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Zakani, Obayd

 
9798161597514: Liber OZ: Five Books by the Best Persian Satirist of All Time

Synopsis

Liber OZ is an English translation of the writings of Obayd Zakani, the best Persian satirist of all time, including the following books:

1- The Treatise of a Hundred Counsels
2- The Cheerful Treatise
3- The Treatise on the Ethics of the Aristocracy
4- Satirical Dictionaries
5- The Tale of Cat and Mouse


Written during the second Mongol invasion of Persia (ca. 1319-1371 AD), Obayd criticized many aspects of the chaotic situation that followed. He wrote about the corrupted ethics of his time, specifically the way the so-called nobility of his era treated people in a twisted Machiavellian way. He wrote about the inverted values and about the degradation of manliness. Obayd also attacked Sufism and asceticism. In his view, Sufis are nothing but freeloaders and termites, and ascetics are all hypocrites. But nothing comes close to his hatred of judges and lawyers. He reveals that vileness and malice were the requirements of attaining higher degrees in the judiciary system of his era, and judges and their friends belong to Hell. Sounds familiar, right?

He wrote about the inverted values of his time, and we, too, suffer from the inversion of values. Our media condemn 'toxic masculinity' and praise politicians who are servants of demons. Our schools and academia are corrupt. Our liberal institutions are anti-liberal, Democracy gives people the illusion of having a choice, and the majority of people just follow the trends mindlessly. LIBER OZ tells us how to navigate our ship in these troubled waters..

The first book is The Treatise of a Hundred Counsels, in which he follows the footsteps of Plato and Anushirvan, King of Iran, in assembling a brief guide for the beginners of life. The second book, The Cheerful Treatise, includes his Persian and Arabic jokes. The third book is The Ethics of the Aristocracy, in which he criticizes the prevalent ethics of his time, when the inversion of values and truth was customary. The fourth book is his Dictionaries that reminds one of Devil’s Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce, yet this one is more stingy and more dangerous. The fifth book is the tale of Cat and Mouse, which is the most famous part of Obayd’s poems.

In this translation for the first time ever, the Tale of Cat and Mouse, has been versified into a proper English meter.

I hope you enjoy this book and it helps you to reflect on the shortcomings of our own era in the light of an old satirical work. Peace.

(This book contains adult content.)

Les informations fournies dans la section « Synopsis » peuvent faire référence à une autre édition de ce titre.