SAEB TABRIZI Life & Poems: A SELECTION

SAEB TABRIZI Life & Poems A SELECTION Translation & Introduction Paul Smith Mirza Muhammad Ali Tabrizi (1601-1676) who used the takhallus of Saeb was born in Tabriz. Saeb’s ancestry goes back to Shams Tabrizi, Rumi’s famous spiritual Master. In about 1626 he went to Mecca, then to Herat and Kabul… where he was introduced to Shah Jahan and received at his court. Poets who composed were welcomed and a new style… the ‘Indian Style’ (Sabk-e Hindi) was carried on from the poems of Amir Khusrau and Fighani and others. He was greatly influenced by the poetry of Hafiz. Saeb’s ‘Indian Style’ poems reveal an elegant wit, a gift for the aphorism and the proverb and an appreciation of Sufism.His Divan was important to all succeeding generations of poets. The correct rhyme-structures have been kept in these ruba’is, ghazals and qit’as. Introduction: Life and Poetry, Poetic Forms, Selected Bibliography. 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 (b. 1945) is a poet, author and translator of many books of Sufi poets from 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, Mahsati, Lalla Ded, Rahman Baba, Iqbal, Ghalib, Seemab, Jigar, Abu Nuwas, Ibn al-Farid, Ibn al-‘Arabi, Abu Nuwas and others, and his own poetry, fiction, plays, biographies, children’s books and a dozen screenplays. asmazon.com/author/smithpa Read more