Tilism-e-Hoshruba: The Enchantment of the Senses

Translated by Shahnaz Aijazuddin

Penguin India

924 pages, Rs 650

Tilism-e-Hoshruba is an epic narrative of the adventures of the legendary Persian hero Emir Hamza, a narrative that has acquired popularity both through print and the performative Dastangoi form over the last few centuries. This condensed translation, based on Rais Ahmed Jafri’s classic 1960 version, renders the text’s highly Persianised Urdu into an eminently readable book that retains the essence of the original.