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37th out of 166 books
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57 voters
Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám
Omar Khayyam (1048-1122) was a Persian mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher who was not known as a poet in his lifetime. These verses lay in obscurity until 1859, when FitzGerald published a free adapation of this Persian poetry. As a result, The Rubaiyat became one of the best-known and most often quoted English classics.
Hardcover, 100 pages
Published
December 11th 2002
by Rupa & Co.
(first published 1100)
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I kept thinking about the Rubaiyat last week while I was translating Zep's Happy Sex. I understand that Fitzgerald's translation is extremely non-literal, and almost amounts to a new poem - there is a nice piece by Borges discussing this unusual collaboration between two poets from different cultures and centuries. But what are you supposed to do when you translate poetry? Literal translation seems pointless. I had similar problems while trying to translate Zep's sexy French jokes. If the result...more
خیام اگر ز باده مستی خوش باش
با ماهرخی اگر نشستی خوش باش
چون عاقبت کار جهان نیستی است
انگار که نیستی چو هستی خوش باش
با ماهرخی اگر نشستی خوش باش
چون عاقبت کار جهان نیستی است
انگار که نیستی چو هستی خوش باش
Ho scoperto questo libro per caso, per la più felice delle sorti di chi entra a curiosare in libreria senza sapere bene quel che cerca; e per pigrizia e ignoranza, perché ho imparato molto tardi il piacere di leggere poesie, e per questo ritardo ho finito per affezionarmi ai componimenti più brevi: la tradizione letteraria orientale è una vera miniera di questi piccoli gioielli, e così, incurante della mia pigrizia, la sfrutto finché posso. Mi lascio avvolgere dai margini così ampi e bianchi che...more
مجموعة انتقاها أحمد رامي بدراسة مدققة معتنية وبحدس شاعر من رباعيات عمر الخيام. تلك الروح الكبيرة التي لم يبق من آثارها سوى سطور بثها حيرته وغربته. ترجم رامي الرباعيات عن الفارسية مباشرة إلى العربية شعرا. وقد صدر عن هذا الكتاب أكثر من خمس وعشرين طبعة أولها في القاهرة في صيف عام 1924.
أحمد الديب
يناير 2010
أحمد الديب
يناير 2010
9 likes · like · see review
Childhood favourite.
"Come, fill thy cup and in the fire of spring,
The winter garment of repentance fling;
The bird of time has but a little way to fly
And lo, the bird is on the wing."
4 likes · like · see review
Some poetry snobs find these verses corny, with their psuedo-archaism of langauge and what nowadays would be called Orientalizt romanticism.
To Hell with all that. I've always liked them. In fact, I memorized most of it when I was a kid.
"The moving Finger writes, and having writ,
Moves on, nor all your Piety nor Wit
Shall lure it back to cancel Half a Line,
Nor all your Tears wash out a Word of it."
Yadda yadda.
__________
Incidntally, Omar Khayyam was a great Persian mathematician. "Omar" is a Sunni...more
To Hell with all that. I've always liked them. In fact, I memorized most of it when I was a kid.
"The moving Finger writes, and having writ,
Moves on, nor all your Piety nor Wit
Shall lure it back to cancel Half a Line,
Nor all your Tears wash out a Word of it."
Yadda yadda.
__________
Incidntally, Omar Khayyam was a great Persian mathematician. "Omar" is a Sunni...more
5 likes · like · see review
الخيام فيلسوف ضل في مسألة القدر فهو جبري النزعة يظن أن الله قد جبر الناس على المعاصي فلا يحق له أو من الظلم أن يسألهم عن ذلك، وهذا ما جعله لا يستنكف عن شرب الخمر والتباهي بها والدعوة إليها، لكنني أجد في رباعياته بضع أبيات توحي بأنه قد رجع عن هذا، ولعله فعل، غير أن فتنتة القدر بين الجبر والاعتزال فتنة عظيمة يندر أن يعود منها أحد إلى الحق دون أن يكون في ننفسه بعض شوائب، أا حكمة العامة المتعلقة بالأصدقاء والصحاب وما إلى ذلك فهي ب\يعة غير أنه قليلة في رباعياته وقد أهدر رباعياته في وصف الخمر وأرى أنه...more
Many years ago, I purchased the Fitzgerald translation of "The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam," a wise man who was born and died in Naishapur in the later 11th and early 12th centuries. Omar was a scientist of the day, studying astronomy. He was also part of a team selected to revise the calendar.
