Hafez - Three Masnavi Poems

Publisher Marketing: *HAFEZ* Three Masnavi Poems Translation & Introduction Paul Smith Illustrations: Ali Dowlatshahi Persia's greatest exponent of the ghazal Hafiz (1320-1392) who was small, fat and ugly became a Perfect Spiritual Master (Qutub), was twice exiled from his beloved Shiraz for his criticism of rulers and false Sufi masters and hypocritical clergy. He is now considered as one of the greatest poets of all time. His Divan shows he composed in other forms including the ruba'i of which about 160 survive. As with his ghazals, his three masnavis... The Wild Deer, Book of the Winebringer & Book of the Minstrel are mysterious and sublime. Included in the Introduction are the Life of Hafiz, his Spirituality and his Poetry and the form of the Masnavi. Glossary, Selected Bibliography. The correct rhyme-structure has been kept as well as the beauty and meaning of these immortal epic poems. Large Format Paperback 7" x 10" 154 Pages. Goethe: "In his poetry Hafiz inscribed undeniable truth indelibly! He has no peer!" Gertrude Bell: "It is as if his mental Eye, endowed with wonderful acuteness of vision, had penetrated into those provinces of thought which we of a later age were destined to inhabit." Meher Baba: "There is no equal to Hafiz in poetry. He was a Perfect Master ... His Divan is the best book in the world because it engenders feelings which ultimately lead to illumination." COMMENTS ON PAUL SMITH'S TRANSLATION OF HAFEZ'S DIVAN. "It is not a joke... the English version of ALL the ghazals of Hafez is a great feat and of paramount importance. I am astonished.." Dr. Mir Mohammad Taghavi (Dr. of Literature) Tehran. "Superb translations. 99% Hafez 1% Paul Smith." Ali Akbar Shapurzman, translator of English to Persian and knower of Hafiz's Divan off by heart. "Smith has probably put together the greatest collection of literary facts and history concerning Hafez." Daniel Ladinsky (Penguin Books author). Paul Smith is a poet, author and translator of many books of Sufi poets of Persian, Arabic, Urdu, Turkish and other languages including Hafez, Sadi, Nizami, Rumi, 'Attar, Sana'i, Jahan Khatun, Obeyd Zakani, Mu'in ud-din Chishti, Amir Khusrau, Nesimi, Kabir, Anvari, Ansari, Jami, Khayyam, Hallaj, Rudaki, Yunus Emre Ghalib, Iqbal, Makhfi, Lalla Ded, Abu Nuwas, Ibn al-Farid, Rahman Baba, Nazir and many others, as well as his own poetry, fiction, plays, biographies, kids books and a dozen screenplays. www.newhumanitybooks.com Contributor Bio:  Hafez Hafez was born in Shiraz sometime between 1310 CE and 1337 CE with the year 1320 CE the most likely. His full name was Khwajeh Shams al-Din Mohammed Hafez-e Shirazi. His father, Baha-ud-Din, was a successful merchant from Isfahan who settled in Shiraz and died there when Hafez was a very young child. In any case, Hafez undoubtedly received a thorough religious education, probably from listening to the recitations of the Qu'ran, as his pen name Hafez derives from the Arabic honorific from Hafiz, which is awarded to anyone who has accomplished the achievement of memorizing the entire Qu'ran. Hafez is the most beloved lyric poet of the Persian poetic tradition. His ghazals, unequaled in their subtlety, refinement, and eloquence, have had a lasting influence on subsequent Persian poetry. The richness of his imagery and the intricate musicality of his lines combine to produce a poetry of inimitable eclat. Hafez's mastery of form and his verbal virtuosity are what make his poetry so irresistible. Most scholars agree that Hafez died in Shiraz at the age of sixty-nine in 1389 CE.