Omar Khayyam (497): “You’re beast and demon, angel, human being”

Juan Cole 01/12/2014

You who distill within you the whole world,
attend to this voice from the realm beyond:
You’re beast, and demon, angel, human being;
whatever you show forth, you are that thing.

Translated by Juan Cole
from Omar Khayyam’s Rubaiyat, [pdf] Whinfield 497

About the Author

Juan Cole is the founder and chief editor of Informed Comment. He is Richard P. Mitchell Distinguished University Professor in the History Department 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