Faraday polarization rotators are commonly used in laser experiments. Most Faraday materials have a nonnegligible absorption, which is a limiting factor for high power laser optical isolators or for intracavity optical diodes. By using a stronger magnetic field and a shorter length of Faraday material, one can obtain the same polarization rotation and a reduced absorption. In this paper, we describe two permanent magnet arrangements that are easy to build and produce magnetic fields up to 1.7 T , substantially more than commonly used. The field homogeneity is largely sufficient for a 30 dB isolation ratio. We finally discuss the prospects for producing even larger fields with permanent magnets