Omar Khayyam

Ghiyāth al-Dīn Abū al-Fatḥ ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm Nīsābūrī[3][4]

Hakim
(18 May 1048 – 4 December 1131), commonly known as Omar
Khayyam (Persian: ‫)عمر خّیام‬,[a] was a Persian[5] polymath,
Omar Khayyam
known for his contributions to mathematics, astronomy, ‫عمر خّیام‬
philosophy, and poetry.[6] He was born in Nishapur, the initial
capital of the Seljuk Empire. As a scholar, he was contemporary
with the rule of the Seljuk dynasty around the time of the First
Crusade.

As a mathematician, he is most notable for his work on the

classification and solution of cubic equations, where he provided
geometric solutions by the intersection of conics.[7] Khayyam also
contributed to the understanding of the parallel axiom.[8]: 2 84  As an
astronomer, he calculated the duration of the solar year with
remarkable precision and accuracy, and designed the Jalali
calendar, a solar calendar with a very precise 33-year intercalation
cycle[9][10]: 6 59  that provided the basis for the Persian calendar that
is still in use after nearly a millennium.
Statue of Omar Khayyam by
There is a tradition of attributing poetry to Omar Khayyam, written Abolhassan Sadighi
in the form of quatrains (rubāʿiyāt ‫)رباعیات‬. This poetry became Born 18 May[1] 1048[2]
widely known to the English-reading world in a translation by Nishapur, Khorasan,
Edward FitzGerald (Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, 1859), which Seljuk Empire
enjoyed great success in the Orientalism of the fin de siècle.
Died 4 December[1] 1131
(aged 83)[2]
Life Nishapur, Khorasan,
Seljuk Empire
Omar Khayyam was born, of Khorasani Persian ancestry, in
Nishapur in 1048.[11][12][5][13][14] In medieval Persian texts he is Academic background
usually simply called Omar Khayyam.[15] Although open to Influences Avicenna, al-
doubt, it has often been assumed that his forebears followed the Khwārizmī, Euclid,
trade of tent-making, since Khayyam means tent-maker in Apollonius of Perge
Arabic.[16]: 3 0  The historian Bayhaqi, who was personally
acquainted with Omar, provides the full details of his horoscope: Academic work
"he was Gemini, the sun and Mercury being in the Main Mathematics
ascendant[...]".[17]: 4 71  This was used by modern scholars to interests (medieval Islamic),
establish his date of birth as 18 May 1048.[10]: 6 58  astronomy, Persian
philosophy, Persian
Khayyam's boyhood was spent in Nishapur,[10]: 6 59  a leading poetry
metropolis under the Great Seljuq Empire,[18]: 1 5 [19] and it had
Influenced Tusi, Al-Khazini,
been a major center of the Zoroastrian religion.[11]: 6 8  His full
name, as it appears in the Arabic sources, was Abu’l Fath Omar Nizami Aruzi of
 ibn Ibrahim al- Samarcand, Hafez,
Khayyam. [20] His gifts Sadegh Hedayat,
were recognized by his André Gide, John
early tutors who sent him Wallis, Saccheri,
to study under Imam Edward FitzGerald,
Muwaffaq Nishaburi, the
Maurice Bouchor,
greatest teacher of the
Henri Cazalis, Jean
Khorasan region who
tutored the children of the Chapelain, Amin
Mausoleum of Omar Khayyam in
highest nobility. Omar Maalouf
Nishapur, Iran. Some of his rubáiyáts
are used as calligraphic (taliq script) made a great friendship
decoration on the exterior body of his with him through the years.[11]: 2 0  Khayyam was also taught by the
mausoleum. Zoroastrian mathematician, Abu Hassan Bahmanyar bin
Marzban.[21] After studying science, philosophy, mathematics and
astronomy at Nishapur, about the year 1068 he traveled to the
province of Bukhara, where he frequented the renowned library of the Ark. In about 1070 he moved to
Samarkand, where he started to compose his famous treatise on algebra under the patronage of Abu Tahir
Abd al-Rahman ibn ʿAlaq, the governor and chief judge of the city.[22] Omar Khayyam was kindly
received by the Karakhanid ruler Shams al-Mulk Nasr, who according to Bayhaqi, would "show him the
greatest honour, so much so that he would seat [Omar] beside him on his throne".[16]: 3 4 [11]: 4 7 

In 1073–4 peace was concluded with Sultan Malik-Shah I who had made incursions into Karakhanid
dominions. Khayyam entered the service of Malik-Shah in 1074–5 when he was invited by the Grand
Vizier Nizam al-Mulk to meet Malik-Shah in the city of Marv. Khayyam was subsequently commissioned
to set up an observatory in Isfahan and lead a group of scientists in carrying out precise astronomical
observations aimed at the revision of the Persian calendar. The undertaking began probably in 1076 and
ended in 1079[11]: 2 8  when Omar Khayyam and his colleagues concluded their measurements of the length
of the year, reporting it as 365.24219858156 days.[23] Given that the length of the year is changing in the
sixth decimal place over a person's lifetime, this is outstandingly accurate. For comparison the length of the
year at the end of the 19th century was 365.242196 days, while today it is 365.242190 days.

