RUBA'IYAT FOR THE SPIRITUAL MASTER MEHER BABA by Paul Smith. The ruba'i (quatrain in the west) is an ancient form of poetry of four lines in which usually the first, second and fourth lines rhyme and sometimes with the radif (refrain) after the rhyme words... all four rhyme. Each is a separate poem in itself. It should be eloquent, spontaneous and ingenious. Every major and most minor poet of Persia and Turkey and India composed at some times in the ruba'i form, Omar Khayyam being the most famous. The poems are mostly about human and divine love, separation and union, longing and bliss. Paul Smith has translated all the major Sufi and other poets of this form and has composed many of his own in English over the past 50 years dedicated to his spiritual Master Meher Baba since 1965. Here is a large selection of his work (486 poems) that are at once modern and reflecting all the great Sufi ruba'i poets of the past. The Introduction includes chapters on the author's life and work and on the life & works of Meher Baba and on this popular form of inspirational poetry. Selected Bibliography. Large Print (16pt) & Large Format (8" x 10") Edition. Pages 536. 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 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, Sadi, Nizami, Rumi, 'Attar, Sana'i, Jahan Khatun, Obeyd Zakani, Mu'in, Amir Khusrau, Nesimi, Kabir, Anvari, Ansari, Jami, Khayyam, Rudaki, Lalla Ded, Baba Farid, Bulleh Shah, Jami, Ghalib, Iqbal and others, and his own poetry, fiction, plays, biographies, children's books and a dozen screenplays.
