How the Ruba’iyat fits into events I can’t quite remember, perhaps it was a code book or something; but that didn’t stop me from asking for it at our school library. The Head Librarian was impressed that I knew about such an obscure read and it became the first book of poetry I ever read and the first I ever bought.

At the time I knew next to nothing about Islam and so did not fully appreciate how controversial Khayyam’s attitude was. Last year, however, I pulled our resident Islamic apologist’s name for workplace’s Secret Santa. I decided to buy him a copy of the Ruba’iyat in the hope that it’d break through that dense layer of indoctrination that he’s so vocal about.