Omar Khayyam

Omar Khayyam was an 11th-century Persian polymath—mathematician, astronomer, and poet.

In the West, he is known almost entirely for the *Rubáiyát*, a collection of quatrains celebrating wine, love, and the fleeting nature of life, popularized by Edward FitzGerald's 1859 English translation.

The poems' hedonistic philosophy—A jug of wine, a loaf of bread, and thou—made Khayyam a Victorian sensation and enduring symbol of carpe diem sentiment.