THE TALES OF THE FISH & SPIDER Shah Da'i & Parvin E'tesami Translation & Introduction Paul Smith The masnavi form of rhyming couplets in Persian Poetry is used mainly to tell epic tales such as Firdausi's Shahnama or Sufi stories such as Rumi's Masnavi. Ocasionally as with 'Attar's Conference of the Birds the poet uses creatures to tell a spiritually moral story. Sufi poet Shah Da'i (1406-1464) takes his clue from 'Attar and tells the marvellous tale of the fish who go in search of an answer to their problem from the Ancient Wise Fish. Iran's great recent female poet Parvin E'tesami (1907-1941) tells the simple but deep tale of the lazy man and the hard-working spider in such a clever and engrossing way that her reason for telling it is subtle but truly enlightening. Both are enchanting tales in this ancient poetic form for seekers of all ages. The correct rhyme and meaning has been achieved. Large Format Paperback 7" x 10" 115 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. 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, Omar Khayyam, Rudaki, Yunus Emre, Mahsati and many others, as well as his own poetry, fiction, plays, biographies, children's books and 12 screenplays. www.newhumanitybooks.com