Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, The (Fitzgerald 5th edition)

By Khayyám, Omar

Book Id: WPLBN0002951919
Format Type:
File Size: 18.05 MB
Reproduction Date: 2010

Title:	Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, The (Fitzgerald 5th edition)
Author:	Khayyám, Omar
Volume:
Language:	English
Subject:	Poetry, Poetry
Collections:	Audio Books Collection, Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, The (Fitzgerald 5th edition)
Historic Publication Date:	1889
Publisher:	LibriVox Audio Books


Citation APA MLA Chicago Khayyám, B. O. (1889). Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, The (Fitzgerald 5th edition). Retrieved from http://self.gutenberg.org/

Description
The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám is so-named from the Persian word rubáiyát - a Persian word denoting a specific type of two-line stanza. Omar's Rubaiyat is a beautiful anthology of Islamic wisdom literature: originally penned in medieval Persian during the late 11th century AD. The best known English translations are those by Edward Fitzgerald: his fifth (and last) translation includes a mere 101 quatrains - a fraction of Omar's original work. Fitzgerald's selection loosely groups quatrains by theme; rendering quatrains into English as four-line, rhymed stanzas. Omar's writings are pervaded by the consciousness of the transient quality of life. In his Rubáiyát, the author ponders the limits of human knowledge and morality: and confronts his readers point-blank with the difficult questions that challenge every generation: - what is the ultimate benefit derived from human knowledge? - given human mortality; is is best to guide our lives by the dictates of reason, or sensuality? - what happens to my soul when I die? - why did God - the Creator - give me existence? (Introduction by Godsend)

Summary
Electronic recorded live performance of a reading

Excerpt
Poetry