Rubaiyat by Omar Khayyam

                                                 THE RUBAIYAT

 Omar Khayyam

 

Omar Khayyam (1048-1131)

Omar Khayyam was a Persian mathematician, philosopher, poet, and astronomer. He belonged to the schools of Islamic mathematics, Persian poetry, and Persian philosophy. He was born in Nishapur, Northeast Persia. He lived during the great Seljuk Empire. He wrote poetry mainly in 4 lined stanzas or quatrains.

The Title "Rubaiyat"

'Rubai' is the Farsi word for a poem composed in 4 lines [a quatrain]. So Rubaiyat is the plural of rubai. And Rubaiyat means a compilation of quatrains. Khayyam's poetry was introduced to the English reading world by the English writer and translator, Edward Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald in his 1859 translation [7 centuries later], gave it the title, Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. 

Rubaiyat and its theme

It is arguably the most famous Persian literary work in the world. The brevity of human life forms the major theme; life is too short. So, this blissful visit is too short and when our time comes, we too shall wither away like a fully bloomed flower or vanish into some unknown corner of this world like a gentle breeze.

The poet tells us that there is no use in worrying about the unborn tomorrow and dead yesterday when today is so sweet. What we need to think about is only the present moment which is too short. So, enjoy the present because death is for sure. It is the ultimate leveller, a sort of inevitability from where the return is not possible. So, enjoy the present before we too settle into dust.

Edward Fitzgerald called Khayyam's philosophy an Epicurean philosophy in the preface of his work. Later thinkers like Nietzsche, Albert Camus and Jean-Paul Satre too reflected the same ideas in their Existential philosophy. The poem has been narrated in the first-person point of view. The narrator of the poem is an unknown person. 

Summary of Rubaiyat 68 to 73 Quatrains. 

The Rubaiyat

68

 That ev'n my buried Ashes such a Snare

 Of Perfume shall fling up into the Air,

 As not a True Believer passing by

 But shall be overtaken unaware.

The poet says that when he dies, he wants to be wrapped in grape leaves and buried in a sweet vineyard. Thus buried, his body will throw up such a sweet scent into the air. It will convert even the most devout passerby to a believer in the faith of the Grape.

The speaker is a worshipper of wine, he wants to drink vine till the end of his life. When buried after his death, the remains of his body would throw up a sweet aroma into the air. When passersby pass by his grave, they would turn into a worshipper of the vine, even if he is a true devotee of God.

69

 Indeed the Idols I have loved so long

 Have done my Credit in Men's Eye much wrong;

 Have drown 'd my Honour in a shallow Cup,

 And sold my Reputation for a Song.

Surely, the idols [which are earthly things] he had loved long caused his credibility to go wrong in the eyes of the public. Merry-making and drinking have made him lose his honour and reputation in the eyes of men.  

The third line of this quatrain means that he has lost his honour through drinking wine. ‘Shallow cup’ means a small amount of vine. ‘Sold my reputation for a song’ means he has lost his reputation through his merry-making.

70

 Indeed, indeed, Repentance oft before

 I swore - but was I sober when I swore?

 And then and then came spring, and Rose-in-hand

 My thread-bare Penitence apiece tore.

Surely, he had sworn to repent many times, but he was not serious even once while making that promise. Then the spring season came. His weak penitence was torn into pieces by the present pleasures.

He intended to mend his ways often enough, but never quite made it! The Spring and the Rose are here symbols of the attraction back to his old ways.

71

 And much as wine has play'd the Infidel,

 And robb'd me of my Robe of Honour - well,

 I often wonder what the Vintners buy

 One half so precious as the Goods they sell.

Besides, he would gladly lose his honour in exchange for wine. In his eyes wine is so precious, its sellers make a loss even when they sell it for a great profit because they end up parting from wine.

Wine is a forbidden drink in the Islamic world, which is tasted only by infidels. That infidel wine made him an ‘infidel’ to the outer forms of religion and social order.

 72

Alas, that Spring should vanish with the Rose

 That Youth's sweet-scented Manuscript should close!

 The Nightingale that in the Branches sang,

 Ah, whence, and whither flown again, who knows!

The spring should go away with the roses. The sweet-scented manuscript of youth should close. The nightingale that has been singing in the branch of our life, has just flown away. Who knows where has it gone?

As the night (and the poem’s end) approaches, the speaker’s tone turns contemplative. He returns to the metaphors of the nightingale, rose, and spring to lament the end of the day or season, as well as youth.

The spring and rose refer to the fading youth. The nightingale is a bird of youth, once it leaves our branches, flies off to who-knows-where. 

Analysis of Rubaiyath

The Rubaiyat has the setting and mood of a philosophical poem. The quatrains 68 to 73 reflect the poet's reflections on the mystery of creation, the brevity of life, the futility of worrying and the difficulty in understanding the purpose of life. The poet advocates the wisdom of enjoying life while it lasts. The narrator's voice becomes the principal unifying element in the poem.

The poet speaks of the cup of existence being filled with the "Wine of Life". One better drinks it before the wine drains away slowly. The rose symbolizes that people will be gone forever. Spring refers to the regeneration of life, but the poet strongly believes in living in the present, as life once lost can never be reclaimed. Adhering to Epicureanism, he says, life is short, and everyone becomes dust and never returns. One is advised to live in the present and not to worry about the past or future.

The setting reminds the poet of the cyclic nature of life. Spring renews the earth, but it vanishes as fast as a rose. The poet refers to the quick passage of youth. The poet's scepticism is brought to light as he recalls how little he learned from the 'men of wisdom'. All he learnt is that one has no control over one's existence. One is a puppet in the hands of a whimsical creator. Human intelligence cannot help in transcending death. It is futile to worry about the purpose of life or hope for the afterlife.

The poet advocates wine as the antidote for reason's inability to see into the darkness. The wine offers a hedonistic [based on a belief that pleasure is the most important thing in life] escape from the meaninglessness of life. Wine does not offer an escape from life but an escape into it. Though he agrees that wine has often compromised his reputation, it is the wine that also gives him the courage to accept life.

The reference to spring and winter refers to a journey through the mind of a philosophical poet pondering the mystery of human existence.