After the death of Malik-Shah and his vizier (murdered, it is thought, by the Ismaili order of Assassins),
Omar fell from favor at court, and as a result, he soon set out on his pilgrimage to Mecca. A possible
ulterior motive for his pilgrimage reported by Al-Qifti, was a public demonstration of his faith with a view
to allaying suspicions of skepticism and confuting the allegations of unorthodoxy (including possible
sympathy or adherence to Zoroastrianism) levelled at him by a hostile clergy.[24][11]: 2 9  He was then invited
by the new Sultan Sanjar to Marv, possibly to work as a court astrologer.[1] He was later allowed to return
to Nishapur owing to his declining health. Upon his return, he seems to have lived the life of a
recluse.[25]: 9 9 

Omar Khayyam died at the age of 83 in his hometown of Nishapur on 4 December 1131, and he is buried
in what is now the Mausoleum of Omar Khayyam. One of his disciples Nizami Aruzi relates the story that
sometime during 1112–3 Khayyam was in Balkh in the company of Al-Isfizari (one of the scientists who
had collaborated with him on the Jalali calendar) when he made a prophecy that "my tomb shall be in a
spot where the north wind may scatter roses over it".[16]: 3 6 [19] Four years after his death, Aruzi located his
tomb in a cemetery in a then large and well-known quarter of Nishapur on the road to Marv. As it had been
foreseen by Khayyam, Aruzi found the tomb situated at the foot of a garden-wall over which pear trees and
peach trees had thrust their heads and dropped their flowers so that his tombstone was hidden beneath
them.[16]

Mathematics
Khayyam was famous during his life as a mathematician. His surviving mathematical works include: A
commentary on the difficulties concerning the postulates of Euclid's Elements (Risāla fī šarḥ mā aškala
min muṣādarāt kitāb Uqlīdis, completed in December 1077), On the division of a quadrant of a circle
(Risālah fī qismah rub‘ al-dā’irah, undated but completed prior to the treatise on algebra), and On proofs
for problems concerning Algebra (Maqāla fi l-jabr wa l-muqābala, most likely completed in 1079).[8]: 2 81 
He furthermore wrote a treatise on the binomial theorem and extracting the nth root of natural numbers,
which has been lost.[11]: 1 97 

Theory of parallels

A part of Khayyam's commentary on Euclid's Elements deals with the parallel axiom.[8]: 2 82  The treatise of
Khayyam can be considered the first treatment of the axiom not based on petitio principii, but on a more
intuitive postulate. Khayyam refutes the previous attempts by other mathematicians to prove the
proposition, mainly on grounds that each of them had postulated something that was by no means easier to
admit than the Fifth Postulate itself. Drawing upon Aristotle's views, he rejects the usage of movement in
geometry and therefore dismisses the different attempt by Al-Haytham.[26][27] Unsatisfied with the failure
of mathematicians to prove Euclid's statement from his other postulates, Omar tried to connect the axiom
with the Fourth Postulate, which states that all right angles are equal to one another.[8]: 2 82 

Khayyam was the first to consider the three distinct cases of acute, obtuse, and right angle for the summit
angles of a Khayyam-Saccheri quadrilateral.[8]: 2 83  After proving a number of theorems about them, he
showed that Postulate V follows from the right angle hypothesis, and refuted the obtuse and acute cases as
self-contradictory. His elaborate attempt to prove the parallel postulate was significant for the further
development of geometry, as it clearly shows the possibility of non-Euclidean geometries. The hypotheses
of acute, obtuse, and right angles are now known to lead respectively to the non-Euclidean hyperbolic
geometry of Gauss-Bolyai-Lobachevsky, to that of Riemannian geometry, and to Euclidean geometry.[28]

Tusi's commentaries on Khayyam's treatment of parallels made its way to Europe. John Wallis, professor of
geometry at Oxford, translated Tusi's commentary into Latin. Jesuit geometer Girolamo Saccheri, whose
work (euclides ab omni naevo vindicatus, 1733) is generally considered the first step in the eventual
development of non-Euclidean geometry, was familiar with the work of Wallis. The American historian of
mathematics David Eugene Smith mentions that Saccheri "used the same lemma as the one of Tusi, even
lettering the figure in precisely the same way and using the lemma for the same purpose". He further says
that "Tusi distinctly states that it is due to Omar Khayyam, and from the text, it seems clear that the latter
was his inspirer."[25]: 1 04 [29][11]: 1 95 

The real number concept

This treatise on Euclid contains another contribution dealing with the theory of proportions and with the
compounding of ratios. Khayyam discusses the relationship between the concept of ratio and the concept of
number and explicitly raises various theoretical difficulties. In particular, he contributes to the theoretical
study of the concept of irrational number. Displeased with Euclid's definition of equal ratios, he redefined
the concept of a number by the use of a continuous fraction as the means of expressing a ratio. Rosenfeld
and Youschkevitch (1973) argue that "by placing irrational
quantities and numbers on the same operational scale, [Khayyam]
began a true revolution in the doctrine of number." Likewise, it was
noted by D. J. Struik that Omar was "on the road to that extension
of the number concept which leads to the notion of the real
number."[8]: 2 84 

Geometric algebra

Rashed and Vahabzadeh (2000) have argued that because of his

thoroughgoing geometrical approach to algebraic equations,
Khayyam can be considered the precursor of Descartes in the
invention of analytic geometry.[30]: 2 48  In The Treatise on the
Division of a Quadrant of a Circle Khayyam applied algebra to
geometry. In this work, he devoted himself mainly to investigating
whether it is possible to divide a circular quadrant into two parts "Cubic equation and intersection of
such that the line segments projected from the dividing point to the conic sections" the first page of a
perpendicular diameters of the circle form a specific ratio. His two-chaptered manuscript kept in
solution, in turn, employed several curve constructions that led to Tehran University.
equations containing cubic and quadratic terms.[30]: 2 48 

