Loved by the free-spirited, hated by his orthdox 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 book. Engagingly written, this comprehensive study draws on a host of sources, placing Khayyam within the context of his own time, and exploring, through his philosophy and poetry, this lifelong preoccupation with such timeless themes as life and death, faith and reason, freewill and fate. Aminraavi offers fresh insights, not only into the Ruba’iyyat, but also into Khayyam’s lasting influence on Western literature from Mark Twain to T.S. Eliot, and his role in the creation of the Orientalist tradition. With original renderings of Khayyam’s key philosophical works, and a full version of FitzGerald’s famous translation, this new biography will prove fascinating for general readers, while scholars and students will find this significant new contribution to the field of Persian Studies essential reading.
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