Page:Quatrains of Omar Khayyam (tr. Whinfield, 1883).djvu/200

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144
THE QUATRAINS OF

213.

I am not one whom Death doth much dismay,
Life's terrors all Death's terrors far outweigh;
    This life, that Heaven hath lent me for a while,
I will pay back, when it is time to pay.


214.

The stars, who dwell on heaven's exalted stage,
Baffle the wise diviners of our age;
    Take heed, hold fast the rope of mother wit.
These augurs all distrust their own presage.


215.

The people who the heavenly world adorn,
Who come each night, and go away each morn,
    Now on Heaven's skirt, and now in earth's deep pouch.
While Allah lives, shall aye anew be born!


213.   C. L. A. B. I.   B. reads ním for bím in line 2.


214.   L. B.   A hit at the astrologers.