The "Rubaiyat" itself is a series of four line stanzas, following one another in ". . .a strange succession of Grave and Gay." Here are some of the more affecting stanzas, from my own perspective, that well i...more
The "Rubaiyat" itself is a series of four line stanzas, following one another in ". . .a strange succession of Grave and Gay." Here are some of the more affecting stanzas, from my own perspective, that well i...more
5 likes · like · see review
الترجمة دي عانيت منها برغم التفسير والهوامش اللي في كل صفحة
اللغة المترجم بيها الرباعيات دسمة جداً وكان صعب علي أمثالي تقبلها الحقيقة
إنما بعد فحص وبحث كل رباعية .. فعلاً الرباعيات دي حاجه عظيمة جداً
حاجة تانية ..
كنت أحب اشوف ترجمة الرباعيات دي بدون ما يقوّلب المترجم الرباعيات في قوالب معينة بأوزان عروضية عربية في كلمات من لغته هو .. أينعم هو هو المعني .. بس كنت أفضَّل ان يبقي المعني زي ما هو والكلام منقول زي ما هو بدون ما المترجم يحط التاتش بتاعه
اللغة المترجم بيها الرباعيات دسمة جداً وكان صعب علي أمثالي تقبلها الحقيقة
إنما بعد فحص وبحث كل رباعية .. فعلاً الرباعيات دي حاجه عظيمة جداً
حاجة تانية ..
كنت أحب اشوف ترجمة الرباعيات دي بدون ما يقوّلب المترجم الرباعيات في قوالب معينة بأوزان عروضية عربية في كلمات من لغته هو .. أينعم هو هو المعني .. بس كنت أفضَّل ان يبقي المعني زي ما هو والكلام منقول زي ما هو بدون ما المترجم يحط التاتش بتاعه
2 likes · like · see review
Oct 16, 2012
Lisa (Harmonybites)
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Lisa (Harmonybites) by:
Good Reading: 100 Significant Books
This is the poetry of Omar Khayyam, a Persian poet and scientist who lived from 1048-1131. He actually wrote one of the most important treatises on Algebra before modern times. The very name "Ruba'yat" actually comes from an Arab word for "four" and refers to the quatrain structure and the title was given to a selection of Khayyam's poems by Edward Fitzgerald, who first popularized the poems in the West with his translations into English in editions published from 1889 to 1895. The most famous v...more
1 like · like · see review
Rather odd poem celebrating the theme, "Let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die." Or maybe just drink for tomorrow we die.
If anyone accuses you, like Puddleglum, of being "too full of bobance and bounce and high spirits" and of needing something "to sober you down a bit," perhaps some sad lines like these would help:
Ah, make the most of what we yet may spend,
Before we too into the Dust Descend;
Dust into Dust, and under Dust, to lie,
Sans Wine, sans Song, sans Singer and—sans End!
Alike for t...more
If anyone accuses you, like Puddleglum, of being "too full of bobance and bounce and high spirits" and of needing something "to sober you down a bit," perhaps some sad lines like these would help:
Ah, make the most of what we yet may spend,
Before we too into the Dust Descend;
Dust into Dust, and under Dust, to lie,
Sans Wine, sans Song, sans Singer and—sans End!
Alike for t...more
طوت يد الاقدار سفر الشباب
وصوحت تلك الغصون الرطاب
وقد شدى طير الصبى واختفى
متى اتى يا لهفا اين غاب
..................
عاشر من الناس كبار العقول
وجانب الجهال أهل الفضول
واشرب نقيع السم من عاقل
واسكب على الأرض دواء الجهول
وصوحت تلك الغصون الرطاب
وقد شدى طير الصبى واختفى
متى اتى يا لهفا اين غاب
..................
عاشر من الناس كبار العقول
وجانب الجهال أهل الفضول
واشرب نقيع السم من عاقل
واسكب على الأرض دواء الجهول
O Adam's children, made of clay:
Earth waits for us. So, while we may,
We'll taste the wine and join the song.
Night hastens on--let's seize the day!
