The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyam

With this new translation of Khayyam and his insightful essays on the historical context, Cole offers a splendid piece of work which offers an alternative to FitzGerald’s epochmaking adaptation of the Rubáiyát, to be placed in the canon of nineteenth-century English poetry, finding imitations in a large number of languages. Perhaps even more important than the poetic nature and message of these quatrains is how Cole successfully brings to the fore the secular faction of Persian culture, of which quatrains attributed to Khayyam are living evidence. * Bibliotheca Orientalis *
‘To read Juan Cole’s deft, plain-spoken translation of the Rubáiyát is to find companionship, to rejoin a thousand-year human conversation about how to endure, enjoy, and find a fleeting beauty in everlastingly dire times. The lucid, cogent and mind-opening Epilogue is a kind of grace, a gift freely given, from one of our most astonishing and generous intellects.’ * Michael Chabon, Pulitzer Prize winner and author of Moonglow (2017) *
‘Omar Khayyam is a Persian treasure and Juan Cole’s new translation brings him anew to Western audiences who for centuries have been both delighted and educated by this medieval sage! Reading The Rubáiyát is a thrill – you feel the echoes of the 12th century seamlessly into our 21st, as this is a holy book of wisdom and magic. In another perilous era for Iranians, it’s wonderful to see this enchanting volume make its way through the world yet again!’ * Porochista Khakpour, novelist, essayist and author of Brown Album (2020) *