Abdolmehdi Mostakin, PhD in International Relations Graduated from Mystical Literature and director of the Culture Department of the National Commission for UNESCO Iran, told IRNA on Wednesday that Edward FitzGerald translated Khayyam’s rubaiyat (quatrains) from Persian to English in 1859; and when the World War I and World War II erupted and Europeans were involved in the conflicts, some British and German soldiers had translations of the quatrains in their pockets and they read these poems to get rid of their pains.
Omar Khayyam was born on May 18, 1048 and died on December 4, 1131. Khayyam is known as Persian polymath, mathematician, astronomer, historian, philosopher, and poet.
Fitzgerald focused on cultural aspects of the poems, which could be related to his own time and his interpretation of the Persian quatrains were embraced by Western readers.
As the Europeans were experiencing war situation, the poems urged them to look at the world and life in another way. Pointing to the lives of two ancient Iranian kings called Jamshid and Bahram, Khayyam tried to beautifully describe:
“This worn caravanserai which is called the world
Is the resting-place of the piebald horse of night and day;
It is a pavilion which has been abandoned by a hundred Jamshyds;
It is a palace that is the resting-place of a hundred Bahrams.”
The day Ordibehesht 28 in the Persian calendar corresponding with May 17 or 18 is the commemoration day of the world-renowned Persian Poet Omar Khayyam. The solar Jalali calendar was adopted on March 15, 1079 by the Seljuk Sultan Jalal al-Din Malik Shah I, based on the recommendations of a committee of astronomers, including Omar Khayyam, at the imperial observatory in his capital city of Isfahan.
The renowned Persian poet depicted the passing of days so eye-catching as follows:
"Alike for those who for TO-DAY prepare,
And those that after a TO-MORROW stare,
A Muezzin from the Tower of Darkness cries
"Fools! your Reward is neither Here nor There."
When it comes to witnessing his own life and the outlook of death, which is inevitable for every person and any creature, he describes:
"Oh, come with old Khayyam, and leave the Wise
To talk; one thing is certain, that Life flies;
One thing is certain, and the Rest is Lies;
The Flower that once has blown forever dies."
Mostakin went on to say that Khayyam’s poems have been highlighted around the world, while he had various capabilities in philosophy, mathematics, astronomy, and other fields of science.
According to the thinker, Khayyam’s poems belong to all eras and his works are useful for different nations in various places.
Omar Khayyam is one of prominent Persian figures, whose names have been inscribed on the Heritage List of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Mostakin added.
In one of his quatrains, Khayyam depicted the world as a caravan, which is interesting to read:
"One Moment in Annihilation’s Waste,
One moment, of the Well of Life to taste—
The Stars are setting, and the Caravan
Starts for the dawn of Nothing—Oh, make haste!"
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