, price gs.
SELECTIONS FROM THE KORAN.
liY EDWARD WILLIAM LANE,
Translator of " The Thousand and One Nights ; " &c., &c.
A New Edition, Revised and Enlarged, with an Introduction by
Stanley Lane Poole.
"... Has been Ionic esteemed in this country as the compilation of one of the
greatest Arabic scholars of the time, the late Mr. Lane, the well-known translator of
the ' Arabian Nights. ' . . . The present editor has enhanced the value of his
relative's work by divesting the text of a groat deal of extr.aneous matter introduced
by way of comment, and pi-efixing an introduction." — Tinier.
" Mr. Poole is both a generous and a learned biographer. . . . Mr. Poole tells us the facts ... so far as it is possible for industry and criticism to ascertain them, and for literary skill to present them in a condensed and readable form." — English- man, Calcutta.
Post 8vo, pp. vi. — 368, cloth, price 14s.
MODERN INDIA AND THE INDIANS,
BEING A SERIES OF IMPRESSIONS, NOTES, AND ESSAYS. By MONIER WILLIAMS, D.C.L., Hon. LL.D. of the University of Calcutta, Hon. Member of the Bomb.ay Asiatic Society, Boden Professor of Sanski-it in the University of Oxford. Third Edition, revised and augmented by considerable Additions, with Illustrations and a Map. " In this volume we have the thoughtful impressions of a thoughtful man on some of the most important questions connected with our Indian Empire. . . . An en- lightened observant man, travelling among an enlightened observant people, Professor Monier Williams has brought before the public in a pleasant form more of the manners and customs of the Queen's Indi.an subjects than we ever remember to have seen in any one work. He not only deserves the thanks of every Englishman for this able contribution to the study of Modern India — a subject with which we should be specially familiar — but he deserves the thanks of every Indian, Parsee or Hindu, Buddhist and Moslem, for his clear exposition of their manners, their creeds, and their necessities." — Timess.
Post 8vo, pp. xliv. — 376. cloth, price 14s.
METRICAL TRANSLATIONS FROM SANSKRIT WRITERS.
With an Introduction, many Prose Versions, and Parallel Passages from Classical Authors. By J. MUIR, CLE., D.C.L., LL.D., Ph.D. "... An agreeable introduction to Hhidu poetry." — Titues.
"... A volume which may be taken as a fair illustration alike of the religious and moral sentiments and of the legendary lore of the best Sanskrit writers." — Edinhurrjh Daily Rcvieio.
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Second Edition, post 8vo, pp. xxvi. — 244, cloth, price los. 6d.
THE GXTLISTAN;
Or, EOSE GAEDEX OF SHEKH MUSHLIU'D-DIN SADI OF SHIEAZ.
Translated for the First Time into Prose and Verse, with an Introductory Preface, and a Life of the Author, from the Atish Kadah,
By EDWARD B. EASTWICK, C.B., M.A., F.R.S., iM.E.A.S.
" It is a verj' fair rendering- of the original." — Times.
" The new edition has long been desired, and will he welcomed by all who take any interest in Oriental poetry. The Gulixlan is a typical Persian verse-book of the highest order. Jlr. Eastwick's rhymed translation . . . has long established itself in a secure position as the best version of Sadi's finest work." — Academy,
" It is both faithfully and gracefully executed." — I'ablet.
In Two Volumes, post 8vo, pp. viii. — 408 and viii. — 348, cloth, price 289.
MISCELLANEOUS ESSAYS RELATING TO INDIAN SUBJECTS.
By BRIAN HOUGHTOX HODGSON, Esq., F.1:.S.,
Late of the Bengal Civil Service ; Con-espondiug Member of the Institute; Chevalier of the Legion of Honour ; l.ate British Mmister at the Court of Nepal, &c., &c.
CONTENTS OF VOL. I.
Section I. — On the Kocch, Bodo, and Dhimal Tribes. — Part I. Vocabulary. — Part II. Grammar. — Part III. Their Origin, Location, Numbers, Creed, Customs, Character, and Condition, with a General Description of the Climate they dwell in. — Appendix.
Section II. — On Himalayan Ethnology. — I. Comparative Vocabuhiry of the Lan- guages of the Broken Tribes of N^pal. — II. Vocabulary of the Dialects of the Kiranti Language. — III. Grammatical Analysis of the Vayu Language. The Vayu Grammar. — IV. Analysis of the Balling Dialect of tlie Kiranti Language. The Bdliing Giara- mar.— V. On tlie Vayu or Hayu Tribe of the Central Himalaya.— VI. On tue Kir;uiti Tribe of the Central Himalaya.
CONTENTS OF VOL. IL
Section III. — On the Aborigines of North-Bastern India. Comparative Vocabulary of the Tibetan, B6d6, and Garo Tongues.
Section IV. — Aborigines of the North-Eastem Frontier.
Section V. — Aborigines of the Eastern Frontier.
Section VI.— The Indo-Chinese Borderers, and their connection with the Hima- layans and Tibetans. Comparative Vocabulary of Indo-Chinese Borderers in Arakan. Comparative Vocabulary of Iudo-Chine.se Borderers in Tenasserim.
Section VII.— The Mongolian Affinities of the Caucasians.— Comparison and Ana- lysis of Cauciisian and Mongolian Words.
Section VIII. — Pliysical Type of Tibetans.
Section IX.— The Aborigines of Central India.— Comparative Vocabulary of the Aboriginal Languages of Central India.— Aborigines of the Eastern Ghats.— Vocabu- lary of some of tlie Dialects of the Hill and Wandering Tribes in the Nortliera Sircars. —Aborigines of the Nilgiris, with Remarks on thrir Affinities.— Supplement to the Nilgirian Vocabularies. — The Aborigines of Southern India and Ceylon.
Section X.— Route of Nepalese Mission to Pekin, with Remarks on the Water- Shed and Plateau of Tibet.
Section XI.— Route from Kathmandu, the Capital of Nepal, to Darjeeling in Sikim. — Memorandum relative to the Seven Cosis of Nepa,l.
Section XII.— Some Accounts of the Systems of Law and Police as recognised in the State of Nepal.
Section XIII.— The Native Method of making the Paper denominated Hindustan, Nepalese.
Section XIV.— Pre-eminence of the Vernaculars; or, the Anglicists Answered ; Being Letters on the Education of the People of India.
" For the study of the less-known races of India Mr. Brian Hodgson's ' Miscellane- ous Essays ' will be found very valuable both to the philologist and the ethnologist."
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Third Edition, Two Vols., post 8vo, pp. viii.— 268 and viii.— 326, cloth, price 2 IS.
THE LIFE OR LEGEND OF GAUDAM.A.,
THE BUDDHA OF THE BUUMESE. With Annotations.
The Ways to Neibban, and Notice on the Phongyies or Burmese Monks.
Br THE Right Rev. P. BIGANDET,
Bishop of Ramatha, Vicar-Apostolic of Ava and Pegu.
"The work is furnished with copious notes, wnich not only ilhistrate tlie subject- matter, but form a perfect encycloptedia of Buddhist lore." — Times.
" A work wliicli will furnish European students of Buddhism with a most valuable help in the prosecution of their investigations."— aU/iiiM-f/Zt Daihj Revieio.
" Bishop Bigandet's invaluable work." — Indian Antiquary.
"Viewed in this light, its importance is sufficient to place students of the subject inuler a deep obligation to its AwiXxor."— Calcutta Review.
" This work is one of the greatest authorities upon Buddhism."— iJiiiiin Review.
Post 8vo, pp. xxiv. — 420, cloth, price i8s.
CHINESE BUDDHISM.
A VOLUME OF SKETCHES, HISTOllICAL AND CRITICAL.
By J. EDKINS, D.D.
Author of " China's Place in Philology," " Religion in China," &c., &c.
" It contains a vast deal of import.int information on the subject, such as is only to be gained by long-continued study on the spot." — Athenaum.
" Upon the whole, we know of no work comparable to it for the extent of its original research, and the sim|ilicity with which this complicated system of jihilo- sophy, religion, literature, and ritual is set forth." — British Quarterly Review.
" The whole volume is replete with learning. ... It deserves most careful study from all interested in the history of the religions of the world, and expressly of those who are concerned in the propagation of Christianity. Dr. Edkins notices in term.s of just condemnation the exaggerated praise bestowed upon Buddhism by recent English writei-s. " — Record.
Post 8vo, pp. 496, cloth, price los. 6d.
LINGUISTIC AND ORIENTAL ESSAYS.
Written from the Year 1846 to 1878.
Bt ROBERT NEEDHAM OUST,
Late Member of Her Majesty's Indian Civil Service ; Hon. Secretary to
the Royal Asiatic Society ;
and Author of '' The Modern Languages of the East Indies."
" We know none who has described Indian life, especially the life of the natives, with so much learning, sympathy, and literary talent." — Academy.
" They seem to us to be full of suggestive and original remarks." — St. James's Gazette.
" His book contains a vast amount of information. The result of thirty-five years of inquiry, reflection, and speculation, and that on subjects as full of fascination as of food for thought." — Tablet.
" Exhibit such a thorough acquaintance with the history and antiquities of India as to entitle him to speak as one having authority." — Edinburgh Daily Revieio.
" The author speaks with the authority of personal experience It is this
constant association with the country and the people which gives such a vividness to many of the pages." — Athenccum.
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BUDDHIST BIRTH STORIES; or, Jataka Tales.
The Oldest Collection of Folk-lore Extaut :
BEING THE J AT AK ATTHA VANN AN A,
For the first time Edited in the original Pali.
By V. FAUSBOLL ;
And Translated by T. \V. Rhys Davids.
Translation. Volume I.
"These are tales supposed to have been told by the Buddha of wliat he had seen and heard in his previous births. They are probably the nearest representatives of the original Aryan stories from which sprang the folk-lore of Europe as well as India. Tiie introduction contains a most intei-esting disquisition on the migi-ations of these fables, tracing their reappearance in the various groups of folk-lore_ legends. Among other old friends, we meet with a version of the Judgment of Solomon."— 2i)/ies.
" It is now some years since Mr. Rhys Davids asserted his right to be heard on this subject by his able article on Buddhism in the new edition of the ' Encyclopicdia Britannica.' " — Leeds Mercwry.
" All who are interested in Buddhist literature ought to feel deeply indebted to Mr. Rhys Davids. His well-established reputation as a Pali scholar is a sufficient guarantee for the fidelity of his version, and the style of his translations is desei-ving of high praise." — Academy.
" No more competent expositor of Buddhism could be found than 5fr. Rhys Davids. In the Jataka book we have, then, a priceless record of the earliest imaginative literature of our race ; and ... it presents to us a nearly complete picture of the socitd life and customs and popular beliefs of the common people ot Aryan tribes, closely related to ourselves, just as they were passing through the first stages of civihsation." — St. James's Gazette.
Post 8vo, pp. xxviii.— 362, cloth, price 14s.
A TALMUDIC MISCELLANY;
Ok, A THOUSAND AND ONE EXTEACTS FROM THE TALMUD,
THE MIDRASHIM, AND THE KABBALAH.
Compiled and Translated by PAUL ISAAC HERSHON,
Author of " Genesis According to the Talmud," &c.
With Notes and Copious Indexes.
" To obtain in so concise and handy a form as this volume a general idea of the Talmud is a boon to Christians at least." — Times.
" Its peculiar and popular character will make it atti-active to general readers. Mr Hershon is a very competent scholar. . . . Contains samples of the good, l)ad, and indifferent, and especiaUy extracts that thi-ow light upon the Scriptures. British Quarterly Revieio.
" Will convey to English readers a more complete and truthful notion of the Talmud than any other work that has yet appeared."— 2)ai?y News.
" Without overlooking in the slightest the several attraction.s of the previous volumes of the ' Oriental Series.' we have no hesitation in saying that tins sui-passes them all in mieresi."— Edinburgh Daily Reriew.
" Mr. Hershon has . . . thus given English readers what is. wo believe, a fair set of specimens which they can test for themselves."— 77i(; Record.
" This book is by far the best fitted in the present state of knowledge to enable the general reader to gain a fair and unbiassed conception of the multifarious contents of the wonderful miscellany which can only be truly understood-so Jewish pride asserts— by the life-long devotion of scholars of the Chosen People. —Inquirer.
" The value and importance of this volume consist in the fact that scarcely a single extract is given in its pages but throws some light direct or refracted, upon those Scriptures which are the common heritage. )i Jew .and Christian alike. —John Bull.
" It is a capital specimen of Hebrew scholarship ; a monument of learned, loving, light-giving labour." — Jewish Herald.
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Post 8vo, Yp. xii. — 228, cloth, price 7s. 6d.
THE CLASSICAL POETRY OF THE JAPANESE.
By basil hall CHAMBERLAIN,
Author of '• Yeigo Henkaku Shiran."
" A very curious volume. The author has manifestly devoted much labour to the task of studying the poetical Uteraturu of the Japanese, and renderuig characteristic specimens into En-lish verse." — Daily News.
" Mr. Chamberlain's volume is, so far as we are aware, the first attempt which has been made to interpret the literature of the Japanese to the Western world. It is to the classical poetry of Old Japan thai we must turn for indigenous Japanese thought, and in the volume before us we have a selection from that poetry rendered into graceful English verse." — Tablet.
"It is undoubtedly one of the be.st translations of lyric literature which has appeared during the close of the last year." — CtUstiai Empire.
"Mr. Chamberlain set himself a difficult task when he undertook to reproduce Japanese poetry in an English form. But he has evidently laboured con amove, and his efforts ai-e successful to a degree." — London and China Express.
Post Svo, pp. xii. — 164, cloth, price los. 6d.
THE HISTORY OP ESARHADDON (Son of Sennacherib),
KING OF ASSYRIA, B.C. 6S1-C68.
Translated from the Cuneiform Inscriptions upon Cylinders and Tablets in the Britisli Museum Collection ; together with a Grammatical Analysis of each Word, Explanations of the Ideographs by Extracts from the Bi-Lingual Syllabaries, and List of Eponyms, &c.
By ERNEST A. BUDGE, B.A., M.R.A.S.. Assyrian Exhibitioner, Christ's College, Cambridge. "Students of scriptural archwology will also appreciate the 'History of Esar- haddon.' " — Times.
" There is much to attract the scholar in this volume. It does not pretend to popularise studies which are yet in their infancy. Its primary object is to translate, but it does not assume to be more than tentative, and it offers both to the professed Assyriologist and to the ordinary nou-Assyriological Semitic scholar the means of controlling its results.'' — Academy.
"Mr. Budge's book is, of course, mainly addressed to Assyrian scholars and students. Tiiey are not, it is to be feared, a very numerous class. But the more thanks are due to him on that account for the way in which he has acquitted himself in his laborious task.'' — Tablet.
Post Svo, pp. 448, cloth, price 21s.
THE MESNEVI
(Usually known as The Mesneviyi Sherif, or Holy Mesnevi)
OF
MEVLANA (OUR LORD) JELALU 'D-DIN MUHAMMED ER-RUML
Book the First.
Together ^vUh some Account of the Life and Acts of the Author,
of his Ancestors, and of his Descendants.
Illustrated by a Selection of Characteristic Anecdotes, as Collected
by their Historian,
Mevlana Shemsu-'D-Din Ahmed, el Eflaki, el 'Aeifi.
Translated, and the Poetry Versified, in English,
By JAMES W. REDHOUSE, M. R. A. S., &c.
" A complete treasui-y of occult Oriental lore." — Saturday Review.
"This book will be a very valuable help to the reader ignorant of Persia, who is desirous of obtaining an insight into a very important department of the Uterature extant in that language." — Tablet.
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Post 8vo, pp. xvi. — 280, cloth, price 6s.
EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS
Illustka'kjng Old Truths.
By Rev. J. LONG,
Member of the Bengal Asiatic Society, F.E.G.S.
" We reg-.ird the book as valuable, and wish for it a wide circulation and attentive reading." — Retord.
" Altogether, it is quite a feast of good tilings." — Globe. " It is full of interesting matter." — Antiquary.
Post Svo, pp. viii. — 270, cloth, price 7s. 6d.
INDIAN POETRY;
Containing a New Edition of the "Indian Song of Songs," from the Sanscrit of the "Gita Goviuda" of Jayadeva ; Two Books from "Tiie Iliad of India" (Mahabharata), "Proverbial Wisdom" from the Sblokas of the Hitopadesa, and other Oriental Poems. By EDWIN ARNOLD, C.S.L, Author of "The Light of Asia."
" In this new volume of Messrs. Triibner's Oriental Series, Mr. Edwin Arnold does good service by illustrating, ttirough the medium of his musical English melodies, the power of Indian poeti-y to stir European emotions. Tlie ' Indian Song of Songs ' is not unknown to scholms. Mr. Arnold will have introduced it among popular English poems. Nothing could be more graceful and delicate than the shades by which Krishna is portrayed in the gradual process of being weaned by the love of
' Beautiful Radha, jasmine-bosomed Radha,' from the allurements of the forest nymphs, in whom the five senses are typified." — Times.
" No other English poet has ever thrown his genius and his art so thoroughly into the work of translating Eastern ideas as Mr. Arnold has done in his splendid para- phrases of language contained in these mighty epics." —Daily Telegra2>h.
" The poem abounds with imagery of Eastern luxuriousness and sensuousnt ss ; the air seems laden with the spicy odours of the tropics, and the verse has a richness and a melody sufficient to captivate the senses of the dullest." — Standard.
" The translator, while producing a very enjoyable poem, has adhered with toler- able fidelity to the original text." — Overland Mail.
"We certainly wish Mr. Arnold success in hi.s attempt 'to popularise Indian classics,' that being, as his preface tells us, the goal towards which he bends Lis efforts." — Allen's Indian Mail.
Post Svo, pp. xvi. — 296, cloth, price los. 6d.
THE MIND OF MENCIUS ;
Or, POLITICAL ECONOMY FOUNDED UPON MORAL
PHILOSOPHY.
A Sy.stematic Digest of the Doctrines of the Chinese Philosopher Mencius.
Translated from the Original Text and Classified, with Comments and Explanations,
By the Rev. ERNST FABER, Rhenish Mission Society.
Translated from the German, witli Additional Notes,
By the Rev. A. B. HUTCHINSON, C. M.S., Church Mission, Hong Kong.
" Jlr. Faber is alre.ady well known in the field of Chinese studies by bis digest ut the doctrines of Confucius. The value of this work will be perceived when it. Is remembered that at no time since relations commenced between Cliina and the West has the former been so powerful — we had almost said aggiessive — as now. For those who will give it careful study, Mr. Faber's work is one of the most valuable of the excellent si-i-ies to which it belongs." — Nalart..
A 2
TKUB.VER'S ORIENTAL SERIES.
Post 8vo, pp. 336, cloth, price i6s.
THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.
By a. BAETH.
Translated from the French with the authority and assistance of the Author.
Tlie autlior has, at the request of the publishers, considerably enlarged the work fur the translator, and has added the literature of the subject to date ; tiie translation may, therefore, be looked upon as an equivalent of a new and improved edition of the original.
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HINDU PHILOSOPHY.
The SANKHYA KAKIKA of IS'WARA KRISHNA.
All Exposition of the System of Kapihi, with an Appendix on the Nyaya and Vais'eshika Sj'stems.
By JOHN DAVIES, M.A. (Cantab.), M.R.A.S.
The system of Kapila contains nearly all that India has produced in the department of pure philosophy.
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TSUNI— I I GO AM :
The Supreme Being of the Khoi-Khoi.
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THE BHAGAVAD-GITA.
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THE QUATRAINS OF OMAR KHAYYAM.
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THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE UPANISHADS AND ANCIENT INDIAN METAPHYSICS.
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A COMPARATIVE HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIAN AND
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Vol. I. — History of the Egyptian Religion.
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YUSUF AND ZULAIKHA.
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LINGUISTIC ESSAYS. By carl ABEL.
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THE SARVA - DARSANA - SAMGRAHA ;
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TIBETAN TALES DERIVED FROM INDIAN SOURCES.
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UDANAVARGA.
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A SKETCH OF THE MODERN LANGUAGES OF AFRICA.
