Talk:Omar Khayyám

Archive 2002-2007

Robertson (1914)

Dear Wikipedia,

Robertson (1914) accounts on Omar Khayyam hare highly controversial and contradictory to other sources during that time including the Encyclopedia Brittanica. Robertson (1914) is known to have assumed that "Astrology was a part of Islam".

Robertson (1914)'s sources are therefore very inaccurate... — Preceding unsigned comment added by 182.182.74.146 (talk) 18:16, 24 September 2011 (UTC)

Views on Islam

This is largely just taken from a single source, and while it might illuminate the position of that one source, there is a large amount of dispute over what his religious positions were —Preceding unsigned comment added by 204.52.215.67 (talk) 17:05, 11 October 2007 (UTC)

I think he was critical of religion in general (Islam was the dominant religion of the region, but I highly doubt he had good views of Christianity, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, etc.), although he certainly did believe in God. -68.43.58.42 (talk) 22:13, 8 December 2007 (UTC)

This really needs to be better balanced, its all his anti-reliigousness, when clearly he shows deep respect for both Islam and its various religious laws in many of his works. Two sources largely comprise this overinflated section, Hitchens (an aggressive atheist) and a work written in 1914, which probably suffers from heavy orientalism, someone with deeper and more nuanced knowledge of Khayyam should really take it up. Thanks. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.95.230.33 (talk) 00:40, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

as a matter of fact, the only thing that he did not respect was islam.--Xashaiar (talk) 02:49, 14 December 2008 (UTC)

I definitely agree. He makes his disregard for religion clear and makes fun of the mosques many times in his poems. And the guys are arguing if he's a "Sunni or Shia" down there. --Dimitrakopulos (talk) 03:38, 14 December 2008 (UTC)

Please provide evidence, don't just make claims.--72.74.114.109 (talk) 02:39, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

Evidence is one thing. In this case, though, specifics is more important. I'm not saying that what being said isn't true. Maybe; maybe not. But specifics, exactly what was said, would be good to see here. Gingermint (talk) 22:35, 18 January 2010 (UTC)

Death date discrepancy

The text and infobox gives 1131 as his death year; the death category is 1123; LC has is dates as 1048-1123; what is the source for the 1131 death date?--FeanorStar7 (talk) 13:40, 13 January 2008 (UTC)

I wondered that too. The most common year is 1122, so I made it consistent. -- JackofOz (talk) 15:22, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

Language

What language did Kayyam write his mathematical works in? What languages are the manuscripts in? 128.114.133.143 (talk) 03:15, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

He is Sunni

He is a sunni. Think about it, his name is Omar. Shias never name their kids Omar. Omar is a Caliph in Sunni Islam. Shias do not accept this. So please remove this Shia propaganda. He is a Sunni!

Not to mention that the sources that say he is Shia are NOT AT ALL reliable. Thanks! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.147.110.176 (talk) 04:13, 31 July 2008 (UTC)

So, he's Sunni because he's named Omar. That's an excellent rock-solid proof of what he was. I congratulate you. --Gwern (contribs) 19:03 31 July 2008 (GMT)

It is interesting to me that he was Shī‘a simply because Iran was essentially Sunnī with a Nizārī minority until the Safavids imported half of Lebanon's scholars... was he Ismā‘īlī? Twelver? I'm curious and it might be useful to note in the article if you have the cites available to you. Naahid بنت الغلان ^{Click to talk} 22:43, 31 July 2008 (UTC)

-I second that, its a well-known fact that shiite have much criticism for caliph omar, I know that its highly unlikely that any shia will name his son omar. another good point is that Iran used to be predominantly sunni before the Safavids. as for sources, is it not typical of some sources to associate regions with religious trends, hence resulting in a very flawed conception of these trends - especially orientalist sources that study the subject through books and have no familiarity with first-hand sources ?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safavids#Shia_Islam_as_the_state_religion

-also it is pretty clear that the region he came from was a 'sunni region' http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neyshābūr#Culture as vindicated by the list of famous persons coming from there.

-Also the Seljug empire was sunni, as he was born there, i dont think anyone can seriously suggest he was a shiite.

