Omar Khayyam

The Sufi Ruba'iyat of Omar Khayyam

THE SUFI RUBA'IYAT OF OMAR KHAYYAM Translation & Introduction Paul Smith Omar Khayyam (died 1132) was one of the early Sufi Masters of the Persian poetic form of the ruba'i... so much so that many in collections of these profound, philosophic, mystical, sometimes controversial poems were often attributed to him, although many were by other great Persian poets such as 'Attar, Sadi, Rumi and Hafiz. C. H. A. Bjerregaard states in his 'Sufism: Omar Khayyam and E. Fitzgerald': "The writings of Omar Khayyam are good specimens of Sufism but are not valued in the West as they ought to be, and the mass of the people know him only through the poems of Edward Fitzgerald which is unfortunate. Omar was a Sufi mystic of the order of Rumi, 'Attar, Sadi and the other great ones." Hazrat Inayat Khan states: "Sufism has never had a first exponent or a historical origin. It existed from the beginning, because man has always possessed the light which is his second nature; and light in its higher aspect may be called the knowledge of God, the divine wisdom - in fact, Sufism. Sufism has always been practiced and its messengers have been people of the heart; thus it belonged to the masters as well as to others... the great Sufi poets, such as Hafiz, Rumi, Shams-i Tabriz, Sadi, Omar Khayyam, Nizami, Farid, Jami, and others, gave the wisdom of Sufism to the world." Contents: The Life and Character of Omar Khayyam, Omar Khayyam the Sufi Poet, The Form, Function & History of the Ruba'i, Selected Bibliography, Glossary. The correct rhyme-structure is here and the beauty, meaning, truth of all 176 poems in the ruba'i (quatrain) four line form. Large Format Paperback 7" x 10" 219 pages. COMMENTS ON PAUL SMITH'S TRANSLATION OF HAFIZ'S 'DIVAN'."It is not a joke... the English version of ALL the ghazals of Hafiz is a great feat and of paramount importance. I am astonished. If he comes to Iran I will kiss the fingertips that wrote such a masterpiece inspired by the Creator of all." Dr. Mir Mohammad Taghavi (Dr. of Literature) Tehran."Superb translations. 99% Hafiz 1% Paul Smith." Ali Akbar Shapurzman, translator of many works into Persian and knower of Hafiz's Divan off by heart."Smith has probably put together the greatest collection of literary facts and history concerning Hafiz." Daniel Ladinsky (Penguin Books author). Paul Smith 9b. 1945) is a poet, author and translator of many books of Sufi poets of the Persian, Arabic, Urdu, Turkish, Pashtu and other languages... including Hafiz, Sadi, Nizami, Rumi, 'Attar, Sana'i, Jahan Khatun, Obeyd Zakani, Nesimi, Kabir, Anvari, Ansari, Jami, Khayyam, Rudaki, Yunus Emre, Lalla Ded, Rahman Baba, Bulleh Shah, Ghalib, Iqbal and many others, as well as poetry, fiction, plays, biographies, children's books & 12 screenplays. Published by New Humanity Books amazon.com/author/smithpa