Persian Sufi Poetry


Book Description

Focuses on the poems rather than on their authors. Surveys the development of Persian mystical poetry, dealing first with the relation between Sufism and literature and then with the four main genres of the tradition: the epigram, the homiletic poem, love poetry and symbolic narrative.




Hakim Sana'i - Pioneer of the Persian Sufi Ghazal


Book Description

HAKIM SANA'I Pioneer of the Persian Sufi Ghazal SELECTED POEMS Translation and Introduction by Paul Smith One of the most prolific and influential Sufi Master Poets of all time Hakim Sana'i (d.1131) composed many ghazals (over 90 translated here), masnavis, qasidas, qita's and over 400 ruba'is that influenced all the ruba'i writers that followed him. His long masnavi (rhyming couplets) mystical work The Enclosed Garden of the Truth is said to have had a profound influence on Rumi's composing of his Masnavi and in Sadi's composing his Bustan ('The Orchard'). Included in the Introduction are the Life and Times and Poetry of Sana'i and a history of the ghazal with a selection by its greatest Sufi poets. Selected Bibliography. The correct rhyme-structure has been kept, often for the first time, as well as the beauty and meaning of these powerful, mostly spiritual, beautiful, immortal ghazals. Large Format Edition in Paperback 7" x 10" Pages 214 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. "I was very impressed with the beauty of these books." Dr. R.K. Barz. Faculty of Asian Studies, Australian National University. "Smith has probably put together the greatest collection of literary facts and history concerning Hafiz." Daniel Ladinsky (Penguin Books author). 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, Nesimi, Kabir, Anvari, Ansari, Jami, Khayyam, Rudaki, Yunus Emre, Lalla Ded, Mahasti, Iqbal, Ghalib, Rahman Baba, Ibn al-Farid, 'Iraqi, Faiz, Urfi, Rahim and many others, as well as his own poetry, fiction, plays, children's books, biographies and a dozen screenplays. www.newhumanitybooks.com




The Drunken Universe


Book Description

Sufism can be seen to have functioned as a positive and healthy reaction to the overly rational activity of the philosophers and theologians. For the Sufis, the road to spiritual knowledge could never be confined to the process of purely intellectual activity, without the direct, immediate experience of the Heart. In this book we are concerned with one art that the Sufis made peculiarly their own: poetry. Why should Sufis in general, and Persian Sufis in particular, choose to write poetry? When they wanted to 'be themselves', lovers of the Truth, they needed a language more intense, closer to the centre of human awareness than prose. Truth is beautiful, so when one speaks of it, one speaks beautifully. As the lover sings to his beloved, so did the Sufis to theirs. Love itself creates a taste for this language, so that even the prose writers of Sufism scatter verse throughout their works and create poetic prose. The overwhelming theme of this poetry is the Love relationship between the individual, the lover, and his Beloved, God.




Love's Alchemy


Book Description

Working from the original Persian sources, translators and scholars David and Sabrineh Fideler offer faithful, elegant translations that represent the full scope of Sufi poetry. These concise, tightly focused meditations span only a few lines but reveal worlds of meaning. The poems explore many aspects of human life and the spiritual path, but they center on the liberating power of love.




Metaphor and Imagery in Persian Poetry


Book Description

This volume is a collection of essays on classical Persian literature, focusing on Persian rhetorical devices, especially imagery and metaphors. The various contributions discuss the origin and the development of debate poetry, the transmission of Persian and Arabic tales to the works of Europeans medieval authors such as Boccaccio and Chaucer, but also the development of Aristotelian poetics and epistemology in Persian philosophical tradition. Furthermore, the baroque style of the Shiʿite author Ḥusayn Vāʾiẓ Kāshifī, the use of wine metaphors by mystics such as Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī, Ḥāfiẓ’s original use of candle metaphors, the translation of Khayyām’s metaphors into English, and the importance of a single metaphor in the epic Barzū-nāma are discussed. Contributors include: F. Abdullaeva, G.R. van den Berg, J. Landau, F.D. Lewis, N. Pourjavady, Ch. van Ruymbeke, A. Sedighi and S. Sharma