The solution of cubic equations

Khayyam seems to have been the first to conceive a general theory

of cubic equations[31] and the first to geometrically solve every
type of cubic equation, so far as positive roots are concerned.[32]
The treatise on algebra contains his work on cubic equations.[33] It
is divided into three parts: (i) equations which can be solved with
compass and straight edge, (ii) equations which can be solved by
means of conic sections, and (iii) equations which involve the
inverse of the unknown.[34]

Khayyam produced an exhaustive list of all possible equations Omar Khayyam's construction of a
involving lines, squares, and cubes.[35]: 4 3  He considered three solution to the cubic x3 + 2x =
binomial equations, nine trinomial equations, and seven tetranomial 2x2 + 2. The intersection point
equations. [8]: 
2 81  For the first and second degree polynomials, he produced by the circle and the
provided numerical solutions by geometric construction. He hyperbola determine the desired
concluded that there are fourteen different types of cubics that segment.
cannot be reduced to an equation of a lesser degree. For these he
could not accomplish the construction of his unknown segment
with compass and straight edge. He proceeded to present geometric solutions to all types of cubic equations
using the properties of conic sections.[36]: 1 57 [8]: 2 81  The prerequisite lemmas for Khayyam's geometrical
proof include Euclid VI, Prop 13, and Apollonius II, Prop 12.[36]: 1 55  The positive root of a cubic equation
was determined as the abscissa of a point of intersection of two conics, for instance, the intersection of two
parabolas, or the intersection of a parabola and a circle, etc.[37]: 1 41  However, he acknowledged that the
arithmetic problem of these cubics was still unsolved, adding that "possibly someone else will come to
know it after us".[36]: 1 58  This task remained open until the sixteenth century, where algebraic solution of
the cubic equation was found in its generality by Cardano, Del Ferro, and Tartaglia in Renaissance
Italy.[8]: 2 82 
In effect, Khayyam's work is an effort to unify algebra and
geometry.[39]: 2 41  This particular geometric solution of cubic equations Whoever thinks algebra is a
has been further investigated by M. Hachtroudi and extended to solving trick in obtaining unknowns
fourth-degree equations.[40] Although similar methods had appeared has thought it in vain. No
sporadically since Menaechmus, and further developed by the 10th- attention should be paid to
century mathematician Abu al-Jud,[41][42] Khayyam's work can be the fact that algebra and
considered the first systematic study and the first exact method of geometry are different in
solving cubic equations.[43] The mathematician Woepcke (1851) who appearance. Algebras are
offered translations of Khayyam's algebra into French praised him for geometric facts which are
his "power of generalization and his rigorously systematic proved by propositions five
procedure."[44]: 1 0  and six of Book two of
Elements.

Binomial theorem and extraction of roots

—Omar Khayyam[38]
In his algebraic treatise, Khayyam alludes to a book he had written on
the extraction of the th root of the numbers using a law he had
discovered which did not depend on geometric figures.[37] This
From the Indians one has
book was most likely titled The difficulties of arithmetic (Moškelāt
al-hesāb), and is not extant. Based on the context, some historians methods for obtaining square and
cube roots, methods based on
of mathematics such as D. J. Struik, believe that Omar must have
knowledge of individual cases  –
known the formula for the expansion of the binomial ,
namely the knowledge of the
where n is a positive integer.[8]: 2 82  The case of power 2 is
squares of the nine digits 12 , 22 ,
explicitly stated in Euclid's elements and the case of at most power
32 (etc.) and their respective
3 had been established by Indian mathematicians. Khayyam was
products, i.e. 2 × 3 etc. We have
the mathematician who noticed the importance of a general
written a treatise on the proof of
binomial theorem. The argument supporting the claim that
the validity of those methods and
Khayyam had a general binomial theorem is based on his ability to
that they satisfy the conditions. In
extract roots.[46] One of Khayyam's predecessors, Al-Karaji, had
addition we have increased their
already discovered the triangular arrangement of the coefficients of
types, namely in the form of the
binomial expansions that Europeans later came to know as
determination of the fourth, fifth,
Pascal's triangle;[47] Khayyam popularized this triangular array in sixth roots up to any desired
Iran, so that it is now known as Omar Khayyam's triangle.[37] degree. No one preceded us in
this and those proofs are purely
Astronomy arithmetic, founded on the
arithmetic of The Elements.
In 1074–5, Omar Khayyam was commissioned by Sultan Malik-
Shah to build an observatory at Isfahan and reform the Persian —Omar Khayyam, Treatise on
calendar. There was a panel of eight scholars working under the Demonstration of Problems of
direction of Khayyam to make large-scale astronomical
Algebra[45]
observations and revise the astronomical tables.[37]: 1 41 
Recalibrating the calendar fixed the first day of the year at the
exact moment of the passing of the Sun's center across vernal
equinox. This marks the beginning of spring or Nowrūz, a day in which the Sun enters the first degree of
Aries before noon.[48] [49] The resultant calendar was named in Malik-Shah's honor as the Jalālī calendar,
and was inaugurated on 15 March 1079.[50] The observatory itself was disused after the death of Malik-
Shah in 1092.[10]: 6 59 
The Jalālī calendar was a true solar calendar where the
duration of each month is equal to the time of the
passage of the Sun across the corresponding sign of
the Zodiac. The calendar reform introduced a unique
33-year intercalation cycle. As indicated by the works
of Khazini, Khayyam's group implemented an
intercalation system based on quadrennial and
quinquennial leap years. Therefore, the calendar
consisted of 25 ordinary years that included 365 days,
and 8 leap years that included 366 days.[51] The
calendar remained in use across Greater Iran from the
11th to the 20th centuries. In 1911 the Jalali calendar Representation of the intercalation scheme of the
became the official national calendar of Qajar Iran. In Jalali calendar
1925 this calendar was simplified and the names of the
months were modernized, resulting in the modern
Iranian calendar. The Jalali calendar is more accurate than the Gregorian calendar of 1582,[10]: 6 59  with an
error of one day accumulating over 5,000 years, compared to one day every 3,330 years in the Gregorian
calendar.[11]: 2 00  Moritz Cantor considered it the most perfect calendar ever devised.[25]: 1 01 

