Khayyam

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عمر خیام
Khayyām

Biography

Khayyām, who is known in Iran and around the world as Omar Khayyām of Nishāpur عُمَر خیامِ نیشابوری, was born in the city of Nishāpur (or Neyshābur) around 1048 AD. His name means ‘tentmaker’ in Arabic, stemming from the word خیمه kheyme ‘tent’. He was a scholar and polymath in all senses of the word, whose knowledge spanned the fields of: mathematics, physics, chemistry, astronomy, geology, theology and logic. He also showed much interest in music, particularly in composing quartets. However, it is certain that he did not consider himself a poet, even though around the world today, he is known more as a composer of رباعیات rubā’iyāt ‘quatrains’ than as a truth-seeking scholar. Much research has been undertaken on Khayyām and his quatrains have been translated into many major languages.

Excerpt 1 by Khayyām

This quatrain perfectly illustrates Khayyām’s desire to ‘live in the moment’ and enjoy the beauty which can be found in each and every day:

Recited by Nasrin Ahmadi

More literal translation:

‘The Nowruz breeze is pleasant blowing through the flowers,

A heartwarming face is pleasant when spotted in the meadow,

Do not dwell upon unpleasantries which were said yesterday;

Instead rejoice, and be happy for what is pleasant today.’

Bar chehre-ye gol nasim-e noruz khoshast,

Dar sahn-e chaman ru-ye del-afruz khoshast,

Az di ke gozasht harche guyi khosh nist;

Khosh bāsh-o ze di magu ke emruz khoshast.

بر چهره گل نسیم نوروز خوش است

در صحن چمن روی دل‌افروز خوش است

از دی که گذشت هرچه گویی خوش نیست؛

خوش باش و ز دی مگو، که امروز خوش است

Translation by Edward Fitzgerald:

‘Ah Breeze of Spring awakening the Rose –

How sweet to see my Love on grass repose!

O futile ‘tis to talk of days of yore –

Enjoy the hour erelong your shadow grows.’ 

Vocabulary:

خوش استKhoshast ‘Is pleasant, is nice’ (We have written خوش است as one word in the transcription: khoshast, to show that this phrase should be pronounced without any breaks in the speechflow. To make this even clearer, this phrase can alternatively be written in Persian as خوشست.)
نسیمNasim ‘Breeze’
دل‌افروزDel-afruz‘Heartwarming’

دی

Di

‘Yesterday’ (an archaic form of دیروز diruz)

Excerpt 2 by Khayyām

Recited by Narguess Farzad

‘I can’t live without sipping on this pure wine,

Without it I can’t carry the weight of this body,

I’m held captive to that moment the bartender offers

To have one more round but I just can’t.’

Man bi mey-e nāb zistan natvānam

Bi bāde keshid bār-e tan natvānam

Man bande-ye ān dam-am ke sāqi guyad

Yek jām-e degar begir-o man natvānam

من بی می ناب زیستن نتوانم

بی باده کشید بارتن نتوانم

من بنده آن دمم که ساقی گوید

یک جام دگر بگیر و من نتوانم

Notes:
This poem is a rather unusual example of a ساقی‌نامه sāqi-nāme ‘Ode to the Cupbearer’, because usually this style of poem is clearly addressed to the ساقی sāqi ‘cupbearer’, but here it has been left a little more ambiguous to whom Khayyām is addressing. Perhaps it is more of a musing to himself than to the cupbearer (translated into English above as ‘the bartender’). In the poem, Khayyam uses two different words for wine: مِی mey and باده bāde, they are both native Persian words with little difference in meaning.

Vocabulary:
ناب Nāb ‘Pure’
بنده Bande ‘Slave, captive’
دم Dam ‘Moment’
جام Jām ‘Cup, chalice, goblet’
دگر Degar ‘Another’ (a varient of دیگر digar)

Excerpt 3 by Khayyām

Recited by Nasrin Ahmadi

‘Drink wine for this life of ours is eternal,

This is all that is gained from the time of your youth,

It’s the time of flowers, wine, and loved ones drinking together,

So rejoice in this moment, for this is what life is!’

Mey nush ke omr-e jāv(e)dāni inast

Khod hāsel-at az dowr-e javāni inast

Hengām-e gol-o bāde-vo yārān sar-mast

Khosh bāsh dami ke zendegāni inast.

می نوش که عمر جاودانی این است

خود حاصلت از دور جوانی این است

هنگام گل و باده و یاران سرمست

خوش باش دمی که زندگانی این است

Vocabulary:

این استInast‘This is’ (In the transliteration these two words have been written together as one word, to show that this phrase should be pronounced without any breaks in the speechflow. To make this even clearer, this phrase can alternatively be written in Persian as اینست.)
جاودانیJāvedāni ‘Eternity’
حاصلتHāsel-at‘Your achievement, your yield, your accomplishment, your harvest’