Omar Khayyam (129) “No one ever returned”

Juan Cole 05/15/2012

We travelled far and wide
over desert wastes,
and journeyed
toward the horizon.
We never met anyone
coming from other direction.
When once they set out
on that path,
no one ever returned.

Translated by Juan Cole
from Omar Khayyam’s Rubaiyat, [pdf] Whinfield 129

About the Author

Juan Cole is the founder and chief editor of Informed Comment and 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. Follow him at @jricole.