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OUTLINES OF THE HISTORY OF RELIGION TO THE SPREAD OF THE UNIVERSAL RELIGIONS.
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Translated from the Dutch by J. EsTLiN Carpenter, M.A.
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A HISTORY OF BURMA.
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By LiEnT.-CxEN. Sir APvTHUP. P. PHAYEE, G.C.M.G., K.C.S.I., and C.B.,
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de France.
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RELIGION IN CHINA.
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THE LIFE OF THE BUDDHA AND THE EARLY HISTORY OF HIS ORDER.
Derived from Tibetan "Works in the Bkah-hgyur and Bstan-hgyur. Followed by notices on the Early History of Tibet and Khoten.
Translated by W. W. KOCKHILL, Second Secretary U.S. Legation in China.
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THE SANKHYA APHORISMS OF KAPILA,
With Illustrative Extracts from the Commentaries.
Translated by J. R. BALLANTYNE, LL.D., late Principal of the Benares
College.
Edited by FITZEDWARD HALL.
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BUDDHIST RECORDS OF THE WESTERN WORLD,
Translated from the Chinese of Hiuen Tsiang (a.d. 629).
By SAMUEL BEAL, B.A.,
(Trin. Coll., Camb.) ; E.N. (Eetired Chaplain and N.I.) ; Professor of Chinese, University College, London ; Rector of Wark, Northumberland, &c.
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THE ORDINANCES OF MANU.
Translated from the Sanskrit, with an Introduction.
By the late A. C. BUPvNELL, Ph.D., CLE.
Completed and Edited by E. W. HOPKINS, Ph.D., of Columbia College, N.Y.
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THE LIFE AND WORKS OF ALEXANDER CSOMA DE KOROS,
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MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS RELATING TO INDOCHINA.
Reprinted from " Dahyraple"s Oriental Repertory," "Asiatic Researches," and the "Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal."
CONTENTS OF VOL. I.
I. — Some Accounts of Quedab. By Jlicbael Topping.
TI. — Report made to the Chief and Council of Balambangan, by Lieut. James Barton, of his several Surveys. - III. — SubstancH of a Letter to the Court of Directors from Mr. John Jes.se, dated July 20, 1775, at Borneo Proper.
IV. — Formation of tbe Establishment of Poolo Peenang.
V. — The Gold of Limong. By John Maodonald.
VI. — On Three Natural Productions of Sumatra. By John Macdonald.
VII.— On the Traces of the Hindu Language and Literature extant amongst the Mal.iys. By William JIarsden.
VI n. — Some Account of the Elastic Gum Vine of Prince-Wales Island. By James Howison.
IX.— A Botanical Description of Urceola Ela<;tica, or Caoutchouc Vine of Sumatra and Puln-Pinang. By William Roxburgh, M.D.
X. — An Account of the Inhabitants of the Poggy, or Nassau Islands, lying ofiF Sumatra. By John Crisp. ° ,
XI. — Remarks on the Species of Pepper which are found on Prince- Wales Island By WiUiam Hunter, M.D.
XII. — On the Languages and Literature of the Indo-Chinese Nations. By J. Levden, M.D.
XIII. — Some Account of an Or.ang-Outang of remarkable height found on the Island of Sumatra. By Clarke Abel, M.D.
XIV. — Observations on the Geological Appearances .and General Features of Por- tions of the Malayan Peninsula. By Captuiu James Low.
X\. — Short Sketch of the Geology of Pulo-Pinang and the Neighbouring Islands. By T. Ware.
XVI.— Climate of Singapore.
XVII. —Inscription on the Jetty at Singapore.
XVIII. — Extract of a Letter from Colonel J. Low.
XIX. — Inscription at Singapore.
XX.— An Account of Several Inscriptions found in Province WeUesley. By Lieut. - Col. James Low.
XXI. — Note on the Inscriptions from Singapore and Province WeUesley. By J. W. Laidlay.
XXII. — On an Inscription from Keddah. By Lieut.-Col. Low.
XXIII. — A Notice of the Alphabets of the Pliilippine Islands.
XXIV. — Succinct Review of the Observations of tlie Tides in the Indian Archipelago.
XXV.— Repoi-t on the Tin of the Province of Jlergui. By Capt. G. B Tremenheere.
XXVI.— Report on the Manganese of Mergui Province. By Capt. G. B. Tremenheere.
XXVII. — Paragraphs to be added to Capt. G. B. Tremenheere's Report.
XXVIII. — Second Report on the Tin of Mergui. By Capt. G. B. Tremenheere.
XXIX. — .\nalysis of Iron Ores from Tavoy and Mergui, and of Limestone from Mergui. By Dr. A. Ure.
XXX. — Report of a Visit to the Pakchan River, and of some Tin Localities in the Soutliern Portion of the Tenasserim Provinces. By Capt. G. B. Tremenheere.
XXXI. — Report on a Route from the Mouth of the Pakchan to Krau, and thence across the Isthmus of Kruu to the Gulf of Siam. By Capt. AI. Fraser and Capt. J. G. Fnrlong.
XXXII. — Report, &c. , from Capt. G. B. Tremenheere on the Price of Mergui Tin Ore.
XXXIII. — Remarks on the Different Species of Orang-utan. By L. Blyth.
XXXIV.— Further Remarks. By E. Blyth.
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MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS RELATING TO INDO-CHINA— continued.
CONTENTS OF VOL. II.
XXXV.— Catalogue of Mammalia inliabiting the Malayan Peninsula and Islands. By Theodore Cantor, M.D.
XXXVI.— On the Local and Relative Geology of Singapore. By J. R. Logan.
XXXVII.— Catalogue of Reptiles inhabiting the Malayan Peninsula and l.slands. By Theodore Cantor, M.D.
XXXVIII.— Some Account of the Botanical Collection brought from the Eastward, in 1S41, by Dr. Cantor. By the late W. Griffith.
XXXIX.— On the Plat-Horued Taurine Cartle of S.E. Asia. By E. Blyth.
XL.— Note, by Major-General G. B. Trcmenheere.
General Index.
Index of Vernacular Terms.
Index of Zoological Genera and Sub-Genera occurring in Vol. II.
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THE SATAKAS OF BHARTRIHAEI.
Translated from the Sanskrit
By the Rev. B. HALE WORTHAIM, M.E.A.S.,
Rector of Eggesford, North Devon.
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ANCIENT PROVERBS AND MAXIMS FROM BURMESE SOURCES ;
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By JAMES GRAY,
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MASNAVI I MA' NAVI:
THE SPIRITUAL COUPLETS OF MAULANA JALALU-'D-DIN
MUHAMMAD I RUMI.
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MANAVA-DHARMA-CASTRA: THE CODE OF MANU.
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LEAVES FROM MY CHINESE SCRAP-BOOK.
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LINGUISTIC AND ORIENTAL ESSAYS.
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MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS RELATING TO INDOCHINA.
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Second Series.
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FOLK-TALES OF KASHMIR.
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MEDIEVAL RESEARCHES FROM EASTERN ASIATIC SOURCES.
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THE LIFE OF HIUEN TSIANG.
By the SHAMANS HWUI LI and YEN-TSUNG.
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Legend of Sakya Budda," &c. When the Pilgrim Hiuen Tsiang returned from his travels in India, he took up his abode in the Temple of "Great Benevolence ; " this convent had been constructed by tlie Emperor in honour of the Empress, Wen-te-hau. After Hiuen Tsiang's death, his disciple, Hwui Li, composed a work which gave an .account of liis illustrious Master's travels ; this work when he com- pleted he buried, and refused to discover its place of concealment. But previous to his death he revealed its whereabouts to Yen-tsung, by whom it was finallv revised and published. This is "The Life of Hiuen Tsiang." It is a valuable sequel to the Si-yu-ki, correcting and illustrating it in many particulars.
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THE QUATRAINS
OMAR KHAYYAM.
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" A mind
Not wholly clear, nor wholly blind.
Too keen to rest, too toeak to find,
That travaih sore, ajid brings forth tvind."
M. Arnold.
INTRODUCTION.
I.
Ghias uddin Abul Fath Omar bin Ibrahim Al Khay- yam was a native of Nishapur, one of the principal cities of Khorasan. According to the preface of the Calcutta MS.^ he died in 517 a.h., during the reign of Sultan Sanjar. The date of his birth is nowhere mentioned, but he was contemporary with Nizam ul Mulk, the cele- brated Wazir of the Seljuk kings Alp Arslan and Malik Shah ; and Nizam ul Mulk has left the following notice of him in his Wasdijd, or Testament* : —
"Imam Muaffik of Nishapur — (may Allah rest his soul !) — was one of the most learned men in Khorasan, and was held in the highest honour and reverence. He lived to over eighty-five years of age, and it was the common opinion that all youths who read the Koran, and learned the Traditions under him, would attain to wealth and fortune. For this cause my father sent me, in charge of the lawyer -"Abd us Samad, from Tus to Nishapur, in order that I might apply myself to study and discipline
* This passage is preserved in Mirkhond's History of the Assassins, in Khondemir's Habib us Siyar, and in the Dahistdn. It is given in full in Notices et JExtralts des MSS., ix. IIS.
X INTRODUCTION.
in the class of that eminent person. He on his part reg-arded me with affection, and I for mine showed such attachment and devotion to his service that I continued with him for the space of four years. There had lately joined his class Hakim Omar Khayyam, and that mis- creant Hasan ibn Sabah, both of whom were of the same age as I was, and equally remarkable for excellence of intelligence and power of intellect. We became friends, and when we went out from the Imam's class we used to repeat to one another the lesson we had just heard .... One day that miscreant Hasan said to us, — ' It is the g-eneral opinion that the disciples of Imam Muaffik attain to fortune, and no doubt one of us will do so, even though all may not. What agreement or compact is there now between us ? ^ I said, * Whatever you please.'' He answered, ' Whichever of us may attain to fortune shall share it with the others, and not engross it himself.' We agreed to these terms, and a compact was made accordingly. Time passed on. I went from Khorasan to Mawara un Nahr and Ghazni and Kabul, and on my return I was preferred to the post of Wazir to Sultan Alp Arslan (455 a.m.). At that time Hakim Omar Khayyam came to me, and in regard to him I carried out all the requirements of the compact and the obligations of my engagement. On his arrival I re- ceived him with all honour and distinction, and after- wards I said to him, ' A man of your ability ought to be a servant of the Sultan, and since, according to our agreement, while we were with Imam Muaffik, I am bound to share my position with you, I will recount your merits to the Sultan, and will so impress on his
INTRODUCTION. xi
mind your abilities and attainments^ that you shall be preferred to a post of trifst like mine/ But Ilakim replied (after compliments), ' The greatest favour you can do me is to let me live in retirement, where, under your protection, I may occupy myself in amassing the riches of learning and in praying for your long life/ And to this language he steadfastly adhered. When I perceived that he spoke in sincerity, and not out of mere etiquette, I assigned him a yearly stipend of 1200 gold miscals, payable from the Nishapur treasury. He then went back to Nishapur, and applied himself to the study of the sciences, especially astronomy, in which he after- wards attained a high degree of accomplishment. Later on, in the reign of Sultan Malikshah (465 to 485 a.h.), he came to Merv, in the height of his philosophical repute; and the Sultan conferred many favours upon him, and raised him to the highest posts attainable by men of science. ^^
Nizam ul Mulk goes on to recount the subsequent history of Hasan Sabah, — how by his aid Hasan obtained a post at court, and repaid his kindness by intriguing against him, — how Hasan then fled from Khorasan, and joined the infamous sect of Ismailians, or Assas- sins, and afterwards became their chief, under the name of Shaikh ul Jahal, or Old Man of the Mountain.
This narrative reads so circumstantially that one can hardly do otherwise than accept it, but in that case Nizam ul Mulk's birth must be placed at least twenty years later than 408,* the date given both by Ibn
* See VuUer's Geschichte cler Seldschuken, p. 107, note.
xii INTRODUCTION.
Khallikan and Abul Faraj ; or else the accepted dates of Omar's and Hasan's deaths (517 and 518 a.h.) must be abandoned for others at least twenty years earlier.
Omar's appointment at Merv mentioned by Nizam ul Mulk was, as we learn from Abul Feda, that of Astronomer Royal. Whilst holding this office Omar compiled some astronomical tables called Zij i Malik- shdhi, of which mention is made by Haji Khalfa, and in collaboration with seven other astronomers effected a reform of the old Persian Calendar, somewhat similar to the reform of the Julian Calendar, made under the auspices of Pope Gregory XIII. five centuries afterwards. The object of both reforms was to make the civil year coincide more exactly with the cycle of the seasons, and in both instances this object was sought to be accomplished by an improved system of intercalation. M. Reinaud, the editor of Abul Feda's Geography, says that some authorities even prefer Omar's system to that adopted by Pope Gregory* The amended reckoning ran from the 10th E-amazan, 471 a.h., and was called Tarikh i Jaldli, after the reigning monarch. Sultan Ja- laluddin Malikshah.
Omar was also highly distinguished as a mathema- tician. A work of his on Algebra has been edited and translated by M. Woepke of Bonn, and another, " On the Difiiculties of Euclid's Definitions," is preserved in the Leyden Library. His work on Algebra enjoyed a high reputation for several centuries. Ibn Khaldun
* See Eeinaud, Geographie d'Abulfeda, Prolegomena, p. ci.
INTRODUCTION. xiii
refers to it in his Prolegomena, and Haji Khalfa quotes the commencement. M. Woepke praises him for his power of generalization and his rigorously systematic procedure.
In his preface M. Woepke quotes from a MS. in the Bibliotheque Nationale, an abridgment of a notice of Omar in Shahrastani's Tarikh ul Huliama. As Shahra- stani was born in 479 a.h., and during some part of his life resided at Nishapur,* he is a very good authority for the facts recorded by him, though it is evident he was no friend to Omar. The passage is as follows : —
" Omar Al Khayyam, Imam of Khorasan, and the greatest scholar of his time, was versed in all the learn- ing of the Greeks. He was wont to exhort men to seek the One Author of all by purifying the bodily actions in order to the sanctification of the soul. He also used to recommend the study of Politics as laid down in Greek authors. The later Sufis have caught at the apparent sense of parts of his poems and accommodated them to their own Canon, making them a subject of discussion in their assemblies and conventicles, but the esoteric sense consists in axioms of natural religion and principles of universal obligation. When the men of his time anathe- matized his doctrines, and drew forth his opinions from the concealment in which he had veiled them, he went in fear of his life, and placed a check on the sallies of his tongue and his pen. He made the pilgrimage, but it was from accident rather than piety, still betraying his
* See Haarbriicher's translation of the Kitah at Milal ican Nihal, Preface, p. xi.
xiv INTRODUCTION.
unorthodox views. On his arrival at Baghdad the men who prosecuted the same ancient studies as he flocked j to meet him, Lut he shut the door in their faces, as ) one who had renounced those studies and cultivated them no longer. On his return to his native city he made a practice of attending the morning and evening prayers, and of disguising his private opinions, but for all that they were no secret. In astronomy and in phi- losophy he was without a rival, and his eminence in those sciences would have passed into a proverb had I he only possessed self-control."
Shahrastani's view of Omar's character appears to have been the one generally accepted by the literary men of Islam, as Abul Feda, who lived about 200 years later, writes much in the same strain, lamenting his being so much addicted to poetry and pleasure.
In an essay by the celebrated Grhazzali of Tiis, who was, like Shahrastani, a contemporary of Omar's, there is a passage in which Omar is not improbably referred to as an example of the sceptical habit of mind induced by scientific pursuits.*
The following story of Omar in his old age is given in the preface to the Calcutta MS. on the authority of Ni- zami of Samarkand, one of his disciples : —
" I chanced to meet Maulana Omar in a garden, and in course of conversation he said, ' My tomb shall be in a certain place where each breath of the north wind shall shower down roses upon it.' I marvelled at
* See Sclimolders, ^ssai sur les ecoles philosopJiiques chez les Arahes, p. 115. Ghazzali was born in 450.
INTRODUCTION. xv
that saying, thinking" that he spoke idly. Afterwards I came to Nishapur on many occasions and visited his tomb, and it was outside a garden, and the fruit trees reached out their branches over the wall of the garden, and had dropped their blossoms over his tomb, so that it was hidden beneath them."
II.
The great difficulty in the way of arriving at a satis- factory text of Omar's poems arises from the exceeding variety and discrepancy of the materials. We look in vain for anything approaching to a " Textus Reeeptus.'^ What may be called the Lower Bengal family of MSS., represented by the Asiatic Society's MS., the two India Office MSS., and the Calcutta edition, do indeed offi^r a tolerably uniform text, but their claim to be the best representatives of the genuine text is overthrown by their want of agreement with the Persian and Oude MSS. The Persian MSS. do not even agree with one another, the Bodleian MS,, which was written at Shiraz in 865 A.H., being altogether different from the MS. lithographed at Teheran and afterwards reprinted by M. Nicolas. The Oude, or Upper India MSS., again, to which belong the one lithographed at Luckuow, and probably also the Cambridge MS., include a very large number of quatrains not found elsewhere. The number of quatrains seems to increase in proportion to the modernness of the MS. Thus the old Bodleian MS. contains only 158, and the two Paris MSS. (which are both of the tenth century) only 175 and 213, while the modern Cambridge copy contains no less than 801. A
xvi INTRODUCTION.
lady who has collated all the MSS. of Omar m Europe tells me she has found in one place and another no less than 1200 quatrains attributed to him. She has, how- ever, in an article in Frazer for May 1879, expressed the opinion that the number of genuine quatrains is not more than 250 or 300, and I am inclined to think this estimate high enough. But when one comes to consider which particular quatrains are to be pronounced genuine, and which imitations, it is not always easy to form a confident decision. The state of the case is this : — Out of all the quatrains passing under Omar's name hardly any stand alone. Almost every one belongs to a family, more or less numerous, to the other members of which it bears a strong family likeness. One can say with some confidence that all these replicas, paraj)hrases and variations o£ the same ideas can hardly be the work of one and the same hand; but to distinguish with certainty the handiwork of the master from that of his imitators is a task probably beyond the powers of any foreign critic living 800 years after the poems in question were written.
In this difficulty, the rule I follow is to give what seem the best specimens of each class of quatrains, and to exclude the rest. In accordance with this rule, I exclude, in particular, a large number of quatrains in praise of wine, and exhortations to live for the day, which recur in the MSS. with most wearisome frequency. I cannot of course feel sure that the quatrains I retain are in all cases the identical ones written by Omar ; all I pretend to do is to give samples of each class of quatrains attributed to him.
INTRODUCTION.
xvu
Anotlier cognate difficulty is this, that many of the quatrains ascribed to Orniir are also attributed to other poets. I have marked a few of tliese in the notes, and doubtless, careful search would bring many more to iig-ht. It might be supposed that the character of the language employed would be sufficient to differentiate the work of Omar at any rate from that of poets writing two or three centuries after his time, but, as observed by Chodzko, the literary Persian of 800 years ago differs singularly little from that now in use. Again, if, as has been supposed, there were anythino- exceptional in Omar's poetry, it might be possible to identify it by internal evidence; but the fact is that all Persian poetry runs very much in grooves, and Omar's IS no exception. The poetry of rebellion and revolt from orthodox opinions, which is supposed to be peculiar to him, may be traced in the works- of his predecessor Avicenna, as well as in those of Afzul Kashi, and others of his successors. For these reasons I have not excluded any quatrains on account of their being ascribed to other writers as well as Omar.. So Ion- as I find fair MS. authority for such quatrains, I include them in the text, not because I am sure Omar wrote them, but because it is just as likely they were written by him as by the other claimants. Of course a text formed on these principles cannot be a very satis- factory one, but, on the other hand, it is useless for an editor to pretend to greater certainty than the case admits of.
The text has been framed from a c-.mparison of the following authorities :—
xviii INTRODUCTION.
