Alas, that Spring should vanish with the Rose!

افســـوس که نــامه جـــــوانی طـــــــی شــــد

That, Youth's sweet-scented Manuscript should close!

و آن تــــازه بـــهار زنـــــدگانـــــی دی شــــد

The Nightingale that in the Branches sang,

آن مرغ طــــرب که نـــام او بــــــود شبـــــاب

Ah, whence, and whither flown again, who knows!

فـــــریاد ندانـــــــم که کــــی آمــد، کــــی شــــد

[Khayyam's (1048-1131) quatrain; translated by Edward Fritz Gerald]