from The Rubáiyát from the Gulistan
Omar Khayyám
(1048-1131)
A Persian poet, scientist, and
mathematician, Omar Khayyám
ö mr ki yäm') is probably the
best-knowm Islamic poet in the
West, where his poems, called
rubáiyát because of their stanza
structure, have been read and
appreciated for centuries.
Khayyam was born in Persia (now Iran) in the
city of Nishapur (n shä poor), a major center of
art and learning in the Middle
Ages. He quickly
earned a reputation as a mathematician and as a
scholar of philosophy, history, law, and astrol-
ogy. Despite his accomplishments in all these
fields, he wrote very little, focusing mostly on
scholarly writings about mathematics.
Khayyám's Poetry In recent times, Omar
Khayvám's reputation as a poet has eclipsed his
scientific fame. A collection of poetry called The
Rubáiyát is attributed to him, although it is now
known that Khayyám did not write the majority
of the poems in the collection. Over the years,
many poems written by other authors have been
added to The Rubáiyát and ascribed to Khayyám.
The question of authorship, however, is of little
concern to Omar Khayyám's admirers, who read
and enjoy The Rubáiyát to this day.
Why So Well Known? The success of the
Rubáiyát is largely the result of an English trans-
lation published in 1859 by the noted English
scholar Edward FitzGerald (1809-1883). In his
translation, FitzGerald was less concerned with
textual accuracy than with capturing the
spirit
of the original poems as he
interpreted them. As
he adapted, Fitzgerald created a series of
lyrical
and energetic poems that are often quite differ-
ent in content from the
originals. Despite their
inaccuracy, FitzGerald's rubáiyát are widely rec-
ognized for their beauty and have enjoyed enor-
mous
popularity throughout the English
speaking world.
Sa'di (c.1213-1291)
Sa'di (sä d) is revered for his
wit, learning, and elegant style
of writing. Persian-speaking
people of all ages still read his
works for enjoyment and ethi
cal guidarnce in their lives.
Born in the Persian city of
Shiraz, Sa' di, whose real name
was Muslihuddin (mõös le hoo dên'),adopted the
pseudonym Sa'di to show his appreciation for
his royal patron, a local ruler named Sa'd bin
Zangi (säd' bn zän ge).
Education and Travel Sa'di was educated in
Baghdad, which was the capital of the Islamic
orld until it was sacked by the Mongols in
1258. In addition to studying at a major univer-
sity, he was a disciple of several famous reli-
gious and mystical teachers. After devoting the
first three decades of his life to his education,
Sa'di spent approximately thirty years traveling
and composing poetry. Then, he spent another
three decades in religious seclusion, devoting
much of his time and energy to revising his
poems. During the last ten years of his life, Sa'di
focused on teaching the ways of Islamic mysti-
cism and taking care of the
needy.
Fables and Poems As a writer, Sa'di is known
mainly tor three major works: the Bustan, or
"Garden," which is a collection of religious anu
"
ethical poems; the Giulistan, or "Rose Garden
yhich is a book of fables; and the Divan, or
lection of Poems," which contains a large nu"
"Lor
ber of odes, along with a variety of light,
humorous poems.
The Gulistan has crossed easily from one cu"
ture to another. Its
speculations on life and ible
i5
guidelines for moral behavior are so accessios
to Westerners that it has been
repeatedly tral
lated since 1787.
 Comparing Literary Works

Preview
Connecting to the Literature
Fairy tales, fables, and other teaching stories often try to guide readers
toward proper and humane behavior. Consider what such stories have in
common with the selections you are about to read.

Literary Analysis
Didactic Literature
Didactic literature teaches lessons on ethics, or principles regarding
and and reflects the of the society that
right wrong conduct, it often values
produces it. This literature usually presents specific situations or details
from which a more general lesson, or moral, may be drawn. Look for the
moral within each of these didactic works.

