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| The man known in English as the poet '''Omar Khayyám''' (1048-1122) was born in Nishapur (or Naishapur) in Khorassan, Persia (now Iran), and named <i>Ghiyath al-Din Abu'l-Fath '''Umar''' ibn Ibrahim Al-Nisaburi al-'''Khayyami'''</i> (''al-Khayyami'' means "the tentmaker"). He was famous during his lifetime as a mathematician and astronomer who figured out how to correct the Persian calendar. On 15 March 1079 Sultan Jalal al-Din Malekshah Saljuqi (1072-1092) put Omar's corrected calendar into effect, as in Europe ] in 46 B.C. had put the one ] had corrected into effect, and as ] in February 1552 would put the one ] had corrected into effect (although Britain would not switch from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar until 1751, and Russia would not switch until 1918). | The man known in English as the poet '''Omar Khayyám''' (1048-1122) was born in Nishapur (or Naishapur) in Khorassan, Persia (now Iran), and named <i>Ghiyath al-Din Abu'l-Fath '''Umar''' ibn Ibrahim Al-Nisaburi al-'''Khayyami'''</i> (''al-Khayyami'' means "the tentmaker"). He was famous during his lifetime as a mathematician and astronomer who figured out how to correct the Persian calendar. On 15 March 1079 Sultan Jalal al-Din Malekshah Saljuqi (1072-1092) put Omar's corrected calendar into effect, as in Europe ] in 46 B.C. had put the one ] had corrected into effect, and as ] in February 1552 would put the one ] had corrected into effect (although Britain would not switch from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar until 1751, and Russia would not switch until 1918). | ||
| Omar Khayyám is famous today, not for his scientific accomplishments, however, but for his literary ones: about a thousand four-line verses he is believed to have written. About a hundred of them were translated into English by ] (1809-1883) and published as '']'' (''rubáiyát'' means "quatrains"). Other people have also published translations of some of the verses, but |
Omar Khayyám is famous today, not for his scientific accomplishments, however, but for his literary ones: about a thousand four-line verses he is believed to have written. About a hundred of them were translated into English by ] (1809-1883) and published as '']'' (''rubáiyát'' means "quatrains"). Other people have also published translations of some of the verses, but Fitzgerald's is the best known. The most famous of the verses (Fitzgerald's number XI) is: | ||
| ::"Here with a Loaf of Bread beneath the Bough,<br> | ::"Here with a Loaf of Bread beneath the Bough,<br> | ||
Revision as of 23:33, 26 September 2002
The man known in English as the poet Omar Khayyám (1048-1122) was born in Nishapur (or Naishapur) in Khorassan, Persia (now Iran), and named Ghiyath al-Din Abu'l-Fath Umar ibn Ibrahim Al-Nisaburi al-Khayyami (al-Khayyami means "the tentmaker"). He was famous during his lifetime as a mathematician and astronomer who figured out how to correct the Persian calendar. On 15 March 1079 Sultan Jalal al-Din Malekshah Saljuqi (1072-1092) put Omar's corrected calendar into effect, as in Europe Julius Caesar in 46 B.C. had put the one Sosigenes had corrected into effect, and as Pope Gregory XIII in February 1552 would put the one Aloysius Lilius had corrected into effect (although Britain would not switch from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar until 1751, and Russia would not switch until 1918).
Omar Khayyám is famous today, not for his scientific accomplishments, however, but for his literary ones: about a thousand four-line verses he is believed to have written. About a hundred of them were translated into English by Edward Fitzgerald (1809-1883) and published as The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám (rubáiyát means "quatrains"). Other people have also published translations of some of the verses, but Fitzgerald's is the best known. The most famous of the verses (Fitzgerald's number XI) 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 enow."
- "Here with a Loaf of Bread beneath the Bough,
Omar's life is dramatized in the 1957 film Omar Khayyam starring Cornel Wilde, Debra Page, Raymond Massey, Michael Rennie, and John Derek.