Haft Paykar

"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

SKU
27403g

A Medieval Persian Romance

Nizami
Translated with an Introduction and Notes by Julie Scott Meisami

September 2015 - 368 pp.

Grouped product items
Format ISBN Price Qty
Cloth (no dust jacket) 978-1-62466-431-1
$57.00
Paper 978-1-62466-430-4
$21.00
Instructor Examination (Review) Copy 978-1-62466-430-4
$4.00

eBook available for $16.95. Click HERE for more information.

A reprint of the 1995 Oxford University Press edition.

Reviews:

"It was a refreshing, old-fashioned pleasure to read Julie Scott Meisami’s verse translation of, and introduction and notes to, this twelfth-century Persian allegorical romance."
     —Orhan Pahmuk, in the Times Literary Supplement

 

"It is such a pleasure to see Meisami's excellent translation of this major work of Persian literature back in print. This translation will be indispensable for teaching comparative literature and Persian literature in translation and for advanced students of Persian who can read the original alongside the translation. I am also glad that it appears to be complete with the extremely useful notes and glossary."
     —Jocelyn Sharlet, University of California, Davis 

 

"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 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."
     —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

 

About the Author:

Julie Scott Meisami is Emeritus Lecturer in Persian, University of Oxford.