# How does The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám develop the theme of The Potter and Clay Metaphor?

> The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám by Omar Khayyám

## Answer

The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám by Omar Khayyám develops The Potter and Clay Metaphor across the chapters the companion marks for this theme.

The recurring image of a Potter shaping clay vessels serves as a metaphor for God's creation of humanity, raising questions about free will, divine responsibility, and the justice of punishment.

The Potter thumping his wet clay and the clay's plea for gentleness directly invoke this metaphor.

The chapter directly invokes the image of a clod of saturated earth cast into human mould by the Maker, echoing the potter and clay allegory.

The reference to Earth's first clay and the sowing of seed evokes the potter-and-clay allegory, emphasizing divine craftsmanship and inevitability.

## Evidence

- [xxxvii](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rub_iy_t_of_omar_khayy_m_se/chapters/xxxvii.md): The Potter thumping his wet clay and the clay's plea for gentleness directly invoke this metaphor.
- [xxxviii](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rub_iy_t_of_omar_khayy_m_se/chapters/xxxviii.md): The chapter directly invokes the image of a clod of saturated earth cast into human mould by the Maker, echoing the potter and clay allegory.
- [lxxiii](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rub_iy_t_of_omar_khayy_m_se/chapters/lxxiii.md): The reference to Earth's first clay and the sowing of seed evokes the potter-and-clay allegory, emphasizing divine craftsmanship and inevitability.
- [lxxxii](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rub_iy_t_of_omar_khayy_m_se/chapters/lxxxii.md): The speaker stands in the Potter's house surrounded by shapes of clay, emphasizing the metaphor of divine creation and human passivity.
- [lxxxiii](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rub_iy_t_of_omar_khayy_m_se/chapters/lxxxiii.md): The imagery of vessels of different shapes and sizes evokes the potter and clay metaphor, symbolizing the diversity of human forms and temperaments.
- [lxxxiv](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rub_iy_t_of_omar_khayy_m_se/chapters/lxxxiv.md): The speaker uses the image of being molded from common Earth and then broken, directly invoking the potter-and-clay metaphor to question the purpose of creation.
- [lxxxv](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rub_iy_t_of_omar_khayy_m_se/chapters/lxxxv.md): The metaphor of the potter and vessel is used to question whether a creator would destroy His own creation.
- [lxxxvi](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rub_iy_t_of_omar_khayy_m_se/chapters/lxxxvi.md): The vessel's complaint about its flawed shape directly invokes the potter and clay allegory, questioning divine craftsmanship.

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