The Great ‘Umar Khayyam Great The IRANIAN IRANIAN SERIES SERIES The Rubáiyát by the Persian poet ‘Umar Khayyam (1048-1131) have been used in contemporary Iran as resistance literature, symbolizing the THE GREAT secularist voice in cultural debates. While Islamic fundamentalists criticize ‘UMAR KHAYYAM Khayyam as an atheist and materialist philosopher who questions God’s creation and the promise of reward or punishment in the hereafter, some A GLOBAL RECEPTION OF THE RUBÁIYÁT secularist intellectuals regard him as an example of a scientist who scrutinizes the mysteries of the universe. Others see him as a spiritual A.A. Seyed-Gohrab (ed.) master, a Sufi, who guides people to the truth. This remarkable volume collects eighteen essays on the history of the reception of ‘Umar Khayyam in various literary traditions, exploring how his philosophy of doubt, carpe diem, hedonism, and in vino veritas has inspired generations of poets, novelists, painters, musicians, calligraphers and filmmakers. ‘This is a volume which anybody interested in the field of Persian Studies, or in a study of ‘Umar Khayyam and also Edward Fitzgerald, will welcome with much satisfaction!’ Christine Van Ruymbeke, University of Cambridge Ali-Asghar Seyed-Gohrab is Associate Professor of Persian Literature and Culture at Leiden University. A.A. Seyed-Gohrab (ed.) A.A. Seyed-Gohrab WWW.LUP.NL 9 789087 281571 LEIDEN UNIVERSITY PRESS The Great <Umar Khayyæm Iranian Studies Series The Iranian Studies Series publishes high-quality scholarship on various aspects of Iranian civilisation, covering both contemporary and classical cultures of the Persian cultural area. The contemporary Persian-speaking area includes Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and Central Asia, while classi- cal societies using Persian as a literary and cultural language were located in Anatolia, Caucasus, Central Asia and the Indo-Pakistani subcontinent. The objective of the series is to foster studies of the literary, historical, reli- gious and linguistic products in Iranian languages. In addition to research monographs and reference works, the series publishes English-Persian criti- cal text-editions of important texts. The series intends to publish resources and original research and make them accessible to a wide audience. Chief Editor: A.A. Seyed-Gohrab (Leiden University) Advisory Board of ISS: F. Abdullaeva (University of Cambridge) G.R. van den Berg (Leiden University) D.P. Brookshaw (Stanford University) J.T.P. de Bruijn (Leiden University) N. Chalisova (Russian State University of Moscow) D. Davis (Ohio State University) F.D. Lewis (University of Chicago) L. Lewisohn (University of Exeter) S. McGlinn (Unaffiliated) Ch. Melville (University of Cambridge) D. Meneghini (University of Venice) N. Pourjavady (University of Tehran) Ch. van Ruymbeke (University of Cambridge) S. Sharma (Boston University) K. Talattof (University of Arizona) Z. Vesel (CNRS, Paris) R. Zipoli (University of Venice) The Great <Umar Khayyæm A Global Reception of the Rubáiyát A.A. Seyed-Gohrab (ed.) Leiden University Press The cover illustration is taken from Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, M. Ramezani, Tehran: Padideh, 1977. Cover design: Tarek Atrissi Design ISBN 978 90 8728 157 1 e-ISBN 978 94 0060 079 9 NUR 630 / 321 © A.A. Seyed-Gohrab / Leiden University Press, 2012 All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the written per- mission of both the copyright owner and the author of the book. In fond memory of Alexander H. Morton Contents Acknowledgements 9 INTRODUCTION A.A. Seyed-Gohrab (Leiden University) Khayyæm’s Universal Appeal: Man, Wine, and the Hereafter in the Quatrains 11 KHAYYÆM IN PERSIA M. Aminrazavi (University of Mary Washington) Reading the Rubæ <iyyæt as “Resistance Literature” 39 A.H. Morton (SOAS, University of London) Some <Umarian Quatrains from the Lifetime of <Umar Khayyām 55 M. Bagheri (University of Tehran) Between Tavern and Madrasa: <Umar Khayyæm the Scientist 67 KHAYYÆM IN THE ARAB WORLD AND TURKEY M. Alsulami (Leiden University, Umm al-Qura University) The Arab <Umar Khayyæm 73 Jan Just Witkam (Leiden University) A…mad Ræmñ’s Arabic translation of the Quatrains of <Umar Khayyæm 85 S. Sötemann (Independent scholar) Quatrains of <Umar Khayyæm in Turkish and Turkish Quatrains 97 KHAYYÆM IN THE NETHERLANDS J.T.P. de Bruijn (Leiden University) Other Persian Quatrains in Holland: the Roseraie du Savoir of „usayn-i Æzæd 105 M. Goud (Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam) Khayyæm’s Impact on Modern Dutch Literature 115 J.D.F. van Halsema (Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam) Bitter Certainty: J.H. Leopold on <Umar Khayyæm 129 J. Biegstraaten (Independent Scholar, Chairman of the Dutch Omar Khayyám Society) How <Umar Khayyæm Inspired Dutch Visual Artists 135 R. de Groot (University of Amsterdam) The Legacy of <Umar Khayyæm in Music of the Netherlands 143 8 CONTENTS THE RUSSIAN AND GEORGIAN RECEPTION OF KHAYYÆM F. Abdullaeva (University of Cambridge), N. Chalisova (State University of Moscow) & Ch. Melville (University of