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Fakhreddine, Huda J.

FitzGerald, Rámí, and Umm Kulthúm: the Making of 'Umar Khayyám in Arabic. Huda J. Fakhreddine.
Al-Abhath, 60-61 (2012-2013), pp. 87-110.

This article traces the journey of the Rubá'iyyát of 'Umar al-Khayyám into Arabic literature via English and primarily the highly influential translation made by Edward FitzGerald. Ahmad Rámí's translation, which was the first direct translation from Persian into Arabic, was nevertheless greatly informed by FitzGerald's translating decisions. Making use of perspectives from Translation Studies, which examine the exchange between cultures in a post-colonial context, this article examines the transformation of Khayyám's poetry from a fluid collection of Persians quatrains which did not have a definitive form or structure into an English inspired poem, highly of interest to Arab poets at the turn of the twentieth century. The article then sheds light on yet another transformation by studying the remaking of Khayyám and his quatrains into an Arabic poem/song at the hands of Umm Kulthúmm.