Omar Khayyam (11th-12th centuries CE), a celebrated polymath, mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher is best known as a Persian poet and author of the RubÄ â ~iyÄ t, but his validity as a poet is highly debated. To address this, this book focuses on 100 quatrains that have been authenticated by three known Persian authorities. To bring out Khayyamâ (TM)s voice, inner feelings and thoughts, this unique bilingual volume provides the Persian originals side-by-side with their literal translations in English. This serves to bring the reader closer to the originals, and allows them to make connections and draw conclusions according to their time and place in life.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1882.

Philosopher, astronomer and mathematician, Khayyam as a poet possesses a singular originality. His poetry is richly charged with evocative power and offers a view of life characteristic of his stormy times, with striking relevance to the present day. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

The poems attributed to Omar Khayyam have a universal and timeless philosophical theme: life is a meaningful journey even if brief and uncertain. They inspire an unconstrained free-thinking mindset and a wise realization that guides thinking persons: it is impossible to see the absolute truth, as the universe has its own reality that remains largely hidden, and that one must think and act accordingly. This book presents a selection of Khayyam's poems in their original Persian language along with their English translations in a faithful and modern version. By relying only on the original Persian version of Khayyam's poems, and using the author's own body of literary and linguistic knowledge, this book presents a modern translation of Omar Khayyam's poems since Edward Fitzgerald's Rubaiyat in 1859.

A repository of subversive, melancholic and existentialist themes and ideas, the rubaiyat (quatrains) that make up the collected poems attributed to the 12th century Persian astronomer Omar Khayyam have enchanted readers for centuries. In this modern translation, complete with critical introduction and epilogue, Juan Cole elegantly renders the verse for contemporary readers. Exploring such universal questions as the meaning of life, fate and how to live a good life in the face of human mortality, this translation reveals anew why this singular collection of poems has struck a chord with such a temporally and culturally diverse audience, from the wine houses of medieval Iran to the poets of Western twentieth century modernism.

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!

Of special note in this still youthful age of self-published books (digital ebooks as well as books 'Printed-on-Demand'), is the truly astonishing fact that the Rubáiyát was a self-published book, and not only self-published, but anonymously so by its translator, Edward FitzGerald!It was also a financial flop, with the unsold copies remaindered to the penny box in one small bookstore. Were it not for Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Algernon Charles Swinburne, two famous Victorian authors, happening quite by chance to see a pamphlet advertising second-hand books, and being curious about one titled Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám the Astronomer-Poet of Persia, Translated into English Verse (no translator named), the entire batch was destined to be reborn as waste paper.This CreateSpace/Kindle edition of the Rubáiyát, edited and with a Preface by H.D. Greaves, is unique in that it contains all the FitzGerald editions: the First, the Second, and the Fifth, as well as FitzGerald's extensive variations in his Third and Fourth Editions. You will also find here FitzGerald's Notes to the Second Edition, his Introduction to the Third Edition, his essay on Omar Khayyám, and a complete Glossary. Although FitzGerald's translation is not literal (he called it a "transmogrification" from the Persian), it is by far the greatest English language version of these extraordinary quatrains.This inexpensive CreateSpace paperback and its Kindle ebook companion contain no illustrations. As lovely-and as beloved-as many of those are, it may be wise to consider that Omar Khayyám's immortal words ultimately need no artist's palette. Our imagination and discernment are more than enough to give them life.