Penny Dreadfuls, 1900 · page 14 of 142
Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, and the Salaman and Absal of Jami — page 14: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a page of running prose from what appears to be a biographical or historical narrative about Omar Khayyam. The text describes the narrator's education under Imam Mowaffak of Naishapur, his friendship with two fellow pupils—Hakim Omar Khayyam and Hasan Ben Sabbah—and their studies together. The passage establishes the backgrounds of these three young scholars and hints at a philosophical disagreement when Hasan begins to challenge universal beliefs. The ornamental border and page number (iv) suggest this is from an early chapter or introduction of a longer work.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
: 1V OMAR KHAYYAM, ‘was the Imam Mowaffak of Naishaptir, a man ‘highly honoured and reverenced,—may God rejoice ‘his soul; his illustrious years exceeded eighty-five, ‘and it was the universal belief that every boy who ‘read the Koran or studied the traditions in his ‘presence, would assuredly attain to honour and ‘happiness. For this cause did my father send me ‘from Tus to Naishaptr with Abd-us-samad, the ‘doctor of law, that I might employ myself in study ‘and learning under the guidance of that illustrious ‘teacher. Towards me he ever turned an eye of ‘favour and kindness, and as his pupil I felt for him ‘extreme affection and devotion, so that I passed ‘four years in his service. When I first came there, ‘T found two other pupils of mine own age newly ‘arrived, Hakim Omar Khayyam, and the ill-fated ‘Ben Sabbah. Both were endowed with sharpness ‘of wit and the highest natural powers ; and we three ‘formed a close friendship together. When the ‘Imam rose from his lectures, they used to join ‘me, and we repeated to each other the lessons we ‘had heard. Now Omar was a native of Naishaptr, ‘while Hasan Ben Sabbah’s father was one Ali, a ‘man of austere life and practice, but heretical in ‘his creed and doctrine. One day Hasan said to me ‘and to Khayyam, ‘It is a universal belief that the PHD CORNICLOO KS (