Edward FitzGerald (31 March 1809 - 14 June 1883) was an English writer, best known as the poet of the first and most famous English translation of The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam is the title that Edward FitzGerald gave to his translation of a selection of poems, originally written in Persian and of which there are about a thousand, attributed to Omar Khayyám (1048-1131), a Persian poet, mathematician and astronomer. A Persian ruba'i is a two line stanza with two parts (or hemistechs) per line, hence the word "Rubaiyat", (derived from the Arabic root word for 4), meaning "quatrains". Salaman and Absal is among the works of Jami who was one of the greatest Persian poets in the 15th century and one of the last great Sufi poets.

David Ramsey's reinterpretation of the Edward FitzGerald English-language version of the classic Omar Khayyam poem, The Rubaiyat, began with his displeasure of the oft-quoted verse: "Here with a loaf of Bread Beneath..." The author says: "I thought this sounded more Victorian than Persian. I think Omar meant something more like this: 'With a book of verse beneath the bough...' For my own amusement I then proceeded to deflower other of Fitzgerald's translations of Khayyam's poetry. The challenge was to make suitable alternatives to those famous verses that have made The Rubaiyat one of the best-known works of poetry in the English language. One might say that I plagiarized the author, or his principal translator, or both--but I consider this more as an unholy collaboration between the three of us over the centuries. I hope my two unwitting collaborators would not be displeased with my reinterpretation of their efforts." Ramsey's irreverent verses are amusing, full of philosophical wit, and very relevant indeed to today's free-swinging culture. Great reading! Great fun!