Ghazals Inspired by Hafiz's Ghazals Paul Smith There is really no equivalent to the ghazal (pronounced guz'el) in English poetry. As a matter of fact, the ghazal is a unique form and its origin has been argued about for many centuries. Some say that the first was composed by Adam, the first poet and Perfect Master. Many ghazals Paul Smith composed while translating the Divan of Hafiz he incorporated into his 3 volume novel/biography Hafiz of Shiraz... as those of Muhammad Gulandam. Recently he published a book of ghazals 'Beloved & Lover' inspired by couplets and first lines given by his...

The Book 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...

THE BOOK OF MAS'UD SA'D SALMAN Poet & Prisoner Translation & Introduction Paul Smith Mas'ud-i-Sa'd-i-Salman (1048-1122) was born in Lahore to wealthy parents who originally came from Hamadan. In the beginning he was at the court of the prince of Ghazneh and governor of India Sayfu'-daula Mahmud and quickly progressed in wealth and honour. When he was forty he was thrown into prison after being wrongfully accused along with his patron of treachery by Sultan Ibrahim. He was in the fortress of Dahak for seven years despite his protests in the form of qasidas and then was imprisoned for another...

THE BOOK OF HATEF ESFAHANI Translation & Introduction Paul Smith "Hatef won fame by his unsurpassed Tarji-band, a work that sings of a mystical vision, albeit with all the conventional erotic and wine-house accessories, but in an uncommonly straightforward style, in a lucidly arranged metaphorical language intensified to the highest degree of perception, free of the euphuisms and obscurities of the foregoing period. Here we have one of the best examples of Persian poetry in the 12th/18th century and one that at the same time stands on an incomparably higher level than anything else this poet...

THE BOOK OF POETS OF THE NI'MATULLAH SUFI ORDER Translation & Introduction Paul Smith Shah Ni'matullah (1330-1431) was the founder of an order of Sufis that is today one of the largest in Iran and around the world. As well as a Sufi Master he was a poet who inspired many Spiritual Masters and Sufi Poets over the following 500 years to follow his example. Contents: The Ni'matullah Sufi Order, Sufis & Dervishes: Their Art & Use of Poetry, Forms of Poetry used by the Ni'matullah Poets, Bibliography, Glossary. The Poets: Shah Ni'matullah, Bushaq, Kasim Anwar, Shah Da'i, Nur 'Ali Shah, Bibi...

THE BOOK OF PERSIAN POETS AT THE COURTS OF SULTAN MAHMUD IN GHAZNEH & SULTAN SANJAR IN GANJEH (998-1158 A.D.) Translation & Introduction Paul Smith CONTENTS: Persian Poetry: A New Beginning... Sultan Mahmud: His Life, Times & Poets, Sultan Sanjar: His Life, Times & Poets, Various Forms in Persian Poetry, Sufism in Persian Poetry. THE POETS: Poets at the Court of Sultan Mahmud, Sultan Mahmud, Umarah, Kisa'i, Firdausi, Farrukhi, Asjadi, Minuchihri, Unsuri, Asadi. Poets at the Court of Sultan Sanjar, Mu'izzi, Sabir, Hasan Ghaznavi, Mahsati, Jabali, Vatvat, Anvari. The correct forms & meaning has...

THE TALES OF THE FISH & SPIDER Shah Da'i & Parvin E'tesami Translation & Introduction Paul Smith The masnavi form of rhyming couplets in Persian Poetry is used mainly to tell epic tales such as Firdausi's Shahnama or Sufi stories such as Rumi's Masnavi. Ocasionally as with 'Attar's Conference of the Birds the poet uses creatures to tell a spiritually moral story. Sufi poet Shah Da'i (1406-1464) takes his clue from 'Attar and tells the marvellous tale of the fish who go in search of an answer to their problem from the Ancient Wise Fish. Iran's great recent female poet Parvin E'tesami...

DIVAN OF HAFEZ SHIRAZI Revised Translation & Introduction Paul Smith This is a completely revised one volume edition of the only modern, poetic version of Hafez's masterpiece of 791 ghazals, masnavis, ruba'is and other poems/songs. The spiritual and historical and human content is here in understandable, beautiful poetry: the correct rhyme-structure has been achieved, without intruding, in readable English. In the Introduction of 70 pages his life story is told in greater detail than anywhere else; his spirituality is explored, his influence on the life, poetry and art of the East and the...

HAFIZ The Complete Book of Ghazals Translation & Introduction Paul Smith Hafiz of Shiraz in Persia (1320-1392) is the undisputed Master of the form of the ghazal, perhaps the oldest and most difficult and most beautiful and spiritual form of poetry that has ever existed. Although the poets of the ghazal may appear to many as open-minded, drunken, outcast lovers, it does not necessarily mean that they all drank the juice of the grape... for it is an inner spiritual state that they often were expressing. The ghazal is a conversation between the lover and the beloved and as in all intimate...