Old Poetry Old Poetry Poetry Poets Essays Forums

Rubaiyat 17


With fate you still hope to trade;
Passage of time should make you afraid.
You said no color comes after black,
I said my black hair to white degrade.

Notes

Translation © Shahriar Shahriari,  1999 - 2003, Los Angeles, CA
You may use any part presented herein for non-commercial purposes only, on the condition of giving full credit to the author and to this home page, including a hyperlink, if you wish to use these material over the Internet.

www.hafizonlove.com

Leave a guest comment (subject to review)

    : Comment:

    Name: (required)
    Email: (required, hidden from spam)

Comments

  • MyKeee
    October 21, 2007

    Edit | Reply
    Wow the ending was so , shall I say wow!! It answered what some feel is an ending but explain how black (life) can degrade or even perhaps upgrade.

  • stephanie sunshine
    February 14, 2004
    Edit | Reply
    oooooooh. this is lovely! i hadn't thought i'd encounter such a fantastic message in so few lines! white after dark. it so aptly expresses two different views of the afterlife. on one hand, we dissipate into something MORE than we were before on some other plane, in some other form. on the other, there is nothing but a vapid abyss.

    i really enjoyed this.

    old poetry is so wonderful!