The clay cup was once a living hand, a laughing mouth, a lover's face. Hold it gently. Everything returns to earth.

The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyam

LiteraturePhilosophy

Why it matters

The idea in context

The Rubáiyát is a set of Persian quatrains attributed to the poet-mathematician Omar Khayyam (1048–1131), famous in the West via Edward FitzGerald's translation.

Türkçe

Aynı kart, başka bir dilde.

Kil kadeh bir zamanlar canlı bir el, gülen bir ağız, bir sevgilinin yüzüydü. Onu nazikçe tut. Her şey toprağa döner.
Ömer Hayyam'ın Rubaileri

Rubâiyat, şair-matematikçi Ömer Hayyam'a (1048–1131) atfedilen Farsça dörtlükler dizisidir; Batı'da Edward FitzGerald'ın çevirisiyle ünlenmiştir.

Source trail

Read beyond the card.

Background reading: Omar KhayyamAttribution and context are revised when stronger evidence appears. Corrections are welcome through the editorial page.
Next in the open archiveDo not let tomorrow steal today. The promise of another world is a poor excuse for missing this one.Q0127