Comparing Literary Works

To better teach its lessons, didactic literature uses literary tools such
as the following:
Aphorisms-short, pointed statements expressing a truth about
human experience.
.Personification-a technique that gives human qualities to nonhuman
things.
Metaphor-a figure of speech in which one thing is spoken of as
though it were something else.
Although these devices appear in all of the selections you are about to
read, each selection uses them in different ways. As you read, look for these
tools of didactic literature and compare the differing ways each one is used.

Reading Strategy Whole Sentences

Breaking Down Long Sentences
Analyze meaning by breaking down long sentences and considering
what they say, one section at a time. Separate a sentence's key parts (the
who and the what) from the difficult language to get to the main idea. Use a

diagram like the one shown to analyze long sentences.

Who Wha
Vocabulary Builder
repentance (ri pen' tens) n. sorrow for beneficent (be nef e sent) adj. chari-
wrongdoing; remorse (p. 102) table (p. 106)
extortions (eks tôr shenz) n. acts of
pomp (pämp) n. ceremonial splendor;
magnificence (p. 103) obtaining money or something else
myriads (mir edz) n. great numbers through threats, violence, or misuse Whole Sentence
of persons or things (p. 105) of authority (p. 108)
piety (pi e t) n. devotion to religious
duties or practices (p. 105)
 from

ZheKubáiyát Omar Khayyám translated by Edward FitzGerald

Background In the eleventh century, Seljuk Turks took over the Per
sian Empire, imposing authoritarian government and strict
religious prac-
tices on the population. Many believe that Omar Khayyám wrote his
poems
as a quiet protest against Seljuk rule. The poems, unpublished in his life-
time, offer an alternative philosophy that stresses enjoying lite in the here
and now. This philosophy is often expressed as carpe diem, Latin for "seize
the day." Figuratively, the phrase expresses the principle "Enjoy lite tully
while you can."

I
Wake! For the Sun, who scatter'd into flight
The Stars before him from the Field of Night,
Drives Night along with them from Heav'n, and strikes
The Sultán's Turret with a Shaft of Light.

VII
Literary Analysis
Come, fill the Cup, and in the fire of Spring Didactic Literature Wh
Your Winter-garment of Repentance fling: lines or phrases in poem
mo
The Bird of Time has but a little way VIl might serve as a

To flutter-and the Bird is on the Wing. in a didactic story?

Vocabulary Builde
VIII
repentance (i pen'tans
Whether at Naishápúr or Babylon,2 sorrow for wrongdoing
Whether the Cup with sweet or bitter run, remorse

The Wine of Life keeps

oozing drop by droP,
The Leaves of Life keep
falling one by one.
 XII

of Verses underneath the Bough.

Book
a Loaf of Bread-and Thou
AJug of Wine.
Beside me singing in the Wilderness
were Paradise enowt3p
Oh. Wilderness

XIlI
Glories of This World; and
Some for the
some

Sigh for the Prophet's Paradise to come:

Ah. take the Cash, and let the Credit go,
Nor heed the rumble
of a distant Druml

XVI

The Worldly Hope men set their Hearts upon

Turns Ashes-or it prospers; and anon,
Like Snow upon the Desert's dusty Face,
little hour or two-is gone.
Lighting a

XVII

Think, in this batterd Caravanserais

Whose Portals are alternate Night and Day.
How Sultán after Sultán with his Pomp
Abodes his destined Hour, and went his way.

A Critical Viewing
XXVII In what ways does the set-

Myself when young did eagerly frequent ting in this illustration cap

Doctor and Saint, and heard great argument ture the imaginary quality
About it and about: but evermore in Khayyám's poetry?
Came out by the same door where in I went. Analyze
Vocabulary Builder
XXVIII pomp (pämp) n. ceremonia

With them the seed of Wisdom did

I sow, splendor; magnificence
to make it grow;
And with mine own hand wrought
was all the Harvest
that I reap'd-
And this
T came like Water, and like Wind I go.