Earth waits for us. So, while we may,
We'll taste the wine and join the song.
Night hastens on--let's seize the day!
Jan 02, 2010
Max Maxwell
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Everybody, it's awesome
Recommended to Max by:
My great grandfather and my grandmother
My great grandfather, William Rollins, held this poem in higher esteem than any other book, fiction or non-; it was his absolute favorite. Wherefore, seeing as so much of my taste in reading came down to me from him, through the veritable library he left in the house now owned by my grandmother, I have endeavored to collect as many different editions as possible. When I have a house, I'm going to put all my books in a little room, and call it The William Rollins Memorial Library. And there will...more
It wasn't easy to praise wine in twelfth century Iran.After a long time that Baghdad had ruled in Iran ;an independent Iranian government was just going to be established. In Khayyam's poetry there's a sense of nostalgia towards old Persia with all its mythological kings as Jamshid and Keikhosru. If you compare his poetry with some of his contemporaries you see the difference. In his contemporary poetry you could see lots of poems in praise of prophet Mohammad and Imams but khayyam was the brave...more
In 1942, when my father was in the South Pacific, he asked for only one thing for Christmas...this book of poetry. My mother sent it to him with an inscription in the frontispiece which spoke wistfully of days to come. Later, he sent her a photo of him, reading this book, leaning back on a palm tree, with a bottle of wine and a loaf of bread on the cloth beside him...on the back of the photo, he wrote, "...all I'm missing is thou..."
Obviously, this book is a family treasure, and I cannot read it...more
Obviously, this book is a family treasure, and I cannot read it...more
6 likes · like · see review
Fitzgerald made five separate translations of this work. I generally prefer the third, though there are a couple of bits in the fifth that I like very much.
When reading the Rubaiyat, remember two things:
- It is not linear or meant to tell a story. It should largely be taken as a set of nearly independent quatrains, loosely coupled by theme. (With the exception of the protracted "metaphor of the pots" in the middle.)
- It's best read out loud. In Fitzgerald's beautifully lyrical translations, you...more
When reading the Rubaiyat, remember two things:
- It is not linear or meant to tell a story. It should largely be taken as a set of nearly independent quatrains, loosely coupled by theme. (With the exception of the protracted "metaphor of the pots" in the middle.)
- It's best read out loud. In Fitzgerald's beautifully lyrical translations, you...more
اللهم إني عرفتك على مبلع إمكاني فاغفر لي ، فإن معرفتي إياك وسيلتي إليك
6 likes · like · see review
It is a flash from the stage of non-belief to faith,
There is no more than a syllable between doubt and certainty:
Prize this precious moment dearly,
It is our life's only fruit.
I had a palm size edition of Edward Fitzgerald's translation. He changed his translation over the years and there are big differences between some of the different published editions. Reading this, the Avery translation was a shock because none of the verses were recognisable. At first I found myself like Pnin hankering af...more
8 likes · like · see review
A charming and memorable little poem. Khayyam has an interesting view on things, he seems a somewhat jaded former philosophizer that abandoned that world for a purely physical sense-oriented one, in short he's realized that drinking has a much more enjoyable effect on him than thinking:
"Myself when young did eagerly frequent
Doctor and Saint, and heard great argument
About it and about: but evermore
Came out by the same door as in I went."
"But leave the Wise to wrangle, and with me
The Quarrel of t...more
"Myself when young did eagerly frequent
Doctor and Saint, and heard great argument
About it and about: but evermore
Came out by the same door as in I went."
"But leave the Wise to wrangle, and with me
The Quarrel of t...more
دفعني الفضول منذ يومين لأسمع كيف يبدو وقع الشعر الفارسي في الآذان وكنت أبحث عن شئ من المثنوي لجلال الدين الرومي والذي قرأت ترجمته المحكمة إلى العربية على يد الدكتور/ ابراهيم الدسوقي شتا من أربع سنوات وفي طريقي
تعثرت بهذا المقطع الحاني :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXitin...
تخيلته رجلا بعمامة ولحية كثيفة مثل جدي لأمي رحمه الله إلا أنه قد تاهت منه( قافلة عمر) ابنه فإذا به يسير في الصحراء ملتاعا، مغبر الجبين، حافي القدمين ينادي ضائعه ...هكذا أردت الأمر وهكذا كانت ترتفع الموسيقى الدافئة في نهاية ا...more
تعثرت بهذا المقطع الحاني :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXitin...
