The RUBAI (plural Rubaiyat - also known as the Omar Khayyam Quatrain) is a Persian verse form. Each rubai stanza is a quatrain, in which lines 1, 2 and 4 all rhyme aaba.



Example by Bob Newman:

excerpt from Rubaiyat of Saddam Hussein

Conservatives thought Blair could not be caught,
But now they’re in full cry. It’s merry sport.
As his stock falls they gallop up the polls,
And all they have to do is pledge support!

Saddam Hussein stands firm, staunch, iron-willed,
Manoeuvring adroitly, highly skilled
At playing hide-and-seek. He will survive
However many of his “folks” are killed.