I. The Bodleian MS., No. 140 of the Ouseley Col- lection, containing- 158 quatrains.
II. The Calcutta Asiatic Society's MS., No. 1548, containing 516 quatrains.
III. The India Office MS., No. 2420, ff. 212 to 267, containing' 512 quatrains.
IV. The India Office MS., No. 2486, ff. 158 to 194, containing 362 quatrains.
V. The Calcutta edition of 1252 a.h., containing 438 quatrains, with an appendix of 54 more, which the editor says he found in a Baydz, or common-place book, after the others had been printed.
VI. The Paris edition of M. Nicolas, containing 464 quatrains.
VII. The Lucknow lithographed edition, containing 763 quatrains.
VI II. A fragment of an edition begun by the late Mr. Blochmann, containing only 62 quatrains.
I have also consulted the Cambridge MS., for the purpose of settling one or two readings, but have not collated it throughout.
I have not given the various readings, except in cases of special importance. For every reading in the text there is MS. authority of some kind or other : there are only two cases, or three at the most, in which I have been driven to " the desperate resource of a conjecture,'^ and these are indicated in the notes. The authorities for each quatrain are also given in the notes.
In editing the text, I have paid special attention to the prosody, marking all poetical contractions, and noting all peculiarities of metre and scansion.
INTRODUCTIOX. xix
I have also made a point of marking" the izafat wherever it occurs. "The omission of this/^ says Lunisden, " is undoubtedly a great defect in Persian writing, insomuch that I am not certain wliether it has not been the cause of more obscurity than would result from the omission of all the prepositions."
There is some diflference of precept and practice as to the proper way of marking the izafat after tlie semi- vowels. For instance, some grammarians, speaking loosely, say that after alif, waw and silent he, the izafat is expressed by hamza or i/a. What they mean to say is, by hamza i maksur, ox ya i maksur, — "kasra bearing-'^ hamza or ya. One has only to scan a verse containing- one of these hamzas or yas to see that they are always followed by kasra expressed or understood. For the izafat, wherever it occurs, invariably adds a svllable to the word preceding it, and no Persian syllable con- sists of less than one consonant and one vowel. The fact is, the izafat, when expressed, is always expressed by hasra. If the preceding" letter be silent he, hamza is sub- stituted for it, because, as Vullers says, silent he ^'tennior est quam ut voculem ferre queat." So if the preceding" letter be alf or waiv, used as letters of prolongation, "litteraya enjphonica in fine adjicitur qiim geaitivi sigmim. i accipiat." And for this ya, hamza is often substituted.
So far the matter is pretty plain, but as regards the izafat after words ending in ya there is more room ior doubt. Lumsden says the izafat in this ease ought to be written with a hasra, Vullers with hasra, hamza being sometimes superscribed, sometimes not, Mirza Ibrahim with hamza only. Brockhaus, in his Hafiz,
XX INTRODUCTION.
writes hasra after i/a used as a consonant, as in such words as 'pay and rui/, but hamza or hamza i maksur after ya used as a letter of prolongation, as in words like said. Blochmann, on the other hand, says the use of hamza in this last case is wrong-, because " it reduces the ya to a mere vowel/^ i.e. prevents it serving as a consonant to support the hasra following. I venture to question this dictum, because it is controverted by Blochmann's own practice (Prosody, p. 95, Example 5), and because there is good MS. authority for the use of hamza in this case. For my part, I believe that it is allowable to mark the izafdt after ya of any kind with hasra or hamza % maksiir indifferently. In the first case, the ya itself serves as a consonant supporting the hasra ; in the second, the hamza seems to be substituted for the yr/, just as it is substituted for silent he. Availing my- self of this option, I always write hasra for the izdfat after ya, whether the ya be a consonant or a letter of prolongation. In the latter case, the long vowel is dis- solved in scanning into its component letters ^ and y, and the y is set free to support the kasra of the izdfat following it.
III.
Omar is a poet who can hardly be translated satis- factorily otherwise than in verse. Prose does well enough for narrative or didactic poetry, where the main things to be reproduced are the matter and substance ; but it is plainly contra-indicated in the case of poetry like Omar^s, where the matter is little else than "the commonplaces of the lyiic ode and the tragic chorus/'
INTRODUCTION. xsi
and where nearly the whole charm consists in the style and the manner, the grace of the expression and the melody of the versification. A literal prose version of such poetry must needs be unsatisfactory, because it studiously ignores the chief points in which the attrac- tiveness of the original consists, and deliberately re- nounces all attempt to reproduce them.
In deciding on the form to be taken by a new trans- lation of Omar, the fact of the existence of a previous verse translation of universally acknowledged merit ought not, of course, to be left out of account. 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 com- parisons very much to his own disadvantage. But I do not think this consideration ought to deter him from using the vehicle which everything else indicates as the proper one.
As regards metre, there is no doubt that the quatrain of ten-syllable lines which has been tried by Hammer, Bicknell, and others, and has been raised by Mr. Fitz- gerald almost to the rank of a recognised English metre, is the best representative of the Uubd'i. It fairly satisfies Conington's canon, viz. that there ought to be some degree of metrical conformity between the measure of the original and the translation, for though it does not exactly correspond with the Ruba'i, it very clearly suggests it. In particular, it copies what is perhaps the most marked feature of the Riohd'i, — the inter- linking of the four lines by the repetition in the fourth
xxii INTRODUCTION.
line of the rhyme of the first and seeoud. Mr. Swiu- 1)urne^s modification of this metre, in which the rhyme is carried on from one quatrain to the next, is not appli- cable to poems like Omar's, all of which are isolated in sense from the context. Alexandrines would of course correspond, more nearly than decasyllabics, with Ruhcu'i lines in number of syllables, and they have been extensively used by Bodenstedt and other German trans- lators of liuhd'is, but, whatever may be the case in German, they are apt to read very heavily in English, even when constructed by skilful verse-makers, and an inferior workman can hardly hope to manage them with anything like success. The shorter length of the deca- syllable line is not altogether a disadvantage to the translator. Owing to the large number of monosyl- lables in English, it is generally adequate to hold the contents of a Persian line a syllable or two longer; and a line erring, if at all, on the side of brevity, has at any rate the advantage of obliging the translator to eschew modern diffuseness, and of making him try to copy the " classical parsimony," the archaic terseness and conden- sation of the original.
The poet Cowper has a remark on translation from Latin which is eminently true also of translation from Persian. He says, " That is epigrammatic and witty in Latin which would be perfectly insipid in English. .... If a Latin poem is neat, elegant and musical, it is enough, but English readers are not so easily satisfied." Much of Omar's matter, when literally translated, seems very trite and commonplace, many of the " conceits," of which he is so fond, very frigid, and even his peculiar
INTRODUCTION. xxiii
grotesque humour often loses its savour in an English rej)hca. The translator is' often tempted to elevate a too grovelling sentiment, to '' sharpen a point^^ hei'e and there, to trick out a commonplace with some bor- rowed modern embellishment. But this temptation is one to be resisted as far as possible. According to the Iladis, " the business of a messenger is simply to deliver his message/^ and he must not shrink from displaying the naked truth. A translator who writes in verse must of course claim the liberty of altering the form of the expression over and over again, but the substituted expressions ought to be in keeping with the author's style, and on the same plane of sentiment as his. It is beyond the province of a translator to attempt the task of " painting the lily." But it is easier to lay down correct principles of translation than to observe them unswerv- ingly in one's practice.
IV. ■•<■
As regards subject matter, Omar's quatrains may be classed under the following six heads : —
I. Shikdyat i rozgcir — Complaints of " the wheel of heaven/' or fate, of the world's injustice, of the loss of friends, of man's limited faculties and destinies.
II. Kajw — Satires on the hypocrisy of the "unco' guid," the impiety of the pious, the ignorance of the learned, and the untowardness of his own generation.
III. Fircikiija and WisaXiya — Love-poems on the sorrows of separation and the joys of reunion with the Beloved, earthly or spiritual.
xxiv INTEODUCTION.
IV. Bdhdrij/a — Poems in praise of spring", gardens and flowers.
V. Kufrii/a — Irreligious and autinomian utterances, charging the sins of the creature to the account of the Creator, scoffing at the Prophet^s Paradise and Hell, singing the praises of wine and pleasure — preaching ad nauseam, "Eat and drink (especially drink), for to-morrow ye die."
VI. Munajdt — Addresses to the Deity, now in the ordinary language of devotion, bewailing sins and im- ploring pardon, now in mystical phraseology, craving deliverance from " self," and union with the " Truth" {Al Hahh), or Deity, as conceived by the Mystics.
The "complaints" may obviously be connected with , the known facts of the poet's life, by supposing them to have been prompted by the persecution to which he was subjected on account of his opinions. His remarks on the Houris and other sacred subjects raised such a feel- ing against him that at one time his life was in danger, and the wonder is that he escaped at all in a city like I Nishapur, where the odium theologlcum raged so fiercely 1 as to occasion a sanguinary civil war. In the year 489 A.H., as we learn from Ibn Al Athir,* the orthodox banded themselves together under the leadership of Abul Kasim and Muhammad, the chiefs of the Hanefites and the Shafeites, in order to exterminate the Kerramians or Anthropomorphist heretics, and succeeded in put- ting many of them to death, and in destroying all ^. their establishments. It may be also that after the
* See Defremery, S,echerches sur le regne de Barkidroh, p. 51.
INTRODUCTION. xxv
death of his patron Nizam ul Mulk, Omar lost his stipend, and was reduced to povert3^
The satires probably owed their origin to the same cause. Rien soulage comnie la rhetorique, and if Omar could not relieve his feelings by open abuse of his per- secutors, he made up for it by the bitterness of his verses. The bitterness of his strictures on them was no doubt fully equalled by the rancour of their attacks upon him.
The love-poems are samples of a class of compositions much commoner in later poets than in Omar. Most of them probably bear a mystical meaning, for I doubt if Omar was a person very susceptible of the tender pas- sion. He speaks with appreciation of '' tulip cheeks " and ''cypress forms,^' but apparently recognises no attractions of a higher order in his fair friends.
The poems in praise of scenery again offer a strong contrast to modern treatment of the same theme. The only aspects of nature noticed by Omar are such as affect the senses agreeably — the bright flowers, the song of the nightingale, the grassy bank of the stream, and the shady garden associated in his mind with his convivial parties. The geographer translated by Sir W. Ouseley says of Nishapur, "The city is watered by a subterranean canal, which is conveyed to the fields and gardens, and there is a considerable stream that waters the city and the villages about it — this stream is named Saka. In all the province of Khorasan there is not any city larger than Nishapur, nor any blessed with a more pure and temperate air.''^ No doubt it was some of these gardens that called forth Omar's encomiums.
xxvi INTRODUCTION.
But it is in the Ktifriya, or antinomian quatrains, and in the Mimdjdt, or pious aspirations, that the most re- markable and characteristic features of Omar^s poetry are exhibited. The glaring- contrast between these two classes of his poetry has led his readers to take very opposite views of him, according as they looked at one or the other side of the shield. European critics, like his contemporaries, mostly consider him an infidel and a voluptuary "of like mind with Sardanapalus." On the other hand, the Sufis have contrived to affix mystical and devotional meanings even to his most Epicurean qua- trains ; and this method of interpretation is nowadays as universally accepted in Persia and India as the mystical interpretation of the Canticles is in Europe. But neither of these views can be accepted in its entirety. Even if the Sufi symbolism had been definitely formulated as early as Omar's time, which is very doubtful, common sense would forbid us to force a devotional meaning on the palpably Epicurean quatrains ; and, on the other hand, unless we are prepared to throw over the autho- rity of all the MSS., including the most ancient ones, we must reckon with the obviously mystical and de- votional quatrains. The essential contradiction in the tone and temper of these two sections of Omar's poetry cannot be glossed over, but imperatively calls for explanation.
His poems were obviously not all written at one period of his life, but from time to time, just as circumstance and mood suggested, and under the influence of the thoughts, passions and desires which happened to be uppermost at the moment. It may be that the irre-
INTRODUCTIOX. xxvii
ligious and Epicurean quatrains were written in youth, ., and the Munajat in his riper years. But this hypothesis ' seems to be disproved by Sharastani's account of hira^ which is quite silent as to any such conversion or change of sentiment on his part^ and also by the fact that he. ^ describes himself from first to last as a ^' Dipsi/chus" in [ grain, a halter between two opinions, and an "Aerates" ) or backslider, in his practice.
If his poems be considered not in the abstract, but in the light of history, taking into account his mental pedi- gree and his intellectual surroundings^ a more plausible explanation of his inconsistencies readily presents itself. In his youth, as we know, he sat at the feet of the Suuni /- theologian Imam Muaffik, and he was then no doubt thoroughly indoctrinated with the great Semitic concep- tion of the One God, or, to use the expressive term of Muhammadan theology, " the Only Real Agent ■" [Fa'il i Hakiki). To minds dominated by the overwhelming sense of Almighty Power, everywhere present and work- ing, there seems no room for Nature, or human will, or chance, or any other Ahriman whatsoever, to take the responsibility of all the evils in the world, the storms and the earthquakes, the Borgias and the Catilines. The " Only Real Agent " has to answer for all. In the most ancient document of Semitic religious speculation now extant, the Book of Job, we find expostulations of the boldest character addressed to the Deity for permitting a righteous man to be stricken with unmerited misfortunes, though the writer ultimately concludes in a spirit of pious agnosticism and resignation to the inscrutable dispensations of Providence. In the Book of Ecclesiastes_,
xxviii INTEODUCTION.
again, the same problems are handled, but in a some- I what different temper. The " weary king Ecclesiast " remarks that there is one event to all, to him that sacrifieeth and him that sacrificeth not — that injustice and wrong seem eternally triumphant, that God has made things crooked, and none can make them straight; and concludes now in favour of a sober " car^e diem " philosophy, now in favour of a devout " fear of the Lord." Of course the manner in which the serious Hebrew handles these matters is very different from the levity and flippancy of the volatile Persian, but it can hardly be denied that the Ecclesiast and Omar resemble one another in the double and contradictory nature of their practical conclusions.
No sooner was Islam established than the same problem of the existence of evil in the handiwork of the Almighty Author and Governor of all began to trouble the Moslem theologians, and by their elaboration of the doctrine of Predestination they managed to aggravate its difficulties. One of the chief " roots'' of their dis- cussions was how to reconcile the Divine justice and benevolence with the Divine prescience, — the predesti- nation of some vessels to honour, and others to dis- honour,— the pre-ordainment of all things by a kind of mechanical necessity {Jahr), leaving no possibility of the occurrence of any events except those which actually do occur. The consideration of one corollary of a similar doctrine moved the pious and gentle Cowper to use language of indignant dissent ; and there is high theolo- gical authority for the view that it is calculated "to thrust some into desperation," but to stimulate the piety
IXTRODUCTIOX.
XXIX
of others. Omar is constantly dwelling on this doctrine, and he seems to be affected by it in the double way here mentioned.
Other influences which acted on Omar must not be left out of account. Born as he was in Khorasan, '' the focus of Persian culture/-' he was no doubt familiar with speculations of the :Moslem philosophg;-s. Alkindi, Alfarabi and Avicenna, the last of whom he may pos- sibly have seen.* And thoug-h he was not himself a Sufi, in the sense of being affiliated to any of the Sufi orders, he can hardly have been unaffected by the mysticism of which his predecessor in Ruba'i. writino-, Abu Sa'id bin Abul Khair, his patron Nizam ul Mulk, and his distinguished countryman Imam Ghazali were all strong adherents. His philosophical studies woulda.") naturally stimulate his sceptical and irreligious dis- ( positions, while his mystical leanings would operate () mainly in the contrarv direction.
If this explanation of the inconsistencies in his poetrv be correct, it is obvious that the parallel often sought to be traced between him and Lucretius has no | existence. Whatever he was, he was not an Atheist. 1 To him, as to other Muhammadans of his time, to deny the existence of the Deity would seem to be tantamount to denying the existence of the world and of himself. And the conception of "laws of nature" was also one quite foreign to his habits of thought. As Deutsch says, "To a Shemite, Nature is simply what has been
^
* Avicenna died in 4l*S a.h.
XXX INTRODUCTION.
begotten, and is ruled absolutely by One Absolute Power/^
Hammer compares him to Voltaire, but in reality he is a Voltaire and something- more. He has much of Voltaire's flippancy and irreverence. His treatment of the doctrine of the Resurrection of the Body, for instance, which Muhammad took from Christianity, and travestied by the embellishments he added to it, is altogether in Voltaire^s manner. And his insistence on the all importance of kindness and charity recalls the better side o£ Voltaire's character, viz. his kindness to Galas, and the other victims of ecclesiastical persecution. But Omar also possessed, what Voltaire did not, strong religious emotions, which at times overrode his rational- ism, and found expression in those devotional and mystical quatrains, which offer such a strong contrast to the rest of his poetry.
This introduction is already longer than I intended, but I must not omit to acknowledge my obligations to former editors and translators — Mr. Blochmann, M. Nicolas, Mr. Fitzgerald and Herr Bodenstedt, to all of whom I am indebted for many hints. I have also derived much assistance from articles on Omar in the Calcutta Review, vol. xxx., and in Fraser for May 1879, I have also to thank Professor Cowell for kindly lending me some of the materials for the text, and Dr. Ethe and M. Fagnan for information about the MSS. of Omar in London, Oxford and Paris.
ABBREVIATIONS.
A. Asiatic Society's MS.
B. Bodleian Library MS. Bl, Blochmann's edition.
C. Calcutta edition.
I. India Office MS., No. 21-20.
J. India Office MS., No. 2 180.
L. Lucknow edition.
N. The edition of M. Nicolas.
Bl. Prosody. The Prosody of the Persians by Bloeh- mann, Calcutta 1872.
Gladwin. The Rhetoric of the Persians by Gladwin, Calcutta 1801.
Lumsden. A Grammar of the Persian language by Lumsden, Calcutta 1810.
Vullers. Grammatica linguae Persies, scripsit I. A. Vullers, Gissse, 1870.
ERRATA.
QUATRAIN.
19, 1. 4. For ^j read ^j)} , and insert ^ after ^^^T.
114, note. Insert B. L.
170, 1. 1. For ^J^ii read <s^^ii , "The hand of one like me.^^ The note is wrong.
226, note. Insert L.
383,]. 2. For :U read .'x ; and in the note for
Tartuffe, Tartufe.
445, note. Read MuHazdsha.
452, 1. 3. For dL>\^ read s^]^ .
QUATRAINS
OB
OMAR KHAYYAM.
QUATRAINS OF OMAR KHAYYAM.
At dawn a cry through all the tavern shrilled, "Arise my brethren of the revellers' guild,
That I may fill our measures full of wine, Or e'er the measure of our days be filled."
Who was it brought thee here at nightfall, who ? Eorth from the harem, in this manner, who ?
To him who in thy absence burns as fire, And trembles like hot air, who was it, who ?
1. Bl. C. L. N. A. I. J. Bl. considers this quatrain mystical.
2. Bl. C. L. N. A. I. J. Bl. says the omission of the
r
\J y)^\ s^ CL.^:^ ^^^J^> ^^J:J3
copulative ^ca in line 4 is characteristic of Khayyam. In line 4 I follow Blochmann^s rendering. It may mean, " when the wind blows/'
4 THE QUATRAINS OF
3.
'Tis but a day we sojourn here below, And all the gain we get is grief and woe, i And then, leaving life's riddles all unsolved, And burdened with regrets, we have to go.
4.
Kbaja ! grant one request, and only one, Wish me God-speed, and get your preaching done; I walk aright, 'tis you who see awry ; Go ! heal your purblind eyes, leave me alone.
5.
Arise ! and come, and of thy courtesy Resolve my weary heart's perplexity.
And fill my goblet, so that I may drink, Or e'er they make their goblets out of me.
3. N.
4. Bl. C. L. N. A. I. J.
5. Bl. C. L. N. A. I. J. The heart is supposed to
OMAR KHAYYAM.
r
\J^ ^^=3 l^ ^^^^3 ^JO^ *^jV Jj
be the scat of reason. " Or ever " and " or ere " are both found in Elizabethan English. Abbot, Shake- spearian Granmaar, p. 89.
6 THE QUATRAINS OF
6.
When I am dead, with wine my body lave. For obit chant a bacchanalian stave,
And, if you need me at the day of doom. Beneath the tavern threshold seek my grave.
