'If chance supplied a loaf of white bread, Two casks of wine and a leg of mutton, In the corner of a garden with a tulip-cheeked girl There'd be enjoyment that no Sultan can outdo. A rubai is a four-line lyric a,a,b,a, the third line adding variation of form. They were popular verse, anyone and everyone could write and share them. Omar Khayyam (1048-1131) was a distinguished Iranian philosopher. he wrote rubai for fun. Many variations on a few...