Additional information
by Paul Smith (Translator), Sa'di (Author)
GULISTAN OR ROSEGARDEN OF SA'DI With a Selection of his Ghazals, Ruba'is, Masnavis, Qit'as & Pand-Nama or Book of Wisdom Translation & Introduction by Paul Smith Sa'di of Shiraz (1210-1291), along with Hafiz, Nizami & Rumi is considered one of the great mystical and romantic poets of Persia. His masterpiece Gulistan or Rosegarden has been a major influence in the East and West for the past 700 years. It has been called the most famous work in Persian Literature. It is more quoted than any other outside of the Koran. It is a collection of 188 short stories in prose and poetry. Sa'di is wise and witty, moral and ribald and sarcastic: his poems abound in practical wisdom & spirituality. Included is a large selection of his ghazals, ruba'is, qit'as, masnavis and his Pand-nama in the correct rhyme-form. Introduction... Life and Times and Poetry. Selected Bibliography. Large Format Paperback. 460 pages.Thoreau: "I can find no difference between Sa'di and myself... He is not Persian, he is not ancient, he is not strange to me... If Sa'di were to come back to claim a personal identity with the historical Sa'di, he would find there were too many of us..."Emerson: "Sa'di, though he has not the lyric flights of Hafiz, has wit, practical sense, and just moral sentiments. He is the poet of friend¬ship, love, self-devotion, and serenity." 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 of many mystical works in English 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, Turkish, Pashtu and other languages including Hafiz, Sa'di, Nizami, Rumi, 'Attar, Sana'i, Jahan Khatun, Obeyd Zakani, Nesimi, Kabir, Anvari, Ansari, Jami, Khayyam, Rudaki, Yunus Emre, Mu'in, Abu Nuwas, Ibn al-Farid, Seemab, Jigar, Lalla Ded, Hali, Baba Farid and many others, as well as poetry, fiction, plays, children's books, biographies and a dozen screenplays. amazon.com/author/smithpam
