The Message of Omar Khayyam

The Message of Omar Khayyam¹

(The Osmania University, Hyderabad)

Omar the great Persian poet has often been misread and misinterpreted by his readers. As a poet he is excessively fond of wine, woman and song, and for that reason he has been condemned by people with a religious and moral bias as an Epicurean and Free-thinker. The verse given below is often quoted as being typical of his outlook on life:

Here with a Loaf of Bread beneath the Bough,
A Flask of Wine, a Book of Verse–and Thou
Beside me singing in the Wilderness–
And Wilderness is Paradise enow.

These critics argue that, though his songs are very interesting, their spirit is demoralizing and is sure to exercise a most un-wholesome influence upon immature minds, and the great popularity of the Rubaiyat²is proved by the fact that ‘Omar just now is a cult, and seems to be the only religion of many.’ This criticism of the learned and orthodox can be supported from any stanzas taken at random from the collection.

According to Omar a whole empire can be sacrificed for a delicious cup of wine!

One draught of wine is better than the Empire of Kawus, ³

And is better than the Throne of Kobad and the Empire of Tus.

That he does not hesitate to wound the feelings of his orthodox brethren who are scrupulous about their religious rites and ceremonies can be proved from the following:

What time is this for devotions? Be silent, O Saki,
Let be the traditions, and drink to the dregs, O Saki.⁴

How much more wilt thou chide, absurd divine,
Because I drink or am a libertine?
Keep all thy tedious beads and pious show!
Leave me my jolly mistress and my wine!⁵

The poet’s enthusiasm for wine is so great that he is not satisfied with its companionship during his life. Their association should not be forgotten even after his death:

When I am dead wash me with wine,
Say my funeral service with pure wine: ⁶

If you want to know where he is on the resurrection-day, seek him ‘in the earth of the tavern threshold!’ There is no wonder that verses such as these have shocked the religious sense of many of his readers who conclude that this is but the reflection of a life of weakness and sin. Some have even styled him ‘an Oriental Falstaff ready for any adventure, braggadacio and sack.’ It cannot also be denied that Omar has a large class of admirers who put an allegorical interpretation on his sayings and see in them deep philosophy and wisdom. Thus like Vemana of Telugu literature he has the misfortune of being considered a wise sage by some and a reckless libertine by others. His critic has however to keep two things in mind. All the songs now associated with his name may not have been his.⁷ Secondly the songs are expressions of his lyrical moods and one might be disappointed if one always looked for consistency or strict logical sequence in them. But that his words are not always to be literally taken, the lines cited below give a warning to us:

To drain a gallon beaker I design,
Yea, two great beakers, brimmed with richest wine;
Old faith and reason thrice will I divorce,
Then take to wife the daughter of the Vine. ⁸

The ideal placed before humanity by Omar is that, since life is very short, we must make the best of it. Be happy while you are here, and enjoy life, for

It is but a day we sojourn here below. ⁹

In another place he asks

Of all who go, did ever one return?¹⁰

This kind of exhortation that we must enjoy life heartily is opposed to that of many poets whose message has been that the soul is more precious than the clayey substance, our body, and that our pleasures on earth are insignificant as compared with those in store for us in heaven. Our faith in the Great Beyond is the one thing which elevates man from the level of the beast and so we have to sacrifice our worldly joys for the ethereal bliss we get after death. After all, it is as clear as daylight that the Infinite is greater than the Finite. But Omar believes that since the future is uncertain and the past is of no use, the only way left to us is to enjoy the present. He would say,

Nor earthly cash for heavenly credit sell.¹¹

This view is a contrast to that of poets like Browning who thinks that men are fools when they are ‘greedy for quick returns of profit.’ He is angry with those who say

But time escapes,-
Live now or never!

for his sincere belief is that ‘Man has Forever.’ Among human beings some have loved the pleasures of the body for their own sake and some have discovered in them a means to an end, that which gives full scope for the development of the soul. There are no doubt many who can put up with any kind of misery now, because they are hoping for Tomorrow. There are also those who, however great or rich they may be, are not satisfied with what they have, but are asking for more. They expect they will be happy when they get that more, and once it is realised, they are unhappy because they have not got more. There is really no limit to man’s ambitions and hopes. As an English poet has put it, ‘Man never is but always to be blest.’ The Persian poet pleads for another point of view regarding life. He exclaims,

Unborn Tomorrow, and dead Yesterday,
Why fret about them if Today be sweet!

