LXXVII.

And this I know; whether the one True Light Kindle to Love, or Wrath-consume me quite, One Flash of It within the Tavern caught Better than in the Temple lost outright.

This quatrain is translated from O. 2.

If I talk of the mystery with Thee in a tavern, It is better than if I make my devotions before the Mihrab[79] without Thee. O Thou, the first and last of all created beings, Burn me an Thou wilt, cherish me an Thou wilt.

_Ref._: O. 2, C. 272, L. 427, B. 423, S.P. 221, P. 7, B. ii. 294, T. 172.--W. 262, N. 222, V. 465.

LXXVIII.*

What! out of senseless Nothing to provoke A conscious Something to resent the yoke Of unpermitted Pleasure, under pain Of everlasting Penalties, if broke!

It is not easy to deal with this and the three following quatrains separately, the sentiments of all four being closely interchangeable and largely identical. To avoid confusion, however, I have attempted the task. There are some scores of ruba'iyat that may be said to have contributed their imageries to the quatrain. The main sources of the first of them seem to be C. 85 and N. 226:

God, when he fashioned the clay of my body, Knew by my making what would come of it; (Since) there is no sin of mine without his order Why should he seek to burn me at the Day of Resurrection?

_Ref._: C. 85, L. 194, B. 191, S.P. 99, P. 18, T. 66.--W. 100, N. 99, V. 190.

Thou knowest that abstinence from that (sin) is impossible, Having (nevertheless) ordered and ordained abstinence from it; Thus between the order and the prohibition we stand helpless, We mortals are helpless at the permission to slant (the cup) but not to spill (its contents).[80]

_Ref._: N. 226, L. 442, B. 438, S.P. 225, P. 317, B. ii. 297, T. 180.--W. 265, V. 479.

LXXIX.*

What! from his helpless Creature be repaid Pure Gold for what he lent him dross-allay'd-- Sue for a Debt he never did contract, And cannot answer--Oh the sorry trade!

This quatrain would seem to be specially inspired by C. 201 and 433, which are so much alike (ll. 2, 3, and 4 are practically identical in both) that one or the other is obviously the addition of a later scribe.

When they mixed the earth of my shaping-mould, They produced an hundred wonders from me;[81] I cannot be better than I am, For this is how I was turned out of the crucible.

_Ref._: C. 201, L. 355, B. 351, T. 128.--W. 221, V. 354.