Qutub Shah

Qutub Shah POET & SUFI, LOVER & PRINCE & BUILDER OF HYDERABAD Selected Poems Translation & Introduction Paul Smith Muhammad Quli Qutab Shah (1565-1611) was the fifth sultan of the Qutub Shahi dynasty of Golconda in South India. He founded the city of Hyderabad. Qutab Shah was a scholar of Arabic and Persian. He wrote poetry in Urdu and Persian. His poetry has been compiled into a Divan of 50,000 couplets comprising ghazals, masnavis, qasidas, ruba'is, and qit'as. Qutab Shah had the distinction of being the first Urdu poet and is credited with introducing a new sensibility into prevailing genres of Persian/Urdu poetry. He was also a mystic or Sufi poet and a devout Shi'ite Muslim. Love of Mohammed and women are the major two themes in his poetry. The love story of Qutub Shah with the ravishingly beautiful Bhagmati has been a subject of curiosity for ages now. Their story has long been shrouded in mystery. Some thought she was more of a myth than reality, others insisted on her being an actual figure of enough substance. This is the largest translation of his poems in English in the correct forms. Introduction on Sufi Poetry, Forms he wrote, on his Life, Love, Poetry & Times. Appendixs on his Life, Love for Bhagmati. Illustrated. Large Format Paperback 7" x 10" 128 pages. COMMENTS ON PAUL SMITH'S TRANSLATION OF HAFEZ'S 'DIVAN'."It is not a joke... English version of all the ghazals of Hafez is a great feat of paramount importance. I am astonished." Dr. Mir Mohammad Taghavi (Dr. of Literature) Tehran. "Superb translations. 99% Hafez 1% Paul Smith." Ali Akbar Shapurzman, translator and knower of Hafez'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. Paul Smith (b. 1945) is a poet, author and translator of many books of Sufi poets from the Persian, Arabic, Urdu, Turkish, Pashtu and other languages including Hafez, Sadi, Nizami, Rumi, 'Attar, Sana'i, Jahan Khatun, Obeyd Zakani, Jigar, Mu'in, Amir Khusrau, Nesimi, Kabir, Anvari, Iqbal, Ansari, Jami, Omar Khayyam, Rudaki, Yunus Emre, Lalla Ded, Rahman Baba, Baba Latif and others, and his own poetry, fiction, plays, biographies and a dozen screenplays. amazon.com/author/smithpa Published by New Humanity Books