1, 2, 3, 4
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A Few Quatrains of
`Omar Khayyām

     <<Previous Quatrain     Quatrain 4                              
Onager (gur). Photo: http://www.marietta.edu/~biol/biomes/grass.htm
چند رباعی از عمر خیّام 
AUDIO
Learn the VOCABULARY for Quatrain 4
1

That palace wherein Bahram raised his chalice

 آن قصر که بهرام درو جام گرفت
2

Fox had cubs and lion reposed [therein]

 روبه بچه کرد و شیر آرام گرفت
3

Bahram who captured onagers all the time

 بهرام که گور می‌گرفتی دایم
4

Today observe that onager/grave captured Bahram (The key in this quatrain is the pun on “gur” which means both “onager” and “grave”.
The Sassanid king Bahram was famous for his life-long passion to hunt/capture onagers, so much so that he is known by the moniker "Bahram-e gur" meaning "Bahram the onager [hunter]".)
 

 امروز نگر که گور بهرام گرفت
Persian from Heron-Allen, 33,  based on the Calcutta MS, C 99.
 
Edward FitzGerald Editions Inspired by this Quatrain. source

Rubaiyāt, Stanza 18, 5th edition only

They say the Lion and the Lizard keep
The courts where Jamshyd gloried and drank deep:
And Bahrám, that great Hunter – the Wild Ass
Stamps o'er his Head, but cannot break his Sleep.
   
The information on this page has been taken, in part, from Barney Rickenbacker's comprehensive collection of editions and translations of Khayām and FitzGerald: Exploring Khayyam. The Quatrain on this page is his "Quatrain 24".