-that said, Khayyam clearly had a dislike of theology, and it is evident in his poetry that he tended to side with everything mystical, so it is safe to assume that he was a Sufi, furthermore, his contemporary Al-Ghazali, who was born into the same Seljug empire, was perhaps the greatest Sunni/Sufi theologian of all times. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.144.320.166 (talk) 04:13, 3 August 2008 (UTC)

Well, find a good source, because at the moment we have two sources that say otherwise, and even if they're wrong, we can't use original research and synthesis of information from known facts to overturn a flat statement in an independent paper source. --Slashme (talk) 13:34, 13 August 2008 (UTC)

Khayyam was clearly Sunni just like most Muslim Persians before the Safavid dynasty. He was born hundreds of years before the Safavids took over and established Shiaism. Muslims in Iran after the Islamic conquest, were all Sunnis and they remained Sunnis for many years, especially the region where Khayyam comes from (a lot of them still belong to Ahl-Sunnah) Like mentioned earlier, even his name is an indicator, Shiites consider Omar ibn al-Khattab to be a traitor, murder and evil and they never use the name Omar or Osman etc (name of caliphs) for their children. I also can’t judge from two supposed sources, as you did not provide a link. Besides we don’t know if those literatures are credible. Were they published by IRI? I think it’s best if we just say he was a “Muslim”. --119.224.59.155 (talk) 07:53, 22 April 2009 (UTC)

Before the Safavids, a large proportion of Persians were Ismaili Shi'is, so claiming that the Shi'ah didn't arrive until the Safavids isn't really helpful. Ogress _smash! 02:21, 1 May 2009 (UTC)

who is the User:Grinevitski who made the edit 1? (ip? or somebody else?). 1. I do not care, but for those who care the source says "Rahım R. Malik in his work mentions that Khayyam’s father may have been a convert, presumably from the Zoroastrian religion to Sunni Islam, and so Khayyam was a first generation Muslim. Malik also claims that because Khayyam was referred to by so many as “Abu’l-Fath” (father of Fath) he must have had a son by that name. Neither of these two claims have been substantiated by other biographers of Khayyam." 2. So WP:UNDUE?--Xashaiar (talk) 02:57, 1 May 2009 (UTC)

Hi Ogress, The majority of Persians of that time followed the mainstream Islam. You are right that there was an increasing population of Isma'ili Shias in pre-Safavid Iran. Again those Shias were mainly Isma’ili not Twelvers. There is evidence that Khayyam often disagreed and mocked the Ismaili philosophy. He couldn’t have been an Ismaili. I believe Khayyam’s parents were nominally Muslim Sunnis, he himself was somehow agnostic, but that’s not to say he totally didn’t believe in Islam, he actually made pilgrimage to Mecca in his later years. --Grinevitski (talk) 00:19, 9 May 2009 (UTC)

Heliocentric Theory

It is said that...

says the text! Annoying! I believe it is natural and normal than an ephemerid and calendar constructor reacts against the awkward geocentric system and proposes a heliocentric one. But tale allegations are not encyclopedic, and if such a clause is to be in the article, it should be in a folklore section, or some citation is needed to attest the allegation. Copernicus did not just propose a heliocentric system: he elaborated it and created a method which he carefully documented in a book that was published. Said: Rursus (☻) 12:33, 10 September 2008 (UTC)

Yes, Aristarchus of Samos proposed a heliocentric theory over 1000 years before Khayyam. Article modified to reflect this fact. - 99.249.183.39 (talk) 23:48, 11 September 2008 (UTC)

suggestion to remove islamic templates at the bottom

can someone explain to me why the article has been given the template "islamic mathematics"? if there is going to be a template there should be a "mathematicians from persia". whatever comes to persia is given islamic adjective. as far as i can see, the term islamic mathematics, gives mathematics an adjective. this is very much open to serious objection. i would like to remove those template and create two other ones named "mathematicians from persia", "astronomers from persia", "philosophers from persia" and so on. what others think?--Xashaiar (talk) 04:30, 12 December 2008 (UTC)

If you notice, lots of secular writing in the West includes terms like Islamic Empire, Islamic culture, and lots of things that imply Islam exceeds the traditional separation of religious and political institutions (even in early Christian history), which is true. We even have an article on Wikipedia, Mathematics in medieval Islam. But this is an issue I want brought up as well. I notice lots of times Persian scholar being used, is that correct to emphasize their ethnicity, since their contribution had very little to do with it? Wouldn't scholar just suffice? Look at Avicenna for example. --Enzuru 04:52, 12 December 2008 (UTC)

first of all let me clarify that i will not go for "Persian mathematics". secondly, the same implicit consequences driven from a term like "Persian scholar" that is worrying you, exists in a term like "islamic mathematics" and is unpleasant to me and even more worrying.

