The Captured Gazelle is an elegant and lucent translation of the poems of the seventeenth-century Persian poet Mulla Tahir Ghani, better known as Ghani Kashmiri. Eulogized by poets such as Mir and Iqbal, Ghani is an outstanding representative of Sabk-e-Hindi or the 'Indian style' in Persian poetry, which became a hallmark of the Mughal-Safavid literary culture. The introduction situates Ghani against his unique background in which Iranian and Indian poetic cultures came together to create a glorious literary age in Kashmir, while the translations capture Ghani in his wide spectrum of moods satirical, playful, self-pitying, pessimistic, mystically resigned-bringing alive his wit and ingenuity in a modern idiom without losing hold on the tone
THE BOOK OF TAHIR GHANI KASHMIRI The Great Sufi Poet of Kashmir Translation & Introduction Paul Smith Tahir Ghani Kashmiri (1610-1668) is Kashmir's greatest Sufi poet of the Persian language. His teacher & spiritual master was another great Sufi & poet Mushin Fani. Ghani was visited in Kashmir by Sa'ib, Kalim & Qudsi, along with Ghani some of the most influential poets of the new style of Indian Persian poetry (Sabk-e-Hindi). He led a simple life often in seclusion and never wrote for royalty or the rich. He exposed corruption and sang of truth, love and beauty in ghazals, ruba'is, masnavis, qit'as & dohas that are unique. Both Ghalib and Iqbal were influenced by him and sang his praises. He was popular as a Sufi Perfect Master in Kashmir in his lifetime and there is a revival today there and in the west for his poetry. This is one of the largest versions of his poems in English and the only one keeping the correct rhyme structure of the originals. Introduction: Life & Times & Poetry of Tahir Ghani Kashmiri, Some of the Forms in Persian in which he composed poems, Sufis & Dervishes: Their Art and Use of Poetry. Selected Bibliography. APPENDIX: Three Poets of the 'Indian Style' (Sabk-e Hindi) in Persian Poetry who went to Kashmir & Influenced Taqhir Ghani Kashmiri... Large Format Paperback 7" x 10" 254 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. I am astonished." Dr. Mir Mohammad Taghavi (Dr. of Literature) Tehran."Superb translations. 99% Hafiz 1% Paul Smith." Ali Akbar Shapurzman, translator 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 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, Yunus Emre, Lalla Ded, Bulleh Shah, Mahsati, Iqbal and others, and his own poetry, fiction, plays, biographies, children's books and a dozen screenplays. amazon.com/author/smithpa
THREE GREAT SUFI POETS OF KASHMIRLalla Ded, Nund Rishi, Ghani Kashmiri Selected PoemsTranslation & Introduction Paul SmithLalla Ded is the famous female poet/saint from Kashmir who lived at exactly the same time as Hafiz of Shiraz (1320-1392). Her vakhs (poems/sayings) are sung even today in Kashmir. She was married at a young age but the marriage was a failure and she walked out at the age of twenty-four. She became a disciple of Siddha Srikanth. It must have taken a lot of courage on her part to walk out of a marriage and to walk around unclothed as she did. She was treated with contempt by some and much reverence by others, seeing her as a saint and eventually as God-realized. Her two hundred vakhs are some of the oldest examples of Kashmiri written. She was a bridge between Hindu mysticism and Sufism. Nund Rishi ('Rishi' meaning Kashmiri Sufi) or Shaikh Nur ud-din, as he was afterwards named, was born at Kaimuh, a village two miles to the west of Bijbihara in Kashmir in 1377. He used his poetry as tool to spread the knowledge of the absolute and criticized the mullas and other pseudo-scholars and gave expression