234
THE QUATRAINS OF
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.
Tell Khayyam, for a master of the schools.
He strangely misinterprets my plain rules;
Where have I said that wine is wrong for all?
'Tis lawful for the wise, but not for fools.
350.
My critics call me a philosopher,
But Allah knows full well they greatly err;
I know not even what I am, much less
Why on this earth I am a sojourner!
348 and 349. L. These two quatrains are also found in Whalley's Moradabad edition. Mustafa, i.e. Muhammad. So Avicenna. See Renan, Averroes, 171.
