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The Subject Tonight Is Love: 60 Wild and Sweet Poems Inspired by Hafiz
A rich collection that brings the great Sufi poet Hafiz to Western readers, from bestselling poet Daniel Ladinsky
Perhaps more than any other Persian poet, it is Hafiz who most fully accesses the mystical, healing dimensions of verse. Acclaimed poet Daniel Ladinsky has made it his life’s work to create modern, inspired renderings of the world’s most profound spiritual poetry. Through Ladinsky’s renderings, Hafiz’s voice comes alive across the centuries, singing his timeless message of love.
With this stunning collection, Ladinsky has once again succeeded brilliantly in capturing the essence of one of Islam’s greatest poetic and spiritual voices.
“Ladinsky is a master who will be remembered for finally bringing Hafiz alive in the West.” —Alexandra Marks, The Christian Science Monitor
Perhaps more than any other Persian poet, it is Hafiz who most fully accesses the mystical, healing dimensions of verse. Acclaimed poet Daniel Ladinsky has made it his life’s work to create modern, inspired renderings of the world’s most profound spiritual poetry. Through Ladinsky’s renderings, Hafiz’s voice comes alive across the centuries, singing his timeless message of love.
With this stunning collection, Ladinsky has once again succeeded brilliantly in capturing the essence of one of Islam’s greatest poetic and spiritual voices.
“Ladinsky is a master who will be remembered for finally bringing Hafiz alive in the West.” —Alexandra Marks, The Christian Science Monitor
88 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1996
91 people are currently reading
2395 people want to read
About the author
Hafez
341 books743 followersHāfez (حافظ) (Khwāja Shams-ud-Dīn Muḥammad Ḥāfeẓ-e Shīrāzī) was a Persian poet whose collected works (The Divan) are regarded as a pinnacle of Persian literature and are to be found in the homes of most people in Iran, who learn his poems by heart and still use them as proverbs and sayings.
His life and poems have been the subject of much analysis, commentary and interpretation, influencing post-14th century Persian writing more than any other author
Themes of his ghazals are the beloved, faith, and exposing hypocrisy. His influence in the lives of Persian speakers can be found in "Hafez readings" (fāl-e hāfez, Persian: فال حافظ) and the frequent use of his poems in Persian traditional music, visual art, and Persian calligraphy. His tomb is visited often. Adaptations, imitations and translations of his poems exist in all major languages.
Though Hafez is well known for his poetry, he is less commonly recognized for his intellectual and political contributions. A defining feature of Hafez' poetry is its ironic tone and the theme of hypocrisy, widely believed to be a critique of the religious and ruling establishments of the time. Persian satire developed during the 14th century, within the courts of the Mongol Period. In this period, Hafez and other notable early satirists, such as Ubayd Zakani, produced a body of work that has since become a template for the use of satire as a political device. Many of his critiques are believed to be targeted at the rule of Amir Mobarez Al-Din Mohammad, specifically, towards the disintegration of important public and private institutions. He was a Sufi Muslim.
His work, particularly his imaginative references to monasteries, convents, Shahneh, and muhtasib, ignored the religious taboos of his period, and he found humor in some of his society's religious doctrines. Employing humor polemically has since become a common practice in Iranian public discourse and persian satire is now perhaps the de facto language of Iranian social commentary.
