The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám

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The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám

work by Khayyam

Also known as: “Robāʿīyāt”, “Rubaʿiyat”

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July 23, 2026

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The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám is a collection of quatrains attributed to the Persian mathematician, astronomer, and poet Omar Khayyám (1048–1131). While Khayyám was highly respected for his scientific work, including an influential algebra treatise and contributions to calendar reform, his fame in the English-speaking world comes primarily from Edward FitzGerald's free adaptation of his poems, published in 1859.123

FitzGerald's translation, known for its memorable phrases, captures a philosophy that blends hedonistic enjoyment of life's fleeting pleasures with profound contemplation of life, death, and the unknown. The quatrains themselves are complete poems, each offering a distinct thought, often reflecting on uncertainty, the nature of reality, and humanity's place in the universe.21

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Islamic arts
Robāʿiyyāt: Omar Khayyam
The work done in mathematics by early Arabic scholars and by al-Bīrūnī was continued by Omar Khayyam (died 1131), to whom the Seljuq empire in fact owes the reform of its calendar. But Omar has become famous in the West through the…
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The work done in mathematics by early Arabic scholars and by al-Bīrūnī was continued by Omar Khayyam (died 1131), to whom the Seljuq empire in fact owes the reform of its calendar. But Omar has become famous in the West through the…
Read More

Edward FitzGerald
…writer, best known for his Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, which, though it is a very free adaptation and selection from the Persian poet’s verses, stands on its own as a classic of English literature. It is one of the most frequently quoted of lyric poems, and many of its phrases,…
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…writer, best known for his Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, which, though it is a very free adaptation and selection from the Persian poet’s verses, stands on its own as a classic of English literature. It is one of the most frequently quoted of lyric poems, and many of its phrases,…
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Omar Khayyam
…of his robāʿīyāt (“quatrains”) in The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám (1859), by the English writer Edward FitzGerald.
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…of his robāʿīyāt (“quatrains”) in The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám (1859), by the English writer Edward FitzGerald.
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Islamic arts
Islamic literatures and the West
of Omar Khayyam’s robāʿiyyāt (The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, 1859). The fairy tales known as The Thousand and One Nights, first translated in 1704, provided abundant raw material for many a Western writer’s play, novel, story, or poem about the Islamic East.
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of Omar Khayyam’s robāʿiyyāt (The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, 1859). The fairy tales known as The Thousand and One Nights, first translated in 1704, provided abundant raw material for many a Western writer’s play, novel, story, or poem about the Islamic East.
Read More