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In
his lifetime, Omar
Khayyam (1048-1131)
achieved great fame
as a master of
philosophy,
jurisprudence,
history, medicine,
astronomy, and
mathematics. The
Great Seljuq Empire
owed the reform of
its calendar to him.
The result was the
Jalali era (named
after Jalal-ud-din,
one of the kings)-'a
computation of
time,' wrote Gibbon,
'which surpasses the
Julian, and
approaches the
accuracy of the
Gregorian
[calendar].' He
measured the length
of the year as 365.24219858156
days, a number
improved to
365.242196 days only
in the 19th century
and the current
measure is
365.242190 days.
He not only
discovered a general
method of extracting
roots of an
arbitrary high
degree, but his
Algebra
contains the first
complete treatment
of the
solution of
cubic equations
which he did
by means of conic
sections. He was
also part of the
Islamic tradition of
investigating
Euclid and his
parallel postulate.
Arguing that ratios
should be regarded
as 'ideal numbers,'
he conceived a much
broader system of
numbers than used
since Greek
antiquity, that of
the positive real
numbers. In many
such areas, he
furthered the
remarkable work of
al-Beruni.
Commissioned to
build an observatory
in the city of
Esfahan, he led a
team of astronomers
to do so.
Omar Khayyam
('Tentmaker',
possibly his
father's profession)
was not only a
top-notch
mathematician but
also a major poet.
The world today
knows him for his
quatrains, the
Rubaiyat.
Besides the social
attitudes of the
times, they reveal a
sensitive,
intelligent, humble,
gently-mocking yet
good-humored man,
skeptical of divine
providence and
certainty of truth,
wistful of an
ever-present
evanescence,
mystical in one,
lamenting human
ignorance in
another. Many of his
500 or so quatrains
celebrate wine,
exhorting all those
who take themselves
too seriously to
partake of it while
time permits. He
"chooses to put his
faith in a joyful
appreciation of the
fleeting and
sensuous beauties of
the material world.
The idyllic nature
of the modest
pleasures he
celebrates, however,
cannot dispel his
honest and
straightforward
brooding over
fundamental
metaphysical
questions."♣
Khayyam was attached
to the court of the
Seljuks-of Khorasan,
later of Baghdad,
Samarkand and
Esfahan as well-and
lived amidst
political turbulence
interspersed with
quiet periods. His
ideas frequently
attracted flak from
the growing
religious
conservatism of
Sunni Turks.
According to
Professor Iraj
Bashiri,
Khayyam—synthesizing
the thoughts of
Plato, Aristotle,
the neo-Platonian
al-Farabi, and
Ibn Sina
(Avicenna)—believed
that
"God had created the
world but . [it] had
been a necessity for
God and, therefore,
inevitable. The
stages leading to
the creation of
matter followed each
other as night
follows day . This
ascription of limits
to the power of the
Almighty is the most
startling notion in
Khayyam's Quatrains.
It jolts the unwary
reader out of the
routine of orthodox
thinking and places
him or her in the
uncomfortable
position of the
unwilling
blasphemer. Yet,
Khayyam's God is
more real and
approachable than
the fearful Creator
of orthodoxy . [he]
formally rejects the
Creator/creature
relationship for a
cause and effect
relationship . God
becomes the cause of
a necessary creation
. that develops of
its own accord, and
at its own pace. A
number of Khayyam's
quatrains
concentrate on what
religion teaches
about the powers of
the Almighty and .
the limitations of
that power."
♣
Here are ten sample
quatrains
(translated by EH
Whinfield).
O unenlightened race
of humankind,
Ye are a nothing,
built on empty wind!
Yea, a mere nothing,
hovering in the
abyss,
A void before you,
and a void behind!
All my companions,
one by one died
With Angel of Death
they now reside
In the banquette of
life same wine we
tried
A few cups back,
they fell to the
side.
Some are thoughtful
on their way
Some are doubtful,
so they pray.
I hear the hidden
voice that may
Shout, "Both paths
lead astray."
The secrets eternal
neither you know nor
!
And answers to the
riddle neither you
know nor !
Behind the veil
there is much talk
about us, why
When the veil falls,
neither you remain
nor !
Drinking wine is my
travail
Till my body is dead
and stale
At my grave site all
shall hail
Odor of wine shall
prevail.
Heed not the Sunna,
nor the law divine;
If to the poor his
portion you assign,
And never injure
one, nor yet abuse,
I guarantee you
heaven, and now some
wine!
Slaves of vain
wisdom and
philosophy,
Who toil at Being
and Nonentity,
Parching your brains
till they are like
dry grapes,
Be wise in time, and
drink grapejuice
like me!
You, who in
carnal lusts your time employ,
Wearing your precious spirit with annoy,
Know that these things you set your heart upon
Sooner or later must the soul destroy!
Never in this
false world on friends rely,
(I give this counsel confidentially);
Put up with pain, and seek no antidote;
Endure your grief, and ask no sympathy!
You know all
secrets of this earthly sphere,
Why then remain a prey to empty fear?
You can not bend things to your will, but yet
Cheer up for the few moments you are here!
_______________
(More
quatrains ?)
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