شمس الدین محمد، حافظ شیرازی، ملقب به حافظ و لسان الغیب
مشهورترین و محبوبترین شاعر تاریخ زبان فارسی و ادبیات ایران
حوالی سال ۷۲۶ هجری قمری در شیراز متولد شد. علوم و فنون را در محفل درس برترین استادان زمان فراگرفت و در علوم ادبی عصر پایهای رفیع یافت. خاصه در علوم فقهی و الهی تأمل بسیار کرد و قرآن را با چهارده روایت مختلف از برداشت. پژوهشگران احتمال میدهند همین دلیل باعث شده لقب او حافظ شود. حافظ مسلمان و شیعه مذهب بود و در وادی سلوک و طریقت، عرفان خاص خود را داشت. دیوان اشعار او شامل غزلیات، چند قصیده، چند مثنوی، قطعات و رباعیات است. اما در شعر آنچه بیش از همه او را دست نیافتنی کرده است غزلهای حافظ است. حافظ در سال ۷۹۲ هجری قمری در شیراز درگذشت. آرامگاه او در حافظیهٔ شیراز زیارتگاه صاحبنظران و عاشقان شعر و ادب پارسی است. او همواره و
همچنان برای ادبیات پس از خود الهامبخش و تاثیرگذار بوده است
شعرِ حافظ در زمان آدم اندر باغ خُلد
دفترِ نسرین و گُل را زینتِ اوراق بود
His life and poems have been the subject of much analysis, commentary and interpretation, influencing post-14th century Persian writing more than any other author
Themes of his ghazals are the beloved, faith, and exposing hypocrisy. His influence in the lives of Persian speakers can be found in "Hafez readings" (fāl-e hāfez, Persian: فال حافظ) and the frequent use of his poems in Persian traditional music, visual art, and Persian calligraphy. His tomb is visited often. Adaptations, imitations and translations of his poems exist in all major languages.
Though Hafez is well known for his poetry, he is less commonly recognized for his intellectual and political contributions. A defining feature of Hafez' poetry is its ironic tone and the theme of hypocrisy, widely believed to be a critique of the religious and ruling establishments of the time. Persian satire developed during the 14th century, within the courts of the Mongol Period. In this period, Hafez and other notable early satirists, such as Ubayd Zakani, produced a body of work that has since become a template for the use of satire as a political device. Many of his critiques are believed to be targeted at the rule of Amir Mobarez Al-Din Mohammad, specifically, towards the disintegration of important public and private institutions. He was a Sufi Muslim.
His work, particularly his imaginative references to monasteries, convents, Shahneh, and muhtasib, ignored the religious taboos of his period, and he found humor in some of his society's religious doctrines. Employing humor polemically has since become a common practice in Iranian public discourse and persian satire is now perhaps the de facto language of Iranian social commentary.
شمس الدین محمد، حافظ شیرازی، ملقب به حافظ و لسان الغیب
مشهورترین و محبوبترین شاعر تاریخ زبان فارسی و ادبیات ایران
حوالی سال ۷۲۶ هجری قمری در شیراز متولد شد. علوم و فنون را در محفل درس برترین استادان زمان فراگرفت و در علوم ادبی عصر پایهای رفیع یافت. خاصه در علوم فقهی و الهی تأمل بسیار کرد و قرآن را با چهارده روایت مختلف از برداشت. پژوهشگران احتمال میدهند همین دلیل باعث شده لقب او حافظ شود. حافظ مسلمان و شیعه مذهب بود و در وادی سلوک و طریقت، عرفان خاص خود را داشت. دیوان اشعار او شامل غزلیات، چند قصیده، چند مثنوی، قطعات و رباعیات است. اما در شعر آنچه بیش از همه او را دست نیافتنی کرده است غزلهای حافظ است. حافظ در سال ۷۹۲ هجری قمری در شیراز درگذشت. آرامگاه او در حافظیهٔ شیراز زیارتگاه صاحبنظران و عاشقان شعر و ادب پارسی است. او همواره و
همچنان برای ادبیات پس از خود الهامبخش و تاثیرگذار بوده است
شعرِ حافظ در زمان آدم اندر باغ خُلد
دفترِ نسرین و گُل را زینتِ اوراق بود
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 136 reviews
October 29, 2018
I've been trying to read more poetry lately. It's something I used to do a lot of, but over the years I've slowly left it behind.
If you haven't read Hafiz, he's one of the great Persian poets. He's funny and arrogant and ridiculous and wise. These newer translations are a real treat, and in my opinion, even people who aren't particularly into poetry have a decent chance of really enjoying them.
If you haven't read Hafiz, he's one of the great Persian poets. He's funny and arrogant and ridiculous and wise. These newer translations are a real treat, and in my opinion, even people who aren't particularly into poetry have a decent chance of really enjoying them.