تخيلته رجلا بعمامة ولحية كثيفة مثل جدي لأمي رحمه الله إلا أنه قد تاهت منه( قافلة عمر) ابنه فإذا به يسير في الصحراء ملتاعا، مغبر الجبين، حافي القدمين ينادي ضائعه ...هكذا أردت الأمر وهكذا كانت ترتفع الموسيقى الدافئة في نهاية ا...more
Fulfilling a long-delayed promise to revisit Omar Khayyam's quatrains, I went looking for editions that promised to be closer to the original than Fitzgerald's classical translation. This is the first I've tried.
In general, my inherited wisdom is that a translator is best used working from the original language to the target language. Ahmad Saidi was an Iranian scholar of Persian literature, and also a long-time American. As such, his understanding of either language is superb. So I began with h...more
In general, my inherited wisdom is that a translator is best used working from the original language to the target language. Ahmad Saidi was an Iranian scholar of Persian literature, and also a long-time American. As such, his understanding of either language is superb. So I began with h...more
The edition I have is not available on Goodreads. I have the hardcover De Luxe Edition, Garden City Publishing Co, Inc., 1937. It is one of the books I grew up with and heard often during those early years--I think my father must have memorized the entire thing, probably when he was out to sea. My edition is on deluxe paper,with twelve illustrations in color by Edmund Dulac. It includes a biographical preface of Edward Fitzgerald (writer not identified), Fitzgerald's essay on Omar Khayyam and th...more
2 likes · like · see review
Many years ago, I purchased this version of "The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam," a wise man who was born and died in Naishapur in the later 11th and early 12th centuries. Omar was a scientist of the day, studying astronomy. He was also part of a team selected to revise the calendar.
The "Rubaiyat" itself is a series of four line stanzas, following one another in ". . .a strange succession of Grave and Gay." Omar Khayyam wrote these. This edition features the Fitzgerald translation and is illustrated...more
The "Rubaiyat" itself is a series of four line stanzas, following one another in ". . .a strange succession of Grave and Gay." Omar Khayyam wrote these. This edition features the Fitzgerald translation and is illustrated...more
أما الحكيم عمر الخيام فمن نيسابور,وكان رجلا فاضلا تضلع فى علمى الحكمة والنجوم,وقضى حياته فى الاشتغال بهما,وكان عزيزا الى نفوس السلاطين مكرما لديهم"من كتاب "تذكرة الشعراء"لدولت شاه بن علاء.عجيب امر هذا الرجل يسيطر موضعان رئيسيان على رباعياته,أولهما الاحتفاء بالخمر"لا كشراب مسكر"بل كوسيلة راها وحيدة وضرورية ولا بديل عنها للسمو بالروح ومفارقة عذابات الجسد ومعاناته,وثانيهما وياللعجب الذكر المتكرر لتفاهة الدنيا وعقم الحياة,الاشارة الملحة الى لقاء الله والطمع فى عفوه وغفرانه,حسنا هل أرى تتناقضا ,ظاهري...more
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Totally surprised that I really kind of liked it. I picked up a copy of this book with dozen other titles from the same Walter Black's uniform "Classics Club" series (not the Oxford World's Classics version shown in the icon/thumbnail), off an eBay auction. I really did not intend reading it. But later on, as I read Emerson's 'Society and Solitude', he mentions the Rubaiyat of Hadiz (a different book than this) several times, so just out of curiosity and having the (Khayyam's) Rubaiyat on hand,...more
دوستان عزیزم
رباعیات خیام را باید با هشیاری و دقت خواند .به فرم رباعیات دقبق شویم.او توانسته است با چینشی ریاضی وار ،شعرش را بدون دشواری زبانی به مخاطب برساند
ابر آمد و زار بر سر سبزه گریست
بی باده ی گل رنگ نمی شاید زیست
این سبزه که امروزه تماشاگه ماست
تا سبزه ی خاک ما تماشاگه کیست؟
به شروعش نگاه کنید و چگونگی کاربرد زبانی را ببینید.از همان اول ضربه را به مخاطب وارد می کند و از مخاطب می خواهد به گریستن ابر دقت کند.زیرا حادثه ی بزرگی اتفاق افتاده است.به یکی یکی عوامل دقیق تر شوید .همین واژه ی "زا...more
رباعیات خیام را باید با هشیاری و دقت خواند .به فرم رباعیات دقبق شویم.او توانسته است با چینشی ریاضی وار ،شعرش را بدون دشواری زبانی به مخاطب برساند
ابر آمد و زار بر سر سبزه گریست
بی باده ی گل رنگ نمی شاید زیست
این سبزه که امروزه تماشاگه ماست
تا سبزه ی خاک ما تماشاگه کیست؟
به شروعش نگاه کنید و چگونگی کاربرد زبانی را ببینید.از همان اول ضربه را به مخاطب وارد می کند و از مخاطب می خواهد به گریستن ابر دقت کند.زیرا حادثه ی بزرگی اتفاق افتاده است.به یکی یکی عوامل دقیق تر شوید .همین واژه ی "زا...more
I loved these 75 quatrains of simply beautiful poetry from the 11th and 19th centuries.
