The Book of Shah Latif Bhitai
The Book of Shah Latif Bhitai

Author: Shah Bhitai

Publisher: CreateSpace

Published: 2015-02-23

Total Pages: 202

ISBN-13: 9781508586821

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THE BOOK OF SHAH LATIF BHITAI Translation & Introduction Paul Smith Shah Abdul Latif (1689-1752) was a Sufi Master and is considered by many to be the greatest poet of the Sindhi language. His book of poetry is called the Risalo. His shrine is located in Bhit and attracts hundreds of pilgrims every day. He is the most famous Sindhi poet and Sufi. He was not just adored for poetry, people from far and near respected and loved him as a Spiritual Master. He composed dohas (self-contained strict-rhyming couplets popular with poet-saints of India like Kabir, Surdas, Tukaram) and freed it from the chain of two lines, extending it to even five or six couplets, often with irregular rhyme structures. He also introduced one more string to the tambura, and founded a new tradition in music based on the synthesis of high art and folk art. He told the basic principles of Sufism in his poetry, often using folktales about human love such as that of Sasui and Punhu, becoming a bridge to Divine Love. Introduction on his Life & Times & Poetry & on Sufi Poetry, Selected Bibliography.Correct rhyme-structure has been achieved in all in all 132 poems. Large Format Paperback 7" x 10" 172 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 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 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, Rudaki, Yunus Emre, Iqbal, Ghalib, Lalla Ded, Makhfi, Ibn Farid, Abu Nuwas and many others, as well as poetry, fiction, plays, biographies, children's books and screenplays. www.newhumanitybooks.com

I Saw Myself
I Saw Myself

Author: Shabnam Virmani

Publisher: Penguin Random House India Private Limited

Published: 2019-07-15

Total Pages: 430

ISBN-13: 9353055962

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I saw myself I was the Beloved I made the world I myself seek it Travelling into the stark deserts of Kutch, I Saw Myself explores the contemporary presence of epic love legends of the region, such as Sohini-Mehar and Sasui-Punhu, brought to throbbing verse by the powerful eighteenth-century Sufi poet Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai. As the authors travel to villages to meet folk singers and lovers of Latif's poetry, immersing in sessions that stretch into the night, they unearth a unique, thriving love-soaked ethos in which the call to oneness rings out like a defiant manifesto for our divisive times. Retelling epics along with other tales and historical events that created the field of experience from which Shah Latif's poems sprang, I Saw Myself brings into English a selection of his finest poems. A spell is cast, of story and song, of metaphor and meaning. The insights that emerge are subtle, even startling, radical at times, solace-giving at others, but always deeply meaningful.

Seeking the Beloved
Seeking the Beloved

Author: ʻAbd al-Laṭīf (Shah)

Publisher:

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 304

ISBN-13:

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The Book Presents Selected Verse From The Shah Jo Risalo Of Shah Abdul Latif Of Bhitai, The Celebrated Sixteenth Century Sufi Poet. Known As One Of The Greatest Sufi Works In History, Shah Abdul Latif`S Shah Jo Risalo Is A Prayer, A Cry For The Beloved. Written More Than 250 Years Ago, Latif`S Poetry Is Deeply Rooted In The Human Experience Of Searching For The Self. This Is The First Comprehensive Translation To Appear In English From India.

Shah Jo Risalo
Shah Jo Risalo

Author: Mushtaq Ali Shah

Publisher:

Published: 2019-05-17

Total Pages: 496

ISBN-13: 9781099125072

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Shah Jo Risalo is a magnum opus of passionate poems, odes and songs, composed by an eighteenth-century polyglot poet, philosopher and musician, Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai. Laïque lyrics seek to illustrate metaphysical precepts with mundane metaphors such as; life and ethos of amorous women, pastoral people, steadfast ascetics, sailors, fishermen and peasants. English interpretation of the Risalo seeks to focus on philosophical themes while retaining the poetic flair of the verses that echo spiritual voyage through pastures, prairies, hills and harbours of the Indus valley.

Islam, Sufism and Everyday Politics of Belonging in South Asia
Islam, Sufism and Everyday Politics of Belonging in South Asia

Author: Deepra Dandekar

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-09-13

Total Pages: 435

ISBN-13: 1317435958

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This book looks at the study of ideas, practices and institutions in South Asian Islam, commonly identified as ‘Sufism’, and how they relate to politics in South Asia. While the importance of Sufism for the lives of South Asian Muslims has been repeatedly asserted, the specific role played by Sufism in contestations over social and political belonging in South Asia has not yet been fully analysed. Looking at examples from five countries in South Asia (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Afghanistan), the book begins with a detailed introduction to political concerns over ‘belonging’ in relation to questions concerning Sufism and Islam in South Asia. This is followed with sections on Producing and Identifying Sufism; Everyday and Public Forms of Belonging; Sufi Belonging, Local and National; and Intellectual History and Narratives of Belonging. Bringing together scholars from diverse disciplines, the book explores the connection of Islam, Sufism and the Politics of Belonging in South Asia. It is an important contribution to South Asian Studies, Islamic Studies and South Asian Religion.

