Culture

       Wine, you are                       my insane                                  sweetheart;             I hit the bottle and         have no fear of disgrace. Drink […]

I staggered, drunk, outside a bar last night and saw a tipsy older man emerge,  a bottle slung across his shoulder; and I said to him, “At your age, aren’t you  ashamed before the Lord Almighty?” He  laughed, “God is merciful: Here, have some wine!” Translated by Juan Cole from Omar Khayyam’s Rubaiyat, [pdf] Whinfield 284

Last night I wandered into a  dark pottery workshop and saw  about two thousand pots lined up in silence. But then suddenly  a vase cried out, inquiring, ‘Where in the world are the potter and the customers and salespeople?” Translated by Juan Cole from Omar Khayyam’s Rubaiyat, [pdf] Whinfield 283

My sweetheart —            may she live as long  as my heartbreak —         today began her kindnesses               anew.    She locked eyes with me                for an instant,          then was gone–  […]

If you give wine               to a                     mountain, you will              set it                                       dancing; those  who  find fault  […]

Prudes don’t know Your grace the way we do, and strangers cannot know You as Your close friends do. You said, “If you commit a sin I will consign you to hell!” Yeah, sure- tell it to someone who doesn’t know the real You! Translated by Juan Cole from Omar Khayyam’s Rubaiyat, [pdf] Whinfield 204

When you next hold a party, my dear friends, rejoicing in how stylish you all are; and when the waitress pours the Shiraz wine, remember poor me in your evening prayers! Translated by Juan Cole from Omar Khayyam’s Rubaiyat, [pdf] Whinfield 205

I am busier than you are,  cleric of the faith! And, despite my drunkenness,  I’m soberer than you. I drink the blood of the vine, while you drink that of people. Be fair, which one of us  is more bloodthirsty? Translated by Juan Cole from Omar Khayyam’s Rubaiyat, [pdf] Whinfield 307