Omar Khayyám

"Pagodas like as mosques are homes of prayer, ’Tis prayer that church-bells chime into the air; Yea, church and ka’ba, rosary and cross Are all but divers tongues of world-wide prayer."

"So many cups of wine will I consume Its bouquet shall exhale from out my tomb; And every one that passes by shall halt, And reel and stagger with that mighty fume."

"No longer hug your grief and vain despair But in this unjust world be just and fair And since the substance of the world is naught Deem yourself naught and so shake off dull care."

"When I am dead, with wine my body lave, For obit chant a bacchanalian stave, And if you need me at the day of doom, Beneath the tavern threshold seek my grave"

"Since all we gain in this abode of woe Is sorrow’s pangs to feel and grief to know, Happy are they that never come at all, And they, that, having come, the soonest go."

"Fate will not bend to humour man’s caprice, So vaunt not human powers but hold your peace, Here must we stay, weighed down with grief for this, That we were born so late, so soon decease."

"Like tulips in the spring your cups lift up And with a tulip-cheeked companion sup With joy your wine, or e’er this azure wheel With some unlooked for blast upset your cup."

"When the fair spirit doth this house vacate, Each element resumes its primal state And these four strands of life, like threads of silk Are all unravelled by the blows of fate."

"Since no one can assure thee of the morrow Rejoice thy heart to-day and banish sorrow With moon-bright wine, fair moon! the moon in heaven Will look for us in vain on many a morrow."

"You know the secret of this life my dear Then why remain a prey to useless fear? Bend things to suit your whims you cannot; yet Cheer up for the few moments you are here."

"O Thou who givest sight to emmet’s eyes And strength to feeble limbs of puny flies To Thee we will ascribe omnipotence No meaner attribute to Thee applies."

"All mortal ken is bounded by the veil, To see beyond man’s vision is too frail; Yea! earth’s dark bosom is his only home; Alas! ’twere long to tell the doleful tale."

"When seeking love, pay court to every heart, When once admitted, seek the perfect heart A hundred ka’bas equal not one heart; eek not the ka’ba, rather seek the heart."

"I saw a busy potter by the way Kneading with might and main a lump of clay; And lo! the clay cried ‘Use me tenderly, I was a man myself but yesterday.’"

"If the heart knew life’s secrets here below, At death ’twould know God’s secret’s too, I trow; But if you know naught here, while still yourself, To-morrow, stripped of self, what can you know?"

"Suppose the world goes well with you, what then? When life’s last page is read and turned, what then? Suppose you live a hundred years of bliss Yea, and a hundred more to boot, what then?"

"You see the world but all you see is naught, And all you say and all you hear is naught, Naught the four quarters of the mighty earth, The secrets treasured in your chamber naught."

"My critics call me a philosopher But Allah knows full well they greatly err, I know not even what I am, much less What is the reason that I sojourn here."

"My body’s life and strength proceed from Thee, My soul within and spirit are of Thee, My being is of Thee and Thou art mine, And I am thine, since I am lost in Thee."

"See! the dawn breaks and rends night’s canopy; Arise! and drain a morning draught with me! Away with gloom! full many a dawn will break Looking for us, and we not here to see."

"This circle of the universe resembles a ring, Unquestionably we are the signet engraved on its bezel."

"Allah hath promised wine in Paradise, Why then is wine on earth declared a vice."

"There is a chalice made with art profound, And with its Maker’s approbation crowned, Yet the world’s Potter takes His masterpiece And dashes it to pieces on the ground."

"For him that’s good my very life I’d sell, Yea, though he trod me down, I’d count it well, Men say ‘Inform us what and where is hell?’ Bad company will make this earth a hell."

"To-day to love and rapture we have soared, To-day in Magian precincts wine adored, And rapt beyond ourselves we do abide, Within that tavern, ‘Am I not your Lord?’"

"Ah! thou hast snared this head though white as snow, Which oft has vowed the wine-cup to forego, And wrecked the mansion long resolve did build, And rent the vesture penitence did sew."

"On that dread day when wrath shall rend the sky, And darkness dim the bright stars’ galaxy, I’ll seize the Loved One by the skirt and cry, ‘Why hast thou doomed these guiltless ones to die?’"

"Against death’s arrows what are bucklers worth? What all the pomps and riches of the earth? When I survey the world I see no good But goodness, all beside is nothing worth."

"If you seek Him, abandon child and wife, Forsake and sever all these ties to life; All these are bonds that check your upward course, Arise and cut these bonds as with a knife."

"Khayyam measured the length of the year as 365.24219858156 days. Two comments on this result. Firstly it shows an incredible confidence to attempt to give the result to this degree of accuracy. We know now that the length of the year is changing in the sixth decimal place over a person's lifetime. Secondly it is outstandingly accurate. For comparison the length of the year at the end of the 19th century was 365.242196 days, while today it is 365.242190 days."