Islamic mathematics is a phrase that we have many sources for in English literature. If we had sources for Persian mathematics, we could have built an article on it. --Enzuru 02:58, 14 December 2008 (UTC)

science has never been a religious matter. however, for obvious reasons and for the sake of completeness the ethnicity has to be mentioned as otherwise it can be misused. your suggestion that avvecina's contribution had little to do with being persian: well it might be, but it had certainly much to do with being iranian as the love for science, literature, ... is still alive among them.

Every ethnic group loves science, literature, and so forth, some groups have even contributed less to these fields than Persians, some have contributed more than Persians. What you are saying is nationalist, it isn't encyclopediac, it's not something we can prove using sources. We have to simply do what the sources tell us to do, and I don't mean biased sources, I mean secular academia. --Enzuru 02:58, 14 December 2008 (UTC)

as i said, for the sake of completeness. what i say has nothing to do with nationalism. the appearance of Gauss, Riemann, .. had much to do with being German, but had, most likely as i pretend to believe, nothing to do with having german blood. we misunderstand each other. another example, is the rise of russian mathematics. which, according to many, had lot to do with being in soviet union. what i am trying to say is that the school and system is the most important ingrediant of any scientific community. yes, i do believe that the system and school of science in persia has been the most important force for the rise of scientists in persia.--Xashaiar (talk) 03:41, 14 December 2008 (UTC)

since iranian people have been in persia, i would say a term like "mathematicians from persia" has at least some informative significance (indicates for example a guide to possible ethnicity, language, religion, etc). the term "islamic" refers only to islam. for example khayam: the only acceptable religious background of khayam seems to be "he was born to a muslim parents". and here is my ultimate reason to object any islamic adjective: if islam had any significant role in developement of science among iranians, can you tell me why there is no single historically important scientist from saudi arabia (which i used to call "Jesm-e islam")?--Xashaiar (talk) 06:11, 12 December 2008 (UTC)

I wasn't trying to argue that Islam was significant in the development of Iranians, it is you who is arguing this. However, I agree that Khayyam shouldn't be placed under Islam technically, we have to see what sources say. "Mathematics from Persia" is not something we can source very well, but "Mathematics in Medieval Islam" is talked about in the West quite often. As far as Islam having a strong development role (which isn't the point, I am not here to argue against nationalist or religious propaganda), most of Persia's most important literary and philosophical output has been after Islam, similiarly, most of India's development in architecture and culture was during and after the Mughal Empire. Persia was a great power and had much literature and philosophy before Islam, but in general, it's output increased after Islam. You are correct, Arabs have made very few advances, in fact, I believe over 70% of the Arabic language was developed by Persians, not Arabs, but this doesn't mean Islam didn't contribute to anything. But once again, I don't care to argue against religious (Muslim) or nationalist (Iranian) propaganda, I just want to make sure everything is sourced according to Wikipedia. Thanks. --Enzuru 02:58, 14 December 2008 (UTC)

no i am not arguing this either. my main argument is that "islamic mathematics" does not make any sense. however "mathematics in the islamic world" yes makes sense. in this case, my argument goes further and says, since persian existed as a brand in culture, schools, ... it would be,a fortiori, better justified to use the term "mathematics in persia". this will give immediate term persian mathematicians. just as off-topic: there is great deal of terms used by people, e.g. philosophy of science, for which the main group concerened, e.g. scientists, are not comfortable with. i was hoping encyclopaedia iranica will change some of these, but that did not happen due to trivial reasons.--Xashaiar (talk) 03:41, 14 December 2008 (UTC)

We should try to make sure "Mathematics of Medieval Islam" is used more often then, if you have time we should discuss how we should go about this. --Enzuru 03:44, 14 December 2008 (UTC)

yes i do have time. the categories that one can put at the end are very good. maybe we should check certain names from these categories Category:Persian mathematicians, Category:Persian astronomers, and etcetera. and make sure that "Mathematics of Medieval Islam" is used as a template.--Xashaiar (talk) 04:09, 14 December 2008 (UTC)

What's with the caption under his picture? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.189.117.250 (talk) 21:00, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

my recent edit

I removed a big part: I will add some of them back to the article. But before that, I would like to know how to sort them in a better way. What should be kept and what should not be kept. Any help?

