Khusro, the Indian Orpheus: A Hundred Odes

by Amir Khusrau, Khalid Hameed Shaida (Translator)

The translator Shaida does something altogether breathtaking in the expansive and lovely poems found in Khusro, the Indian Orpheus, A Hundred Odes, a collection of one hundred translated poems by the Persian poet, Khusro. Fans of Rumi, the translations of Coleman Barks in particular, and Persian poets in general will delight in this current and timeless effort. First of its kind, a new generation of readers will revel in the passion, fervor and infatuation of love and love's playthings. Behold, an ancient voice sings a marvelously modern melody, in this first ever English translation of Khusro's verse. A poet born in 1252 AD has now been preserved, his couplets on task to anoint readers with pretty thoughts and pretty plans of love. Truly, lovers of romantic poetry are in for a treat.

110 pages, Paperback

First published August 20, 2008

About the author

Ab'ul Hasan Yamīn ud-Dīn khusrow (1253–1325 CE) Hindi अमीर ख़ुसरौ, (Urdu: ابوالحسن یمین‌الدین خسرو‎;, better known as Amīr Khusraw (also Khusro, Khusrow, Hazrat Khusrow, Ameer Khusru) Dehlawī (meaning Amir Khusrau of Delhi) (امیر خسرو دہلوی) was a Sufi musician, poet and scholar. He was an iconic figure in the cultural history of the Indian subcontinent. He was a mystic and a spiritual disciple of Nizamuddin Auliya of Delhi. Amīr Khusrau is reputed to have invented certain musical instruments like the sitar and tabla.(The roots for tabla invention are found in India. The carvings in Bhaja Caves in the state of Maharashtra in India shows a woman playing Tabla and another woman performing a dance, dating back to 200 BC. Taals has developed since the Vedic or Upanishad eras in India). He wrote poetry primarily in Persian, but also in Hindavi. A vocabulary in verse, the Ḳhāliq Bārī, containing Arabic, Persian, and Hindavi terms is often attributed to him.

He is regarded as the "father of Qawwali" (a devotional music form of the Sufis in the Indian subcontinent), and introduced the ghazal style of song into India, both of which still exist widely in India and Pakistan. He is also credited with introducing Persian, Arabic and Turkish elements into Indian classical music and was the originator of the khayal and tarana styles of music.

Khusrau was an expert in many styles of Persian poetry which were developed in medieval Persia, from Khāqānī's qasidas to Nizami's khamsa. He used 11 metrical schemes with 35 distinct divisions. He has written in many verse forms including ghazal, masnavi, qata, rubai, do-baiti and tarkib-band. His contribution to the development of the g͟hazal, is significant.

(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Dustin Pickering · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent and odd. The Indian Orpheus is rendered with clarity and many of the odes employ playful repetition which renders them all the more delightful.

This translator has committed other Persian favorites to English, and I have read his renditions of Hafez as well. I find them delightful, modern with a sense of nostalgia, and often iconoclastic as the authors of the verses themselves were. I would recommend this collection to anyone interested in mysticism, love poetry than transcends materiality and discusses the deep resonance of love, and those who are new to poetic expression and desire to enlarge their reading list.

[R Schip · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is the sappiest third-grade poetry-esque translation possible. Maybe Khusro is this inane, but I hope it's just the translator.