…Who, in his lifetime, was more renowned as a Mathematician, Astronomer and Philosopher
Moomtaz Emrith
(Windsor, ON, Canada)
Omar Khayyam is among the best well-known Persian poets and mystics in the West. His popularity stems from his now celebrated collection of poems known as the Rubay’yat (Quatrains), translated into English from the original Persian by the Victorian English poet, Edward FitzGerald, and released in 1859. But during his lifetime, Khayyam was known more as a scientist, an astronomer and a mathematician. Composing poetry was, for him, it is said, a way to relax, to seek détente from his daily chores of being a professor. And, it is said that most of his poetic compositions were done instantaneously. Farsi or Persian, like the romance languages, is a very musical language given easily to rhyme and rhythm and dexterously mastered by the poets and relished by their listeners. It would not be far-fetched to say that Omar Khayyam’s poetry fell into that category and which were later collected and put together in book-form.
However, when Edward FitzGerald published his first rendering of Khayyam’s Rubay’yat, many critics argued that his rendering of the Rubay’yat was a very literal one rather than a real ‘translation’ of Khayyam’s complete thoughts as expressed in his Rubbay’yat. In fact, one critic even argued that FitzGerald rendering was more a ‘paraphrase’ of the first two lines of his Quatrains and not necessarily, the full four lines as the English Quatrain is too restricted by its structure and scope to carry the full meaning of Khayyam’s Rubay’yat. The critic, was a Scholar and a well-known Orientalist of his time and an eminent Professor of Arabic at Cambridge University. Dr. Arthur Arberry would go on to do a translation of his own based on a couple of newly acquired Manuscripts of the Rubbay’yat: one was dated 1207 and the other dated 1259 – which was only 75 years after Omar Khayyam’s death and comprised 252 poems. Dr. Arberry did a new translation of the Quatrains, as he put it, “based on upon recent discoveries” but instead he tried to express Khayyam’s full thought in EIGHT lines rather than in FOUR. Yet, it must be pointed out, he could not match the ecstasy and joy, and escapism felt by those reading FitzGerald’s version.
It will surprise many readers to know that when the FitzGerald’s “Rubay’yat of Omar Khayyam” was first published, it received scant or little attention from the public and still less from critics. It lay almost forgotten until poet Algernon Swinburne came across copies of the Rubay’yat lying in a basket by the door of a bookstore, put out for quick ‘sale’ at a ridiculously reduced price – presumably more like a give-away! Swinburne bought himself a copy and took it home to read – which he did. And he was ravished! And that would be the beginning of the popularity and fame of Omar Khayyam in the West as a Persian poet and his Rubay’yat even becoming the most popular book of Persian poetry in England – and soon in Europe. Swinburne even wrote an appreciation of the Rubay’yat in The Times of London, which got the public’s the attention to the collection. From then on, we can safely say, the story behind the Rubay’yat’s was history.
In the years that followed, the “Rubay’yat of Omar Khayyam” would know unprecedented popularity. There would be several editions of the collection, often in deluxe and keep-sake editions, filled with colourful alluring illustrations depicting the tentatively mystical realm of Khayyam’s where the Tavern, Wine and Saki, figured prominently, extolling the fallacy that life was short and that one should make the most of it while down here. Indeed, with Khayyam’s Rubay’yat, the English readers would become familiar with these images and symbols used by Persian mystics: notably words like the Rose, the Bulbul, the Cup and Wine, the Tavern … Sure, people found internal relish and a kind of escapism reading FitzGerald’s Khayyam’s poems. Hence, its unprecedented success with readers. It would be translated into several languages from English and its popularity would continue to grow.