Historical Fiction

• Omar Khayyam appears as major character in the novel Samarkand by Amin Maalouf.
• Omar's life is dramatized in the 1957 film Omar Khayyam starring Cornel Wilde, Debra Paget, Raymond Massey, Michael Rennie, and John Derek.
• Most recently, his life was dramatized by the Iranian-American director Kayvan Mashayekh in The Keeper: The Legend of Omar Khayyam released in independent theaters June 2005.
• Khayyam's soul has a pivotal role in a well-versed 1997 novel in Persian, titled "خيام و آن دروغ دلاويز" (English "Khayyam and That Delightful Fabrication") and authored by Hooshang Mo'eenzadeh (هوشنگ معين‌زاده). The story's protagonist, "Haj Rajab (حاج رجب)", meets -among many other personalities- Khayyam's soul in the afterworld who recites his materialistic poems in public and mocks divine power even though he is presumably residing in God's paradise, leading Haj Rajab to strongly question fundamentals of his pious past earthly life.

Cultural references

• In Kurt Vonnegut's novel Breakfast of Champions, Dwayne Hoover remembers the "moving finger writes" quatrain, which he was forced to memorize in high school.
• Che Guevara's son, the Cuban writer and poet Omar Pérez López, was named in honor of Khayyam and his work.
• Salman Rushdie's novel Shame makes reference to Omar Khayyam with a character by the same name.
• Khayyám is quoted in Martin Luther King Jr.'s speech, Why I oppose the war in Vietnam. "It is time for all people of conscience to call upon America to come back home. Come home America. Omar Khayyám is right 'The moving finger writes and having writ, moves on.'"
• Khayyám is quoted at the end of Clarence Darrow's A Plea for Mercy at the trial of Leopold and Loeb. "So I be written in the Book of Love/ I do not care about that Book above/ Erase my name or write it as you will/ So I be written in the Book of Love."
• Omar Khayyám appears as a comedic sidekick in the film Son of Sinbad. He is portrayed by Vincent Price and parts of his poems are distributed throughout his dialogue.
• He is also a topic of discussion between two characters in Jack London's novel The Sea-Wolf.
• In a series of "Rocky and Bullwinkle" cartoons, the story line revolves around the "Ruby Yacht of Omar Khayyam" - a jewelled toy boat.
• One of the two founders of Discordianism, Omar Khayyam Ravenhurst, named himself after Omar Khayyam.
• There are several references to Khayyam and his Rubaiyat in works of famous Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges
• The 1953 musical Kismet (musical) features a character based on Omar Khayyám.
• In the 1958 movie 'I Want to Live', two inmates Barbara and Rita use the poetic line, 'I came like water and like wind I go', from The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. Barbara (Susan Hayward), is shown reading the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam and she uses the poetic line as a password to meet a secret alibi who is an undercover police officer unbeknownst to her.
• A sparkling wine made in India, sometimes referred to as Indian Champagne is called Omar Khayyam.
• According to "Bird Lives" by Ross Russell, Charlie Parker would often answer questions in interviews with a verse from the Rubaiyat in order to confuse the interviewer.
• In Merideth Wilson's musical play, "The Music Man", the wife of the mayor, Eulalie Mackecknie Shinn, vocally objects to the lurid nature of Omar Khayyam's poetry to the town librarian, Marian Paroo. She shows her displeasure by saying, "this Rubaiyat of Omar Khayya-ya-ya-ya-I am appalled!"
• The song "The Road to Morocco" by Johnny Burke (lyricist) and Jimmy Van Heusen, performed in the 1942 film Road to Morocco by Bing Crosby and Bob Hope, includes the line, "Like a volume of Omar Khayyam that you buy in the department store at Christmastime for your cousin Julia, we're Morocco bound".
• In the Robert A. Heinlein book, "Double Star", Omar the Tentmaker is a low quality tailor selling ground outfits to spaceman. "I could see that this big boned fellow had been dressed by Omar the tentmaker-..."
• In his dissent to Hill v. Colo., 530 U.S. 703 (U.S. 2000) Antonin Scalia criticizes the majority for finding the law in question is 'narrowly tailored.' Scalia states the "narrow tailoring must refer not to the standards of Versace, but to those of Omar the tentmaker."
• "Omar the tentmaker" has become urban slang for clothing for overweight people. (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Omar-the-tent-maker)
• In Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray, Lord Henry refers to Omar Khayyam as the king of hedonism.
• The character of Marcia calls Horace Tarbox, her husband, "Omar Khayyam" when she first meets him, in F. Scott Fitzgerald's short story Head and Shoulders (story).
• In the speech given by President Bill Clinton to reporters in the White House rose garden on Friday, December 11, 1998, at 4:11 p.m., just minutes before the House Judiciary Committee voted to pass its first article of impeachment, he said: "An old and dear friend of mine recently sent me the wisdom of a poet who wrote, 'The moving finger writes and having writ, moves on. Nor all your piety nor wit shall lure it back to cancel half a line. Nor all your tears wash out a word of it.'" The uncredited poet is Omar Khayyam. (http://www.historyplace.com/speeches/clinton-rose-garden.htm)

