The Drunken universe : an anthology of Persian Sufi poetry /

The purposes of compiling this book were to offer a more or less complete "cycle of Sufism" through its literature, and to do this through poems that could be "transformed" into good English poetry. In short, Wilson and Pourjavady sought to create a guide to reading Persian Sufi poetry. Well equipped through training and conviction, they have to some extent achieved their aim. They present a particular view of Sufism, derived from the thought of Ahmad Ghazali and Ibn 'Arabi. The selection of poems is intelligent, and some lesser-known poets are included. The translations are excellent, although the poems have been "transformed" and dramatized by typographical rearrangement. The notes on poets and guide to further reading are out of date, however, referring to no scholarship after 1979 and leaving works important for the Western reader unmentioned--e.g., Annemarie Schimmel's As Through a Veil: Mystical Poetry in Islam (1982) and her authoritative Mystical Dimensions of Islam (CH, Oct '76). Recommended only for undergraduate libraries supporting courses in the history of religion or Sufism. W. L. Hanaway University of Pennsylvania