Great Throughts Treasury

"Diversity of worship has divided the human race into seventy-two nations. From among all their dogmas, I have selected one, Divine Love."

"Ah Love ! could you and I with him conspire to grasp this sorry Scheme of Things entire would we not shatter it to bits - and then re-mould it nearer to the Heart's Desire?"

"Justice is the soul of the universe."

"I myself am Heav'n and Hell."

"The thoughtful Soul to Solitude retires."

"Strange, is it not? That of the myriads who before us passed the door of darkness through, not one returns to tell us of the road, which to discover we must travel too."

"The entire world shall be populous with that action which saves one soul from despair."

"Drink wine. This is life eternal. This is all that youth will give you. It is the season for wine, roses and drunken friends. Be happy for this moment. This moment is your life."

"Dead yesterdays and unborn tomorrows, why fret about it, if today be sweet."

"When I want to understand what is happening today or try to decide what will happen tomorrow, I look back."

"How much more of the mosque, of prayer and fasting? Better go drunk and begging round the taverns. Khayyam, drink wine, for soon this clay of yours Will make a cup, bowl, one day a jar. When once you hear the roses are in bloom, Then is the time, my love, to pour the wine; Houris and palaces and Heaven and Hell- These are but fairy-tales, forget them all."

"Living Life Tomorrow's fate, though thou be wise, Thou canst not tell nor yet surmise; Pass, therefore, not today in vain, For it will never come again. "

"Oh, come with old Khayyàm, and leave the Wise to talk; one thing is certain, that Life flies; one thing is certain, and the Rest is Lies; the Flower that once has blown forever dies."

"I brought the cup to my lips with greed Begging for longevity, my temporal need Cup brought its to mine, its secret did feed Time never returns, drink, of this take heed."

"Pay attention to the separation of the soul, will you reveal the secrets of the doomed will you know how to drink come to know where will be happy. "

"I can’t reveal the mystery to either saint or sinner; I can’t state at length what I’ve said curtly; I achieve an altered state that I can’t explain; I have a secret that I cannot share."

"Ah, make the most of what we yet may spend, Before we too into the Dust descend; Dust into Dust, and under Dust to lie Sans Wine, sans Song, sans Singer, and--sans End! Alike for those who for To-day prepare, And those that after some To-morrow stare, A Muezzin from the Tower of Darkness cries "Fools! your Reward is neither Here nor There.” "

"Tis all a Chequer-board of nights and days Where Destiny with men for Pieces plays: Hither and thither moves, and mates,and slays, And one by one back in the closet lays."

"A hair divides what is false and true."

"The rose that once has bloomed forever dies."

"Your hand can seize today, but not tomorrow; and thoughts of your tomorrow are nothing but desire. Don’t waste this breath, if your heart isn’t crazy, since "the rest of your life" won’t last forever."

"This world that was our home for a brief spell never brought us anything but pain and grief; its a shame that not one of our problems was ever solved. We depart with a thousand regrets in our hearts."

"As far as you can avoid it, do not give grief to anyone. Never inflict your rage on another. If you hope for eternal rest, feel the pain yourself; but don’t hurt others."

"A loaf of bread, a jug of wine, and thou."

"Would you that spangle of Existence spend About the Secret — Quick about it, Friend! A Hair perhaps divides the False and True — And upon what, prithee, may life depend? A Hair perhaps divides the False and True; Yes; and a single Alif were the clue — Could you but find it — to the Treasure-house, And peradventure to The Master too; Whose secret Presence, through Creation's veins Running Quicksilver-like eludes your pains; Taking all shapes from Mah to Mahi; and They change and perish all — but He remains; A moment guess'd — then back behind the Fold Immerst of Darkness round the Drama roll'd Which, for the Pastime of Eternity, He doth Himself contrive, enact, behold."

"I was unable to devote myself to the learning of this algebra and the continued concentration upon it, because of obstacles in the vagaries of time which hindered me; for we have been deprived of all the people of knowledge save for a group, small in number, with many troubles, whose concern in life is to snatch the opportunity, when time is asleep, to devote themselves meanwhile to the investigation and perfection of a science; for the majority of people who imitate philosophers confuse the true with the false, and they do nothing but deceive and pretend knowledge, and they do not use what they know of the sciences except for base and material purposes; and if they see a certain person seeking for the right and preferring the truth, doing his best to refute the false and untrue and leaving aside hypocrisy and deceit, they make a fool of him and mock him."

"By the help of God and with His precious assistance, I say that Algebra is a scientific art. The objects with which it deals are absolute numbers and measurable quantities which, though themselves unknown, are related to "things" which are known, whereby the determination of the unknown quantities is possible. Such a thing is either a quantity or a unique relation, which is only determined by careful examination. What one searches for in the algebraic art are the relations which lead from the known to the unknown, to discover which is the object of Algebra as stated above. The perfection of this art consists in knowledge of the scientific method by which one determines numerical and geometric unknowns."

"I sent my Soul through the Invisible, Some letter of that After-life to spell: And by and by my Soul return'd to me, And answer'd "I Myself am Heav'n and Hell:" Heav'n but the Vision of fulfill'd Desire, And Hell the Shadow from a Soul on fire, Cast on the Darkness into which Ourselves, So late emerged from, shall so soon expire."

