HATEF OF ISFAHAN AND HIS FAMOUS TARJI-BAND Translation & Introduction Paul Smith "Hatef won fame by his unsurpassed Tarji-band, a work that sings of a mystical vision, albeit with all the conventional erotic and wine-house accessories, but in an uncommonly straightforward style, in a lucidly arranged metaphorical language intensified to the highest degree of perception, free of the euphuisms and obscurities of the foregoing period. Here we have one of the best examples of Persian poetry in the 12th/18th century and one that at the same time stands on an incomparably higher level than anything else this poet produced." Jan Rypka. "Hatef of Isfahan was a great Sufi, who wrote in both Arabic and Persian. He was especially celebrated as a writer of ghazals and was the author of a famous poem of recurring lines (tarji-band). He writes as a lover of God and uses the imagery of wine of the Divine Love which brings rapture and ecstasy to those who receive it." Margaret Smith. Here is a translation in the correct form, with the beauty and meaning of this great poem revealed. Included: Life & Times & Poetry of Hatef of Isfahan, Selected Bibliography, 'The Various Tarji-bands of poets before Hatef, The Persian Text of Hatef's Tarji-band, Samples of some of the various translations of Hatef's Tarji-band. Pages 129. 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. Paul Smith is a poet, author and translator of over 160 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, Ghalib, 'Iraqi, Iqbal, Bulleh Shah, Baba Farid, Amir Khusrau, Shah Latif and many others, as well as poetry, fiction, plays, biographies, children's books and a dozen screenplays.