August 23, 2010
THIS BOOK IS A CON! It is not written by Hafiz, and the twerp who wrote it - Daniel Ladinsky - should have his writing hand cut off for identity theft. He is billed as translator but claims to "interpret" Hafiz. In fact, many of the poems are originals and not translations or interpretations (which explains why they are so terrible).
If this jerk Ladinsky had a single moral fiber in his body, he would confess that he is a fake and a phony. He has, in fact, stolen Hafiz's good name and used it for his own personal gain.
Dover books offers an excellent edition of the classic translations of Hafiz by Gertrude Bell (with notes and introduction by Ms. Bell) under the title The Garden of Heaven: Poems of Hafiz. At two bucks, it is a price any poet can afford and a fraction of the cost of Ladinsky's travesty. May he be forever masticated in Satan's mouth.
If this jerk Ladinsky had a single moral fiber in his body, he would confess that he is a fake and a phony. He has, in fact, stolen Hafiz's good name and used it for his own personal gain.
Dover books offers an excellent edition of the classic translations of Hafiz by Gertrude Bell (with notes and introduction by Ms. Bell) under the title The Garden of Heaven: Poems of Hafiz. At two bucks, it is a price any poet can afford and a fraction of the cost of Ladinsky's travesty. May he be forever masticated in Satan's mouth.
May 24, 2016
I AM A FLUENT PERSIAN-SPEAKER AND THIS IS NOT HAFEZ. LADINSKY THE LEECH HAS MADE UP ALL THESE POEMS. DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK! IT IS BAD POETRY, SPIRITUAL FRAUD AND MARKETING CHARLATANRY! I'm sorry to yell my dear brothers and sisters, but it's important. This book sucks. Its not Hafez in any way shape or form but crummy New Age numbskullery pulled out of Ladinsky's backside. As poetry it sucks. As cultural appropriation of the riches of Persian literature it is shameful in its deceit. Under no conceivable circumstances whatsoever should you buy this book. Ignore the other reviewers here, none of whom have done even 2 mins worth of research to find out that Ladinsky has translated nothing but pulled off a con with the shameless help of Penguin. All the deluded fanboys giving positive reviews are helping to perpetuate a scandal and a con and a shameful deceit.
Aside from Ladinsky the Lousy's deceit (as well as his reviewers', and the critics', baffling silence on the matter), there is the exceptionally poor standard of the poetry. If the poems were at least good in English as Hafez is in Persian, then perhaps his chicanery might be somewhat excused.
I will not enumerate the thousand mistakes, stupidities, cliches, or trite formulaic utterances of this book, nor the thousand arrogant statements of Ladinsky in his introduction or elsewhere. For that, go to the blog Poems Found in Translation by A.Z. Foreman (who has some knowledge of Persian) and read the review of this tripe there.
I guess my dear brothers and sisters in the world must have a lot more money that I do, too much money, because I cannot fathom why anyone should want to make themselves an accessory to this hoax and this plunder of one of the glories of Persian literature. I have loved Hafez my whole life - as do most Iranians and Persian-speakers- and he is sooooooooo much better than this garbage by Ladinsky the Leech.
The closest to the words and lines of Hafez are Reza Saberi's translations. Saberi actually speaks Persian and is also a professor of English literature. Sometimes Dick Davis can be good, he is an academic in Persian too. Also try Leonard Lewisohn, who also knows fluent Persian.
Aside from Ladinsky the Lousy's deceit (as well as his reviewers', and the critics', baffling silence on the matter), there is the exceptionally poor standard of the poetry. If the poems were at least good in English as Hafez is in Persian, then perhaps his chicanery might be somewhat excused.
I will not enumerate the thousand mistakes, stupidities, cliches, or trite formulaic utterances of this book, nor the thousand arrogant statements of Ladinsky in his introduction or elsewhere. For that, go to the blog Poems Found in Translation by A.Z. Foreman (who has some knowledge of Persian) and read the review of this tripe there.
