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Original Essays | November 5, 2009

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1 Beaverton Islam- Sufism
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25 Local Warehouse Classics- Medieval and Renaissance General
25 Remote Warehouse Poetry- A to Z

The Gift

by Hafiz

The Gift Cover

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

More than any other Persian poet, it is perhaps Hafiz who accesses the mystical, healing dimensions of poetry. With this collection of 250 of Hafiz's most intimate poems, Daniel Ladinsky has succeeded in capturing the essence of one of Islam's greatest poetic and religious voices. Each line of The Gift imparts the wonderful qualities of this spiritual teacher: an audacious love that empowers lives, profound knowledge, wild generosity, and a sweet, playful genius unparalleled in world literature.

Review:

"For those initiated in colder faces of worship, this Sufi's passionate freedom as God's loving partner is beyond heartwarming; reinvigorate yourself y opening any page and accepting its call." Napra Review

Review:

"A worthy companion volume to Coleman Banks's new translation of Rumi. It collects 250 poems written by Muhammad Hafiz (1320?89), the most popular and highly revered poet in Persian history, and renders them into a fresh translation from the Farsi. Like Rumi, Hafiz writes out of the Sufi tradition, and his work bears the Sufi hallmarks of ecstatic spirituality conveyed at once through lush imagery and verbal restraint....A fine preface by Ladinsky and an excellent introduction by Henry S. Mindlin." Kirkus Reviews

Synopsis:

With this stunning gift edition of 250 of Hafiz's most intimate poems, Ladinsky has succeeded brilliantly in translating the essence of one of Islam's greatest poetic and religious voices.

What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 2 comments:
anarkali, March 15, 2008 (view all comments by anarkali)
It is misleading to the point of deceptive to describe this book as a "translation" of Hafiz. Ladinsky does not speak Persian, and so cannot read Hafiz in the original. Nor has he based his poems on previous translations. Rather, he believes these poems to have been divininely chanelled - what Hafiz might have written if he were an American baby-boomer disciple of Meher Baba. You may or may not choose to believe this, and you may or may not enjoy the poems, but it is certainly worth buying a "real" translation of Hafiz so that you can compare for yourself. Personally, I far prefer Hafiz (and Rumi, and Kabir and all the various poets that Ladinsky has claimed to channel over the years) to Ladinsky.
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aliki27, May 19, 2007 (view all comments by aliki27)
Reading Hafiz is like laying on your back on soft green grass, sun on your skin, a sweet breeze you can really taste, and the hush beating of birds' wings above your head.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9780140195811
Translator:
Ladinsky, Daniel
Author:
Ladinsky, Daniel
Author:
Hafiz
Publisher:
Penguin Books
Location:
New York :
Subject:
Poetry (poetic works by one author)
Subject:
Translations into english
Subject:
Ancient, Classical & Medieval
Subject:
Sufi poetry, Persian
Subject:
Sufi poetry, Persian -- Translations into English.
Subject:
Sufism
Series Volume:
no. 8
Publication Date:
August 1999
Binding:
Paperback
Grade Level:
General/trade
Language:
English
Illustrations:
Yes
Pages:
352
Dimensions:
8.48x5.46x.93 in. .90 lbs.

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