What I like:

• This is the best Hafez translation - the text is poetic, readable, and contemporary. Professor Davis has done an excellent job of both preserving the meaning and the form (ghazal) of the original.

• Translations of the lesser-known poets Obayd Zakani and Jahan Malek Khatun also appear.

Note:

• This is not a compete translation of Hafez's divan.

• This text is not bilingual.

What I like:

• This is the best rhyming translation of Rumi’s Masnavi.

• The text follows a rhyme and meter scheme that closely resembles the Persian Original. It is readable, and contemporary, sacrificing very little of the original.

Note:

• This text is not bilingual.

What I like:

• The first full translation of the Gulistan in over a century.

• Contemporary English side-by-side with a critical edition of the original Persian.

• Qur‘anic references include verse number.

• Ample footnotes explaining the text.

What I like:

• The only complete translation of Rumi’s approximately two thousand Quatrains.

Note:

• The translation is dense and academic, suited more for academic use than casual reading.

What I like:

• This is without peer, it is a very valuable resource.

• Most of the poets and poems included in this book have never been translated.

Note:

• The text is not bi-lingual.