One of his pupils Nizami Aruzi of Samarcand relates that Khayyam apparently did not have a belief in
astrology and divination: "I did not observe that he (scil. Omar Khayyam) had any great belief in
astrological predictions, nor have I seen or heard of any of the great [scientists] who had such
belief."[44]: 1 1  While working for Sultan Sanjar as an astrologer he was asked to predict the weather – a job
that he apparently did not do well.[11]: 3 0  George Saliba (2002) explains that the term ‘ilm al-nujūm, used
in various sources in which references to Omar's life and work could be found, has sometimes been
incorrectly translated to mean astrology. He adds: "from at least the middle of the tenth century, according
to Farabi's enumeration of the sciences, that this science, ‘ilm al-nujūm, was already split into two parts,
one dealing with astrology and the other with theoretical mathematical astronomy."[52]: 2 24 

Other works
He has a short treatise devoted to Archimedes' principle (in full title, On the Deception of Knowing the Two
Quantities of Gold and Silver in a Compound Made of the Two). For a compound of gold adulterated with
silver, he describes a method to measure more exactly the weight per capacity of each element. It involves
weighing the compound both in air and in water, since weights are easier to measure exactly than volumes.
By repeating the same with both gold and silver one finds exactly how much heavier than water gold, silver
and the compound were. This treatise was extensively examined by Eilhard Wiedemann who believed that
Khayyam's solution was more accurate and sophisticated than that of Khazini and Al-Nayrizi who also
dealt with the subject elsewhere.[11]: 1 98 

Another short treatise is concerned with music theory in which he discusses the connection between music
and arithmetic. Khayyam's contribution was in providing a systematic classification of musical scales, and
discussing the mathematical relationship among notes, minor, major and tetrachords.[11]: 1 98 

Poetry
The earliest allusion to Omar Khayyam's poetry is from the historian Imad ad-Din al-Isfahani, a younger
contemporary of Khayyam, who explicitly identifies him as both a poet and a scientist (Kharidat al-qasr,
1174).[11]: 4 9 [53]: 3 5  One of the earliest specimens of Omar Khayyam's Rubiyat is from Fakhr al-Din Razi.
In his work Al-tanbih ‘ala ba‘d asrar al-maw‘dat fi’l-Qur’an (ca. 1160), he quotes one of his poems
(corresponding to quatrain LXII of FitzGerald's first edition). Daya
in his writings (Mirsad al-‘Ibad, ca. 1230) quotes two quatrains,
one of which is the same as the one already reported by Razi. An
additional quatrain is quoted by the historian Juvayni (Tarikh-i
Jahangushay, ca. 1226–1283).[53]: 3 6–37 [11]: 9 2  In 1340 Jajarmi
includes thirteen quatrains of Khayyam in his work containing an
anthology of the works of famous Persian poets (Munis al-ahrār),
Rendition of a ruba'i from the
two of which have hitherto been known from the older sources.[54]
Bodleian manuscript, rendered in
A comparatively late manuscript is the Bodleian MS. Ouseley 140,
Shekasteh calligraphy.
written in Shiraz in 1460, which contains 158 quatrains on 47 folia.
The manuscript belonged to William Ouseley (1767–1842) and
was purchased by the Bodleian Library in 1844.

There are occasional quotes of verses attributed to Omar in texts

attributed to authors of the 13th and 14th centuries, but these are of
doubtful authenticity, so that skeptical scholars point out that the
entire tradition may be pseudepigraphic.[53]: 1 1  Hans Heinrich
Schaeder in 1934 commented that the name of Omar Khayyam "is
to be struck out from the history of Persian literature" due to the
lack of any material that could confidently be attributed to him. De
Blois (2004) presents a bibliography of the manuscript tradition,
concluding pessimistically that the situation has not changed
significantly since Schaeder's time.[55] Ottoman Era inscription of a poem
written by Omar Khayyam at Morića
Five of the quatrains later attributed to Omar are found as early as Han in Sarajevo, Bosnia and
30 years after his death, quoted in Sindbad-Nameh. While this Herzegovina
establishes that these specific verses were in circulation in Omar's
time or shortly later, it doesn't imply that the verses must be his. De
Blois concludes that at the least the process of attributing poetry to Omar Khayyam appears to have begun
already in the 13th century.[56] Edward Granville Browne (1906) notes the difficulty of disentangling
authentic from spurious quatrains: "while it is certain that Khayyam wrote many quatrains, it is hardly
possible, save in a few exceptional cases, to assert positively that he wrote any of those ascribed to
him".[10]: 6 63 

In addition to the Persian quatrains, there are twenty-five Arabic poems attributed to Khayyam which are
attested by historians such as al-Isfahani, Shahrazuri (Nuzhat al-Arwah, ca. 1201–1211), Qifti (Tārikh al-
hukamā, 1255), and Hamdallah Mustawfi (Tarikh-i guzida, 1339).[11]: 3 9 

