Omar Khayyam (43)

Juan Cole 02/25/2012

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Fear of mortality
and notions
of nothingness
are your own kind
of drunkeness.
Otherwise you’d see
that from the
branch of death
twigs of immortality grow.
Ever since Jesus breathed
life into my soul,
everlasting death
has washed its hands of me.

Translated by Juan Cole
from Whinfield 43

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