Cat & Mouse, Fish & Spider


Book Description

CAT & MOUSE, FISH & SPIDER Three Fables in Persian Sufi Poetry Obeyd Zakani, Shah Da'i & Parvin Etesami Translation & Introduction Paul Smith Mouse & Cat by Obeyd Zakani is a satirical, epic fable that was influential at the time it was composed (14th c.) and has remained so for the past 600 years. It is more than just a story for children (that some say brought about the cartoon of Tom & Jerry)... it is a story of the stupidity of the false power of those in power and a warning to all that such blind ambition always leads to destruction at the hands of one even more powerful. 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 recent great female poet Parvin Etesami (1907-1941) tells the simple but deep tale of the lazy man and the hard-working spider in such a clever and engrossing way that her reason for telling it is subtle but truly enlightening. The correct rhymes and meaning have been achieved. Illustrated. Large Format Paperback 7" x 10" 154 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 mystical works in English into Persian and knower of Hafiz's Divan off by heart. Paul Smith (b.1945) is an Australian 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, Ibn al-Farid Makhfi, Lalla Ded, and others and his poetry, fiction, plays, biographies, children's books and screenplays. www.newhumanitybooks.com




Persian Sufi Poetry


Book Description

Focuses on the poems rather than on their authors. Surveys the development of Persian mystical poetry, dealing first with the relation between Sufism and literature and then with the four main genres of the tradition: the epigram, the homiletic poem, love poetry and symbolic narrative.




The Longing in Between


Book Description

A delightful collection of soul-inspiring poems from the world's great religious and spiritual traditions, accompanied by Ivan M. Granger's meditative thoughts and commentary. Rumi, Whitman, Issa, Teresa of Avila, Dickinson, Blake, Lalla, and many others. These are poems of seeking and awakening... and the longing in between. ------------ Praise for The Longing in Between "The Longing in Between is a work of sheer beauty. Many of the selected poems are not widely known, and Ivan M. Granger has done a great service, not only by bringing them to public attention, but by opening their deeper meaning with his own rare poetic and mystic sensibility." ROGER HOUSDEN author of the best-selling Ten Poems to Change Your Life series "Ivan M. Granger's new anthology, The Longing in Between, gives us a unique collection of profoundly moving poetry. It presents some of the choicest fruit from the flowering of mystics across time, across traditions and from around the world. After each of the poems in this anthology Ivan M. Granger shares his reflections and contemplations, inviting the reader to new and deeper views of the Divine Presence. This is a grace-filled collection which the reader will gladly return to over and over again." LAWRENCE EDWARDS, Ph.D. author of Awakening Kundalini: The Path to Radical Freedom and Kali's Bazaar




Rumi Essays


Book Description

Mawlana Jalaluddin Rumi, a 13th-centry Persian Sufi poet, is one of the most widely-read poets today. This volume offers a comprehensive package of information and reflections on Rumi's life, poetry, and vision draws on original works in Persian including Rumi's own poetry and historical texts.




Rumi's Secret


Book Description

A biography of the Sufi poet that’s “a dazzling feat of scholarship . . . the book restores Rumi to the glories and hardships of his momentous age” (The Washington Post). Ecstatic love poems of Rumi, a Persian poet and Sufi mystic born over eight centuries ago, are beloved by millions of readers in America as well as around the world. He has been compared to Shakespeare for his outpouring of creativity and to Saint Francis of Assisi for his spiritual wisdom. Yet his life has long remained the stuff of legend rather than intimate knowledge. In this breakthrough biography, New York Times–bestselling author Brad Gooch brilliantly brings to life the man and puts a face to the name Rumi, vividly coloring in his time and place—a world as rife with conflict as our own. The map of Rumi’s life stretched over 2,500 miles. Gooch traces this epic journey from Central Asia, where Rumi was born in 1207, traveling with his family, displaced by Mongol terror, to settle in Konya, Turkey. Pivotal was the disruptive appearance of Shams of Tabriz, who taught him to whirl and transformed him from a respectable Muslim preacher into a poet and mystic. Their vital connection as teacher and pupil, friend and beloved, is one of the world’s greatest spiritual love stories. When Shams disappeared, Rumi coped with the pain of separation by composing joyous poems of reunion, both human and divine. Ambitious, bold, and beautifully written, Rumi’s Secret reveals the unfolding of Rumi’s devotion to a “religion of love,” remarkable in his own time and made even more relevant for the twenty-first century by this compelling account.