RUBÁIYÁT. A reading between the lines, a meaning, within a meaning,
a paradox.
OMÁR KHAYYÁM. The Tent Maker, an ancient Persian manner of expression
signifying the Supreme Creator, for a tent to their minds
represented the universe, the earth formed its level or floor, and
the heavens its canopy. Again, the expression Astronomer Poet was
another title for the Creator. He who laid out the heavens as a
garden and placed the stars in design or order. He was also the
Controller of the seasons, the Lord of the Vernal Equinox and the
Prince of Horsemen.
IRAM. The nameless center of the universe, the womb from whence all
things are born; the heavenly garden where Jamshyd the King of
Splendor (or wisdom) sits enthroned, and reads from out the seven
orbited cup (the inverted heaven) wherein the orbits of the seven
planets circle around within its sphere, and there divines the
astronomical mysteries of the seasons, years and all hidden things.
RUSTUM and ZÁL. The personification of the universal positive and
negative creative energies, the elements of causation, the great
opposites, summer and winter, youth and age, etc.
HÁTIM TAI. The personification of charity, benevolence and generosity.
TAKHT-I-JAMSHYD. The throne of wisdom, the mid-heaven, whereon
Jamshyd the King of Splendor (or wisdom) symbolized by the sun
when he reaches his zenith at high noon. The ancient Persians like
the more modern Parsee do not worship the Sun as God, but to them
it is the symbol of God, the All Seeing Eye, the Surveyor of the
worlds, etc.
BAHRÁM GÙR. This character symbolizes the sun in the astronomical
sign of Sagittarius wherein he represents the ass or old year,
which will soon be lost in the swamps of winter or the sign of
Capricorn, the extreme point of the southern ecliptic.
SATURN. Lord of the Seventh Heaven, the symbol of old age or ripeness.
MÁH to MÁHI. From fish to moon, an expression denoting the period
from conception to birth, the state of transition between matter
and spirit and between life and death, or as we use the same
expression in the words "it is neither fish nor fowl."
PARWÌN. The Pleiades, the symbol of spirituality, gentleness,
kindness, etc.
MUSHTARÌ. The Planet Jupiter, the symbol of benevolence, religion,
toleration and big heartedness.
RAMAZÁN. The lunar month, beginning about the middle of March
and ending about the middle of April; it is the Easter of the
Mohammedans, the birth of regeneration or the spring.