TWO GREAT ARABIC SUFI POETS IBN AL-FARID & 'AISHAH AL-BA'UNIYAH Their Qasidas in the Rhyme of 'T' Translation & Introduction Paul Smith Umar Ibn al-Farid, an Egyptian poet (1181-1235), is considered to be the undisputed master of Islamic mystical or Sufi poetry into Arabic. He is considered not only to be a poet but a Perfect Master (Qutub) a God-realised soul... and it is his journey to unity with God that he reveals in probably the longest qasida (ode) in Arabic (761 couplets), his famous The Mystic's Way or Qasida in the Rhyme of 'T'. 'Aishah al-Ba'uniyah (1457 - 1517) came from the village of Ba'un in the south of Syria. Her family were well-known and respected religious scholars and poets. She surpassed her father and brothers in her poetry, scholarship and renown. As a young woman she went to Mecca where she had a vision of Prophet Mohammed. All her family were Sufis connected to the Qadir'iyah order. She wrote in many forms of poetry in a number of Divans and composed works on Sufism that are still highly regarded. Her great Qasida in the Rhyme of 'T' (252 couplets) was composed in praise of and much influenced by Ibn al-Farid's famous 'Mystic's Way' qasida composed 300 years earlier. Introductions on both their lives and poetry and on The Qasida, The 'Pole' or Perfect Master (Qutub) and On the Mystic's Way. Selected Bibliographies. The two long poems are beautifully, completely translated into the correct rhyme-structure and meaning with notes. Large Format Paperback 7" x 10" 173 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.." Dr. Mir Mohammad Taghavi (Dr. of Literature) Tehran. "Superb translations. 99% Hafiz 1% Paul Smith." Ali Akbar Shapurzman, translator 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 and other languages... including Hafiz, Sadi, Nizami, Rumi, 'Attar, Rab'ia, Mahsati, Sana'i, Obeyd Zakani, Nesimi, Kabir, Anvari, Ansari, Jami, Khayyam, Rudaki, Yunus Emre, Baba Farid, Mu'in, Lalla Ded, Mahsati, Iqbal, Rahman Baba and many others and his own poetry, fiction, plays, biographies, children's books and 12 screenplays. www.newhumanitybooks.com