“How sad, a heart thatdoes not know how to love, thatdoes not know what it is to be drunk with love.If you are not in love, how can you enjoythe blinding light of the sun,the soft light of the moon?”

“How much more of the mosque, of prayer and fasting?Better go drunk and begging round the taverns.Khayyam, drink wine, for soon this clay of yoursWill make a cup, bowl, one day a jar.When once you hear the roses are in bloom,Then is the time, my love, to pour the wine;Houris and palaces and Heaven and Hell-These are but fairy-tales, forget them all.”

“May your love for your belovedbe as great as the love of the bottle for the glass.Look, how one gives and one receives, lip againstlip, the precious blood of the grapes!”

“It’s too bad if a heart lacks fire,and is deprived of the light of a heart ablaze.The day on which you arewithout passionate loveis the most wasted day of your life.”

“Scholars really have nothing to teach you.But from the soft touch of the eyelashes ofa woman you will know all there is to know about happiness.Buy wine, take it toa secluded place and let it comfort you.”

“The arch of heaven looks like anupside-down cup, under which the wisewander in vain. May your love for your belovedbe as great as the love of the bottle for the glass.Look, how one gives and one receives, lip againstlip, the precious blood of the grapes.”

“Why do you sell your wine, merchant?What can they give you in exchange for your wine? Money? … And what can money give you? Power? … Aren't you the owner of the world when you are holding a drink? Is anyone richer than you, who have gold in your cup, Rubies, Pearls, Dreams, and Love? Don't you feel the blood burning in your veins when the cup kisses your lips.”