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Secondary sourceBook1155–1157

Chahar Maqala

Nizami Aruzi · 1155–1157

A 12th-century Persian prose work by Khayyám's own student, containing eyewitness anecdotes about him, including the story of his tomb.

Written by Khayyám's own student, this book preserves eyewitness anecdotes about his life and death.

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Painted manuscript page in Persian miniature style: a seated bearded ruler in a crown gestures toward a woman in green kneeling on a rug, while a small attendant in a blue robe stands at a doorway on the left. Persian text fills the bottom panel.
Chahar Maqala, by Nizami Aruzi. Illustrated page, Baysunghur school, Timurid dynasty, Herat, 1431.

About this source

What it is

Written between 1155 and 1157 by Nizami Aruzi, the Chahar Maqala ("Four Discourses") is a Persian prose work in four chapters about the roles considered essential to a king: secretary, poet, astrologer and physician. The illustrated page shown here, from a 1431 Timurid manuscript in the Baysunghur school, depicts a scene from the text.

Why it matters

Nizami Aruzi had been a student of Omar Khayyám, and his book preserves an eyewitness anecdote about Khayyám, including the famous story of a prophecy about his own grave and a visit to his rose-strewn tomb in Nishapur. The work is also a major source for the literary and political culture of the Seljuk era, with anecdotes about poets like Ferdowsi and scientists like Bīrūnī and Rāzī.

Look closer

  • Why might a student's firsthand account be considered especially valuable evidence about Khayyám?
  • What does the painted scene show about how later generations imagined this world?
  • How might a story written decades after someone's death change in the retelling?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Omar Khayyam and Al-Biruni on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Front cover of a green cloth book titled Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, the Astronomer-Poet of Persia, with gold lettering, a gold floral emblem, black decorative arch border, and publisher Houghton, Osgood & Co. at the bottom.Book

Secondary source

Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám

Edward FitzGerald · 1878

Manuscript page numbered 46 in Arabic script, with a geometric diagram of a rectangle with both diagonals drawn and lettered corners at the top of the page, above several lines of handwritten Arabic text in black ink on aged, yellowish paper.Document

Primary source

Khayyam Geometry Manuscript

Omar Khayyám

Book

Secondary source

The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam (First Edition)

Edward FitzGerald · 1859

Wide view of the central courtyard of the Jameh Mosque of Isfahan under a blue sky with clouds. Tall iwans with ornate tiled and muqarnas vaulting frame the square, with a blue-tiled fountain pool in the foreground and a pair of minarets rising behind the central portal.Artifact

Secondary source

Jameh Mosque of Isfahan

841 (rebuilt 1086-1089 under Khayyám's patrons)

Manuscript page in Persian nastaliq script with an ornate gold-and-blue illuminated Bismillah heading at top, red-ruled borders, a marginal note in gold, and a round seal stamp in the margin on the right. Adjacent page edge visible at left.Book

Secondary source

Jami' al-tawarikh

Rashid al-Din Hamadani · c. 1400 (manuscript copy)

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