7.
Since no one can assure thee of the morrow,
Kejoice thy heart to-day, and banish sorrow
With moonbright wine, fair moon, for heaven's moon
Will look for us in vain on many a morrow.
8.
Let lovers all distraught and frenzied be, And flown with wine, and reprobates, like me ;
When sober, I find everything amiss, But in my cups cry, '* Let what will be be."
6. Bl. C. L. N. A. I. J. Faut shudan is Turani Persian. Bl.
OMAR KHAYYAM.
\yo J^j^^ 3^Vo ^jJj ^--y ^y?'
^ ... J . , J „ .
bV bb it>^ ojja c:^— ^ j^
7. Bl. C. L. N. A. B. I. J. Line 2 is in metre 14.
8. Bl. L. N. Line 3 is in metre 13.
8 THE QUATRAINS OF
9.
In Allah's name, say, wherefore set the wise Their hearts upon this house of vanities ? "Whene'er they think to rest them from their
toils, Death takes them by the hand, and says,
"Arise."
10.
Men say the Koran holds all heavenly lore, But on its pages seldom care to pore ;
The lucid lines engraven on the howl, — That is the text they dwell on evermore.
11.
Blame not the drunkards, you who wine eschew, Had I hut grace, I would abstain like you,
And mark me, vaunting zealot, you commit A hundredfold worse sins than drunkards do.
9. Bl. C. L. N. A. I. 10. Bl. L. N. A. B. I. J. Lines were engraven on the bowl to measure out the draughts. Bl.
OMAR KHAYYAM.
I. I I
^l>y^ U^=> iS^jj j<ji3 ^y ^
11. Bl. C. L. N. A. I. Tazf/ftwrn, an oath. Ghuldm, mere " children '^ compared to your sins.
10 THE QUATRAINS OF
12.
What though 'tis fair to view, this form of man, I know not why the heavenly Artisan
Hath set these tulip cheeks and cypress ferns To deck the mournful halls of earth's divan.
13.
My fire gives forth no smoke-cloud here below, My stock-in-trade no profit here below,
And you, who call me tavern-haunter, know There is indeed no tavern here below.
14. Thus spake an idol to his worshipper,
" Why dost thou worship this dead stone,
fair sir ? 'Tis because He who gazeth through thine
eyes, Doth some part of His charms on it confer."
12. Bl. C. L. N. A. I. Tarab here '' grieV
13. Bl. C. L. N. A. I. J. The anacoluthon in line 3, and the missing rhyme before the radlf, or burden, in
OMAR KHAYYAM. 11
ir
Sjt CjS>i\> J)j^ y^ J ^j M (J^
(^ Ui
ir
Ur^' Ji^ ^ :>j^ U >&^lc jj ^ (J^^ [f^ ^^ \j^ if^ u**^^^
IP
line -i are characteristic of Khayyam. Bl.
14. L. Meaning-, all is of God, even idols. See Gals/ian i Raz, line 800.
12 THE QUATRAINS OF
15.
Whate'er thou doest, never grieve thy brother, Nor kindle fumes of wrath his peace to smother;
Dost thou desire to taste eternal bliss, Vex thine own heart, but never vex another !
16.
0 Thou! to please whose love and wrath as well,
Allah created heaven and likewise hell ;
Thou hast thy court in heaven, and I have naught,
Why not admit me in thy courts to dwell ?
17.
So many cups of wine will I consume,
Its bouquet shall exhale from out my tomb,
And every one that passes by shall halt, And reel and stagger with that mighty fume.
15. L. b. Line 1 is in metre 14.
16. Bl. L. The person addressed is the prophet Muhammad. The Sufis were fond of dwelling on the
OMAR KHAYYAM. 13
Iv
^^ l5;^? cj:^^ '-r^\j^ *jy^, ^J^^^
opposition between the beautiful {jamdl) and terrible (Jaldl) attributes of Deity. Guls/ian i Raz, p. 27. 17. Bl. C. L. N. A. I. J.
14 THE QUATRAINS OP
18.
Young wooer, cliarm all hearts with lover's art, Glad winner, lead thy paragon apart !
A hundred Ka'bas equal not one heart, Seek not the Ka'ba, rather seek a heart !
19.
"What time, my cup in hand, its draughts I drain. And with rapt heart unconsciousness attain,
Behold what wondrous miracles are wrought, Songs flow as water from my burning brain.
20.
To-day is but a breathing space, quaff wine ! Thou wilt not see again this life of thine ;
So, as the world becomes the spoil of time, Offer thyself to be the spoil of wine !
18. Bl. C. L. N. A. I. J. Line 2, "In the presence seize the perfect heart." Niydz, " loveiV entreaties."
OMAE KHAYYAM. 15
v-V b J-^ J-;^ ^JD ^ ^ It
y^\j^ J ^-^^-^--« (t>^ (_^> <-^^ jj
19. L. N. Snk7ia7ihdi/i : Kasra i ians/ii before the epithet^ cku ub. Lumsden, ii. p. 259.
20. L. N. Bo mvMat, " inhaling and exhaling.'^
16 THE QUATRAINS OF
21.
'Tis wc who to wine's yoke our necks incline,
And risk our lives to gain the smiles of wine ;
The henchman grasps the flagon hy its throat
And squeezes out the lifeblood of the wine.
22.
Here in this tavern haunt I make my lair, Pawning for wine, heart, soul, and all I wear,
Without a hope of bliss, or fear of bale, Rapt above water, earth and fire and air.
23.
Quoth fish to duck, " 'Twill be a sad afiair,
If this brook leaves its channel dry and bare ;"
To whom the duck, " When I am dead and roasted
The brook may run with wine for aught I care."
21. L, N. Line 3 is in metre 19.
22. Bl. C. L. N. A. B. I. J. Note the diphthong in
OMAR KHAYYAM. 17
ri
'' " •
I-' ^
I )\j^ j»j\>. 5lX/o^ .pUi t--*i j^ ♦i^
r r -^ir* c:;^j j^ ^^^^^J ;^?"J J^J (^^^
rr
mat dissolved in scanning-. Bl., Prosody 13.
•2o. L. Meaning-, 4/^/-e5 ?iO//* Ic deluge.
C
18 THE QUATRAINS OF
24.
From doubt to clear assurance is a breath, A breath from infidelity to faith ;
Oh, precious breath I enjoy it while you may, 'Tis all that life can give, and then comes death.
25.
Ah ! wheel of heaven to tyranny inclined, 'Twas e'er your wont to show yourself unkind ; And, cruel earth, if they should cleave your breast. What store of buried jewels they would find !
26.
My life lasts but a day or two, and fast Sweeps by, like torrent stream or desert blast,
Howbeit, of two days I take no heed, — The day to come, and that already past.
U. Bl. C. L. N. A I. J.
2b. Bl. C. L. N. A. I. J. '^ Wheel of heaven/^ /, e. destiny, fortune. Sir Thomas Browne talks of the
OMAR KHAYYAM. 19
To Os*3 ^&:^^ *^^^ (j:j^^^^^
n
"wheel of tbiiigs/' In line 1 scan khard hlyaz,
26. Bl. C. L. N. A. B. I. J. Bo sih roza is an adjec- tive. Bl.
20 THE QUATKATNS OF
27. That pearl is from a mine unknown to thee, That ruby bears a stamp thou can'st not see,
The tale of love some other tongue must tell. All our conjectures are mere phantasy.
28.
Now with its joyful prime my age is rife, I quaff enchanting wine, and list to fife ;
Cliide not at wine for all its bitter taste, Its bitterness sorts well with human life !
29.
O soul ! whose lot it is to bleed with pain. And daily change of fortune to sustain,
Into this body wherefore didst thou come. Seeing thou must at last go forth again ?
27. Bl. L. N. Kdni, Yd i hatni. Bl, Pros. 7. Or, perhaps, ya { tanhir. See note to No. 373. Meaning, real love of God differs from the popular idea of it. Bl.
OMAR KHAYYAM. 21
rv
TA
Owi (j**^^ L,--^ /j;-^ ^^?\;^^ («\>.a3Co ir^-h^
28. Bl. C. L. N. A. B. I. J. Bl. notes, " Regarding the tashdid on jawdni, see my Prosody, p. 11.^'
29. Bl. C. L. N. A. I. J.
22 THE QUATRAINS OF
30. To-day is thine to spend, but not to-morrow,
Counting on morrows breedetli naught but
sorrow ; Oh I squander not this breath that heaven
hath lent thee. Nor make too sure another breath to borrow !
31.
'Tis labour lost thus to all doors to crawl, Take thy good fortune, and thy bad withal ;
Know for a surety each must play his game. As from heaven's dice-box fate's dice chance to faU.
32. This jug did once, like me, love's sorrows taste, And bonds of beauty's tresses once embraced,
This handle, which you see upon its side, Has many a time twined round a slender waist !
30. Bl. C. N. A. B. I. In Hne 4, scan Ki hakip 'umrdrd. BL, Prosody 11.
31. Bl. C. L. N. A. I. J. NaM, the dots on dice.
OMAR KHAYYAM. 23
n rr
y' ^ ^
'61. Bl. C. L. N. A. B. I. J. Budasi, the perfect in astam, is archaic. Bl., Prosody 12.
24 THE QUATEAINS OF
33.
Days changed to nights, ere you were born,
or I, And on its business ever rolled the sky ;
See you tread gently on this dust, perchance 'Twas once the apple of some beauty's eye.
34.
Pagodas, just as mosques, are homes of prayer, 'Tis prayer that church-bells chime unto the air,
Yea, Church and Ka'ba, Rosary and Cross Are all but divers tongues of world-wide prayer.
X. 35. ^ 'Twas writ at first, whatever was to be, By pen, unheeding bliss or misery.
Yea, writ upon the tablet once for all. To murmur or resist is vanity.
33. C. L. N. A. I, J. Ni/idre, Yd i tankir.
34. Bl. C. L. N. A. I. J. Scan handdgiyast. BI. Meaning, forms of faith are indifferent.
OMAR KHAYYAM. 25
r I
o---j^^ ^i6\> &j^j &^^^^ jk^joo ^j6lll> &^^ &^ ^
To
35. C. L. N. A. B. I. J. Meaning, fate is heartless and resistless. Scan bM ast, dropping silent Jk , and Alifi wasl.
26 THE QUATRAINS OF
36 There is a mystery I know full well, Whicli to all, good and bad, I cannot tell ; My words are dark, but I cannot unfold The secrets of the " station " where I dwell.
37.
No base or light-weight coins pass current here,
Of such a broom has swept our dwelling clear ;
Forth from the tavern comes a sage, and cries,
" Drink ! for ye all must sleep through ages drear."
38. With outward seeming we can cheat mankind, But to God's will we can but be resigned ;
The deepest wiles my cunning e'er devised, To balk resistless fate no way could find.
36. Bl. C. L, N. A. T. J. Hale, a state of ecstacy.
37. Bl L. N. Meaning, Mollas' fables will not go down with us.
0:HAR KHAYYAM. 27
Oi;5CJ!>^3 l>o^ j^ Ijc* ^5^ l^
38. L. N. Meaning", weakness of human rule com- pared to the strength of Divine decrees.
28 THE QUATRAINS OP
39.
Is a friend faithless ? spurn him as a foe. Upon trustworthy foes respect bestow ; Hold healing poison for an antidote, And baneful sweets for deadly eisel know.
40.
No heart is there, but bleeds when torn from
Thee, No sight so clear but craves Thy face to see ;
And though perchance Thou carest not for them,
No soul is there, but pines with care for Thee.
41.
Sobriety doth dry up all delight,
And drunkenness doth drown my sense out- right ; There is a middle state, it is my life, Not altogether drunk, nor sober quite.
39. L. N. These gnomical epigrams are not com- mon in Khayyam.
40. C. L. N. A I. J. JigaVj the liver, was consi-
OMAR KHAYYAM. 29
^^ ^^^^06\j^ JoC» Uai> ^j^ jj*. , • CI* .p iij O..Mjk> lSJ^ OsiLs ♦ CJj^ T^
Oa^I Cjl-oJio (^^/^ j-^ -♦^-«i» Os**-/« ^J?"
dered to be the seat of love.
41. C.N.I. Masil 0 : scan mas f/i/d. The Epicurean golden mean. See Ecclesiastes, vii. 16, 17.
30 THE QUATRAINS OF
42. Behold these cups ! Can He who deigned to make them,
In wanton freak let ruin overtake them,
So many shapely feet and hands and heads, —
What love drives Him to make, what wrath to break them ?
Death's terrors spring from baseless phantasy, Death yields the tree of immortality ;
Since 'Isa breathed new life into my soul, Eternal death has washed its hands of me !
44.
Like tulips in the Spring your cups lift up, And, with a tulip- cheeked companion, sup
With joy your wine, or e'er this azure wheel With some unlocked for blast upset your cup.
42. C. N. A. B. I. J. Pii/dlae, a cup. So Job, " Thy hands have made me, yet thou dost destroy me.'^
OMAR KHAYyA:M. 31
ciw-^ :t>^^ ^jj ^^ u^ ^^^ Fr
•> —
(jl^ ^(J.!>J ^jJi ^.>--:^ ^^ jl G
43. L. N. Meaning-, the Sufi doctrine of ^^/l-a 6aV ulfanob. See Gulshan i Raz, p. 31.
44. C. L. N. A. 1. J.
32 THE QUATRAINS OF
45.
Pacts will not change to humour man's caprice, So vaunt not human powers, hut hold your
peace ; Here must we stay, weighed down with grief
for this, That we were horn so late, so soon decease.
46.
Khayyam ! why weep you that your life is had ? ' What hoots it thus to mourn ? Rather be glad. i He that sins not can make no claim to mercy, [ Mercy was made for sinners — he not sad.
47.
All mortal ken is bounded by the veil. To see beyond man's sight is all too frail;
Yea ! earth's dark bosom is his only home; — Alas ! 't were long to tell the doleful tale.
45. C. L. N. A. I. J. Meaning, the futility of striving against predestination. Anh, for diiki. Bl. Prosody 13.
OMAR KHAYYAM. 33
Cil3i CJ;--^ \\ ol &> ..:■■!> &jLw4«,jo
<^*-'"^ ?• j*^ ^^ AJL^S) Lf|;^j ulr^
p j6 i ^r^^^ u^ *^ cir^j
46. C. L. N. A. B. I. See note on No. 130.
47. C. L. N. A. B. I. J.
D
34 THE QUATEAINS OF
48. This faithless world, my home, I have surveyed. Yea, and with all my wit deep question made, But found no moon with face so bright as thine, No cypress in such stateliness arrayed.
49.
In synagogue and cloister, mosque and school, Hell's terrors and heaven's lures men's bosoms rule, But they who master Allah's mysteries, Sow not this empty chafiP their hearts to fool.
50.
You see the world, but all you see is naught, And all you say, and all you hear is naught, Naught the four quarters of the mighty earth. The secrets treasured in your chamber naught.
48. L. N.
49. C. L. N. A. B. I. J. Meaning, souls re-absorbed
OMAR KHAYYAM. 35
-Pa
CLk*^\j ^^^^ CA■M,^^ j)^ J^ jJJ Cl)^>
in the Divine essence have no concern with the material heaven and hell.
50. L. N. Meaning", all is illusion (Maj/a).
36 THE QUATRAINS OF
51.
I dreamt a sage said, " Wherefore life consume
In sleep ? Can sleep make pleasure's roses bloom ?
Forgather not with death's twin-brother sleep,
Thou wilt have sleep enough within thy tomb !"
52.
If the heart knew life's secrets here below,
At death 'twould know God's secrets too, I trow ;
But, if you know naught here, while still yourself,
To-morrow, stripped of self, what can you know ?
53.
On that dread day, when wrath shall rend the
sky,
And darkness dim the bright stars' galaxy,
I'll seize the Loved One by His skirt, and cry,
" Why hast Thou doomed these guiltless ones to die?"
51. C. L. N. A. B. I. J. So Homer, Kasignetos thanatoio.
52. C. L. N. A. I. In line 2 scan lldhi. Bl. Pros- ody, p. 7.
OMAR KHAYYAM. 37
f
63. C. L. N. A. I. J. See Koran, Ixxxii. 1. Note the aUf i wash in lines 1 and 2. In line 4 scan hata latj transposing the last vowel. Bl. Prosody, p. ii.
38 THE QUATRAINS OF
54.
To knaves Thy secret we must not confide, To comprehend it is to fools denied,
See then to what hard case Thou doomest men,
Our hopes from one and all perforce we hide.
55.
Cupbearer ! what though fate's blows here
betide us. And a safe resting-place be here denied us,
So long as the bright wine-cup stands be- tween us,
We have the very Truth at hand to guide us.
56.
Long time in wine and rose I took delight, But then my business never went aright ;
Since wine could not accomplish my desire, I have abandoned and forsworn it quite.
54. C. L. N. A, B. I. There is a variation of this, beginning- Asrdr ija/idn.
55. C. L. N. A. I. In Hne 3 scan maydst. Bl.
OMAR KHAYYAM. 39
OJib Job (jl^j (jUij* A^ j^ ^•-l^
c*-l£> C,^\j ul4> jj:> j^ (iT'^ j^ ^
Prosody, p. 13, and note tashdid on Hahh dropped. Ibid, p. iv.
56. C. L. N. A. I. J.
40 THE QUATRAINS OF
57.
Bring wine! my heart with dancing spirits
teems, Wake ! fortune's waking is as fleeting dreams ;
Quicksilver-like our days are swift of foot, And youthful fire subsides as torrent streams.
58.
Love's devotees, not Moslems here you see. Not Solomons, but ants of low degree ;
Here are but faces wan and tattered rags, No store of Cairene cloth, or silk have we.
59.
My law it is in pleasure's paths to stray, My creed to shun the theologic fray ;
I wedded Luck, and offered her a dower. She said, " I want none, so thy heart be gay."
57. C. L. N. A. I. J. In line 3 scan hedariyi.
58. L. N. For the stoiy of Solomon and the ants.
OMAR KHAYYA^I. 41
CA
v::aa*j1 ^^=>^ (jlA— /« J ^jJi-i^ -50 Ic \\ J^:> (jUxjji c-*.*<ai ^&>jUb
0^
see Koran, xxvii. 18. Kasah, linen made in Egypt. 59. C. L. N. A. I. J.
42 THE QUATRAINS OF
60.
From mosque an outcast, and to church a foe. Allah ! of what clay didst thou form me so ?
Like sceptic monk, or ugly courtesan, No hopes have I above, no joys below.
61.
Men's lusts, like house-dogs, still the house
distress With clamour, barking for mere wantonness ;
Foxes are they, and sleep the sleep of hares ; Crafty as wolves, as tigers pitiless.
62.
Yon tbrf, fringing the margent of the stream, As down upon a cherub's lip might seem,
Or growth from dust of buried tulip cheeks ; Tread not that turf with scorn, or light esteem !
60. C. L. N. A. I. J. Ummed has th \ tashdid oh metrum, Bl., Prosody 9. Line 2 is in metre 17. Qil % mard for ^il i man rd, Yullers, pp. 173 and 193.
OMAE KHAYYAM. 43
iZ^j ^a^-h'
^\
Ow-*b v>iU j^ «3\i- ciiC-^ ca--£>
ir
'-^j L^^ ^'-^y ^o Lp'r
61. C. L. N. A. I. J. " Sleep of hares/' deceit.
62. C. L. N. A. I. J. Jut/i)/ : the i/d of Jiij/ is hamzated because followed by another yd. Vullers, p. 24.
44 THE QUATRAINS OF
63.
Hearts witli the light of love illumined well, Whether in mosque or synagogue they dwell,
Have thei7' names written in the hook of love, Unvexed hy hopes of heaven or fears of hell.
64.
One draught of wine outweighs the realm of
Tus, Throne of Kohdd and crown of Kai Kawiis ;
Sweeter are sighs that lovers heave at morn, Than all the groanings zealot hreasts produce.
65.
Tbough Moslems for my sins condemn and
chide me, Like heathens to my idol I confide me ; Yea, when I perish of a drunken bout, I'll call on wine, whatever doom betide me.