That this advice is not after all useless can be verified with reference to life. Our troubles in life are generally of two kinds: memory of past affliction, or fear of future suffering. Supposing a man is celebrating the marriage of his son,– marriage is the happiest occasion in the life of a family–while everybody is cheerful, all on a sudden the parents of the bridegroom become gloomy and are plunged in sorrow. The memory of a son who died years ago is enough to make them depressed during the whole feast; or should a thought–a prophecy made by some good or bad astrologer–cross their mind, they become quite unhappy anticipating some future misery, notwithstanding the merriment they are surrounded by. Omar declares emphatically that the only way to be happy is to think of the present moment, He says people often talk of his achievements in science, for, did he not reform the calendar? Yes, he did prepare the calendar but he took care to omit two days: the day yet to come and the day that is gone! Those that look for Tomorrow may come to grief, since that Tomorrow may never come, or, by the time it comes,

I may be

Myself with Yesterday’s Sev’n Thousand Years!

Man is after all mortal and our ideals or attainments cannot prevent us from succumbing to the Inevitable. For instance, we love some people and are deeply attached to them. So far as we are concerned, our love is a reality, it is an indissoluble tie. But it eventually proves to be a mirage, for, after a brief stay, ‘One by one our friends creep silently to Rest.’ That it is the lot of the great as well as of the small is certain, because kings and potentates who can control the destinies of millions cannot control their own! Note

How Sultan after Sultan with his Pomp
Abode his Hour or two, and went his way.

That nature does not make any distinction between the prince and the beggar is clear, for, what is the fate of royal palaces which were once the glory of their monarchs?

They say the Lion and the Lizard keep
The Courts where Jamshyd gloried and drank deep.

However great the human being may be, once his term is over, he passes into the Limbo of Oblivion. He is only ‘one of the Pawns on the Chess-Board’ and will soon be thrown into the ‘Box of Non-Existence!’¹² Stories are told of people in ancient times who buried their jewels and their treasure underneath the earth. It was quite safe in the earth and could be picked up again when there was need. But the case of the human being is entirely different, and ‘once buried, we are not dug up again.’ Nature tells the same tale, though we do not benefit by the lesson. See how,

The tulips that are withered; will never bloom again: ¹³

The sum total of the poet’s wisdom is this:

One thing is certain, that Life flies;
One thing is certain, and the Rest is Lies;

This granted, what should we human beings do?

Drink wine and fling not life to the winds;

Forget the past, worry not about the future, live in the present, love life., and all will be well.

It is possible toargue that this attitude to life tinged with pessimism is only a kind of medieval superstition not worthy of men of light and learning. The problem of human destiny has been discussed by eminent philosophers and sages in every epoch and they have tried to give illumination to mankind otherwise groping in the dark. Omar’s opinion is that metaphysics and science are of no use to any one in this matter. He says he visited ‘Doctor and Saint’ but to no purpose. It is true he studied much and under eminent scholars and either discussed this subject with them or heard it discussed by them. We are also told that his own Guru was one of the most remarkable men of his time. He was himself well-versed in many branches of knowledge. Unfortunately he was not any the wiser for it. It is true he ‘heard great Argument about it and about,’ but the result was this:

But evermore

Came out by the same Door as in I went

After travelling laboriously for several days, you feel you are not an inch farther than the place at which you started! Thus, not withstanding our intellectual discussions, the question remains ever the same. Life is a mystery. With the help of our science or logic we may explain away several things of the Universe, their causes and effects, but in our unsophisticated moments, the heart is exactly in the same condition as before. It loses itself in wonder at the mysterious nature of God’s acts and the puzzle remains the same at all times. For instance, this eternal question has three parts:

