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Omar Al-Khayyam

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Omar Al-Khayyam, best known for his poetic masterpiece simply called Rubaiyat (quatrains) was born in Nishapur, Persia in 1044 C.E., in what is today the country of Iran. Although he is most often referred to as a Persian, it has been argued that his ancestors, who are from the Arab Khayyami tribe, migrated and settled in Persia. Not much is known about Khayyam's life, but what is known is that he lived in Nishapur and Samarkand for the length of his life (1044-1123 C.E.). It was in Nishapur that Khayyum received most of his education, which would inspire the work of a man who would ultimately make his mark among the handful of great Muslim minds throughout history.

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. (Rubaiyat)

Omar was born with the given name Ghiyath al-Din Abu'l-Fath Umar ibn Ibrahim Al-Nisaburi al-Khayyami. Khayyam, was not only a poet, but a mathematician, astronomer, philosopher, and physician. Before the age of 25, Khayyam wrote two books, one on music and one on algebra. Khayyam contributed greatly to the field of Algebra with his book Maqalat fi al-Jabr wa al-Muqabila. He discovered a geometrical method to solve cubic equations by intersecting a parabola with a circle. Khayyam is said to be the first to develop the binomial theorem and determine binomial coefficients. In geometry, he expanded on the work of Euclid and contributed to the theory of parallel lines. Centuries later, his contributions to mathematics and analytical geometry greatly benefited Europe.

It was while working for Seljuq Sultan, Malik-Shah Jalal al-Din that he made another major contribution. Malik-Shah sent an invitation to Khayyam asking him to set up an Observatory in Esfahan. It was requested that Khayyam create an accurate solar calendar to be used for revenue collections and administrative purposes. The result was Khayyam's development of a calendar `Al-Tarikh-al-Jalali' that was precisely accurate to within one day in 3770 years and was superior to the Gregorian calendar (he measured the year with an accuracy of 365.24219858156 days). His contribution explained that the length of the year is changing in the sixth decimal place over the span of an individual's lifetime.

During his lifetime, Khayyam wrote a great number of books and monographs in many disciplines. Of his work, ten books and thirty monographs have survived which include four books on mathematics, one on geometry, three on physics, and three books on metaphysics. To Westerners, Khayyam is best known for his Rubaiyat. In 1859, the Rubaiyat was made popular because of Edward Fitzgerald's translation of close to 600 short four line poems from the Rubaiyat. To Muslims, Omar Al-Khayyam will always be remembered as a man who made many contributions to civilization and is one man among several great minds that Islam inspired.

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