Kabir: The Weaver's Songs (Black Classic

Knowledge ahead knowledge behind Knowledge to the left and right. The knowledge that knows what knowledge is That’s the knowledge that’s mine. Bijak sakhi 188 One of India’s greatest mystics Kabir (1398-1448) was also a satirist and philosopher a poet of timeless wit and wisdom. Equally immersed in theology and social thought music and politics his songs have won devoted followers from every walk of life through the past five centuries. He was a Muslim by name but his ideas stand at the intersection of Hinduism and Islam Bhakti and Yoga religion and secularism. And his words were always marked by rhetorical boldness and conceptual subtlety. This book offers Vinay Dharwadker’s sparkling new translations of one hundred poems drawing for the first time on major sources in half a dozen literary languages. They closely mimic the structure voice and style of the originals revealing Kabir’s multiple facets in historical and cultural contexts. Finely balancing simplicity and complexity this selection opens up new forms of imagination and experience for discerning readers around the world. About the Author Vinay Dharwadker was born in Pune in 1954 and was educated at St Stephen’s College Delhi University and the University of Chicago. He is the author of a book of poemsSunday at the Lodi Gardens (1994) and an editor ofThe Oxford Anthology of Modern Indian Poetry (1994) a co-editor ofThe Collected Poems of A.K. Ramanujan (1995) and the general editor ofThe Collected Essays of A.K. Ramanujan (1999). His other edited books includeCosmopolitan Geographies New Locations in Literature and Culture (2001). He has published translations of modern Hindi Marathi Urdu and Punjabi poetry as well as essays on literary theory translation studies and Indian English literature. He teaches Indian languages and literatures at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he also serves as the director of the Centre for South Asia.