What is the metaphor or meaning of Omar Khayyam's poem line There was the door to which I have no key There was the veil past which I could not see?

Answer 1

It is better to examine this question by examining what lies before and after this 32nd Quatrain in Omar Khayyam's poem The Rubaiyat.

Up from Earth's centre through the Seventh Gate

I rose and on the Throne of Saturn sate,

And many a knot unravel'd by the Road;

But not the Knot of Human Death and Fate.

There was a Door to which I found no Key;

There was a Veil past which I could not see:

Some little Talk awhile of ME and THEE

There seemed- and then no more of THEE and ME.

Then to the rolling Heav'n itself I cried,

Asking: 'What Lamp had Destiny to guide

Her little Children stumbling in the Dark?'

And- 'A blind understanding!' Heav'n replied.

Evidently Omar Khayyam is speaking about his imaginary cosmic experiences of rising up to the ethereal world after starting from the centre of the world and leaving the world, travelling through enormous distances till he reached the outer planet in the extreme limits of the Solar system and sate on the Throne of Saturn. Why was he made sit at Saturn without being permitted to pass Neptune and Pluto? He has clearly mentioned human fate and death. He is actually imagining his passage and journey after death. Even though he has travelled through enormous distances in his life and in his imagination, he had not mastered the skill of piety, faith and understanding. That is why he is retained at Saturn, to be called to Pluto, where thetrialof the dead are taking place. He is waiting his turn.

Answer 2

This line symbolizes the idea of a barrier or limitation preventing access to something that is desired or unknown. It conveys a sense of longing, curiosity, and perhaps frustration at being unable to reach or understand what lies beyond the door or veil.