I guess my dear brothers and sisters in the world must have a lot more money that I do, too much money, because I cannot fathom why anyone should want to make themselves an accessory to this hoax and this plunder of one of the glories of Persian literature. I have loved Hafez my whole life - as do most Iranians and Persian-speakers- and he is sooooooooo much better than this garbage by Ladinsky the Leech.
The closest to the words and lines of Hafez are Reza Saberi's translations. Saberi actually speaks Persian and is also a professor of English literature. Sometimes Dick Davis can be good, he is an academic in Persian too. Also try Leonard Lewisohn, who also knows fluent Persian.
February 11, 2018
Being honest, I was poised to hate the book, Daniel Ladinsky has managed a dubious reputation as translator, blamed by quite a few as a shill larding self-help affirmations with traces of ancient poetry.
That sounds like a case for Arno Schmidt—but he’s dead.
I don’t know about the degree of license taken but I did appreciate the images. There’s a drunken ecstasy at play. There are poetic love bruises. Sure, there are anachronisms, I have doubts Hafiz was preoccupied with being cool or ever waxed on “getting stoned.” This volume did encourage me to pursue other translations.
That sounds like a case for Arno Schmidt—but he’s dead.
I don’t know about the degree of license taken but I did appreciate the images. There’s a drunken ecstasy at play. There are poetic love bruises. Sure, there are anachronisms, I have doubts Hafiz was preoccupied with being cool or ever waxed on “getting stoned.” This volume did encourage me to pursue other translations.
Read
November 5, 2025So apparently this translation is not accurate and more of a free interpretation which is why I’ve decided to just rate it as something standing on its own.
I loved most parts of it and Ladinsky has a beautiful way of writing, however some lines felt really off, like the use of what the hell or damn. Although rare, those moments took me out of it, since the topics don’t fit that type of language. Nevertheless still 90% great poems, clearly inspired by Hafiz, although I would have preferred to read an actually accurate translation of course
I loved most parts of it and Ladinsky has a beautiful way of writing, however some lines felt really off, like the use of what the hell or damn. Although rare, those moments took me out of it, since the topics don’t fit that type of language. Nevertheless still 90% great poems, clearly inspired by Hafiz, although I would have preferred to read an actually accurate translation of course
August 8, 2011
No one can keep us from carrying God
Wherever we go.
No one can rob His Name
From our heart as we try to relinquish our fears
And at last stand -- Victorious.
We do not have to leave him in the mosque
Or church alone at night;
We do not have to be jealous of tales of saints
Or glorious masts, those intoxicated souls
Who can make outrageous love with the Friend.
We do not have to be envious of our spirits’ ability
Which can sometimes touch God in a dream.
Our yearning eyes, our warm-needing bodies,
Can all be drenched in contentment
And Light.
No one anywhere can keep us
From carrying the Beloved wherever we go.
No one can rob His precious Name
From the rhythm of my heart --
Steps and breath.
Wherever we go.
No one can rob His Name
From our heart as we try to relinquish our fears
And at last stand -- Victorious.
We do not have to leave him in the mosque
Or church alone at night;
We do not have to be jealous of tales of saints
Or glorious masts, those intoxicated souls
Who can make outrageous love with the Friend.
We do not have to be envious of our spirits’ ability
Which can sometimes touch God in a dream.
Our yearning eyes, our warm-needing bodies,
Can all be drenched in contentment
And Light.
No one anywhere can keep us
From carrying the Beloved wherever we go.
No one can rob His precious Name
From the rhythm of my heart --
Steps and breath.
August 25, 2012
I have dire suspicions about Daniel Ladinsky and his "translations," particularly given that he lists no scholarly (or even lingual) qualifications at all. If walking in the desert and being inspired qualified you to translate from the Persian, Hunter S. Thompson would've had a hell of a different career. This was my first attempt at Hafiz, and sadly I'll have to withhold judgment on the poet as I'm honestly not sure how much of his work is actually included in this book, and how much is simply the "translator's" bullshit.
