ROBA'I

(Persianquatrain) plural Robaiyat, Arabic Ruba'i, plural Ruba'iyat in Persian literature, genre of poetry, a quatrain with a rhyme scheme aaba. With the masnavi, the rhymed couplet, it is a purely Persian poetic genre and not a borrowing from the Arabic, as were the formal ode (qasidah) and the love lyric (ghazal). It was adopted and used in other countries under Persian influence. The most famous example of this genre known in the Western world is the roba'iyat of Omar Khayyam, in the version The Rubiyt of Omar Khayym translated by Edward FitzGerald.