On Monday morning, in the year 439 AH, a genius was born in Neishabour that we all Iranians are proud of today. This genius is none other than the sage Omar Khayyam.
His father, Ibrahim, is in a strange turmoil. Because he had never tasted fatherhood before. Ibrahim brought home an elderly midwife to help his wife with the birth of a baby. And he asked God to keep his wife and child safe. At the same time, the midwife shouted: Either Muhammad, or Muhammad, Ibrahim and all the people of Neyshabur knew that if the midwife mentions the names of the prophets after the birth of the baby, the child must be a boy.
The men and women of the family and the neighbors who came to see Abraham’s wife and child, their first question was: Abraham, what did you name your son?
Ibrahim used to say: I should go to Rumi Qazi so that he can determine a name from the Qur’an. After the noon prayer, Ibrahim went to Rumi Ghazi and after the greeting, he said: God has given me a son and that is why I came to you to work hard and choose a name from the Quran. Rumi chose the name of Umar from the Qur’an for the son of Ibrahim.
Ibrahim also happily thanked Rumi and went home. Omar was born into a middle-class family, gradually becoming acquainted with people’s lives. He attended mourning and wedding ceremonies and religious ceremonies. Sometimes he went to watch his father’s work and his skill in sewing tents. Omar had a strong physique and was very quiet. He did not like ordinary children’s games, and whenever they went to a party or a party came to them, he tried to sit among the men and learn from his words.
This issue caused Ibrahim to prepare paper and pen at the age of five or six and to teach him the Persian alphabet. Reading the Quran was also one of the sciences that Ibrahim taught his son. Omar learned to read the Qur’an well for three months, but in that sense he could not get help from his father.
He ordered his wife to bring clean clothes for life. After getting dressed and removing the Qur’an, Ibrahim instructed him on how to attend school and study. Then he took her hand and took her to the school of Rumi Ghazi and turned to Rumi and said: This is the same child that you chose the name of Omar. Rumi, after realizing that Omar was familiar with the Qur’an and calligraphy, accepted him into his school.
In less than two years, Omar learned all the basics that other children would learn in a few years.
Education and Travel:
His understanding of learning was so strong that Omar was guided to the school of Khajeh Abul Hassan Anbari at the suggestion of his friends. Because that school met the scientific need of life.
Khajeh Abolhassan Anbari was a famous sage and mathematician. Omar Khayyami’s genius and strong memory, which gradually became known as Omar Khayami due to his father’s job, also attracted the attention of Khajeh Abolhassan.
The day that Khajeh Anbari said to Ibrahim: I see in your child’s face more intelligence and theoretical accuracy than all other students and I believe that you did not send him only to this school, but to study the sciences of wisdom, mysticism, ethics and completing Quranic knowledge. Go to the school of the successful Imam of Neyshabur to use his presence. Also, if he can attend the presence of Sheikh Mohammad Mansour to continue philosophy after completing these lessons, he will get a very good result.
Ibrahim separated from Khajeh with a dreamy world. The enthusiasm that his son would become one of the disciples of the successful Imam of Neyshabur encouraged him. But he did not know whether it was possible for the great master and scholar in whose school the princes and the children of the rich studied to accept the son of a tentmaker as an apprentice.
Omar was now a young man, very polite and quiet. In those days, the desire to study in the school of the greatest scientist of Neishabour had spread throughout his existence. Finally, the day came when they were supposed to arrive in the presence of Imam Neyshabouri. Ibrahim expressed the advice of Khajeh Abolhassan Anbari to the Imam. Imam Neyshabouri turned to Ibrahim and said: I accept your son’s presence here to continue his education on one condition, and that is that Umar should now recite a verse from the Holy Quran.
Omar recited a verse from the Qur’an without hesitation. The Imam, satisfied with Omar’s ingenuity, agreed to add Omar to his disciples. Omar also studied philosophy with Sheikh Mohammad Mansour during his studies at the school of the successful Imam of Neyshapuri. Omar’s level of literacy was such that although he was younger in age than his fellow students, he was respected by all, and many of them took his help in life.
Gradually, except for his close friends, others called him Omar Khayami or Khayami. Among his students, he was more interested in two people named Hassan Sabah and Hassan Tusi. Omar was usually quiet and thoughtful. He listened carefully to what he heard and answered the questions briefly but firmly and completely.