December 24, 2007
Hafiz is the man, by the way. He was a fourteenth-century poet who spouts the most profound spiritual poetry I've ever come across. Perfect for taking walks in the woods and hollering his poems out to the trees at the top of your lungs (I do highly recommend doing this at least once before you die). Also appropriate to be lying around in a doctor's office, nursing home, or any other space where the joy of life is needing to be remembered. A must-have.
August 31, 2012
For someone who has read quite a bit of 'foreign language' poetry translated into english, i must admit that i don't know a ton about the art of translation and how it affects the outcome of what works i am reading. Still, I must say that while these translations often flirted with being even a bit too gritty and robust, often they shone with a diamond-clarity.
As for the poems themselves, I must say i am a bit at odds with the whole god-thing, being an agnostic at best. Yet i could often relate to Hafiz's God, the Friend, the Rascal, most of all the Beloved. In the absence of diety worship i have interposed certain other entities and concepts in the place of 'god' into my self, and when reading this book I could see my affection for those concepts and people substituted for and imbued with Hafiz's Beloved. Is this too relative? Stretching it too far just to get some enjoyment out of some quite old verse? Who knows, yet something tells me Hafiz might not think so as his god is often universal and polymorphic, an understanding Friend.
As for the poems themselves, I must say i am a bit at odds with the whole god-thing, being an agnostic at best. Yet i could often relate to Hafiz's God, the Friend, the Rascal, most of all the Beloved. In the absence of diety worship i have interposed certain other entities and concepts in the place of 'god' into my self, and when reading this book I could see my affection for those concepts and people substituted for and imbued with Hafiz's Beloved. Is this too relative? Stretching it too far just to get some enjoyment out of some quite old verse? Who knows, yet something tells me Hafiz might not think so as his god is often universal and polymorphic, an understanding Friend.
June 25, 2007
Comparisons to Rumi are obvious though I find Hafiz to be less subtle and less mystical. And although I absoultely love Rumi and would pick him over Hafiz if I had to, some of the poems in this collection are truly amazing and I look forward to reading more Hafiz in the future.
April 14, 2010
Really dear Hafez, that is what we are all missing in today's sad world.
dnf
July 8, 2022right. considering this isn’t Hafez (see here for ex.) & is instead a book of Ladinsky’s dubious liberties of or homage to the source poet, I’m no longer keen on finishing this. I enjoy homages & adaptations but this seems less like a creative interpretation in translation of the poet’s voice than it is Ladinsky’s own.
June 11, 2019
Quite a different Hafiz collection than the other I read. Both great, but in different registers. (I do not know whether this is fundamental to Hafiz or more a result of different translators.)
Among many favorites, I particularly liked:
I Saw You Dancing
Out of the Mouths of a Thousand Birds
Absolutely Clear.
Among many favorites, I particularly liked:
I Saw You Dancing
Out of the Mouths of a Thousand Birds
Absolutely Clear.
September 13, 2017
Beautiful words, universal sentiments from one of my spiritual mentors.
February 11, 2025
Quick read for me nowadays, I’m going to tackle a different translation sometime.
March 18, 2025
Hafiz is one of my favorite poets, and The Subject Tonight is Love: 60 Wild and Sweet Poems inspired by Hafiz is a wonderful collection of a number of his finest and most profound missives of love and spirituality. Hafiz is still revered in the East and with this wonderful book; Daniel Ladinsky has masterfully brought the depth and essence of Hafiz’s writings to the West.
Hafiz is truly a poet touched by God. His poems are insightful, deeply moving at times and often laugh out loud funny. He embraces and then expounds upon the mystical and healing dimensions of poetry; and thanks to Ladinsky, Hafiz’s voice continues to inspire new readers with his everlasting message of love.
I highly recommend this book. Reading a Hafiz poem once a day will make that day a much, much better one.
Hafiz is truly a poet touched by God. His poems are insightful, deeply moving at times and often laugh out loud funny. He embraces and then expounds upon the mystical and healing dimensions of poetry; and thanks to Ladinsky, Hafiz’s voice continues to inspire new readers with his everlasting message of love.
I highly recommend this book. Reading a Hafiz poem once a day will make that day a much, much better one.
