Where have we come from? Where are we going?
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| Where have we come from? Where are we going? by , translated by Dmitri Smirnov |
| From The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. Literal ranslation by Dmitri Smirnov from Russian translation by Osip Rumer (1883-1954). Source: Омар Хайям. Четверостишия. М., 1938 (Omar Khayyám. Rubaiyat. Moscow, 1938). |
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Where have we come from? Where are we going?
What is the meaning of our lives? We can’t comprehend.
So many pure souls under the blue circle of sky
Burn into ashes! But tell me, where is the smoke?
[edit] Other translations:
- What is the benefit of our arrival and departure? (Literal)
- We come and go, but for the gain, where is it? (E. H. Whinfield)
The note on the translation:
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