The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (1745 page)

O
or Au
.

The most sacred syllable in Hinduism, which first appears in the
Upani
ads
. It is often regarded as the
bija
(seed) of all
mantras
, containing, as it does, all origination and dissolution. It is known as
pra
ava
(‘reverberation’), and it is the supreme
ak
ara
(syllable). See also
ABDA
.

 
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see
DI BUDDHA
.

 
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(Jap.,
o
(honorific) + ‘protection’). A Japanese amulet (
charms
). The o-mamori is an object, often a small placard, emblem, or card in a talismanic case, obtained from shrines and temples for protection from evil and misfortune.

 
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Omar Khayyam
.

Anglicized version of ‘Umar al-Khayy
m (1048–1125 (AH 439–
c.
519)). Muslim mathematician and astronomer who made important contributions to the development of algebra, but who is perhaps best known as a poet. He composed four-line verses (i.e.
rub
‘iyy
t
, ‘quatrains’) which became known through the Eng. version of Edward Fitzgerald as
The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
. Fitzgerald does not appear to have realized that the terms of the original verses are
S
f
. Thus ‘wine’, far from being the one compensation which God has allowed in a hard world, is a common symbol of the recollection (
dhikr
) of God (the most spectacular example is
al-Khamriyya
, the Wine Ode of the S
f
, Ibn al-F
ri
; the tavern (
khanaqah
) is the assembly place of
derwishes
.