DIVAN OF ABDULLAH ANSARI Translation & Introduction Paul Smith One of the greatest of the early mystical (Sufi) poets and Perfect Masters of all time, Abdullah Ansari... who passed from this world 1089 in Heart, now in Afghanistan, was most famous for his biographical dictionary on saints and Sufi masters and his much loved collection of inspiring prayers, the Munajat (much here translated) among many works in Persian and in Arabic. His ruba'is appear throughout his works and he composed three Divans in which his ghazals are in the majority. Here is a fine selection of them all and a qasida. Prayers, Sayings & Adice are also here with the largest selection of his poetry in English ever translated. The correct rhyme-structures have been kept and the meaning of these beautiful, powerful, mystical poems. This is the largest translation of his poems into English. Introduction: The Life and Works of Ansari, Sufis & Dervishes: Their Art and Use of Poetry; The Form, Function & History of the Ruba'i; Ghazal and the Qasida, Selected Bibliography. Large Format Paperback 7" x 10" 307 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. "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, Mu'in, Amir Khusrau, Nesimi, Kabir, Anvari, Ansari, Jami, Khayyam, Bedil, Rudaki, Yunus Emre, Shah Latif, Bulleh Shah, Iqbal, Ghalib Jigar, Seemab, Baba Farid, Abu Nuwas Ibn 'Arabi and many others, as well as his own poetry, fiction, plays, biographies, children's books and screenplays. www.newhumanitybooks.com

In Ecotheology and Love: The Converging Poetics of Sohrab Sepehri and James Baldwin, Bahar Davary points to the interrelation of religion, poetry, and ecology from a comparative perspective with an emphasis on decoloniality. This work shows how authors Sohrab Seperhi and James Baldwin sought social justice by building their work on love and an authentic way of knowing the world based on an interconnected knowledge of the self. The layers of depth in Sepehri and Baldwin’s works and their immediacy for our time has yet to be fully understood, but through Ecotheology and Love, Davary takes a significant step towards achieving such a fuller understanding.

Drawing from the finest and most authentic texts available in the original Persian/Farsi language, Vraje Abramian offers this extensive collection of stories, teachings and poetry from both major and unknown saints and mystics in the Sufi tradition. Winds of Grace is a fresh and extensive collection that will both instruct and encourage individuals on the path of love and transformation. Readers today need such roadmaps of sanity and wisdom, pointing the way through life’s obstacles and detours. Indeed, reading the works of saints and sages serves as a GPS for today’s wayfarer. The reader will find selections from today’s most well recognized and highly acknowledged Masters, like Rumi and Hafiz, as well as hidden saints such as Sheikh Biabanaki and Sheikh Ali Mesri. More uniquely, however, this book also introduces us to teachings and anecdotes of the obscure hermit, the “mad” but unknown dervish, the crazy, naked ascetic. Whether the mainstream punished, tolerated or ignored these crazy-wise people, those who knew something about the pain they spoke of venerated them as saints. Centuries ago, many of these voices offered a shock to his or her contemporaries, jarring them from the complacency that makes automatons of human beings. Other voices contained a paradoxical twist on the religious life or practice of the times, yet were soaked with an age-old wisdom that is still vital to spiritual practitioners today. The translator and editor Vraje Abramian advises readers that these secret sages often had to protect themselves from the powers-that-be in their society, and therefore cloaked their messages in words that only disciples and initiates or those with a vulnerable mind and open heart, could actually decipher. He further reminds us that the language adopted by Sufi teachers was designed to break the habits that normally deaden our sensitivities. Abramian has therefore selected pieces that remind us to wake up, to take stock, to continue carefully observing ourselves. And, by vigilant sequencing of topics, his book gently guides readers toward the essence-truths or core-teachings of these wise ones. The translator is uniquely qualified to make this offering to religious studies today. As an Iranian by birth, a lifelong practitioner of spiritual disciplines and an accomplished teacher of English, his renderings are characterized by academic authority, poetic word-craft, and spiritual wisdom.

This book is one of the oldest and most important sources written on the esoteric teachings of Islam from a Shi'ite perspective. It demonstrates the Qur'anic origins of Sufism and its close relationship with Shi'ism. The book is based mainly on the teachings of the Qur'an, Hadith narrations of Shi'ite Imams, and the teachings of earlier Sufi masters. In this lies the uniqueness, authenticity, and strength of the book. Tuhfah yi-' Abbasi is written in a typical prose style of the Safavid period and is replete with Arabic words and phrases. The difficulty and dryness of the style, however, is properly compensated by timely quotation of Prophetic traditions, narrations of the Shi'ite Imams, and Sufi poetry composed by 'Attar, Rumi, Hafiz, Mansur Hallaj, as well as the author. This work conveys a universal message for all human beings, particularly at a time when Sufism and Shi'ism are misrepresented by pseudo-Sufis and extremist Shi'ite, and misunderstood by many readers in the Muslim world and in the West.

This stunning collection showcases the love poetry and mystical teachings at the heart of the Islamic tradition in accurate and poetic original translations At a time when the association of Islam with violence dominates headlines, this beautiful collection offers us a chance to see a radically different face of the Islamic tradition. It traces a soaring, poetic, popular tradition that celebrates love for both humanity and the Divine as the ultimate path leading humanity back to God. Safi brings together for the first time the passages of the Qur'an sought by the Muslim sages, the mystical sayings of the Prophet, and the teachings of the path of "Divine love." Accurately and sensitively translated by leading scholar of Islam Omid Safi, the writings of Jalal al‑Din Rumi can now be read alongside passages by Kharaqani, 'Attar, Hafez of Shiraz, Abu Sa'id‑e Abi 'l‑Khayr, and other key Muslim mystics. For the millions of readers whose lives have been touched by Rumi's poetry, here is a chance to see the Arabic and Persian traditions that produced him.