BABA AFZAL: SUFI POET & PHILOSOPHER Ruba'iyat (Large Print & Large Format Edition) Translation & Introduction by Paul Smith Baba Afzal (1186-1256) came from Maraq near Kashan. He is the author of many Persian works on philosophical and metaphysical subjects and translated the Arabic version of Aristotle's 'The Book of the Soul' into Persian. He was a Sufi and the author of about 500 mystical and at times controversial ruba'is some that have been mistakenly identified as Omar Khayyam's. Some of the themes in these include warnings about the futility of involvement with the things of the world, correspondence between microcosm and macrocosm and self-knowledge as the goal of all human existence. He is one of the greatest poets among the philosophers of Islam and one of the greatest of this form. Introduction includes: The Life, Times & Work of Baba Afzal, Sufis: Their Art & Use of Poetry, The Ruba'i: Its Form, Use & History. The correct rhyme-structure has been kept as well as the beauty and meaning of these poems. Large Print (18pt) & Large Format (8" x 10") Edition. 202 pages. Paul Smith is a poet, author and translator of over 80 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, Nesimi, Kabir, Anvari, Ansari, Jami, Khayyam, Rudaki, Yunus Emre, Lalla Ded and many others, and his poetry, fiction, plays, biographies, children's books, screenplays. amazon.com/author/smithpa