Quatrain 6

چون ابر به نوروز رخ لاله بشست

بر خیز و به جام باده کن عزم درست

کاین سبزه که امروز تماشا گه توست

فردا همه از خاک تو بر خواهد رست
source, Dashti 62, p. 255  & see  '62a' in following update

chon abr be nowruz rokh-e laale beshost
bar khiz o be jaam-e baade kon azm dorost
kin sabze ke emruz tamaashaagah-e tost
fardaa hame az khaak-e to bar khaahad rost 

Cloudbursts have washed the tulip's face,
New Year beckons you rise,
be awash in wine.
This garden is  yours today --
tomorrow's
 grows green from your dust.

and this companion piece:

ابر آمد و زار بر سر سبزه گریست

بی بادۀ  گلرنگ نمیشاید زیست 

این سبزه که امروز تماشا گه ماست

تا سبزۀ خاک ما تماشا گه کیست 

source, Hedayat 61

abr aamad o zaar bar sar-e sabze gerist

bi baade-ye golrang nemishaayad zist

in sabze ke emruz tamaashaa gah-e maast

taa sabze-ye khaak-e maa tamaashaa gah-e kist

 

A cloudburst came pouring tears on the  green...

without red wine what joy is there in life?
This meadow is our happiness just today,
but who will play in the meadow of our dust?

 

A cloud outpours its heart on lawn, and says:--

"A loveless life is only loss of days." 

This lawn is pleasing now,-- O! could I be

A lawn in future where some Angel plays. 

Govinda Tirtha, quatrain 3. 34

(see the bibliography for his Nectar of Grace and quatrain 30, especially the update) 

 

 Translation & Discussion of the quatrain (no.6):

1.  When the raincloud at Newyear has washed the face of the tulip - This Newyear is of course, Nowruz, which comes at the vernal equinox when the country gives way to re-emerging life and greenery 2.  Rise and be fully intent on a cup of wine - "fully fix your resolve on drinking a cup of wine." From what follows, the time to get on with enjoyment is now. 3.  Since this green meadow, which is our viewing today 4.  Tomorrow, all (of it) will spring forth from our dust. FitzGerald did not use the first two lines  of weblog Quatrain 6 or the first two lines of  the companion quatrain in his Stanza 23 below, but Heron-Allen notes that he employs the last two lines of both, a familiar refrain,  "the echo of a sentiment that recurs continually in the originals." : 

And we that now make merry in the Room They left,

and Summer dresses in new bloom,

Ourselves must we beneath the Couch of Earth Descend--
ourselves to make a Couch--for whom?

( Stanza 23, 5th edition)

('They' in line 2 are likely یاران موافق , yaaraan-e movaafeq: For some we loved, the loveliest and  the best ... Have drunk their Cup a Round or two before/And one by one crept silently to rest.  Stanza 22) 

There is a CD of Ahmad Shamlou reciting Khayyam (www.IranianMusic.com).  In the collection of quatrains, Shamlou  recites this weblog quatrain and Mohammad Reza Shajarian sings the companion piece (Hedayat 61).

Update on Tuesday by Site Owner

Quatrain '62a'  (Elwell-Sutton)

Posted also as Quatrain 13 in this weblog 

می خور که فلک بهر هلاک من و تو

قصدی دارد بجان پاک من و تو

در سبزه نشین و می روشن می خور

کاین سبزه بسی دمد زخاک من و تو

may khor ke falak bahr-e halaak-e man o to
qasdi daarad bejaan-e paak-e man o to
dar sabze neshin o may-ye rowshan mi khor
kin sabze basi damad ze khaak-e man o to

Drink wine, for heaven will destroy us both;
It plots against my blameless life and yours.
Sit on the grass and drink the ruby wine,
For soon the grass will flourish on your dust.

  Elwell-Sutton, quatrain 62a

 

This quatrain appears as number 14 in the first 16 of Dashti's  36 key quatrains, but it does not appear in the final list of his 75 chosen quatrains.  This is puzzling since I cannot find any further reference, not even a footnote, to this quatrain in  دمی با خیام.    Hedayat includes it (64), with no textual variations, Forughi has it as well (152 ), and it appears in Whinfield (390) with variations in lines 1 and 3.  Elwell-Sutton, In Search of Omar Khayyam,  numbers it '62a' -- perhaps because of the similarities of the sentiment  expressed in the last two lines.