Omar Khayyam. Poems. A modern translation

Omar Khayyam. Poems. A modern translation. Siamak Akhavan. Eugene : Resource Publications, 2021. xv, 45 p. ISBN paperback: 9781666715507; ISBN hardcover: 9781666715514.

122 quatrains. Text in English and Persian.

“This book presents a selection of Khayyam’s poems in their original Persian language along with their English translations in a faithful and modern version. By relying only on the original Persian version of Khayyam’s poems, and using the author’s own body of literary and linguistic knowledge, this book presents a modern translation of Omar Khayyam’s poems since Edward Fitzgerald’s Rubaiyat in 1859.” [From back cover]

Nr. 1

‘Beyond heavens’ sphere is unseen,
around and about which all careen.

When your turn, be calm and sane.
Life’s not a sole toil, cycles remain.

Orlando Greenwood illustrates the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam

Orlando Greenwood illustrates the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. Danton O’Day. [S.l.], Blurb, 2021. ISBN: 9781034492504.
Orlando Greenwood (1892-1989) was a brilliant, talented artist, who already at the age of 21-22 felt stronlgy attracted by the verses of Omar Khayyám. His illustrations to the Rubáiyát were recently discovered and presented in this book by Danton O’Day for the first time. The nine illustrations are included in the text of FitzGerald’s first version.

Khayyam in rhyme

Khayyam in rhyme. Poem-to-poem translation of ruba’iyat. Reza Noubary. Meadville, Fulton Books, 2021. 150 p. ISBN: 9781649520647.

Noubary presents a poem-to-poem translation of some of Khayyam’s popular Rubaiyat to English – both literally and conceptually. The translations follow the style of the original poems. It also includes some of the translator’s/author’s own poems inspired by Khayyam.

Quatrains of Omar Khayyam

Quatrains of Omar Khayyam, Astronomer-Poet of Persia : Metamorphosis of Nothingness. Mitra Ara.
Newcastle-upon-Tyne : Cambridge Scholars Publisher, 2021. x, 237 p. ISBN: 9781527564480.

A selection of 100 quatrains, in Persian and English, that have been authenticated by four known Persian authorities (Foroughi, Hedayat, Ghani and Dashti). The author intends to bring the reader closer to the Persian originals, allowing readers to connect an draw their own conclusions according to their time and place.

Omar Khayyám in movies

In a recent paper Milad Minakar, Amir Hossein Chitsazian study Omar Khayyam’s Rubaiyat in English and Persian language feature and non-biographical movies.

A still from Queen of Desert

The aim is to expound any relationships between the film and Rubaiyat; therefore, according to the type of the applied quatrain, movie genre, plot, some categories are propounded to classify the movies in which Khayyam’s quatrains are quoted such as Transiency-Death, Transiency-Carpe Diem, Heaven and Hell, and Determinism. Indeed, these categories can be applied to the theme of the movies or a single scene in which the stanza is quoted.

Milad Minakar, Amir Hossein Chitsazian (2020). The Study of Rubaiyat attributed to Khayyam in Movies . In: CINEJ Cinema Journal, Vol. 8, nr. 2 (2020), p. 324-352
DOI 10.5195/cinej.2020.271

Friedrich Rosen: orientalist and diplomat

In the recently published Friedrich Rosen. Orientalist scholarship and international politics Amir Theilhaber describes the diplomatic career and scholarly-literary productions of Friedrich Rosen “to investigate how politics influenced knowledge generated about the “Orient” and charts the roles knowledge played in political decision-making regarding extra-European regions. This is pursued through analyses of Germans in British imperialist contexts, cultures of lowly diplomatic encounters in Middle Eastern cities, Persian poetry in translation, prestigious Orientalist congresses in northern climes,leveraging knowledge in high-stakes diplomatic encounters, and the making of Germany’s Islam policy up to the Great War.”