Omar Khayyami had another passion for studying with his other teacher, Mohammad Mansour, who was a professor of philosophy of his time. In this school of life, this genius philosopher became acquainted with the works and circumstances of Abu Ali Sina and became so fascinated with him that he got to know and learn from the works that others called him a student of Bu’ali. Omar was coming.
One day he heard from a scientist traveler coming from Balkh that there were wider scientific schools in that city and that a famous book by a Greek mathematician was in the hands of one of the elders of that city. Khayyam went to Balkh eager to see the book and hoped that he would be allowed to make a copy of it.
Finally, Khayyam arrived in Balkh and found the rich businessman who had the book of the famous Greek mathematician. After living in Balkh for some time and getting acquainted with the sciences and knowledge of that city, Khayyam decided to go to Rey to complete his knowledge. Suddenly, the news of his father’s serious illness reached him and Khayyam hurried to Neishabour. But when he arrived in Neishabour, the father took his last breaths and died seeing his son.
After marriage, Khayyam had a son who was named Fathullah.
At this time, some of Ray’s scientists, especially the astronomers there, invited Hakim to that city. Khayyam, known as Abu al-Fatah after the birth of his son, was known as one of the great scientists of geometry, mathematics, astronomy, philosophy and religious sciences. People sometimes called him Hajjah al-Haqq or Imam or Ghias al-Din.
It was not more than a few weeks after Khayyam’s stay in Rey that he was invited to Isfahan by Khajeh Nizam al-Mulk. Khayyam eagerly accepted the invitation and moved to Isfahan. On the way, Fatah, Khayyam’s son, asked him why he accepted the invitation. Khayyam said: My son, Isfahan is a spectacular and beautiful city in Iran and there are many schools and scientists in this city. That we can get acquainted with their knowledge and, most importantly, that I have accepted the invitation of an old friend and met with him.
But Khayyam did not mention anything. The next morning, a decree was sent to Khayyam by Khajeh Nizam al-Mulk, according to which the ruler of Neishabour was ordered to pay one thousand dinars to Khayyam every year. Khayyam was very happy with this sentence because from now on he could easily complete his knowledge and write a book. Khajeh came home after the noon call to prayer and talked about his third friend, Hassan Sabah, during lunch. Khayyam said: I have heard that Hassan has become famous for his asceticism and piety of all people, but he cultivates the people based on the claim of leadership and has opposed the sultans of Iran. Khajeh nodded and confirmed Khayyam’s remarks, saying that what you said about him was true. I hoped he would come to Isfahan so I could talk to him. He has been restless since school.
Khayyam stayed in Isfahan for a month after Khajeh Nizam-ol-Molk and Sultan Alp Arsalan left Isfahan to get more acquainted with the city’s scientists and gain scientific experience, after which he returned to his homeland.
At that time, Soltan Alp Arsalan was killed by one of the rebels and his son Jalaluddin Malekshah ascended the throne in his place. The king, who had been educated under Nizam al-Mulk for a long time and cherished him as his father, once again elected him a minister.
Omar Khayyam’s way to the court of the Seljuk king
The king reigned in the city of Merv and his minister of science also regulated the affairs of the country, but in the meantime an interesting thing happened that Khajeh Nizam-ol-Molk used the opportunity cleverly. And left one of the best relics of the Seljuk dynasty. The story was that one of the courtiers suggested that a celebration be held every year on the day of the throne of the sultan. The young king also accepted the offer and ordered Khajeh Nizam al-Mulk to take action. Knowing that astronomers and professional astronomers would not succeed in determining that day, Khajeh discussed the matter with the astronomers and one day secretly placed the Sultan there to listen to their conversations.
When the sultan realized that the astronomers could not confidently consider a day, he asked Khawaja Nizam al-Mulk for a solution. Khajeh also seized the opportunity to show Khayyam’s scientific prowess and suggested to the king that he seek the help of Hakim Khayyam to determine the exact day and solve this problem. And since Nizam-ul-Mulk had already defined things for the king on some occasions from Khayyam and the sultan was ready, he accepted Khajeh’s proposal.
