با من بزبان حال می‌گفت سبو :

 

بر سنگ زدم دوش سبوی کاشی ،

سرمست بدم چو کردم این اوباشی ؛

با من بزبان حال می‌گفت سبو :

من چون تو بدم ، تو نیز چون من باشی

Literal Translation:

Yesterday I dashed an earthen vessel against a stone,

 I was drunk when I committed this folly;

In silent speech the vessel said to me:

 "I was once like you, and you shall be as I!"

 

Translation in the Style of Edward FitzGerald (AABA Stanza):

I struck a Pot of Clay against the Stone Yestreen,

Drunk with the Wine, committing Folly unforeseen;

Then in its silent Tongue the Vessel spoke to me:

"I was as Thou art now, and Thou shalt be as I have been!"

Abstract of the Message:

This quatrain touches on a central theme in Omar Khayyam’s philosophy: transience, mortality, and the cycle of existence. Khayyam uses the vessel (made of clay) as a metaphor for the human body. The clay of the pot was once part of the earth—formed perhaps from the dust of human ancestors who lived long ago.

When the poet carelessly shatters the vessel while intoxicated, the broken clay speaks silently ("zaban-e hal" or the language of condition/state), reminding him of the shared, unavoidable fate between humanity and inanimate earth. It serves as a vivid memento mori, reminding the reader that human life is temporary, physical form returns to dust, and time ultimately reduces all human vanity to the very clay beneath our feet.