The Turkish Roba'iyat

THE TURKISH ROBA'IYAT A Sufi Anthology Translation & Introduction Paul Smith The roba'i is a poem of four lines in which usually the first, second and fourth lines rhyme and sometimes with the radif (refrain) after the rhyme words... sometimes all four rhyme. It is composed in metres called roba'i metres. Each roba'i is a separate poem in itself and should not be regarded as a part of a long poem as was created by FitzGerald when he translated those he attributed to Omar Khayyam. Its origin is in Persia The roba'i should be eloquent, spontaneous and ingenious. In the roba'i the first three lines serve as an introduction to the fourth that should be sublime, subtle or pithy and clever. What is the essential belief and philosophy of the Sufi and Dervish Masters and Poets? To put it as simply as possibly... The Love of God, the belief in God in human form, the love and respect for all of God's Creation and to try to not hurt anyone or thing.. THE POETS... Kadi Burhan-ud-din, Sultan Valad, Nesimi (Large Selection), Necati, Fuzuli, Haleti, Nabi, Nedim, Esrar Dede. This is the only translation of a large selection of Roba'is by Sufi Turkish Poets in the correct rhyme structure of the originals. Introduction on the Turkish Language, Turkish Poetry, Sufism in Poetry, Life & Times & Poetry of all the poets with 'Further Reading' lists and on the Form & Function of the Roba'i. Large Print (16pt) & Format Edition ('8 x '10) 217 pages. 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, Mu'in, Amir Khusrau, Nesimi, Kabir, Anvari, Ansari, Jami, Khayyam, Rudaki and others, and his own poetry, fiction, plays, biographies, children's books and a dozen screenplays. amazon.com/author/smithpa