The Sufism of the Rubaiyat (Unabridged‪)‬

The Sufism of the Rubaiyat

Or the Secret of the Great Paradox  

By Norton F. Hazeldine  

Narrated by Denis Daly  

Little is known of Norton F. Hazeldine, whose version of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam was published in 1908. It is not stated whether this was an actual translation, although it appears to be an extensive reworking of the fourth or fifth edition of the translation by Edward Fitzgerald.  

In the translation, which is in prose, Hazeldine elaborates heavily on religious elements in Omar's succinct verse, turning it into a kind of spiritual allegory. He presents his intention in the preface: In placing this volume before the public, I only hope that I may be able to convey to my readers the higher and deeper truths of this most famous of Persian Poets, who so ably attempted to portray to his countrymen the benevolent God the subtle life within the grosser of our material forms.