Omar Khayyám was born in Nishapur, Persia, in
what is now Iran. Since the literal translation of his
birth name, al-Khayyámi, means “tent-maker,” it
is possible to assume that his father made tents for
a living. Although Omar received an education in
philosophy, he was highly gifted in many areas. Before
he turned 25, he wrote a book on music, a
book on algebra, and his famous Problems of Arithmetic.
In 1070, he moved to Samarkand in Uzbekistan,
where he devoted himself to algebra and
astronomy. A talented scientist and mathematician,
he calculated the length of the year with precision;
created the Jalali Calendar, which is more accurate
than the Julian; created a geometric solution of
cubic equations; and created accurate astronomical
tables. He achieved all of these accomplishments
while performing as a court astronomer for the
king of Malekshah. During his 40s, he traveled to
Baghdad, Mecca, and other areas of the Middle
East, returning to Nishapur to spend his remaining
years teaching.
During Omar’s lifetime, the political situation
in Persia was unstable: rulers competed for power,
and radical groups tried to establish a state based
on orthodox Islam. At one point, Omar became
the subject of the radicals’ attacks because they felt
that his questioning mind did not conform to conservative
faith. He was targeted especially by the
Sufis, whose practices he ridiculed.
In addition to conducting scientific and mathematical
research, Omar also wrote poetry. Perhaps
because he was too honest or logically-minded,
though, he never developed his poetry in a mystical
fashion, as did some of the Sufi poets such as Hafiz.
Omar Khayyám’s most famous work is the
Rubáiyát, a collection of about 1,000 poems, each
written in an epigrammatic style and consisting of
quatrains, four line groups. About 600 of the
poems were translated by Edward Fitzgerald
(1809–83) in 1859. The translation was well received
and maintains the spirit of Omar’s original
reflections on humanity, nature, life, and mortality.
Critical Analysis
Scholars have taken two opposing views of Omar
Khayyám’s Rubáiyát. Some claim that the poet was
highly influenced by Islamic mysticism and that
his references to wine and lovers are allegorical expressions
of the mystical wine and divine love.
Others argue that Omar understood his mortality,
had a pessimistic view of the spiritual nature of
life, and celebrated only sensual, temporal pleasures.
These scholars view references to wind and
lovers in the Rubáiyát as literal. The truth of
Omar’s message perhaps lies between these two
schools of thought. As a scientist, he had a trained
mind and a natural inclination to view the world
and himself through “clinical” eyes, but as a man,
he also felt passion, love, hatred, sadness, and joy.
The Rubáiyát reveals the soul of a romantic disillusioned
by hypocrisy and futility and, at the
same time, aware of beauty and spirituality. In
some quatrains of the Rubáiyát, the poet realizes
that his love for truth and sincerity will not win
him the sympathy of the world, and he understands
that all he possesses—his scientific talent,
his intellect—are useful to society only as long as
he conforms to those upon whom he is dependent
for survival, or as long as society needs him. At
times, the truth of the poet’s situation reveals his
bitterness:
The good and evil that are in man’s heart,
The joy and sorrow that are our fortune
and destiny,
Do not impute them to the wheel of heaven
because, in the light of reason,
The wheel is a thousand times more helpless
than you.
(Stanza 34)
Yet the disillusioned man can, at other times, find
peace and comfort in simple pleasures:
I need a jug of wine and a book of poetry,
Half a loaf for a bite to eat,
Then you and I, seated in a deserted spot,
Will have more wealth than a Sultan’s
realm.
(Stanza 98)
Themes of merrymaking and enjoying wine,
the company of good friends, and beautiful
women constitute a significant part of the
Rubáiyát, but the man Omar seemed to find it difficult
to reconcile the critical and scientific with
the sensual and spiritual. At times, this lack of reconciliation
comes across in the poet’s CARPE DIEM
outlook on life:
Khayyám, if you are drunk on wine,
enjoy it,
If you are with the tulip-cheeked, enjoy her:
Since the world’s business ends in nothing,
Think that you are not and, while you are,
enjoy it.
(Stanza 140)
The momentary, transient nature of human life
is another prevalent theme of the Rubáiyát. Realistically,
Omar perceived mortality as inevitable, so
much so, however, that it prevented him from
finding peace in religion, faith, or spirituality:
Oh what a long time we shall not be and
the world will endure,
Neither name nor sign of us will exist;
Before this we were not and there was no
deficiency,
After this, when we are not it will be the
same as before.
(Stanza 51)
It is perhaps this duality of humanity that
Omar portrays with aching clarity that makes the
Rubáiyát one of the most treasured works in world
literature. It has been translated into most major
languages, and Omar Khayyám’s sharp wit, polished
form, and depth of meaning remain highly
relevant for readers of all epochs and cultures.
English Versions of a Work by
Omar Khayyám
Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám. Edited and translated by
Peter W. Avery and John Heath-Stubbs. Harmondsworth,
U.K.: Penguin Books, 1981.
Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám: A Critical Edition. Translated
by Edward Fitzgerald. Edited by Christopher
Decker. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia,
1997.
Works about Omar Khayyám
Alexander, Doris. Creating Literature Out of Life: The
Making of Four Masterpieces. University Park:
Penn State University Press, 1996.
Bjerregaard, C. H. Sufi Interpretations of the Quatrains
of Omar Khayyam and FitzGerald (1902). Whitefish,
Mont.: Kessinger Publishing, 2003.
Thompson, Eben Francis.Wisdom of Omar Khayyam.
New York: Kensington Publishing, 2001.
Yogananda, Paramahansa. Rubáiyát of Omar
Khayyám Explained. Nevada City, Calif.: Crystal
Clarity Publishers, 1994.
Yogananda, Paramahansa. Wine of the Mystic: The
Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám: A Spiritual Interpretation,
from Edward Fitzgerald’s Translation of the
Rubáiyát. Los Angeles: Self-Realization Fellowship
Publishers, 1996.