Fear of mortality
and notions
of nothingness
are your own kind
of drunkeness.
Otherwise you’d see
that from the
branch of death
twigs of immortality grow.
Ever since Jesus breathed
life into my soul,
everlasting death
has washed its hands of me.
Translated by Juan Cole
from Whinfield 43
Omar Khayyam really made this reference to Jesus??
Yep. Muslims believe in Jesus, and know some of the Gospel stories about him. This reference likely concerns the story of Lazarus.
It’s a convention of classic Persian poetry that ‘Jesus’ and ‘breath’ always go together. An example from Hafez:
ساقی بیا که یار ز رخ پرده برگرفت
کار چراغ خلوتیان باز درگرفت
بار غمی که خاطر ما خسته کرده بود
عیسی دمی خدا بفرستاد و برگرفت
Come barkeep for our love’s unveiled the face
and resumed the post of the secluded’s lamp
That burden of sorrow which wearied our mind
A Jesus-breath God sent and it was uplifted
Khayyam got it . The essence of all religion is to allow us to live a connected life in our own time. In this way his poetry points the way to immortality: “twigs of immortality” grow out of this mortal mass. Hark.
Jesus, as do Abraham and Jacob et al, occupy a central ethos of the Muslims. How this centrality plays out in politics is complicated by a variety of factors, but nevertheless important to remember.
Well, I’ll be. I guess at least some Muslims are also more tolerant of alcohol than I had thought.