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RUBA'IYATS OF FIVE GREAT SUFI POETS OF INDIASarmad, Dara Shikoh, Bedil, Hali, IqbalTranslation and Introduction Paul SmithThe ruba'i is perhaps the oldest form in Persian Sufi Poetry. In its four lines, most rhyming, can be found the deep wisdom, suffering, love and mysticism of its greatest earlier and later exponents of Sufi Spirituality and human love, despair and grief, in Persia and India. The correct rhyme-structure has been kept as well as the beauty and meaning of these magical four-line poems. Sarmad (1590-1659) was a famous and infamous Persian dervish poet of Jewish and Armenian origin. As a merchant he gathered his wares and travelled to India to sell them. In India he renounced Judaism for Sufism. He wrote beautiful poetry in the form of rubai's. He wandered the streets and the courts as a naked dervish. He was beheaded by Emperor Aurangzeb for his perceived heretical poetry. Dara Shikoh (1615-1659) was the oldest son of Emperor Shah Jahan of Mughal India. 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. He cpmposed mainly ruba'is and was a friend of Sarmad. He was defeated and executed after leading an uprising against his cruel, fundamentalist brother Emperor Aurangzeb. Bedil (1644-1721) was born and educated near Patna in India. In later life he travelled. His writings in Persian are extensive, being one of the creators of the 'Indian style'. He had complicated views on God, influenced by the Sufis. His 16 books of poetry contain 0ver 3600 ruba'is. He is now considered a great later master of this form. Hali (1837-1914) has a special place in Urdu Sufi literature. He was poet, critic, teacher, reformer and prose-writer. He acquired through his own efforts Urdu, Persian and Arabic and English. As a poet he was a mater of the ruba'i. He wrote biographies of Ghalib and Sadi. Iqbal (1873-1938) graduated from Government College, Lahore with a master's degree in philosoph