The Rubaiyat: Quatrain XXIV

First Edition: Quatrain XXIV

Alike for those who for To-day prepare,
And those that after a To-morrow stare,
A Muezzin from the Tower of Darkness cries
"Fools! your Reward is neither Here nor There!"



Second Edition: Quatrain XXVII

Alike for those who for To-day prepare,
And those that after some To-morrow stare,
A Muezzin from the Tower of Darkness cries,
"Fools! your Reward is neither Here nor There!"



Fifth Edition: Quatrain XXV

Alike for those who for To-day prepare,
And those that after some To-morrow stare,
A Muezzin from the Tower of Darkness cries
"Fools! your Reward is neither Here nor There!"


Only minimal changes appear in this quatrain. In the first edition, some stare after "a To-morrow," while in the second and fifth editions, it's after "some To-morrow" they stare. That "some" makes that "To-morrow" sound dubious at best; there's nothing definite here, whereas the "a" suggests that there is a specific "To-morrow" they have in mind.

The only other change I can find is that disappearing and reappearing comma at the end of line three. It's there in the first edition, disappears in the second edition, and shows up again in the fifth edition. Perhaps the printer left it off in the second edition. I can't see any reason for removing it. Grammatically it's defensible, though the rules for prose aren't always followed by poets.

It's a somewhat confusing quatrain if one reads it too closely. The major problem is that the poet refers to time--those who are focused on today and those who are more interested in tomorrow. Perhaps this dichotomy is between those who live for today and those who take a longer view. But the Muezzin tells that their reward is "neither Here nor There!" This suggests places, not times, and different places at that.

Could the "here" refer to this life on earth and "there" some afterlife? But then, if that's the case, then when is the reward? --for the Muezzin tells us that the reward is not in this life nor in an afterlife. Or, perhaps the Muezzin means there is no reward.

The "Tower of Darkness" is also perplexing. The Muezzin calls the Faithful to prayer five times a day. Since he is at the top of a tower, he frequently is in light when he makes his first and last calls for the sun may still be shining on him whereas most of the city may be in the dark. The three middle calls to prayer are during the day and therefore always in the light. The first stanza suggests this--


"And Lo! the Hunter of the East has caught
The Sultan's Turret in a Noose of Light."


The Tower of Darkness might suggest Death and the Muezzin would be, therefore, the Angel of Death. If so, then there may be no reward, either now during this life or in some hoped for afterlife. Moreover, the nature of the reward is not brought out.

Well, perhaps another reading might give me the answer.

Any thoughts?