Boyle and Frye (1975) emphasize that there are a number of other Persian scholars who occasionally wrote
quatrains, including Avicenna, Ghazzali, and Tusi. They conclude that it is also possible that for Khayyam
poetry was an amusement of his leisure hours: "these brief poems seem often to have been the work of
scholars and scientists who composed them, perhaps, in moments of relaxation to edify or amuse the inner
circle of their disciples".[10]: 6 62 
The poetry attributed to Omar Khayyam has contributed greatly to his popular fame in the modern period
as a direct result of the extreme popularity of the translation of such verses into English by Edward
FitzGerald (1859). FitzGerald's Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam contains loose translations of quatrains from
the Bodleian manuscript. It enjoyed such success in the fin de siècle period that a bibliography compiled in
1929 listed more than 300 separate editions,[57] and many more have been published since.[58]

Philosophy
Khayyam considered himself intellectually to be a student of Avicenna.[59] According to Al-Bayhaqi, he
was reading the metaphysics in Avicenna's the Book of Healing before he died.[10]: 6 61  There are six
philosophical papers believed to have been written by Khayyam. One of them, On existence (Fi’l-wujūd),
was written originally in Persian and deals with the subject of existence and its relationship to universals.
Another paper, titled The necessity of contradiction in the world, determinism and subsistence (Darurat al-
tadād fi’l-‘ālam wa’l-jabr wa’l-baqā’), is written in Arabic and deals with free will and
determinism.[59]: 4 75  The titles of his other works are On being and necessity (Risālah fī’l-kawn wa’l-
taklīf), The Treatise on Transcendence in Existence (Al-Risālah al-ulā fi’l-wujūd), On the knowledge of the
universal principles of existence (Risālah dar ‘ilm kulliyāt-i wujūd), and Abridgement concerning natural
phenomena (Mukhtasar fi’l-Tabi‘iyyāt).

Khayyum himself once said:[60]

We are the victims of an age when men of science are discredited, and only a few remain who
are capable of engaging in scientific research. Our philosophers spend all their time in mixing
true with false and are interested in nothing but outward show; such little learning as they have
they extend on material ends. When they see a man sincere and unremitting in his search for
the truth, one who will have nothing to do with falsehood and pretence, they mock and despise
him.

Religious views

A literal reading of Khayyam's quatrains leads to the interpretation of his philosophic attitude toward life as
a combination of pessimism, nihilism, Epicureanism, fatalism, and agnosticism.[11]: 6  [61] This view is taken
by Iranologists such as Arthur Christensen, H. Schaeder, Richard N. Frye, E. D. Ross,[62]: 3 65  E. H.
Whinfield[44]: 4 0  and George Sarton.[18]: 1 8  Conversely, the Khayyamic quatrains have also been described
as mystical Sufi poetry.[63] In addition to his Persian quatrains, J. C. E. Bowen (1973) mentions that
Khayyam's Arabic poems also "express a pessimistic viewpoint which is entirely consonant with the
outlook of the deeply thoughtful rationalist philosopher that Khayyam is known historically to have
been."[64]: 6 9  Edward FitzGerald emphasized the religious skepticism he found in Khayyam.[65] In his
preface to the Rubáiyát he claimed that he "was hated and dreaded by the Sufis",[66] and denied any
pretense at divine allegory: "his Wine is the veritable Juice of the Grape: his Tavern, where it was to be had:
his Saki, the Flesh and Blood that poured it out for him." [67]: 6 2  Sadegh Hedayat is one of the most notable
proponents of Khayyam's philosophy as agnostic skepticism, and according to Jan Rypka (1934), he even
considered Khayyam an atheist.[68] Hedayat (1923) states that "while Khayyam believes in the
transmutation and transformation of the human body, he does not believe in a separate soul; if we are lucky,
our bodily particles would be used in the making of a jug of wine."[69] Omar Khayyam's poetry has been
cited in the context of New Atheism, such as in The Portable Atheist by Christopher Hitchens.[70]
Al-Qifti (ca. 1172–1248) appears to confirm this view of Omar's philosophy.[10]: 6 63  In his work The
History of Learned Men he reports that Omar's poems were only outwardly in the Sufi style, but were
written with an anti-religious agenda.[62]: 3 65  He also mentions that he was at one point indicted for
impiety, but went on a pilgrimage to prove he was pious.[11]: 2 9  The report has it that upon returning to his
native city he concealed his deepest convictions and practised a strictly religious life, going morning and
evening to the place of worship.[62]: 3 55 

Khayyum on the Koran (quote 84):[71]

The Koran! well, come put me to the test, Lovely old book in hideous error drest, Believe me,
I can quote the Koran too, The unbeliever knows his Koran best. And do you think that unto
such as you, A maggot-minded, starved, fanatic crew, God gave the Secret, and denied it me?
Well, well, what matters it! believe that too.

Look not above, there is no answer there; Pray not, for no one listens to your prayer; Near is as
near to God as any Far, And Here is just the same deceit as There.[71]

Men talk of heaven,—there is no heaven but here; Men talk of hell,—there is no hell but here;
Men of hereafters talk, and future lives, O love, there is no other life—but here.[71]

An account of him, written in the thirteenth century, shows him as "versed in all the wisdom of the
Greeks," and as wont to insist on the necessity of studying science on Greek lines. Of his prose works, two,
which were stand authority, dealt respectively with precious stones and climatology. Beyond question the
poet-astronomer was undevout; and his astronomy doubtless helped to make him so. One contemporary
writes: "I did not observe that he had any great belief in astrological predictions; nor have I seen or heard of
any of the great (scientists) who had such belief. He gave his adherence to no religious sect. Agnosticism,
not faith, is the keynote of his works. Among the sects he saw everywhere strife and hatred in which he
could have no part...."[72]

