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Secondary sourceBook1915

Sufism: Omar Khayyam and E. FitzGerald

C. H. A. Bjerregaard · 1915

An early twentieth-century study by C. H. A. Bjerregaard examining Khayyám's poetry and its relationship to Edward FitzGerald's famous English translation.

A later scholarly study examining Khayyám's poetry and how faithfully it was translated into English.

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Sufism: Omar Khayyam and E. FitzGeraldPDF · 60 pages
C. H. A. Bjerregaard, Sufism: Omar Khayyam and E. Fitzgerald, 1915.

About this source

What it is

This is a 1915 book by C. H. A. Bjerregaard called Sufism: Omar Khayyam and E. Fitzgerald, published in London. It is a scanned text held by the Internet Archive.

Why it matters

The book argues that Khayyám's poetry reflects Sufi mysticism, and criticises Edward FitzGerald's famous translation for not staying faithful to the original meaning. It shows how, centuries after Khayyám's death, scholars still debated what his poems truly meant and how well they had been carried into English.

Look closer

  • Why might a translator change the meaning of a poem, even unintentionally?
  • What does it mean for a reader to only know a poet through someone else's translation?
  • Why do you think the author wanted to correct the popular view of Khayyám's poetry?

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

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