Prigarina Natalya

Hafiz. Ghazals in Philological Translation. Part 1

Москва, 2012, 606 p.

Shamsuddin Muhammad Hafiz is one of the greatest lyric poets in the world literature. Russians have been translating Hafiz (circa 1315 – 1389) since the early 19th century. Despite the numerous translations, there is still no complete scholarly edition of his poetry. A team of researchers has prepared the complete philological translation of the Divan of Hafiz. The whole work must be published in three volumes. The present book goes up to first 100 ghazals. The edition includes Persian texts of the ghazals and their Russian translation in equilinear prose. Each Persian original is followed by the scansion of the first line and the full name of the metrical paradigm in the terms of ‘aruz. The translation of the poem is furnished with a commentary to each line including a short discussion on the chosen interpretation; the data essential to understanding the interplay of conventional poetic clichés and the author’s own inventions are also included. The edition contains indexes of personal names and Qur’an quotations. The translation is prefaced with an introductory article containing basic information related to Hafiz’s life, times and oeuvre. The book is meant for experts on Persian literature, mediaevalists studying other literary traditions, poets-translators, and all the lovers of Iranian culture. It would also serve as a guide for the students of literature eager to read and understand Hafiz in Persian as well as for those who are just curious about the great poetry “in the making”.