Omar Khayyam

Fictional drawing of Omar Khayyám

Omar Khayyám, Persian عمر خیام (May 18, 1048 – December 4, 1131), was a Persian poet, mathematician and astronomer. During his own life he was primarily known for his ingenious work as a scientist; Khayyam contributed a number of insights to the development of geometry, algebra, and other fields of mathematics, and he also revolutionized the field of astronomy by proving that the earth-centric theory of the cosmos was fundamentally flawed. Almost all of Khayyam's contributions to science would eventually find their way into the Western hemisphere.

Today, however, Khayyam is primarily known as a poet, and particularly for the volume The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, famously translated by the 19th-century English poet Edward FitzGerald. Khayyam's poetry, written in rubaiyat, or quatrains, which tend to rhyme aaba is memorable not only for the beauty of its language and the concise gracefulness of the rubaiyat form, but also because they give the reader a glimpse at a mind of profound complexity and intelligence addressing fundamental issues of faith, doubt, and morality. As a brilliant scientist and devout Muslim, Khayyam struggled to find the balance between rationality and religion, and it is that struggle which forms the principle topic of Khayyam's poetry. Although he was virtually unknown to Western audiences until nearly a millenium after his death, Khayyam is now universall acknowledged as one of the most profound and important poets of the Middle-East.

Student

Khayyam is thought to have been born into a family of artisans in the city of Nishapur. He spent his childhood in the town of Balhi, studying there and being tutored by Sheik Muhammad Mansuri, one of the most well-known scholars of the time. Later, Omar Khayyám studied under Imam Mowaffak of Nishapur, who was considered one of the greatest teachers of the region. Two other exceptional students began studying under the same teacher at about the same time. One of these was Nizam-ul-Mulk, who went on to become the Vizier to two rulers of the Persian Empire. The other was Hassan-i-Sabah, who went on to become the leader of the Hashshashin.

It was commonly believed that any young man who studied under that eminent Imam would attain honor and happiness. These three students, who became friends, pledged to each other that whichever of them was to receive fortune would share it equally with the other two. After Nizam-ul-Mulk became Vizier, Hassan-i-Sabah and Omar Khayyám each went to him, and asked to share in his good fortune.

Omar Khayyám was very modest in his request, not asking for any office or fame, but simply a place to live, study science, and pray. He was granted a yearly pension of 1,200 mithkals of gold from the treasury of Nishapur. He lived on this pension for the rest of his life.

Mathematician

Khayyam was famous during his lifetime as a mathematician, well known for inventing the method of solving cubic equations by intersecting a parabola with a circl. Although his approach at achieving this had earlier been attempted by Menaechmus and others, Khayyám provided a generalization extending it to all cubics. In addition he discovered the binomial expansion, and authored criticisms of Euclid's theories of parallels which made their way to Europe, where they contributed to the eventual development of non-Euclidean geometry.

In 1070 he wrote his great work on algebra. In it he classified equations according to their degree, and gave rules for solving quadratic equations, which are very similar to the ones we use today, and a geometric method for solving cubic equations with real roots. He also wrote on the triangular array of binomial coefficients known as Pascal's triangle. In 1077, Omar wrote Sharh ma ashkala min musadarat kitab Uqlidis (Explanations of the Difficulties in the Postulates of Euclid). An important part of the book is concerned with Euclid's famous parallel postulate, which had also attracted the interest of Thabit ibn Qurra. Omar's attempt at proving this difficult postulate was a distinct advance over those of his contemporaries. Khayyám also had other notable work in geometry, specifically on the theory of proportions.

Astronomer

Omar Khayyám was also famous as an astronomer. In 1073, the Malik-Shah, sultan of the Seljuk dynasty, invited Khayyám to build an observatory along with various other distinguished scientists. Eventually, Khayyám measured the length of the year with extraordinary accuracy as 365.24219858156 days. This calendar measurement has only a 1 day error in every 5,000 years, whereas the Gregorian Calendar used today, has a 1 day error in every 3,330 years.

Omar Khayyam also estimated and proved to an audience that the universe is not moving around earth as was believed by all at that time. By constructing a revolving platform and simple arrangement of the star charts lit by candles around the circular walls of the room, he demonstrated that earth revolves on its axis, bringing into view different constellations throughout the night and day. He also elaborated that stars are stationary objects in space which if moving around earth would have been burnt to cinders due to their large mass. All these theories were centuries later adopted by Christian astronomers as we know them now.

