Omar Khayyam

18 May is the day of commemoration of the illustrious Hakim Omar Khayyam

He was a philosopher, mathematician, astronomer and poet in the 11th century.

He is considered one of the greatest mathematicians of the Middle Ages. Omar Khayyam is notably the instigator of the solar calendar, still used in Iran.

But his fame is mainly due to the writing of his quatrains, Rubaiyat, often cited in the West for their skepticism. They would conceal, according to Idries Shah, “mystical pearls”, making Khayyam a Sufi. He is one of the most popular and widely read Persian poets around the world.
This large audience is due to a first translation of his works into English by Edward Fitzgerald, in 1859.