Page 5 - New Year's cards
P. 5
Fourth panel
LI
The Moving Oil flows; and then is shipped
Abroad: nor all thy Buyers who are gypped
Shall escape Dependence upon it,
Nor from the Inflation by which they’re gripped.
The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ,
Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,
Nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it.
Notes:
1. The text reflects the country as it was in the final years of the last
Shah, as well as the effects of the 1973 oil crisis.
2. Mazda: both a Japanese automobile and the highest Zoroastrian
deity (Ahura Mazda).
3. Savak: Iranian secret police under the Shah.
4. Jamshyd: a mythical shah in ancient Persepolis.
5. Zurkhana (Zoorkhaneh): traditional Iranian gymnasium.
6. See https://www.unclejg.net/omar for more about the Rubaiyat.