May 10, 2017
I love 'In a Tree House'
"Light
will someday split you open
even if your life is now a cage,
For a divine seed, the crown of destiny,
is hidden and sown on an ancient, fertile plain
that you hold the title to.
Love will surely bust you wide open
into an unfettered, blooming new galaxy
A life-giving radiance will come,
O look again within yourself,
For I know you were once the elegant host
To all the marvels in creation.
From a sacred crevice in your body,
a bow rises each night
and shoots your soul into God.
Behold the Beautiful One
from the vantage point of Love.
He is conducting the affairs
of the whole universe
in a tree house – on a limb
in your heart.
"Light
will someday split you open
even if your life is now a cage,
For a divine seed, the crown of destiny,
is hidden and sown on an ancient, fertile plain
that you hold the title to.
Love will surely bust you wide open
into an unfettered, blooming new galaxy
A life-giving radiance will come,
O look again within yourself,
For I know you were once the elegant host
To all the marvels in creation.
From a sacred crevice in your body,
a bow rises each night
and shoots your soul into God.
Behold the Beautiful One
from the vantage point of Love.
He is conducting the affairs
of the whole universe
in a tree house – on a limb
in your heart.
January 5, 2009
Hafiz is the sweetest poet I have ever come across. Reading his work especially that translated by Daniel Ladinsky is as beneficial as prayer or going to church.
Currently reading
January 24, 2009ecstatic poems to God!
October 7, 2010
Hafiz's poetry is a good touchstone that helps me remember almost everything that needs remembering.
November 12, 2010
Ladinsky breathes fire into Hafez' poems. " The gauge of a great love-poem is the size of the love-bruise it can weave into your soul..."
June 29, 2020
The translator shows very clearly in this, but I like it.
September 3, 2020
A spectacular translation of Hafiz's sweet poetry.
Hafiz is a Sufi poet like Rumi or Farid Al-Din Attar. Like both of them, every poem he writes is a psalm to the ecstatic love of God. You read the same metaphors that inspire other Sufi poetries: romantic love, burning fire, bruised lips, and so much wine.
Hafiz is Persia's best loved poet but less known in the United States. He has a remarkable wit and a gift for conciseness. Even if you don't know much about Sufi mysticism, he has a way with a phrase. If nothing else, reading this collection will give you Instagram captions for a year.
Some highlights:
• "I Knew We Would Be Friends" is a meet-cute of a poem. Clever, mind-widening, and short enough to fit in a yearbook. "As soon as you opened your mouth And I heard your soft Sounds, I knew we would be friends."
• "A Singing Cleaning Woman" speaks from the perspective of a leaf and belongs in every collection of ecological poetry between Joy Harjo and Walt Whitman. "Sweetheart--don't pick me, For I am busy doing God's work."
• "Deepening the Wonder" is as moving and thoughtful a rumination on death as Khalil Gibran's "On Death." (The link isn't surprising considering how much Sufi poetry influenced Gibran.) "Death is a favor to us, But our scales have lost their balance."
There's remarkable range in these poems. "Absolutely Clear" may make you cry: "Don't surrender your loneliness So quickly. Let it cut more deep. Let it ferment and season you. As few human Or even divine ingredients can." "Ten Thousand Idiots" will make you guffaw with its self-deprecation.
"The Subject Tonight Is Love" is both one of Hafiz's best poems and the right name for this collection. He sums up an entire life view in seven short lines.
"The subject tonight is Love
And for tomorrow night as well,
As a matter of fact
I know of no better topic
For us to discuss
Until we all
Die!"
But Hafiz's best summation of his poetry and self comes from "Narrow the Difference:"
"No one can read my poems out loud
In a tender, loving voice
And not narrow the difference,
Not narrow the gap
Between you and God."
Hafiz is a Sufi poet like Rumi or Farid Al-Din Attar. Like both of them, every poem he writes is a psalm to the ecstatic love of God. You read the same metaphors that inspire other Sufi poetries: romantic love, burning fire, bruised lips, and so much wine.
