19 Khordad 1405
Quatrain 75 of 75
“Heav'n but the Vision of fulfill'd Desire,
And Hell the Shadow of a Soul on fire;
And that is what I saw, and what I heard,
And all beside is Emptiness—or Ire!”
Reflection · Spring 1405
Heaven but the Vision of fulfilled Desire — not the literal paradise of theological tradition but the condition of a self whose desires have been met, who has had the wine and the bread and the book and the beloved under the bough. This is heaven. Khayyam has seen it. In spring this is the most hopeful reading: heaven is available this morning, in the spring garden, if you will simply allow yourself to be in it. The vision of fulfilled desire — the momentary clarity of having what you need when you need it.
This morning, in spring, the desire is fulfilled. This is heaven. This is enough. And all beside is emptiness or ire.