Cambridge) The Russian perception of Khayyam: from text to image 161 T. Shurgaia (Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University) The Translation of <Umar Khayyæm’s Poetry into Georgian – a Touchstone for Translators 189 KHAYYÆM’S RECEPTION IN VICTORIAN ENGLAND E. Zare-Behtash (Chabahar Maritime University, Iran) The Reception of FitzGerald’s Rubáiyát of <Umar Khayyám by the Victorians 203 KHAYYÆM IN INDIA A. Castaing (INALCO) Vernacularizing Rubaiyat: the Politics of Madhushala in the context of the Indian Nationalism 215 A. Rangarajan (Independent scholar) Attempts at Locating the Rubáiyát in Indian Philosophical Thought 233 INTERNATIONAL KHAYYÆM DATA-BASE J. Coumans (Independent scholar) An <Umar Khayyæm Database 245 Index 253 Acknowledgments I would like to thank several organisations, colleagues and friends. First of all, I would like to express my gratitude to The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW), and Leiden University Fund (LUF) van Walsem, and Leiden Institute for Area Studies (LIAS) who of- fered me financial aid to organize an academic conference to highlight not only <Umar Khayyæm as a mathematician, philosopher and astronomer, but also the reception of Khayyæm in various literary traditions. The results of this fruitful meeting are presented in this book. I would also like to express my gratitude to the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO), who presented me with a VIDI award supporting research in the framework of my project ‘Of Poetry and Politics: Classical Poetic Concepts in New Politics of Twentieth Century Iran.’ This book on Khayyæm shows very well how classical poetic themes and topics are used in a modern context, not only in the Iranian world but also in other cultures around the globe. The Khayyæm conference opened with an extraordinary performance from Het Nederlands Kamerkoor (Dutch chamber orchestra), singing a wide range of classical Western and Persian compositions based on the quatrains of Khayyæm. This impressive opening had an effect that continued in the following days, especially because of the fruitful cooperation with the mu- sicologist Professor Rokus de Groot (University of Amsterdam). The term Rubáiyát is used in the title of this book as a homage to Edward FitzGerald, although properly speaking it refers to all the Persian quatrains attributed to Khayyæm. While Khayyæm’s quatrains were introduced to a number of literary traditions through FitzGerald’s adaptation, his work was not the only channel of transmission. Thanks are also due to my colleagues who have always been supporting in many ways. I would particularly like to thank my student assistant Amin Ghodratzadeh who meticulously read the entire manuscript and generated an index. 10 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This book would have not had the same form without the aid and support of my friend Sen McGlinn who proof read the English of many of these chapters. I would like to express my thankfulness for his editorial assis- tance, but any mistakes to be found in this book are all mine. My words of gratitude also go to the wonderful people at Amsterdam and Leiden University Press who patiently helped through the publication process: Inge van der Bijl, Chantal Nicolaes, Yvonne Twisk en Anniek Meinders. Asghar Seyed-Gohrab Leiden, 2012 Khayyæm’s Universal Appeal: Man, Wine, and the Hereafter in the Quatrains Ali-Asghar Seyed-Gohrab Leiden University The success of <Umar Khayyæm’s quatrains owes much to the English poet Edward FitzGerald (1809-83), whose English adaptations transmitted the Persian spirit and sentiments to English poetry.1 Drawing on the new mor- ality and scepticism that he found in the quatrains, FitzGerald revolted against Victorian ethics. FitzGerald was not the first English poet to render Khayyæm, but his adaptation ensured their unmatched worldwide popular- ity.2 FitzGerald’s interest in Khayyæm’s quatrains started with E.B. Cowell, a Professor of Sanskrit at Cambridge, who discovered a fifteenth-century manuscript from the Ouseley collection, containing 158 quatrains, at the Bodleian Library in Oxford in 1856. The first edition (1859), entitled The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, the astronomer-poet of Persia, contained 75 quatrains and was printed anon- ymously in only 250 copies, 40 of which were taken by FitzGerald him- self. The books were sent to Bernard Quaritch’s bookshop. It was not pop- ular, until 1861, when Whitley Stokes and John Ormsby discovered it. Stokes returned to the bookshop and purchased copies of the Rubáiyát for his friend Dante Gabriel Rossetti, who in turn introduced the book to the Pre-Raphaelite artists. Because of the popularity of the Rubáiyát with the Pre-Raphaelites, FitzGerald prepared a second edition with an additional 35 quatrains, which was published in 1868. The Rubáiyát ran to a third edition in 1872 and a fourth in 1879. The fifth edition appeared posthu- mously in 1889. At the end of the nineteenth century, the quatrains were translated into major European languages and a literary cult was born.