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The jewel-encrusted edition of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám
- causality0 5y agoIt's quite an incredible piece of anti-establishment and anti-religious work considering the time and place of its authorship. 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. Old Khayyám, say you, is a debauchee; If only you were half so good as he! He sins no sins but gentle drunkenness, Great-hearted mirth, and kind adultery. But yours the cold heart, and the murderous tongue, The wintry soul that hates to hear a song, The close-shut fist, the mean and measuring eye, And all the little poisoned ways of wrong. So I be written in the Book of Love, I have no care about that book above; Erase my name, or write it, as you please— So I be written in the Book of Love.
- jhbadger 5y agoActually, in its heyday when Khayyam lived (11th-12th century), Islamic Persia wasn't all that pious and more or less tolerated heresy. That's what led to all its great discoveries -- they were on their way to having the Scientific Revolution before the West. It was the Black Plague in the 14th century that put an end to that.
- chickenimprint 5y agoThe only problem is that Fitzgerald's work is very loosely inspired by ruba3yat not attributable to a single person
- baybal2 5y ago