NIZAMI, KHAYYAM & 'IRAQI A Daybook Translation & Introduction by Paul Smith Here is a unique Daybook of 366 poems by three of Persia's greatest mystical & philosophical poets. Nizami was a true Master Poet who is most famous for his six books in masnavi form: The Treasury of the Mysteries, Khrosrau and Shirin, Layla and Majnun, The Seven Portraits (another Sufi classic) and his two books on Alexander. He also composed a Divan of approximately 20, ooo couplets in ghazals and ruba'is and other forms... tragically only 200 couplets survive. His influence on 'Attar, Rumi, Sadi, Hafiz and Jami and all others that followed cannot be overestimated. Omar Khayyam was more famous in Iran as an astronomer, philosopher and mathematician... the nihilistic and hedonistic and occasionally Sufi philosophy in his ruba'is meant that his poems were never really popular in his homeland, but of course after the work of FitzGerald the west fell in love with him. He stated, "The only group which may reach God with purification of soul and renunciation of sensual preoccupations, with yearning and ecstasy, are the Sufis." 'Iraqi was the author of a Divan of spiritual ghazals and ruba'is and other poems and of the famous work in prose and poetry Lama'at, 'Divine Flashes'... a work that beautifully describes the mysteries of Divine Union that became a classic of Sufi Mysticism. The correct rhyme structure has been kept. 380 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 and knower of Hafiz's Divan off by heart. Paul Smith is a poet, author and translator of over 80 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, Khayyam, Rudaki and others, and his own poetry, fiction, plays, biographies, children's books and a dozen screenplays.
