Download or read book THE WINE BOOK OF SADI Khamriyyat written by Sadi and published by . This book was released on 2020-02 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: THE WINE BOOK OF SADI (Khamriyyat) Translation & Introduction Paul Smith Sadi (Saadi or Sa'di) of Shiraz (1210-1291), a contemporary of Rumi who influenced him, was a Sufi Perfect Master (Qutub) Poet who expressed himself in the ruba'i form as well as hundreds of ghazals in his beautiful Divan that often also contained images from dervish dancing. Sadi was a great traveller who spent forty years on the road throughout the Middle-East, North Africa and India and many of the incidents he experienced he wrote down in his two most famous works when he finally returned to his beloved birth-place... The Rose Garden (Gulistan) and The Orchard (Bustan). Sadi's mystical love poetry, his ghazals, although almost unknown in the West, are loved by his fellow-countrymen almost as much as those of Hafiz whom he greatly influenced. Here many can be read in all their beauty and power and spirit. The correct rhyme-structure has been kept as well as the beauty and meaning of these unique mystical poems that use wine as a symbol of Truth, Beauty, God's Grace. These ghazals have been translated in clear, modern, meaningful English. Introduction: Life & Times & Poetry of Sadi; on the form and meaning of the ghazal.... on Wine in Sufi Poetry. Glossary and a large Selected Bibliography. Large Format Paperback "7 x 10" 272 pages. COMMENTS ON PAUL SMITH'S TRANSLATION OF HAFIZ'S 'DIVAN'. "It is not a joke... the English version of all the ghazals of Hafiz is a great feat and of paramount importance. I am astonished." Dr. Mir Mohammad Taghavi (Dr. of Literature) Tehran. "Superb translations. 99% Hafiz 1% Paul Smith." Ali Akbar Shapurzman, translator of many works in English into Persian and knower of Hafiz's Divan off by heart.Paul Smith (b.1945) is a poet, author and translator of many books of Sufi poets from the Persian, Arabic, Urdu, Turkish, Pashtu and other languages... including Hafiz, Sadi, Nizami, Rumi, 'Attar, Sana'i, Jahan Khatun, Obeyd Zakani, Mu'in, Amir Khusrau, Nesimi, Kabir, Anvari, Ansari, Jami, Omar Khayyam, Rudaki, Yunus Emre, Baba Farid, Shah Latif, Mu'in, Lalla Ded, 'Iraqi, Ghalib, Nazir, Bulleh Shah, Ibn 'Arabi, Ibn Farid, Rab'ia, Majnun, Mansur Hallaj, Rahman Baba, Iqbal, Ghalib and many others as well as his own poetry, fiction, plays, biographies, children's books, 12 screenplays. amazon.com/author/smithpa

Download or read book The Wine Poems of Abu Nuwas Khamriyyat written by Abu Nuwas and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2018-02-10 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: THE WINE POEMS OF ABU NUWAS (Khamriyyat) Translation & Introduction Paul Smith Abu Nuwas (757-814) was the most famous and infamous poet who composed in Arabic of the Abbasid era. His style was extravagant and his compositions reflected the licentious manners of the upper classes of his day. His father was Arab and his mother was Persian. As a youth he was sold into slavery; a wealthy benefactor later set him free. By the time he reached manhood he had settled in Baghdad and was composing poetry. It was at this time, because of his long hair, he acquired the name Abu Nuwas (Father of Ringlets). Gradually he attracted the attention of Harun al-Rashid and was given quarters at court. His ability as a poet no doubt was one reason for Abu Nuwas' success with the caliph, but after a while he became known as a reprobate and participated in less reputable pastimes with the ruler. He spent time in Egypt but soon returned to Baghdad to live out his remaining years. It is said he lived the last part of his life as a Sufi and some of his poems reflect this. He is popular today, perhaps more so than he ever was, as a kind of comic anti-hero in many Muslim countries. His poems consist of qit'as (of which he was the first master) ghazals and qasidas. His most famous, most loved poems were his wine poems (khamriyyat) that influence many poets to come including Obeyd Zakani & the great Hafiz & other Sufi Poets (over 100 here translated). He also wrote praises, mockeries, jokes, complaints, love of men & women, laments, asceticism A selection of them are here translated. All are in the correct rhyme structure. Introduction on his Life, Times & Poetry. Large Format Paperback 7" x 10" 210 pages. COMMENTS ON PAUL SMITH'S TRANSLATION OF HAFIZ'S 'DIVAN'. "It is not a joke... the English version of ALL the ghazals of Hafiz is a great feat and of paramount importance. I am astonished. " Dr. Mir Mohammad Taghavi (Dr. of Literature) Tehran. "Superb translations. 99% Hafiz 1% Paul Smith." Ali Akbar Shapurzman, translator works in English into Persian and knower of Hafiz's Divan off by heart. Paul Smith (b.1945) is a poet, author and translator of many books of Sufi poets of the Persian, Arabic, Urdu, Turkish, Pashtu and other languages... including Hafiz, Sadi, Nizami, Rumi, 'Attar, Sana'i, Jahan Khatun, Obeyd Zakani, Mu'in, Amir Khusrau, Nesimi, Kabir, Anvari, Ansari, Jami, Omar Khayyam, Rudaki, Yunus Emre, Mahsati, Lalla Ded, Bulleh Shah, Shah Latif, Makhfi, Iqbal, Dara Shikoh, Ghalib, Seemab, Jigar and many others, as well as his own poetry, fiction, plays, biographies, children's books and a dozen screenplays. www.newhumanitybooks.com

