Omar Khayyam Poems
A collection of select Omar Khayyam famous poems that were written by Omar Khayyam or written about the poet by other famous poets. PoetrySoup is a comprehensive educational resource of the greatest poems and poets on history.
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by
Omar Khayyam
That grace and favour at the first, what meant it?
That lavishing of joy and peace, what meant it?
But now thy purpose is to grieve my heart;
What did I do to cause this change? What meant it?...Read more of this...
by
Omar Khayyam
This wheel of heaven, which makes us all afraid,
I liken to a lamp's revolving shade,
The sun the candlestick, the earth the shade,
And men the trembling forms thereon portrayed....Read more of this...
by
Omar Khayyam
Who was it brought thee here at nightfall, who?
Forth from the harem in this manner, who?
To him who in thy absence burns as fire,
And trembles like hot air, who was it, who?...Read more of this...
by
Omar Khayyam
The stars, who dwell on heaven's exalted stage,
Baffle the wise diviners of our age;
Take heed, hold fast the rope of mother wit.
These augurs all distrust their own presage....Read more of this...
by
Omar Khayyam
O you who tremble not at fires of hell,
Nor wash in water of remorse's well,
When winds of death shall quench your vital torch,
Beware lest earth your guilty dust expel....Read more of this...
by
Omar Khayyam
Plot not of nights, thy fellows' peace to blight,
So that they cry to God the live-long night;
Nor plume thee on thy wealth and might, which thieves
May steal by night, or death, or fortune's might....Read more of this...
by
Omar Khayyam
When the fair soul this mansion doth vacate,
Each element assumes its primal state,
And all the silken furniture of life
Is then dismantled by the blows of fate....Read more of this...
by
Omar Khayyam
'Tis best all other blessings to forego
For wine, that charming Turki maids bestow;
Kalendars' raptures pass all things that are,
From moon on high down into fish below!...Read more of this...
by
Omar Khayyam
I saw a busy potter by the way
Kneading with might and main a lump of clay;
And, lo! the clay cried, «Use me gently, pray;
I was a man myself but yesterday!»...Read more of this...
by
Omar Khayyam
Be attentive, friend, and while thou still art able, lighten
the grief of a loving heart, for this kingdom of grace
that now thou hast will not last always, but, like so many
others thou shalt unexpectedly be called....Read more of this...
by
Omar Khayyam
Whate'er thou doest, never grieve thy brother,
Nor kindle fumes of wrath his peace to smother;
Dost thou desire to taste eternal bliss,
Vex thine own heart, but never vex another!...Read more of this...
by
Omar Khayyam
Friend! trouble not yourself about your lot,
Let futile care and sorrow be forgot;
Since this life's vesture crumbles into dust,
What matters stain of word or deed, or blot?...Read more of this...
by
Omar Khayyam
Heaven's wheel has made full many a heart to moan,
And many a budding rose to earth has thrown;
Plume thee not on thy youth and lusty strength,
Full many a bud is blasted ere 'tis blown....Read more of this...
by
Omar Khayyam
Leave knowledge and take the cup in thy hand. Disturb
thyself not about Paradise or Hell, but seek rather
the Koocer [the celestial river of wine]. Sell thy silken
turban to buy wine and have no more fear. Rid thyself
of that head-dress and envelop thy head in a simple woolen
band [emblem of Sufism]....Read more of this...
by
Omar Khayyam
Thou hast broken my pitcher of wine, my God! Thou
hast shut upon me the portals of joy, my God! Thou
hast poured upon earth my limpid wine, my God! Oh!
[would that my mouth were filled with earth!] couldst
Thou have been drunk, my God?
376...Read more of this...
by
Omar Khayyam
How long can I hold you by my ignorance? My own
annihilation oppresses my heart. Straightway I gird my
loins with the ephod of the priests. Do you know why?
Because it is the fashion of the Musulman, and I am one....Read more of this...
by
Omar Khayyam
Since this world is not a place of permanent sojourn for
us, it would be an enormous error to deprive ourselves
of wine and abstain from the favors of our well-beloved.
Oh, peaceable man! how long these discussions upon the
creation or upon the eternity of the world? When I no
longer am, what will it matter to me whether it be ancient
or modern.
350...Read more of this...
by
Omar Khayyam
Guard thyself from ever despairing for a crime committed,
and be mindful of the clemency of thy Creator,
the pity of the Master; for, should'st thou die to-day, in
a state of complete drunkenness, to-morrow he would
pardon thy decaying dust for all....Read more of this...
by
Omar Khayyam
Young wooer, charm all hearts with lover's art,
Glad winner, lead thy paragon apart!
A hundred Ka'bas equal not one heart,
Seek not the Ka'ba, rather seek a heart!...Read more of this...
by
Omar Khayyam
On earth's green carpet many sleepers lie,
And hid beneath it others I descry,
And others, not yet come, or passed away,
People the desert of Nonentity!...Read more of this...
by
Omar Khayyam
If your own satisfaction consists in casting grief into a
heart free from all care, you could, friend, make mourning
with your wisdom during your whole life. Go, be
unhappy, then, for you are a person strangely ignorant....Read more of this...
by
Omar Khayyam
Go, choose bliss, if you are wise, and finally you may
be able to drink wine from the hand of the drinkers of
eternity, but you are one of the ignorant and joy is not
in you, it is not given to every ignorant one to taste
the sweets that ignorance gives.
387...Read more of this...
by
Omar Khayyam
The devotee knows not how to appreciate as well as
we Thy divine pity. A stranger can never know Thee
as perfectly as a friend. [They pretend] that Thou hast
said: If you commit sin, I will send you into Hell. Go
now—tell that to one who knows Thee not....Read more of this...
by
Omar Khayyam
We make the wine-jar's lip our place of prayer,
And drink in lessons of true manhood there,
And pass our lives in taverns, if perchance
The time mis-spent in mosques we may repair....Read more of this...
by
Omar Khayyam
Endure this world without my wine I cannot!
Drag on life's load without my cups I cannot!
I am the slave of that sweet moment, when
They say, «Take one more goblet,» and I cannot!...Read more of this...