My son gave me a copy of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam for my birthday via his mother when he was about 18 months old. That was nearly 50 years ago.
In all the years since, I have read hundreds of other philosophical texts, poems etc, and I always return to Omar's work in times when I need to reflect a little.
There are some favourite passages I like because of the stark reality of what Omar says. One is displayed above.
Even as long ago as Omar lived, humankind was trying to deal with the big issues of whether there are gods, lives after death, and a cornucopia of saviours who had been mentioned throughout history. Protagonists whom the late Joseph Campbell referred to in his title: "The Hero with a Thousand Faces."
Well before Christianity he said, there were dozens of religions that spoke about prophets and heroes who reincarnated to help them solve their problems. They came and went at the same speed as human imagination.
Given the state of our world today, we could certainly do with a contemporary saviour to resolve our thousands of challenges.
Anyway, I hope you like Omar's opinion above. I do.
#Robinoz