Download or read book Poems Of Wine Revelry written by Jim Colville and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-01-27 with total page 108 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First published in 2005. Arabic literature has a distinguished tradition of bacchanals but none are so consistently entertaining or explicit or iconoclastic as those of Abu Nuwas al_hasan ibn Hani al-Hakami (c. 756-c.815), the 'bad boy' of Abbasid poetry. In his khamriyyat, Abu Nuwas offers a glimpse of the hedonistic and dissipated world he inhabited: the world of Baghdad high society at the zenith of the Abbasid caliphate. Yet there is also a modern and up-to-date feel about his poetry that makes it ideal for presentation to an English-speaking readership, some twelve centuries after his death.

Download or read book Wine Poems of Hafez Khamriyyat written by Hafez and published by Independently Published. This book was released on 2019-01-31 with total page 512 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: WINE POEMS OF HAFEZ (Khamriyyat) Translation, Introduction, Appendixes... Paul Smith. The Persian Sufi poet Hafez of Shiraz (1320-1392) is considered by many to be the greatest poet who has ever lived. In the vast majority of his ghazals and other forms of poetry he has used the symbol of wine as Jesus did, representing love, truth and beauty and at times just wine in the physical sense. He was influenced by many of the Sufi poets who came before him but none composed as many 'wine poems' as he did. He was also influenced by the first 'master' of the Khamriyyat or collection of 'wine' poems, the wonderful liberated early Arabic poet Abu Nuwas whose poems were only occasionally of a mystical nature. It is in the 'wine poems' of Hafez that this genre reached its perfection as it did with Hafez and the 'Winebringer' genre of poems in the masnavi form. This collection contains ALL of the poems in all the forms he wrote where he uses wine as a symbol of something higher.... probably about 90% of his poems. The correct forms have been obtained. Included are notes to most poems, glossary and selected bibliography. Appendixes: 'The Wine Poems of Abu Nuwas (Khamriyyat)' and 'Eight Sufi 'Winebringer' Poems in Masnavi Form' by Nizami, Hafiz, Zargun Khan, Fuzuli, Tahirih, Iqbal, Inayat Khan & Paul. The correct rhyme-structures are achieved. Large Format Paperback 7" x 10" 510 pages. Goethe: "In his poetry Hafez inscribed undeniable truth indelibly! He has no peer!" Gertrude Bell: "It is as if his mental Eye, endowed with wonderful acuteness of vision, had penetrated into those provinces of thought which we of a later age were destined to inhabit." Meher Baba: "There is no equal to Hafez in poetry. He was a Perfect Master ... His Divan is the best book in the world because it engenders feelings which ultimately lead to illumination." COMMENTS ON PAUL SMITH'S TRANSLATION OF HAFEZ'S 'DIVAN'. "It is not a joke... the English version of ALL the ghazals of Hafez is a great feat and of paramount importance. I am astonished.." Dr. Mir Mohammad Taghavi (Dr. of Literature) Tehran. "Superb translations. 99% Hafez 1% Paul Smith." Ali Akbar Shapurzman, translator of English to Persian and knower of Hafiz's Divan off by heart. Paul Smith (b. 1945) is a poet, author and translator of many books of Sufi poets of Persian, Arabic, Urdu, Turkish and other languages including Hafez, Sadi, Nizami, Rumi, 'Attar, Sana'i, Jahan Khatun, Obeyd Zakani, Mu'in, Amir Khusrau, Nesimi, Kabir, Anvari, Ansari, Jami, Khayyam, Hallaj, Rudaki, Yunus Emre, Ghalib, Huma, Iqbal, and many others, as well as his own poetry, fiction, plays, biographies, kids books, screenplays. amazon.com/author/smithpa

