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by Paul Smith (Translator), Angelus Silesius (Author)
ANGELUS SILESIUS THE CHRISTIAN-MYSTIC SUFI POET A Selection of Rhyming Couplets from the Cherubinic Wanderer Translation and Preface by Paul Smith Angelus Silesius was a mystic of the Counter-Reformation. He was born Johannes Scheffler in 1624 in the province of Silesia, Poland. In 1653, he converted to Catholicism from Lutheranism and spent the rest of his life avidly trying to reconvert the people of Silesia. Today, however, he is known primarily for his mystical poetry, which was written in the form of 1676 'Alexandrines', which are simple rhymed couplets published as The Cherubinic Wanderer. Of course they lose some in translation and many seem quite naïve, but the depth of feeling cannot be denied and many more can be seen to approach Haiku and other short, mystical poetry from around the world including the Dohas and Slokas of the Sufi poets of India Baba Farid and Shah Latif. In fact his way of thinking and his belief is almost identical to the Sufis. Here is a cross-section selection of 177 of his mystical poems in the correct form. Preface, appendixes on his life and book. 259 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. " Dr. Mir Mohammad Taghavi (Dr. of Literature) Tehran."Superb translations. 99% Hafiz 1% Paul Smith." Ali Akbar Shapurzman, translator of many mystical works in English into Persian and knower of Hafiz's Divan off by heart. Paul Smith 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 Khatun, Obeyd Zakani, Nesimi, Kabir, Anvari, Ansari, Jami, Khayyam, Rudaki, Yunus Emre, and many others, as well as his own poetry, fiction, plays, children's books, biographies and a dozen screenplays. amazon.com/author/smithpa
