The Rubaiyat of Khayyam
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The Rubaiyat of Khayyam, do not even bother with it.
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Richard
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Feb 16, 2013 05:16AM

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Odd title to single out for scorn.

The Rubaiyat is a brief, evocative ode to wine and living life, in full awareness of its temporal nature, a celebration of pleasure and laughing defiance of death. It's unfortunate the Muslim world largely took your advice and forgot this work-- a little appreciation for alcohol or other vices might have been beneficial, in the long run.
It shouldn't be required reading, necessarily, but it's held up well over the centuries. Maybe you read a particularly wooden translation?


Its not high in my ranks because I simply haven't thought about it in many years.



Has cast the stone that set the stars to flight
And lo the hunter of the east
Has caught the sultan's turret in a noose of light...
What's not to like? Its been stuck in my memory for forty years...


There's several English translations in circulation that may have influenced the eventual outcome. I've read two of them to see how it happened.


An opinion is just that, a reaction to an idea or object. They are subject to change over time.
If it's not for you, so be it. But one person's opinion is not the final word. On anything.
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