Download or read book A Two Colored Brocade written by Annemarie Schimmel and published by UNC Press Books. This book was released on 2014-02-01 with total page 559 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Annemarie Schimmel, one of the world's foremost authorities on Persian literature, provides a comprehensive introduction to the complicated and highly sophisticated system of rhetoric and imagery used by the poets of Iran, Ottoman Turkey, and Muslim India. She shows that these images have been used and refined over the centuries and reflect the changing conditions in the Muslim world. According to Schimmel, Persian poetry does not aim to be spontaneous in spirit or highly personal in form. Instead it is rooted in conventions and rules of prosody, rhymes, and verbal instrumentation. Ideally, every verse should be like a precious stone--perfectly formed and multifaceted--and convey the dynamic relationship between everyday reality and the transcendental. Persian poetry, Schimmel explains, is more similar to medieval European verse than Western poetry as it has been written since the Romantic period. The characteristic verse form is the ghazal--a set of rhyming couplets--which serves as a vehicle for shrouding in conventional tropes the poet's real intentions. Because Persian poetry is neither narrative nor dramatic in its overall form, its strength lies in an "architectonic" design; each precisely expressed image is carefully fitted into a pattern of linked figures of speech. Schimmel shows that at its heart Persian poetry transforms the world into a web of symbols embedded in Islamic culture.

Download or read book A Literary History of the Arabs written by Reynold Alleyne Nicholson and published by . This book was released on 1907 with total page 560 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Arabic Poems written by Marle Hammond and published by Everyman's Library. This book was released on 2014-08-05 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A bilingual anthology of poems from the sixth century to the present, Arabic Poems is a one-of-a-kind showcase of a fascinating literary tradition. The Arabic poetic legacy is as vast as it is deep, spanning a period of fifteen centuries in regions from Morocco to Iraq. Themes of love, nature, religion, and politics recur in works drawn from the pre-Islamic oral tradition through poems anticipating the recent Arab Spring. Editor Marlé Hammond has selected more than fifty poems reflecting desire and longing of various kinds: for the beloved, for the divine, for the homeland, and for change and renewal. Poets include the legendary pre-Islamic warrior ‘Antara, medieval Andalusian poet Ibn Zaydun, the mystical poet Rabi‘a al-‘Adawiyya, and the influential Egyptian Romantic Ahmad Zaki Abu Shadi. Here too are literary giants of the past century: Khalil Jibran, author of the best-selling The Prophet; popular Syrian poet Nizar Qabbani; Palestinian feminist Fadwa Tuqan; Mahmoud Darwish, bard of occupation and exile; acclaimed iconoclast Adonis; and more. In their evocations of heroism, nostalgia, mysticism, grief, and passion, the poems gathered here transcend the limitations of time and place.

