Omar Khayyam was a multifaceted man who lived at around the time the second millennium of the Christian era was beginning. He was not only a scientist but also a Sufi mystic, and his Rubaiyat (book of verses in quatrains) has evoked much interest and endless debate. The best known English translation is that of Edward FitzGerald. Here is a sample verse:
"Here with a Loaf of Bread beneath the Bough / A Flask of Wine, a Book of Verse---and Thou / Beside me singing in the Wilderness --- /
And Wilderness is Paradise enow."/
Whose imagination can fail to be stirred? But most people see this as a glorification of wine, women and song -- a handbook of hedonism. Could such an earthy and earthly book be in keeping with Khayyam's reputation as a Sufi mystic and a saint? Now towards the end of the millennium, the Indian saint, mystic and spiritual leader Paramahansa Yogananda has commented on the Rubaiyat in his book "Wine of the Mystic." Omar was indeed a mystic. The divine intoxication of the love and joy of God could only be conveyed to the people of his age through metaphors and allegory that described the pleasures they could understand. One must read the Rubaiyat in conjunction with "Wine of the Mystic" to really get to the heart and soul of one of the world's classic books.