THE AUSSIE RULES FOOTBALL BOOK: BY PAUL SMITH THE GREATEST GAME unites sport, comedy and romance with a 'lost in the wilderness' adventure. It is the story of a clash of rival codes of football (Australian and American), two sets of lovers and two cultures: the most ancient and modern. It takes up the challenge to discover... what is The Greatest Game? It is spectacular, hilarious, sexy, fast-paced and full of surprises and witty conversations. Get to know the innocent (American) youth abroad, the tough Irishman, the down-to-earth beautiful Australian female, the over-the-top sexy Southern...

THE BIG BOOK OF SUFI POETRY: An Anthology Translations & Introductions Paul Smith CONTENTS: Sufis & Dervishes: Their Art and Use of Poetry, The Main Forms in Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Kashmiri, Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi, Sindhi & Pushtu Sufi & Dervish Poetry... Glossary. THE POETS...Hazrat Ali 31, Ali Ibn Husain 31, Rabi'a of Basra 32, Dhu'l-Nun 35, Bayazid Bistami 39, Al Nuri 40, Junaid 43, Sumnun 44, Mansur al-Hallaj 45, Ibn 'Ata 51, Rudaki 53, Shibli 57, Baba Tahir 58, Abu Said 62, Ibn Sina 68, Baba Kuhi 71, Ansari 73, Al-Ghazzali 74, Hamadani 77, Sana'i 79, Gilani 89, Mahsati 91, Abu Maydan...

THE BIG BOOK OF PERSIAN POTRY: An Anthology Court, Sufi, Dervish, Satirical, Ribald, Prison, Social Poety from the 9th to the 20th century. Translation & Introduction Paul Smith CONTENTS: The Various Forms in Classical Persian Poetry... 7, Sufism in Persian Poetry... 14, A Glossary of Sufi & Dervish Symbols... 16, Persian Poetry: A New Beginning... 20: THE POETS...Abbas of Merv page 21, Hanzalah 21, Firuz 22, Abu Salik 23, Abu Shakur 24, Junaidi 26, Shahid 26, Rudaki 28, Agachi 37, Rabi'a Balkhi 38, Khusravani 45, Manjik 46, Daqiqi 47, Mantiki 53, Umarah 55, Kisa'i 56, Firdausi 60, Baba Tahir...

THE BOOK OF DARA SHIKOH Life, Poems & Prose Translation & Introduction Paul Smith Dara Shikoh (1615-1659) was the oldest son of Emperor Shah Jahan of Mughal India and was known to be a loving husband, a good son and loving father. He was a fine poet, his poems having the influence of Sufism to which he was dedicated. He used 'Qadiri' as his takhallus or pen-name. His Divan of ghazals, ruba'is and qasidas in Persian was not the only work he left us, his five prose works on Sufism and mysticism are popular in India even today. His Majma al-Bahrain or The Mingling of the Two Oceans (included as...

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...

THE BOOK OF SHABISTARI The Rose Garden of Mystery Translation Paul Smith Introduction by E.H. Whinfield & Paul Smith The Rose Garden of Mystery was composed as a 1000 couplet long masnavi poem in the form of questions and answers on spiritual matters by Mahmud Shabistari of Tabriz in 1317 at the request of his Spiritual Master. Since then it has been regarded as one of the finest books on Sufism. E.G. Browne in his classic work, 'History of Persian Literature' calls this book "On the whole, one of the best manuals of Sufi theosophy that exists." Rev. John A. Subhan in his 'Sufism, Its Saints...

THE BOOK OF AMIR KHUSRAU Selected Poems & The Tale of the Four Dervishes Translation & Introduction Paul Smith Amir Khusrau (1253-1324), the 'Parrot of India' was born at Patigali near the Ganges in India. At the age of thirty-six he was poet-laureate, serving many sultans. He was not only fluent in Persian, in which he composed the majority of his 92 books, but also in Arabic, Hindi and Sanskrit. He composed ten long masnavis, five Divans of ghazals and other poems and many prose works. He was a Master musician and invented the sitar. The Perfect Master Nizam ud-din took him as his disciple...

THE BOOK OF ANSARI Translation & Introduction Paul Smith One of the greatest mystical poets and Perfect Masters of all time, Abdullah Ansari... who passed from this world 1089 in Herat now in Afghanistan was most famous for his biographical dictionary on saints and Sufi masters and his much loved collection of inspiring prayers, the Munajat among many works in Persian and Arabic. His ruba'is appear throughout his works and he composed three Divans in which his ghazals are in the majority. Here is a fine selection of them and a qasida. The correct rhyme-structure has been kept and the meaning...

THE BOOK OF ANVARI Translation & Introduction Paul Smith Ahad-ud-din Anvari Abeverdi (1126-1189) was a court poet of the Seljuk sultans. Jami composed a ruba'i where he names him, along with Firdausi and Sadi as one of the 'three apostles' of Persian poetry. He was also a celebrated astronomer, mathematician and scientist who admitted he gave them up for the more lucrative occupation of ... a court poet, that he later rejected twenty years before his death for a life of seclusion and contemplation, embracing Sufism. He is renowned for his delightful wittiness that can be found in many of his...

THE BOOK OF AL-MA'ARRI Translation & Introduction Paul Smith CONTENTS: The Life and Works of al-Ma'arri, The Ruba'i & Qit'a, Ghazal & Qasida: Form, Use, History. Abu'l- 'Ala al-Ma'arri was born in Ma'arra, south of Aleppo in Syria in 973 A.D. He achieved fame as one of greatest of Arab poets. Al-Ma'arri was stricken with smallpox when four and became blind. His early poems in ruba'i form gained great popularity as did his other poems. As he grew older, he was able to travel to Aleppo, Antioch and other Syrian cities. Al-Ma'arri spent 18 months at Baghdad, then the centre of learning and...