THE BOOK OF MIR Selected Poems of Mir Taqi Mir Translation and Introduction Paul Smith Mir Taqi Mir (1723 - 1810) was the leading Urdu poet of the eighteenth century and one of the pioneers of Urdu. He was one of the principal poets of the Delhi school of the Urdu ghazal. He was born in Agra and left for Delhi after the death of his father whose emphasis on the importance of love and the value of compassion remained with him, imbuing his poetry. At Delhi he finished his education and joined a group of nobles as a court-poet. At 17 he had a mental break-down and suffered from bouts of madness all his life. After the sack of Delhi he eventually moved to the court in Lucknow where he stayed for the remainder of his life. Like many Urdu poets Mir's literary reputation is from his ghazals. After moving to Lucknow his daughter died, then his son and wife. This, with other earlier setbacks, lends a strong pathos and melancholy to much of his writing. Like Obeyd Zakani and others before him Mir practiced the Malamati or 'Blameworthy' aspect of Sufism. He was a prolific poet, his complete works or Kulliyat consisting of 6 Divans, containing 13,585 couplets comprising all kinds of poetic forms: ghazals, masnavis, qit'as, ruba'is, etc He also composed in Persian a Divan, a unique autobiography and a book on Urdu Poets and a book of spiritual advice for his son. This is the largest selection in English of most forms of his poetry with correct form and meaning kept, published for the first time. Introduction: Mir's Life & Times & Poetry, Selected Bibliography, On the Various Poetic Forms Mir used. Large Format Paperback... 7" x 10" 214 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 of many mystical works in English into Persian and knower of Hafiz's Divan off by heart. "I was very impressed with the beauty of these books." Dr. R.K. Barz. Faculty of Asian Studies, Australian National University. "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, Nesimi, Kabir, Anvari, Ansari, Jami, Khayyam, Rudaki, Yunus Emre, Mu'in, Amir Khusrau, Lalla Ded, Mahsati, Iqbal, Baba Farid and many others, as well as his own poetry, fiction, plays, children's books, biographies and a dozen screenplays. www.newhumanitybooks.com