I would not change the song the flute-girl sings
For all the diadems of weary kings,
His joys the Sultan shares with all the world,
His cares he keeps — a chain of glittering rings.

Omar Khayyám (1048-1123) Persian poet, mathematician, philosopher, astronomer [عمر خیام]
Rubáiyát [رباعیات] [tr. Le Gallienne (1897), # 201]
    (Source)

Given LeGallienne's paraphrasing, I am unable to align this with an original quatrain or other translations. The only thing close was:

I would sell the diadem of the khan, the crown of the king, to purchase the song of the flute girl. Let us sell the turban, yea, and the garment of silk, for a cup of wine; let us sell the chaplet which alone contains a multitude of hypocrisy.
[tr. McCarthy (1879), # 191]


 
Added on 24-Jul-25 | Last updated 24-Jul-25
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