MIR: LIFE & POEMS Translation & Introduction Paul Smith Mir Taqi Mir (1723 - 1810) was the leading Urdu poet of the eighteenth century and one of the pioneers of Urdu. He was one of the principal poets of the Delhi school of the Urdu ghazal. He was born in Agra and left for Delhi after the death of his father whose emphasis on the importance of love and the value of compassion remained with him, imbuing his poetry. At 17 he had a mental break-down and suffered from bouts of madness all his life. After the sack of Delhi he eventually moved to the court in Lucknow where he stayed for the remainder of his life. Like many Urdu poets Mir's literary reputation is from his ghazals. After moving to Lucknow his daughter died, then his son and wife. This, with other earlier setbacks, lends a strong pathos and melancholy to much of his writing. Like Obeyd Zakani and others before him Mir practiced the Malamati or 'Blameworthy' aspect of Sufism. His complete works or Kulliyat consists of 6 Divans, containing 13,585 couplets comprising all kinds of poetic forms: ghazals, masnavis, qit'as, ruba'is, etc He also composed a unique autobiography and a book on Urdu Poets and a book of spiritual advice for his son. Introduction: Mir's Life & Times & Poetry, Selected Bibliography, On the Various Poetic Forms Mir used. 120 pages Poets in the Introduction to Sufi Poets Series 'AISHAH Al-BA'UNIYAH, AMIR KHUSRAU, ANSARI, ANVARI, AL-MA'ARRI, 'ATTAR, ABU SA'ID, AUHAD UD-DIN, BABA FARID, BABA AZFAL, BABA TAHIR, BEDIL, BULLEH SHAH, DARA SHIKOH, GHALIB, HAFIZ, IBN 'ARABI, IBN YAMIN, IBN AL-FARID, IQBAL, 'IRAQI, JAHAN KHATUN, JAMI, KAMAL AD-DIN, KABIR, KHAQANI, KHAYYAM, LALLA DED, MAKHFI, MANSUR HALLAJ, MU'IN UD-DIN CHISHTI, NAZIR AKBARABADI, NESIMI, NIZAMI, OBEYD ZAKANI, RAHMAN BABA, RUMI, SANA'I, SADI, SARMAD, SHABISTARI, SHAH LATIF, SHAH NI'MAT'ULLAH, SULTAN BAHU, YUNUS EMRE, EARLY ARABIC SUFI POETS, EARLY PERSIAN SUFI POETS, URDU SUFI POETS, TURKISH SUFI POETS, AFGHAN SUFI POETS 90 - 120 pages each Paul Smith is a poet, author and translator of many books of Sufi poets from the Persian, Arabic, Urdu, Turkish, Pashtu and other languages including Hafiz, Sadi, Nizami, Rumi, 'Attar, Sana'i, Jahan Khatun, Obeyd Zakani, Mu'in, Nesimi, Kabir, Anvari, Ansari, Jami, Khayyam, Rudaki, Shah Latif, and others, and his own poetry, fiction, plays, biographies, screenplays. www.newhumanitybooks.com