Robert Bly

Leonard Lewisohn

Thirty Poems of Hafez

The Angels Knocking on the Tavern Door

CLASSIC PERSIAN SUFISM: FROM ITS ORIGINS TO RUMI is a unique introduction into the rise and development of Persian Sufi spirituality and literature. Written in the form of essays, the book focuses historically upon the first six Muslim centuries and captures the mood of the mystics' meditative, interiorized, highly sophisticated vision of Islam.

From Its Origins to Rumi

Classical Persian Sufism

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.

Classical Persian Sufism from Its Origins to Rumi (700-1300) v.1

The Heritage of Sufism

Javad Nurbakhsh

TRADITIONS OF THE PHROPHET, VOLUME ONE contains commentaries by the great classic Persain poets and spiritual masters in the Sufi tradition.

Traditions of the Prophet

First Published in 1994. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

A Critical Edition of the Divan of Muhammad Shirin Maghribi

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.

M. Ali Lakhani

Reza Shah-Kazemi

This is the definitive introduction to the writings of 'Ali, who was the son-in-law to the Prophet Muhammad, the fourth caliph to Sunni Muslims, and the central figure in Shi'a Islam. Two essays in this anthology won awards at the International Congress on Iman 'Ali, Tehran, 2001. Seyyed Hossein Nasr, pronounced them, among the best writings on this extraordinary figure in Western languages and are obligatory reading for anyone interested in 'Ali.

The Teachings of ʻAlī Ibn Abī Ṭālib

The Sacred Foundations of Justice in Islam

Jalal al-Din Rumi (1207-73), founder of the Mevlevi Sufi order of “Whirling Dervishes,” is the best-selling poet in America today. The wide-ranging appeal of his work is such that UNESCO declared 2007 to be “International Rumi Year.” However, his writings represent much more than love poetry. Rumi was one of the preeminent thinkers of Sufism, the esoteric form of Islam. In this groundbreaking collection of 13 essays on Rumi, many of the world’s leading authorities in the field of Islamic Studies and Persian Literature discuss the major religious themes in his poetry and teachings. In addition to discussing the ideas of love, ecstasy, and music in Rumi’s Sufi poetry, the essays offer new historical and theological perspectives on his work. The immortality of the soul, freewill, the nature of punishment and reward, and the relationship of Islam to Christianity are all covered, in order to bring Rumi’s poetry properly into the context of the Sufi tradition to which he belonged.

Rumi and The Sufi Tradition

The Philosophy of Ecstasy

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.

Leonard Lewisohn

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