AL-MUTANABBI: LIFE & SELECTED POEMS Translation & Introduction Paul Smith Abu 'l-Tayyib Ahmad ibn Husain al-Mutanabbi, (915-965 A.D.), was one of the greatest of Arabic poets (many say the greatest), was born in the town of al-Kufah in Iraq. He was the son of a water carrier who was said to be of noble and ancient southern Arabian descent. In his youth, al-Mutanabbi was educated in Syria in Damascus. He lived among the Bedouin of the Banu Qalb tribe and learnt their skills. In his youth he received his nickname 'al-Mutanabbi', meaning 'one who wants to be a prophet'. Why he was named so is unclear, but... he was the leader of a revolutionary movement and, claiming to be a prophet, led a revolt in his home-town in 932 at the age of 17. It was suppressed and he was imprisoned. During this period he began to write his first poems. R.A. Nicholson in his 'Translations of Eastern Poetry and Prose' says, "Any one who reads him in Arabic must admire the splendour of his rhetoric, the luxuriance of his imagination, and the energy and aptness of his diction; but in a translation these great qualities are overshadowed by others less pleasing to our taste, which have left their mark on the poetic style of many who wrote after him in Arabic and Persian." Al-Mutanabbi is mainly known for his many wonderful qasidas, being one of the true masters of this form. A.J. Arberry says of him... "Greatness, in whatever field of human endeavour, always stems from and thrives upon controversy, and al-Mutanabbi certainly was, and continues to be, a highly controversial figure. That is perhaps the surest proof of his universal greatness". Here is a selection of his most famous qasidas and qit'as in the correct rhymes. Introduction on The Abbasid Caliphate, Poetry of the Abbasid Period, The Forms of Arabic Poetry of the Abbasid Period, The Life & Times & Poetry of al-Mutanabbi. Large Format Paperback 7" x 10" 176 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. 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 Hafiz, Sadi, Nizami, Rumi, 'Attar, Sana'i, Jahan Khatun, Obeyd Zakani, Nesimi, Kabir, Anvari, Ansari, Jami, Khayyam, Iqbal, Rudaki, Yunus Emre, Ghalib, and many others, as well as his own poetry, fiction, plays, biographies and a dozen screenplays. www.newhumanitybooks.com
