Omar Khayyam
Persian writer and scholar.
Her life is shrouded in mystery, and few sources are available to allow us to trace her with precision. Researchers generally believe he was born into a family of craftsmen in Nichapur (his father was probably a tent maker). He spent his childhood in the town of Balhi, where he studied under the direction of Sheik Mohammad Mansuri, one of the most famous scholars of his time. In his youth, Omar Khayyām also studied under the direction of Imam Mowaffak of Nishapur, considered the best teacher of Khorasan.
The legend says that Abu-Ali Hassan (Nizam al-Mulk) and Hassan Sabbah were then also studying under the direction of this master and that a legendary pact would have been concluded between the three students: "The one of us who will reach the glory or fortune will have to be shared equally with the other two ”. This alliance remains improbable when we know that Nizam al-Mulk was 30 years older than Omar and that Hassan Sabbah must have been at least 10 years older than Khayyām.
Nizam al-Mulk however becomes Grand Vizier of Persia and the other two go to his court. Hassan Sabbah, ambitious, asks for a place in the government; he obtains it immediately and will use it later to try to seize power from his benefactor. He becomes after his failure leader of the Hashishins. Khayyām, less inclined towards political power, does not ask for an official position, but a place to live, study science and pray. He then received a pension of 1,200 gold mithkals from the royal treasury; this pension will be paid to him until the death of Nizam al-Mulk (killed by an assassin).
Considered one of the greatest mathematicians of the Middle Ages, he is best known for his poems called "Rubaiyat" (Quatrains).