This work basically has two authors: Khayyam (the Persian poet) and FitzGerald (the English translator/assembler). While Khayyam wrote many standalone quatrains, FitzGerald selected these verses to be woven into one coherent piece.
The Rubaiyat emphasizes living for now while we can, much in the "eat, drink, for tomorrow we die" vein. While Khayyam vacillates on the existence of afterlife, portions sound like t...more
This work basically has two authors: Khayyam (the Persian poet) and FitzGerald (the English translator/assembler). While Khayyam wrote many standalone quatrains, FitzGerald selected these verses to be woven into one coherent piece.
The Rubaiyat emphasizes living for now while we can, much in the "eat, drink, for tomorrow we die" vein. While Khayyam vacillates on the existence of afterlife, portions sound like t...more
When people say a book is difficult to read they normally mean there is something intrinsically challenging about the text. Ulysses is difficult because, well, it's by James Joyce; The Tale of Genji is difficult because there are five hundred characters spanning half a century, and no one has a name. But this edition of Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám is the first book I've read that was difficult to read from a purely mechanical point of view.
After the book's thorough and interesting introduction we c...more
After the book's thorough and interesting introduction we c...more
This poem written sometime before 1122 is well-written and insightful, in that much of the story it tells is still pertient in today's society. It's a reminder that paradise is here and now, not something to be wished for, as tomorrow is never promised to us. The potter/clay stanzas (somewhere in the 90s) parallel the biblical story, though underlining the acceptance of pots that "lean the wrong way."
These poems include the favorite stanza #12 so often re-interpreted and quoted, "A Book of Vers...more
These poems include the favorite stanza #12 so often re-interpreted and quoted, "A Book of Vers...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Rubaiyat of Khayyam, do not even bother with it. | 6 | 16 | May 06, 2013 11:38am | |
| Goodreads Librari...: several mergings | 7 | 150 | May 27, 2012 11:42am | |
| Goodreads Librari...: doubts about a title | 4 | 30 | May 27, 2012 11:39am | |
| Middle East/North...: Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam translations? | 58 | 49 | Mar 01, 2012 08:23am | |
| the best poem | 1 | 37 | Feb 24, 2008 12:31pm |
Arabic:عمر الخيام Persian:عمر خیام
Omar Khayyám was a Persian polymath, mathematician, philosopher, astronomer, physician, and poet. He wrote treatises on mechanics, geography, and music. His significance as a philosopher and teacher, and his few remaining philosophical works, have not received the same attention as his scientific and poetic writings. Zamakhshari referred to him as “the philosophe...more
More about Omar Khayyám...
Omar Khayyám was a Persian polymath, mathematician, philosopher, astronomer, physician, and poet. He wrote treatises on mechanics, geography, and music. His significance as a philosopher and teacher, and his few remaining philosophical works, have not received the same attention as his scientific and poetic writings. Zamakhshari referred to him as “the philosophe...more
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“Drink wine. This is life eternal. This is all that youth will give you. It is the season for wine, roses and drunken friends. Be happy for this moment. This moment is your life.”
—
215 people liked it
“Be happy for this moment. This moment is your life.”
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93 people liked it
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Dec 03, 2012 05:16am
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