Author Description

FARID AL-DIN ‘ATTAR Poems from the Divan of the Sufi Perfect Master Poet Translation & Introduction Paul Smith ‘Attar is seen with Sana’i and Rumi (who he met and influenced) as one of the three most important Sufi Poet–Masters of the 13th century. He composed over forty books mainly in the epic masnavi form of rhyming couplets, his most famous being The Book of God and The Conference of the Birds. He also composed many powerful mystical poems in the ghazal form that influenced Sadi and Hafiz and all who came later and he was a master in the ruba’i form and couplets in his Pand-Nama or ‘Book of Wisdom’. Here for the first time is a fine, large selection of his ghazals and ruba’is poems from his Divan in the correct-rhyme structure with the beauty and meaning of many of his immortal poems. Introduction: Life & Times of ‘Attar and his Poetry. Selected Bibliography, Glossary.Large Format (7” x 10”) & Large Print (14pt) HARDBACK 550 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 author). “I was very impressed with the beauty of these books.” Dr. R.K. Barz. Faculty of Asian Studies, Australian National University. 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, Mahsati, Lalla Ded, Makhfi, Ghalib, Iqbal, Rahman Baba