Description
Book SynopsisThe intoxicating message of Khayyam’s famous Ruba‘iyyat created an image of exotic Orientalism in the West but, as author Mehdi Aminrazavi reveals, Khayyam’s achievements went far beyond the intoxicating message within these verses. Philosopher, mathematician, scientist, and mystic – his many different identities are examined here in detail, creating a coherent picture of this complex and often misunderstood figure.
Trade Review"Loved by the free-spirited, hated by his orthodox peers; a stranger in both his homeland and the West : the complexities and contradictions surrounding the life of Omar Khayyam are reconstructed for the first time in this authoritative new biography." * The Watkins Review *
"Though centrally concerned with the Persiquatrains known as the Rubaiyat, he also covers Omar's career as a mathematician, astronomer and philosopher as well as his poetry in Arabi." * The Times Literary Supplement *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgements vi
Introduction 1
1. Khayyam’s Life and Works 18
2. Reconstructing a Tarnished Image: Omar Khayyam 40
According to his Contemporaries and Biographers
3. Khayyam within the Intellectual Context of his Time 67
4. The Ruba‘iyyat 90
5. Khayyam and Sufism 134
6. Khayyam’s Philosophical Thought 157
7. Khayyam the Scientist 188
8. Khayyam in the West 204
Epilogue 278
Appendix A: Translations of the Philosophical Treatises 283
Appendix B: The Ruba‘iyyat – Edward FitzGerald’s 328
Translation
Appendix C: Arabic Poems of Omar Khayyam 347
Notes 349
Bibliography 378
Index 387
