FROM THE PUBLISHER'S
DESK

At last I have succeeded in bringing out the book of Prof. Abul Ashraf Noor's poems titled "Songs of Love Soulfully" As believe that "Poetry begins in delight and ends in wisdom", I have taken the opportunity and poetic vision of an outstanding poet in the International Open Poetry Contest by the US based International Library of Poetry for his poem "The Mystery of a Barren Woman" in order to invest the best of our cultural and civilization in the international communities for world peace.

The judges of the Board selected Prof. Noor out of 33 poets from around the world whose artistry will be recorded on compact disc (CD) and cassette tape and printed in the anthology "The Silence Within" Prof. Noor who had served as a teacher for long 35 years, was a long time faculty member of Faujdarhat Cadet College and Principal of Pabna Cadet College. After his retirement, he is leading an active life as an advisor of a leading firm in Bangladesh.His prime hobby is to write poetry and Bengali short stories during his leisure hours.

Let the minds of the readers act sanely to hold the key to the world's future by preserving the essence of Bengali culture and excellence in all its facets for all peoples and for all ages. This volume aims at seeking the expansion of the human mind, spirit, soul and body as a matter of necessity for world-peace. Keeping this thing in view, the hazards of luxury in modern living under the banner of mock-culture or pseudo-aristocracy must be ended at the beginning of the 21st century. I sincerely hope that this volume will sell well both at home and abroad.

ABID.A.AZAD

Preface
The beauty of Poetry is poetic vision and imagination. Its values lie at the root of human hearts and souls. My love for writing poems is a passion for receiving the benefits of therapy in my old age demanding the touch of divine bliss and peace for all on earth.

The advantages of being a bilingual poet are many. the chief being the transfer of poetic thoughts and hopes from man to human families all over the world for blissful pleasure and joys of reading English poems among the lovers of global culture and literature since the dawn of our civilization in the cruel world of ours today.

In our times literary hazards of luxury do not hold the key to the global village where the language of the hearts is the same both at home and abroad. Keeping this in view, my full length book of poems contains the published ones of mine from the Daily Star, The bangladesh Observer, The Independent and The New Nation. Let me hope that this volume may be treated as a small beginning for ending the influence of mock-culture and pseudo-aristocracy for the good of posterity in future times of the 21st century.

In fine, I am indebted to my own elder brother, A.S.M Nurannabi who is a prolific writer and famous columnist in Bangladesh for his active support to me in the preparation of the present volume and to my wife, Rumerla Noor who acts in silence to help me avoid man's negative attitude to life and modern living. I also owe to my ex-student M. Anwarul Haq, now the diplomatic correspondent of the Daily Star, who had published my first book of poems- Poems of the Unsung From Bangladesh in the early seventies. I am most grateful to my publisher, Abid.A.Azad-a young man of merit and wisdom and Mahbub Husain Khan, a fiction-writer and renowned columnist for their positive patronage to my poetic producetion for a better understanding amont different nations of the world.

Abul Ashraf Noor

House#9, Road #4, Sector # 5, Uttara, Dhaka-1230, Bangladesh, Telephone: 8913851 (Home)