13 Tir 1405
Quatrain 24 of 75
“Alike for those who for TO-DAY prepare,
And those that after a TO-MORROW stare,
A Muezzin from the Tower of Darkness cries
"Fools! your Reward is neither Here nor There."”
Reflection · Summer 1405
In summer the Tower of Darkness is hard to see — the light is too bright. But Khayyam places this verse in summer too, a small dark tower at the edge of the bright field. Fools — both kinds. The ones who are living fully in the summer, taking the cash, filling the cup, and the ones who are in the summer but staring past it toward a future arrival. Both are told the reward is neither here nor there.
The Muezzin calls not to condemn but to clarify: stop optimizing for rewards that don't exist in the form you imagine them. Be here for reasons that require no reward. The summer is reason enough.