Poetry

Omar Khayyám is famous today not only for his scientific accomplishments, but also for his literary works. He is believed to have written about a thousand four-line verses. In the English-speaking world, he is best known for The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám in the English translations by Edward Fitzgerald (1809-1883). Perhaps the most famous of Fitzgerald's translations is this one, Rubaiyat XI:

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 enow.

As a work of English literature Fitzgerald's poetic version is a high point of the 19th century. As a work of accurate line-by-line translation of Omar Khayyam's quatrains, it is noted more for freedom than for fidelity. Many of the verses are paraphrased, and some of them cannot be confidently traced to any one of Khayyam's quatrains at all. FitzGerald indisputably distorted the 11th-century original by adding his own 19th-century Romantic sentiments, and some more recent translations of Khayyam's poetry are not nearly as sentimental or overwrought as Fitzgerald's version, revealing a poet of stark intelligence and concise language. Nonetheless, Fitzgerald's version remains the most familiar (and most widely imitated) of Khayyam translations.

Some critics jokingly refer to the Fitzgerald's English versions as "The Rubaiyat of FitzOmar", a practice that both recognizes the liberties Fitzgerald inflicted on his purported source and also the credit Fitzgerald deserves for the considerable portion of the "translation" that is his own creation. In fact, Fitzgerald himself referred to his work as "transmogrification". Some people find this quite unfortunate. Others see Fitzgerald's translation of the work as being close enough to the true spirit of the poems.

One of Fitzgerald's most important (and, according to some, controversial) innovations was his choice to organize Khayyam's rubaiyat into coherent sequences. It is almost certain that Khayyam wrote each of his rubaiyat as a poem in and of itself, and although he often returned again and again the same images and issues, there is no textual evidence to suggest in what order (if any) he wanted his poems to be read. By linking a number of rubaiyat together, as in the following famous sequence on religious doubt, Fitzgerald was able to turn Khayyam's small, brilliant poems into lengthy meditations on deep, philosophical themes:

And, as the Cock crew, those who stood before
  The Tavern shouted - "Open then the Door!
You know how little time we have to stay,
  And once departed, may return no more."

Alike for those who for TO-DAY prepare,
  And that after a TO-MORROW stare,
A Muezzin from the Tower of Darkness cries
  "Fools! your reward is neither Here nor There!"

Why, all the Saints and Sages who discuss'd
  Of the Two Worlds so learnedly, are thrust
Like foolish Prophets forth; their Words to Scorn
  Are scatter'd, and their mouths are stopt with Dust.

Oh, come with old Khayyam, and leave the Wise
  To talk; one thing is certain, that Life flies;
One thing is certain, and the Rest is Lies;
  The Flower that once has blown for ever dies.

Myself when young did eagerly frequent
  Doctor and Saint, and heard great Argument
About it and about: but evermore
  Came out of the same Door as in I went.

With them the Seed of Wisdom did I sow,
  And with my own hand labour'd it to grow:
And this was all the Harvest that I reap'd -
  "I came like Water, and like Wind I go."

Into this Universe, and why not knowing,
  Nor whence, like Water willy-nilly flowing:
And out of it, as Wind along the Waste,
  I know not whither, willy-nilly blowing.

The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ,
  Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,
  Nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it.

And that inverted Bowl we call The Sky,
  Whereunder crawling coop't we live and die,
Lift not thy hands to It for help - for It
  Rolls impotently on as Thou or I.

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• E.G. Browne. Literary History of Persia. (Four volumes, 2,256 pages, and 25 years in the writing). 1998. ISBN 0-700-70406-X
• Jan Rypka, History of Iranian Literature. Reidel Publishing Company. ASIN B-000-6BXVT-K

External Links

• Works by Omar Khayyám. Project Gutenberg
• The Rubaiyat
• On Omar's solutions to cubic equations
• Khayyam, Umar. A biography by Professor Iraj Bashiri, University of Minnesota.
• John J. O'Connor and Edmund F. Robertson. Omar Khayyam at the MacTutor archive
• The Quatrains of Omar Khayyam
• 200 selected original Rubaiyat in Persian
• The Keeper: The Legend of Omar Khayyam A recent movie depiction of Omar Khayyam's life

Credits

New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here:

• Omar_Khayyam  ^history
• Rubaiyat_of_Omar_Khayyam  ^history

The history of this article since it was imported to New World Encyclopedia:

• History of "Omar Khayyam"

Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed.