Presented as a translation from a Persian wanderer named Haji Abdu, this long poem is in fact Burton’s own philosophy in verse. Its couplets survey the creeds and cosmologies of mankind, weigh happiness against misery, and recommend self-cultivation, pity and suspended judgement, followed by Burton’s prose notes explaining the poem’s principles.
A fascinating companion to FitzGerald’s Rubáiyát, from the explorer and translator of the Arabian Nights. Download the free EPUB.