The Why–The Whence–The Whither:

Why have I come into this world? Where have I come from? Where shall I go to after my death? Are there not people in the world who some time or other in their lives pass through this experience? A person with a contemplative turn of mind when he is alone–away not only from the din and bustle, but also temporarily cut off from the interests of life–is likely to fall into such a mood and the chain of ideas finally leads him to this question. He will be convinced in the end that Providence is inscrutable and all our knowledge and philosophy is helpless in the face of the Divine Mystery. Thus the problem,

The purpose of this coming, and going, and being, ¹⁴

is a puzzle. Khayyam cries out in despair

I know the questions but hear no replies. ¹⁵

Sages no doubt there are, but are they in any way better than we? They also must die, nor can their wisdom exempt them from death. True, many of these learned men have preached great things. But they share the same fate as others, for,

Their Mouths are stopt with Dust.

Take his own case. For a long time ‘he stitched the Tents of Science,’ ¹⁶ but at last.

The shears of Fate have cut the tent-ropes of his life.

It might be pointed out that the fact of their death is no argument against their wisdom and eminence. Setting aside for a moment the idea of their death which is not in their power, are they during their life better than average human beings? Dr. Johnson narrates the story of a great philosopher who by his scholarship and character extorted the admiration of all. His knowledge and saintly appearance were such that Prince Rasselas took him for the happiest man on earth. One who is not swayed by passion or who is not moved by sorrow, is he not the greatest man? But this very same philosopher was found later in a semi-dark room weeping and sobbing over the death of his only daughter! Rasselas was shocked but Johnson’s explanation is interesting:

They (Teachers of morality) discourse like
angels, but they live like men.

Thus no man has succeeded in his contention against nature. The knot of human death and destiny is still unravelled. All that the great poet knows about himself and the world is this:

From earth I came, and like the wind I go! ¹⁷

Confession of ignorance is the beginning of wisdom, and in Omar Khayyam the reader finds one of the wise men of the world.

Omar Khayyam’s view of life seems to have been based on what may be called Fatalism. It is not possible for anyone to find a suitable explanation for most of the things that happen in the world. There is a Fate presiding over our lives and it is unwise to protest against its decree. You may doubt the propriety of many events in life, you may be surprised at the misery of several pious people and the triumph of wicked creatures in the world. You may pray and pray but the matter has all been settled already and you must accept the Inevitable. This belief in Pre-destination is likely to be challenged by many people of the present day. The controversy between Free-will and Destiny is acute and we cannot easily come to any decision. Khayyam’s opinion is that we must bow to Destiny. It has been written on the tablet already, our success or failure. The Hindus call it Lalata Likhitam (Writing on the forehead). Our prayers ‘cannot cancel half a line’ nor can ‘all our tears wash out a word of it.’ In our helpless condition we sometimes appeal to the heavens above but the poet says that the sky

Rolls impotently on as Thou or I.

He asks us to remember the case of the Ball which does not consider ‘Ayes and Noes’ but goes right or left according as the player strikes it. But has the Ball any voice in it?

And He that toss’d Thee down into the Field,
He knows about it all–He knows–He knows!

