OMAR KHAYYAM
Given below are two Persian quatrains of Omar Khayyam
translated into English by the English poet Edward Fitzgerald (1809-83).
Khayyam was an Islamic scholar who was a distinguished poet
and mathematician. He was known for his popular doctrine of skepticism,
fatalism and hedonism . Of these three, hedonism was at the top. It stood for the belief that pleasure is the most
important thing in life. So: “laugh, drink and be merry”. Trust today. Don’t
wait for tomorrow. As Shakespeare said: Present mirth has Present laughter.
QUATRAINS
A book of verses
underneath the bough,
A jug of wine, a loaf of
bread – and Thou
Beside me singing in the
wilderness –
Oh, wilderness were
Paradise now!
Some for the glories of this
world; and some
Sigh for the Prophet’s
Paradise to come:
Ah, take the Cash, and
let the Credit go,
Nor heed the rumble of a
distant drum!
*****
G.R.Kanwal
26th December 2023
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