16 Khordad 1405
Quatrain 72 of 75
“Why, if the Soul can fling the Dust aside,
And naked on the Air of Heaven ride,
Wer't not a Shame—wer't not a Shame for him
In this clay carcass crippled to abide?”
Reflection · Spring 1405
If the soul can fling the dust aside and ride naked on the air of heaven — if the spiritual liberation that the mystics promise is actually available — then why would it stay crippled in this clay carcass? The logic is Khayyam's characteristic formal logic applied to theology: if the premise is true, the conclusion follows. In spring this verse is heard as a genuine question rather than a rhetorical one — if the soul can fly, why does it stay caged? Is the cage preferred? Does it love the clay carcass?
The answer is not given. Khayyam sits with the question. He will not answer it for you.