Quatrain 26
Quatrain 26 of 75
“Oh, come with old Khayyam, and leave the Wise
To talk; one thing is certain, that Life flies;
One thing is certain, and the Rest is Lies;
The Flower that once has blown for ever dies.”
Reflection · Autumn
One thing is certain, and the rest is lies. Not the rest is uncertain — the rest is lies. Khayyam is not being epistemically careful here; he is being brutal. Everything the wise say about what follows the flower — he calls it lies. Not malicious lies, but the lies of people who need things to be different from what they are. The flower that once has blown for ever dies. This is the one thing. Not: and therefore here is what death means. Just: the flower dies, completely, finally.
On the last day of the Persian year — Esfand 29, the year's final evening — this verse is its own ceremony. The year that is dying tonight will not come back. The flowers it contained — the blooms of this specific Farvardin — for ever, after having blown, they die.