KHWAJA MIR DARDA Great Urdu Sufi Poet Selected Poems Translation & Introduction Paul Smith Khwaja Mir Dard (1720-1784) is considered one of the three great poets of the Delhi school of classical Urdu poetry. He is firstly a Sufi poet who saw the physical world as a veil of the Divine Reality and this world a pathway. As a Sufi... he was respected by royalty, nobility and the poor. It was his father Khwaja Mohd Nasir Andlib, a Sufi saint and poet, who was the greatest influence on him. Dard was a great lover of mystical music both vocal and instrumental and he held soirees of music and mastered the art to perfection. At 28 he renounced earthly pleasures for a life of piety and humility. He taught one should happily submit to the will of God. He was able to successfully transmit his mystical philosophy into his poetry and his ghazals can be, like Hafiz's, read in both a mystical and secular way. His Divans of ruba'is, ghazals and other forms are in Urdu and Persian, and he wrote articles on Sufism. The correct rhyme structure has been achieved in all the different forms here translated. Introduction on his Life, Poetry & Times; Forms of Poetry; Sufism in Poetry; Six Urdu Poets (Wali, Sauda, Mir, Nazir, Zafar, Aatish) in Dard's that influenced him or he influenced, with their biographies, bibliographies and good selections of their Sufi poems. Selected Bibliography. Large Format Paperback 7"x10" 210 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 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 from 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, Mahsati and others, and his own poetry, fiction, biographies, plays, children's books and screenplays. amazon.com/author/smithpa