A luminous, austere voice across centuries. Silence speaks between each quatrain. In The Sufistic Quatrains of Omar Khayyam, Robert Arnot offers a thoughtful Persian poetry collection that presents Khayyam's rubaiyat as a classic quatrain anthology of compact reflections. Arnot's sufistic verse translation keeps the four-line shape at the centre, rendering meditations on existence into spare, luminous lines. The result is a catalogue of spiritual reflection poems where irony and yearning sit side by side and philosophical poetry themes surface in a single breath. Read aloud, each quatrain sounds like both a prayer and a question; read in a seminar, they open wide interpretive doors. Throughout, Arnot respects the economy of the rubaiyat, letting each line breathe while subtly echoing the Sufistic impulse toward inwardness. Readers will find poems that serve equally as quiet companions for solitary reflection and as vigorous prompts for group discussion. Khayyam's quatrains occupy a singular place within medieval Persian literature and the wider rubaiyat omar khayyam tradition rooted in 11th-century poetry. These brief works sit comfortably alongside other works of Persian poets who blend metaphysical enquiry with everyday observation. Taken together, the quatrains sketch a compact philosophy of attention: questions about time, fate and the taste of being that reward repeated reading. This edition is suited equally to poetry for literature students seeking primary texts and to casual readers drawn to reflective verse: supple translations invite study without alienating the reader. The translation's clarity aids comparative work on metre and metaphor, making the volume a practical resource in seminar rooms as well as a satisfying bedside companion. It is an elegant, thoughtful option as a gift for poetry lovers and a considered acquisition for classic-literature collectors. Republished by Alpha Editions in a careful modern edition, this volume preserves the spirit of the original while making it effortless to enjoy today - a heritage title prepared for readers and collectors alike.
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