Omar Khayyam (162) “Be happy, since once you’re upset it goes on forever”

Juan Cole 01/19/2013

Be happy, since once you’re upset
it goes on forever–
as stars move into conjunction
in the sky, it will go on.
The brick they will one day
mold from your clay
will be lodged in the portico
of someone else’s palace.

Translated by Juan Cole
from Omar Khayyam’s Rubaiyat, [pdf] Whinfield 162

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