Descrizione
Omar Khayyam (Ghiyāth ad-Dīn Abu’l-Fatḥ ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm al-Khayyām Nīshāpūrī), born in Nishapur, Khorasan, the initial capital of the Seljuk Empire, in 1048, was a Persian polymath, philosopher and initiate, known for his contributions to mathematics, astronomy and Persian poetry. Intellectually Khayyam considered himself a student of Avicenna (Ibn Sina).
There is a tradition of attributing poetry to Omar Khayyam, written in the form of quatrains (rubāʿiyāt). This poetry became widely known to the English-reading world in a translation by Edward FitzGerald (Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, 1859), which enjoyed great success in the Orientalism of the last part of XIX century.
The Indian philosopher and mystic Paramahansa Yogananda, author of a magnificent interpretation of the quatrains of Omar Khayyam, wrote:
«Many years ago I met a venerable Persian poet in India from whom I learned that in Persia poetry often has two meanings: one internal and one external. I remember what great satisfaction his explanations on the double meaning of numerous Persian poems gave me. One day, while I was deeply absorbed in the pages of Omar Khayyam’s Rubayyat, I suddenly saw the walls of outer meaning collapse, and the great inner fortress of its precious spiritual treasures appeared to me. Since that time I have admired the beautiful castle, hitherto invisible, of the inner wisdom hidden in the Rubayyat. I sensed that this dream castle of truth, which the eyes of all researchers can see, would become a refuge for souls in search of protection, invaded by the enemy armies of igno-rance.
While working on the spiritual interpretation of the Rubaiyat, I was transported into an endless labyrinth of truth until I immersed myself in ecstatic amazement. The veil that hides the metaphysics and practical philosophy of Khayyam’s verses reminded me of the Divine John’s Apocalypse. The Rubaiyat can rightly be called the Apocalypse of Omar Khayyam».
54 pages
ISBN: 979-12-5504-164-1
