St Marys Books

The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam was originally a selection of verse and poems written by a gentlemen called Omar Khayyam from the North- East of Persia between 1025 and 1050 AD. Multiple translations have since been made and there are many varying opinions as to how it should be interpreted, but by far the most popular, and believed to be most accurate, are English translations by Edward Fitzgerald written the 1800s

Little is actually known about the original writer, although he is known to have been both a poet, mathematician and astronomer. Whilst there is a religious undertone to the majority of his work it is often argued that he actually showed signs of atheism, although a lot of what he wrote was masked with mystical phraseology so as not to draw too harsh of an opinion upon himself from fellow philosophers.

With regards to the actual text, a rub'ai is a two line stanza with two parts per line hence the title 'Rubaiyat' meaning quatrains. Although all of the quatrains pass under his name the work was in fact compiled by numerous poets of the era, leading to a disjointed and almost entirely random collection of poems and verse. It was Edward Fitzgerald who undertook the arduous task of turning the scattered threads of the original into one complete and imperishable masterpiece.

Here at St Marys Books we have recently acquired a large selection of different versions of the Rubaiyat - many of which are by Edward Fitzgerald. An interesting read for any lover of poetry of Persian literature. Rarely will one find a piece of literature that has not only been so extensively researched and worked upon, but also that causes so much controversy and argument due to strong differences in interpretation.

Take a look at our Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam collection here

Look through more of our Spotlights here