and now came the disenchantment. The place turned out to be an Imamzadah, or the tomb of the Son of an Imam. The Son of an Imam inherits his sanctity from his father, and his place of burial becomes a holy place where pilgrims go to pray. The blue dome is over the tomb of such a person, who may have been a brute of the worst kind,- that would not have affected his sanctity, instead of the poet, whom we reverence for the qualities which belonged to himself. When we had ascended the platform, about three feet high, on which the tomb stood, the Mehmandar turned to the left, and in a recess formed by three arches and a very rude roof, which seemed to have been added to the corner of the Imamzadah, pointed to the tomb of Omar Khayam. The discovery of a "Poet's Corner" at Nishapur, naturally recalled Westminster Abbey to my mind and revived my spirits from the depression produced by finding that the principal tomb was not that of the Poet. The monument over the tomb is an oblong mass of brick covered with plaster, and without ornament,the plaster falling off in places; on this and on the plaster of the recess are innumerable scribblings in Persian character. Some were, no doubt, names, for the British John Smith has not an exclusive tendency in this respect; but many of them were continued through a number of lines, and I guessed they were poetry, and most probably quotations from the Rubaiyat. Although the "Poet's Corner" was in rather a dilapidated state, still it must have been repaired at no very distant date; and this shows that some attention has been paid to it, and that the people of Nishapur have not quite forgotten Omar Khayam. The Imamzadah-this word, which means Son of an Imam, applies to the person buried as well as to the A tomb-was Mohammed Marook, brother of the Imam Reza, whose tomb at Meshed is considered so sacred by the Shias; the Imam Reza was the eighth Imam, and died in 818; this gives us an approximate date for his brother, and it is, if I mistake not, a couple of centuries before the time of Omar Khayam; and the Imamzadah-here I mean the building-would have been erected, most probably, about that number of years before the poet required his resting place. Behind the Imamzadah is a Kubberstan, or "Region of Graves," and the raised platform in front of the tomb contains in its rough pavement a good many. small tomb-stones, shewing that people are buried there, and that the place had been in the past a general grave-yard. All this is owing to the hereditary sanctity which belongs to the Son of an Imam, and we are perhaps indebted to Mohammed Marook, no matter what his character may have been, for the preservation of the site of Omar Khayam's burial place; the preservation of the one necessarily preserved the other. In front of the Imamzadah is the garden, with some very old and one or two large trees, but along the edge of the platform in front of Omar Khayam's tomb I found some rose bushes; it was too late in the season for the roses, but a few hips were still remaining, and one or two of these I secured, as well as the leaves,some of which are here enclosed for you; I hope you will be able to grow them in England,-they will have an interest, as in all probability they are the particular kind of roses Omar Khayam was so fond of watching as he pondered and composed his verses. It may be worth adding that there is also at Nishapur the tomb of another poet who lived about the same time as Omar Khayam,―his name was Ferid ed din Attar; according to Vambery, he was "a great mystic and philosopher. He wrote a work called 'Mantik et Teyr, the Logic of Birds.' In this the feathered creatures are made to contend in a curious way on the causes of existence, and the Source of Truth. Hudhud,' the AllKnowing magical bird of Solomon, is introduced, as the Teacher of Birds; and also Simurg, the Phoenix of the Orientals, and Symbol of the Highest Light." In this it is understood that the Birds represent humanity, Hudhud is the Prophet, and the Simurg stands for Deity. This tomb I shall not have time to visit. Another three marches take us to Meshed, and then we shall be close to the Afghan frontier. I am sending a sketch of Omar Khayam's tomb to the Illustrated London News. Believe me Yours very truly, WILLIAM SIMPSON. The sketch above referred to appears in the present volume as the frontispiece to the Rubá'iyyát. |