Garner

(X. 5)

The Two and Seventy Wrangling Sects contend,
And ever strive their Crumbling Creeds to mend,
But I have cast them, One and All away,
And Thou, Oh Allah, art my only End.

Bodenstedt So etwa zweiundsiebzig Sekten die Welt der Gläubigen (I. 16)

zählt,

Als einziges aller Dogmen hab' ich die Liebe zu Dir

erwählt.

Was ist mir Glaub' und Ketzerei? mein einziges Ziel

bist Du!

Mag Jeder glauben, was er will: ich strebe Die nur zu!

Von Schack Von wohl siebzig Religionen hör' ich, die's auf Erden

Doch die wahre Religion ist die nur, dass der Mensch

dich liebt.

Islam, Gottesdienst und Glaube - ferne mag dies Pos

senspiel,

Dieses eitle, stets mir bleiben! Du nur, du nur bist mein Ziel.

And so Hafiz in his Divan, translated by Nicolas :

"Considère les discussions des soixante et douze nations comme autant de prétextes, car, comme elles n'ont pas vu la vérité éternelle, elles n'ont fait que débiter des fables."

Whinfield, in a note in his 1882 edition, quotes a saying of Muhammad: "It shall come to pass that my people shall be divided into three-and-seventy sects, all of which, save only one, shall have their portion in the fire." (Pocock's "Specimen Historiæ Arabum," p. 210.)

Sharastáni, according to Whinfield, says "the reason why the prophet pitched on the number seventy-three was that the

Magians were divided into seventy sects, the Jews into seventyone, and the Christians into seventy-two." He also quotes Hafiz (ed. 1882):

:

"Consider the battle of the seventy-two sects as mischief; Since they see not Truth, they give way to fables."

APPENDIX XXIII.

RUBA'IY LXI.

M. K. asserts that the original which inspired FitzGerald's quatrains (numbered LXII and LXIII in the 2nd edition (1868), and LX and LXI in the succeeding) are "not found." The correlatives of LXI are certainly not own cousins, but several times removed. Nevertheless, the family resemblance may be traced by the subtle mind. The blasphemy of the wine is mentioned in the following Rubá'iy : —

Puisque c'est aujourd'hui mon tour de jeunesse, Nicolas j'entends le passer à boire du vin, car tel est mon bon plaisir. N'allez pas, à cause de son amertume, médire de ce delicieux jus, car il est agréable, et il n'est amer que parce qu'il est ma vie.

(24)

Since the day brings with it a consciousness of youth, I mean to wile [sic] it away with wine even to my heart's delight. Do not blaspheme, on account of its bitterness, this glorious juice, for it is a delight to drink, and bitter only because it is my life.

McCarthy (53)

Whinfield

(28)

Now with its joyful prime my age is rife,
I quaff enchanting wine and list to fife;
Chide not at wine for all its bitter taste,
Its bitterness sorts well with human life!

The first two lines of Whinfield, 13 (1882), read: —

Now with its joyous prime my spring is rife,

I quaff this wine, and list to lute and fife.

Bodenstedt Weil ich heut noch das Kleid der Jugend trage,
Mach' ich den Tag mir zum Festgelage.

(IX. 45)

Schmäht nicht die herbe Tochter der Rebe,
Sie verklärt mir hold meine bitteren Tage.

Nicolas

(221)

The conceit of the reversed wine-cup appears again in the following:

Ô être adorable, plein de mignardises et d'espiègleries! assieds-toi, apaise ainsi le feu de mille tourments et ne te relève plus. Tu m'enjoins de ne point te regarder ; mais c'est comme si tu m'ordonnais d'incliner la coupe en me défendant d'en répandre le contenu.

Nicolas calls on Orientalists to verify the first word of this Ruba'iy, which propriety forbids him to translate literally. At the same time he says: "Our poet addresses all these tendresses to the Divinity!" It was the same imaginative spirit that supplied the headings to the chapters of Solomon's Song in King James's Version of the Bible!

Oh, my beloved, full of graces and witcheries, seat McCarthy thyself; and thus, quenching the flames of a thousand

desires rise not up again.
upon thee, but thou might [sic] as well command me to
turn down the cup, without spilling the contents thereof.

Thou forbiddest me to gaze

O turn away those roguish eyes of thine!
Be still! seek not my peace to undermine!

Thou say'st," Look not." I might as well essay
To slant my goblet, and not spill my wine.

Du holdes Geschöpf voll süsser Schelmereien,
Sitz' nieder, mein gefangenes Herz zu befreien.
Dein Reiz zwingt mich sonst, das Auge zu schliessen,
Wie den Becher zu senken, ohne Wein zu vergiessen.

(21)

Whinfield (261)

Bodenstedt (VI. 6)

There is also possibly a hint of the thought of Rubá'iy LXI in the following little dialogue between Omar and Muhammad:

Présentez le salut de ma part à Mostapha, et ensuite Nicolas dites-lui, avec tout le respect qui lui est dû: “Ô seigneur Hachemite pourquoi, suivant le chèr'e, le doug aigre est-il licite et le vin pur défendu?"

(316)

Présentez le salut de ma part à Khèyam, et ensuite dites-lui: "Ô Khèyam! tu es

(317)

un ignorant.

Quand

66

donc ai-je dit que le vin est défendu? Il est licite pour les hommes intelligents, il n'est défendu que pour les ignorants."

Bear greeting from me to Mustapha, and then with McCarthy

all respect enquire thus, "Why, O Lord All-wise, does Alkoran make the sour salted curds and water lawful

(404)

and pure wine unlawful?"

McCarthy (396)

Bear greeting from me to Khayyam, and then say, "Oh, inexperienced Kayyam, when then have I said that wine is unlawful? To the foolish it is unlawful, but to the wise it is lawful."

Whinfield (348)

Khayyam's respects to Mustafa convey,
And with due reverence ask him to say,

Why it has pleased him to forbid pure wine,
When he allows his people acid whey?

(349) (184, 1882)

Tell Khayyam, for a master of the schools,
He strangely misinterprets my plain rules;
Where have I said that wine is wrong for all?
'T is lawful for the wise, but not for fools.

Bodenstedt Verehrungsvoll grüsst von mir den Propheten:

(II. 15)

Zu offenbaren mir sei er gebeten,

Warum uns saure Milch mit Salz und Eis erlaubt,

Und reiner Wein verboten überhaupt?

(II. 16)

Bringt meinen Gruss Chajjam und redet so:

Unwissender, wann sagt' ich Dir und wo,

Der Wein sei nicht erlaubt? Nur dummen Tröpfen
Gilt mein Verbot, nicht aber klugen Köpfen.