Khayyam also went to Merv and persuaded Khajeh Nizam al-Mulk during several meetings that in this case, several other scientists should be invited to work together to solve this problem. Khajeh Nizam al-Mulk said: I would rather you do this alone so that your genius is proven to everyone. And on the other hand, the enemies may gossip about you … that the sage alone can not solve this problem and needs the help of other scientists. Khayyam said: If you can convince the Shah, otherwise hold a negotiation session between me and the Shah so that I can convince him myself.
Finally, Khayyam went to the court with Khajeh Nizam-ol-Molk and came to the presence of the Sultan. The queen asked him if he could determine the day he sat on the throne. Khayyam replied: Yes, but I have two requests for the presence of the Sultan. First of all, please agree to build an observatory and give it to me so that I can continue my scientific activities there and be able to establish a correct calendar that will establish the date of your enthronement and other events that have happened and will happen from now on. Determine. My second request is that the Sultan allow me to invite some of the scientists I know to cooperate in this matter so that the Sultan’s order can be carried out more quickly and accurately.
After the assassination of Nizam al-Mulk and then Malikshah, there was a dispute among the sons of Malikshah over the acquisition of the monarchy.
Due to the riots and conflicts that resulted from this, scientific and cultural issues that were previously of special importance were forgotten. Lack of attention to scientific affairs and scientists and the observatory forced Khayyam to leave Isfahan for Khorasan. He spent the rest of his life in the important cities of Khorasan, especially Neishabour and Merv, which was the capital of the reign of Sanjar (the third son of the king). At that time, Merv was one of the most important scientific and cultural centers in the world and many scientists were present in it. Most of Khayyam’s scientific works were carried out in this city after returning from Isfahan.
Khayyam’s scientific achievements for human society have been numerous and very remarkable. For the first time in the history of mathematics, he admirably categorized first- to third-degree equations, and then was able to provide a general solution to all of them using geometric drawings based on conic sections.
For quadratic equations he used both geometric and numerical solutions, but for quadratic equations he used only geometric drawings; And thus he was able to find a solution for most of them and in some cases to examine the possibility of two answers. The problem was that because negative numbers were not defined at the time, Khayyam did not pay attention to the negative solutions of the equation and simply ignored the possibility of having three answers for the third degree equation. Nevertheless, almost four centuries before Descartes, he was able to achieve one of the most important human achievements in the history of algebra, but also science, and to propose the solution that Descartes later expressed (more fully).
Khayyam was also able to successfully define a number as a continuous quantity, in fact defining a real positive number for the first time, and finally came to the conclusion that no quantity is composed of indivisible components and, mathematically, The power of any value can be divided into infinite parts. Khayyam also invented a deep concept in geometry while looking for a way to prove the “principle of parallelism” (the fifth principle of the first article of Euclid’s Principles) in his book Explaining My Form of Euclid (The Explanation of the Problematic Principles of Euclid). In an attempt to prove this principle, Khayyam made statements that were exactly in line with those made centuries later by Wallis and Sakri, European mathematicians, and paved the way for the emergence of non-Euclidean geometry in the nineteenth century. Many believe that Pascal’s arithmetic triangle should be called Khayyam’s arithmetic triangle, and some went even further and believe that Newton’s two sentences should be called Khayyam’s two sentences. Of course, it is said that more than this Newton’s order and the law of formation of the coefficient of expansion of two sentences have been brought by both Jamshid Kashani and Nasir al-Din Tusi while examining the laws related to the origin of numbers.
Khayyam’s extraordinary talent led him to make achievements in other fields of human knowledge. He has left short treatises in fields such as mechanics, hydrostatics, meteorology, music theory, etc. Recently, research has been conducted on Khayyam’s activities in the field of decorative geometry, which confirms his connection with the construction of the northern dome of the Isfahan Grand Mosque.
Historians and scholars of Khayyam’s time and those who came after him have all acknowledged his mastery in philosophy, to the extent that he is sometimes considered the sage of the time and Ibn Sina of the time. Khayyam’s existing philosophical works are limited to a few short but profound and prolific treatises. Khayyam’s latest philosophical treatise describes his mystical tendencies.
