Omar Khayyam (153) “they do not even reckon them as human”

Juan Cole 06/22/2012

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The elite and lofty crowd who
hold exalted office
are disgusted at the life of
grief and bother that they suffer.
But when they consider the ones who,
unlike them, are not the
prisoners of high ambition–
the amazing thing is that they do not
even reckon them as human.

Translated by Juan Cole
from Omar Khayyam’s Rubaiyat, [pdf] Whinfield 153

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