Omar Khayyam – Iran – Persian (1048 – 1131)

Ghiyās ol-Dīn Ab’ol-Fath Omār ibn Ebrāhīm Khayyām Neyshābūrī, or Omar Khayyam, born: May 18, 1048 in Nishapur, Iran (Persia) – died: December 4, 1131), was a Persian poet, mathematician, philosopher and astronomer. He is best known for the collection of poetry, the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. (full long texts about him, the Khayyam’s shrine, his time as Student, writer and poet, Mathematician and Astronomer, his view about Islam, his poems as a sceptic, but also Miscellaneous and References, you’ll find all on wikipedia).

He said: « Up from Earth’s centre through the Seventh Gate I rose, and on the throne of Saturn sate, And many knots unravel’d by the road; But not the knot of human death and fate ». (full text).

See: his tomb as a modern monument.

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Omar Khayyam – Iran (Persian, 18 May 1048 – 04 December 1131)

Professor Marcel Conche (in french) from the french Sorbonne, calls him ‘the Islamic Voltaire’/Voltaire en terre d’islam. (Found in ‘Les nouveaux penseurs de l’Islam, RevueLe Nouvel Observateur, hors-série, avril-mai 2004’).

The great Persian mathematician, astronomer, freethinker and epigrammatist, who derived the epithet Khayyam (the tentmaker) most likely from his father’s trade, was born in or near Nishapur, where he is said to have died in AH 517 (AD 1123). At an early age he entered into a close friendship both with Nizam-ul-mulk and his schoolfellow Hassan ibn Sabbah, who founded afterwards the terrible sect of the Assassins. When Nizam-ul-mulk was raised to the rank of vizier by the Seljuk sultan Alp-Arslan (AD 1063-1073) he bestowed upon Hassan ibn Sabbah the dignity of a chamberlain, whilst offering a similar court office to Omar Khayyam. But the latter contented himself with an annual stipend which would enable him to devote all his time to his favorite studies of mathematics and astronomy. His standard work on algebra, written in Arabic, and other treatises of a similar character raised him at once to the foremost rank among the mathematicians of that age, and induced Sultan Malik-Shah to summon him in AH 467 (AD 1074) to institute astronomical observations on a larger scale, and to aid him in his great enterprise of a thorough reform of the calendar. The results of Omar’s research were a revised edition of the Zij or astronomical tables, and the introduction of the Ta’rikh-i-Malikshahi or Jalali, that is, the so-called Jalalian or Seljuk era, which commences in AH 471 (AD 1079, 15th March). (full text).

  • Look to the Rose that blows about us–« Lo,
  • « Laughing, » she says, »into the World I blow:
  • « At once the silken Tassel of my Purse
  • « Tear, and its Treasure on the Garden throw. » (13th Verse, Picked up on rosarian.com).

… On a rich historical material the researchers have proved merits Omar Khayyam as one of the scientist, which has made a number of major discoveries in astronomy, mathematicians and physics. From 1074 Khayyam headed largest astronomical observatory. In middle 90’s г.г. XI of a century has made piligrimage to Mecca. The last years of life Khayyam has spent in Nishapur. He poorly communicated with the people and in these years his frends was only the books. The work of Khayyam is the surprising phenomenon in a history of culture of the peoples of Middle Asia and Iran. Khayyam passionately wished the rebuilding of the world and did for this purpose all he can: discovered the laws of a nature, entered into secrets of world creation.This one more proof that in middle centuries, during inquisition, the spiritual development of the human society not stopped and could not stop. Literary heritage of Omar Khayyam may been found in an exhibition  » Force – in justice. Omar Khayyam. 950 years from the date of birth « , open in Russian national library in March 1999. In it the books, magazines are widely submitted. Albums from all funds of library … (full text).

Depending on the sources of reference that one chooses, Omar Khayyam is believed to have composed somewhere between 200 and 600 Rubaiyat (quatrains). Some are known to be authentic and are attributed to him, while others seem to be combinations or corruption of his poetry, and whose origins are more dubious. The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam is among the few masterpieces that has been translated into most languages, including English, French, German, Italian, Russian, Chinese, Hindi, Arabic, and Urdu. The most famous translation of the Rubaiyat from Farsi into English was undertaken in 1859 by Edward J. Fitzgerald. It appears that in many of his translations, he has combined a few of the Rubaiyat to compose one, and sometimes it is difficult to trace and correspond the original to the translated version. However, he has tried his utmost to adhere to the spirit of the original poetry. The Farsi collection presented in this web page is almost universally believed to be authentic and or his own original composition. At this time, it does not include all the Rubaiyat, though a significant proportion. For the benefit of the non-Farsi speaking reader, I have included two translations … (full text).

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