63. C. L. N. A. I. J. Compare Rafiz, Ode 79: " Wherever love is, there is the light of the Beloved's face."
OMAR KHAYYAM. 46
Z^t^ ^\ jj^ C^J\ J<js=^ {^^ J
IP Ca.*-4^ u^^^ c^^==^ j -^ V^ d^^" J;
C^ ^) U**^^ (J^ Joilj *^j6 \i
C^^j J (^^ ilxTjl aS'jOo- J>
cu-Ia^ J (j^_j^ o^ _^ j*>3 Js-«y
64. C. L. N. A. I. J. Kaicus is the old spelling.
65. L. N. See a variation of this below, No. 111.
46 THE QUATRAINS OF
66.
In drinking thus it is not my design To riot, or transgress the law divine,
No ! to attain unconsciousness of self Is the sole cause I drink me drunk with wine.
. 67.
Drunkards are doomed to hell, so men declare, Believe it not, 'tis but a foolish scare ;
Heaven will he empty as this hand of mine. If none who love good drink find entrance there.
^ 68.
'Tis wrong, according to the strict Koran, To drink in Kajab, likewise in Sha'bdn,
God and the Prophet claim those months as theirs ; Was Ramazan then made for thirsty man ?
66. C. L. N. A. T. J. Perhaps a hit at the Sufis.
67. C. L. N. A. I. J. Liue 4 is in metre 17.
^^^UWMk
OMAR KHAYYAM. 47
11
IV
c
«ju-^ (jljjo j\^3 J.i ui!^ «j:a— Jj5
68. C. L. N. A. I. J. The point, of course, is that Ramazan is the Muhammadan Lent.
48 THE QUATRAINS OF
69.
Now Ramazan is come, no wine must flow, Our simple pastimes we must now forego, The wine we liave in store we must not drink, Nor on our mistresses one kiss bestow.
70. "What is the world ? A caravanserai, A pied pavilion of night and day ;
A feast whereat a thousand Jamsheds sat, A couch whereon a thousand Bahrams lay.
71. Now that your roses bloom with flowers of
bliss, To grasp your goblets be not so remiss ;
Drink while you may ! Time is a treacherous foe, You may not see another day like this.
69. L. N. Does &(ida mean the winter feast ?
70. Bl. C. L. N, A. I. J. Wdmdnda, "leavings.'
OMAR KHAYYAM. 49
JoU^ ^3;j>^ *>J^^^ &S"i.ib ji
V ♦
VI
71. Bl. C. L. N. A. I. J. Bar bar, ' blooming, on the branch/ i.e. you are still young-. Bl.
E
50 THE QUATRAINS OF
72. Here in this palace, where Bahram held sway, The wild roes drop their young, and tigers stray; And that great hunter king — ah! well a day ! Now to the hunter death is fallen a prey.
73.
Down fall the tears from skies enwrapt in gloom, Without this drink, the flowers could never
bloom ! As now these flowerets yield delight to me. So shall my dust yield flowers, — God knows for
whom.
74.
To-day is Friday, as the Moslem says, Drink then from bowls served up in quick relays ; Suppose on common days you drink one bowl. To-day drink two, for 'tis the prince of days.
7-2. Bl. C. L. N. A. I. J. Baro: see Bl., Pros. 11. 73. Bl. C. L. N. A. I. J. In line 4 ta is the " ta i tajd- hul," meaning, ' I do not know whether/ ' perhaps.^ Bl.
OMAR KHAYYAM.
vr
51
vr
-^J Oob ^ ^\jf^j\ ^^b ci
vF
J!> Ijj^ J* ^^^ ^'^-^j/*^
74. Bl. C. L. N. A. I. J. Friday is the day " of assembly/'' or Sabbath.
52 THE QUATKAINS OF
75.
The very wine a myriad forms sustains,
And to take shapes of plants and creatures deigns ;
But deem not that its essence ever dies,
Its forms may perish, hut its self remains.
76.
'Tis naught hut smoke this people's fire doth hear,
For my well-heing not a soul doth care ;
With hands, fate makes me lift up in despair,
I grasp men's skirts, hut find no succour there.
77. This hosom friend, on whom you so rely, Seems to clear wisdom's eyes an enemy ;
Choose not your friends from this rude multitude. Their converse is a plague 'tis best to fly.
75. Bl. C. L. N. A. I. J. On this Bl. notes '' The Ara- bic form hayawan is required by the meVe.^^ And 8%iwar is the Arabic plural, used as a singular. Bl. Prosody 5.
OMAR KHAYYAil. 53
lI^Ioxs C.^^^\ C--^^jo ui^j/0
vv
Wine means the divine "Noumenon." Gulshan i Rdz, 825.
76. Bl. C. L. N. A. I. J. Scan tafifa.
77. Bl. C. L. N. A. I. J. The MSS. transpose the lines.
54 THE QUATRAINS OF
78.
0 foolish one ! this moulded earth is naught, This particoloured vault of heaven is naught;
Our sojourn in this seat of life and death Is but one breath, and what is that but naught ?
79.
Some wine, a Houri, (Houris if there be,)
A green bank by a stream, with minstrelsy; —
Toil not to find a better Paradise, If other Paradise indeed there be !
80.
To the wine-house I saw the sage repair.
Bearing a wine-cup, and a mat for prayer ;
I said, "O Shaikh, what does this conduct mean?"
Said he, " Go drink ! the world is naught but
78. Bl. L. N. Shahl i mujassam, ' the earth/ Bl.
79. Bl. C. L. N. A. 1. J. DozaM ifarsuda/ sai old
OMAE KHAYYAM. 55
VA
Ow^^^^^-14^ C-"— *^ LT^^J^ *^^ ^
A*
hell/ i.e. vain things which create a hell for you. Bl. 80. N.
56 THE QUATRAINS OP
81.
The Bulbul to tlie garden winged his way, Viewed lily cups, and roses smiling gay,
Cried in ecstatic notes, " 0 live your life, You never will re-live this fleeting day."
82. Thy body is a tent, where harbourage The Sultan spirit takes for one brief age ; When he departs, comes the tent-pitcher death. Strikes it, and onward moves, another stage.
83.
Khayyam, who long time stitched the tents of
learning, Has fallen into a furnace, and lies burning,
Death's shears have cut his thread of life asunder.
Fate's brokers sell him off with scorn and spurning.
81. N. The MSS. have a variation of this, be- ginning, Bulbul dm. Jam . . . . rd. See Bl. Prosody, p. 12.
OMAR KHAYYAM. 57
AT
Ar
82. C. L. N. A. I. J. J/a»zi7, in line 2/ lodging ;' in line 3, 'stage.'' EJumdye, a *tent.^
83. C. L. N. A. B. I. J.
68 THE QUATKAINS OF
84.
In the sweet spring a grassy bank I sought,
And thither wine, and a fair Houri brought ;
And, though the people called me graceless dog,
Gave not to Paradise another thought !
85.
Sweet is rose-ruddy wine in goblets gay, And sweet are lute and harp and roundelay ;
But for the zealot who ignores the cup, 'Tis sweet when he is twenty leagues away !
86.
Life, void of wine, and minstrels with their lutes,
And the soft murmurs of Trakian flutes,
Were nothing worth : 1 scan the world and see.
Save pleasure, life yields only bitter fruits.
84. C. L. N. A. B. I. J. Batar, a contraction. See Bl. Prosody, p. 10.
OMAR KHAYYAM. 59
Ac A1
85. N. The MSS. have a variation of this. NoteZ/^iW*.
86. L. N. See an answer to this in No. 97.
60 THE QUATRAINS OP
87.
Make haste ! soon must you quit this life below,
And pass the veil, and Allah's secrets know ;
Make haste to take your pleasure while you may,
You wot not whence you come, nor whither go.
Depart we must ! what hoots it then to be, To walk in vain desires continually ?
Nay, but if heaven vouchsafe no place of rest, What power to cease our wanderings have we ?
89.
To chant wine's praises is my daily task, I live encompassed by cup, bowl and flask ;
Zealot ! if reason be thy guide, then know That guide of me doth ofttimes guidance ask.
87. C. L. N. A. I. In line 3 scan nlddmyaz.
88. N. In line 3 scan Jdj/iffd. Bl., Prosody, p. 15.
89. C. L. N. A. I. J. In line 1 scan maddalnyi ;
OMAR KHAYYAM. 61
AV AA
d.*.^'X« ^ j-^ *^ r^ cl-*— a« i^uu**\ 5
and compare Horace, " Edocet artes ;
Fecundi calices quern nonfecere diserium."
62 THE QUATRAINS OF
90.
0 men of morals ! why do ye defame. And thus misjudge me ? I am not to blame. Save weakness for the grape, and female charms, What sins of mine can any of ye name ?
91.
Who treads in passion's footsteps here below, A helpless pauper will depart, I trow ;
Eemember who you are, and whence you come, Consider what you do, and whither go.
92. Skies like a zone our weary lives enclose, And from our tear-stained eyes a Jihun flows ;
Hell is a fire enkindled of our griefs ; Heaven but a moment's peace, stolen from our woes.
90. 0. L. N. A. I. J. This change of persons is called Iltifdt. Gladwin, Persian Rhetoric, p. 56.
91. C. L. N. A.. I. Khabarat : see BL, Prosody, p. v.
OMAR KHAYYAM. 63
92. C. L. N. A. B. I. J. This balanced arrangement of similes is called Tlrsi'a. Gladwin, p. 5.
64 THE QUATEAINS OF
93. I drown in sin — show me Thy clemency ! My soul is dark — make me Thy light to see ! A heaven that must be earned by painful works, I call a wage, not a gift fair and free.
94.
Did He who made me fashion me for hell, Or destine me for heaven ? I cannot tell.
Yet will I not renounce cup, lute and love, Nor earthly cash for heavenly credit sell.
95.
Erom right and left the censors came and stood, Saying, "Renounce this wine, this foe of good;"
But if wine he the foe of holy faith. By Allah, right it is to drink its blood !
93. C. L. N. A. I. J. Arabic words like razoJ drop the hamza in Persian, except with the izafat : (Bl, Prosody 11). For this hamza, ya is often used, as here.
.^
OMAR KHAYYAM. 65
' y ^^j ^-^^ ^-5joo ^^
'^^'S c^lW^ v_iia] ^^^ :y ^1
91. C. L. N. A. B. I. In line 4 the izdfai is dropped after silent he. Bl, Prosody, p. 15.
95. C. L. N. A. B. I. J. See Koran, ii. 187.
66 THE QUATEAINS OF
96.
The good and evil with man's nature blent,
The weal and woe that heaven's decrees have sent, —
Impute them not to motions of the skies, —
Skies than thyself ten times more impotent.
97.
Against death's arrows what are bucklers worth? What all the pomps and riches of the earth ?
When I survey the world, I see no good But goodness, all beside is nothing worth.
98. Weak souls, who from the world cannot refrain, Hold life-long fellowship with ruth and pain ;
Hearts free from worldly cares have store of bliss. All others seeds of bitter woe contain.
96. C. L. N. A. I. J. Fate is merely the decree of Allah. For the distinction between kaza and kadar, see Pocock, Specimen Historic Arahuin, p. 207.
OMAR KHAYYAM. 67
Jas> 2^^a:>\s &j;^ ^ ^^ b
\ J^ Os>j4- *ioU J5ji &:^ J^j^
97. N. Possibly written on the margin by some pious reader as an answer to No. 86.
98. L. N. Tajrid, see Gulshan i Rdz, p. 8, n.
68 THE QUATEAINS OF
99.
He, in whose bosom wisdom's seed is sown, To waste a single day was never known ;
Either he strives to work great Allah's will. Or else exalts the cup, and works his own.
100. When Allah mixed my clay, He knew full well My future acts, and could each one foretell ;
Without His will no act of mine was wrought ; Is it then just to punish me in hell ?
101. Ye, who cease not to drink on common days. Do not on Eriday quit your drinking ways ;
Adopt my creed, and count all days the same, Be worshippers of God, and not of days.
99. C. L. N. A. B. I. J. Tarahe, query, tahhme? giving a Kne in metre 23.
100. C. L. N. A I. Of the Moslem theory of pre- destination, Khayyam might truly say, " Ten thousand
M *
OMAR KHAYYA3I. 69
j<A>^j^^ (J^^ iJ^J v«jL j:> b
1*1
d.A^*,*-> z^**^ ^-^.-H^ "-r*!/** ^lh(^^
CU-Jij AJO^^ jj^ (J^^ ^ ^^
mortals, drowned in endless woe, For doing" what they W€re compelled to do."
101. L.N. In line 3 scan j^a/(-w^.
70 THE QUATKAINS OF
102.
If grace be grace, and Allah gracious be, Adam from Paradise why banished He ?
Grace to poor sinners shown is grace indeed; In grace hard earned by works no grace I see.
103.
Dame Portune's smiles are full of guile, be- ware ! Her scimitar is sharp to smite, take care !
If e'er she drop a sweetmeat in thy mouth, 'Tis poisonous, — to swallow it forbear !
104.
Wherever you see a rose or tulip bed.
Know that a mighty monarch's blood was shed;
And where the violet rears her purple tuft. Be sure a black-moled girl hath laid her head.
102. N. The tashdid of rabb is dropped. Bl., Pro- sody, p. iv.
103 C, L. A. B. I. Hus/i contracted from /losk.
OMAR KHAYYAM. 71
IT
♦ r
104. B. L. The MSS. have a variation of this, beorinning: Ear khisU hi.
72 THE QUATRAINS OF
105.
Wine is a melting ruby, cup its mine ;
Cup is the body, and the soul is wine;
These crystal goblets smile with ruddy wine
Like tears, that blood of wounded hearts enshrine.
106.
Drink wine ! 'tis life etern, and travail's meed, Eruitage of youth, and balm of age's need ;
'Tis the glad time of roses, wine and friends ; Rejoice thy spirit — that is life indeed.
107.
Drink wine ! long must you sleep within the tomb,
"Without a friend, or wife to cheer your gloom ;
Hear what I say, and tell it not again,
" Never again can withered tulips bloom."
105. L. B.
106. L. B. There being no hafat aher ^drdn, ear i mast must agree with hang dm.
OMAR KHAYrMI. 73
1 *i>
OwoW ^jijJJi J ^W^ c^..... ■♦ ?>
cu^^ ^ifj^Vj ^^^^^ J^^ J^j^
1 'V
CUaSClJ JJb\y^ ^if^j^ ^Ai'^^i^
107. C. A. B. I. J. This recalls the chorus in the Oedipus Coloneus.
74 THE QUATRAINS OF
108.
They preach how sweet those Houri brides will he,
But I say wine is sweeter — taste and see !
Hold fast this cash, and let that credit go.
And shun the din of empty drums like me.
109.
Once and again my soul did me implore, To teach her, if I might, the heavenly lore ;
I bade her learn the Alif well by heart. Who knows that letter well need learn no more.
110.
I came not hither of my own freewill.
And go against my wish, a puppet still;
Cupbearer ! gird thy loins, and fetch some wine;
To purge the world's despite, my goblet fill.
108. C. L. A. B. I. J. ^itr/ nuptials/
109. B. Alif kafat, the One (God) is enough. Probably a quotation. Hafiz (Ode 416) uses the same
OMAR KHAYYAM. 75
J ♦ ^
j^jo &xJ> (jU\ v.::*^^^ j^^^ jJL!> ^1
C*a4^ ;j*>j C<-^.i )y J'^ ij^ j*^^
I I ♦
expression : 'He who knows the One knows alh'
110. C. L. A. B. I. J. 'azme, yd i tankir, or tans if, ? See note to No. 373.
76 THE QUATEAINS OF
111.
How long must I make bricks upon the sea ? Beshrew this yain task of idolatry ;
Call not Khayydm a denizen of hell ; One while in heaven, and one in hell is he.
112. Sweet is the breath of Spring to rose's face, And thy sweet face adds charm to this fair place ;
To-day is sweet, but yesterday is sad, And sad all mention of its parted grace.
113. To-night pour wine, and sing a dulcet air, And I upon thy lips will hang, 0 fair ;
Yea, pour some wine as rosy as thy cheeks. My mind is troubled like thy rufiSed hair.
111. C. L. A. B. I. J. Andar-lja, Bl., Prosody 12.
112. C. L. A. B. I. J. Khush is pronounced lihash or hhush. Bl., Prosody, p. 12. Guyi is generally written
OMAR KHAYYAM. 77
\ I I
I ir
cu^S (ji»y> ^5>y &r/ cu^ j^&S'^ij^
I ir
♦^ ^^ — -^
with hamza and j/a, but in some MSS. /a^Aa is substituted for the hamza [?].
113. B. Uoziyyi, See note to No. 28.
78 THE QUATRAINS OP
114. Pen, tablet, heaven and hell I looked to see Above the skies, from all eternity ;
At last the master sage instructed me, " Pen, tablet, heaven and hell are all in thee."
115. The fruit of certitude he cannot pluck, The path that leads thereto who never struck, Nor ever shook the bough with strenuous hand; To-day is lost ; hope for to-morrow's luck.
116.
Now spring- tide showers its foison on the land, And lively hearts wend forth, a joyous band,
Por 'Isa's breath wakes the dead earth to life, And trees gleam white with flowers, like Musa's hand.
114. Allah writes his decrees with the " pen " on the "tablet.''' Koran^ Ixviii. 1. See Gnlshan i Rdz, 1, n.
115. L. B. Lit. "Consider to-morrow your first day."
OMAR KHAYYUM. 79
MP
c^j:> j^ j\4'i^ &^ ^\
1 P
IIG. B. Alluding to the life-giving breath of Jesus, and the white hand of Moses. (Exodus, iv. G). Ba- hkushi dastrase {ya, i tankir), " an aid to joy/' i.e. Spring.
80 THE QUATRAINS OF
117.
Alas for that cold heart, which never glows With love, nor e'er that charming madness
knows ; The days misspent with no redeeming
love ; — No days are wasted half as much as those !
118.
The zephyrs waft thy fragrance, and it takes My heart, and me, his master, he forsakes ; Careless of me he pants and leaps to thee, And thee his pattern and ensample makes !
119.
Drink wine ! and then as Mahmud thou wilt
reign, And hear a music passing David's strain :
Think not of past or future, seize to-day, Then all thy life will not be lived in vain.
117. Bl. L. B. Note wa omitted in line 2, Bl.
118. Bl. C. L. A. I. J. Also ascribed to Abu Sa'id bin Abul Khair. C. writes bu^i with two ^ds, and Aamza on the first. The second yd seems to be ^a i batni or
OMA.R KHAYYAM. 81
I |A
Ca3^j3 Liy ^ ^^ V^ ?^ J^
in
tot ^^
\ ^\ Jijb ^^^ AS'^jJa (^j;> \j
tausifi, though that is usual only before adjectives. Bl., Prosody, p. 11.
119. Bl. C. L. A. I. J.
82 THE QUATRAINS OP
120. Ten Powers, and nine spheres, eight heavens
made He, And planets seven, of six sides, as we see,
Five senses, and four elements, three souls, Two worlds, but only one, O man, like thee.
121. Jewry hath seen a thousand prophets die, Sinai a thousand Musas mount the sky ;
How many Caesars Rome's proud forum crossed ! 'Neath Kasra's dome how many monarchs lie!
122. Gold breeds not wit, but to wit lacking bread Earth's flowery carpet seems a dungeon bed ;
'Tis his full purse that makes the rose to smile, While empty-handed violets hang the head.
120. L. A summary of the Muhammadan doctrine of "Emanations," See Gulskan i Rdz, p. 21. Three souls, ?'. e. vegetive, animal and human, as in Aristotle's T)e Anima. Ak/itaram (?) also in Cambridge MS.
OMAR KHAYYAM. 83
oJi^ ^j^^ cd^ j3 j>- JIp J Jo :ij>\ I r I
^^lSt^jIj^ Js>o &r vj:,^jkjj\i3
I rr
121. L. J. Time is lonjj and life short.
122. L. Alludinf^ to the o-olden stamens of the rose. I supply tiAi from the Cambtidij^e MS.
84 THE QUATRAINS OF
123.
