"--This story of Omar reminds me of another so naturally--and when
one remembers how wide of his humble mark the noble sailor aimed--so
pathetically told by Captain Cook--not by Doctor Hawkworth--in his
Second Voyage (i.
one remembers how wide of his humble mark the noble sailor aimed--so
pathetically told by Captain Cook--not by Doctor Hawkworth--in his
Second Voyage (i.
Omar Khayyam - Rubaiyat
To be tantalized with Images of sensual enjoyment which
must be renounced if one would approximate a God, who according to the
Doctrine, is Sensual Matter as well as Spirit, and into whose Universe
one expects unconsciously to merge after Death, without hope of any
posthumous Beatitude in another world to compensate for all one's self-
denial in this. Lucretius' blind Divinity certainly merited, and
probably got, as much self-sacrifice as this of the Sufi; and the
burden of Omar's Song--if not "Let us eat"--is assuredly--"Let us
drink, for To-morrow we die! " And if Hafiz meant quite otherwise by a
similar language, he surely miscalculated when he devoted his Life and
Genius to so equivocal a Psalmody as, from his Day to this, has been
said and sung by any rather than spiritual Worshippers.
However, as there is some traditional presumption, and certainly the
opinion of some learned men, in favour of Omar's being a Sufi--and
even something of a Saint--those who please may so interpret his Wine
and Cup-bearer. On the other hand, as there is far more historical
certainty of his being a Philosopher, of scientific Insight and
Ability far beyond that of the Age and Country he lived in; of such
moderate worldly Ambition as becomes a Philosopher, and such moderate
wants as rarely satisfy a Debauchee; other readers may be content to
believe with me that, while the Wine Omar celebrates is simply the
Juice of the Grape, he bragg'd more than he drank of it, in very
defiance perhaps of that Spiritual Wine which left its Votaries sunk
in Hypocrisy or Disgust.
Edward J. Fitzgerald
Footnotes:
[Footnote 1: Some of Omar's Rubaiyat warn us of the danger of Greatness, the
instability of Fortune, and while advocating Charity to all Men,
recommending us to be too intimate with none. Attar makes Nizam-ul-Mulk
use the very words of his friend Omar [Rub. xxviii. ], "When Nizam-ul-
Mulk was in the Agony (of Death) he said, 'Oh God! I am passing away in
the hand of the wind. '"]
[Footnote 2: Though all these, like our Smiths, Archers, Millers, Fletchers, etc. ,
may simply retain the Surname of an hereditary calling. ]
[Footnote 3: "Philosophe Musulman qui a vecu en Odeur de Saintete dans sa
Religion, vers la Fin du premier et le Commencement du second Siecle,"
no part of which, except the "Philosophe," can apply to our Khayyam. ]
[Footnote 4: The Rashness of the Words, according to D'Herbelot, consisted in
being so opposed to those in the Koran: "No Man knows where he shall
die.
"--This story of Omar reminds me of another so naturally--and when
one remembers how wide of his humble mark the noble sailor aimed--so
pathetically told by Captain Cook--not by Doctor Hawkworth--in his
Second Voyage (i. 374). When leaving Ulietea, "Oreo's last request was
for me to return. When he saw he could not obtain that promise, he
asked the name of my Marai (burying-place). As strange a question as
this was, I hesitated not a moment to tell him 'Stepney'; the parish in
which I live when in London. I was made to repeat it several times over
till they could pronounce it; and then 'Stepney Marai no Toote' was
echoed through an hundred mouths at once. I afterwards found the same
question had been put to Mr. Forster by a man on shore; but he gave a
different, and indeed more proper answer, by saying, 'No man who used
the sea could say where he should be buried. '"]
[Footnote 5: "Since this paper was written" (adds the Reviewer in a note), "we
have met with a Copy of a very rare Edition, printed at Calcutta in
1836. This contains 438 Tetrastichs, with an Appendix containing 54
others not found in some MSS. "]
[Footnote 6: Professor Cowell. ]
[Footnote 7: Perhaps would have edited the Poems himself some years ago. He may
now as little approve of my Version on one side, as of Mons. Nicolas'
Theory on the other. ]
[Footnote 8: A note to Quatrain 234 admits that, however clear the mystical
meaning of such Images must be to Europeans, they are not quoted without
"rougissant" even by laymen in Persia--"Quant aux termes de tendresse
qui commencent ce quatrain, comme tant d'autres dans ce recueil, nos
lecteurs, habitues maintenant a 1'etrangete des expressions si souvent
employees par Kheyam pour rendre ses pensees sur l'amour divin, et a la
singularite des images trop orientales, d'une sensualite quelquefois
revoltante, n'auront pas de peine a se persuader qu'il s'agit de la
Divinite, bien que cette conviction soit vivement discutee par les
moullahs musulmans, et meme par beaucoup de laiques, qui rougissent
veritablement d'une pareille licence de leur compatriote a 1'egard des
choses spirituelles. "]
First Edition
I.
