Forty Poems from the Divan

by Nasir-i Khusraw

English, Persian (translation)

Genres: Poetry

144 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1977

About the author

Nasir Khusraw was born in 1004 CE, in Qubadiyan, then Greater Khorasan (near the present-day city of Balkh in Afghanistan). He was well versed in all the branches of natural science, in medicine, mathematics, astronomy and astrology, in Greek philosophy and the writings of al-Kindi, al-Farabi and Ibn Sina; and the interpretation of the Qur'an. He had studied Arabic, Turkish, Greek, the vernacular languages of India and Sind, and perhaps even Hebrew; he had visited Multan and Lahore, and the splendid Ghaznavid court under Sultan Mahmud, Firdousi's patron. Later on he chose Merv for his residence, and was the owner of a house and garden there.

Until A.H. 437 (1046 CE), he worked as financial secretary and revenue collector for the Seljuk sultan Toghrul Beg, or rather of his brother Jaghir Beg, the emir of Khorasan, who had conquered Merv in 1037. About this time, inspired by a heavenly voice in a dream, he abjured all the luxuries of life, and resolved upon a pilgrimage to the holy shrines of Mecca and Medina, hoping to find there the solution to his spiritual crisis.

read more:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasir_Kh...
in Persian: ناصر خسرو

Reviews

[Interzonatron · Rating 5 out of 5]

best book of Islamic poetry I’ve ever read. Nasir-i Khusraw (ra) is absolutely profound. The poems are saturated with a touch of Peter Lamborn Wilson’s (ra) anarchist transcendental romanticism as well. There’s certainly an eerie connection between the life/work of Nasir-i Khusraw & Peter Lamborn Wilson, both undergoing harsh criticism and dehumanizing insults from all sides, and both ultimately spending the final years of their lives in rural/semi-isolation, Nasir in Yamgan, Afghanistan; Peter in the the Hudson River Valley of NY. Yet, when Peter wrote this translation in Tehran, Iran in 1977, i doubt he would have ever imagined his life course would turn out to be not all too different from that of Nasir-I Khusraw.

“to a gnostic like you the sage is a plum
and the ignorant are thorns
- the good are hidden among the bad as a lonely datepalm
in a desert of brambles.
But you object: 'Nasir!
if you're such a noble spirit why do you vegetate here in Yamgan
lowly and alone?'
For me Yamgan
is God's refuge.
Look well! don't imagine me some sort of prisoner.
No one claims
that silver, diamonds, rubies are 'base' or 'held captive' in the mine”
- Nasir-I Khusraw, the divan