14 Tir 1405
Quatrain 25 of 75
“Why, all the Saints and Sages who discuss'd
Of the Two Worlds so learnedly, are thrust
Like foolish Prophets forth; their Words to Scorn
Are scatter'd, and their Mouths are stopt with Dust.”
Reflection · Summer 1405
In summer the sages seem most absent — their gray discussions of the world beyond feel thin in the full heat of a world that is entirely here. Why, all of them — not some, not the lesser ones, but all, including the greatest. Thrust forth, their words scattered. The summer does not pause for their credentials.
Their mouths are stopped — and Khayyam's mouth, too, will be stopped. This does not silence him now. It sharpens him. He speaks more clearly because he knows the speaking has a limit. The summer light, the summer wine, the summer beloved — he addresses these with the focus of someone who knows they will not always be able to speak.