people-from-nishapur

"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."

"By the help of God and with His precious assistance, I say that Algebra is a scientific art. The objects with which it deals are absolute numbers and measurable quantities which, though themselves unknown, are related to "things" which are known, whereby the determination of the unknown quantities is possible. Such a thing is either a quantity or a unique relation, which is only determined by careful examination. What one searches for in the algebraic art are the relations which lead from the known to the unknown, to discover which is the object of Algebra as stated above. The perfection of this art consists in knowledge of the scientific method by which one determines numerical and geometric unknowns."

"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."

"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."

"I was unable to devote myself to the learning of this al-jabr [algebra] and the continued concentration upon it, because of obstacles in the vagaries of time which hindered me; for we have been deprived of all the people of knowledge save for a group, small in number, with many troubles, whose concern in life is to snatch the opportunity, when time is asleep, to devote themselves meanwhile to the investigation and perfection of a science; for the majority of people who imitate philosophers confuse the true with the false, and they do nothing but deceive and pretend knowledge, and they do not use what they know of the sciences except for base and material purposes; and if they see a certain person seeking for the right and preferring the truth, doing his best to refute the false and untrue and leaving aside hypocrisy and deceit, they make a fool of him and mock him."

"Whoever thinks algebra is a trick in obtaining unknowns has thought it in vain. No attention should be paid to the fact that algebra and geometry are different in appearance. Algebras (jabbre and maqabeleh) are geometric facts which are proved by propositions five and six of Book two of Elements."

"Give me a flagon of red wine, a book of verses, a loaf of bread, and a little idleness. If with such store I might sit by thy dear side in some lonely place, I should deem myself happier than a king in his kingdom."

"Awake! for Morning in the Bowl of Night Has flung the Stone that puts the Stars to Flight: And Lo! the Hunter of the East has caught The Sultan's Turret in a Noose of Light."

"Wake! For the Sun, who scatter'd into flight The Stars before him from the Field of Night, Drives Night along with them from Heav'n, and strikes The Sultan's Turret with a Shaft of Light."

"Dreaming when Dawn's Left Hand was in the Sky I heard a Voice within the Tavern cry, "Awake, my Little ones, and fill the Cup Before Life's Liquor in its Cup be dry.""

"Before the phantom of False morning died, Methought a Voice within the Tavern cried, "When all the Temple is prepared within, Why nods the drowsy Worshipper outside?""

"And, as the Cock crew, those who stood before The Tavern shouted — "Open then the Door! You know how little while we have to stay, And, once departed, may return no more.""

"Now the New Year reviving old Desires, The thoughtful Soul to Solitude retires, Where the on the Bough Puts out, and Jesus from the Ground suspires."

"Irám indeed is gone with all its Rose, And Jamshýd's Sev'n-ring'd Cup where no one knows; But still the Vine her ancient Ruby yields, And still a Garden by the Water blows."

"But still a Ruby kindles in the Vine, And many a Garden by the Water blows."

"In divine High piping Péhlevi, with "Wine! Wine! Wine! "Red Wine!"—the Nightingale cries to the Rose That yellow Cheek of her's to'incarnadine."