See also

• Cubic equation
• History of algebra
• Khayyam-Pascal's triangle
• List of Iranian scientists
• List of Persian poets and authors
• Omar Khayyam (crater on the Moon)
• Persian literature
• Persian science
• Wine, women and song

External links

• [1] Multilingual information about Chayyām.
• [2] Omar Khayyam and Max Stirner. A student of eastern and western philosophy, H. Ibrahim Türkdogan, explores the anti-rationalism of Stirner and uncovers rather strong ties to the Orient in the person of the renowned Persian philosopher, mathematician, astronomer and poet.
• [3] Selections from The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, and all of his poetry.
• [4] Poetry and information on Khayyam
• Works by Omar Khayyám at Project Gutenberg
• The Persian Poet [5] Translations by Edward FitzGerald and a biography.
• [6] Persian poetry.
• [7] The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam.
• [8] On Omar's solutions to cubic equations.
• [9] Khayyam, Umar. Biography by Professor Iraj Bashiri, University of Minnesota.
• O'Connor, John J.; Robertson, Edmund F., "Omar Khayyám", MacTutor History of Mathematics archive, University of St Andrews, http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Khayyam.html .
• [10] The Quatrains of Omar Khayyam.
• [11] The Keeper: The Legend of Omar Khayyam. A recent movie of Khayyam's life
• [12] Rubaiyat Parodies. The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, and its many parodies. Included, with artwork, are: [13] The Rubaiyat of Ohow Dryyam, [14] The Rubaiyat of a Persian Kitten, [15] The Rubaiyat of Omar Cayenne, and [16] The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam Jr.

I forgot to sign.--Xashaiar (talk) 13:01, 20 April 2009 (UTC)

A: Relevant categories.

Currently there is a large list of categories:

1. Category:Omar Khayyám
2. Category:Persian poets
3. Category:Persian astronomers
4. Category:Persian mathematicians
5. Category:Persian philosophers
6. Category:Persian spiritual writers
7. Category:Iranian scientists
8. Category:Islamic astronomy
9. Category:Islamic mathematics
10. Category:People from Neyshabur
11. Category:11th-century mathematicians
12. Category:12th-century mathematicians
13. Category:Medieval writers
14. Category:1048 births
15. Category:1122 deaths

I think some of these are not that interesting. 11-15 are certainly uninteresting and can be used in the talk page. --Xashaiar (talk) 13:09, 20 April 2009 (UTC)

What would make you think 11-15 are appropriate for the talk page? I don't think I've ever seen that before, and certainly it's not a standard WP practice... --Gwern (contribs) 19:32 20 April 2009 (GMT)

I never said they are appropriate for the talk page! But I also want to find solution for those who like to see categories. Categories have always been problem for me.--Xashaiar (talk) 20:11, 20 April 2009 (UTC)

Hi, Can you please advise where I can find a museum of Omar Khayyam? The rumor says that there is one in the US. I have original manuscript of rubayees of Omar Khayyam and need to have it tested for authenticity. Can anyone advise me where to I should direct the efforts please? Yopur help will be appreciated very much. Dr. Ravshanbek Dalimov —Preceding unsigned comment added by Rdalimov (talk • contribs) 12:58, 14 May 2010 (UTC)

Heliocentric theory

This material is unreferenced and it has nothing to do with heliocentrism itself. Saying that the Erath rotates doesn´t mean it revolves around the Sun. I´ll delete that.--Knight1993 (talk) 17:18, 25 May 2010 (UTC)

Something messed up the relationship between Fitgerald and other translation

The order of materials in Persian, English (Fitgerald), and "more literal" appears to be messed up.

