Sharḥ al-Khuṭbah al-ghurrāʾ

What it is

This is the first page of a manuscript containing Khayyám's commentary, written in Persian, on a sermon by Avicenna known as 'al-Khuṭbah al-ghurrāʾ' or the sermon on divine unity. It is held in the digital library of Caro Minasian.

Why it matters

This work connects Khayyám directly to Avicenna, one of the most influential philosophers of the Islamic world. By writing a commentary on Avicenna's sermon, Khayyám placed himself within a long tradition of scholars responding to and building on each other's ideas.

Look closer

• What does the red ink heading suggest about which parts of the text were considered most important?
• Why might later scholars write commentaries on earlier texts instead of new works?
• What does this page tell us about the networks of scholars who read and responded to each other across generations?