In other words we are not the persons to say who ought to be rewarded and who not. The whole thing is wrapped up in mystery and there is only one Being that knows the Why of everything. People of modern times cannot easily reconcile themselves to the idea of meekly submitting to Fate but how can we explain the case of pious and God-fearing people often plunged in suffering? So far as their careers in this life are concerned, none of their acts deserves this kind of mortification. Romeo and Juliet are a young couple full of love, and love is a divine quality. Their motives are pure and their love is ethereal. Their characters are so sweet that, had they lived on, their conjugal relations would have been ideal and they would have showered bliss on all those that chanced to see them. But they were cut off from tasting that melody which was so richly offered to them. When we ponder over these questions, we can come to one of two conclusions. Either there is no law of moral order in the Universe and thus we are utterly helpless with regard to our worldly happiness, or, man here reaps the consequences of his past actions, i.e., foolish or wicked acts performed in a previous birth. (The Hindu Doctrine of Karma.) The literary critic of Shakespeare is satisfied with the idea that Shakespeare is an artist and that his aim is to give pictures of life. Such curious events we meet with in life, and Shakespeare shows his remarkable psychology by giving them their proper place in his drama. The pious devotee would believe in God’s justice and His mercy and would not be so heterodox as to question the right or wrong of these occurrences. He is convinced that God is essentially merciful and that He is ever ready to show his generosity to mankind. But Omar on the other hand, is worried by a doubt, a very important one, in this connection. If God in his abundance of mercy created Man and placed him in Eden, why did he ‘devise the snake’? This problem–the origin of sin–is a very difficult one. You create a weak creature and place him in circumstances where he is likely to be victimised by Evil, and still say he is a sinner! The question thus is: ‘Who is responsible for our sins?’ The Persian poet’s opinion is that all these are foolish and impertinent questions. He is full of irony whenever he refers to these questions and doubts. He says, ‘God knew on the Day of Creation that I should drink wine; if I do not drink wine God’s knowledge would be ignorance.’¹⁸ He knew it, which means that I have obtained His permission. If he thought it bad, he ought to have taken care to prevent it! Thus he points out how foolish we are in arguing against sinners. Here is a very interesting question:

What man here below has not sinned, canst thou say?
And how could he have lived, had he not done sin, canst thou say?
So if I do wrong and thou punishest me wrongly,
What difference between Thee and me, canst thou say?¹⁹

In a modern Telugu Social Drama,²⁰ the hero is an interesting fellow. He leads a dissipated life and is a rogue, but he has a relieving sense of humour. When one of his friends threatened him with condign punishment at the hands of the Almighty for all his immoralities here, his reply was this. On the Judgment Day, he would put this question straight to his Master: ‘Did you create me as your dependent or as independent of you? If I am your dependent, you are to blame for my sins; if I am independent, it is beyond your jurisdiction, my case!’ Khayyam’s advice is this: ‘Do not raise these foolish questions. Have faith in Him and all will be well.’

One very interesting section of the Rubaiyat is the group of verses in which the Episode of the Pots is given. The poet says that he one day went into the market-place and stood in the Potter’s workshop when he overheard a very amusing but highly instructive discussion going on among the ‘Clay Population.’ While the Potter was pounding or thumping his clay, one of the Pots murmured, ‘Gently, Brother, gently, pray!’ Another remarked: ‘The potter took me from the common Earth only to stamp me to common Earth again.’ Immediately another member of this conference rose up and contradicted the previous speaker by pointing out,

Why, ne’er a peevish Boy,
Would break the Bowl from which he drank in joy.

Having created an object which was the result of his fancy, would he be so foolish as to destroy it soon after? Another speaker was worried because

They sneer at me for leaning all awry.

What can be the reason for ‘my ungainly make?’ ‘Did the Hand then of the Potter shake at that time?’ A somewhat elderly member of this great fraternity stated that it was a mistake to attribute their differences–in size, shape etc.–to any evil motives on the part of their Master. No doubt some talk of a ‘strict testing’ but

He is a good Fellow, and ’twill all be well.

While this sort of conversation was going on in all seriousness among the Earthen Lot regarding their origin and growth and end, one very ingenious member, with a view to set at rest this silly controversy, struck at the root of the matter by impatiently crying out

Who is the Potter, pray, and who the Pot?