خيام اگر ز باده مستى خوش باش

   با ماه رخى اگر نشستى خوش باش:
   چون عاقبت كار جهان نيستى است:
   انگار كه نيستى، چو هستى خوش باش:

which translates in FitzGerald's work as:

And if the Wine you drink, the Lip you press,

End in the Nothing all Things end in — Yes —

Then fancy while Thou art, Thou art but what

Thou shalt be — Nothing — Thou shalt not be less.

The literal translation (http://www.okonlife.com/poems/page1.htm) shows that the correct Persian text is matched to Fitgerald's translation. But the "more literal translation" has nothing to do with the Persian. In the Persian, Khayam speaks to himself about enjoying an intoxicated state, enjoying being seated with a lover, but that in the end everybody dies, so it would be well to anticipate one's inevitable future state while in this world and in so doing, rejoice. (See: http://members.iinet.net.au/~ploke/Omar/compare.html number 102)

It would appear that the above quoted text should be matched to something that appears pretty far down the page:

If with wine you are drunk be happy,

If seated with a moon-faced (beautiful), be happy,

Since the end purpose of the universe is nothing-ness;

Hence picture your nothing-ness, then while you are, be happy! # 140

The intervening material is from Fitzgerald's "Overture," an earlier part. What is it doing here?

The first Persian text appears to be from 25. The second Persian text is from 140. A Saki, cup-bearer is addressed. The poets says that people can lose awareness, sleep, in their self-esteem. Have a drink, because their words are only wind.

The part about:

Now the New Year reviving old Desires,

The thoughtful Soul to Solitude retires,

Where the White Hand Of Moses on the Bough

Puts out, and Jesus from the Ground suspires

is not something more literal. It is Fitzgerald, 4.

It seems that at some point this page has been rather drastically affected by copy-and-paste edits.

I've made changes according to the above critique. P0M (talk) 18:16, 20 November 2010 (UTC)

One other thing, which I can't resolve:

آنانكه ز پيش رفته‌اند اى ساقى

   درخاك غرور خفته‌اند اى ساقى
   رو باده خور و حقيقت از من بشنو
   باد است هرآنچه گفته‌اند اى ساقى

which FitzGerald has boldly interpreted as:

Why, all the Saints and Sages who discuss’d Of the Two Worlds so learnedly — are thrust Like foolish Prophets forth; their Words to Scorn Are scatter’d, and their Mouths are stopt with Dust.

A literal translation, in an ironic echo of "all is vanity", could read:

Those who have gone forth[= died], thou cup-bearer, Have fallen upon the dust of pride [= self-content or self esteem], thou cup-bearer, Drink wine and hear from me the truth: (Hot) air [= wind] is all that they have said, thou cup-bearer.

I can't read the Persian, so I don't know what it says. The "literal translation," however, is for a stanza identified as #140 at (http://members.iinet.net.au/~ploke/Omar/compare.html). With three different paraphrases that obviously refer to the same Persian text to look at, it is clear that 140 makes no mention of saints, sages, or other worthies. It makes no mention of two worlds. It seems to indicate that some people, now dead, were too full of themselves and the only result was that they produced wind.

It would be useful for someone knowing Persian to give an independent translation of the text quoted in the Wikipedia article. There really is not any plausible equivalent in FitzGerald for the three paraphrases of 140.P0M (talk) 20:19, 20 November 2010 (UTC)

I tried Google translate and got something which included an incomprehensible word. I went line by line to avoid it possibly drawing on the Wikipedia article somehow.

Those who have gone before us, O Saki, soiled by dirt/soil of Khfthand! I feed you with wine that you might hear the truth from me. Everything they have told us is wind.

