Paul Smith

Two Sufi Jesters Paul Smith

TWO SUFI JESTERS: OBEYD ZAKANI & MULLA NASR UD-DIN Stories, Jokes & Satires. Translation & Introduction Paul Smith. Obeyd Zakani (1300-1371) is an important a figure in Persian and Sufi literature and poetry. His satire, humorous stories, ribald and obscene poems, social commentary, mystical ghazals, prose, ruba'is, qit'as and his famous epic qasida 'Cat & Mouse' are popular today and are more relevant than ever. He is considered to be one of the world's greatest satirist and social-commentator whose life and mystical poems had a great influence on his student and friend Hafiz and many others. Mullah Nasr ud-din is a wise man famous throughout the Muslim and some parts of the non-Muslim world since the 16th century. Historical documents show that he lived in the 13th century in Anatolia (today Turkey). He was a scholar or at least an educated man. His jokes were narrated for centuries between people for different purposes, some for humour and some to tell as stories full of meaning and wisdom. Large Print (16pt) & Large Format (8" x 10") Edition. 287 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 of many works into Persian and knower of Hafiz's Divan off by heart. 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, Sadi, Nizami, Rumi, 'Attar, Sana'i, Jahan Khatun, Obeyd Zakani, Nesimi, Kabir, Anvari, Ansari, Jami, Khayyam, Rudaki, Yunus Emre, Lalla Ded, Rahman Baba, Bulleh Shah, Ghalib, Iqbal, Mu'in, Amir Khusrau, Dara Shikoh and many others, as well as his own poetry, fiction, plays, biographies, children's books & a dozen screenplays.