Omar Khayyam (337) “I venerate the finest vintage so as to avoid self-worship”

Juan Cole 10/02/2012

I sip at wine, but never to get drunk,
and I assail no one, save for my glass.
I venerate the finest vintage so
as to avoid self-worship of your sort.

Translated by Juan Cole
from Omar Khayyam’s Rubaiyat, [pdf] Whinfield 337

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