And Heaven Is Here

A book of verses underneath the bough, A jug of wine, a loaf of bread—and thou Beside me singing in the wilderness— Oh, wilderness were paradise enow. (Omar Khayyam’s (1048-1131 CE) well-known quatrain (Rubai). Its translation was done by Fitzgerald as above. Now look at the following translation done by me of a Gujarati Muktak by Somsundar Soori (Vikram Samwat 1430-1499, older by about 54 years as compared to CE)). Nature’s drape of cool sunny sand, Sunshade of green trees, time in hand, And buttermilk amply supplied, Pray, what more would paradise lend? ________________________________ Reflections |22.08.2023| quatrain, poetry Poet’s note: Both the foregoing quatrains have similar poetic thought. Does it mean that poet Soori copied the thought from Khayyam, who happened earlier? No, similar thoughts do sometimes strike poets.