Omar Khayyam (186) “wine educates the soul”

Juan Cole 09/13/2012

If you give wine
to a
mountain,
you will
set it
dancing;
those
who
find fault
with wine
have something
wrong with
them.
I’ll never repent
of my wine,
for it
educates
the soul.

Translated by Juan Cole
from Omar Khayyam’s Rubaiyat, [pdf] Whinfield 186

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 and an adjunct professor, Gulf Studies Center, Qatar University. 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