But above all, Khayyam is most famous in the world in the last two centuries because of his quatrains, which were first translated into English by Fitzgerald and made available to the world, naming him one of the four great poets of the world: Homer, Shakespeare, Dante. And put Goethe. Khayyam’s quatrains have led to sometimes unacceptable misinterpretations of his character due to the very free (and sometimes erroneous) translation of his poetry. These quatrains have intensified the controversy among analysts of Khayyam’s thought. Some are content to express his thought only in the appearance of his quatrains, while others believe that Khayyam’s real thoughts are deeper than can only be expressed by the apparent interpretation of his poetry. After a prolific life, Khayyam finally died in 517 AH (according to most sources) in his hometown of Neishabour, and with his death, one of the brightest pages in the history of thought in Iran was closed.
Khayyam wrote many scientific and literary works, the most famous of which are seventeen treatises and books as follows:
Works
1- The treatise on the proof of algebra and confrontation in Arabic, in algebra and confrontation, which is extremely famous and has been published by Dr. Gholam Hossein Masaheb in Tehran.
2- The treatise of Kun wa Taklif in Arabic about the Creator’s Wisdom in the Creation of the Universe and the Wisdom of Taklif, which Khayyam wrote in response to the question of Imam Abu Nasr Muhammad Ibn Ibrahim Neswi in 473, and he was one of Poursina’s students. Sabri in 1230 and Khayyam’s book in India was published by Suleiman Nadavi in 1933.
3- A treatise on the problems of Euclid’s confiscations and this treatise was published in 1314 by Dr. Taghi Arani, which is very important from a mathematical point of view.
4- Rawsat ol-Qulub treatise on the generalities of existence
5- The treatise of Zia Al-Ali
6- The treatise of the measure of wisdom
7- A treatise on form and contradiction
8- Translation of Ibn Sina’s sermon
9- A treatise on the accuracy of geometric methods for extracting roots and cubes
10- Treatise on the problems of demand
11- A treatise on natural sciences
12- A treatise on the expression of Zig Malekshahi
13- The treatise of Nizam-ol-Molk in the expression of government
14- The treatise of Lavazem ol-Akmaneh
15- Khayyam’s Arabic poems, about 19 of which are quatrains
16- Nowrouz Nameh
17- Khayyam’s Persian quatrains, which are about 200 quatrains (quatrains) or more than the sage Omar Khayyam, and the excess of which is not related to Khayyam but is attributed to Khayyam.
18- Eyes of Wisdom
19- Merajieh treatise
20- Treatise on general science
21- Treatise on research on the meaning of existence
Khayyam Triangle, Pascal
Many believe that Pascal’s arithmetic triangle should be called Khayyam’s arithmetic triangle, and some have gone even further and believe that Newton’s binomial should be called Khayyam’s binomial. Let’s be a little careful about this.
Anyone familiar with elementary algebra knows Newton’s command about binomial expansion. This statement is for some special cases (when n is a correct and positive number):
(a+b)0 = 1 (1)
(a+b)1 = a+b (1,1)
(a+b)2 = a2+2ab+b2 (1,2,1)
(a+b)3 = a3+3a2b+3ab2+b3 (1,3,3,1)
(a+b)4 = a4+4a3b2+6a2b2+4a2b3+b4 (1,4,6,4,1)
The numbers in parentheses represent the numerical coefficients of sentences in binomial expansion.
The French philosopher and mathematician Blaise Pascal, who more or less coincided with Newton, formed a triangle known as the “Pascal arithmetic triangle” to adjust the coefficients of binomial expansion. The design of this triangle was first published in 1665 in the “Treatise on Arithmetic Triangle”. The blue triangle is as follows:
1
1 1
1 2 1
1 3 3 1
1 4 6 4 1
1 5 10 10 5 1
1 6 15 20 15 6 1
In this triangle, from the third row onwards, each number is equal to the sum of the numbers above and to the left of it in the previous row, so it can be extended as needed. Each line of this triangle obtains two-sentence expansion coefficients in one of the states so that n is the same as the line number.
Bipolar expansion coefficients (for true and positive powers) were more or less obscure to Indian scientists even in the second century BC. However, the right to have a binomial expansion order is called Newton because Newton used it for the general case and when n is a fractional or negative number in 1676, which of course becomes an endless string.