XLVII Literary Analysis

Didactic Literature and
When You and I behind the Veil are past,
shall last, Metaphor For what con-
On,but the while the World
long, long dition is "behind the Veil"
heeds
Which of o u r Coming and Departure a metaphor?
AS the Sea's self should heed a pebble-cast.
Reading Check

3. enow In poem XXVIll, what

(i nou') adj. enough.
anon (e nän') adv. immediately; at once. seeds did the speaker
5. court.
(kar e van se r) n. inn with a large central sow?
6. vanserai
abode (e bõd') v. awaited.

from The Rubáiyát 103

ubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, Edmurnd Dulac

A Critical Vie
XLVII Which of Khayyám
does this scene be
A Moment's Halt-a momentary taste
trate? Explain. [Int
Of BEING from the Well amid the Waste-
And Lo!-the phantom Caravan has reach'd
The NoTHING it set out from-Oh, make haste!

04 Ancient Worlds
 LXTV

Strange, is it not? that of the myriads who

Before us pass'd the door of Darkness through,
Not one returns to tell us of the Road,
Which to discover we must travel too.

LXXI
The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ,
Moves on: nor all your Piety nor Wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,
Nor all your Tears wash out a Word of it.

XCIX
Ah, Love! could you and I with Him conspire
To grasp this sorry Scheme of Things entire,
Would not we shatter it to bits-and then
Remold it nearer to the Heart's Desire!
 from the Gulistan
Sa'di translated by Edward Rehats

of
Background Sa'di was a mystic, or dervish, in the Islamic sect
oneselt trom material
Sutism, which stresses the importance of freeing
meditation. Like many Suti
desires and living a simple life of prayer and
to convey his moral convictions. His
mystics, Sa'di often used literature
Manners of Kings"- that offer
Gulistan comprises fables-such as "The
and
didactic stories sprinkled with poems
moral guidance through simple,
offer moral
The sections from "The Manners of Kings"
following
aphorisms.
guidance to rulers.

tron The Manners of Kings

1
orders to kill prisoner. The helpless
a
I heard apadshah' giving with the
the king o n that occasion of despair,
fellow began to insult to the saying:
and to use foul expressions according
tongue he had,
hands of life
Who washes his
heart.
whatever he has in his
Says
becomes long and he is like a

When a man is in despair his tongue

a dog.
vanquished cat assailing
is no more possible,
In time of need,
when flight
sword.
The hand grasps
the point of the sharp
vizier? Vocabulary Builde
a good-natured
asked what he w a s saying,
When the king nef e sent
bridle their anger and forgiwe
men;
who (be
Those
"My lord. he says:
eneficent

replied: "3 charitable

loveth the beneficent.
for Allah but another vizier,
forbore taking his life,
The king, moved
with pity,
rank ought to speak
of the former, said: "Men of o u r
the antagonist This fellow has
the of padshahs.
the truth in presence
nothing but unbecomingly." The king.
being
insulted the king
and spoken
 St
D

9 s (e
 Rely not upon
possessions and this world
Because it has
cherished many like thee and slain
When the pure soul is about to them.
What boots it if one dies on a depart.
throne or on the
ground?
6
It isnarrated that one of the
kings of Persia had stretched forth his
tyrannical hand to the possessions of his
to
oppress them subjects and had begun
violently that in consequence of his fraudulent
so