The meaning of this allegorical episode seems to be this. The Potter is the Supreme Creator and the Pots are the various classes of human beings. The questions raised by the several pots at their conference represent several points of view regarding human life in relation to its Creator. For instance, we are occasionally puzzled by this question: Is man’s life and career on earth of any value to the Supreme Being, for he comes out of dust and goes to dust? When we prize a thing highly and want it to endure for ever, we take care to select the best material, spend our best attention on it, shield it as much as possible from destruction, and if, in spite of all vigilance, it should be lost, our sorrow would be deep and long-lasting. If God cared for man, He would have made him more happy and would have given him a longer period of existence. Evil, misery, and death would not be, in that case, so powerful as they are now. It is just like this. In some parts of our country, at the time of a certain festival,²¹ the people construct an effigy and decorate it nicely during the day, but when night comes, every member of the community–man, woman and child–will throw a stone at it and reduce it to ashes, almost in the twinkling of an eye. To men who hold that human life is not precious in the eyes of God, a reply is given in the following way. Even a foolish child will not, after making a little toy to please its fancy, shatter it to the ground in rage. If God did not attach any importance to the human being, why should he create him at all? It is ridiculous that in a freak you should invent some new thing and dash it to pieces immediately after. Only a lunatic or eccentric fellow is capable of such sudden fits of temper. The Creator of the Universe, whose wisdom and judgment are perfect, is not likely to have such an attitude to human life. For Omar Khayyam this question is always a riddle. He reveals his helplessness when he asks

For love of whom did he make them–for hate
of whom did he break them? ²²

Again there is a third question: Why should there be an ugly pot ‘leaning all awry?’ If God is kind to all creatures–He is our father and mother–, why should some of us be good and some bad, some lovely and others awkward, some strong and some weak? Can it be that these differences exist because of His desire to test our abilities and work? A strict teacher judges students according to their work and distributes rewards and punishments in proportion to their intelligence and industry or want of it. But to compare the All-Merciful Father to a strict teacher is a bad comparison. The teacher–the bad teacher–may be anything, but the father divides his love equally among all his children.

Sometimes when the father’s estate is to be distributed among the sons, the weaker boy gets a double share for the reason that he is incapable. So God’s mercy is intended for sinners and they are safe! Thus there are several points of view regarding man and his position in the world, but the great mystic tells us how foolish we are in raising these questions when we miss the fundamental question: Potter and Pot, who are they? Creator and Created, are they two distinct entities which are always separate? Are they not two phases of the same Force? The Poet says that there is one thing which can never be clearly explained.

Who makes–Who buys–Who sells–Who is the Pot? ²³

We little minds treat things in a little way. We distinguish between Seer and Seen, Giver and Taker and so forth. To the great poet that looks from on high,

Thou art both the real thing seen and the spectator.

Omar says you distinguish between Thee and Me but he exposes its hollowness by advising you to recognise

The Me within Thee Blind!

We also talk of pious people and sinners, and of heaven and hell and of a Fate writing something on the tablet. To the Advaitic philosopher that Omar Khayyam was,

Tablet and Pen, and heaven and hell, are within thyself.²⁴

Animate and Inanimate are our distinctions. But to the mystic, Potter and Pot are made of one substance. The Pot points out, ‘Treat me, brother, well; I am of the same stuff as you are.’ The essence of the poet’s wisdom is contained in this:

My Heart said to me: ‘I have a longing for inspired knowledge,

Teach me if thou art able.’
I said the Alif. My heart said: ‘Say no more.
‘If one is in the house, one letter is enough.’ ²⁵

Our religious men generally miss this, and they are immersed in doctrines, creeds, forms and rules; but he would say

O Fools! the Road is neither here nor there. ²⁶

We are all eager to attain salvation but Khayyam’s advice to us is quite simple:

A hundred Ka’bas equal not one heart,
Seek not the Ka’ba, rather seek a heart! ²⁷

There is only one thing which lifts man to the level of the divine, love of humanity! and we have Khayyam’s assurance for it:

And never injure one nor yet abuse,
I guarantee you heaven, and now some wine! ²⁸

By loving his fellow creatures, the human being will make others happy and will enjoy happiness himself. That this is superior to every other kind of piety or religion is revealed in the poet’s exhortation to mankind.

