At the bottom of the Atlantic, there is a book. I am going to tell you its history. Six years after the event, I am still obsessed by this object of flesh and ink, whose unworthy guardian I was“ – Benjamin Omar Lesage.
Thus began the time travelling journey of finding the manuscript of Rubaiyat and the searching for the historical narrative of Omar Khaiyams time in Persia.
The first part of the book starts with the origin of the manuscript. How Khayiam was accused of blasphemy and due to the kindness and recognition of khaiyam, how he was relieved and began writing his thoughts in the journey due to the judges order. Here we meet the 11th century Islamic civilization. We see the great Nizamul Mulk, The father of assassin tribe Hasan Al Sabah and their meeting in Samarkhand.
He began the second part 800 years later with an American academic who is obsessed with collecting the original manuscript of the Rubaiyat which sees its fate with the sinking Titanic. We see the 19th century Iran and its promises and struggles. As princess Shereen writes to Lesage “Persia is sick. There are several doctors at her bedside, some modern, some traditional.”
Malouf is a Lebanese French who can crafts his novels like masterful craftsmanship. The writer blended fact and fusion to paint a vivid picture of Iran in its different time periods. A time travelling book to travel to Persia and see its thousand year history by the pages of Rubaiyat of Omar Khaiyam.