Suddenly, Omar Khayyam, who, in his lifetime, enjoyed a solid reputation as a mathematician, philosopher and scientist in his native Iran, became the most popular Persian poet in Europe. From then on, the popularity of the Rubay’yat would not cease to grow. In fact, from FitzGerald’s rendering of Khayyam’s Rubay’yat, the poet emerges, at first sight, as an Epicurean poet, a materialist and a sensual hedonist. The mystical side of his Rubay’yat was overlooked … unfortunately! People relished the escapism, the sensuality and joy of life expressed in the Rubay’yat. Life was short, he argued. One shouldn’t waste it looking for ‘the ‘Credit’ promised in after-life but rather enjoy the ‘Cash’ down here! Little wonder then that FitzGerald’s rendering of Khayyam Quatrains knew several editions – and still do. Omar Khayyam suddenly became the most celebrated Iranian poet in Europe – outshining such Iranian mystic stalwarts like Rumi, Sa’adi, Hafiz, Attar and others, whose works are more profound and deep in mystical and spiritual thoughts. And, till to-day, Omar Khayyam remains one of the most read Persian poets in the West.
Omar Khayyam, whose name means ‘Tent-maker’, which was probably the craft practiced by his father, already enjoyed, as said earlier, fame as a scientist, an astronomer, a mathematician and a philosopher. Among Khayyam’s well known scientific contributions are: the solar Calendar with near precise 33-year intercalation cycle known as the Jalili Calendar – which became the base of many other calendars. In Iran, Khayyam’s Jalili Calendar is still in use and has been said to be more accurate than the Julian Calendar.
Khayyam was born on May 18, 1048, Neyshapur, Iran, and he died on December 04, 1131. He was interred at Neyshapur, where his mausoleum is also located – with verses from his Rubay’yat inscribed on its walls. Khayyam’s full name was Ghiyath al-Din Abulal-Fath Umar ibn Ibrahim Nisaburi – but he was more simply known as “Omar Khayyam.”
Thanks to FitzGerald, Khayyam has come to enjoy an enviable reputation in the literary world like no other Iranian poet. The Rubay’yat, it is told, were carried by soldiers to the front during World War I & II. They used to read the poems to find solace and inner comfort while fighting for peace and freedom. And Fitzgerald, who had until then been an obscure poet himself, suddenly has found himself thrust in the limelight — ever since!
A few random samples below taken from FitzGerald’s rendering of Khayyam’s Rubay’yat and familiar to western readers:
Life is all illusions, he argues! It’s like building castles in the air. Sooner or later, all will be gone. So will we! He very justly says:
“Ah, my Beloved fill the Cup that clears:
To-day of Past Regrets and Future Fears:
To-morrow? – Why, To-morrow I may be
Myself with Yesterday’s Seve’n Thousand Years!”
Or, better still:
“A Book of Verses underneath the Bough,
A Jug of Wine, a Loaf of Bread – and Thou
Beside me singing in the Wilderness –
Oh, Wilderness is Paradise enow!
Khayyam mused often about the frailty and the intricacies of life down here, which remains to us, mortals, ever a mystery! Khayyam wonders about what life truly is after our end comes:
“Strange, is it not? That of the myriads who
Before us pass’d the door of Darkness through,
Not one returns to tell us of the Road,
Which, to discover, we must travel too!”
Khayyam wondered about the brevity of life down here. And ever was he eager to make the most of it. One should seize the day, as one would say! He, understandably, could not wait for the Day to dawn and the Tavern door to open. He impatiently pines:
“And, as the Cock crew, those who stood before
The Tavern shouted: “Open the Door!
You know how little while we have to stay,
And, once departed, may return no more!”
Omar Khayyam remains, to many, till to-day, thanks to Edward FitzGerald’s rendering of his Rubay’yat, mostly an ‘epicurean’ and a ‘hedonistic’ poet. The mysticism and divine quest for the intricate mysteries beyond our reach, are, unfortunately, lost in our quest and worries as we wonder about the world beyond. That is how, unfortunately, Omar Khayyam emerges as we delve through Edward FitzGerald’s interpretation of his Rubay’yat. The famous mathematician, scientist, astronomer and philosopher has been literally ‘eclipsed’, one would say, by the ‘sensual’ rendering of his Rubay’yat, that he composed, presumably in the moments when he looked for détente and sought relaxation.