So it looks like the Persian and the "literal translation" correspond. What they have to do with FitzGerald should be immaterial. The question should be what relevance, if any, they have to Khyyam's own philosophy. Why not scrub the FitzGerald translation and use one of the others at iinet?P0M (talk) 20:36, 20 November 2010 (UTC)

Year length

The line citing his measurement of the year length as "365.24219858156 days" cannot be right--it has too many significant figures. I searched for the number in google books advanced search of all books in the twentieth century before 1990 and saw that not a single book contained this number. It is evidently an "internet legend" because one can find plenty of web sites that quote it. In fact no book has a number like this till 365.242198; nothing approaching the precision of the cited number.DonSiano (talk) 15:52, 13 February 2011 (UTC)

It's sometimes said that Khayyam proposed a leap-year rule of eight leap-years in every 33 years, and (((8*366)+(25*365))/33)=365.2424... with infinite decimal digits. AnonMoos (talk) 05:05, 17 March 2011 (UTC)

In any case, the frap.c program reveals that 365.24219858156 must have been calculated as 1,029,983 days in 2,820 years. You can find these numbers 1,029,983 and 2,820 in the 2001 book Calendrical calculations by Edward M. Reingold and Nachum Dershowitz, and in the source code of a lot of Persian calendar date converter programs, according to Google[17]... -- AnonMoos (talk) 16:08, 17 March 2011 (UTC)

Addition of stronger Sufi references

Have elevated the Views on Religion to be a full section, previously a sub-section in Poetry, because while poetry was the method he chose to express many of his thoughts on the subject, the content is greater than the medium. Consequently added a paragraph on Omar Khayyam's contribution to Sufi thought and teaching, the authority being a modern Naqshbandi Sufi. Referenced Sufism in the general list of his interests at the top of the article as well as the Philosopher Infobox. Rmg08057 (talk) 04:00, 25 February 2011 (UTC)

Reverted change by 76.103.37.32 at 17:29, 9 March 2011. This appears to be a deletion of the Sufi reference in two locations with no rationale given. This also affected the wording of the "physician" entry, where the person removed the word "Islam". Interesting that the only two edits are to remove Islamic references (many people seeing Sufi reference as Islamic). Rmg08057 (talk) 02:39, 12 March 2011 (UTC)

Reverted changes by Xashaiar on 6 April 2011. The problem for Xashaiar is the statement that Omar Khayyam is a Sufi. This is the 2nd time Xashaiar has done this. The basis of Xashaiar's claim is twofold... that it is "false" (no referencess provided to support this contention) and then that it is "not generally accepted in academic circles" (again with no references). Within the article itself we have numerous references supporting the inclusion of the term Sufi. Firstly there are two academic references; from SH Nasr, Professor of Islamic Studies at George Washington University; second from a noted early 20th century specialist in mysticism CHA Bjerregaard. In addition in what is for some probably a more useful and real confirmation over and above pure academic support, there is a statement from Omar himself in which he clearly aligns himself with the Sufis and statements from a modern Sufi acknowledging Omar's importance, contribution and standing as a Sufi. All these occur within the article itself, only one inserted by this editor. Rmg08057 (talk) 03:52, 6 April 2011 (UTC)

Hi, please have a look at Sufism and Mysticism. This is OR from your side that these are related so much that without clarification the tern sufi could be used in lead. This is a violation of wp:lead (that the first sentence should be neutral and neutral means things appear in proportion to the prominence), Now Nasr says "On the other end of the spectrum, he is seen as a mystical Sufi poet influenced by platonic traditions". This is enough for deleting the tern sufi, because "khayyam is a sufi in eyes of people in one side of spectrum of views" and without clarification this is not "neutral enough" for the lead (see wp:npov and wo:undue and wp:weight). If you really want him sufi in the lead we should say something "neutral" like "he is claimed as non-believer and also as a sufi muslim too". Xashaiar (talk) 04:05, 6 April 2011 (UTC)

Thanks for your comments. I agree that the inclusion of "Sufi" is not neutral at this time as there is one person that objects, you, and we should have a go at clearing that up. So on that basis it would need to be left out in the very short term. Further, I don't think the very low level "dispute" as to Omar's religious/mystical bent is worthy of inclusion on the lead... its what he is that is important/relevant, not the fact that other's can't agree. Prior to this most recent entry, your previous removal of the word with accompanying comments did not warrant removal of Sufi as they reflected a patently personal opinion. In this instance you have upped the ante which seems reasonable so, no Sufi from me, solely based on a need to clarify your position. I note also that citations/references weren't provided in my original edit because the four I would have provided were all in the same article and I didn't want to clutter up the lead. Now, turning to your other points:

1. That this is OR from me: this is a new interpretation of OR when there are four pieces of evidence in the very entry being edited. I understand OR can come from a synthesis of materials where new conclusions are drawn, but since the proposition put forward was the exact proposition the source material put forward, I fail to see OR.