to the lives of the common people. He also composed many poems on the pitfalls of the spiritual path and on the love of the devotee for God. His poetry is called Shruks that are poems in the rhyme structure of A-B, A-B. The Rishi order is a Sufi tradition of religious harmony and it was founded by among others Nund Rishi. He was popular as a Sufi Perfect Master in Kashmir in his lifetime and still is. Ghani Kasmiri (1610-1668) is Kashmir's greatest Sufi poet of the Persian language. His teacher & spiritual master was another great Sufi & poet Mushin Fani. Ghani was visited in Kashmir by Sa'ib, Kalim & Qudsi, along with Ghani some of the most influential poets of the new style of Indian Persian poetry (Sabk-e-Hindi). Ghani led a simple life often in seclusion and never wrote for royalty or the rich. He exposed corruption and sang of truth, love and beauty in ghazals and ruba'is that are unique. Both Ghalib and Iqbal were influenced by him and sang his praises. These are the largest version of their poems in English keeping the correct rhyme structure of the originals. Introduction on htheir Life & Times & Poetry and on the forms of Poetry. Selected Bibliographies. Large Format Paperback 7" x 10" 434 pages. Paul Smith 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, Yunus Emre. Lalla Ded, Mahsati and others, and his own poetry, fiction, plays, biographies, children's books, screenplays.www.newhumanitybooks.com
GHANI KASHMIRI: LIFE & POEMSTranslation & Introduction by Paul SmithGhani Kasmiri (1610-1668) is Kashmir's greatest Sufi poet of the Persian language. His teacher & spiritual master was another great Sufi & poet Mushin Fani. Ghani was visited in Kashmir by Sa'ib, Kalim & Qudsi, along with Ghani some of the most influential poets of the new style of Indian Persian poetry (Sabk-e-Hindi). Ghani led a simple life often in seclusion and never wrote for royalty or the rich. He exposed corruption and sang of truth, love and beauty in ghazals and ruba'is that are unique. Both Ghalib and Iqbal were influenced by him and sang his praises. He was popular as a Sufi Perfect Master in Kashmir in his lifetime and there is a revival today there and in the west for his poetry. This is one of the largest version of his poems in English and the only one keeping the correct rhyme structure of the originals. Introduction on his Life & Times & Poetry and on the forms of his Poetry. Selected Bibliography. 120 pages. ~Introduction to Sufi Poets Series~'AISHAH Al-BA'UNIYAH, AMIR KHUSRAU, ANSARI, ANVARI, AL-MA'ARRI, 'ARIFI, 'ATTAR, ABU SA'ID, AUHAD UD-DIN, BABA FARID, BABA AZFAL, BABA TAHIR, BEDIL, BULLEH SHAH, DARA SHIKOH, GHALIB, GHANI KASHMIRI, HAFIZ, HASAN DEHLAVI, IBN 'ARABI, IBN YAMIN, IBN AL-FARID, IQBAL, INAYAT KHAN, 'IRAQI, JAHAN KHATUN, JAMI, KAMAL AD-DIN, KABIR, KHAQANI, KHAYYAM, LALLA DED, MAKHFI, MANSUR HALLAJ, MIR, MU'IN UD-DIN CHISHTI, NAZIR, NESIMI, NIZAMI, OBEYD ZAKANI, RAHMAN BABA, RUMI, SADI, SA'IB, SANA'I, SARMAD, SHABISTARI, SHAH LATIF, SHAH NI'MAT'ULLAH, SULTAN BAHU, YUNUS EMRE, EARLY ARABIC SUFI POETS, EARLY PERSIAN SUFI POETS, URDU SUFI POETS, TURKISH SUFI POETS, AFGHAN SUFI POETS 90-120 pages each. Paul Smith 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, Yunus Emre. Lalla Ded, Mahsati, Ibn 'Arabi and others, and his own poetry, fiction, plays, biographies, children's books, screenplays.www.newhumanitybooks.com
Forsaking Paradise is a collection of stories that address and express the angst ridden dilemmas of modern Ladakhi society. Written by Abdul Ghani Sheikh, one of the foremost writers in Urdu in Ladakh today, these stories offer a glimpse into a world that has been highly romanticized but is grounded in reality.