Persian novelist Sadegh Hedayat says Khayyám from "his youth to his death remained a materialist,
pessimist, agnostic."[73]

In the context of a piece entitled On the Knowledge of the Principles of Existence, Khayyam endorses the
Sufi path.[11]: 8   Csillik (1960) suggests the possibility that Omar Khayyam could see in Sufism an ally
against orthodox religiosity.[74]: 7 5  Other commentators do not accept that Omar's poetry has an anti-
religious agenda and interpret his references to wine and drunkenness in the conventional metaphorical
sense common in Sufism. The French translator J. B. Nicolas held that Omar's constant exhortations to
drink wine should not be taken literally, but should be regarded rather in the light of Sufi thought where
rapturous intoxication by "wine" is to be understood as a metaphor for the enlightened state or divine
rapture of baqaa.[75] The view of Omar Khayyam as a Sufi was defended by Bjerregaard (1915),[76] Idries
Shah (1999),[77] and Dougan (1991) who attributes the reputation of hedonism to the failings of
FitzGerald's translation, arguing that Omar's poetry is to be understood as "deeply esoteric".[78] On the
other hand, Iranian experts such as Mohammad Ali Foroughi and Mojtaba Minovi rejected the hypothesis
that Omar Khayyam was a Sufi.[64]: 7 2  Foroughi stated that Khayyam's ideas may have been consistent
with that of Sufis at times but there is no evidence that he was formally a Sufi. Aminrazavi (2007) states
that "Sufi interpretation of Khayyam is possible only by reading into his Rubāʿīyyāt extensively and by
stretching the content to fit the classical Sufi doctrine."[11]: 1 28  Furthermore, Frye (1975) emphasizes that
Khayyam was intensely disliked by a number of celebrated Sufi mystics who belonged to the same century.
This includes Shams Tabrizi (spiritual guide of Rumi),[11]: 5 8  Najm al-Din Daya who described Omar
Khayyam as "an unhappy philosopher, atheist, and materialist",[64]: 7 1  and Attar who regarded him not as a
fellow-mystic but a free-thinking scientist who awaited punishments hereafter.[10]: 6 63 

Seyyed Hossein Nasr argues that it is "reductive" to use a literal interpretation of his verses (many of which
are of uncertain authenticity to begin with) to establish Omar Khayyam's philosophy. Instead, he adduces
Khayyam's interpretive translation of Avicenna's treatise Discourse on Unity (Al-Khutbat al-Tawhīd),
where he expresses orthodox views on Divine Unity in agreement with the author.[79] The prose works
believed to be Omar's are written in the Peripatetic style and are explicitly theistic, dealing with subjects
such as the existence of God and theodicy.[11]: 1 60  As noted by Bowen these works indicate his
involvement in the problems of metaphysics rather than in the subtleties of Sufism.[64]: 7 1  As evidence of
Khayyam's faith and/or conformity to Islamic customs, Aminrazavi mentions that in his treatises he offers
salutations and prayers, praising God and Muhammad. In most biographical extracts, he is referred to with
religious honorifics such as Imām, The Patron of Faith (Ghīyāth al-Dīn), and The Evidence of Truth
(Hujjat al-Haqq).[11] He also notes that biographers who praise his religiosity generally avoid making
reference to his poetry, while the ones who mention his poetry often do not praise his religious
character.[11]: 4 8  For instance, Al-Bayhaqi's account, which antedates by some years other biographical
notices, speaks of Omar as a very pious man who professed orthodox views down to his last hour.[80]: 1 74 

On the basis of all the existing textual and biographical evidence, the question remains somewhat
open,[11]: 1 1  and as a result Khayyam has received sharply conflicting appreciations and criticisms.[62]: 3 50 

Reception
The various biographical extracts referring to Omar Khayyam describe him as unequalled in scientific
knowledge and achievement during his time.[81] Many called him by the epithet King of the Wise (Arabic:
‫)ملك الحکماء‬.[54]: 4 36 [37]: 1 41  Shahrazuri (d. 1300) esteems him highly as a mathematician, and claims that
he may be regarded as "the successor of Avicenna in the various branches of philosophic learning".[62]: 3 52 
Al-Qifti (d. 1248), even though disagreeing with his views, concedes he was "unrivalled in his knowledge
of natural philosophy and astronomy".[62]: 3 55  Despite being hailed as a poet by a number of biographers,
according to Richard N. Frye "it is still possible to argue that Khayyam's status as a poet of the first rank is
a comparatively late development."[10]: 6 63 

Thomas Hyde was the first European to call attention to Omar and to translate one of his quatrains into
Latin (Historia religionis veterum Persarum eorumque magorum, 1700).[82]: 5 25  Western interest in Persia
grew with the Orientalism movement in the 19th century. Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall (1774–1856)
translated some of Khayyam's poems into German in 1818, and Gore Ouseley (1770–1844) into English in
1846, but Khayyam remained relatively unknown in the West until after the publication of Edward
FitzGerald's Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam in 1859. FitzGerald's work at first was unsuccessful but was
popularised by Whitley Stokes from 1861 onward, and the work came to be greatly admired by the Pre-
Raphaelites. In 1872 FitzGerald had a third edition printed which increased interest in the work in America.
By the 1880s, the book was extremely well known throughout the English-speaking world, to the extent of
the formation of numerous "Omar Khayyam Clubs" and a "fin de siècle cult of the Rubaiyat".[83]
Khayyam's poems have been translated into many languages; many of the more recent ones are more literal
than that of FitzGerald.[84]

