Cover title: The Rubayyat: the Famous Persian Classic of Love and Life by Omar Khayyam. "Nine centuries have passed since Omar Khayyam composed this eloquent lyrical poem, an echo of the doubts, hopes and desires that have stirred men and women in every age and every place. Now renowned as the Persian poet who created the Rubayyat, Omar Khayyam was known in his time as an astronomer and mathematician. He created his famous poem as a personal answer to the great questions of life. The poem extended through more than 750 stanzas, many of which are now permanently lost. "Though partial copies survived the ravages of time, the Rubayyat was virtually unknown outside the Middle East until the 19th century, when the battered manuscripts aroused the interest of Western scholars. But it took the Englishman Edward FitzGerald, a fortunate combination of scholar and poet, to transform the Rubayyat into a worthy English version. Others had attempted literal translations. Only FitzGerald was able to capture the elusive qualities of mystical wonder and beauty which give this work its timeless interest. "Omar Khayyam was never sure if the end of life would mean the end of his soul or the beginning of a new existence. One fact is certain: he attained immortality in a manner he had not expected, for his masterpiece will live among the great works of literature as long as there are those who read, wonder, and enjoy." (Inside cover)
Author
Arabic:عمر الخيام Persian:عمر خیام Kurdish: عومەر خەییام Omar Khayyám was a Persian polymath, mathematician, philosopher, astronomer, physician, and poet. He wrote treatises on mechanics, geography, and music. His significance as a philosopher and teacher, and his few remaining philosophical works, have not received the same attention as his scientific and poetic writings. Zamakhshari referred to him as “the philosopher of the world”. Many sources have testified that he taught for decades the philosophy of Ibn Sina in Nishapur where Khayyám was born buried and where his mausoleum remains today a masterpiece of Iranian architecture visited by many people every year. Outside Iran and Persian speaking countries, Khayyám has had impact on literature and societies through translation and works of scholars. The greatest such impact among several others was in English-speaking countries; the English scholar Thomas Hyde (1636–1703) was the first non-Persian to study him. The most influential of all was Edward FitzGerald (1809–83), who made Khayyám the most famous poet of the East in the West through his celebrated translation and adaptations of Khayyám's rather small number of quatrains (rubaiyaas) in Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám.'
