The great Persian poet Hafez is so beloved in Iran that almost every family there keeps his "Divan" close at hand. For some fifteen years, esteemed American poet and author Robert Bly has worked with the great Islamic scholar Leonard Lewisohn to produce this translation, which for the first time captures Hafez's nimbleness, his fierce humor, his astonishing range of thought, and his delight in love--enabling English speakers to fully appreciate the true genius of this master of the "ghazal" form, one of the greatest inventions in the history of poetry.

The first volume in a three-volume set, this is a study of the rise of Persian Sufi spirituality and literature in Islam during the first six Muslim centuries. This collection of 24 essays covers the key achievements of the Muslim intellectual and cultural tradition in history, mysticism, philosophy and poetry. It demonstrates the positive role played by Sufi thinkers during this period. The subjects covered include: Sufi masters and schools; literature and poetry; spiritual chivalry; divine love; Persian Sufi literature - Rumi and 'Attar.

I.B.Tauris in association with the Iran Heritage Foundation After six hundred years, the Persian lyrical poet Hafiz (d. 1389) still remains the most popular poet in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and other parts of Central Asia where Persian is spoken today as the mother tongue. Imitated by the likes of Goethe in Germany, venerated by Tennyson in England and Emerson in the United States during the nineteenth century, he continues to attract attention and inspire admirers worldwide. Hafiz's masterful use of the rhetorical arts, his poetic devices and his skill in imagery are acclaimed as the benchmark of lyrical excellence in Persian. Yet the undying cult of Hafiz's popularity owes as much to his fascinating cosmopolitan romantic vision as to the exceptionally high calibre of his poetry. This important volume is not only the first study to date of the philosophical, theological and mystical bases of Hafiz's erotic spirituality but the most comprehensive introduction to the poet's romantic philosophy, literary tradition, poetry and biography yet published in any European language. It situates for the first time Hafiz's rhetoric of romance within the broader context of 'Love Theory' in Arabic and Persian poetry. The work will appeal not only to students of Islamic philosophy, Sufism and Middle Eastern studies but also to a wider audience interested in comparative poetics, Eastern literature and spirituality, medieval romance and the philosophy of love.

This last volume of three is devoted to the examination and celebration of the artistic, literary and mystical culture and the intellectual life of 16th, 17th and the first half of 18th century Safavid Iran and Mughal India. The early part of this period marked the peak of Muslim political power.

This collection - the second of a three-volume study - examines the roots of the artistic, literary and cultural renaissance of Sufism from the 12th to the 15th centuries. It includes essays on Rumi's poetry and imagery; Sufi music and the idea of ecstacy; sainthood and Neoplatonism; comparative metaphysics and literature; and unity of religion theory in Sufi philosophy.