SHIRAZ
A RADIO MUSICAL - DRAMA
Based on the Life of HAFIZ of SHIRAZ
by PAUL SMITH
Music by John asmussen
Hafiz was born in Shiraz, Persia (Iran) in 1320 and died there in 1392. He is considered by many of the world’s great poets, writers and mystics to have been the greatest poet who ever lived. The book that he gave to the world, his Divan has been loved by millions of people of the East and West for the past 700 years and is used as an oracle even today. Hafiz was not only a unique and great poet; he was also a Perfect Master, a God-Realized soul whose wisdom and insights into the everyday and the mystical path are such that it is said one can gain spiritual advancement just by reading his book. His Divan is for all because he speaks as one who has gone through it all, from the passion of human love into the arms of the Divine. Here is a radio play that brings to life his wonderful life in his own words and music that bridges the last 700 years.
Goethe: “In his poetry Hafiz has inscribed undeniable truth indelibly… Hafiz has no peer!”
Gertrude Bell: “It is as if his mental Eye, endowed with wonderful acuteness of vision, had penetrated into those provinces of thought which we of a later age were destined to inhabit.”
Meher Baba: “There is no equal to Hafiz in poetry. He was a Perfect Master … His Divan is the best book in the world because it engenders feelings which ultimately lead to illumination.”
Inayat Khan: “Once a person has studied Hafiz he has reached the top of the mountain, from whence he beholds the sublimity of the immanence of God.”
EXPERT 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. If he comes to Iran I will kiss the fingertips that wrote such a masterpiece inspired by the Creator of all and I will lay down my head at his feet out of respect.” Dr. Mir Mohammad Taghavi (Dr. of Literature) Tehran.
“I have never seen such a good translation and I would like to write a book in Farsi and introduce his Introduction to Iranians.” B. Khorramshai, Academy of Philosophy, 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.
“Smith has probably put together the greatest collection of literary facts and history concerning Hafiz.” Daniel Ladinsky (Penguin Books author of his own poems inspired by Hafiz).
Paul Smith is a poet, author and translator of over 80 books of Sufi poets from 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 and many others, as well as his own poetry, fiction, plays, biographies and screenplay.
A RADIO MUSICAL - DRAMA
Based on the Life of HAFIZ of SHIRAZ
by PAUL SMITH
Music by John asmussen
Hafiz was born in Shiraz, Persia (Iran) in 1320 and died there in 1392. He is considered by many of the world’s great poets, writers and mystics to have been the greatest poet who ever lived. The book that he gave to the world, his Divan has been loved by millions of people of the East and West for the past 700 years and is used as an oracle even today. Hafiz was not only a unique and great poet; he was also a Perfect Master, a God-Realized soul whose wisdom and insights into the everyday and the mystical path are such that it is said one can gain spiritual advancement just by reading his book. His Divan is for all because he speaks as one who has gone through it all, from the passion of human love into the arms of the Divine. Here is a radio play that brings to life his wonderful life in his own words and music that bridges the last 700 years.
Goethe: “In his poetry Hafiz has inscribed undeniable truth indelibly… Hafiz has no peer!”
Gertrude Bell: “It is as if his mental Eye, endowed with wonderful acuteness of vision, had penetrated into those provinces of thought which we of a later age were destined to inhabit.”
Meher Baba: “There is no equal to Hafiz in poetry. He was a Perfect Master … His Divan is the best book in the world because it engenders feelings which ultimately lead to illumination.”
Inayat Khan: “Once a person has studied Hafiz he has reached the top of the mountain, from whence he beholds the sublimity of the immanence of God.”
EXPERT 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. If he comes to Iran I will kiss the fingertips that wrote such a masterpiece inspired by the Creator of all and I will lay down my head at his feet out of respect.” Dr. Mir Mohammad Taghavi (Dr. of Literature) Tehran.
“I have never seen such a good translation and I would like to write a book in Farsi and introduce his Introduction to Iranians.” B. Khorramshai, Academy of Philosophy, 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.
“Smith has probably put together the greatest collection of literary facts and history concerning Hafiz.” Daniel Ladinsky (Penguin Books author of his own poems inspired by Hafiz).
Paul Smith is a poet, author and translator of over 80 books of Sufi poets from 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 and many others, as well as his own poetry, fiction, plays, biographies and screenplay.