FitzGerald's translation was a factor in rekindling interest in Khayyam as a poet even in his native Iran.[85]
Sadegh Hedayat in his Songs of Khayyam (Taranehha-ye Khayyam, 1934) reintroduced Omar's poetic
legacy to modern Iran. Under the Pahlavi dynasty, a new monument of white marble, designed by the
architect Houshang Seyhoun, was erected over his tomb. A statue by Abolhassan Sadighi was erected in
Laleh Park, Tehran in the 1960s, and a bust by the same sculptor was placed near Khayyam's mausoleum
in Nishapur. In 2009, the state of Iran donated a pavilion to the United Nations Office in Vienna,
inaugurated at Vienna International Center.[86] In 2016, three statues of Khayyam were unveiled: one at the
University of Oklahoma, one in Nishapur and one in Florence, Italy.[87] Over 150 composers have used the
Rubaiyat as their source of inspiration. The earliest such composer was Liza Lehmann.

FitzGerald rendered Omar's name as "Tentmaker", and the anglicized name of "Omar the Tentmaker"
resonated in English-speaking popular culture for a while. Thus, Nathan Haskell Dole published a novel
called Omar, the Tentmaker: A Romance of Old Persia in 1898. Omar the Tentmaker of Naishapur is a
historical novel by John Smith Clarke, published in 1910. "Omar the Tentmaker" is also the title of a 1914
play by Richard Walton Tully in an oriental setting, adapted as a silent film in 1922. US General Omar
Bradley was given the nickname "Omar the Tent-Maker" in World War II.[88]

The Moving Finger quatrain

The quatrain by Omar Khayyam known as "The Moving Finger",

in the form of its translation by the English poet Edward Fitzgerald
is one of the most popular quatrains in the Anglosphere.[89] It
reads:

The Moving Finger writes; and having writ,

Moves on: nor all your Piety nor Wit A line of English translation of ''The
Moving Finger'' quatrain. Persian
Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line, Rubiyats of Omar Khayyam on one
the faculty buildings of Leiden
Nor all your Tears wash out a Word of it.[90][b] University

The title of the novel "The Moving Finger" written by Agatha Christie and published in 1942 was inspired
by this quatrain of the translation of Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam by Edward Fitzgerald.[89] Martin Luther
King also cites this quatrain of Omar Khayyam in one of his speeches "Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break
Silence":[89][91]

“We may cry out desperately for time to pause in her passage, but time is adamant to every
plea and rushes on. Over the bleached bones and jumbled residues of numerous civilizations
are written the pathetic words, ‘Too late.’ There is an invisible book of life that faithfully
records our vigilance or our neglect. Omar Khayyam is right: ‘The moving finger writes, and
having writ moves on.’”

In one of his apologetic speeches about the Clinton–Lewinsky scandal, Bill Clinton, the 42nd president of
the US, also cites this quatrain.[89][92]

Other popular culture references

The French-Lebanese writer Amin Maalouf based the first half of his historical fiction novel Samarkand on
Khayyam's life and the creation of his Rubaiyat. The sculptor Eduardo Chillida produced four massive iron
pieces titled Mesa de Omar Khayyam (Omar Khayyam's Table) in the 1980s.[93][94]
The lunar crater Omar Khayyam was named in his honour in 1970, as was the minor planet 3095
Omarkhayyam discovered by Soviet astronomer Lyudmila Zhuravlyova in 1980.[95]

Google has released two Google Doodles commemorating him. The first was on his 964th birthday on 18
May 2012. The second was on his 971st birthday on 18 May 2019.[96]

Gallery

"A Ruby kindles in the "At the Tomb of Omar The statue of Khayyam
vine", illustration for Khayyam" by Jay in United Nations Office
FitzGerald's Rubaiyat of Hambidge (1911). in Vienna as a part of
Omar Khayyam by Persian Scholars
Adelaide Hanscom Pavilion donated by Iran.
Leeson (c. 1905).

Statue of Omar Khayyam Monument to Omar

in Bucharest Khayyam in Ciudad
Universitaria of Madrid

See also
Iran portal
 Biography portal

Poetry portal

Astronomy portal
Mathematics
portal

Nozhat al-Majales

Notable films
Omar Khayyam (film)
The Keeper: The Legend of Omar Khayyam

Noted Khayyamologists
Badiozzaman Forouzanfar
Abdolhossein Zarrinkoob

Notes
a. [oˈmæɾ xæjˈjɒːm]; /kaɪˈjɑːm, kaɪˈjæm/
b. ... ‫ در روز ازل هر آنچه بایست‬... ‫ پیوسته قلم ز نیک و بد فرسوده‌است‬... ‫بر لوح نشان بودنی‌ها بوده‌است‬
‫بداد غم خوردن و کوشیدن ما بیهوده‌است‬

