‘Bekhrad has succeeded in capturing the essence of Khayyam’s Robaiyat ...’
Soheil Parsa
The Quatrains of Omar Khayyam: Translated from the Persian by Joobin Bekhrad
Poetry
88 pp
2016
With an introduction by Dr Sayed Hassan Amin
Cover artwork by Afsoon
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The impact the medieval Persian polymath Omar Khayyam has had on civilisation is perhaps best reflected in the reverence held for his groundbreaking mathematical findings and celebrated Robaiyat (Quatrains), not only in his native Iran, but also all corners of the world.
Exhorting readers to seize the moment and enjoy the pleasures of life, as well as warning them about the ephemerality and infidelity of the world, Khayyam’s philosophies are just as relevant today, if not more than during the turbulent times in which he lived.
Providing neither a loose interpretation nor word-for-word translation of Khayyam’s poetry, Bekhrad has striven to preserve the poetic qualities and spirit of the original Persian quatrains and provide as accurate a translation as possible of each and every stanza.
The present volume contains the original Persian poems as selected and categorised by the late Sadegh Hedayat, in addition to an introduction by Dr Sayed Hassan Amin.
Reviews
Bekhrad has succeeded in capturing the essence of Khayyam’s Robaiyat … His rendition offers both clarity and fidelity to the meaning, rhythm, and tones of the original Persian poems.
Soheil Parsa
Joobin’s translation of The Robaiyat of Omar Khayyam shows his sensitivity in our times.
Parviz Tanavoli
Press
The Rubaiyat: History’s Most Luxurious Book of Poetry?
BBC
Wonder and Wine in The Robaiyat of Omar Khayyam
The Chicago Review of Books