Haft Paykar: A Medieval Persian Romance

Description

Nizami's Haft Paykar is a deep, enduring work of literature, one that can be appreciated as psychological bildungsroman, fairytale, spiritual quest, and adventure tale. Meisami is a leading scholar of the classical Persian literary tradition, and her translation-the first full modern English rendering, and the only one to be based on a critical edition of the Persian text-pays close attention to the literary qualities of the poem.

Nizami is the pen-name of Abu Muhammad Ilyas ibn Yusuf ibn Zaki Mu'ayyad (c.1141-1209), a poet from the Transcaucasian city of Ganja. The Story of Layla and Majnun is one of five epic poems written by Nizami, and is considered to be a classic work of Sufi literature.

"The Haft Paykar Nizami's twelfth-century masterpiece, written in the Persian verse couplet form known as masnavi has waited a long time for a translation like this: one that simultaneously captures its lightness and charm and plumbs its wealth of cultural detail. Julie Meisami's deft, accurate, seemingly effortless version (rendered in English tetrameter, an inspired choice) is a rare accomplishment." Michael Beard, University of North Dakota "Nizami's Haft Paykar is a deep, enduring work of literature, one that can be appreciated as psychological bildungsroman, fairytale, spiritual quest, and adventure tale. Meisami is a leading scholar of the classical Persian literary tradition, and her translationthe first full modern English rendering, and the only one to be based on a critical edition of the Persian textpays close attention to the literary qualities of the poem." Franklin Lewis, University of Chicago "Meisami is one of the foremost specialists in Persian literature alive today. Her translation of the Haft Paykar not only makes available for the general reader one of the classics of Persian literature, but enriches it with an extensive introduction and notes of the highest quality." Jawid Mojaddedi, Rutgers University