Urfi of Shiraz - Sufi Poet in the Court of Mughal Emperor Akbar Selected Poems

~URFI OF SHIRAZ~Sufi Poet in the Court of Mughal Emperor AkbarSELECTED POEMSTranslation & Introduction Paul SmithURFI (1555-1591) lived in Shiraz until he was twenty-six and had become disfigured in the face from small-pox he had six years earlier. Embarrassed in front of friends and relatives he decided to go to India and arrived in the Deccan in 1582 and from there went to Agra where he met the Khan-i-Khanan (Rahim) and became one of his group of poets and was highly respected and well paid for his craft. He was invited to Emperor Akbar’s court because of his exceptional talents, where he stayed until Akbar died and afterwards was in the court of Emperor Jahangir. His Divan was very popular during his lifetime and consisted of 14,ooo couplets, mostly ghazals (270), qasidas (26) and about 200 ruba’is and 500 qit’as. He also composed masnavis. Most of his poems are Sufi in content. He caught dysentery at the age of thirty-six and died. He also was influenced by Hafiz and Fighani (both from Shiraz) and composed in what became known as the ‘Indian Style’. He is known mostly for his qasidas but preferred the ghazal. The correct rhyme structure has been achieved in all the different poetic forms… Introduction: The Life & Poetry & Times of Urfi; Sufis & Dervishes: Their Art & Use of Poetry; Other Poets at Akbar’s Court with Urfi and a Selection of their Poems; Selected Bibliography. Large Format Paperback 7” x 10” 210 pages.COMMENTS ON PAUL SMITH’S TRANSLATION OF HAFEZ’S GHAZALS.“It is not a joke... the English version of ALL the ghazals of Hafez is a great feat and of paramount importance. I am astonished..” Dr. Mir Mohammad Taghavi (Dr. of Literature) Tehran.“Superb translations. 99% Hafez 1% Paul Smith.” Ali Akbar Shapurzman, translator of English to Persian and knower of Hafiz’s Divan off by heart. “Smith has probably put together the greatest collection of literary facts and history concerning Hafez.” Daniel Ladinsky (Penguin Books author). Paul Smith (b.1945) is a poet, author and translator of many books of Sufi poets of Persian, Arabic, Urdu, Turkish and other languages including Hafez, Sadi, Nizami, Rumi, ‘Attar, Sana’i, Jahan Khatun, Obeyd Zakani, Mu’in ud-din Chishti, Amir Khusrau, Nesimi, Kabir, Anvari, Ansari, Jami, Khayyam, Hallaj, Rudaki, Yunus Emre Ghalib, Iqbal, Makhfi, Lalla Ded, Abu Nuwas, Ibn al-Farid, Rahman Baba, Nazir and many others, as well as his own poetry, fiction, plays, biographies, kids books and a dozen screenplays. www.newhumanitybooks.com