HAFIZ: An Animated Film Screenplay Paul Smith HAFIZ is the true story of the ugliest boy of his age but with a remarkable memory whose father dies when he is eight and he has to live with his mother at his Uncle Sadi's house. Hafiz goes to work in a drapery shop where he becomes part of the people's overthrowing of a cruel ruler. He then becomes an apprentice baker, who delivers bread to the rich suburbs of Shiraz, Persia in 1320. One day he catches sight of Nabat, the beautiful daughter of one of the cities wealthy traders, promised to a handsome prince. Hafiz pours his love into his poems/songs dedicated to her. His words are so wondrous that the greatest minstrel of the day Hajji, takes up his instrument and serenades his loved one for him. His experiences with his Spiritual Master, Attar, and his songs and poems soon establish Hafiz as a force for truth and beauty through his much loved Shiraz, ravaged by wars and revolutions. Fame doesn't come easily as the ruthless rulers and priests conspire to silence the ever-increasing power of Hafiz's voice. Will he and Nabat and his friends like the jester Obeyd and the minstrel Hajji survive? Can words of love defeat hate's sword? Will Hafiz gain his heart's desire? 204 pages Goethe: "In his poetry Hafiz has inscribed undeniable truth indelibly... Hafiz has no peer " Gertrude Bell: "It is as if his mental Eye, endowed with wonderful acuteness of vision, had penetrated into those provinces of thought which we of a later age were destined to inhabit." Meher Baba: "There is no equal to Hafiz in poetry. He was a Perfect Master ... His Divan is the best book in the world because it engenders feelings which ultimately lead to illumination." COMMENTS ON PAUL SMITH'S TRANSLATION OF HAFIZ'S 'DIVAN'. "It is not a joke... the English version of ALL the ghazals of Hafiz is a great feat and of paramount importance. I am astonished. If he comes to Iran I will kiss the fingertips that wrote such a masterpiece inspired by the Creator of all and I will lay down my head at his feet out of respect." Dr. Mir Mohammad Taghavi (Dr. of Literature) Tehran. "I have never seen such a good translation and I would like to write a book in Farsi and introduce his Introduction to Iranians." B. Khorramshai, Academy of Philosophy, Tehran. "Smith has probably put together the greatest collection of literary facts and history concerning Hafiz." Daniel Ladinsky (Penguin Books author of his own poems inspired by Hafiz). Paul Smith is a poet and translator of over 130 books of Sufi poets of the Persian, Arabic, Turkis, Urdu, Hindi and other languages including Hafiz, Sadi, Nizami, Rumi, 'Attar, Sana'i, Jahan Khatun, Obeyd Zakani, Mu'in, Nesimi, Kabir, Anvari, Ansari, Rudaki, Abu Sa'id, Amir Khusrau, Baba Farid, Yunus Emre, Iqbal, Ghalib, Khushal Khan Khattak, Jami, Ibn Farid, Ibn 'Arabi, Rab'ia of Basra, Lalla Ded and others and his own poetry, fiction, childrens books, plays, biographies and a dozen screenplays