TEHRAN – The Minsk House of Friendship organized a special ceremony on Friday to celebrate the 970th birthday of the great Iranian mathematician, astronomer and poet Omar Khayyam (1048-1131).

The ceremony was attended by the director of the house, Nina Ivanova, Minsk-based Iranian Persian literature scholar Mohammad Taheri and Iranian deputy ambassador Abbas Eskandari, the Persian service of IRNA reported on Sunday.

Different aspects of Khayyam as well as his poetry were the main topics discussed at the ceremony.

Eskandari called Khayyam Iran’s cultural rich asset that has helped link the Iranian culture with cultures across the world. He also regarded Khayyam as a bridge between the Iranian people and Belarusians. 

A film about Khayyam was also screened at the ceremony, which went on with a recitation of Khayyam’s poetry in the Persian and Belarussian languages.

Persian literature aficionados also turned out in force across Iran on Friday to celebrate Khayyam National Day.

Khayyam is chiefly known to English-speaking readers through the translation by the English writer Edward Fitzgerald of a collection of his rubaiyat (quatrains) in the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam (1859).

Photo: Belorussian scholars attend a ceremony organized at the Minsk House of Friendship on May 18, 2018 to celebrate the 970th birthday of the great Iranian poet Omar Khayyam. (IRNA)

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