2. I see you have selectively used SH Nasr material to support your point that claim of Sufi is "extreme"... even though the material (at that point) is merely describing people's opinion about Omar. Proper treatment requires you to deal with the continuation of the same material where a reference is made to SHN giving an example where Omar identified himself as a Sufi. Unless you are saying that SHN's interpretation of the material is wrong, then if the subject of the article, Omar, identified himself as a Sufi, it might be seen as reasonable to describe him as a Sufi. Really, unless you deal with this, your position is untenable and the inclusion of Sufi needs to be restored. Rmg08057 (talk) 23:09, 7 April 2011 (UTC)

your point 2: A. No matter what omar says (what sentence of Khayyam do you refer to?), he is a primary source and can not be used. B: Sufi is a term as described in Sufism. C: Sanai, which is apparently a sufi, describes khayyam-type people of neyshabur in a (disgusting) manner that one wonders if in the eyes of a "much sufi-er" person like Sanai, khayyam was even a deserving-respect-person let alone muslim. D: any kind of Khayyam affiliation with religion is highly disputed and for the sake of neutrality we can not mention only one side of dispute in the lead. E: Khayyam was probably like some other poets/thinkers and had a tendency toward AAin-e Mehr and therefore a potential (though very "rend") "Iranian Aref" (like Sohrewardi, and may be Hafiz). F: then there is the old question of "aghl wa eshgh" that Khayyam has shown more of "aghl" than other... Overall I think without proper discussion of these things, calling him a sufi wont be accurate, necessary, nor helpful. Xashaiar (talk) 23:31, 7 April 2011 (UTC)

Your points (sorry, you caught me at home from work today):

A. Primary source - is a fair point, though not fatal, if its being used alone, but for this overall discussion its really being referenced to show he was actively Sufi and not simply receiving the name through the analysis of others.

B. A reasonable interpretation would see Omar as fitting all of the descriptions of a Sufi contained in the lead in that article.

C. There is so much which is subjective and opinionated in this that it has no relevance other than I would agree Sana'i is one of the greats.

D. I see the common academic problem which struggles with really understanding the difference between the exoteric and esoteric. Its the difference between knowledge and understanding might help you.

E: More difficult to make sense here, I think you are getting at a point that possibly Omar was an extreme type like Hallaj or Surahwardi. If this is your point, then there is no doubt he pushed the boundaries and had to pay a price - the present-day problems of some people with his material are no doubt part of that price.

F: Ahh, the old question of "aghl wa eshgh"... sorry my Persian is a bit rough, does this mean "mad for love" with an unkind comment regarding Omar? Shame on you...

Overall, we are not going to get agreement are we, I see a deep-seated, entrenched position here clothed in academe. So no Sufi in the lead from me for the mo. Rmg08057 (talk) 01:31, 8 April 2011 (UTC)

Calendar reform

Regarding citation needed: In the Introduction to "The Ruba'iyat of Omar Khayyam" (Peter Avery and John Heath-Stubs, Penguin Books, 1981, p.31) Peter Avery refers to 'Khayyam...among the astronomers summoned by the Saljuq Sultan Jalalu'd-Din Malikshah...to revise the calendar and construct an observatory'. 94.144.63.5 (talk) 17:55, 9 August 2011 (UTC)

How come you Iranian rats have put Omar from the Seljuk empire ?!? He was born and died in Nishapur, which was part of the Afghan Ghaznavid Empire. He grew up in Balkh, which was part of the Ghaznavid Empire, and he mostly lived in Samarkand and Bukhara, which were part of the Ghaznavid Empire ??? Maybe some of you "Persians" can correct that ???--Kasparov49acer 03:37, 17 October 2011 (UTC)

I can do it myself, but then some of you rats are going to change that anyway !!!--Kasparov49acer 03:38, 17 October 2011 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Yamaweiss (talk • contribs)