But about an arithmetic triangle and binomial expansion coefficients in the natural state n. For example, the order to expand the two sentences can be found in the book “Secret Account” by Mikhail Stifel, the German tyrant (published in 1524).
In 1948, the German mathematician Paul Leuky, the historian of mathematics, discovered the existence of Newton’s order for natural powers in the book The Key to Account (1427) by Ghiasuddin Jamshid Kashani. Later, A. Ahmadov, a mathematician and historian from Tashkent, discovered Newton’s order and the law of formation of binomial expansion coefficients in one of the treatises of Nasruddin Tusi, the great mathematician of the thirteenth century (Tusi discusses computation). Both Jamshid Kashani and Nasruddin Tousi have introduced this rule while examining the laws related to the origin of numbers.
Also, based on the information we have, Hakim Omar Khayyam had a treatise that the treatise itself has not been found yet, but we know its name “The correctness of Indian methods in the root and cube”, in which to generalize Indian laws about the second and third roots, for any desired root. Therefore, Khayyam knew about “Newton’s order”.
But according to authentic historical documents, the laws related to binomial expansion coefficients and arithmetic triangle design go forward to the tenth century AD (equivalent to the fourth century AH) and end with Karaji (Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Hassan Hasib Karaji, mathematician of the tenth and eleventh centuries AD). “Pascal’s arithmetic” can not be called “Khayyam’s arithmetic triangle” historically.
Comments on Khayyam’s character
Some have described him as a wise mystic poet and others as a poet who does not believe in everything and pure materialism. Najmuddin Razi has made negative comments about Khayyam regarding the atheistic content of Khayyam’s quatrains. On the other hand, others [evasive words] sought to acquit him and composed quatrains of his promise that expressed his remorse and repentance. Some [evasive words] also – mostly in the contemporary period – tried to say that these quatrains are not from Khayyam at all, and are from someone of the same name. Najmuddin Razi, as the first person, in his book (Mursad al-Ebad) has very sharp and explicit references to Khayyam and according to the content of his quatrains, he says that this man was materialistic and with intellectual deviation, and two quatrains as a witness of him. He quotes and says that these are poems that show disbelief in religious principles and one of them is:
The possessor of Chou is a combination of adorned natures, so why did he throw him into a coma?
If good came, what was the point of throwing? These pictures did not look good, is that a mistake ?!
Says; According to this poem, Khayyam believes that God created us. If we are a good combination of creation, then why did he make us suffer in “coma”? If we are a bad combination, then who is to blame? The One who created us actually created us this way, we who did not come of our own free will, were not made of our own free will, so we are not to blame, and punishment does not make sense to us and our torment.
Jalal Al-Ahmad says about Khayyam: “[Khayyam] constantly calls in his poetry that you are nothing and emptiness; And then on the other side of the coin of this feeling of emptiness, there is the impossible wish that “if you touch my sky because God will take me, I will take this sky to earth …” and so on; And the result of his poetry is doubt, protest and helplessness; But all in front of the upper world and in front of the unseen world. And it seems that the world is also low and cared for; And the sorrow of his poetry arises from this helplessness; “And that is the secret of the eternity of the quatrains.”
Statue of Khayyam in Bucharest, the capital of Romania
In the world, Khayyam is known as a poet, mathematician and astronomer. However, the peak of the world’s knowledge of Khayyam can be considered after the translation of his poems by Edward Fitzgerald. However, many scholars do not consider some of the poems translated by Fitzgerald to have been written by Khayyam, and this has led to differences in the understanding of Khayyam in the eyes of Iranians and Westerners. Khayyam’s Influences on Western Literature from Mark Twain to T. اس. Elliott has made him a symbol of Eastern philosophy and a popular poet of the world’s intellectuals.
After Fitzgerald, the French helped introduce Khayyam to the Western world by translating his quatrains. In 1875, the famous French orientalist Garcنn Dutassi brought 10 quatrains from Khayyam to France, while about ten years ago, in 1867, Nicholas, the consul of the French embassy in Rasht, presented the first translation of the quatrains to France. Contrary to Fitzgerald, who emphasized Khayyam as a poet, he considered Khayyam a Sufi. This ignorance of Khayyam’s thought led Theophilus Gauthier to consider him a Rand poet. Gauthier’s views on Khayyam and the elaboration of his poems caused the French to show great interest in this Iranian poet.
