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Vernacularizing Rubaiyat: the politics of Madhushala in the context of the Indian nationalism

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.

Between tavern and madrassa: ‘Umar Khayyám the scientist

Between tavern and madrassa: ‘Umar Khayyám the scientist. Bagheri, Mohammad.
In: The great ‘Umar Khayyám. Leiden, Leiden University Press, 2012. pp. 67-72.

This contribution focuses on Khayyám as a scientist and how his scientific merits are combined with his literary genius. Bagheri’s study includes Khayyám’s classification of cubic equations, his commentary on Euclid’s Elements, and Khayyám’s scientific achievements.

FitzGerald’s Rubáiyát and agnosticism

FitzGerald’s Rubáiyát and agnosticism. Marta Simidchieva.
In: FitzGerald’s Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám. Popularity and neglect. Ed. by A. Poole et al. London, Anthem Press, 2011. pp. 55-72.

The author tries to find a possible answer to Pound’s question about the success of FitzGerald’s translation. She puts the first two editions of the Rubáiyát in the intellectual context of the times, in an attempt to discover how the Persian transplants ‘correlate with the [host] system’. She contends that the poetic persona of the Persian sage, and the agnostic overlay which FitzGerald created through his choices as an editor and interpreter of the Khayyámic legacy, were as instrumental in ensuring the worldwide fame of the Rubáiyát as FitzGerald’s prowess as a translator.

‘Umar Khayyám au mirroir de quelques interprétations modernes, de FitzGerald à Hedáyat

‘Umar Khayyám au mirroir de quelques interprétations modernes, de FitzGerald à Hedáyat. Jacques Huré.
Luqmán 17 (2001) nr. 1, p. 7-15.

‘Umar Khayyám peut être vu, aujouid’hui, comme un «agitateur d’idées», le carrefour où se rassemblent ceux qui s’interrogent sur la portée des textes anciens d’où émane cette notion moderne qu’est l’incertitude du sens, ceux qui s’interrogent sur le rapport entre le discours spirituel et le discours philosophique, et, plus généralement ceux qui discutent de la pensee “oriëntale”, telle qu’elle doit prendre place dans tout débat ouvert aujourd’hui en Occident.

‘Umar Khayyám: philosopher-poet-scientist.

‘Umar Khayyám: philosopher-poet-scientist. S.H. Nasr.
In: Islamic Intellectual Tradition in Persia. Ed. by M. Aminrazavi. London, Routledge, 1996, p. 175-178.

Originally as preface in “Ruba’iyat of Omar Khayyam” , by A. Saidi, 1991

Umar Khayyam

Umar Khayyam
In: Dalal (Ed.) Ethics in Persian poetry (with special reference to Timurid period). Ghulam Abbas Dalal. New Delhi : Abhinav Publications, 1995. ISBN: 8170173140 . Pp. 71–95.

Discusses life of Khayyam and his works, and the views thereon. Was he a poet or not, a drunkard and heretic, and what was his character?