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Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam Hardcover – August 15, 1983

by Omar Khayyam (Author), Edmund J. Sullivan (Photographer)

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In the eleventh century, in Persia, there lived a mathematician named Ghiyathuddin Abulfath Omar bin Ibrahim al-Khayyami--or, Omar, son of Abraham, the tent-maker. Omar wrote poetry, and while his rhymes received little attention in their day, they were rediscovered and translated into beautiful English--more than seven centuries later--by a gentleman and scholar named Edward FitzGerald. It was a meeting of minds, a great collaboration of the past and the present, and FitzGerald's rendition of those passionate verses has become one of the best loved poem cycles in the English language.

With their concern for the here and now, as opposed to the hereafter, Omar Khayyam's quatrains are as romantic today as they were hundreds of years ago; they are a tribute to the power of one moment's pleasure over a lifetime of sorrow, of desire over the vicissitudes of time. Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, presented here with Edward FitzGerald's original preface, is truly a classic, and it will stand forever as one of our finest monuments to love.

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Language Notes

Text: English, Persian (translation)

Product details

Hardcover: 128 pages
Publisher: St. Martin's Press (August 15, 1983)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 9780312695279
ISBN-13: 978-0312695279
ASIN: 0312695276
Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 0.6 x 7.4 inches
Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 233 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,899,654 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #716 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Poetry > Regional & Cultural > Middle Eastern
- #1774 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Poetry > Regional & Cultural > Asian
- #2016 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Poetry > Ancient, Classical & Medieval > Ancient & Classical

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Celebrating Life…

November 16, 2015

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

With death dominating the news, due to the recent terrorist attacks in Paris, and the inevitable linkage to the Middle East, I decided that a useful counterpoint would be a review of a very famous celebration of life that also originated from the same region. When Europe was in its “Dark Ages,” the late 11th and early 12th centuries, a polymath shined in Persia (modern-day Iran). Omar Khayyam was a mathematician and astronomer, and wrote numerous treatises on mechanics, geography, mineralogy, and an extremely influential one on algebra. His “Rubaiyat” demonstrates that he was much more than what might be dubbed “a Middle Ages nerd.”

The Rubaiyat is a series of quatrains (four lines of verse). Fittingly enough, Khayyam opens with the beginning of the day, or, as he phrases it much more poetically: “And Lo! The Hunter of the East has caught The Sultan’s Turret in a Noose of Light.” Woven throughout this work is the very transient nature of life… that we must make the very best of every day that we have been given. He states that sentiment, well, much more memorably: “Come, fill the Cup, and in the Fire of Spring; The Winter Garment of Repentance fling; The Bird of Time has but a little way; To fly-and Lo! The Bird is on the Wing.”

I had long admired the Gertrude Bell, and her willingness to explore the Middle East around the commencement of the 20th century. She too had a poetic “eye” for the desert regions, and described them lovingly in The Desert and the Sown: Travels in Palestine and Syria. I had no idea that she had borrowed her title from one of Khayyam’s quatrains, specifically: “With me along some Strip of Herbage strown; That just divides the desert from the sown; Where name of Slave and Sultan scarce is known; And pity Sultan Mahmud on his Throne.” Certainly a way of celebrating the frontier, far from political concerns.

Khayyam successfully identified the four essential ingredients of life, in verse that has been repeated in many fashions, and varying formats: “Here with a Loaf of Bread beneath the Bough; A Flask of Wine, a Book of Verse and Thou; Beside me singing in the Wilderness; And Wilderness is Paradise Now.” Amazon is currently proclaiming “solidarité” (with the people of France) and so shall I, and change the aforementioned “Thou” to “Toi.” And note that the natural world beckons. Never forgetting the necessity, nay, the imperative to hurry, for: “The Worldly Hope men set their Hearts upon; Turns Ashes- or it prospers; and anon; Like Snow upon the Desert’s dusty Face; Lighting a little Hour or two – is gone.”

The translation is by the Orientalist, Edward Fitzgerald. This edition is accompanied by one of those soporific introductions that debate the validity and attributions of the various quatrains. Skip! Yes, in the imperative. Concentrate once, twice and three times on the fresh baked bread under the tree, the all-important Toi, and don’t let the ants, as in introduction, spoil the picnic. 5-stars.

16 people found this helpful17 people found this helpful

A highly affordable book of verse for underneath that bough: enduring in wisdom, enchanting in beauty

February 18, 2016

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Little money, great poetry.

--Both the first (original, initial) and last (fifth) Fitzgerald-Khayyam Rubiyat are here. In my opinion, the first version is the most breath-taking and the fifth less so, like the King James' Bible compared to the New American Standard. One is poetry that reaches the stars and the other is prose.

--The size and heft both are small. This paperback fits into a jeans pocket or small bag, the better to bring underneath some bough with (preferrably) a loaf of bread, a jug of wine, and Thou.

--The cover is from, I believe, the gorgeous Dulac fully illustrated version. It is intended (again, I think) for the quatrain urging us to live fully NOW and when the dark glass comes to us, to reach for it complete and undismayed. I once mortgaged the cat to buy the superb 1901 edition printed on heaviest paper, every page magnificently illustrated by Edmund Sullivan, leather bound, with an enlightening long introduction by Fitzgerald. The same poems, O reader, however (first and fifth version) for about 2% of the price.

ANY READER ALERTS? None. Just expect paperback quality, not legacy quality in size, binding, and illustration. After the second jar of wine and enough Thou, it may not matter. And expect also the similarity between Horac3e writing in about 20 AD and Khayyam/Fitzgerlad in about 1,000 AD and 1870 AD. HIGHLY recommended.

NOTE PLEASE: The Dover THRIFT EDITION is reviewed. Other editions & versions can have different features such as introductory essays and paper quality. The Dover Thrift Edition is high end for the poetry but low end for paper, size, and extras, which make it a fine value if it's the poetry in a smaller format the reader wishes.

5 people found this helpful6 people found this helpful

Wonderful product with beautiful illustrations

December 6, 2017

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

I sometimes think that never blows so red
The rose as were some buried Cæsar bled;
That every Hyacinth the garden wears
Dropt in its lap from some once lovely head

I originally ordered this because I learned about the mysterious case of the Somerton man. "tamám shud" was printed on a scrap of paper found months later in the fob pocket of the man's trousers. The scrap had been torn from the final page of a copy of Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. I thought I would get some minimalistic paper back book but instead got an amazing, beautiful copy with fantastic illustrations.

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3 people found this helpful4 people found this helpful

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