2 Ordibehesht 1405
Quatrain 28 of 75
“With them the Seed of Wisdom did I sow,
And with my own hand labour'd it to grow:
And this was all the Harvest that I reap'd—
"I came like Water, and like Wind I go."”
Reflection · Spring 1405
In spring this verse is planted as a question: if this is what the harvest will be, how do you want to spend the growing season? I came like Water — the spring water, arriving from the mountains, cold and clear. And like Wind I go — the spring wind that turns to summer wind turns to autumn wind. The seed of wisdom is being sowed now. Khayyam laboured to grow it his whole life and arrived at this — not as a disappointment but as a gift. The gift of clarity about what can and cannot be known.
Like water, you are here now. Like wind, you will depart. Between arrival and departure: the sowing, the labour, the harvest.