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Do not waste your life trying to solve the sky. No one came back with the answer. Sit, breathe, and taste this hour.

Modern verse inspired by the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyam

LiteraturePhilosophy

The story behind the card

A modern verse inspired by the Rubáiyát, not a translation of Omar Khayyam. Khayyam (1048–1131) was a Persian mathematician and astronomer from Nishapur who led the team behind the Jalali calendar, the basis of Iran's calendar today. Four-line poems, rubáiyát, were credited to him after his death, and how many are really his is still debated. The verse echoes Edward FitzGerald's famous English version: of all who passed through “the door of Darkness”, “Not one returns to tell us of the Road”.

Türkçe oku
Göğün sırrını çözeceğim diye ömrünü harcama. Gidip de cevabı getiren olmadı. Otur, soluklan, bu anın tadını çıkar.
Ömer Hayyam'ın rubailerinden esinlenen çağdaş dizeler

Bu dizeler, Ömer Hayyam'ın rubailerinden esinlenerek yazılmış çağdaş bir şiirdir; Hayyam'dan çeviri değildir. Hayyam (1048-1131), Nişabur'da yaşamış İranlı bir matematikçi ve gökbilimciydi. Celali takvimini hazırlayan ekibin başındaydı; bugün İran'da kullanılan takvim bu takvime dayanır. Rubai denen dört dizelik şiirler ona ölümünden sonra mal edildi; bunların ne kadarının gerçekten Hayyam'a ait olduğu hâlâ tartışılıyor. Bu şiir, Edward FitzGerald'ın ünlü İngilizce çevirisindeki bir dörtlüğü çağrıştırır: Karanlığın kapısından geçip giden onca insandan biri bile dönüp de bize o yolu anlatmadı.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Omar Khayyam
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