In Search of Omar Khayyam (RLE Iran B)

by Ali Dashti

Khayyam has been the subject of speculation on the part of literary critics ever since Edward Fitzgerald published his own version of the Rubaiyat in 1859. This edition represented the first opportunity to study in English the work of Khayyam by a Persian scholar.
There is no conclusive evidence to prove which of the many quatrains attributed to Khayyam are authentic. Ali Dashti therefore constructs a likeness of the poet from references found in the works of writers of his day or immediately after, and from Khayyam’s own works on philosophy, mathematics and astronomy, of which the authenticity is not questioned. Khayyam emerges as a widely read and broad-minded scholar, immersed in his own studies, cautious and moderate, averse to committing himself on controversial questions. Using this portrait Dashti draws up a list of some hundred quatrains which are in keeping with Khayyam’s character.
Selling An elegant and accurate translation which throws light on the nature of Khayyam’s religious and philosophical beliefs.

Genres: Poetry, Literature, Criticism, Nonfiction, Biography

278 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 1, 1961

Reviews

[Behzad · Rating 4 out of 5]

مسئلۀ اصلی کتاب شناسایی رباعی های اصلی خیام است، و با ارائۀ شاهد از متون کهن، خوانش نزدیک متن، بررسی محتوایی رباعی ها، اشاره به زندگی و حوزه های علاقۀ خیام و بالاخره تفسیر حدس و گمان تلاش میکنه نشون بده کدام رباعی ها نوشتۀ خیام هستن و کدام ها نیستن. که خب انصاف رو رعایت میکنه در این مسیر و استدلال ها و ادعاهاش قابل قبول و قانع کننده هستن.
در خلال محقق کردن هدف بالا، اشاراتی به زندگی خیام و زمانۀ او داریم؛ در مورد خلقیات و ویژگی های شخصیتی او می خوانیم؛ دربارۀ فلسفۀ مطرح شده در رباعی هاش می خونیم و غیره.
فصلی از کتاب که کار شرق شناسان رو در بررسی و معرفی و ترجمۀ خیام بر رسیده جالبناک است.

[ZaRi]

نوع انسان بر سایر جانداران زمین مزیتی روشن و خیره کننده دارد. می اندیشد، از سیر افلاک و کواکب سر در آورده، سال و ماه و فصول اربعه را معین کرده است، به راز آفرینش فکر کرده و فلسفه آورده است، با علوم طبیعی و ریاضی بسی مشکلات را حل کرده، با شعر و موسیقی و معماری و صدها هنرِ دیگر برترین خود را مسجل ساخته؛ اما با همه ی این احوال محکوم به فناست و از این حیث با کوچکترین و پست ترین جانداران تفاوتی ندارد.
آمدن شدن تو اندرین عالم چیست؟
آمد مگسی پدید و ناپیدا شد!

[Sunny · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was not overly impressed with this book to be honest. The book was a study of the verification of some of the claims that people in the past have made in having translated the 4 line quatrains of Omar Khayyam. I must admit that I have begun to doubt whether one of my all time Omar Khayyam quatrains was actually his based on this book. Here it is:
“Here with a Loaf of Bread beneath the Bough,
A Flask of Wine, a Book of Verse - and Thou
Beside me singing in the Wilderness -
And Wilderness is Paradise now.”
One of the interesting aspects of Khayyams poetry is his use, often if not always metaphoric, of wine. I’m not sure how much Khayyam did or didn’t consume as a Muslim but one thing that Dashti conveys is the way in which Khayyam used wine as a metaphor or symbol of all that is beautiful and lovely and essentially free in the world. Islamically this would have been frowned upon even at that time.

[Eli · Rating 4 out of 5]

For those interested in Orientalism, as well as those opposed to Orientalist condecension, there could be no better book. This work throughly examines all of the evidence about Omar Khayyam's life and brings to light many facts about the elusive poet-philosopher-mathematician that tend to be overlooked by non-Persians.

[Arash Abdollahnejad · Rating 1 out of 5]

کتابی قدیمی پر از اطلاعات منسوخ‌شده و غلط، همراه با تحلیل‌ها و استدلال‌های غلط بسیار.