omar al khayyam
I recently came across those lines at the beginning of a chapter about writing systems in a book about language:
The Moving Finger writes, and, having writ,
Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,
Nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it.
These are probably the most famous lines of his Ruba'iyat (i.e. quatrains) which were first translated from Persian to English in 1859 by Edward Fitzgerald. I don't know why most references to Omar Al-Khayyam drop the definite prefix "Al" from his surname (much like Omar Al Mokhtar too) although it is part of the name. Anyway, my Google search about him resulted in many English, and a few Arabic, websites with information about him and his work. The focus is primarily on his poetry, but it was interesting too to be reminded of his other achievements in algebra, trignometry, astronomy, not to mention that he was a bit of a philosopher as well. I was mainly searching for a complete translation of his poetry, and as I was just about to give up, I landed on this wonderful site which has, as I hope is, the complete original Fitzgerald translation. I also came across this site which includes some of the original Persian lines together with literal and meaning translations, English translation and German translation. Finally, I found this site which has the Arabic translation of some of the Ruba'iyat, done by the brilliant Egyptian poet Ahmad Ramy and sung by the legendary Um Kolthum (whose picture is in the background). The first Arabic lines start with:
which are the equivalent of the English:
Dreaming when Dawn's Left Hand was in the Sky
I heard a voice within the Tavern cry,
"Awake, my Little ones, and fill the Cup
Before Life's liquor in its cup be dry."
But, I think my personal favourite are those (and not just because of 'this' and 'that' ;-) ):
Waste not your Hour, nor in the vain pursuit
Of this and that endeavor and dispute;
Better be merry with the fruitful Grape
Than sadden after none, or bitter, fruit.
Mai
The Moving Finger writes, and, having writ,
Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,
Nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it.
These are probably the most famous lines of his Ruba'iyat (i.e. quatrains) which were first translated from Persian to English in 1859 by Edward Fitzgerald. I don't know why most references to Omar Al-Khayyam drop the definite prefix "Al" from his surname (much like Omar Al Mokhtar too) although it is part of the name. Anyway, my Google search about him resulted in many English, and a few Arabic, websites with information about him and his work. The focus is primarily on his poetry, but it was interesting too to be reminded of his other achievements in algebra, trignometry, astronomy, not to mention that he was a bit of a philosopher as well. I was mainly searching for a complete translation of his poetry, and as I was just about to give up, I landed on this wonderful site which has, as I hope is, the complete original Fitzgerald translation. I also came across this site which includes some of the original Persian lines together with literal and meaning translations, English translation and German translation. Finally, I found this site which has the Arabic translation of some of the Ruba'iyat, done by the brilliant Egyptian poet Ahmad Ramy and sung by the legendary Um Kolthum (whose picture is in the background). The first Arabic lines start with:
سمــعت صـوتا هاتــفا فى السحـــر / نادى من الغــــيب غفاة البشر
which are the equivalent of the English:
Dreaming when Dawn's Left Hand was in the Sky
I heard a voice within the Tavern cry,
"Awake, my Little ones, and fill the Cup
Before Life's liquor in its cup be dry."
But, I think my personal favourite are those (and not just because of 'this' and 'that' ;-) ):
Waste not your Hour, nor in the vain pursuit
Of this and that endeavor and dispute;
Better be merry with the fruitful Grape
Than sadden after none, or bitter, fruit.
Mai
posted by Mai at 12:32 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home