Heaven's wheel has made full many a heart to moan,
And many a budding rose to earth has thrown ;
Plume thee not on thy youth and lusty strength,
Full many a bud is blasted ere 'tis blown.
124 What lord is fit to rule but " Truth ?" not one. What beings disobey His rule ? not one.
All things that are are such as He decrees, And naught is there beside beneath the sun.
125. That azure coloured vault, and golden tray Have turned, and will turn yet for many a day ; And just so we, impelled by turns of fate, — We come here for a while, then pass away.
123. L. In line 3 ?,cdLn jawdni^di/ . 1'24. C. L. A. I. "The Truth ^Ms the Sufi name for the Deity. Note tmhdid on llakk dropped.
OMAR KHAYYAM. 85
f rr
c^^;> Oli-^ &:ii£^li ^^^^ ^ C-.--^ Job ^__^ d^\ ^ j^^^
125. Bl. L. Guzasht, " It is all over with us.'' Bl., " Golden tray/' the Sim. In line 1 scan Idjdwardlyd. Bl., Prosody, p. 11.
86 THE QUATEAINS OF
126.
The Master did himself these vessels frame,
Why should he cast them out to scorn and
shame ? If he has made them well, why should he
break them ? Yea, though he marred them, they are not to
blame.
127.
Kindness to friends and foes 'tis well to show, No kindly heart can prove unkind, I trow :
Harshness will alienate a bosom friend, And kindness reconcile a deadly foe.
128. To lover true, what matters dark or fair ? Or if the loved one silk, or sackcloth wear.
Or lie on down or dust, or rise to heaven ? Yea, though she sink to hell, he'll seek her there.
126. C. L. A. I. J. In line 4 suwar is an Arabic plural used as a singular. Bl., Prosody, p. 5.
OMAR KHAYYAM. 87
ir 1
irv
c^^_5^ :iyf ^j^ QiU:> J'] ^^^^ b irA
127. L. In line % scan neyMydsh.
128. L. Probably mystical.
88 THE QUATRAINS OF
129.
Full many a hill and vale I journeyed o'er ;
Journeyed through the world's wide quarters four,
But never heard of pilgrim who returned ;
When once they go, they go to come no more.
130. Wine-houses flourish through this thirst of mine, Loads of remorse weigh down this hack of mine ; Yet, if I sinned not, what would mercy do ? Mercy depends upon these sins of mine.
131. Thy being is the being of Another, Thy passion is the passion of Another.
Cover thy head, and think, and thou wilt see, Thy hand is but the cover of Another.
129. C. L. N. (in part) A. I. J.
130. C. Bl. L. A. I. J. Bl. quotes similar senti- ments from Nizami and Hafiz. Mercy is God's highest attribute, and sin is required to call it forth.
OMAR KHAYYAM. 89
2lj t^y^.j 0<k\ &=^ ^Os^JolJ (t**^ jl
tluijCj jb jj^ij^ C-^^^ &i^ fJ^^j
in
181. Bl. Meaning, God is the FiCil i /lakiki, the only real agent. Hasti digdr — another being — hast, with yd i batni.
90 THE QUATRAINS OF
132. From learning to the cup your bridle turn ; All lore of world to come, save Kausar, spurn ; Your turban pawn for wine, or keep a shred To bind your brow, and all the remnant burn.
133.
See ! from the world what profit have I gained ? What fruitage of my life in hand retained ? What use is Jamshed's goblet, once 'tis
crushed ? What pleasure's torch, when once its light has
waned ?
134
When life is spent, what's Balkh or Nishapore ? What sweet or bitter, when the cup runs o'er ? Come drink ! full many a moon will wax and wane In times to come, when we are here no more.
132. N. The metre shows we must pronounce tarafe^ " a portion/' not tarfe^ " a girdle." Kausar, the river of wine in Paradise,
OMAR KHAYYAM. 91
. irr
>S^^Ui j^ J ^JO CjlJ^S- JxSl3 J^
irr
Vj^ O " "^
>Jb ^jl..i^^kIL^ ^jj>' ^^* 4t<^ ^V" m^
irp
r^ &>j j^^ ^ v>^^ s-*^ ^^ ^y^
133. L. N. Tarfbar hastan, "to reap advantage/
134. C. L.N. A. B. I. J.
92 THE QUATRAINS OF
135.
O fair ! whose cheeks checkmate red eglantine,
And draw the game with those fair maids of Chin ;
You played one glance against the king of Babil
And took his pawns, and knights, and rooks, and queen.
136.
Life's caravan is hastening on its way ; Brood not on troubles of the coming day,
But fill the wine-cup, ere sweet night be gone, And snatch a pleasant moment, while you may.
137.
He, who the world's foundations erst did lay. Doth bruise full many a bosom day by day,
And many a ruby lip and musky tress Doth coffin in the earth, and shroud with clay.
135. L. B. For Bdbil L. reads Mail.
136. C. L. N. A. B. I. J. The "rinds" loved a dark night. Bl.
OMAR KHAYYAM. 93
>^Jo ^^ Oli^ y i J^O ji cijj
in
3 ,o.5o^ V— M^ its' i , &]lo ,^ . Ji.jO
irv 2\^ cill:^^ J^^j^ c\^5^^ ^^^
'^:^i^^ ^ cj:V^j_5 J-*^ ^ S-^ jW*^ 3I4J Ci)l> &iU J ^j<«j J^^ j^
137. C. L. N. A. I. J. So Job, '^s it good unto thee that thou shouldest oppress, that thou shouldest despise the work of thine hands ? "
94 THE QUATRAINS OF
138.
Be not beguiled by world's insidious wiles ;
0 foolish ones, ye know her tricks and guiles ;
Your precious lifetime cast not to the winds ;
Haste to seek wine, and court a sweetheart's smiles.
139.
Comrades ! I pray you, physic me with wine, Make this wan amber face like rubies shine, And, if I die, use wine to wash my corpse, And frame my coffin out of planks of vine !
140.
When Allah yoked the coursers of the sun,
And launched the Pleiades their race to run,
My lot was fixed in fate's high chancery ;
Then why blame me for wrong that fate has done?
138. N.
139. C. L. N. A. B. I. KahraU, " amber," literally " attractor of straw." Rui/ i — izdfat before the epithet. Lumsden, ii. 259.
OMAR KHAYYAM. 95
U J<A?^^ ^ j*y» 2^ ^j^
140. C. L. N. A. I. J. Also ascribed to Afzul Kasbi. Mushtarlyyo, see BL, Prosody, p. 11. In line 3 some MSS. read mai for in. See No. 144..
96 THE QUATRAINS OF
141.
Ah 1 seasoned wine oft falls to rawest fools, And clumsiest workmen own the finest tools; And Turki maids, fit to delight men's hearts, Lavish their smiles on beardless boys in schools !
142. Whilom, ere youth's conceit had waned, me-
thought Answers to all life's problems I had wrought ; But now, grown old and wise, too late I see t My life is spent, and all my lore is naught.
143.
They, who of prayer-mats make such great display,
Are fools to bear hypocrisy's hard sway;
Strange ! under cover of this saintly show They live like heathen, and their faith betray.
141. N. So Hafiz, 'If that Turki maid of Shiraz/ etc.
142. N. [C. A. and I. give another version of this.]
143. C. L. N. A. I. In line 2, note the arrange-
OMAR KHAYYAM. 97
If I
^>yjjj^ CJ^ ^^ ^^ ^y^
ment of the prepositions ha ... . dar, BL, Prosody 13. There is a proverb, " The Devil lives iu Mecca and Medinah."
98 THE QUATRAINS OF
To him, who would his sins extenuate, Let pious men this verse reiterate,
" To call God's prescience the cause of sin In wisdom's purview is but folly's prate."
145.
He brought me hither, and I felt surprise, Prom life I gather but a dark surmise,
I go against my will ; — thus, why I come, Why live, why go, are all dark mysteries.
146.
\ When I recall my grievous sins to mind,
Eire burns my breast, and tears my vision blind ;
Yet, when a slave repents, is it not meet His lord should pardon, and again be kind ?
144'. L. N. Sa/d, '' of no account."
145. C. L. N. A.
146. L. N. In line 2, az sar guzarad means '^ drops
OMAR KHAYYAM. 99
LT-
o
■2y J^^ j^ ^^^=^^ Jo^ jc^=6 ^!
^jj^ ^j:^ ^^ j^ r^>
3^..:uLc e;>^^ ^_^ ^ (^j^T ^3^
^^ ^j3 (j^ 2s jj^ c^^j^^ ^sy ^j^j^'} J^-y^ ^^ r^^^^
from the eyes/-* and in line 4, "remits the penalty. This change of meaning is called Tajnis.
100 THE QUATRAINS OP
147.
They at whose lore the whole world stands
amazed, Whose high thoughts, like Bordk, to heaven are
raised, Strive to know Thee in vain, and like heaven's
wheel Their heads are turning, and their hrains are
dazed.
148. Allah hath promised wine in Paradise, Why then should wine on earth be deemed a vice? An Arab in his cups cut Hamzah's girths, — Eor that sole cause was drink declared a vice.
149. Now of old joys naught but the name is left, Of all old friends but wine we are bereft,
And that wine new, but still cleave to the cup, Por save the cup, what single joy is left ?
147. C. L. N. A. Borak, the steed on which Muhammad made his famous nocturnal ascent to heaven.
148. L. N. Nicolas says this refers to an event
OMAR KHAYYAM. 101
I Fa •tr^ LT^ ir^ '^^ "^J" J LS'^^^'^
o
which occured to Hamzah, a relation of Muhammad. 149. L. N. B. In line 2 scan 7nai/i.
102 THE QUATRAINS OF
150.
The world will last long after Khayyam's fame Has passed away, yea, and his very name ;
Aforetime we were not, and none did heed. When we are dead and gone, 'twill be the same.
151.
The sages who have compassed sea and land, Their secret to search out, and understand, —
My mind misgives me if they ever solve The scheme on which this universe is planned.
152.
Ah ! wealth takes wings, and leaves our hands all bare,
And death's rough hands delight our hearts to tear ; And from the nether world let none escape, To bring us news of the poor pilgrims there.
150. N. The contraction bud for bud is archaic, Bl., Prosody 13.
151. C. L. N. A. I.
OMAR KHAYYAM. 103
1-0 ♦
Id Jo 35-^ tjl^j^^ ^^jiwAi^ J JJ\ J
lor
J^ CD^ li^^ ^^^^ Js>^ C-*--*^ jj Lf^j\ ^^J, S^ \^\^\ '^ J^\J ^j^
152. C. L. N. A. I. In line 3 the Alif in az we is not treated as an ^///" / 2t'a*/, hence sam, the syllable preceding it, is long.
104 THE QUATRAINS OP
153.
'Tis passing strange, those titled noblemen Pind their own lives a burden sore, but when
They meet with poorer men, not slaves to sense, They scarcely deign to reckon them as men.
154.
The wheel on high, still busied with despite, Will ne'er unloose a wretch from his sad plight ;
But when it lights upon a smitten heart, Straightway essays another blow to smite.
155.
Now is the volume of my youth outworn,
And all my spring-tide blossoms rent and torn.
Ah, bird of youth ! I marked not when you came.
Nor when you fled, and left me thus forlorn.
153. C. L. N.A.I. In Hne 4 scan Adamesha. See Bl., Prosody, p. xii. Section xxix.
154. C. L. N. A. I. — Note ra separated from its
OMAR KHAYYAM. 105
o
^b ^b ills' Joi ^b »^ \s^jb
66
vXi» ^J' J^\ ^ sS J>1 Jo iV>y
noun by intervening- genitives. Vullers, Section 207.
155. C. L. N. A. I. In line 4 scan kaydmad, dis- solving the diphthong.
106 THE QUATHAINS OF
156.
These fools, by dint of ignorance most crass, Think they in wisdom all mankind surpass ;
And glibly do they damn as infidel, Whoever is not, like themselves, an ass.
157.
Still be the wine-house thronged with its glad choir,
And Pharisaic skirts burnt up with fire ;
Still be those tattered frocks, and azure robes
Trod under feet of revellers in the mire.
158. Why toil ye to ensue illusions vain, And good or evil of the world attain?
Ye rise like Zamzam, or the fount of life, And, like them, in earth's bosom sink again.
156. N. So Job, "Ye are the people, and wisdom shall die with you." Probably addressed to the 'Ulama.
OMAR KHAYYAM. 107
J±^^ (jli-^^ ,^_^o^ ^\ i^ (ji>lwj^
Cv
I DA
oUs^ ^^ j ^J ^J^j &^^ jT
157. C. L. N. A. J. Hafiz (Ode V.) speaks of the blue robes of certain Darvishes, as a mark of hypocrisy.
158. C. L. N. A. I.
108 THE QUATRAINS OF
159.
Till the Eriend pours his wine to glad my heart, No kisses to my face will heaven impart :
They say, *' Repent in time ;" but how repent, Ere Allah's grace hath softened my hard heart?
160.
When I am dead, take me and grind me small, So that I be a caution unto all.
And knead me into clay with wine, and then Use me to stop the wine-jar's mouth withal.
161.
What though the sky with its blue canopy Doth close us in so that we cannot see,
In the etern Cupbearer's wine, methinks, There float a myriad bubbles like to me.
159. C. L. N. A. I. Meaning", man is powerless to mend his ways without Divine grace.
160. C. L. N. A. I. J.
OMAR KHAYYAM. 109
a^l (OJ5_5 ^\ ^ JOj3 &S^ Ooo^S" v>j^ j<!> f^^ J^*- &^ ^ >^ &^j3 cjj.>.
v>JjL> ^^=9 V^ CiJl>- ^_^ ^^^ i^y^
^^A^ ^j> i^j>- ^^\ i'-i^
3^_^ ^W j3 d^\> ^L> JO c;^^
161. N. For the taslulid on sdkh/)/i in line 4, see Bl., Prosody, p. 1], and Lumsden, Graninoar^ vol. ii., p. 247.
110 THE QUATRAINS OF
162.
Take heart ! Long in the weary tomb you'll lie, While stars keep countless watches in the sky,
And see your ashes moulded into bricks, To build another's house and turrets high.
163.
Glad hearts, who seek not notoriety, Nor flaunt in gold and silken bravery,
Haunt not this ruined earth like gloomy owls, But wing their way, Simurgh-like, to the sky.
164.
Wine's power fs known to wine-bibbers alone. To narrow heads and hearts 'tis never shown ;
I blame not them who never felt its force, For, till they feel it, how can it be known?
162. L. N. C. A. and I. split this into two. In line 1 note izafat dropped after silent he.
OMAR KHAYYAM. HI
^J ifj'3y. J'J^ •^^ ^r^
<Xl3 L-J^ c;V^ ^i^];>- ;^J'^ JaJ>b (j\l«-/c &^3^-^ ^^^ Cw^jjb
163. C. L, N. A. I.
164. C. N. A. I. J.
112 THE QUATRAINS OF
165.
Needs must the tavern-haunter bathe in wine, Por none can make a tarnished name to shine ; Go ! bring me wine, for none can now restore Its pristine sheen to this soiled veil of mine.
166.
1 wasted life in hope, yet gathered not In all my life of happiness one jot ;
Now my fear is that life may not endure, Till I have taken vengeance on my lot !
167'
Be very wary in the soul's domain,
And on the world's affairs your lips refrain ;
Be, as it were, sans tongue, sans ear, sans eye, While tongue, and ears, and eyes you still retain.
165. C. L. N. A. B. I. In line 3 scan masturii/i dissolving the letter of prolongation ya .
OMAE KHAYYAM. 113
1.10
I n
nv
1G6. C. L. N. A. I. Eozgdrc, "some time." In line 3, note the madd of An dropped. Bl. ^ Prosody, p. 1 1 . 167. L. N.
lU THE QUATKAINS OP
168.
Let him rejoice who has a loaf of bread, A little nest wherein to lay his head,
Is slave to none, and no man slaves for him, — In truth his lot is wondrous well bested.
169.
What adds my service to Thy majesty? Or how can sin of mine dishonour Thee ? 0 pardon, then, and punish not, I know
j Thou 'rt slow to wrath, and prone to clemency.
i
170.
Hands, such as mine, that handle bowls of wine, 'Twere shame to book and pulpit to confine; Zealot! thou'rt dry, and I am moist with drink, Yea, far too moist to catch that fire of thine !
168. C. L. N. A. I. Note wa omitted.
169. C. L. N. A. I.
170. L. N. I follow Nicolas in taking mani as a
OMAR KHAYYAM. 115
. Ma
possessive pronoun, ''mine," though such a word is not mentioned in any grammar or dictionary. It occurs again in No. 478.
116 THE QUATRAINS OF
171.
Whoso aspires to gain a rose-cheeked fair,
Sharp pricks from fortune's thorns must learn to bear.
See ! till this comb was cleft by cruel cuts,
It never dared to touch my lady's hair.
172.
Por ever may my hands on wine be stayed, And my heart pant for some fair Houri maid ! They say, " May Allah aid thee to repent ! " Repent I could not, e'en with Allah's aid !
173.
( Soon shall I go, by time and fate deplored, Of all my precious pearls not one is bored ;
Alas ! there die with me a thousand truths To which these fools fit audience ne'er accord.
171. C. L. N. A. I. Lyttleton expresses a similar sentiment.
172. C. L. N. A. B. I. J. Note the conjunctive pro-
OMAR KHAYYAM. 117
»X1j ^l^ j<>^ \3 s^ S.!^ j6U» j^ ivr
^^ (V-^ ^-^ ^^ LT^y^^J^ 3U:i joy o>yJ &^=> ^ jj^^
noun a?» separated from its noun, Bl., Prosody, p. xiii.
173. C. L. N. A. I. For the tashdids on maniyiji and hekhiradiyyi, see Bl., Prosody, p. 11.
118 THE QUATRAINS OF
174
To-day how sweetly breathes the temperate air, The rains have newly laved the parched par- terre ; And Bulbuls cry in notes of ecstacy, " Thou too, 0 pallid rose, our wine must share !"
175.
Ere you succumb to shocks of mortal pain, The rosy grape-juice from your wine- cup drain. You are not gold, that, hidden in the earth. Your friends should care to dig you up again !
176.
My coming brought no profit to the sky, Nor does my going swell its majesty ;
Coming and going put me to a stand, Ear never heard their wherefore nor their why.
174. L. N. B. Note hhwarcl rhyming with gard. Bl.; Prosody, p. 12. The waw, of course, does not count,
175. C. L. N. A. B. 1. J. Note the old form of the imperative, /armay. Bl., Prosody, p. 13.
OMAR KHAYYAM. 119
:>^ Job ^^ i6 jij ^ :»U^9
176. C. L. N. A. B. I. J. In line 4 read dmadan for dmadanam, which will not scan. Voltaire has some similar lines in his poem on the Lisbon earthquake.
120 THE QUATRAINS OF
177.
The heavenly Sage, whose wit exceeds compare, Counteth each vein, and numbereth every hair ;
Men you may cheat by hypocritic arts, But how cheat Him to whom all hearts are bare ?
178.
Ah ! wine lends wings to many a weary wight, And beauty spots to ladies' faces bright ; All Eamazan I have not drunk a drop, Thrice welcome then, 0 Bairam's blessed night !
179.
All night in deep bewilderment I fret,
With tear-drops big as pearls my breast is wet ;
I cannot fill my cranium with wine, How can it hold wine, when 'tis thus upset ?
177. C. L. N. A. I. J.
178. C. L. N. A. I. Bairam, the feast on the 1st
OMAR KHAYYAM. 121
, I vv
IVA
* ^^ Jlr^ ^^ ^^'^ s-^-^ cij^
Shawwal, after Ramazan. In line 2, khirad seems wrong, the rhyme would suggest khar o ?
179. C. L. N. A. I. Note tashdid of durr dropped.
122 THE QUATRAINS OF
180.
To prayer and fasting when my lieart inclined, All my desire I surely hoped to find ;
Alas ! my purity is stained with wine, My prayers are wasted like a breath of wind.
181.
