The name Omar Khayyam is linked forever with Persian poetry. ‘The Rubaiyat’ of Omar Khayyam is a collection of quatrains. A quatrain is a poem or verse that has four lines.
Each of Khayyam’s quatrains is a mini-poem. There are about one thousand quatrains in ‘The Rubaiyat’. Edward Fitzgerald’s poetic translation of ‘The Rubaiyat’ created a sensation in the Western world. This marvellous work has been translated into more than a hundred languages.
Khayyam’s birthday falls on 18th May. He was born in Nishapur, Iran in 1048, when Malik-Shah I, the Seljuk was on the throne. Khayyam was a man of many talents. He wrote on physics and music theory. He made telling contributions to mathematics, philosophy, and astronomy. He also found time for calendar reform.
‘The Rubaiyat’ of Omar Khayyam continues to inspire poetry lovers all over the world.