Approving Fitzgerald, Ernst Renan considered Khayyam a capable poet in preserving the Aryan identity. He attributed Khayyam’s intelligence and power to expressing sometimes blasphemous words in the form of mystical poems. Andre Gide was also familiar with Khayyam’s quatrains through Fitzgerald’s translation.
Vladimir Putin, Martin Luther King, and Abraham Lincoln always recited Khayyam’s quatrains before going to sleep.
Four rooms of Iranian scientists
In June 2009, the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran presented a four-room sculpture with a combination of Achaemenid and Islamic architectural styles and decorations to the United Nations Office in Vienna as a sign of peaceful scientific progress. The main entrance is located to the right. In these four rooms are statues of four Iranian philosophers Khayyam, Abu Rihan al-Biruni, Zakaria Razi and Abu Ali Sina. Also, in April 2016, with the help of the director of the International Association of Iranian Culture, during a ceremony of the statue of Khayyam Neyshabouri, made by Professor Hossein Fakhimi at the University of Oklahoma, USA was unveiled with the presence of a large number of Iranian culture and art lovers. David Bourne, the current president of the University of Oklahoma, the former governor of Oklahoma and a Democratic politician from the United States, also spoke at the event and praised the actions taken.
Naming after Khayyam
Khayyam’s view of the planet in Neishabour.
One of the crescents of the moon is named “Omar Khayyam” in honor of Khayyam.
An asteroid was named after him in 1980. (Asteroid 3095)
A hotel called Khayyam has been built in Tunisia.
In France and Egypt, wines called Khayyam are produced.
The name of one of the train stations where the Neishabour train disaster occurred was Khayyam.
Khayyam Street in Tehran, located in District 12 of Tehran Municipality, is named after Omar Khayyam.
Khayyam Boulevard in the city of Mashhad, located between Malekabad Boulevard and Khayyam Square, is named after Khayyam. Also, a relatively large statue of Khayyam has been installed at the beginning of this boulevard.
Khayyam University of Mashhad is the name of one of the non-profit universities with a history of Iran in the city of Mashhad.
Omar Khayyam Restaurant in Addis Ababa
Khayyam Restaurant located in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Khayyam’s quatrains in the Amharic language are available at the Ethiopian University Library Library. More information can be found in Houshang Shamei’s travelogue.
In 1892. The Omar Khayyam Association was founded in London by a group of scientists, writers and journalists. This association lasted until 1893. He held three commemorations for Khayyam. Many poems in praise of Khayyam were sung in these associations, which were composed by the members of the association. Also, two rose bushes were placed on the tomb of Edward Fitzgerald, translator of Omar Khayyam’s quatrains, with the inscription on the headline: One of Edward Fitzgerald’s supporters has been planted by the Omar Khayyam Association.
In his speech, Martin Luther King Jr. quoted Khayyam.
In Neishabour
Khayyam Square One of the urban squares in Neishabour is named after Khayyam. In the middle of this square is the building of the original tomb of Omar Khayyam.
Khayyam Street is one of the streets of Neishabour city located in Farhangian town, which is named after Omar Khayyam.
Khayyam Industrial Town near Neishabour is named after Khayyam.
Khayyam High School is one of the old schools in Neishabour named after Khayyam.
Khayyam Planet and Neishabour Astronomical Research Institute
Neishabour Mathematics House (derived from Khayyam Mathematics) in Neishabour is named after him.
Khayyam in movies and stories
Omar Khayyam, an American film made in 1956
Inheritor: The Legend of Omar Khayyam, an American film made in 2005
In one of the Iranian novels called Khayyam and that lie of Delaviz written by Houshang Moinzadeh, Khayyam’s soul has a central role.
He is the main character of Samarkand novel written by Amin Maalouf.
Khayyam is one of the characters in the story of Masoumeh Shirazi by Mohammad Ali Jamalzadeh.
He is one of the topics of discussion between two characters in Jack London’s novel The Wolf.
* Sources and references are available in the editorial office of Artmag.
