THE ARABIC QASIDA An Anthology Translations & Introduction Paul Smith The qasida is a form of praise poetry that dates from pre-Islamic Arabia and was still composed by Sufi and other poets in Arabic up to today. Here is the largest anthology of this epic form of poetry in the Arabic language spanning 13 centuries. It sometimes runs to 50 couplets and one by Ibn al-Farid to more than 700. It was later inherited by the Persians, Turks, Afghans and Urdu Poets where it was developed by Sufi, court and tribal poets. The qasida resembles a ghazal in many ways except that it is longer. In the first couplet, both the lines rhyme, and the same rhyme runs through the whole poem, the rhyme-word being at the end of the second line of each couplet (after the first couplet). Included with each selection of a particular poet is a brief biography plus a list of further reading. The correct rhyme-structure has been kept as well as the beauty and meaning of these epic poems. Introduction: Classical Arabic Poetry, The Qasida: The Beginnings in Arabia, The Mu'allaqat. THE POETS (In order of appearance)... Imra' ul-Qays, Tarafa, Amru, Harith, Antara, Zuhair, Labid, Ka'b, Abu Nuwas, Mansur al-Hallaj, Dhu'l-Nun, Al-Mutanabbi, Al-Ghazali, Al-Ma'arri, Gilani, Abu Madyan, Suhrawardi, Ibn al-Farid, Ibn 'Arabi, Al-Busiri, 'Aishah al-Ba'uniyah, Ahmed Shawqi. Large Format Paperback 7" x 10" Pages 286. 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 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. newhumanitybooks.com