IBN 'ARABI: SELECTED POEMS Translation & Introduction by 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 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...

*COMPASSIONATE ROSE* Ghazals for Meher Baba Paul Smith While working on the ghazals of Hafiz and Sadi, Jahan Khatun, Nizami, Obeyd Zakani and many other Persian, Urdu, Turkish & Pushtu Poets for the past 40 years the author often composed ghazals inspired by his Spiritual Master Meher Baba. His earliest ghazals plus other poems inspired by him were published in the volume 'A Bird in His Hand'. The ghazals in this volume were composed while in India staying with Meher Baba's nephews Sohrab & Rustom in Pune in 2004 and on return to Australia over the following two years under difficult health...

BEDIL: SELECTED POEMS Translation & Introduction by Paul Smith Mirza Abdul-Qader Bedil (1644-1721) is one of the most respected poets from Afghanistan. In the early 17th century, his family moved from Balkh to India, to live under the Mughul dynasty. He was born and educated near Patna. In his later life he spent time travelling and visiting ancestral lands. His writings in Persian are extensive, being one of the creators of the 'Indian style'. Bedil's 16 books of poetry contain nearly 147,000 couplets. With Ghalib he is considered a master of the complicated 'Indian Style' of the ghazal. He...

PRINCESSES, SUFIS, DERVISHES, MARTYRS & FEMINISTS: NINE GREAT WOMEN POETS OF THE EAST Translations & Introductions by Paul Smith Rabi'a of Basra (d. 801) is considered one of the greatest Saints and founders of Sufism and composed powerful spiritual verse in Arabic. Rabi'a of Balkh (10th c.) was the princess of Afghanistan whose love for a slave of her father the king caused her downfall... she wrote many of her poems in her own blood on the walls of the prison. Mahsati (12th century) was the liberated court poet of Sultan Sanjar who knew Nizami, Omar Khayyam. She composed in the ruba'i form...

NIZAMI THE TREASURY OF MYSTERIES Translation & Introduction Paul Smith "The Makhzanol Asrar (The Treasury of Mysteries), the most beautiful mystic poem in the Persian language, has both perfection of language and grandeur of thought. Every line of his Treasury of Mysteries is a living witness to his absolute certainty that piety, devotion, humility and self-forgetfulness are the corner stones of total annihilation, which in turn is necessary for unification with God and the foundation of the edifice of eternal life." G. H. Darab. Senior lecturer in Persian. University of London. Paul Smith...

THE RUBA'IYAT A World Anthology Court, Sufi, Dervish, Satirical, Ribald, Prison and Social Poetry in the Ruba'i form from the 9th to the 20th century from the Arabic, Persian, Turkish and Urdu. Translations & Introduction Paul Smith Introduction: A chapter on the ruba'i. With each selection of a particular poet is a biography. The correct rhyme-structure has been kept as well as the beauty and meaning of these beautiful, often mystical poems. THE POETS: Hanzalah, Mansur al-Hallaj, Shibli, Abu Shakur, Shahid, Rudaki, Rabi'a Balkhi, Daqiqi, Umarah, Firdausi, Baba Tahir, Farrukhi, Asjadi,...

* ZARATHUSHTRA * SELECTED POEMS A New Verse Translation and Introduction by Paul Smith from the Original Translation by D.J. Irani. Original Introduction by Rabindranath Tagore. The Perfect Master and Prophet and one of the first poets Zarathushtra (Zoroaster) lived approx. 7000 B.C. and through his teaching of 'Good words, good thoughts, good deeds' brought in his poems that are similar in form to ruba'is a revelation and dispensation of Divinity. His teaching and poetry have influenced most religions that followed and his poems/songs were a great influence on many of the Sufi poets,...

*TONGUES ON FIRE* Anthology of the Sufi, Dervish, Warrior & Court Poetry of Afghanistan. Translations, Introductions, Paul Smith Introduction includes... The Main Forms in Dari/Persian, and Pashtu Poetry; Sufis & Dervishes: Their Art and Use of Poetry. Glossary. Included with each selection of a particular poet is a brief biography plus a list of further reading. The correct rhyme-structure has been kept as well as the beauty and meaning of these beautiful and mainly mystical poems. THE POETS... Hanzalah, Abu Shakur, Shahid, Rudaki, Rabi'a Balkhi, Daqiqi, Nasir-i-Khusraw, Ansari, Azraqi,...

RUBA'IYAT OF HAFIZ Translation, Introduction & Notes by Paul Smith Persia's greatest exponent of the ghazal Hafiz (1320-1392) became a Perfect Master (Qutub), was twice exiled from his beloved Shiraz for his criticism of rulers and false Sufi masters and hypocritical clergy. His Divan shows he composed in other forms including the ruba'i of which about 160 survive. As with his ghazals, his ruba'is are sometimes mystical and sometimes critical of the hypocrisy of his times. Included in the Introduction are the life of Hafiz and a history of the ruba'i and examples by its greatest exponents....

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