I worship rose-red cheeks with heart and soul, I suffer not my hand to quit the bowl,
I make each part of me his function do, Or e'er my parts be swallowed in the Whole.
182.
This worldly love of yours is counterfeit, And, like a half-spent blaze, lacks light and heat ;
True love is his, who for days, months and years, Rests not, nor sleeps, nor craves for drink or meat.
180. C. L. N. A. I. In line 2, scan hulUyam. In line 4, note izafat dropped after silent he.
181. C. L. N. A. I. Line 4 alludes to reabsorption
OMAR KHAYYAM. 123
|A.
vX^ J^U (^y:>' ij^j J J,U^ ^XjL
^^J^^ J^=V C^JLT- ^ U^ Cjlj
in the Divine essence. Note juzioiyam, and tashdid of A;m^/ dropped.
182. L. N. B. Line 3 is in metre 17.
124 THE QUATEAINS OF
183.
Why spend life in vainglorious essay All Being and Not-being to survey ?
Since Death is ever pressing at your heels, 'Tis best to drink or dream your life away.
184.
Some hanker after that vain phantasy Of Houris, feigned in Paradise to be ;
But, when the veil is lifted, they will find How far they are from Thee, how far from Thee !
185.
In Paradise, they tell us, Houris dwell. And fountains run with wine and oxymel: If these be lawful in the world to come. Surely 'tis right to love them here as well.
183. C. L. N. A. I. J. In line 2, scan joay?. Being, i.e. the Deity, the only real existence, and Not-being,
OMAR KHAYYAM. 125
lAr
^ " ^
|A0
the nonentity in which His attributes are reflected. See Gulshan i Kdz, p. 14. 184. C. L. N. A. I. 185. C. L. N. A. I. J.
126 THE QUATRAINS OF
186.
A draught of wine would make a mountain dance,
Base is the churl who looks at wine askance ;
Wine is a soul our bodies to inspire,
A truce to this vain talk of temperance!
187. Oft doth my soul her prisoned state bemoan. Her earth-born comate she would fain disown,
And quit, did not the stirrup of the law Upbear her foot from dashing on the stone.
188. The moon of Ramazan is risen, see! Alas, our wine must henceforth banished be ;
Well ! on Sha'bdn's last day I'll drink enough To keep me drunk till Bairam's jubilee.
186. C.L.N. A. I.
187. N. Meaning, 'I would make away with myself, were it not for " the Almighty's canon 'gainst
OMAR KHAYYAM.
127
Jo.^=9
'^ \^ 2^V j^
I AV
jo\ Ci^JuJ ^j^aJj ^j:> (^* J:i &S^ &^
1 AA
Jo Jo cIIa-IS" (jUa/oj alo &^ ^Hy Oo,:^j^ {J\y^ 5:\> ^^ J^ (^
JsJkff- G |*I^J0 <,I.«...x) CjUa-o, jJOO
self-slaughter/'
188. C. L, N. A. I. Note wa omitted ia line 2. Also ascribed to Jalal 'Asad Bardi.
128 THE QUATRAINS OF
189.
From life we draw now wine, now dregs to drink,
Now flaunt in silk, and now in tatters shrink;
Such changes wisdom holds of slight account
To those who stand on death's appalling brink !
190.
What sage the eternal tangle e'er unravelled,
Or one short step beyond his nature travelled?
Erom pupils to the masters turn your eyes,
And see, each mother's son alike is gravelled.
191.
Crave not of worldly sweets to take your fill, Nor wait on turns of fortune, good or ill;
Be of light heart, as are the skies above, They roll a round or two, and then lie still.
189. N.
190. C. L. N. A. B. I. In line 1, note rd put after the genitive following its noun. 'IJz . . . . " impotence is
OMAR KHAYYAM. 129
^j:> &S"lX^\^ l^\jo ^JtAC' cL^j^ &r
^1413 (Jj^ ^l^'O^ (^^XiSO ;^
in the hand of each/^ " Beyond his nature/' i.e. beyond the limits of his own thought.
191. C. L. N. A. B. I. Tlie skies have their allotted term like you, yet do not distress themselves.
K
130 THE QUATRAINS OF
192.
What eye can pierce the veil of God's decrees, Or read the riddle of earth's destinies?
Pondered have I for years threescore and ten, But still am baffled by these mysteries.
193.
They say, when the last trump shall sound
its knell, Our Friend will sternly judge, and doom to hell. Can aught but good from perfect goodness
come? Compose your trembling hearts, 't will all be
well.
194.
Drink wine to root up metaphysic weeds, And tangle of the two-and-seventy creeds; Do not forswear that wondrous alchemy, 'Twill turn to gold, and cure a thousand needs.
192. C. L. N. A. I. So Job, "The thunder of his power who can understand?"
193. C. L. N. A. I. J. Juzi, {?)juzaz.
194. C. L. N. A. B. I. Muhammad said, "My
OMAR KHAYYAM. 131
\ ^ r
vXl!> 2>lfel LT^ ;?f^:^ J^^"^ J5
JJl> ^^3j5 &A3LJJ 5 C-*-l5C> ^^^JU
Mr
.^ vMl^s- J-^^^ C^-Jls- S^ ^ti\Jji^
w
people shall be divided into seventy-three sects, all of which, save one, shall have their portion in the fire." Pocock, Specimen 210.
132 THE QUATRAINS OF
195.
Though drink is wrong, take care with whom you drink,
And who you are that drink, and what you drink ;
And drink at will, for, these three points observed, Who but the very wise can ever drink ?
196. To drain a gallon beaker I design,
Yea, two great beakers, brimmed with richest wine ;
Old faith and reason thrice will I divorce,
Then take to wife the daughter of the vine.
197. True I drink wine, like every man of sense, Eor I know Allah will not take offence ;
Before time was, He knew that I should drink, And who am I to thwart His prescience ?
195. C. L. N. A. B. I. A hit at the casuistry on the subject of wine.
OMAR KHAYYAM. 133
1^6
^jy^- s^s> b^ j^ljJic s^ 2l£_jTj Jiy >1 ^-c ^?" J^^ J py::^* ^
196. C. ISr. A. I. A triple divorce is irrevocable. Koran, ii. 230.
197. C. L. K A. B. I.
134 THE QUATRAINS OF
198.
Rich men, who take to drink, the world defy With shameless riot, and as heggars die ;
Place in my ruby pipe some emerald hemp, 'Twill do as well to blind care's serpent eye.
199. These fools have never burnt the midnight oil In deep research, nor do they ever toil
To step beyond themselves, but dress them fine, And plot of credit others to despoil.
200.
When false dawn streaks the east with cold
grey line. Pour in your cups the pure blood of the vine ; The truth, they say, tastes bitter in the mouth, This is a token that the " Truth" is wine.
198. C. L. N. A. I. Scan af'ai/l. The emerald is supposed to have the virtue of blinding serpents.
199. C. L. N. A. I. Shame chand : Vullers (p. 253) takes this 7/a to beyo. i fauJdr ; and Lumsden (ii. 269) says the presence of this letter, between a noun and its
OMAR KHAYYAM. 135
V" jj* >>^ (i*- /' ^jl>^*
» " 9
to U
P^.j ^j^j ^"^j J»5 ^&iU j^
J.^ ^IS (^^j^ d^-^ij^ J 6^\^:J> ViXJc^ ^^frS' SJ<>c\ t.jols»" o*— S'ji
r • ♦
attribute, dispenses with the izdfat (?). But why not add the izdfat, and scan Shaniii/1, ?
200. C. L. N. A. I. J. False dawn, the faint light before sunrise.
136 THE QUATRAINS OF
201.
Now is the time earth decks her greenest bowers, And trees, like Musa's hand, grow white with flowers !
As 't were at 'Isa's breath the plants revive,
While clouds brim o'er, like tearful eyes, with showers.
202. 0 burden not thyself with drudgery, Lord of white silver and red gold to be ;
But feast with friends, ere this warm breath of thine Be chilled in death, and earthworms feast on thee.
203.
The showers of grape-juice, which cupbearers pour,
Quench fires of grief in many a sad heart's core ;
Praise be to Allah, who hath sent this balm
To heal sore hearts, and spirits' health restore !
201. C. L. N. A. B. I. Musa and 'Isa are often written without the alif i maksur. Bl., Prosody 3. 20a. N.
OMAR KHAYYAM. 137
JoOuLfei^ L-^-i->- (^Is:*** ^^-l^Jij
203. C. L. N. A. B. I. lu line 1 some MSS. read bahhak. Didayi garm^ ' eyes of anguish/ Scan garm dtishi {Alifi wad).
138 THE QUATRAINS OF
204.
Can alien Pharisees Thy kindness tell, Like us, Thy intimates, who nigh Thee dwell ? Thou say'st, "All sinners will I burn with fire." Say that to strangers, we know Thee too well.
205.
0 comrades dear, when hither ye repair
In times to come, communion sweet to share,
While the cupbearer pours your old Magh wine, Call poor Khayydm to mind, and breathe a prayer.
206.
For me heaven's sphere no music ever made, Nor yet with, soothing voice my fears allayed ;
If e'er I found brief respite from my woes, Back to woe's thrall I was at once betrayed.
204. N.
205. L. N. B. Mdyl. The second ya is the ya i hatni.
OMAR KHAYYAM. 139
o
O^JiJ<^ ^-a l^Jo \y^)i ij^
206. C. L. N. A. I.
\
140 THE QUATRAINS OF
207.
Sooner with half a loaf contented be, And water from a broken crock, like me, Than lord it over one poor fellow-man, Or to another bow the vassal knee.
208.
While Moon and Venus in the sky shall dwell, None shall see aught red grape-juice to excel :
O foolish publicans, what can you buy One half so precious as the goods you sell ?
209.
They who by genius, and by power of brain, The rank of man's enlighteners attain,
Not even they emerge from this dark night, But tell their dreams, and fall asleep again.
207. C. L. N. A. I. In line 2, note izafat dropped after silent he. Kam az khude, " one less than your- self." Vullers, p. 254.
OMAR KHAYYAM. 141
r -v
Jiy Job )^ Lf:^^ jl pS' ^^^
r • A
Jo jJi ^b^ J J"^ ^-^ &^=:6\ji
Jo Jji u-jU'^^ j^ J^-*^==* £^ 3^
£08. C. L. N. A. B. I.
209. C. L. N. A. I. J. Fismaye, ya, i tanhir.
142 THE QUATRAINS OP
210.
At dawn, when dews bedeck the tulip's face, And violets their heavy heads abase, I love to see the roses' folded buds, With petals closed against the winds' disgrace.
211.
Like as the skies rain down sweet jessamine. And sprinkle all the meads with eglantine, Right so, from out this jug of violet hue, I pour in lily cups this rosy wine.
212.
Ah ! thou hast snared this head, though white
as snow, Which oft has vowed the wine-cup to forego ;
And wrecked the mansion long resolve did build. And rent the vesture penitence did sew !
210. L. B.
211. B. Here read mavi, with one ijd, and kasra, because the metre requires a word of only two consonants, and two short vowels, of the wazn ma/d.
OMAR KHAYYAM. 143
ri ♦ :ijo A^*^ ^^ cijj ^^^^ ^^ j^
r ir
212. B. Nahicl is often written nahiz, probably a survival from the time when dais were dotted. BL, Prosody 17.
144 THE QUATRAINS OF
213.
I am not one whom Death doth much dismay, Life's terrors all Death's terrors far outweigh; This life, that Heaven hath lent me for a while, I will pay back, when it is time to pay.
214
The stars, who dwell on heaven's exalted stage, BafEe the wise diviners of our age ;
Take heed, hold fast the rope of mother wit. These augurs all distrust their own presage.
215.
The people who the heavenly world adorn, Who come each night, and go away each morn, Now on Heaven's skirt, and now in earth's deep pouch. While Allah lives, shall aye anew be born !
213. C. L. A. B. I. B. reads nim for Hm in line 2.
214. L. B. A hit at the astrologers.
OMAR KHAYYAM. 145
r \r Oo) ^^ ^os- j^ ^ ^ (ji
r IP
no
JO^y^^ ^y^^ eJJi &fe l^iT
o:^\ jt>:^ ^3^ J ^jj J ^.^
215. L. B. Earth's pouch, i.e. " beneath the earth." Bezaye. L. reads didaye. Both reading's are probablr wrong-.
L
146 THE QUATRAINS OF
216.
Slaves of vain wisdom and philosophy, Who toil at Being and Nonentity,
Parching your brains till they are like dry grapes, Be wise in time, and drink grape-juice, like me !
217. Sense, seeking happiness, bids us pursue All present joys, and present griefs eschew; She says, we are not as the meadow grass, Which, when they mow it down, springs up anew.
218. Kow Ramazdn is past, Shawwdl comes back. And feast and song and joy no more we lack ; The wine-skin carriers throng the streets and cry, "Here comes the porter with his precious pack."
216. B. The vanity of learning-.
217. C. L. A. B. I. J. GoT/id, from goyidan. Ya i malisur followed by another ya, is in Persian words always hamzaied (Lumsden, i. 29 ; Vullers, p. 24) ; and this
OMAR KHAYYAM. 147
r n
OOJ^ jXX^ J ^yBS' ^j.Mi\ &fe [^\
^^
r (A
^ji>j3 .v^IjI ^4^i>^ &^=6^ &rj^\ a<T JU=- C^ c-^ s^ ^^^
hamza i mahur is pronounced ^e. Ibrahim^ Gram- mar, p. 24.
218. B. I incline to read j)us/it bast for pus/it pits///, which I do not understand.
148 THE QUATRAINS OF
219.
My comrades all are gone ; Death, deadly foe, Has caught them one by one, and trampled low ; They shared life's feast, and drank its wine with me. But lost their heads, and dropped a while ago.
220. Those hypocrites, all know so well, who lurk In streets to beg their bread, and will not work, Claim to be saints, like Shibli and Junaid,
No Shiblis are they, though well known in Karkh!
221.
When the great Founder moulded me of old. He mixed much baser metal with my gold ;
Better or fairer I can never be Than I first issued from his heavenly mould.
219. C. L. A. I. Quoted by Badauni, ii. 159.
220. C. L. A. I. L. reads hahahna namacl, but the line will not scan with that reading*. Line 4 is in metre 9. A saint called Ma'ruf i Karkhi, " the famed
OMAR KHAYYAM. 149
oojJi c>w-^ ul^a <^^ J=^' S?^ J-^
J^ LT^ J^ ^Ir* ^^^^ ^^^
rri
one of Karkh," is mentioned in the Nafahdt ul Um Karkh was a suburb of Bagdad. 221. C. L. A. I.
150 THE QUATRAINS OF
222.
The joyous souls who quaff potations deep, And saints who in the mosques sad vigils keep.
Are lost at sea alike, and find no shore, ONE only wakes, all others are asleep.
223.
Notbeing's water served to mix my clay, And on my heart grief's fire doth ever prey.
And blown am I like wind about the world, And last my crumbling earth is swept away.
224.
Small gains to learning on this earth accrue, They pluck life's fruitage, learning who eschew ; Take pattern by the fools who learning shun, And then perchance shall fortune smile on you.
222. L. B. One, i.e. the Deity.
223. L. This introduction of the four elements in one quatrain is called Mutazddd. Gladwin, p. 60,
OMAR KHAYYAM. 161
j3\ ^1 j^ &^i^ c* .^!> ^jo ed.1^^
rrr
"i;^^ U ^^^ A-iU; &S'^ \3
224. C. L. A. I. Bu contracted from buwad, as bud from bud.
152 THE QUATRAINS OF
225. When the fair soul this mansion doth vacate, Each element assumes its primal state,
And all the silken furniture of life Is then dismantled by the blows of fate.
226.
These people string their beads of learned
lumber, And tell of Allah stories without number ; But never solve the riddle of the skies, So wag the chin, and get them back to slumber.
227.
These folk are asses, laden with conceit, And glittering drums, that empty sounds repeat And humble slaves are they of name and fame. Acquire a name, and, lo ! they kiss thy feet.
225. C. L. A. I. Abr^sham tab', like Hdtim tab'.
226. Possibly a hit at the Mutakallamin, or scholastic theologians.
OMAR KHAYYAM. 163
j^ f-H;^^ jV ?^j j^ cir^^
^y» 3^(J j^jj ^^ j^
rn J0ai-w4 ^3t« .:>^^^=u^ its' 14.5^
v>ol jj*>^-*il b (j)^ &^ (j3^ (^1 Si\ ^^ u^>. ^'S ulxo J &U-i^ ^
v>jl C^J"*^ *^v>JO &S' (JTj^ ^\j> {^J^
227. C. L. A. I. Bd afsos is an epithet, like ha Tihabar, and hence hliardn the noun, qualified by it, takes the izdfai. Lumsden, ii. 259. Pur masTCala ' full of glitter ;' compare, pur mae in No 179.
154 THE QUATRAINS OP
228.
On the dread day of final scrutiny Thou wilt be rated by thy quality ;
Get wisdom and fair qualities to-day, For, as thou art, requited wilt thou be.
229.
Many fine heads, like bowls, the Brazier made, And thus his own similitude portrayed ;
He set one upside down above our heads, Which keeps us all continually afraid.
230.
My true condition I may thus explain In two short verses, which the whole contain : " Erom love to Thee I now lay down my life, In hope Thy love will raise me up again."
228. C. L. A. I.
229. C. L. A. I. " One upside down,^' i.e. the sky. Kdnsa is also spelled kdsa.
OMAR KHAYYAM. 155
rrA
230. C. L. A. I. Scan icdJcVdy'i. Here -^awiza stands for ya i tankir.
156 THE QUATRAINS OF
231.
The heart, like tapers, takes at beauty's eyes
A flame, and lives by that whereby it dies ;
And beauty is a flame where hearts, like moths,
Offer themselves a burning sacrifice.
232.
To please the righteous life itself I sell.
And, though they tread me down, never rebel;
Men say, " Inform us what and where is hell?" Ill company will make this earth a hell.
233.
The sun doth smite the roofs with Orient ray. And, Khosrau like, his wine-red sheen display ;
Arise, and drink ! the herald of the dawn Uplifts his voice, and cries, " 0 drink to-day !"
231. L. Metre Ramal, No. 50. In line 3 the first syllable is short. See Bl., Prosody, p. 43. In this form the metre is like Horace's " Miserarum est" etc.
OMAR KHAYYAM. 167
rri
f-pf.
l) ^j^ u:w^ (j^^ ^ 0*1^
rrr
^ »< O f fi O f " ^
232. C. L. A. I. Also ascribed to Hafiz.
233. C. L. A. I. J.
158 THE QUATRAINS OP
234.
Comrades ! when e'er ye meet together here,
Eecall your friend to mind, and drop a tear ;
And when the circling wine-cups reach his seat,
Pray turn one upside down his dust to cheer.
235.
That grace and favour at the first, what
meant it ? That lavishing of joy and peace, what meant it? But now thy purpose is to grieve my heart ;
What did I do to cause this change? what meant it ?
236.
These hypocrites, who build on saintly show,
Treating the body as the spirit's foe,
If they will shut their mouths with lime, like jars,
My jar of grape-juice I will then forego.
234. B. A variation of No. 205.
235. B. So Job, " He multiplieth my wounds without cause."
OMAR KHAYYAM. 159
rro
2S6. L. B. B. reads arra, of which I can make no sense. Bar f ark niham, '1 will put aside/ bar f ark (line 4) ' on their mouths.*
160 THE QUATRAINS OF
237. Many have come, and run their eager race, Striving for pleasures, luxuries, or place, And quaffed their wine, and now all silent lie, Enfolded in their parent earth's embrace.
238.
Then, when the good reap fruits of labours
past, My hapless lot with drunkards will be cast ; If good, may I be numbered with the first, If bad, find grace and mercy with the last.
239.
Of happy turns of fortune take your fill, Seek pleasure's couch, or wine-cup, as you will;
Allah regards not if you sin, or saint it, So take your pleasure, be it good or ill.
