Publisher's Synopsis
THE COMPLETE RUBA'IYAT OF THE SUFI POET, PERFECT MASTER & MARTYR, SARMAD (Large Print & Large Format Edition) Translation & Introduction Paul Smith. Sarmad (d. 1659) whose name derives from the Persian word for eternal or everlasting, was a famous and infamous Persian dervish poet of Jewish and Armenian origin. As a merchant he gathered his wares and travelled to India to sell them. In India he renounced Judaism and adopted Islam: he later renounced it in favour of Hinduism that he finally renounced for Sufism. He was known for exposing and ridiculing the major religions and hypocrisy of his day, but he also wrote beautiful mystical poetry in the form of 321 rubai's (all here translated). He wandered the streets and the courts of the emperor as a naked dervish. He was close friends of Prince Dara Shikoh and Princes 'Makhfi' two other great Indian Sufi martyr poets. He was beheaded in 1659 by Emperor Aurangzeb for his perceived heretical poetry. Introduction on The Life, Times and Poetry of Sarmad, Sufis & Dervishes: Their Art & Use of Poetry, The Ruba'i: Form, Use & History. Selected Bibliography. Appendix. The correct rhyme-structure has been obtained as well as the beauty and meaning of these immortal poems. Large Print 16 & 18pt. and Large Format 8" x 10" 437 pages. 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 Hafez, Sadi, Nizami, Rumi, 'Attar, Sana'i, Jahan Khatun, Obeyd Zakani, Mu'in, Amir Khusrau, Nesimi, Kabir, Anvari, Ansari, Jami, Omar Khayyam, Rudaki, Yunus Emre, Lalla Ded, Rahman Baba, Baba Latif, Iqbal, Seemab, Huma, Nazir and others, and his own poetry, fiction, plays, biographies, children's books and 12 screenplays.
