HAFIZ ‘The Greatest Poet in the World’: Life, Times & ALL his Poems

HAFIZ ‘The Greatest Poet in the World’ Life, Times & ALL his Poems Newly Revised, Centred, Corrected Translation & Introduction. Appendix, Notes etc Paul Smith. Hafiz was born in Shiraz, Persia (Iran) in 1320 and died there in 1392. He is considered by many of the world’s great poets, writers and mystics to have been the greatest poet who ever lived. The book that he gave to the world, his Divan has been loved by millions of people of the East and West for the past 700 years and is used as an oracle even today. Hafiz was not only a unique and great poet; he was also a Perfect Master, a God-Realized soul whose wisdom and insights into the everyday and the mystical path are such that it is said one can gain spiritual advancement just by reading his book. His Divan is for all because he speaks as one who has gone through it all, from the passion of human love into the arms of the Divine. This is a completely revised one volume edition of the only modern, poetic version of Hafiz’s masterpiece of 793 ghazals, masnavis, rubais and other poems/songs. The spiritual and historical and human content is here in understandable, beautiful poetry: the correct rhyme-structure has been achieved, without intruding, in readable English for the first time. In the long Introduction his life story is told in greater detail than anywhere else; his spirituality is explored, his influence on the life, poetry and art of the East and the West, the form and function of his poetry, and the use of his book as a worldly guide and spiritual oracle. His Divan, like the I Ching, is one of the world’s Great Oracles. Included are notes to most poems, glossary and selected bibliography and two indexes. Appendix: Hafiz of Shiraz The Life, Poetry & Times of the Immortal Persian Poet (In Three Volumes) Book One: The Early Years (The Opening 180 Pages) First published in a limited edition in 1986 the book quickly went out of print. . Goethe: “In his poetry Hafiz has inscribed undeniable truth indelibly… Hafiz 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.” Inayat Khan: “Once a person has studied Hafiz he has reached the top of the mountain, from whence he beholds the sublimity of the immanence of God.” Emerson: “Hafiz defies you to show him or put him in a condition inopportune or ignoble... He fears nothing,. He sees too far; he sees throughout; such is the only man I wish to see or ever be.” A.J. Arberry:”... Hafiz is as highly esteemed by his countrymen as Shakespeare by us, and deserves as serioys consideration.” Lorca: “... sublime amorous ghazals.” Edward Fitzgerald: “The best Musician of words.” Expert 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. “I have never seen such a good translation and I would like to write a book in Farsi and introduce his Introduction to Iranians.” B. Khorramshai, Academy of Philosophy, Tehran. “Superb translations. 99% Hafiz 1% Paul Smith.” Ali Akbar Shapurzman, translator of many mystical 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 of his own poems inspired by Hafiz). Paul Smith (b. 1945) is a poet, author and translator of many books of Sufi poets including Hafiz, Sadi, Nizami, Rumi, ‘Attar, Sana’i, Jahan Khatun, etc. Read more