Informed Comment Homepage

Thoughts on the Middle East, History and Religion

Header Right

  • Featured
  • US politics
  • Middle East
  • Environment
  • US Foreign Policy
  • Energy
  • Economy
  • Politics
  • About
  • Archives
  • Submissions

© 2025 Informed Comment

  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Member Profile

Total number of comments: 16 (since 2013-11-28 15:55:10)

Jahan

Showing comments 16 - 1
Page: 1

  • Omar Khayyam (66)
    • Jahan 03/21/2012 at 5:40 pm with 1 replies

      Hi Juan,
      Did not mean to pre-empt you, but thought this piece from Khayyam (44) would be appropriate on the occasion of the Persian New Year (Nowruz) at the start of the spring season:

      چون لاله بنوروز قدح گیر بدست
      با لاله رخی اگر ترا فرصت هست
      می نوش بخرمی که این چرخ کبود
      ناگاه ترا چو باد گرداند پست

      Raise your cups like tulips springing up at Nowruz.
      Drink wine happily with a tulip-faced companion,
      if you have a chance.
      As this wheel of fortune, like a storm,
      can knock you down in a flash.

  • Obama's Hypocritical Message to Iran
    • Jahan 03/21/2012 at 9:08 am

      He did far better than the Secretary of State who issued a full Nowruz press statement without ever mentioning Iran or Iranians!

      link to state.gov

      Happy Nowruz!

  • Cheney afraid to speak in "Dangerous" Canada
    • Jahan 03/13/2012 at 12:07 pm with 2 replies

      I wonder how afraid Cheney will be of showing up on a Boston area college campus. Commencement speaker anyone?

  • Omar Khayyam (58)
    • Jahan 03/12/2012 at 10:30 pm with 1 replies

      Khayyam does have a number of godly quatrains, but this does not appear to be one of them. The bride of fate represents the much desired fortune that mankind is after. Khayyam asks her: “What dowry can I offer you to be mine”? She replies: “Your joyous heart is my dowry”. In other words, fortune belongs to the heart that is free of petty religious conflicts and whose creed is to drink wine and be happy.

    • Jahan 03/12/2012 at 3:46 pm

      It is a metaphor for fortune.

  • Omar Khayyam (55)
    • Jahan 03/10/2012 at 10:37 am

      Juan is using a more literal translation from the original Farsi, which rhymes "you and me" instead of "us". Also, what has been translated as bartender (for the lack of a better English word) is actually a pretty-looking and sometimes seductive hostess who goes around and fills up the wine cups. So, "you and me" is a more intimate expression compared to "us" which may include everyone else present in the tavern.

  • Omar Khayyam (5)
    • Jahan 02/17/2012 at 9:32 am

      Human death and decent to earth – as opposed to rise to heavens – and his reincarnation into clay jugs (holding wine) is a common theme in Khayyam’s poetry. As if when he gets drunk, he can hear the jugs talking and telling him their life stories. Utterly beautiful!

  • Active Nuclear Arsenals and Iran's Absence
    • Jahan 02/15/2012 at 6:40 pm

      Sanctions have been in place in one form or another since the 1979 Islamic revolution. In fact Iran’s justification for acquiring nuclear technology from the international “black market” was the embargo on nuclear technology imposed by the west. Under the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty, to which Iran is a signatory, the IAEA is committed to assist member states in developing peaceful nuclear programs. Iran was denied any such assistance. You could argue that they brought this upon themselves by taking American diplomats hostage in 1980, but then you would get yourself into a perpetual back-and-forth argument going back to the 1953 CIA-sponsored coup that reinstated the Shah!! The bottom line is there are no wining arguments here and picking a fight with Iran on such a lousy pretext would be far more reckless and destructive than what was done in Iraq.

    • Jahan 02/15/2012 at 3:23 pm with 7 replies

      Here are a few not necessarily great, but plausible, reasons for enduring sanctions:

      - National pride
      - Rounding up domestic support/rallying the troops/solidification of power
      - Internal political rivalry preventing compromise (think Obama!)
      - Profiteering from sanctions in the absence of foreign trade/competition

  • Omar Khayyam (79)
    • Jahan 02/15/2012 at 12:09 am with 1 replies

      Hi Juan,
      Is this from Whinfield, as well? I cannot seem to be able to find it at the usual place online.
      Thanks!

  • Omar Khayyam (24)
    • Jahan 02/12/2012 at 12:13 pm

      I think Khayyam would be more concerned about taverns closing on Sundays than anything else!

    • Jahan 02/11/2012 at 7:48 pm

      I think the first line needs to be emphasized here: "Between blasphemy and faith there is just a breath". It is again Khayyam pointing out the futility of religious observance and tells you not to waste your precious breath (i.e., life) on it.

  • Omar Khayyam (23)
    • Jahan 02/11/2012 at 3:09 pm with 1 replies

      Well, if you go by Whinfields's text, it is stated as "شراب" meaning wine. Mirage in Farsi is "سراب". Khayyam compares corpses washed away by the sea (river) to kabob washed down by wine.

  • Omar Khayyam (8)
    • Jahan 02/09/2012 at 5:52 pm with 1 replies

      There is certainly more than one way of reading Khayyam. It is called Īhām (artful punning) in Persian poetry and Khayyam was a master of it.
      As for reciters of beautiful Persian poetry, I know a few who cannot "accelerate" all through the evening without their dose of wine. Cheers to them!
      خيام اگر ز باده مستى خوش باش
      با ماه رخى اگر نشستى خوش باش
      چون عاقبت كار جهان نيستى است
      انگار كه نيستى، چو هستى خوش باش

    • Jahan 02/08/2012 at 5:05 pm with 3 replies

      It is so true; " ... in soberness we worry about every little thing, but when we get stoned, anything goes"! Amazing that the concept has not changed in nearly a millennium.

      Thanks for reminding us! I feel like going for a glass of wine after work ...

  • Omar Khayyam (6)
    • Jahan 01/15/2012 at 10:29 pm

      This is how I read the second part:

      If you come looking for me on Resurrection Day,
      Ask for me from the dust at the bar's doorstep ...

Showing comments 16 - 1
Page: 1

Tweet
Share
Reddit
Email

Primary Sidebar

Support Independent Journalism

Click here to donate via PayPal.

Personal checks should be made out to Juan Cole and sent to me at:

Juan Cole
P. O. Box 4218,
Ann Arbor, MI 48104-2548
USA
(Remember, make the checks out to “Juan Cole” or they can’t be cashed)

STAY INFORMED

Join our newsletter to have sharp analysis delivered to your inbox every day.
Warning! Social media will not reliably deliver Informed Comment to you. They are shadowbanning news sites, especially if "controversial."
To see new IC posts, please sign up for our email Newsletter.

Social Media

Bluesky | Instagram

Popular

  • Trump never saw a Wind Farm in China, but Beijing has half of all Installed Wind Capacity and will Eat America's Lunch in this Industry
  • Trumpism holds all Men are Created Unequal and most should be Denied Life, Liberty or the Pursuit of Happiness
  • Why China's Inaction on Palestine and Iran Weakens its Global Standing
  • The Trump Team's Purge of Pentagon Photos Raises Sinister Echoes from the Past
  • Israel continues to Starve, Target Gaza Civilians in ongoing Genocide

Gaza Yet Stands


Juan Cole's New Ebook at Amazon. Click Here to Buy
__________________________

Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires



Click here to Buy Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires.

The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam


Click here to Buy The Rubaiyat.
Sign up for our newsletter

Informed Comment © 2025 All Rights Reserved