A Persian astronomer's quatrains urge us to seize the wine and the passing hour before the grave claims us.
Books that mention Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám (8)
The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton: “always carried an Omar Khayam in her travelling-bag”
Sons and Lovers by D. H. Lawrence: “Almost immediately he replied to her from Nottingham, sending her at the same time a little "Omar Khayyám."”
The Cruise of the Snark by Jack London: “I am willing to wager that Omer Khayyám could never have written the Rubáiyat in the valley of Typee”
Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut: “Here was the poem: The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ, Moves on: nor all your Piety nor Wit Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line Nor all your Tears wash out a Word of it. (quoted from memory by Dwayne, untitled in text; identified as FitzGerald's Rubaiyat quatrain LI)”
The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie: “the Yellow (more lucky than me), Khayyám -- FitzGerald's adjectiveless Bird of Time (which has but a little way to fly, and lo! is on the Wing) (title not stated outright; the quoted line is FitzGerald's famous translation of the Rubáiyát)”
Journey Without Maps by Graham Greene: “I was given a book of ritual, bound in limp leather like an Omar Khayyam at Christmas-time.”
Of Human Bondage by Somerset Maugham: “In those days Fitzgerald's translation of Omar Khayyam was known only to the elect, and Hayward repeated it to Philip.”
The American Diary of a Japanese Girl by Yoné Noguchi: “Mrs. Schuyler picked out for me “Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam.” My uncle said: “American woman can’t keep away from Omar and chicken-salad.””