TEHRAN -- Finland-based Iranian writer Kiamars Baghbani is currently translating the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam into Finnish.

More than half of the translation of this opus composed by the illustrious Iranian poet Khayyam (1048-1131 CE) has been completed. A Finnish poet is to undertake the task of transcribing it into rhymed quatrains, the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) reported on Friday.
Baghbani has previously translated 48 Persian classic and contemporary poems in an anthology entitled “In Praise of Wisdom”, a name which has been borrowed from the Shahnameh, the masterpiece of the revered Iranian poet Ferdowsi.
These are the first Persian works to have been rendered directly into the Finnish language, Baghbani said.
“In Praise of Wisdom” has been edited by the Finnish poet and translator Leevi Lehto.
This work received much praise in Finnish literary circles and was reviewed by critic Ville Juhani in Turun Sanomat, Finland’s third most widely read daily newspaper.