Courtesy of the inestimable Juan Cole, at Informed Comment:
Those religious zealots
are all jackasses, who’re
carrying a burden
of deceit. And
most amazing of all,
under cover
of their self-denial
they sell their religion!
They are worse than
unbelievers any day.(translated by Juan Cole from Omar Khayyam’s Rubaiyat)
Totally with you, Omar, until the zinger at the end. You mean zealots are worse than me?!
Filed under: fundamentalism Tagged: | Juan Cole, Omar Khayyam, zealots
This is a very strange translation of ANY Khayyam verse.. and Lesley, I have no clue what your remark at the end means: “zinger”, “zealots are worse than me”, duh!
Hatch, if you hang out here, it’s best to polish off your sense of irony…
Zealots have no place in religion…at least for agnostics, there’s still hope…..
most of these poets have always been spot on, Hatch…
Ah, but hope for what? If you mean becoming religious, Nuzhat, then I’m a hopeless case — firmly agnostic. On which, more in the coming months. — L.
Islam makes us optimistic, Lesley. So theres no case of ‘giving up’ on any situation for me. That doesnt mean I look to change people’s convictions, as I’m a firm believer of the, ” no compulsion in religion” , aspect of the Quran.
All the same, my admiration and respect for the knowledge you disseminate to us is beyond compare. And that’s why I continue to love you so.
Nuzhat.
Old Khyyam certainly loved life to the full.
and it comes down to hypocrisy in the end, which permeates most religions.
love this post.
pah