Omar Khayyam (88)

Juan Cole 04/07/2012

Since we have to go,
what is it to exist?
What is it to chase
impossible ambitions?
They’ll never pass by
anyplace with a
sense of well-being.
What is it to be deprived
both of travel and of rest?

Translated by Juan Cole
from [pdf] Whinfield 88

About the Author

Juan Cole is the founder and chief editor of Informed Comment. He is Richard P. Mitchell Professor of History at the University of Michigan He is author of, among many other books, Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires and The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. Follow him on Twitter at @jricole or the Informed Comment Facebook Page