Attributed to Omar Khayyam
\ntranslated by Juan Cole<\/p>\n
At dawn a shout
\nawoke us in
\nthat watering hole:
\n‘You crazed
\ncarousing
\ndrunk!
\nGet up and grab that bottle;
\nlet\u2019s finish what we started
\nbefore fate starts to finish us.’<\/p>\n
Tonight, who brought you, drunk,
\nhere to me?
\nFrom behind the curtain,
\nwho brought you here?\u2014
\nto someone who was on fire
\nbecause you were gone\u2014
\nsomeone who, like the wind,
\nsought you everywhere!
\nWho brought you here?<\/p>\n
This world
\nthat was our home
\nfor a brief spell
\nnever brought us anything
\nbut pain and grief;
\nits a shame that not one of our problems
\nwas ever solved.
\nWe depart
\nwith a thousand regrets
\nin our hearts.<\/p>\n
Get up and come here
\nfor the sake of my heart,
\nand lend your beauty
\nto solving my problem.
\nBring an earthenware mug
\nfull of wine
\nfor us to drink,
\n\u2014quick before we’re clay
\nin the ground
\nthat they quarry
\nto make mugs.<\/p>\n
When I die,
\nprepare my body in wine
\nAnd in place of a eulogy,
\nlift a glass!
\nOn Resurrection Day
\nyou’ll find my dust
\nstirring beneath
\nthe threshold
\nof the bar<\/p>\n
Lovers are, all their lives,
\nfrantic and intoxicated\u2014
\ncrazy, distracted, \u00a0and disgraced.
\nWhen we’re sober, everything annoys us.
\nBut when we’re drunk,
\nwhatever will be,
\nwill be<\/p>\n
Although we partiers
\nmay have good color
\nand smell pleasant,
\nwith cheeks like rubies;
\nand though we’re tall as a cypress\u2014
\nit’s just not clear,
\nin this earthly cabaret,
\nwhy I was prettied up.<\/p>\n
Where’s the smoke
\nfrom my fire around here?
\nwhere’s the profit
\non my investment around here?
\nAs for the guy
\nwho called me a bar fly,
\nnow really, where’s the bar
\naround here?<\/p>\n
The idol asked the pagan,
\n“Do you know why
\nyou started bowing down to me?”
\n\u2014”It was because the One
\nwho looks out through your eyes
\nshone his light on me!”<\/p>\n
If you are looking for love,
\ntry to attract every heart.
\nIn the path
\nof the Presence,
\ntry to entice every seeker.
\nA hundred holy temples made
\nof water and clay
\nare not worth a single soul.
\nWhy make pilgrimage
\nto a shrine
\nwhen you can win a heart?<\/p>\n
From the house of unbelief
\nto true religion
\nis a single breath;
\nFrom the world of doubt
\nto certainty
\nis a single breath;
\nEnjoy this precious single breath,
\nfor the harvest of our whole lives
\nis that same one breath.<\/p>\n
That priceless ruby
\nis from another mine,
\nand that unique pearl
\nis from a different shop.
\nThinking about this and that
\nis just your imagination, and mine;
\nthe story of passionate love is
\nfrom a different tongue.<\/p>\n
Night and day
\npreceded you and me
\nThe vault of the sky
\nrevolved upon some work.
\nBe careful to tread lightly
\non the earth\u2014
\nyou’re walking on people
\nwho used to be someone’s
\nsweetheart.<\/p>\n
Pagan temples and mosques
\nare all houses of worship.
\nRinging church bells
\nare hymns of worship.
\nThe sacred thread of the Parsee,
\nthe synagogue, the rosary
\nand the crucifix\u2014
\nin reality, all
\nare tokens of
\nservitude to God<\/p>\n
On the tablet of fate
\nwas written
\nthe sign of all things.
\nIt is all the same to the
\npen whether it writes
\nthe good or the bad.
\nIn destiny, all that must be,
\nwas ordained.
\nHow absurd, to grieve or
\nstruggle against it!<\/p>\n
I can’t reveal the mystery
\nto either saint or sinner;
\nI can’t say at length
\nwhat I’ve said curtly;
\nI achieve an altered state
\nthat I can’t explain;
\nI have a secret
\nthat I cannot share.<\/p>\n
Persian originals in. E. H. Whinfield, The Quatrains of Omar Khayyam<\/em> (London: Trubner & Co., 1883)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Rubaiyat Attributed to Omar Khayyam translated by Juan Cole At dawn a shout awoke us in that watering hole: ‘You crazed carousing drunk! Get up and grab that bottle; let\u2019s finish what we started before fate starts to finish us.’ Tonight, who brought you, drunk, here to me? From behind the curtain, who brought you … <\/p>\n