237. C. L. A. I.
238. C. L. A. T.
239. C. L. N. A I. J. Alluding to the Eadis,
OMAR KHAYYAM. 161
rrA
jsV^ c:)ll^\ j^ \^ S\ e)x)_^ jci^ (jlij Jo i^ ^b J*^ jj
J^O ^>^ j^Jj J'i^J
y^ ^^ < a^^ U:^ V^ ^^^ ji
" These are in heaven, and Allah regards not their sius, and these in hell, and Allah regards not their good works/' See Gnhhan i Rat, p. 55.
H
162 THE QUATRAINS OP
240.
Heaven multiplies our sorrows day by day, And grants no joys it does not take away ;
If those unborn could know the ills we bear, What think you, would they rather come or stay ?
241.
"Why ponder thus the future to foresee, And jade thy brain to vain perplexity ?
Cast off thy care, leave Allah's plans to him, He formed them all without consulting thee.
242.
The tenants of the tombs to dust decay, Nescient of self, and all beside are they ;
Their sundered atoms float about the world. Like mirage clouds, until the judgment-day.
UO. C. L. N. A. I. J. This recalls Byron's, " Stanzas for Music/'
21]. C. L. N. A. I. J.
OMAR KHAYYAM.
163
r^
rF
j^ JJ\ JjI ^^J^ ^ ^ j:>^J^
n^r
J
\^^
J3J
\S j^c-
s^
r c:/^^
i\
242. C. L. N. A. I. J. In line 4 some MSS. read skardb, and change the order of the lines.
164 THE QUATRAINS OF
243.
0 soul ! lay up all earthly goods in store,
Thy mead with pleasure's flowerets spangle o'er; And know 'tis all as dew, that decks the flowers Eor one short night, and then is seen no more !
2M.
Heed not the Sunna, nor the law divine ; If to the poor his portion you assign, And never injure one, nor yet abuse,
1 guarantee you heaven, and now some wine !
245.
Vexed by this wheel of things, that pets the
base. My sorrow-laden life drags on apace ;
Like rosebud, from the storm I wrap me close, And blood-spots on my heart, like tulip, trace.
243. C. L. N. A. I. J. There are several variations of this.
244. C. L. N. A. B. I. J. See Koran, ii. 172 : '"There is no piety in turning your faces to the east or
OMAR KHAYYAM. 165
j^ s3^J\ bj*^ <^}^ ^^ C^ U^?" ^ ^j^ uir^ ^^b
^r-^ J^ r-/^ >,:> J p^ J^ b Cii^^ J^ ^ ul4=- ^^4 &^ ^jf^
west, but he is pious who believeth in God .... and disburseth his wealth to the needy/' etc. 245. N.
166 THE QUATRAINS OP
246.
Youth is the time to pay court to the vine, To quaff the cup, with revellers to recline ;
A flood of water once laid waste the earth. Hence learn to lay you waste with floods of wine.
247. The world is baffled in its search for Thee, Wealth cannot find Thee, no, nor poverty ;
Thou'rt very near us, but our ears are deaf, Our eyes are blinded that we may not see !
248. Take care you never hold a drinking bout With an ill-tempered, ill-conditioned lout ;
He'll make a vile disturbance all night long. And vile apologies next day, no doubt.
246. C. N. A. I. J.
247. N. So Hafiz, Ode 355 (Brockhaus) :
" How can our eyes behold Thee, as Thou art ? "
OMAR KHAYYAM. 167
jl3. 4 ^JjL»u.> J cij^ v>^ ^<siL^ Ij ^b >J\ ^ i6 i:>^ jy^ jl4^3
248. C. L. N. A. I. J. In line 3 scan badmasihjd, and in line 4 Khwdhii/dsh.
168 THE QUATEAINS OF
249. The starry aspects are not all benign ; Why toil then after vain desires, and pine
To lade thyself with load of fortune's boons, Only to drop it with this life of thine ?
250. O comrades ! here is filtered wine, come drink ! Pledge all your charming sweethearts, as you drink ;
'Tis the grape's blood, and this is what it says, " To you I dedicate my life-blood I drink ! "
251.
Are you depressed ? then take oibang one grain. Of rosy grape-juice take one pint or twain ;
Sufis, you say, must not take this or that, Then go and eat the pebbles off" the plain !
249. C. L. N. A. I. J.
250. C. L. N. A. I. J.
251. N. In lines 1 and 2 scan ^aJcJawaJci and md-
OMAR KHAYYAjVr. 168
j^^ ^j J^ ^V ^5-^^ (i^^-'"^^
"^ ^ y y y
j^ ^ &y- r^ ^i^^ J^ j^> ^>
na/('i, aA; being the diminutive, and ya the ya i tanMr, displacing the izafat: Lumsden, ii. 269 (?). Bang^ a narcotic, made of hemp.
170 THE QUATRAINS OF
252.
I saw a busy potter by the way Kneading with might and main a lump of clay ; And, lo ! the clay cried, "Use me gently, pray, I was a man myself but yesterday I"
253.
Oh ! wine is richer than the realm of Jam,
More fragrant than the food of Miriam ;
Sweeter are sighs that drunkards heave at morn
Than strains of Bu Sa'id and Bin Adham.
254.
( Deep in the rondure of the heavenly blue, There is a cup, concealed from mortals' view, Which all must drink in turn; 0 sigh not then, But drink it boldly, when it comes to you !
252. C. L. N. A. B. I. J. Hal, ecstacy.
253. C. L. N. A. I. J. Abu Sa'id Abu^ Khair and Ibrahim Bin Adham are both mentioned in the Nafahdt
OMAR KHAYYAM. 171
For ror
ul-Uns. 'Miriam's food/ See Koran, xix. 24. Note izdfat dropped after silent he.
254. C. L. A. I. J. Juwr, ' a bumper.'
172 THE QUATRAINS OF
255. Though you should live to four, or forty score, Go hence you must, as all have gone before ;
Then, be you king, or beggar of the streets, They'll rate you all the same, no less, no more.
256.
If you seek Him, abandon child and wife,
Arise, and sever all these ties to life ;
All these are bonds to check you on your course.
Arise, and cut these bonds, as with a knife.
257.
O heart ! this world is but a fleeting show, Why should its empty griefs distress thee so ? Bow down, and bear thy fate, the eternal pen Will not unwrite its roll for thee, I trow !
255. L.
256. L. B. So Gulslian i Rdz, 1. 944.
OMAR KHAYYAM. 173
^V^ o Joy cjjy V^ ^u4^ ^3 ^\^>T ^;^ ^ c^ ^:iy ^J
^jjj> Juo (jrjj ^^ &^,^^ 0^ b
rov
3l>^ £j Lri)^ f^y ^-^> ^ cir^^
257. L. N. B. The ' pen ' is that with which Allah writes his decrees.
174 THE QUATRAINS OP
258. Who e'er returned of all that went hefore, To tell of that long road they travel o'er ?
Leave naught undone of what you have to do, Por when you go, you will return no more.
259.
Dark wheel ! how many lovers thou hast slain, Like Mahmud and Aydz, 0 inhumane !
Come, let us drink, thou gran test not two lives, When one is spent, we find it not again.
260.
Illustrious Prophet ! whom all kings ohey, When is our darkness lightened by wine's ray ? On Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, both night and day !
258. C. N. L. A. I. J. Amadaye, ya i tanMr.
259. L. N. Malimud, the celebrated king of Ghazni, and Ayaz his favourite. Scan wdydz {alif i wad).
OMAR KHAYYAM. 175
J^ C5JJJ^ ^y LT^J^ J^J
j^J 5 ^.r^ j1>^ ^*^^ ^'^^
»^ •
260. C. L. N. A. I. J. The Jim in panjshamha is dropped in scanning. See Bl., Prosody, p. 10. In line 4 note silent he in shauha scaned long as well as short.
176 THE QUATRAINS OF
261.
O turn away those roguisli eyes of thine !
Be still ! seek not my peace to undermine !
Thou say'st, " Look not." I might as well essay
To slant my goblet, and not spill my wine.
262.
In taverns better far commune with Thee, Than pray in mosques, and fail Thy face to see !
0 first and last of all Thy creatures Thou ; 'Tis Thine to burn, and Thine to cherish me !
263.
To wise and worthy men your life devote, But from the worthless keep your walk remote ;
Dare to take poison from a sage's hand, But from a fool refuse an antidote.
261. N. Line 4, a proverb denoting an impossibility.
262. C. L. N. A. B. I. J. This is clearly an address
OMAR KHAYYAM.
r 1 1
o o
nr nr
to the Deity.
263. L. N. Line 2 is in metre 17.
178 THE QUATRAINS OP
264.
I fiew here, as a bird from the wild, in aim
Up to a higher nest my course to frame ;
But, finding here no guide who knows the way,
Fly out by the same door where through I came.
265.
He binds us in resistless Nature's chain,
And yet bids us our natures to restrain ;
Between these counter rules we stand per- plexed,
" Hold the jar slant, but all the wine retain."
266.
They go away, and none is seen returning,
To teach that other world's recondite learning ;
'Twill not be shown for dull mechanic prayers,
For prayer is naught without true heartfelt yearning.
264. C. L. N. A. I. J.
265. L. N. In line 3 scan ndliydsh. So Lord Brooke in "Mustapha"; Ward's English Poets, i. 370.
OMAR KHAYYAM. 179
r ri
2GH. C. L. N. A. I. The formal prayers of Moslems are rather ascriptions of praise, and repetitions of texts, than petitions.
180 THE QUATRAINS OF
267. Go to ! Cast dust on those deaf skies, who spurn Thy orisons and bootless prayers, and learn
To quaff the cup, and hover round the fair ; Of all who go, did ever one return?
268. Though Khayyam strings no pearls of righteous deeds.
Nor sweeps from off his soul sin's noisome weeds,
Yet will he not despair of heavenly grace,
Seeing that one as two he ne'er misreads.
269. Again to tavern haunts do we repair, And say "Adieu" to the five hours of prayer ;
Where'er we see a long-necked flask of wine, We elongate our necks that wine to share.
207. C. L. N. A. B. I. J. An answer to the last. 268. C. L. N. A. B. I. J. Tauhid, or Unitarianism, is the central doctrine of Islam. So Hafiz, Ode 465.
OMAR KHATyAM. 181
j\s>\ eJU (jl^s^ ei^)il ^ j^ jj
nA
J-Syb JLsuJ> 'JL/ZS^'^ Jn^ ^
269. C. L. N. A. B. I. J. TaUir, the formula " Allah akbar," in saying which the mind should be abstracted from worldly thoughts ; hence " renunciation/' Nicolas.
182 THE QUATRAINS OF
270.
We are but chessmen, destined, it is plain, That great chess player, Heaven, to entertain ; It moves us on life's chess-board to and fro, And then in death's box shuts up again.
271.
You ask what is this life so frail, so vain, 'Tis long to tell, yet will I make it plain ;
'Tis but a breath blown from the vasty deeps, And then blown back to those same deeps again !
272.
To-day to heights of rapture have I soared. Yea, and with drunken Maglis pure wine adored;
I am become beside myself, and rest In that pure temple, "Am not I your Lord ?"
270. L. N. B. Hahihati, see Bl., Prosody 3.
271. C. L. N. A. I. J. Some MSS. read naksh. Deeps, i. e. the ocean of Not-being-.
OMAR KHAYYAM. 183
jb eJj ei^ ^wXP jjjJ^^ ^^
rvi
rvr
272. C. L. N. A. I. J. Alasto birabbilmm, Allah's words to Adam's sons: Koran, vii. 171. So in Hafiz, Ode 43 (Brockhaus).
184 THE QUATRAINS OF
273. My queen (long may she live to vex her slave !) To-day a token of affection gave,
Darting a kind glance from her eyes, she
passed.
And said, "Do good and cast it on the wave!'*
274 I put my lips to the cup, for I did yearn The hidden cause of length of days to learn ;
He leaned his lip to mine, and whispered low, " Drink ! for, once gone, you never will return."
275.
We lay in the cloak of Naught, asleep and still.
Thou said'st, "Awake! taste the world's good and ill;"
Here we are puzzled by Thy strange com- mand.
From slanted jars no single drop to spill.
273. L. N. Meaning, hope not for a return to your love. Nekuyey, " a good act," ya conjunctive and ya i tanliir. Vullers, p. 250.
OMAR KHAYYAM. 186
.^ ^ .. ..V
^^ ^jaS >»(^ iCJi:^ ^JS' fJ>==^ j^
274. C. L. A. B. I. J. Some MSS. give line 4 differently.
275. L. Naught, i.e. Not-being. See note to No. 183.
186 THE QUATRAINS OP
276.
' O Thou ! who know'st the secret thoughts of all, ' In time of sorest need who aidest all,
Grant me repentance, and accept my plea, ' O Thou who dost accept the pleas of all !
277. I saw a bird perched on the walls of Tiis,
Before him lay the skull of Kai Kawiis,
And thus he made his moan, "Alas, poor king!
Thy drums are hushed, thy larums have rung truce."
278. Ask not the chances of the time to be, And for the past, 'tis vanished, as you see ;
This ready-money breath set down as gain. Future and past concern not you or me.
276. C. L. N. A. I. J. Note tashdid on rabb dropped.
277. C. L. N. A Tiis was near Nishapur.
OMAR KHAYYAJtf. 187
rvi rvv
at
rvA ^wjo* ^"-^^ >■!■ i'> y^ O^^^j &?^ jj
278. C. L. N. A. I. J. In line 1 note izdfat dropped after silent he. Compare Horace's Ode to Leuconoe.
188 THE QUATRAmS OF
279.
"What launched that golden orb his course to run,
What wrecks his firm foundations, when 'tis done,
No man of science ever weighed with scales,
Nor made assay with touchstone, no, not one !
280. I pray thee to my counsel lend thine ear. Cast ofi' this false hypocrisy's veneer ;
This life a moment is, the next all time, Sell not eternity for earthly gear !
281.
Ofttimes I plead my foolishness to Thee, My heart contracted with perplexity ;
I gird me with the Magian zone, and why ? For shame so poor a Musulman to be.
279. L. The vanity of science.
280. C. L. N. A. B. I. Note rd separated from its noun, as before. Vullers, p. 173.
OMAR KHAYYAM. 189
jj*)Ui ^j^LiL^ :^j,^,j<N iJJs*:^
281. C. L. N. A. I. J. In line 1 scan nadamyi, dissolving the long ya.
190 THE QUATRAINS OP
282.
Khayyam! rejoice that wine you still can pour,
And still the charms of tulip cheeks adore ;
You'll soon not be, rejoice then that you are,
Think how 'twould be in case you were no more !
283.
Once, in a potter's shop, a company Of cups in converse did I chance to see,
And lo ! one lifted up his voice, and cried, " Who made, who sells, who buys this crockery ?
284. Last night, as I reeled from the tavern door, I saw a sage, who a great wine-jug bore; I said, " 0 Shaikh, have you no shame?" Said he, "Allah hath boundless mercy in his store."
282. C. L. N. A. B. I. J.
283. C. L. N. A. B. I. J. Men's speculations.
284. C. L. N. A. I. J. Sar mast, a compound,
OMAR KHAYYAM. 191
TaT
o^y c/l^ c^-:> j(^>T ^^j^ (ji>U jb^ ci-^ j^ (j^ &^^l£:>i
Tap
hence izdfat omitted. Saboyey, hamza (for conjunctive _ya) followed by yd. « tankir. See Lumsden, ii. 269.
192 THE QUATRAINS OF
285. Life's fount is wine, Khizer its guardian, I, like Elias, find it where I can ;
'Tis sustenance for heart and spirit too, Allah himself calls wine " a boon to man."
286.
Though wine is banned, yet drink, for ever drink !
By day and night, with strains of music drink !
Where'er thou lightest on a cup of wine,
Spill just one drop, and take the rest, and drink !
287. Although the creeds number some seventy- three, I hold with none but that of loving Thee ;
What matter faith, unfaith, obedience, sin? Thou'rt all we need, the rest is vanity.
285. C. L. N. A. I. J. Koran, ii. 216. Elias discovered the water of life.
286. C. L. N. A. I. J. To spill a drop is a sign
OMAR KHAYYAM. 193
C*'ly^ Lr=tJL) ^^J J^ f^^^ CiT*
TAv
M
of liberality. Nicolas.
287. N. See note on Quatrain 191. Forms of tailli are indifferent. See Gulshan i liaz, p. 83.
O
194 THE QUATEAINS OF
288. Tell one by one my scanty virtues o'er; As for my sins, forgive them by the score ; Let not my faults kindle Thy wrath to flame ;
By blest Muhammad's tomb, forgive once more !
289. Grieve not at coming ill, you can't defeat it, And what far-sighted person goes to meet it ? Cheer up ! bear not about a world of grief, Your fate is fixed, and grieving will not cheat it.
290. There is a chalice made with wit profound, With tokens of the Maker's favour crowned ;
Yet the world's Potter takes his masterpiece, And dashes it to pieces on the ground !
288. L. N. B. Rastd-ullah : the construction being Arabic, no izd/at is needed. Lumsden, ii., p. 251. Also ascribed to Zahir ud-din Faryabi.
OMAR KHAYYAM. 196
TA A
(^^ &:> 23 iuf J ^Jy^ ^Jj^ i:;^^ cd>
289. L. Line 2 is a question.
290. C. L. A. I. J. So Job : " Is it g-ood unto Thee that Thou shouldest despise the labour of Thine hands 7"
196 THE QUATRAINS OP
291.
In truth wine is a spirit thin as air,
A limpid soul in the cup's earthen ware ;
No dull dense person shall he friend of mine Save wine-cups, which are dense and also rare.
292.
0 wheel of heaven ! no ties of bread you feel, No ties of salt, you flay me like an eel !
A woman's wheel spins clothes for man and wife, It does more good than you, 0 heavenly wheel !
293.
Did no fair rose my paradise adorn,
1 would make shift to deck it with a thorn ;
And if I lacked my prayer-mats, beads, and Shaikh,
Those Christian bells and stoles I would not scorn.
^91. L. N. B. L6.i/ik .... man: /zo/Jz^ omitted because of the interveninjj^ words. Lumsden, ii., 250. 292. C. L. N. A. I. J.
OMAR KHAYYAM. 197
Cdjo\^\3 J^-*^--^ ^jj^ jj
293. C. L. N. A. I. (under Te). Line 2 is omitted in the translation. So Pope :
" For forms and creeds let graceless zealots fight."
198 THE QUATRAINS OF
294. "If heaven deny me peace and fame," I said, " Let it be open war and shame instead ; The man who scorns bright wine had best beware, I'll arm me with a stone, and break his head!"
295. See ! the dawn breaks, and rends night's canopy : Arise ! and drain a morning draught with me ! Away with gloom ! full many a dawn will break Looking for us, and we not here to see !
296. 0 you, who tremble not at fires of hell, Nor wash in water of remorse's well.
When winds of death shall quench your vital torch, Beware lest earth your guilty dust expel.
294. C. L. N. A. I. J.
295. C. L. N. A. I. J. Bisydr, * frequently.'
OMAR KHAYYAM. 199
ci)jo\ ci^ e)i53 ^U ^/
e)j^\ ciiOj ^\y>J\ J«3 ^* (.U eJj^\ CiiXlju** j^ ^^y^ ^^^ Lr^=^^
eJbj^ ^^J<^ C^Ijo ^Ij^
296. L. Possibly written by some pious reader as an answer to Khayyam's scoffs. See note on Quatrain 223.
200 THE QUATRAINS OP
297.
This world a hollow pageant you should deem ;
All wise men know things are not what they seem;
Be of good cheer, and drink, and so shake ofi*
This vain illusion of a baseless dream.
298.
With maids stately as cypresses, and fair
As roses newly plucked, your wine-cups share,
Or e'er Death's blasts shall rend your robe of flesh
Like yonder rose leaves, lying scattered there !
299.
Cast off dull care, 0 melancholy brother ! Woo the sweet daughter of the grape, no other ;
The daughter is forbidden, it is true, But she is nicer than her lawful mother !
297. L. N. All earthly existence is " Maya'*
298. C. L. N. A. I. J. The Lucknow commentator 8UJS daman i gul means the maid's cheek.
OMAR KHAYYAM. 201
JU^-j c* t'il^ sLf^ uj^ ^^jy^