Obayd-e Zakani

Acclaimed translator Dick Davis breathes new life into the timeless works of three masters of fourteenth-century Persian literature. Together, Hafez, a giant of world literature; Jahan Malek Khatun, an eloquent princess; and Obayd-e Zakani, a dissolute satirist, represent one of the most remarkable literary flowerings of any era. All three lived in the famed city of Shiraz, a provincial capital of south-central Iran, and all three drew support from arts-loving rulers during a time better known for its violence than its creative brilliance. Here Dick Davis, an award-winning poet widely considered 'our finest translator of Persian poetry' (The Times Literary Supplement), presents a diverse selection of some of the best poems by these world-renowned authors and shows us the spiritual and secular aspects of love, in varieties embracing every aspect of the human heart. A Choice Magazine Outstanding Academic Title for 2013Dick Davis is a translator, a poet, and a scholar of Persian literature who has published more than twenty books. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and has taught at the University of California at Santa Barbara and Ohio State University. He lives in Columbus, Ohio.

A giant of world literature, an eloquent princess, a dissolute satirist -- these are the three voices translated from fourteenth-century Persian by Dick Davis in Faces of Love. Together, they represent one of the most remarkable literary flowerings of any era. All three -- Hafez, Jahan Malek Khatun, and Obayd-e Zakani -- lived in Shiraz, a provincial capital in south-central Iran, and all drew support from arts-loving rulers at a time better known for invasions and political violence. Love was a frequent subject of their work: spiritual as well as secular, in varieties embracing every aspect of the human heart. They could hardly have been more different. Hafez -- destined to win fame throughout the world -- wrote lyrical poetry that was subtle, elusive, and rich in ambiguity. Jahan -- largely forgotten until recent decades -- was a privileged princess who could evoke passion, longing and heartbreak with uncanny power.(As Davis says: "To have this extraordinary poets fascinating and often very beautiful poems emerge from six hundred years of virtual oblivion seems almost miraculous") Obayd -- a satirist and truth-teller -- celebrated every pleasure of the flesh in language of astonishing and occasionally obscene honesty.