Born in Balkh in 1207 to Islamic preacher Bahauddin Walad. Moved to Iran, then Baghdad, then Karaman, then Konya. Studied under Burhan ud-Din Muhaqqiq Termazi for nine years
Born in Damascus in 1372, son of Şeyh Hamza-I Şamî. Received education in madrasahs, including Islamic sciences and medicine. Known as "Akşeyh" for wearing white clothes
Born in Tus in 1058, died in Tus in 1111. Studied at Nizâmiye Madrasah in Baghdad under Cüveynî. Left Baghdad in 1095, returned to Nishapur in 1106. Built madrasah near his house in Tus
Seljuk Sultanate ruled Anatolia from 1077 to 1307. Capital moved from Iznik to Konya, then to Denizli. Sultanate stretched from Mediterranean to Black Sea coast
Rubaiyat is considered two times classic: Persian and English versions. Edward FitzGerald's English translation made it accessible to Western writers. Oscar Wilde, Mark Twain, and T.S. Eliot praised Khayyam's work. John Ruskin described it as "glorious" in 1800s
Born in Balkh (modern Afghanistan) to a Muslim theologian father. Name "Rumi" means "Roman" in Persian. Studied Sufism under Burhanuddin Mahaqqiq