Tehran, May 18, IRNA - The classical Iranian poet Omar Khayyam is one of the most prominent literary figures who is also well-known globally for his research and discoveries in mathematics and astrology as well as wise and fascinating quatrains.
��The theme of his original quatrains, if studied deeply, harmonize with his succinct and philosophically-rich treaties and complement to them because his words were weighed and well-considered, wrote the English-language newspaper ?Iran Daily? published Sunday.
According to the most authentic sources, Khayyam was born in 439 A.H in Neishabour, Khorasan province, where he studied and died in 517. He also spent some of his lifetime in Isfahan province and Rey. At that time, Khorasan province and its major cities were hubs of science, literature and Peripatetic school of philosophy.

Khayyam became an expert in literature, prose interpretation, natural wisdom, mathematics and theology.

Iranians pay tribute to the great poet by holding numerous programs on May 18, known as Khayyam Day.

This year, a statue of the poet will be installed at his mausoleum in Neishabour with a number of Iranian cultural officials as well as literary figures in attendance.

Khayyam had plenty of scientific works to his credit. �Mizan al-Hekmat� and �Lavazem al-Amkaneh� are among his treatises on physics and meteorology, respectively. Many consider him a student of the great Persian polymath Avicenna, though this is quite weird due to the time gap. However, once Khayyam cited Avicenna as his mentor, a sentence which mainly has a spiritual meaning.

During the reign of the Seljuq Sultan Malik-Shah (426-590 A.H.), Khayyam made amendments to the Jalali calendar, an predecessor to the current Iranian calendar. His contributions to mathematical also include his �Treatise on Demonstration of Problems of Algebra�, which provides a geometric method for solving cubic equations.

Although Khayyam�s scientific impact was more influential than his literary status, his fame mainly originates from his collection of quatrains known as �Rubaiyat�. The book has been rendered into many languages. However, English poet and writer Edward FitzGerald�s English translation of the work made Khayyam the most celebrated Oriental poet in the West.

Khayyam�s impact on Western authors such as the American author and humorist Mark Twain and T.S. Eliot, one of the twentieth century�s major poets, has made him the favorite poet of intellectuals.

By IRNA

 

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