extortions they dispersed in the world and chose exile on account of

the affliction entailed
by his violence. When the population had dimin-
ished. the
prosperity of the country suffered, the treasury remained
empty and on
every side enemies committed violence.
Who desires succor in the
day of calamity,
Say to him: "Be generous in times of
The slave with a ring in his prosperity.
ear, if not cherished will
Be kind because then a depart.
stranger will become thy slave.
One day the Shah-namah was read in
his assembly, the
being the ruin of the dominion of Zohakô and the
subject
reign of Feridun. The
vizier asked the king how it came to
pass that Feridun, who possessed
neither treasure nor land nor a retinue,
established himself upon the
throne. He replied: "As thou hast heard, the
population enthusiasti-
cally gathered around him and supported him so that he attained
alty." The vizier said: "As the gathering around of the population isroy- the
cause of royalty, then why
dispersest thou the population? Perhaps
thou hast no desire for royalty?"
It is best to cherish the army life
as thy
Because a sultan reigns by means of his troops.
The king asked: "What is the reason for the
gathering around of the
troops and the population? He replied: "A padshah must practice jus-
tice that they may gather around him and
clemency that they may
dwell in safety under the shadow of his government; but thou
possess-
est neither of these qualities."
A tyrannic man cannot be a sultan
As a wolf cannot be a shepherd.
A padshah who establishes
oppression
Destroys the basis of the wall of his own reign.
The king. displeased with the advice of his censorious vizier, sent him
toprison. Shortly afterward the sons of the king's uncle rose in rebellion,
desirous of recovering the kingdom of their father. The population, whlch
had been reduced to the last
extremity by the king's oppression and
scattered, now assembled around them and supported them, till he lost
control of the government and they took possession of it.
 A padshah who allows his subjects to be oppressed VCritical Viewing=
Will in his day of calamity become a violent foe. Which of the men pictu
Be at peace with subjects and sit safe from attacks of foes is a visiting ambassade
and which is a sultan?
Because his subjects are the army of a just shahanshah.7
Which details helped
determine your answe
7 Speculate]
A padshah was in the
same boat with a Persian
slave who had never before TU
been at sea and experi-
enced the inconvenience of
a vessel. He began to cry
and to tremble to such a
degree that he could not be
pacified by kindness, so
that at last the king became
displeased as the matter
could not be remedied. In
that boat there happened to
be a philosopher, who said:
"With thy permission I shall
quiet him." The padshah
replied: "It will be a great
favor." The philosopher
ordered the slave to be
thrown into the water so
that he swallowed some of :
it, whereon he was caught
and pulled by his hair to
the boat, to the stern of
which he clung with both
his hands. Then he sat down
in a corner and became quiet. This appeared strange to the king who
knew not what wisdom there was in the proceeding and asked for it. The

philosopher replied: "Before he had tasted the calamity of being drowned,

he knew not the safety of the boat; thus also a man does not appreciate the Literary Analysis

value of immunity from a misfortune until it has befallern him." Didactic Literature and
Aphorisms What mode-
thee not.
O thou full man, barley-bread pleases aphorism might be a goc
She is my sweetheart who appears ugly to thee.
substitute for the philos-
hell.
To the huris" of paradise purgatory seems pher's words?
Ask the denizens" of hell. To them purgatory is paradise.

There is a difference between him whose friend is in his arms

And him whose eyes of expectation are upon the door.

Reading Check
In story 6, what punish-
7. shahanshah (shä' hän shä) emperor or King of kings, usually referred to as a shah.
8. huris (hoo rës) dark-eyed women who, in Islamic legend, live with the blessed in paradise. ment is given to the vizie
9. denizens (den i zenz) n. inhabitants or occupants. who displeases his king?
 35
I was sitting in a vessel with a of great men when a boat
company
n e a r us. One of the
which contained two brothers happened to sink
to a sailor if he could save
great nmen promised a hundred dinars10
out one, the other
them both. Whilst however the sailor was pulling
had no longer to live and
therefore delay took place
perished. I said: "He
hast said is
him." The sailor smiled and replied: "What thou
in rescuing
save this one because,
when I o n c e
certain. Moreover, I preferred to
behind in the desert, he seated m e o n his camel,
happerned to lag When I
received a whipping by the hands of the other.
whereas I had
who doth right, doth it to his ouwn soul and he.
w a s a boy I recited: He,
the same."11
who doth evil, doth against
scratch the interiorl2 of n o
one
As long a s thou canst,
thorns on this road.
Because there a r e
dervish13
Be helpful in the affairs of a
Because thou also hast affairs.

countries.
used in a number of Islamic
10. dinars (di
närz) n. gold coins the Qur'an.
right...the sanme passage from
doth
11. He, who the feelings.
the interior injure
12. scratch
Muslim dedicated to a
life of poverty and chastity.
dervish (dur vish)
13.