PERSIAN LITERATURE

Delgado, Ma. Victoria Anne B.

BSED ENGLISH II

Activity 1: What is your impression about Persian Literature?

Just like other country, literature, Persian Literature gone through a lot of change, alteration and adaptation but
despite of the circumstances it is a very rich and has a number of noteworthy characteristics, the most striking of which
is the exceptional prominence of poetry and it has influenced the literary works of many other cultures. All in all I can
call the Persian Literature a Survivor one.

The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam [excerpt]

Activity 1:
1. The Rubiayat of Khayyan discusses the concept of fate and religious doctrine. Considering the time period of
the original, which attitudes towards these concepts ca be found within the poem?
- In 11th century, original poems emerged in the Middle East which was the haven of erudites and I think that was
also the same time when Islamic or something that has something to do in religion was eminent in everyday lives of the
people. That simply means its a clash between Science and religion which we all know that has an invisible boundaries
that can never ever be encompassed. This piece has strong criticism of religious doctrine which was reasonable because
the author was a science geek, fond in astronomy and mathematics, it’s sure surface on his works but the topic of fate
was told in a different way. Fate as preordained by the most powerful and no human kind can beat or change any of it.
The speaker in the piece made the people look useless and their death as the final destination of their life and there’s no
afterlife that awaits for them in the first place.

2. What is the main theme of the poem?

Fitz Gerald's translation preserves the original poem's aaba rhyme scheme, a traditional Middle Eastern rhyme
scheme that is very unusual in Western poetry. The poem depicts a simple man who finds solace by escaping into
material pleasures, and treats the universal and ageless themes of doubt, fear, and regret.

3. The Tubiayyay is a compilation of unrelated quatrains into one epic. Fitzgerald has been accused of departing
from a true translation and sometimes even inserting whole quatrains. What problems would one face when
trying to compile a poem such as this?
As a language student’ we often encounter terms in English that has no exact translation in Tagalog/Filipino and
vice versa so, it is much easier to insert the source of --let say a statement or as Fitz Gerald do, inserting the whole
quatrain in order to preserve the meaning and the essence of what the stanza wants to convey. As for Fitz Gerald
departing from the true translation, as what I said there are words that doesn’t seem to fit in a statement even if its the
synonymous term of the word. It still doesn’t sound right. Maybe Fitz Gerald depart the true translation because the
translation doesn’t justify the message that the original stanza wants to deliver to the readers.

4. What message does the poem give?

The Rubiyat of Omar Khayyam is a poem of high divine and spiritual meaning. The beauty and simplicity of this
poem is so immaculate that people of all faiths and those who have no faith at all can seek divine solace in it. Omar has
used popular metaphors in his passionate praise of wine and love.

5. What does Rubiayyat mean in English?

 Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám is the title that Edward FitzGerald gave to his 1859 translation from Persian to English
of a selection of quatrains (rubāʿiyāt) attributed to Omar Khayyam (1048–1131), dubbed "the Astronomer-Poet of
Persia".