Srinagar in the winter of 1989 was an eerie ghost town witnessing the beginnings of a war dance. The dam burst the night boys from the separatist JKLF group were freed in exchange for the release of Rubaiya Sayeed, the Union home minister's daughter. As Farooq Abdullah had predicted, the government's caving in emboldened many Kashmiris into thinking that azaadi was possible. It was a long, slow haul to regaining control. From then to now, A.S. Dulat has had a continuous engagement with Kashmir in various capacities. The initiatives launched by the Vajpayee government, in power from 1998 to 2004, were the high point of this constant effort to keep balance in a delicate state. In this extraordinary memoir, Dulat gives a sweeping account of the difficulties, successes and near triumphs in the effort to bring back Kashmir from the brink. He shows the players, the politics, the strategies and the true intent and sheer ruthlessness of the meddlers from across the border. Kashmir: The Vajpayee Years paints an unforgettable portrait of politics in India's most beautiful but troubled state.
Every moment it seeks to slip from the mind’s nook Fresh poetic meaning is a gazelle to be captured The Captured Gazelle is an elegant and lucent translation of the poems of the seventeenth-century Persian poet Mulla Tahir Ghani, better known as Ghani Kashmiri. Eulogized by poets such as Mir and Iqbal, Ghani is an outstanding representative of sabk-e-Hindi or the ‘Indian style’ in Persian poetry, which became a hallmark of the Mughal–Safavid literary culture. The introduction situates Ghani against his unique background in which Iranian and Indian poetic cultures came together to create a glorious literary age in Kashmir, while the translations capture Ghani in his wide spectrum of moods—satirical, playful, self-pitying, pessimistic, mystically resigned—bringing alive his wit and ingenuity in a modern idiom without losing hold on the tone.
On a cold February night in 1991, a group of soldiers and officers of the Indian Army pushed their way into two villages in Kashmir, seeking out militants assumed to be hiding there. They pulled the men out of their homes and subjected many to torture, and the women to rape. According to village accounts, as many as 31 women were raped. Twenty-one years later, in 2012, the rape and murder of a young medical student in Delhi galvanized a protest movement so widespread and deep that it reached all corners of the world. In Kashmir, a group of young women, all in their twenties, were inspired to re-open the Kunan-Poshpora case, to revisit their history and to look at what had happened to the survivors of the 1991 mass rape. Through personal accounts of their journey, this book examines questions of justice, of stigma, of the responsibility of the state, and of the long-term impact of trauma.
Himalayan Kingdoms, Buddhist palaces, mountain treks and spectacular scenery entwine in newly accessible Kashmir, introduced by Bradt in the first detailed guide to the region.
THE BOOK OF NUND RISHI (Shaikh Nur ud-din) Selected Poetry Translation & Introduction Paul Smith Nund Rishi ('Rishi' meaning Kashmiri Sufi) or Shaikh Nur ud-din, as he was afterwards named, was born at Kaimuh, a village two miles to the west of Bijbihara in Kashmir in 1377. He used his poetry as tool to spread the knowledge of the absolute and he vehemently criticized the so-called Mullas and other pseudo-scholars of Islam and gave expression to the lives of the poor and common people of the valleys. He also composed many poems on the pitfalls of the spiritual path and on the love of the devotee for God. His poetry is commonly called Shruks that are poems in the rhyme structure of A-B, A-B. His shorter 2 couplet Shruks of which he composed more than any others are called, as in the case of t his mentor Lalla Ded, vakhs. The Rishi order is a Sufi tradition of religious harmony and it was founded by among others Nund Rishi. He was popular as a Sufi Perfect Master in Kashmir in his lifetime and still is This is the largest version of his poems in English and the only one keeping the correct rhyme structure of the originals. Introduction on his Life & Times & Poetry and on Sufis, Rishis, Dervishes; Their Art and Poetry. 214 pages. Large Format Paperback 7" x 10." 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 Lit.) Tehran. "Superb translations. 99% Hafiz 1% Paul Smith." Ali Akbar Shapurzman, translator of 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). Paul Smith is a poet, author and translator of many books of Sufi poets of the Persian, Arabic, Urdu, Turkish, Pashtu, Kashmiri and other languages... including Hafiz, Sadi, Nizami, Rumi, 'Attar, Sana'i, Jahan Khatun, Obeyd Zakani, Nesimi, Kabir, Anvari, Ansari, Jami, Khayyam, Rudaki, Yunus Emre, Lalla Ded, Ghani Kashmiri and many others, as well as his own poetry, fiction, plays, biographies, children's books and a dozen screenplays. www.newhumanitybooks.com