Yea, drink and even rob, but, oh! be kind! ²⁹

Sympathy for man and belief in the Supreme Being are the only things that lead man to Heaven, and the poet’s prayer is this:

What matter faith, unfaith, obedience, sin?
Thou’rt all we need, the rest is vanity. ³⁰

In the Hindu Bhagavatam, the story of Sri Krishna and the Gopis is exactly similar to this point of view. The milkmaids were quite innocent. They were not learned. They were engaged in no tapas (severe penance). Great pandits and sages recited the Vedas, performed religious sacrifices, went through austere discipline, meditated and meditated. They could not meet Krishna and He was not accessible to them. If one wanted to find Him, one had to go to the cottages of the shepherd lasses where He could be seen playing in the sand in front of their houses, or stealing away their clothes or singing or dancing with them. Scholarship is not knowledge. Real knowledge is Love.

In conclusion, it may be said that Omar’s poetry is not so Epicurean in its philosophy as superficial observers often make it out to be. The wine, woman, and song which he so warmly praises stand really for three important factors in life on which the happiness of man depends. One is that Nature or Providence has placed innumerable good things before us, and we are expected to be happy ‘by sharing the joys of living.’ Love of life is the one thing a human being is essentially in need of. Without it he will fall into despair and create a hell into which he throws not only himself but all those that surround him. The second factor in human life is Love. Woman is the embodiment of love and she has inspired most of the great poets of the world. To these two things must be added the pleasures of song, culture and art. It must be remembered that Omar was a great lover of beauty in nature, in man, and in culture. The question whether he is a philosopher can be answered in this way. He is as much a philosopher as any poet can be. He is not a philosopher in the sense that any particular school of thought or system of conduct or code of principles was founded or preached by him consistently or logically. He was a lyrist and poet, but one who took interest in human life and gave expression to his doubts and longings and dealt poetically with questions relating to the Ultimate Reality. That he was a most cultured man and that he reached the summits of scientific knowledge at the time needs no saying. ³¹ That he is one of the greatest lyrists of the world is also admitted. How far he was fond of wine in actual life is a question on which opinion is divided. That he is sincere in his utterance is true, for, he never flatters the public or the scholars by quoting their authority; on the other hand, he deliberately outrages their feelings. If he is pessimistic occasionally, it is because a human being is liable to such moods.

He only voices forth the vague fears and melancholy thoughts that take possession of the human heart now and then. In his poetry we find a wonderfully poetical and epigrammatic expression given to the Eternal Doubts about human life and destiny which find an echo in every heart but which most people cannot, or will not, express. His songs make a direct appeal to the heart and his message to humanity is this:

Your stay is brief: make the best of life: be content: accept things as they are: rebel not against Fate: learn the lesson of Love: never misread One for Two and you are blest.

1 Omar Khayyam of Naishpur in Khorassan lived in the latter half of the 11th Century A.D. and died in 1123. In this essay all questions relating to his biography, the text of the Rubaiyat and the translations, and the influence or otherwise of Vedic scholars and Buddhist philosophers on the Persian Poet, which had engaged the attention of distinguished Orientalists for a long time, are omitted. The extracts given are generally from Fitzgerald’s poetical translation which is very popular, especially with students of English literature. Quotations from Whinfield’s famous edition and Heron–Allen’s literal translation are also adopted wherever necessary.

2 Quatrains.

3 ‘Heron-Allen’s Tr.

4 Heron-Allen’s Tr.

5 Whinfield.

6 Heron-Allen.

7 The number of Quatrains seems to increase in proportion to the modernness of the Ms.’

P. xv. Quatrains of Omar Khayyam–Whinfleld.

8 Whinfleld.

9 & 10 Whinfleld.

11 Whinfleld.

12 Heron-Allen’s Tr.

13 Heron-AlIen’s Tr.

14 Heron-Allen’s Tr.

15 Whinfield.

16 Khayyam=Tent-maker

17 Whinfield

18 Heron-Allen’s Tr.

19 Whinfield.

20 Kanyasulkam by G. V. Appa Rao.

21 Holi.

22 Heron-Allen’s Tr.

23 Heron-Allen’s Tr.

24 Heron-Allen’s Tr.

25 Heron-Allen’s Tr.

26 Heron-Allen’s Tr.

27 Whinfield.

28 Whinfield.

29 Whinfield.

30 Whinfield.

31 P 12-13–Umar Khayyam–Otto Rothfield.