Download or read book Three Great Abbasid Poets written by al-Mutanabbi and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2015-05-28 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: THREE GREAT ABBASID POETS Abu Nuwas, al-Mutanabbi & al-Ma'arri Lives & Poems Translation & Introduction Paul Smith The Abbasid Caliphate that ruled the Islamic world was the golden age of Islamic culture. It ruled from 750 to 1258 AD, making it one of the longest and most influential of the Islamic dynasties. For most of its early history it was the largest empire in the world and this meant that it had contact with distant neighbors such as the Chinese and Indians in the East and the Byzantines in the West, allowing it to adopt and synthesize ideas from all these cultures. All the arts and sciences flourished during these 500 years and in the art of Poetry three poets stood out among the non-Sufi poets like Ibn al-Farid... these were Abu Nuwas, al-Mutanabbi and al-Ma'arri. Here is their lives & times and a large selection of their poetry in the correct beautiful rhyme-structures and meaning. Included in the Introduction chapters on The Abbasid Caliphate, Poetry of the Abbasid Period, Forms of Arabic Poetry of the Abbasid Period. Selected Bibliography. Large Format 7" x 10" Pages 350. COMMENTS ON PAUL SMITH'S TRANSLATION OF HAFEZ'S DIVAN"It is not a joke... the English version of ALL the ghazals of Hafez is a great feat and of paramount importance. I am astonished.." Dr. Mir Mohammad Taghavi (Dr. of Literature) Tehran."Superb translations. 99% Hafez 1% Paul Smith." Ali Akbar Shapurzman, translator of English to Persian and knower of Hafiz's Divan off by heart. "Smith has probably put together the greatest collection of literary facts and history concerning Hafez." Daniel Ladinsky (Penguin Books author). Paul Smith is a poet, author and translator of many books of Sufi poets of Persian, Arabic, Urdu, Turkish and other languages including Hafez, Sadi, Nizami, Rumi, 'Attar, Sana'i, Jahan Khatun, Obeyd Zakani, Mu'in ud-din Chishti, Amir Khusrau, Nesimi, Kabir, Anvari, Ansari, Jami, Khayyam, Hallaj, Rudaki, Yunus Emre Ghalib, Iqbal, Makhfi, Lalla Ded, Abu Nuwas, Ibn al-Farid, Rahman Baba, Nazir and many others, as well as his own poetry, fiction, plays, biographies, kids books and a dozen screenplays. New Humanity Books amazon.com/author/smithpa

Download or read book O Tribe that Loves Boys written by Abū Nuwās and published by Small PressDistribution. This book was released on 1993 with total page 56 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Book of Abu Nuwas written by Abu Nuwas and published by CreateSpace. This book was released on 2015-01-21 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: THE BOOK OF ABU NUWAS Translation & Introduction Paul Smith Abu Nuwas (757-814) was the most famous and infamous poet who composed in Arabic of the Abbasid era. His style was extravagant and his compositions reflected the licentious manners of the upper classes of his day. His father was Arab and his mother was Persian. As a youth he was sold into slavery; a wealthy benefactor later set him free. By the time he reached manhood he had settled in Baghdad and was composing poetry. It was at this time, because of his long hair, he acquired the name Abu Nuwas (Father of Ringlets). Gradually he attracted the attention of Harun al-Rashid and was given quarters at court. His ability as a poet no doubt was one reason for Abu Nuwas' success with the caliph, but after a while he became known as a reprobate and participated in less reputable pastimes with the ruler. He spent time in Egypt but soon returned to Baghdad to live out his remaining years. It is said he lived the last part of his life as a Sufi and some of his poems reflect this. He is popular today, perhaps more so than he ever was, as a kind of comic anti-hero in many Muslim countries. His poems consist of qit'as (of which he was the first master) ghazals and qasidas. His poems could be classified into: praises (of nobles and caliphs & famous people), mockeries, jokes, complaints, love of men and women, wine, hunting, laments, asceticism. All forms are here in the true meaning & rhyme structure. Introduction on his Life, Times & Poetry and forms he composed in and two appendixes of some of the stories about him in the Arabian Nights and elsewhere. Large Format Paperback 7" x 10" 196 pages. COMMENTS ON PAUL SMITH'S TRANSLATION OF HAFIZ'S 'DIVAN'. "It is not a joke... the English version of ALL the ghazals of Hafiz is a great feat and of paramount importance. I am astonished. " Dr. Mir Mohammad Taghavi (Dr. of Literature) Tehran. "Superb translations. 99% Hafiz 1% Paul Smith." Ali Akbar Shapurzman, translator works in English into Persian and knower of Hafiz's Divan off by heart. Paul Smith is a poet, author and translator of many books of Sufi poets of the Persian, Arabic, Urdu, Turkish, Pashtu and other languages... including Hafiz, Sadi, Nizami, Rumi, 'Attar, Sana'i, Jahan Khatun, Obeyd Zakani, Mu'in, Amir Khusrau, Nesimi, Kabir, Anvari, Ansari, Jami, Omar Khayyam, Rudaki, Yunus Emre, Mahsati, Lalla Ded, Bulleh Shah, Shah Latif, Makhfi, Iqbal, Dara Shikoh, Ghalib and many others, as well as his own poetry, fiction, plays, biographies, children's books and a dozen screenplays. www.newhumanitybooks.com

