Synopsis "Ghazals of Jahan Khatun: The Princess Sufi Poet & Friend of Hafiz (in English)"
GHAZALS OF JAHAN KHATUN The Princess Sufi Poet & Friend of Hafiz Translation & Introduction Paul Smith Daughter of the king of one of Shiraz's most turbulent times (14th century) Masud Shah; pupil and lifelong friend & pupil of the world's greatest mystical, lyric poet of the ghazal, Hafiz of Shiraz; the object of crazed desire by (among others) Persia's greatest satirist, the obscene, outrageous, visionary poet Obeyd Zakani; lover, then wife of womanizer Amin al-Din a minister of one of Persia's most loved, debauched and tragic rulers Abu Ishak; imprisoned for twenty years while her daughter mysteriously died; open-minded and scandalous... the beautiful, petite princess who abdicated her royalty twice; one of Persia's greatest classical lyric Sufi poets... whose Divan is four times the size of Hafiz's... Jahan Khatun. Correct difficult rhyme-structure is kept and beauty and meaning of these often mystical ghazals. This is the largest ever translation. Long introduction is on her Life, Times & Poetry and there is a unique Preface by herself, a chapter on the ghazal and the greatest exponents of it before her, with examples of their poems. Selected bibliography. Large Format Paperback "7 x 10" 217 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. "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 of the Persian, Arabic, Urdu, and other languages including Hafiz, Sadi, Nizami, Rumi, 'Attar, Sana'i, Jahan Khatun, Obeyd Zakani, Nesimi, Kabir, Anvari, Ansari, Ghalib, Jami, Khayyam, Rudaki, Yunus Emre, Lalla Ded, Mu'in, Seemab, Jigar, Abu Nuwas, Ibn al-Farid, Iqbal and others, as well as poetry, fiction, plays, biographies, children's books, twelve screenplays. www.newhumanitybooks.com
