Publisher's Synopsis
KHAQANI The Great Sufi/Christian Azerbaijani/Persian Poet SELECTED POEMS Translation & Introduction Paul Smith. Khaqani (or Afzaladdin Ibrahim ibn Ali Nadjar) was born in Shirwan in Azerbaijan in 1122 and he died in Tabriz in 1199. He was a great poet and a master of the qasida and one of the first of the ghazal. He was born into the family of a carpenter in Melgem, near Shamakhy. He lost his father and was brought up by an uncle, a doctor and astronomer at court of the Shirwanshah, who acted 'as his nurse and tutor'. His mother was a Christian and Jesus features in many of his poems including his famous 'Christian' qasida composed in jail, here fully translated. After he was invited to court he assumed the pen-name Khaqani ('regal'). A court poet's life bored him and he fled to Iraq inspiring his famous masnavi 'A Gift from the Two Iraqs'. He also wrote 'The Ruin of Madain' painting his impression of the remains of Sassanid's Palace near the Ctesiphon. Returning home Shah Akhistan ordered his imprisonment. Released he moved to Tabriz but his small son died, then daughter, then wife. Alone, he soon died. He is buried at the Poet's Cemetery in Tabriz. He left a remarkable, large heritage of poems in Persian that influenced many 'court' and Sufi poets. A major influence on his poems was Sana'i. Introduction on his Life, Poetry & Times and Forms he composed in & two Great Persian Sufi Poets Who Influenced Khaqani. The correct rhyme-structure has been kept in this largest selection of his ghazals and other poems in English. Selected Bibliography. Large Print (16pt) & Large Format (8" x 10") Edition. 284 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 into Persian and knower of Hafiz's Divan off by heart. "I was very impressed with the beauty of these books." Dr. R.K. Barz. Faculty of Asian Studies, Australian National University. Paul Smith (b. 1945) is a poet, author and translator of many books of Sufi poets of the Persian, Arabic, Urdu, Turkish, Pashtu and other languages, including Hafiz, Sadi, Nizami, Rumi, 'Attar, Sana'i, Jahan, Obeyd Zakani, Nesimi, Kabir, Anvari, Ansari, Jami, Khayyam, Rudaki, Yunus Emre, Jahan Khatun, Lalla Ded, Rahman Baba, Iqbal, Ghalib, Nazir, Shah Latif and many others... as well as his own poetry, fiction, talks & essays, plays, television, musicals, biographies, children's books and a dozen screenplays. amazon.com/author/smithpa Published by New Humanity Books.
