Archetype – förlag

The aim of this volume is to give the general reader an introduction to the richest works of the great masters of Persian literature so that they can become better acquainted with this symbolic, mystical and sometimes— to the uninitiated— obscure literary world. Four discourses exploring the heart and soul of this rich and ancient literary tradition, have been collected here in a masterful translation by Leonard Lewisohn. The first, entitled ‘ Poetics and Aesthetics in the Persian Sufi Literary Tradition’ , demonstrates the underlying structure of Persian literature and introduces the key concepts that will open the doors to understanding the main themes of Persian literature; the second, ‘ Of Scent and Sweetness: ‘ Attar and his Legacy in Rumi, Shabistari and Hafiz’ , leads the reader through the ‘ seven cities of love’ so that they may taste the immortal nectar of this great mystic poet of Persia; in the third, ‘ The Principles of the Religion of Love in Classical Persian Poetry’ , the reader will enter the paradisal garden of Hafiz with its four rivers of paradise; and finally, the fourth centres on Rumi and his magic flute which tells tale after tale to enlighten the listener.

Drawing upon his wide knowledge of world religions the author in this book strikes at the root of everything that makes it difficult for people today to believe wholeheartedly in religion and in doing so, it shows modern man to be, in his own peculiar twenty-first century way, the embodiment of superstition in its most dangerous form. We are faced in the modern world with a situation similar to that in the fable of the Emperor's new clothes. This book aims to speak the truth about the modern outlook especially concerning science and metaphysics, in order to dispell the illusion that prevents the intellect from seeing things as they really are.