Persian mathematician and poet dates 1048-1122. Famous mainly for his Robaiyyat (variously Rubaiyat) which seems to be singing the praises of wine. It was translated to English by Edward Fitzgerald.

All for naught in much of that portion of the world, where alcohol has been illegal (while herbs were not) thanks to the same kind of puritanism so vividly present here in our good old merka.

Ghias uddin Abdul Fath 'Umar bin Ibrahim

known to posterity as Omar Khyyam was not only a poet but also a Mathematician and Astronomer.

As a child Omar spent much of his time with two school mates, whom he made a pact. Surely they mused together that eventually one among them would come into a position of fortune, and they swore that who ever did was obligated to help the other two friends.

These two friends were; Nizam ul Mulk and Hassan I Sabbah.

As predicted it came to pass that fortune shone its light upon one of the companions. Nizam was made Wazir to the Sultan Malik-shah. A pension was arranged for our Omar, but by this time Hasan had taken power among the Ismailis as their 'Old Man of the Mountain' and better known to us as the Leader of the Assassins. Needless to say this circumstance left Hasan out of the deal.

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