Notes on Samarkand
problem of authorship of poems attributed to Khayyam
 

1.  Rescue and arrest of Omar
2.  0mar's interview with Abu Taher, and the gift of a blank book
3.  0mar saluted as Imam
4. Nasr burns Bukhara mosque, reconciles with Scholars
5.  Omar refuses the king's gold, writes on algebra; a tryst with a poetess
6.  Preparation for Seljuk attack; the story of Nishapur
7. Tughrul demands the caliph's daughter
8. Alp Arslan threatens Samarkand, and dies by folly
9.  Meeting Malikshah; Nizam al-Mulk set a date; advice from Abu Taher
10. Ruba'is (poetic quatrains); lovers parting
11.  0mar meets Hassan
12.  Isfahan; 0mar requests an Observatory, and is offered a position as spy master
13.  Hassan is hired by Nizam al-Mulk, and opposes his patron
14.  Hassan is discomfited, but saved from death and blinding by Omar

Khayyam (originally Khayyami), "tentmaker" (p. 11)
failasuf (Greek philosophos) = philosopher
qadi = Muslim judge

 
astrology and medicine in relation to philosophy
Sultanate and caliphate

28. "Shafi [Shafi`i] ritual" - one of the four schools of law
37. `Abbasid caliph scorns marriage offer from Seljuk Turks
53. Ruba`i, plural Ruba`iyat: a quatrain or 4-line poem, not very highly esteemed in comparison to the lyric (ghazal) and the ode (qasida)
65. madrasa Nizamiya: a system of colleges for Sunni Islam
67. Spy networks as support of empire
(advocated by Nizam al-Mulk in his Book of Government)
73. wine rituals of Persian court