Shimmering light
Subtitle: an anthology of Ismaili poetry
By: translated into English by Faquir Muhammad Hunzai ; introduced and edited by Kutub Kassam.
Contributors: Hunzāʼī, Faqīr Muḥammad.; Kassam, Kutub.; Institute of Ismaili Studies.
Publisher: I.B. Tauris in association with the Institute of Ismaili Studies, London; In the U.S.A. and in Canada distributed by St. Martin's Press
Published: 1996
Place of publication: London; New York; New York, NY
Language: eng
Number of pages: 162
Subjects: Ismaili poetry -- Translations into English.; Islamic poetry, Arabic -- Translations into English.; Islamic poetry, Persian -- Translations into English.
Genres: Translations into English.
Description: Poetry, often of great beauty and subtlety, has always been central to the spiritual life of Islam, particularly among Sufis and other esoteric branches of the faith. Through the ages it has been composed in both learned and popular forms, in classical languages as well as local dialects, to express love and devotion for God, the Prophet Muhammad and his family.

Although a large body of the great poetry of the Islamic world has been translated into English, the poetry of the Ismailis, except for a small portion, is still only accessible in the original.

This anthology will enable lovers of devotional and mystical poetry to sample for the first time the great range and depth of Ismaili poetry. The selection spans a thousand years of Ismaili history, from the times of the Fatimid caliphate to the present day. It includes both sophisticated and popular verses from the Ismaili poets of North Africa, Syria, Iran, Afghanistan, Central Asia and Pakistan composed in Arabic, Persian and Urdu.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 147-149) and indexes.
Translation of "a compilation of some of the shorter poems and verses of the leading Ismaili poets who composed in Arabic or Persian." cf. p. 18.