Page:Quatrains of Omar Khayyam (tr. Whinfield, 1883).djvu/302

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
246
THE QUATRAINS OF

366.

Lament not fortune's want of constancy,
But up! and seize her favours ere they flee;
    If fortune always cleaved to other men,
How could a turn of luck have come to thee?


367.

Chief of old friends! hearken to what I say.
Let not heaven's treacherous wheel your heart dismay;
    But rest contented in your humhle nook,
And watch the games that wheel is wont to play.


368.

Hear now Khayyám's advice, and bear in mind,
Consort with revellers, though they be maligned.
    Cast down the gates of abstinence and prayer.
Yea, drink, and even rob, but, oh! be kind!


366.   C. L. N. A. I. J.   This was a saying of Kisra Parvíz to his Sultana.   Bicknell's Hafiz, p. 73.

367.   C. L. N. A. I. J.