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The Ruba'iyat of Omar Khayyam
The Ruba'iyat of Omar Khayyam
Nov 17, 2025 1:28 PM

Author:Omar Khayyam,John Heath-Stubbs,Peter Avery

The Ruba'iyat of Omar Khayyam

Revered in eleventh-century Persia as an astronomer, mathematician and philosopher, Omar Khayyam is now known first and foremost for his Ruba'iyat. The short epigrammatic stanza form allowed poets of his day to express personal feelings, beliefs and doubts with wit and clarity, and Khayyam became one of its most accomplished masters with his touching meditations on the transience of human life and of the natural world. One of the supreme achievements of medieval literature, the reckless romanticism and the pragmatic fatalism in the face of death means these verses continue to hold the imagination of modern readers.

Reviews

It bracingly reanimates an era of frenzy that longed to burn the world clean

—— The Guardian

The mud and blood, visions and ideals of 16th-century Europe come back to gruesome, glorious life

—— The Independent

Big and bloody and breathtaking: a crush of colour and crowds, exotic locations and war.

—— The Times

Imagine Umberto Eco's knack for the swashbuckling thriller-of-ideas crossed with an artful touch of the Le Carr's - it boasts pace, colour, excitement and suspense to spare- Q works like a charm as a sordid, splendid period romp.

—— Independent

If ever there was a novel that deserved to win prizes, accolades and plaudits, it is Q - A rich, inventive and immensely powerful book - Q is a great novel, one that tells us about ourselves and how we came to be here.

—— Scotland on Sunday
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