Download or read book Diwan of Abu Nuwas written by Abu Nuwas and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2018-02-10 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: DIWAN OF ABU NUWAS Translation & Introduction Paul Smith Abu Nuwas (757-814) was the most famous and infamous poet who composed in Arabic of the Abbasid era. His style was extravagant and his compositions reflected the licentious manners of the upper classes of his day. His father was Arab and his mother was Persian. As a youth he was sold into slavery; a wealthy benefactor later set him free. By the time he reached manhood he had settled in Baghdad and was composing poetry. It was at this time, because of his long hair, he acquired the name Abu Nuwas (Father of Ringlets). Gradually he attracted the attention of Harun al-Rashid and was given quarters at court. His ability as a poet no doubt was one reason for Abu Nuwas' success with the caliph, but after a while he became known as a reprobate and participated in less reputable pastimes with the ruler. He spent time in Egypt but soon returned to Baghdad to live out his remaining years. It is said he lived the last part of his life as a Sufi and some of his poems reflect this. He is popular today, perhaps more so than he ever was, as a kind of comic anti-hero in many Muslim countries. His poems consist of qit'as (of which he was the first master) ghazals and qasidas. His poems could be classified into: wine poems (over a 100 here translated), praises (of nobles and caliphs & famous people), mockeries, jokes, complaints, love of men and women, hunting, laments, asceticism. All forms are here in the meaning & rhyme structure, the largest in print. Introduction: Life, Times & Poetry and forms he composed in: 2 appendixes of some of the stories about him in Arabian Nights and elsewhere. Large Format Paperback 7" x 10" 307 pages. COMMENTS ON PAUL SMITH'S TRANSLATION OF HAFIZ'S 'DIVAN'. "It is not a joke... the English version of ALL the ghazals of Hafiz is a great feat and of paramount importance. I am astonished. " Dr. Mir Mohammad Taghavi (Dr. of Literature) Tehran. "Superb translations. 99% Hafiz 1% Paul Smith." Ali Akbar Shapurzman, translator works in English into Persian and knower of Hafiz's Divan off by heart. Paul Smith (b.1945) is a poet, author and translator of many books of Sufi poets of the Persian, Arabic, Urdu, Turkish, Pashtu and other languages... including Hafiz, Sadi, Nizami, Rumi, 'Attar, Sana'i, Jahan Khatun, Obeyd Zakani, Mu'in, Amir Khusrau, Nesimi, Kabir, Anvari, Ansari, Jami, Omar Khayyam, Rudaki, Yunus Emre, Mahsati, Lalla Ded, Bulleh Shah, Shah Latif, Makhfi, Iqbal, Dara Shikoh, Ghalib, Seemab, Jigar and many others, as well as his own poetry, fiction, plays, biographies, children's books and a dozen screenplays. www.newhumanitybooks.com

Download or read book Music of a Distant Drum written by and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2011-04-03 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The 132 poems, most of which here make their English-language debut, represent the three major languages of medieval Islam--Arabic, Persian, and Turkish--with the remainder from Hebrew. They span more than a thousand years, from the seventh to the early eighteenth century, when poetry, like so much else, was shattered and reshaped by the impact of the West. They range from panegyric and satire to religious poetry and lyrics about wine, women, and love. Lewis begins with an introduction on the place of poets and poetry in Middle Eastern history and concludes with biographical notes on all the poets.

Download or read book written by G. J. H. van Gelder and published by NYU Press. This book was released on 2013 with total page 496 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Verse and prose, from the 6th century CE (pre-Islamic) to the early 18th century CE.