must be renounced if one would approximate a God, who according to the
Doctrine, is Sensual Matter as well as Spirit, and into whose Universe
one expects unconsciously to merge after Death, without hope of any
posthumous Beatitude in another world to compensate for all one's self-
denial in this. Lucretius' blind Divinity certainly merited, and
probably got, as much self-sacrifice as this of the Sufi; and the
burden of Omar's Song--if not "Let us eat"--is assuredly--"Let us
drink, for To-morrow we die! " And if Hafiz meant quite otherwise by a
similar language, he surely miscalculated when he devoted his Life and
Genius to so equivocal a Psalmody as, from his Day to this, has been
said and sung by any rather than spiritual Worshippers.
However, as there is some traditional presumption, and certainly the
opinion of some learned men, in favour of Omar's being a Sufi--and
even something of a Saint--those who please may so interpret his Wine
and Cup-bearer. On the other hand, as there is far more historical
certainty of his being a Philosopher, of scientific Insight and
Ability far beyond that of the Age and Country he lived in; of such
moderate worldly Ambition as becomes a Philosopher, and such moderate
wants as rarely satisfy a Debauchee; other readers may be content to
believe with me that, while the Wine Omar celebrates is simply the
Juice of the Grape, he bragg'd more than he drank of it, in very
defiance perhaps of that Spiritual Wine which left its Votaries sunk
in Hypocrisy or Disgust.
Edward J. Fitzgerald
Footnotes:
[Footnote 1: Some of Omar's Rubaiyat warn us of the danger of Greatness, the
instability of Fortune, and while advocating Charity to all Men,
recommending us to be too intimate with none. Attar makes Nizam-ul-Mulk
use the very words of his friend Omar [Rub. xxviii. ], "When Nizam-ul-
Mulk was in the Agony (of Death) he said, 'Oh God! I am passing away in
the hand of the wind. '"]
[Footnote 2: Though all these, like our Smiths, Archers, Millers, Fletchers, etc. ,
may simply retain the Surname of an hereditary calling. ]
[Footnote 3: "Philosophe Musulman qui a vecu en Odeur de Saintete dans sa
Religion, vers la Fin du premier et le Commencement du second Siecle,"
no part of which, except the "Philosophe," can apply to our Khayyam. ]
[Footnote 4: The Rashness of the Words, according to D'Herbelot, consisted in
being so opposed to those in the Koran: "No Man knows where he shall
die.
"--This story of Omar reminds me of another so naturally--and when
one remembers how wide of his humble mark the noble sailor aimed--so
pathetically told by Captain Cook--not by Doctor Hawkworth--in his
Second Voyage (i. 374). When leaving Ulietea, "Oreo's last request was
for me to return. When he saw he could not obtain that promise, he
asked the name of my Marai (burying-place). As strange a question as
this was, I hesitated not a moment to tell him 'Stepney'; the parish in
which I live when in London. I was made to repeat it several times over
till they could pronounce it; and then 'Stepney Marai no Toote' was
echoed through an hundred mouths at once. I afterwards found the same
question had been put to Mr. Forster by a man on shore; but he gave a
different, and indeed more proper answer, by saying, 'No man who used
the sea could say where he should be buried. '"]
[Footnote 5: "Since this paper was written" (adds the Reviewer in a note), "we
have met with a Copy of a very rare Edition, printed at Calcutta in
1836. This contains 438 Tetrastichs, with an Appendix containing 54
others not found in some MSS. "]
[Footnote 6: Professor Cowell. ]
[Footnote 7: Perhaps would have edited the Poems himself some years ago. He may
now as little approve of my Version on one side, as of Mons. Nicolas'
Theory on the other. ]
[Footnote 8: A note to Quatrain 234 admits that, however clear the mystical
meaning of such Images must be to Europeans, they are not quoted without
"rougissant" even by laymen in Persia--"Quant aux termes de tendresse
qui commencent ce quatrain, comme tant d'autres dans ce recueil, nos
lecteurs, habitues maintenant a 1'etrangete des expressions si souvent
employees par Kheyam pour rendre ses pensees sur l'amour divin, et a la
singularite des images trop orientales, d'une sensualite quelquefois
revoltante, n'auront pas de peine a se persuader qu'il s'agit de la
Divinite, bien que cette conviction soit vivement discutee par les
moullahs musulmans, et meme par beaucoup de laiques, qui rougissent
veritablement d'une pareille licence de leur compatriote a 1'egard des
choses spirituelles. "]
First Edition
I.
