When I am dead, smooth to the level of the soil the dust of my tomb, that I may thus be an example to other men. Then, mix with wine the earth of my body and make of it--a cover for a wine-jar.
O Khayyam! although the Wheel of the Heavens has, in setting up his tent, closed the door to discussions, [it is evident, nevertheless,] that the cupbearer of eternity [God] has produced, in the form of globules of wine in the cup of creation, a thousand other Khayyams like thee.
Give thyself to gaiety, for sorrow will be infinite. The stars will continue movement in the firmament, and the bricks which will be made of thy body will serve to construct palaces for others.
Pass joyously thy life, for many other travelers will file through this world; the soul will cry after the body from which it will be separated, and the head, the seat of the passions, will be trampled under the potter's feet.
Happy the heart of him who has passed unknown, who has not been clothed in a robe of ceremony, nor in luxurious garments, nor in stuffs of great price, who, like the _simourg_, is lifted into the skies to the place of his delight as the owl sits among the ruins of this world.
Drinkers alone know how to appreciate the language of the roses and of wine, and not the feeble in heart or the poor in spirit. Those who have no idea of what is occult, to them ignorance is pardonable, for drunkards alone can understand what belongs to such an order of of things.
Once in the tavern, one can make his ablutions only with wine. There, when a name is soiled, it cannot be restored. Bring, then, some wine, since the veil of our shame is torn in such a manner that it cannot be repaired.
Pierced with a vain hope, I have thrown to the wind a part of my existence, and that without having known here below a day of happiness. That which I fear now is that time will prevent me from seizing the opportunity to make amends for the past.
Alas! my heart has not been able to find any remedy [for its grief], my soul has arrived at the edge of my lips [death], without having attained the object of its love. Alas! my life has passed in ignorance, and the enigma of this love has not been explained.
In the regions of the soul, it is necessary to walk with discernment; upon the things of this world, it is well to be silent. While we have our eyes, our tongues, and our ears, we should be without eyes, without tongues, and without ears.