Download or read book Abu Nuwas written by Paul Smith and published by . This book was released on 2019-05-18 with total page 364 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ABU NUWAS: ARABIC'S GREAT, CONTROVERSIAL POET Selected Poems (Large Print & Large Format Edition) Translation & Introduction Paul Smith Abu Nuwas (757-814) was the most famous and infamous poet who composed in Arabic of the Abbasid era. His style was extravagant and his compositions reflected the licentious manners of the upper classes of his day. By the time he reached manhood he had settled in Baghdad and was composing poetry. Gradually he attracted the attention of Harun al-Rashid and was given quarters at court. His ability as a poet no doubt was one reason for Abu Nuwas' success with the caliph, but after a while he became known as a reprobate and participated in less reputable pastimes with the ruler. He spent time in Egypt but soon returned to Baghdad to live out his remaining years. It is said he lived the last part of his life as a Sufi and some of his poems reflect this. He is popular today, perhaps more so than he ever was, as a kind of comic anti-hero in many Muslim countries. His poems consist of qit'as (of which he was the first master) ghazals and qasidas. All forms are here in the meaning & rhyme structure, the largest in print. Introduction: Life, Times & Poetry and forms he composed in: 2 appendixes of some of the stories about him in Arabian Nights and elsewhere. Large Print 18pt., Large Format 8" x 10" 363 pages. Paul Smith (b.1945) is a poet, author and translator of many books of Sufi poets from the Persian, Arabic, Urdu, Turkish, Pashtu and other languages... including Hafiz, Sadi, Nizami, 'Attar, Sana'i, Jahan Khatun, Obeyd Zakani, Nesimi, Kabir, Anvari, Ansari, Jami, Khayyam, Rudaki, Bulleh Shah, Shah Latif, Mansur Hallaj, Jigar, Seemab and many others, as well as poetry, fiction, plays, children's books, biographies and 12 screenplays. amazon.com/author/smithpa

Download or read book The Gulist n Or Rose Garden of Sa di written by Saʻdī and published by . This book was released on 1888 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Bird Parliament written by Farid ud-Din Attar and published by Library of Alexandria. This book was released on with total page 45 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Diwan of Ibn Arabi written by Ibn 'Arabi and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2018-04-11 with total page 230 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Diwan of Ibn 'Arabi Translation & Introduction Paul Smith In the West he is known as the Doctor Maximus and in the Islamic world as The Great Master. Born in Murcia in Spain in 1165 his family moved to Seville. At thirty-five he left for Mecca where he completed his most influential book of poems The Interpreter of Ardent Desires (Tarjuman al-Ashwaq) and began writing his masterpiece, the vast Meccan Revelations. In 1204 he began further travels. In 1223 he settled in Damascus where he lived the last seventeen years of his life, dying in 1240. His tomb there is still an important place of pilgrimage. A prolific writer, Ibn 'Arabi is generally known as the prime exponent of the idea later known as the 'Unity of Being'. His emphasis was on the true potential of the human being and the path to realizing that potential and becoming the Perfect or complete person. Hundreds of works are attributed to him including a large Divan of poems most of which have yet to be translated. Introduction... on his life and poetry, forms he composed in & Sufism in poetry, Selected Bibliography. Appendix: The Tarjuman al-Ashwaq of Ibn 'Arabi, Translation of Poems & Commentary by Reynold A. Nicholson. The correct rhyme-structure has been kept as well as the beauty and meaning of this selection of his beautiful, mystical poems in the forms of qit'as, ghazals and a memorable qasida. Large Format Paperback 7" x 10" 228 pages. COMMENTS ON PAUL SMITH'S TRANSLATION OF HAFIZ'S 'DIVAN'. "It is not a joke... the English version of ALL the ghazals of Hafiz is a great feat and of paramount importance. I am astonished.." Dr. Mir Mohammad Taghavi (Dr. of Literature) Tehran. "Superb translations. 99% Hafiz 1% Paul Smith." Ali Akbar Shapurzman, translator of works in English into Persian and knower of Hafiz's Divan off by heart. "Smith has probably put together the greatest collection of literary facts and history concerning Hafiz." Daniel Ladinsky (Penguin Books). Paul Smith (b. 1945) is a poet, author and translator of many books of Sufi poets of the Persian, Arabic, Urdu, Turkish, Pashtu and other languages... including Hafiz, Sadi, Nizami, Rumi, 'Attar, Sana'i, Jahan Khatun, Obeyd Zakani, Mu'in, Amir Khusrau, Nesimi, Kabir, Anvari, Ansari, Jami, Omar Khayyam, Rudaki, Yunus Emre, Mahsati, Lalla Ded, Abu Nuwas, Ibn al-Farid, Majnun, Iqbal, Ghalib, Baba Farid, Nazir Akbarabadi and many others, as well as his own poetry, fiction, plays, biographies, children's books and a dozen screenplays. www.newhumanitybooks.com