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88. Jeffrey D. Lavoie, The Private Life of General Omar N. Bradley (2015), p. 13.
89. "The Moving Finger: Glimpses into the Life of a Persian Quatrain" (https://www.leidenmediev
alistsblog.nl/articles/the-moving-finger). www.leidenmedievalistsblog.nl. 13 April 2018.
Retrieved 14 May 2022.
90. FitzGerald, Stanza LXXI, 4th ed.
91. "17. MLK Beyond Vietnam.pdf (hawaii.edu)" (http://www2.hawaii.edu/~freeman/courses/phil
100/17.%20MLK%20Beyond%20Vietnam.pdf) (PDF). Archived (https://ghostarchive.org/arc
hive/20221010/http://www2.hawaii.edu/~freeman/courses/phil100/17.%20MLK%20Beyon
d%20Vietnam.pdf) (PDF) from the original on 10 October 2022.
92. "Quatrain 36" (https://www.exploringkhayyam.com/journal/2006/12/21/quatrain-36.html).
exploring khayyaam -US. 21 December 2006. Retrieved 14 May 2022.
93. Omar Khayyam's Table II (https://www.museoreinasofia.es/en/collection/artwork/mesa-omar-
khayyam-ii-omar-khayyams-table-ii) Retrieved 8 August 2021.
94. Omar Khayyam's Table III (https://www.macba.cat/en/art-artists/artists/chillida-eduardo/mesa-
omar-khayyam-iii) Retrieved 8 August 2021.
95. Dictionary of Minor Planet Names (https://books.google.com/books?hl=ru&q=3094+Chukok
kala). 1979. p. 255. Retrieved 8 September 2012 – via Google Books.
96. "How Omar Khayyam changed the way people measure time" (https://www.independent.co.
uk/news/science/omar-khayyam-google-doodle-who-death-persia-poet-astronomer-years-ti
me-math-a8919141.html). The Independent. 17 May 2019. Archived (https://ghostarchive.or
g/archive/20220524/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/omar-khayyam-google-do
odle-who-death-persia-poet-astronomer-years-time-math-a8919141.html) from the original
on 24 May 2022. Retrieved 18 May 2019.

Further reading
Arberry, Arthur John (2008). Aspects of
Islamic Civilization: As Depicted in the
Original Texts. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-
415-42600-8.
Biegstraaten, Jos (2008). "Omar Khayyam
(Impact On Literature And Society In The
West)" (http://www.iranicaonline.org/article
s/khayyam-omar-impact-west).
Encyclopaedia Iranica. Vol. 15.
Encyclopaedia Iranica Foundation.
Boyle, J. A., ed. (1968). The Cambridge
History of Iran (5): The Saljug and Mongol
Periods. Cambridge University Press.
ISBN 0-521-06936-X.
Browne, E. (1899). "Yet More Light on
'Umar-i-Khayyām". Journal of the Royal
Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland,
409–420. JSTOR 25208104 (https://www.j
stor.org/stable/25208104).
Katz, Victor (1998). A History of
Mathematics: An Introduction (https://archiv
e.org/details/historyofmathema00katz/pag
e/879) (2nd ed.). Addison-Wesley. p. 879
(https://archive.org/details/historyofmathem
a00katz/page/879). ISBN 0-321-01618-1.
Knoebel, Art; Laubenbacher, Reinhard;
Lodder, Jerry (2007). Mathematical
Masterpieces: Further Chronicles by the
Explorers. Springer. ISBN 978-
0387330617.
Nasr, S. H. (2006). Islamic Philosophy from
Its Origin to the Present: Philosophy in the
Land of Prophecy. SUNY Press. ISBN 0-
7914-6799-6.
Ross, E. (1927). "Omar Khayyam". Bulletin
of the School of Oriental Studies,
University of London, 4(3), 433–439.
JSTOR 606948 (https://www.jstor.org/stabl
e/606948).
Rozenfeld, Boris A. (1988). A History of
Non-Euclidean Geometry: Evolution of the
Concept of a Geometric Space (https://boo
ks.google.com/books?id=DRLpAFZM7uw
C). Springer Verlag. pp. 65, 471. ISBN 0-
387-96458-4.
Rypka, Jan (1968). History of Iranian
Literature. Reidel Publishing Company.
OCLC 460598 (https://www.worldcat.org/o
clc/460598). ISBN 90-277-0143-1
Smith, David Eugene (1935). "Euclid,
Omar Khayyâm, and Saccheri". Scripta
Mathematica. III (1): 5–10.
OCLC 14156259 (https://www.worldcat.or
g/oclc/14156259).
Turner, Howard R. (1997). Science in
Medieval Islam: An Illustrated Introduction
(https://archive.org/details/scienceinmedie
va0000turn). University of Texas Press.
ISBN 0-292-78149-0.

External links
Works by or about Omar Khayyam (https://archive.org/search.php?query=%28%28subject%
3A%22Khayyám%2C%20Omar%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22Omar%20Khayyám%22%
20OR%20creator%3A%22Khayyám%2C%20Omar%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Omar%
20Khayyám%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Khayyám%2C%20O%2E%22%20OR%20titl
e%3A%22Omar%20Khayyám%22%20OR%20description%3A%22Khayyám%2C%20Oma
r%22%20OR%20description%3A%22Omar%20Khayyám%22%29%20OR%20%28%22104
8-1131%22%20AND%20%28%22Khayyám%22%20OR%20Khayyam%29%29%29%20AN
D%20%28-mediatype:software%29) at Internet Archive
 Works by Omar Khayyam (https://librivox.org/author/1299) at LibriVox (public domain
audiobooks)
Hashemipour, Behnaz (2007). "Khayyām: Ghiyāth al‐Dīn Abū al‐Fatḥ ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm al‐
Khayyāmī al‐Nīshāpūrī" (http://islamsci.mcgill.ca/RASI/BEA/Khayyam_BEA.htm). In Thomas
Hockey; et al. (eds.). The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers. New York: Springer.
pp. 627–8. ISBN 978-0-387-31022-0. (PDF version (http://islamsci.mcgill.ca/RASI/BEA/Kha
yyam_BEA.pdf))
Umar Khayyam (http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/umar-khayyam/), in the Stanford
Encyclopedia of Philosophy
The illustrated Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám (https://archive.org/details/TheRubaiyatOfOmarK
hayyam-FirstVersion-Illustrated) at Internet Archive.

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