"Alike for those who for To-day prepare, and those that after some To-morrow stare, a Muezzin from the Tower of Darkness cries "Fools! your Reward is neither Here nor There."

"The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ, Moves on: nor all your Piety nor Wit Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line, Nor all your Tears wash out a Word of it. And that inverted Bowl they call the Sky, Whereunder crawling coop'd we live and die, Lift not your hands to It for help — for It As impotently moves as you or I. With Earth's first Clay They did the Last Man knead, And there of the Last Harvest sow'd the Seed: And the first Morning of Creation wrote What the Last Dawn of Reckoning shall read. Yesterday This Day's Madness did prepare; To-morrow's Silence, Triumph, or Despair: Drink! for you know not whence you came, nor why: Drink! for you know not why you go, nor where."

"To-morrow's fate, though thou be wise, Thou canst not tell nor yet surmise; Pass, therefore, not to-day in vain, For it will never come again."

"Diversity of worship has divided the human race into seventy-two nations. From among all their dogmas, I have selected one, Divine Love."

"The Wine of Life keeps oozing drop by drop, the Leaves of Life keep falling one by one."

"Up from Earth's Centre through the Seventh Gate rose, and on the Throne of Saturn sate; And many a Knot unravel'd by the Road; But not the Master-knot of Human Fate. There was the Door to which I found no Key; There was the Veil through which I might not see: Some little talk awhile of Me and Thee There was — and then no more of Thee and Me."

"Heav'n but the Vision of fulfill'd Desire. And Hell the Shadow from a Soul on fire."

"All this of Pot and Potter--Tell me then, Who is the Potter, pray, and who the Pot?"

"Ah make the most of what yet we may spend, Before we too into dust descend."

"Yet Ah, that Spring should vanish with the Rose. That Youth's sweetscented manuscript should close! The Nightingale that in the branches sang Ah whence and whither flown again, who knows?"

"Look not above, there is no answer there; Pray not, for no one listens to your prayer; Near is as near to God as any Far, And Here is just the same deceit as There. 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. "Did God set grapes a-growing, do you think, And at the same time make it sin to drink? Give thanks to Him who foreordained it thus - Surely He loves to hear the glasses clink!"

"A Moment's Halt--a momentary taste Of Being from the Well amid the Waste-- And, Lo! the phantom Caravan has reach'd The Nothing it set our from. Oh, make haste!"

"The Moving Finger writes; and having writ, Moves on; nor all your Piety nor Wit Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line, Nor all your Tears wash out a Word of it."

"They say lovers and drunkards go to hell, A controversial dictum not easy to accept: If the lover and drunkard are for hell, Tomorrow Paradise will be empty. What of your entering and leaving the world? A fly appeared, and disappeared. Many like you come and many go, Snatch your share before you are snatched away. Drink wine, you will lie long enough under the ground, Without companion, friend or comrade. Take care you tell no one this hidden secret, ‘No lily that withers will bloom again’. Drink wine, this is life eternal, This, all that youth will give you: It is the season for wine, roses and friends drinking together. Be happy for this moment – it is all life is. Though you may have lain with a mistress all your life, Tasted the sweets of the world all your life; Still the end of the affair will be your departure – It was a dream that you dreamed all your life. My rule of life is to drink and be merry, To be free from belief and unbelief is my religion: I asked the Bride of Destiny her bride-price, “Your joyous heart” she said. I need a jug of wine and a book of poetry, Half a loaf for a bite to eat, Then you and I, seated in a deserted spot, Will have more wealth than a Sultan’s realm. Rise up my love and solve our problem by your beauty, Bring a jug of wine to clear our heart So that we may drink together Before wine-jugs are made of our clay. The year’s caravan goes by swiftly, Seize the cheerful moment: Why sorrow, child, over tomorrow’s grief for friends? Bring out the cup – the night passes. If we don’t clap hands together as one, We cannot tread down sorrow with our feet in joy: Let us go and be happy before the breath of dawn – Many a day will break when we breathe no more. When the drunken nightingale found his way into the garden He discovered the face of the rose and the wine-cup laughing; He came to whisper in my ear excitedly, “Seek out these, life once gone cannot be sought again”."

"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."

"A book of Verses underneath the Bough, a Jug of Wine, A Loaf of Bread, and Thou beside me singing in the Wilderness-- on, Wilderness were Paradise enow!"

"A Muezzin from the Tower of Darkness cries."

"A moment guess'd ? then back behind the Fold Immerst of Darkness round the Drama roll'd which, for the Pastime of Eternity, He doth Himself contrive, enact, behold."

"After a momentary silence spake some Vessel of a more ungainly Make; they sneer at me for leaning all awry: what! did the Hand then of the Potter shake?"

"A piece of bread, some fresh water, the shadow of a tree and your eyes, my beloved. No sultan is happier than me, no beggar more sad."

"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!"

"Ah, but my Computations, People say, reduced the Year to better reckoning? ? Nay 'twas only striking from the Calendar unborn To-morrow, and dead Yesterday."