Bitter certainty: J.H. Leopold on ‘Umar Khayyám. J.D.F. van Halsema.
In: The great ‘Umar Khayyám. Leiden, Leiden University Press, 2012. pp. 129-134.
In this contribution Van Halsema discusses how the poet J.H. Leopold (1865-1925) focused on philosophy between 1900 and 1906, seeking to solve the problem of human loneliness. He studied Stoa, Epicurus, Spinoza, Descartes, Hume, and Kant closely, and then, in 1904, he found ‘Umar Khayyám.
The legacy of ‘Umar Khayyám in music in the Netherlands. Rokus de Groot.
In: The great ‘Umar Khayyám. Leiden, Leiden University Press, 2012. pp. 143-160.
De Groot studies several compositions by Dutch composers. In addition to this aspect of Khayyám’s musical reception, De Groot’s contribution explores how Dutch composers responded to Edward FitzGerald’s Rubáiyát and other translations of Khayyám’s poetry. Composers reacted differently to Khayyám’s quatrains: while a number of them concentrated on a spiritual meaning of the quatrains, others composed pieces in which hedonism is put to a central place.
‘Umar Khayyám’s impact on Dutch literature. M. Goud.
In: The great ‘Umar Khayyám. Leiden, Leiden University Press, 2012. pp. 115-127.
This essay surveys the reception of Umar Khayyám in Dutch literature, from the first translation in 1910 to the most recent echo of Khayyám in Dutch literature. In his renowned 1929 Khayyám bibliography, Ambrose George Potter mentions only two Dutch translations, but many more have appeared since. The recently published bibliography by Jos Coumans lists 40 Dutch editions. Khayyám’s work is still being translated into Dutch today. Goud focuses on the poet and translator P.C. Boutens, whose biography is in preparation Goud concludes with a current case study of Khayyám’s reception in Dutch literature.
Omar Khayyam’s Epicureanism: The Spanish Translations of Rubaiyats (1904-1930). A. Gasquet.
In: Peripheral Transmodernities: South-to-South Intercultural Dialogues between the Luso-Hispanic World and ‘the Orient’. Ed. by Ignacio López-Calvo. Newcastle upon Tyne, Cambridge Scholars, 2012. pp. 155-177. ISBN 9781443837149.
The author gives a brief summary of a number of translations published in Spanish-American countries. Here, and in the Phillipines twelve translations of the Rubáiyát were issued in twenty-six years. The first translation was by Juan Dublan (Mexico, 1904), followed by Gregorio Martinez Sierra (Madrid, 1907), and finally by Francisco Propata (Paris, 1930). Four works are discussed more in detail: the versions by Dublan, Muzzio Sáenz-Peña, González and Bernabé. Gasquet describes the socio-cultural conditions of their time, and the sources of their work. He also shows how the hedonist-mystic debate played a role in these works.
FitzGerald, Rámí, and Umm Kulthúm: the Making of ‘Umar Khayyám in Arabic. Huda J. Fakhreddine.
Al-Abhath, 60-61 (2012-2013), pp. 87-110.
This article traces the journey of the Rubá’iyyát of ‘Umar al-Khayyám into Arabic literature via English and primarily the highly influential translation made by Edward FitzGerald. Ahmad Rámí’s translation, which was the first direct translation from Persian into Arabic, was nevertheless greatly informed by FitzGerald’s translating decisions.
The Reflection of “The Rubaiyat of Omar Kheyam in “The Fruits of Earth” by Andre Gide. Hassan Emami, E. Mohammadi, M. Zarei.
Research in Contemporary World Literature / Pazhuhesh-e Zabanha-ye Khareji, (2012) 63.
This research, based on the fundamental theories of comparative literature, indicates that the treasure of Persain culture and literature has played a vital role in creating and inspiring several literary masterpieces of the world. Andre Gide –the eminent French writer–is one of those who under the influence of this rich heritage has created such a unique work as “The Fruits Of Earth”. He has created this famous work under the influence of Persian literature. By mentioning a line of Hafiz and a verse of Quran at the beginning of his book, Gide has indicated his special attention to oriental works. To some extent, his “The Fruits of the Earth” is related to oriental literature, especially Persian. Although he has mentioned the name of Khayyam just one time, the influence of Khayyam on his work is more than other Persian writers. This research shows the different ways and the extent of Gide’s familiarity with Khayyam and offers a comparison of common concepts in “Rubaiyyat” and “The Fruits of Earth”.
Vernacularizing Rubaiyat: the politics of Madhushala in the context of the Indian nationalism. A. Castaing.
In: The great ‘Umar Khayyám. Leiden, Leiden University Press, 2012. pp. 215–232.
Anne Castaing shows the influence of Khayyám on the young Hindi poet Harivansh Rai Bacchan (1907-2003), who translated the quatrains into Hindi under the title of Umar khayyám kī Madhuśálá (“Omar Khayyám’s House of Wine”). Bacchan wrote his own collection of quatrains entitled Madhuśálá (“The house of wine,” 1935) that deals with the same motifs and symbolism and are interpreted as an “allegory of poetic creation, homeland, universe, love etc., with wine and intoxication symbolising the duality of existence, both sweet and bitter.” By using themes and motifs from Khayyám’s poetry, Bacchan readdresses the questions of orthodoxy versus free thinking, hierarchy of being and man’s place in the universe.