7 Shahrivar 1405
Quatrain 5 of 75
“Iram indeed is gone with all its Rose,
And Jamshyd's Sev'n-ring'd Cup where no one knows;
But still the Vine her ancient Ruby yields,
And still a Garden by the Water blows.”
Reflection · Summer 1405
The ancient ruby of the vine yields in summer without ceremony. This is the vine's job, what it has been doing since before Persian civilization named it. Khayyam is not depressing. He is vast. Iram and Jamshyd's cup represent the human addiction to permanence — we build the best things we can and try to make them last, and they do not last, and we are surprised every time. Khayyam is not surprised. He was an astronomer who had looked at the deep time of the sky and come back with a certain calmness about deep time on the ground.
The garden by the water blows in summer with a fullness that neither Iram nor any legendary paradise could improve upon. It is here. It is now. The ancient ruby is in your glass. Iram can stay missing.