Khayyam, Omar (1053-1123) - Persian poet, astronomer, and mathematician who
reformed the Moslem calendar. He was known as the poet of Agnosticism.
Rubaiyat (1120) - Omar's best-known work is a collection of epigrammatic
quatrains (Arabic "rubai" = "quatrain"). Never popular in his own country,
Omar's poems are more widely known to English readers through Edward
Fitzgerald's brilliant nineteenth century translation, the fifth edition of
which is presented here.
