A BOOK OF SUFI RIBALD, SATIRICAL & OBSCENE POETRY Abu Nuwas, Sana'i, Anvari, Mahsati, Rumi, Sadi & Obeyd Zakani Translation & Introduction Paul Smith. Some of the greatest of the Persian Sufi poets composed ribald and at times 'obscene' poems and prose for satirical and often (as in the case of Rumi and Sadi) for teaching some spiritual truth or moral. Here is a wide-ranging selection of the greatest of them to the fourteenth century. Here are at times hilarious, witty, weird and erotic and often obscene poems and prose in most of the various forms of classical Persian poetry ... the ghazal, the ruba'i, the masnavi, the qit'a, the qasida and the tarji-band and all kinds of prose. Large Print (16pt) & Large Format (8" x 10") Paperback. 276 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 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, Sadi, Nizami, Rumi, 'Attar, Sana'i, Jahan Khatun, Obeyd Zakani, Nesimi, Kabir, Anvari, Ansari, Jami, Khayyam, Rudaki, Yunus Emre, Mu'in, Lalla Ded, Rabi'a, Nesimi, Ibn Yamin, Baba Farid, Amir Khusrau, Ghalib, Iqbal, Baba Farid and many others, as well as his own poetry, fiction, plays, biographies, children's books, talks and essays and a dozen screenplays.