In Iranian Jalali calendar , today, Ordibehesht 28, is Omar Khayyam’s commemoration day. Omar Khayyam was a Persian mathematician, astronomer, philosopher, and poet.
Khayyam was born in Nishabur, in northeastern Iran in May 18, 1048. As a mathematician, he is most notable for his work on the classification and solution of cubic equations , where he provided geometric solutions by the intersection of conics. Khayyam also contributed to the understanding of the parallel axiom . As an astronomer, he designed the Jalali calendar, a solar calendar with a very precise 33-year intercalation cycle.
Khayyam is one of the best known Persian poets in world where a lot of English readers are also attracted to his poems. His poetry became widely known to the English-reading world in a translation by Edward FitzGerald, which enjoyed great success in the Orientalism of the fin de siècle.
Yon rising Moon that looks for us again –
Omar Khayyam
How oft hereafter will she wax and wane;
How oft hereafter rising look for us
Through this same Garden – and for one in vain!