Muslims From Iran

"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."

"Khayyam measured the length of the year as 365.24219858156 days. Two comments on this result. Firstly it shows an incredible confidence to attempt to give the result to this degree of accuracy. We know now that the length of the year is changing in the sixth decimal place over a person's lifetime. Secondly it is outstandingly accurate. For comparison the length of the year at the end of the 19th century was 365.242196 days, while today it is 365.242190 days."

"My critics call me a philosopher But Allah knows full well they greatly err, I know not even what I am, much less What is the reason that I sojourn here."

"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."

"My body’s life and strength proceed from Thee, My soul within and spirit are of Thee, My being is of Thee and Thou art mine, And I am thine, since I am lost in Thee."

"If the heart knew life’s secrets here below, At death ’twould know God’s secret’s too, I trow; But if you know naught here, while still yourself, To-morrow, stripped of self, what can you know?"

"I saw a busy potter by the way Kneading with might and main a lump of clay; And lo! the clay cried ‘Use me tenderly, I was a man myself but yesterday.’"

"Suppose the world goes well with you, what then? When life’s last page is read and turned, what then? Suppose you live a hundred years of bliss Yea, and a hundred more to boot, what then?"

"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."

"O Thou who givest sight to emmet’s eyes And strength to feeble limbs of puny flies To Thee we will ascribe omnipotence No meaner attribute to Thee applies."

"You know the secret of this life my dear Then why remain a prey to useless fear? Bend things to suit your whims you cannot; yet Cheer up for the few moments you are here."

"All mortal ken is bounded by the veil, To see beyond man’s vision is too frail; Yea! earth’s dark bosom is his only home; Alas! ’twere long to tell the doleful tale."

"When the fair spirit doth this house vacate, Each element resumes its primal state And these four strands of life, like threads of silk Are all unravelled by the blows of fate."

"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 unlooked for blast upset your cup."

"Since no one can assure thee of the morrow Rejoice thy heart to-day and banish sorrow With moon-bright wine, fair moon! the moon in heaven Will look for us in vain on many a morrow."

"When seeking love, pay court to every heart, When once admitted, seek the perfect heart A hundred ka’bas equal not one heart; eek not the ka’ba, rather seek the heart."

"This circle of the universe resembles a ring, Unquestionably we are the signet engraved on its bezel."

"No longer hug your grief and vain despair But in this unjust world be just and fair And since the substance of the world is naught Deem yourself naught and so shake off dull care."

"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."

"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"

"Bulbuls doting on roses oft complain How froward breezes rend their veils in twain Sit we beneath this rose which many a time Has sprung from earth and dropped to earth again."

"Open the door! O warder best and purest, And guide the way, O thou, of guides the surest! Directors born of men shall not direct me, Their counsel comes to nought, but thou endurest."

"Pagodas like as mosques are homes of prayer, ’Tis prayer that church-bells chime into the air; Yea, church and ka’ba, rosary and cross Are all but divers tongues of world-wide prayer."

"Since all we gain in this abode of woe Is sorrow’s pangs to feel and grief to know, Happy are they that never come at all, And they, that, having come, the soonest go."

"These fools by dint of ignorance most crass, Think they in wisdom all mankind surpass; And glibly do they damn as infidel Each one who is not, like themselves, an ass."

"Man cannot change what pen hath writ of yore, Diet of sorrow breedeth heart-pang sore; Spend thy whole life in shedding tears of blood, Thou can’st not add one tear-drop to thy store."

"Tn taverns better far commune with Thee Than pray in mosques and fail Thy face to see! O first and last of all thy creatures Thou, 'Tis thine to burn and thine to cherish me."

"He brought me hither to my great surprise From life I gather but a dark surmise; I go perforce. Why come? Why live? Why go? I ask these questions, but find no replies."

"Nor you nor I can read the etern decree To that enigma we can find no key They talk of you and me behind the veil But if the veil be lifted, where are we?"

"We come and go, but for the gain, where is it? And spin life’s woof, but for the warp, where is it? And many a righteous man has burned to dust In heaven’s blue rondure, but their smoke where is it?"

"Is a friend faithless? Spurn him as a foe, But on trustworthy foes respect bestow, Hold healing poison for an antidote, And baneful sweets for deadly eisel know."

"Fate will not bend to humour man’s caprice, So vaunt not human powers but hold your peace, Here must we stay, weighed down with grief for this, That we were born so late, so soon decease."

"Allah hath promised wine in Paradise, Why then is wine on earth declared a vice."

"Allah, perchance, the secret word might spell; If Allah be, He keeps His secret well;  What He hath hidden, who shall hope to find? Shall God His secret to a maggot tell?"

"But here are wine and beautiful young girls, Be wise and hide your Sorrows in their curls,  Dive as you will in life's mysterious sea, You shall not bring us any better pearls."

"The Koran! well, come put me to the test— Lovely old book in hideous error drest—  Believe me, I can quote the Koran too, The unbeliever knows his Koran best. And do you think that unto such as you, A maggot-minded, starved, fanatic crew,  God gave the secret, and denied it me?— Well, well, what matters it! believe that too."

"Tamám Shud. / It is finished."

"And when like her, oh, Saki, you shall pass."

"A book, a woman, and a flask of wine: The three make heaven for me; it may be thine   Is some sour place of singing cold and bare — But then, I never said thy heaven was mine."

"Down rain the tears from skies enwrapt in gloom Without this wine the tulips could not bloom. As now these flowerets yield delight to me So shall my dust yield flowers, God knows for whom."

"Yon rising Moon that looks for us again — How oft hereafter will she wax and wane; How oft hereafter rising look for us Through this same Garden — and for one in vain!"

"Ah, Moon of my Delight who know'st no wane, The Moon of Heav'n is rising once again: How oft hereafter rising shall she look Through this same Garden after me — in vain!"

"Would but some wing'ed Angel ere too late Arrest the yet unfolded Roll of Fate, And make the stern Recorder otherwise Enregister, or quite obliterate!"

"Ah, Love! could thou and I with Fate conspire To grasp this sorry Scheme of Things entire, Would not we shatter it to bits — and then Re-mould it nearer to the Heart's Desire!"

"Yet Ah, that Spring should vanish with the Rose!"

"Ah Love! could you and I with Him conspire."

"And when Thyself with shining Foot shall pass Among the Guests Star-scatter'd on The Grass, And in Thy joyous Errand reach the Spot Where I made one — turn down an empty Glass!"

"Man is a cup, his soul the wine therein, Flesh is a pipe, spirit the voice therein, O Khayyam have you fathomed what man is? A magic lantern with a light therein."

"That ev'n my buried Ashes such a snare Of Vintage shall fling up into the Air As not a True-believer passing by But shall be overtaken unaware."

"Ah, with the Grape my fading Life provide, And wash the Body whence the Life has died, And lay me, shrouded in the living Leaf, By some not unfrequented Garden-side."