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FIVE GREAT EARLY SUFI MASTER POETS

Mansur Hallaj, Baba Tahir, Abu Sa’id, Ansari & Sana’i

SELECTED POEMS

Translation & Introduction by Paul Smith

The early Sufi Perfect Master Poets (859-1131) were straightforward and inspiring in the poetic forms of the ghazal, ruba’i, qit’a, qasida and the masnavi in expressing their love for the Divine Beloved and their contempt for this world and its illusions. Here are hundreds of beautiful poems by them in the correct form and meaning and biographies about them. The famous & infamous Mansur Hallaj (859-922) tortured and executed for saying ‘I am the Truth’ and more in his God-realized poems; Baba Tahir, one of the most revered of the early Persian Sufi poets who composed only ruba’is; Abu Sa’id (967–1049) the famous Persian Sufi/Dervish Perfect Master (Qutub) and poet who contributed extensively to the evolution of Sufi tradition and poetry; Ansari (born 1005) a famous Persian Sufi ruba’i poet who lived in Herat (then Khorasan, now Afghanistan) and Hakim Sana’i (1050-1131) known for his classic mystical poem in masnavi (rhyming couplets) form: ‘The Enclosed Garden of the Truth’. He is one of the finest poets in the Sufi (Islamic mysticism) tradition. Introduction on ‘Sufis & Dervishes: Their Art & Use of Poetry’ & ‘The Main Forms in Sufi & Dervish Poetry’. Pages 617

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.

“Smith has probably put together the greatest collection of literary facts and history concerning Hafiz.” Daniel Ladinsky (Penguin Books author). 

Paul Smith is a poet, author and translator of over 130 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, Yunus Emre, Shah Latif, Bulleh Shah, Lalla Ded and others, and his own poetry, fiction, plays, biographies, children’s books and screenplays.