Step inside The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam

The film without the cuts. And the book itself.

The present hour glows beneath an unreadable sky.

9:41

The Cast

Omar / Old Khayyam

Main · lyric speaker

An old poet under an unreadable sky turns from failed wisdom toward the cup in his hand.

Locations

The Tavern

tavern

A tavern door still shut before dawn, and voices already calling for the cup.

Passage

Dawn breaks like a summons, daring the sleeper to face another fleeting day.

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The Author’s Pen

Morning Puts the Stars to Flight

Awake! for Morning in the Bowl of Night Has flung the Stone that puts the Stars to Flight: And Lo! the Hunter of the East has caught The Sultan's Turret in a Noose of Light.

Reading

Dawn arrives as an act of violence, not a gentle glow. Morning flings a stone into the dome of the sky and the stars scatter like startled birds; then the rising sun becomes a hunter whose first light drops over the Sultan's tower like a lasso around the neck of prey. This is the opening quatrain of the poem, and its single blunt command, "Awake!", sets the book's whole argument in motion: the day has already begun to hunt, so the sleeper had better rise and seize it. Even the Sultan's high turret gets caught, which quietly warns that no rank escapes the morning.

World Index

The Plot

The Call of DawnWine, Bread, and the BelovedThe Vanity of KingsThe Failure of KnowledgeThe Potter and the ClayThe Moving Finger

The Cast

Omar / Old KhayyamThe Beloved / ThouFate / DestinyThe Saki / CupbearerThe PotterThe Clay Vessels / Speaking PotsSaints and Sages / Doctor and SaintThe Sufi / DervishAngel of Death / Angel of the darker DrinkThe RoseThe NightingaleThe MuezzinThe Vanished Kings and Heroes

Locations

The Cosmic SkyThe GardenThe Market-place at DuskThe Potter’s ShopThe River-brinkThe Ruined Palaces of KingsThe TavernThe Wilderness beneath the Bough

Objects of Note

Book of VerseBowl of SkyBread / Loaf of BreadClay / Earthen Bowl / VesselsEmpty GlassMoving Finger / Written LineThe BallThe Chequer-boardThe CupThe Door and VeilThe RoseWine / The Grape

Core Concepts

Beauty and decay are the same experience seen at different speedsFate is written, played, and irreversibleHuman knowledge reaches a locked doorRitual survives where certainty failsThe body is the site of both pleasure and metaphysicsThe present moment is precious because the future cannot be securedWine is a contested symbol, not a solved codeWorldly greatness vanishes into the same dust as ordinary life

The Author's Pen

Omar and the Mystic WineAwake Before Life Runs DryWilderness Is Paradise EnoughSultans In The CaravanseraiThe Cup for TodayLife Flies Forever DiesThe Same DoorThe Harvest I ReapedNo More of Thee and MeThe Clay's PleaThe Grape's LogicTake the Cash in HandThe Nightingale Cries WineThe Rose Throws TreasureThe Bird on the WingBlossoms Scatter Into ClayLean Upon It LightlyThe Wild Ass Above BahramNeither Here Nor ThereThe Knot of Death and FateThe Bowl's CounselPieces of the GameThe Player KnowsThe Finger Moves OnThe Impotent SkyWho Is the PotterThe Last CupTurn Down an Empty Glass

Plot point 01

The Call of Dawn

Morning throws a stone into the bowl of night, and a tavern voice calls the sleeper to rise, for life is short and the cup waits.

Objects of Note

The Cup

A cup lifted before dawn is the poem's whole answer to fear and death.

The Cast

The Beloved / Thou

Main · intimate addressee

A companion beneath the bough makes bread, wine, and verse feel like paradise enough.

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The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam

Omar Khayyam

The cast, locations, objects of note, core concepts, and selected passages in the Author’s Pen - at your own pace.

One of 127 classics in the Literah library

The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam World, as it plays on your phone

Meet the people. 13 characters, each with a portrait, who they are and what they want.
Walk the places. 8 places, each pictured, and what happens there.
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