One Palace, a Thousand Doorways
One Palace, a Thousand Doorways

Author: Vipul Rikhi

Publisher:

Published: 2019-09-10

Total Pages: 320

ISBN-13: 9789389231243

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'Like Kabir's "brilliant palace" (meaning the human body), this collection of poetry and reflection glows with vibrant colours... This book is a doorway to the living traditions of South Asia's great mystical poetry. Step in to find joy, sorrow, wisdom, humour, love, challenge, and perhaps inspiration to enter the singing fields yourself '--Linda Hess, author of Bodies of Song and The Bijak of Kabir A unique textual compilation for the modern seeker, this exceptional book brings together some of the greatest songs by Bhakti, Sufi and Baul mystic poets of northern India for the first time. Kabir, Nanak Das, Gorakhnath, Mira Bai, Khwaja Ghulam Farid, Bulleshah, Lalon Fakir, and Parvathy Baul, among others, illuminate the human condition with an enduring wisdom that resonates today as it did in centuries past. Variously acerbic or sensual, irreverent or devotional--and always incandescent and intimate--these songs explode beyond narrow religiosity and open doorways to the palace of true experience: ecstatic unity of the self with the universe. This carefully curated selection of 140 timeless songs in lucid translation and transliteration, accompanied with insightful commentary, is the result of Rikhi and Virmani's extensive research and travel across the subcontinent over two decades. Drawing upon the shared and many-splendoured spiritual heritage of the Indic civilization, One Palace, a Thousand Doorways lights up a path to profound fulfilment and bliss amidst the frenetic demands of modern life.

Aboard the Democracy Train
Aboard the Democracy Train

Author: Nafisa Hoodbhoy

Publisher: Anthem Press

Published: 2011-04

Total Pages: 268

ISBN-13: 0857289063

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'Aboard the Democracy Train' is a gripping front-line account of Pakistan's decade of turbulent democracy (1988-1999), as told through the eyes of the only woman reporter working during the Zia era for the nation's leading English language newspaper.

Rumi: Bridge to the Soul
Rumi: Bridge to the Soul

Author: Coleman Barks

Publisher: Harper Collins

Published: 2009-10-13

Total Pages: 172

ISBN-13: 0061753394

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Originally released in 2007, "Year of Rumi," to coincide with the poet's 800th birthday, by the pre-eminent Rumi poet Coleman Barks. In Rumi: Bridge to the Soul, Coleman Barks—who holds an honorary doctorate in Persian language and literature by the University of Tehran for his decades-long translations of Rumi—has collected and translated ninety new poems, most of them never published before in any form. The "bridge" in the title is a reference to the Khajou Bridge in Isphahan, Iran, which Barks visited with Robert Bly in May of 2006—a trip that in many ways prompted this book. The "soul bridge" also suggests Rumi himself, who crosses cultures and religions and brings us all together to listen to his words, regardless of origin or creed. Open this book and let Rumi's poetry carry you into the interior silence and joy of the spirit, the place that unites conscious knowing with a deeper, more soulful understanding.

A Season for Martyrs
A Season for Martyrs

Author: Bina Shah

Publisher: Delphinium

Published: 2014-11-04

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781883285616

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The U.S. literary debut of an up-and-coming Pakistani novelist and journalist. Ali Sikandar is assigned to cover the arrival of Benazir Bhutto, the opposition leader who has returned home to Karachi after eight years of exile to take part in the presidential race. Already eager to leave for college in the U.S. and marry his forbidden Hindu girlfriend, Ali loses a friend in a horrific explosion and finds himself swept up in events larger than his individual struggle for identity and love when he joins the People’s Resistance Movement, a group that opposes President Musharraf. Amidst deadly terrorist attacks and protest marches, this contemporary narrative thread weaves in flashbacks that chronicle the deep and beautiful tales of Pakistani history, of the mythical gods who once protected this land. Bina Shah, a journalist herself and now a NYT op-ed writer, illustrates with extraordinary depth and keen observation into daily life the many contradictions of a country struggling to make peace with itself.