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Absurdity and Metaphysical Rebellion in the Philosophies of Albert Camus and Omar Khayyam

Absurdity and Metaphysical Rebellion in the Philosophies of Albert Camus and Omar Khayyam. Lynn Alsatie. Indianapolis : Butler University, 2019. Undergraduate Honors Thesis.

Summary

The first time Omar Khayyam’s Rubaiyiat were brought to the Western world, it was through a translation from their original Persian to English by Edward Fitzgerald in 1859. Over the next century, Khayyam’s verses saw extraordinary popular success among intellectuals both in England and beyond. This paper, however, explores what these verses meant to Persians in Omar Khayyam’s context, long before the quatrains reached the West. Although whether the meaning of his poetry is esoteric or hedonistic in nature is debated, his quatrains express an existential longing and grieving that can be compared to parallel feelings described by Albert Camus in The Myth of Sisyphus and The Rebel. In this project, I explore the similarities in the notion of the absurd as defined by Albert Camus with the expressions of absurd experience in The Ruba’iyat of Omar Khayyam. Through this exploration of the absurdist experience across cultures and centuries, I propose Omar Khayyam’s Ruba’iyat as an example that the spirit of metaphysical rebellion can exist in a non-Western context, and that it existed nearly a millennium before Albert Camus developed it as an idea in the 20th century.

Orlando Greenwood illustrates the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam

Orlando Greenwood illustrates the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. Danton O’Day. [S.l.], Blurb, 2021. [48 p.] 9 illustrations ; 23 x 15 cm. ISBN: 9781034492504.

Orlando Greenwood (1892-1989) was a brilliant, talented artist, who already at the age of 21-22 felt strongly 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.

The Study of Rubaiyat attributed to Khayyam in Movies

The Study of Rubaiyat attributed to Khayyam in Movies. Milad Minakar, Amir Hossein Chitsazian.
In: CINEJ Cinema Journal, Vol. 8, no. 2 (2020), p. 324-352.

Summary

Among the literati and men of culture of Iran, it is not exaggerated to call Khayyam one of the vaguest figures. One might recognize him certainly and resolutely through his philosophical and scientific works; however, it was his Rubaiyat attributed to him which created many arguments. This paper studies Hakim Omar Khayyam’s Rubaiyat in English and Persian language feature and non-biographical movies; hence, biographical movies depicting factual or imaginary life of Khayyam or any serials, TV productions, documentaries, non- English, non- Persian movies are not included. 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.

The Effect of Ideology on the Form …

The Effect of Ideology on the Form and Content of Edward FitzGerald’s Translation of Khayyam’s Rubaiyat. Mana Aleahmad.
In: LingLit Journal: Scientific Journal for Linguistics and Literature, vol. 2, nr. 2 (2021), p. 75-82.

Summary

The present study attempted to examine Edward FitzGerald’s interest in Persian poetry. Translation deals with power and authority and most of the time the ideology of source text changes in favor of the dominant ideology of target text. Victorian people‘s scornful outlook toward the East led to ideological manipulation of source texts by translators such as Fitzgerald. His strange reduction in his translations, especially in Khayyam’s Rubaiyat results in the necessity of investigating his translation from ideological point of view. Surprisingly the translation of Khayyam’s Rubaiyat has never been studied from ideological perspective and is unknown for many literary scholars. Victorian issues had a strong effect on FitzGerald‘s selection of some of Khayyam’s Rubaiyat.

The Confluence of Wisdom …

The Confluence of Wisdom Along the Silk Road. Omar Khayyam’s Transformative Poetry. Mostafa Vaziri.
[S.l.] : Vernon Press, 2021. 208 p. ISBN: 9781648893162

Summary

For centuries along the vibrant cultural corridor of the Silk Road of Central Asia, philosophers and thinkers from Hellenic, Chinese and Indian traditions debated existential issues. Out of this stimulating milieu, the iconic poet-mathematician Omar Khayyam emerged in the eleventh century, advancing a transformative intercultural philosophy in his poetic work, the Rubaiyat.
Vaziri traces the themes of Khayyam’s Rubaiyat back to the highly influential philosophical traditions of the Silk Road and uncovers fascinating parallels in original works by Heraclitus, Zhuangzi (Daoism), Nagarjuna (Mahayana Buddhism), and the Upanishads. In addition, Vaziri’s elegant translation and unique classification of the verses of the Rubaiyat reveal an existential roadmap laid out by Khayyam.
In this pioneering volume, Vaziri not only fuses the multiple disciplines of literature, philosophy, culture, history and medicine but also takes the approach of the Rubaiyat to a new level, presenting it as a source of wisdom therapy that stands the test of time in the face of doubt and confusion, offering a platform for self-restoration.

First Artists of the Rubaiyat

First Artists of the Rubaiyat : A Complete Illustrated Guide. Danton O’Day. Emeritus Press, 2022. vi, 212 p. ISBN: 979-8-21-032614-0

Summary:
The book is a complete catalog of early artists of Edward FitzGerald’s Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam and it offers a cornucopia of visual delights and discoveries. Hundreds of pictures by over 200 artists: photographs, oil paintings, watercolours, etchings, woodcuts, line drawings, calligraphy provide unique insight into the poetry and add beauty to one of the world’s most popular collections of verse. Many new artists are revealed with dozens of women artists identified.