An extensive chapter 6 deals with Omar Khayyam’s Ruba’iyat and Rumi’s Masnavi, in the context of politics and scholarship of translating Persian Poetry.

Friedrich Rosen. Orientalist scholarship and international politics. Amir Theilhaber. Berlin, Munich, Boston: De Gruyter Oldenbourg, 2020. viii, 627 pp. ISBN: 978-3-11-063925-4.
Also available as Open Access document.

Friedrich Rosen

Irankultur.com shows a short article about Friedrich Rosen, the well known German translator of Omar Khayyám’s rubáiyát.
Friedrich Rosen (1856-1935) was an orientalist, a diplomat und a politician. From May till October 1921 he was also German minister of foreign affairs. From 1916 till he was appointed as German envoy in The Hague, in the Netherlands.

See: Friedrich Rosen und die Übersetzung der Rubajat Omar Chayyams in: Irankultur.com 17 Dez. 2020

See also a recent post about Amir Theilhaber’s recently published biography: Friedrich Rosen. Orientalist scholarship and international politics (Berlin 2020)

Omar’s birthday

Today, May 18, Omar Khayyám’s birthday is celebrated worldwide, maybe more so now that Google produced a ‘doodle’ representing the famous poet-scientist. This novelty was picked up by various news websites and newspapers, all acknowledging the old scientist’s reputation as a man of science, poetry and wisdom.

The Google search engine provides over 3 million results when you search for ‘Omar Khayyám’, which is rather depressing than motivating to do any further studies on Khayyám. So here is a selection of some recent books on Khayyám and his rubáiyát.

The Great ‘Umar Khayyám. A Global Reception of the Rubáiyát. A.A. Seyed-Gohrab. Leiden, Leiden University Press, 2012. 267 p. (Iranian Studies Series). ISBN: 9789087281571. [Online available at Open Access]
This volume collects eighteen essays on the history of the reception of ‘Umar Khayyám in various literary traditions, exploring how his philosophy of doubt, carpe diem, hedonism, and in vino veritas has inspired generations of poets, novelists, painters, musicians, calligraphers and film-makers.

FitzGerald’s Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám. Popularity and Neglect. Edited by Adrian Poole, Christine van Ruymbeke, William H. Martin and Sandra Mason. Anthem Press, 2011.
240 p. ISBN 9780857287816.
This volume of essays is based on a conference held in July 2009 at Trinity College, Cambridge to celebrate the bicentenary of the birth of Edward FitzGerald (1809) and the 150th anniversary of the first publication of his ‘Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám’ (1859).

The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám. An updated bibliography. Jos Coumans. Amsterdam, Leiden University Press, 2010. 250 p. ISBN: 978-908-72-8096-3.
The bibliography lists a new selection and description of more than 1.000 editions of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám.

A book of verse. The biography of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám. Garry Garrard. Stroud, Sutton, 2007. 270 p. ISBN: 978-0-7509-4631-5 (Hardback).
The book tells the story of how The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám has provided delight and fascination for centuries.

The Art of Omar Khayyam. Illustrating FitzGerald’s Rubaiyat. William H. Martin & Sandra Mason. London-New York, Tauris, 2007. 184 p. Index. ISBN 978-84511-282-0.
The authors tell the story of the popularity of FitzGerald’s Rubaiyat, and survey how different illustrators have approached the task of interpreting the individual themes and topics of this poem.”

The wine of wisdom. The life, poetry and philosophy of Omar Khayyam. Mehdi Aminrazavi. Oxford, Oneworld Publishing, 2005. 396 p. ISBN: 1-85168-355-0.
Philosopher, mathematician, scientist, and mystic – his many different identities are examined here in detail, creating a coherent picture of this complex and often misunderstood figure.

There are numerous websites on Omar Khayyám as well, but there is one that stands out as a platform for discussion and exchanging information: Omar Khayyam Rubaiyat.

For a more detailed and up to date survey of books and articles see Omar Khayyám.