Rahim - Sufi/Bhakti Poet & Khan-i-Khanan of Mughal Emperor Akbar & his Circle of Poets: Selected Poems

~RAHIM~ Sufi/Bhakti Poet & Khan-i-Khanan of Mughal Emperor Akbar & his Circle of Poets SELECTED POEMS Translation & Introduction Paul Smith ‘Abd’ur Rahim Khan-i-Khanan (1556-1627) was a Sufi/Bhakti poet and scholar and linguist and great patron of the arts under Emperor Akbar and under Emperor Jahangir. He was the commander–in-chief of the army of Akbar against Sultan Muzaffar of Gujarat. Rahim was known for his strange manner of giving alms to the poor. He never looked at the person he was giving alms to, keeping his gaze downwards in all humility. He was famous for his poetry and generosity even at the court of Abbas the great, the Persian Shah of the time. His ghazals are said to have surpassed those of Naziri and many are Sufi and Bhakti in nature. He also composed many dohas in Hindi (Braj Bahasa… an early form of Urdu). Popularly known as Rahim and immortalised through his dohas or couplets, Rahim was among the most important ministers in Akbar’s court. His tomb sits prominently along the Mathura Road, formerly the Mughal Grand Trunk Road, and is in close proximity to the Dargah of Nizam ud-din Auliya and Humayun’s Tomb in South Delhi. Here is a selection of ruba’is, a ghazal, songs on Krishna, but mainly of his dohas, a rhymed couplet that is a wise, complete thought in itself. He was with Kabir, Tulsidas, Baba Farid and Vrind a master of this simple but powerful form. The correct rhyme-structure has been kept in all poems. Large Format Paperback 7” x 10” 268 pages. COMMENTS ON PAUL SMITH’S TRANSLATION OF HAFEZ’S GHAZALS.“It is not a joke... the English version of ALL the ghazals of Hafez is a great feat and of paramount importance.” Dr. Mir Mohammad Taghavi (Dr. of Literature) Tehran.“Superb translations. 99% Hafez 1% Paul Smith.” Ali Akbar Shapurzman, translator of English to 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 of Persian, Arabic, Urdu, Turkish and other languages including Hafez, Sadi, Nizami, Rumi, ‘Attar, Sana’i, Jahan Khatun, Obeyd Zakani, Mu’in ud-din Chishti, Amir Khusrau, Nesimi, Kabir, Anvari, Ansari, Jami, Khayyam, Hallaj, Rudaki, Yunus Emre, Ghalib, ‘Iraqi, Iqbal, Makhfi, Lalla Ded, Abu Nuwas, Ibn al-Farid, Rahman Baba, Nazir and many others, as well as his own poetry, fiction, plays, biographies, childrens books and a dozen screenplays. amazon.com/author/smithpa Read more