The Kasîdah of Hâjî Abdû El-Yezdî

by Richard Francis Burton

"The Kasîdah of Hâjî Abdû El-Yezdî" by Sir Richard Francis Burton is a long poem published in 1880. Written under a Persian pseudonym, Burton presents this work as a translation though no original text ever existed. The poem distills Sufi mystical thought into verse, exploring human reason, ego, and spirituality while drawing from classical Persian masters like Hafez and Omar Khayyam. Burton crafted what scholars call a "spiritual autobiography," attempting to bridge Eastern Sufi wisdom with Western thought through this elaborate literary deception.