PRELUDE
“UP FROM EARTH’S CENTRE THROUGH THE SEVENTH GATE
I ROSE, AND ON THE THRONE OF SATURN SATE;
AND MANY A KNOT UNRAVELLED BY THE ROAD,
BUT NOT THE MASTER KNOT OF HUMAN FATE.”[1]
GREAT OMAR, THIS VAGUE TALE RETOLD CONTAINS
PART ANSWER TO THE RIDDLE. ALLAH DEIGNS
A LITTLE WISDOM THROUGH THE MOST UNWISE:
THE SECRET OF THE UNIVERSE IN CHAINS.
BEHOLD IT, WRITTEN FOR THE OCCIDENT.
AH! WILL THEY SEE, ALTHOUGH THE VEIL IS RENT?
OR WILL NOT ONE BELIEVER PAUSE BEFORE
THE TATTERED GLORIES OF THE ORIENT?
M. H. P.
[1] “The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam,” Ed. Fitzgerald, trans.