"Tabatabai's poems are movable homelands of language rooted in the strictures of the Persian classical tradition and at home in lucid, plainspoken eloquence."
- George Kalogeris, author of Dialogos
In this the author's first stand-alone collection of poetry and translations, Sassan Tabatabai has composed a book of delicate mourning, exile, and love. Voices and scenes from classical literature — Petrarch, Milton, the Odyssey — blend with impressions of childhood, fits of romantic longing, and moments of alienation. The wide topical and emotional range of these poems is bound together by the measured, level lines of Tabatabai's verse. The clear and unadorned style of his poetry and translations reveals the author's unspoken respect for language and for the histories which lay behind each word.
Critical acclaim for Sassan Tabatabai's poetry:
David Ferry, winner of the 2011 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize, and National Book Award winner: "It's a privilege to read these poems. The tenderness and nobility they let us hear is not only in the voice of Tabatabai's personal poems, but also in the poems he translates from the Persian, in a voice always so careful and so respectful of the experiences the poems register, both personal and historical. Sometimes the stories told are stories of historical disasters and personal loss, told with a voice respectful and reticently compassionate."
Springs Toledo, author of The Gods of War: "This book is stunningly good ... These poems and others offer unforgettable glimpses into the wonder that was Persia and the talent that is Sassan Tabatabai."
Rosanna Warren, winner of the American Academy of Arts and Letters Award of Merit in Poetry, and former Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets: "Sassan Tabatabai has composed a book of delicate mourning, exile, and love. Ancient Persia and modern Iran harmonize in his vision, as do the ancient poems of Rudaki and Rumi and the contemporary poems of Kadkani in Tabatabai's translations."
Amir-Hussein Radjy, reviewing for The New York Times, describes Tabatabai's translation of Sadeq Hedayat's Blind Owl for Penguin Books as "much-needed and clear."
Erin Clemence, reviewing Tabatabai's Hedayat translation in Mystery & Suspense: "This uncensored, translated version of one of the most prolific and controversial novels of the last century is a life-changing experience."
From Amazon, a review of Sufi Haiku from customer "ebb and flow": "This lovely book is produced in a way remarkably suited to its content. With one three-line poem printed on a spacious, cream-colored background, each page, interspersed with occasional illustrations, encourages one to slow down and absorb the meaning and vividness of the haiku. Those who take the time to do so will discover in the experience a great sense of peace and tranquillity, an oasis from worldly cares."
A five-star reader review on Amazon: "The essence of the haiku is concision where the fewest words achieve the greatest effect, where meaning is neither imposed nor circumscribed. These poems, inspired by authors as diverse as Lao Tzu and the Sufi poet Attar, achieve a perfect tone with subtlety and grace, offering understanding without instruction, clarity without distinction, as the lover merges with the beloved, the soul with the oneness of God. Tabatabai s lightness of touch, like that of a Sufi master, belies a profound wisdom that resonates through this collection like a spiritual awakening passing from heart to heart."