Hafiz is Persia's best loved poet but less known in the United States. He has a remarkable wit and a gift for conciseness. Even if you don't know much about Sufi mysticism, he has a way with a phrase. If nothing else, reading this collection will give you Instagram captions for a year.
Some highlights:
• "I Knew We Would Be Friends" is a meet-cute of a poem. Clever, mind-widening, and short enough to fit in a yearbook. "As soon as you opened your mouth And I heard your soft Sounds, I knew we would be friends."
• "A Singing Cleaning Woman" speaks from the perspective of a leaf and belongs in every collection of ecological poetry between Joy Harjo and Walt Whitman. "Sweetheart--don't pick me, For I am busy doing God's work."
• "Deepening the Wonder" is as moving and thoughtful a rumination on death as Khalil Gibran's "On Death." (The link isn't surprising considering how much Sufi poetry influenced Gibran.) "Death is a favor to us, But our scales have lost their balance."
There's remarkable range in these poems. "Absolutely Clear" may make you cry: "Don't surrender your loneliness So quickly. Let it cut more deep. Let it ferment and season you. As few human Or even divine ingredients can." "Ten Thousand Idiots" will make you guffaw with its self-deprecation.
"The Subject Tonight Is Love" is both one of Hafiz's best poems and the right name for this collection. He sums up an entire life view in seven short lines.
"The subject tonight is Love
And for tomorrow night as well,
As a matter of fact
I know of no better topic
For us to discuss
Until we all
Die!"
But Hafiz's best summation of his poetry and self comes from "Narrow the Difference:"
"No one can read my poems out loud
In a tender, loving voice
And not narrow the difference,
Not narrow the gap
Between you and God."
June 10, 2020
"A poet is someone who can pour light into a cup, then raise it to nourish your beautiful parched, holy mouth." This was Hafiz's response when he was asked, What is a poet? Here, the metaphors are as brilliant as they are delightful. I came to a poem knowing I'd be touched, surprised, and smiling. You won't read similes that use 'like' and 'as', Hafez will be that bird, will be that sky, that beautiful day - or the day will be that bird, the song will be ... you get the picture, haha.
Hafez was a lyrical, mystical poet of the Sufi tradition, from 14th century Persia. In The Subject Tonight is Love, you will find Hafez inviting us to join him in ecstatic joy, love, humor, questioning, guiding, and lots of spinning. Daniel Ladinsky gracefully moves Hafez's literature between centuries, cultures and languages.
It was interesting to have it explained why Hafez refers to himself in his work (it's like a signature in the poem, which is incidentally done in many current day reggaeton songs, for example J.Balvin, Bad Bunny, Daddy Yankee). The multiple names and symbols used to talk to and refer to god is also interesting. Like the Indian Ragas the poems where passed on aurally. I'm pretty sure I read they were not written down by the poet or recorded at that time.
Daniel Ladinsky is really more of an interpreter than a translator. Of course I wasn't there and I haven't looked at other translations, the earliest by H. Wilberforce Clarke published in 1891 ("Divan of Hafiz"). He writes how often worked on multiple translations of the same poem with nuances changing the meaning or lyrical focus.
I am a devoted Coleman Barks follower of his Rumi translations and I will say that Barks somehow avoids conveying the mood of his own burgeoning decade like Ladinsky does. It's probably just me. The Subject Tonight is Love reminds me of the late 60s.
Hafez was a lyrical, mystical poet of the Sufi tradition, from 14th century Persia. In The Subject Tonight is Love, you will find Hafez inviting us to join him in ecstatic joy, love, humor, questioning, guiding, and lots of spinning. Daniel Ladinsky gracefully moves Hafez's literature between centuries, cultures and languages.
It was interesting to have it explained why Hafez refers to himself in his work (it's like a signature in the poem, which is incidentally done in many current day reggaeton songs, for example J.Balvin, Bad Bunny, Daddy Yankee). The multiple names and symbols used to talk to and refer to god is also interesting. Like the Indian Ragas the poems where passed on aurally. I'm pretty sure I read they were not written down by the poet or recorded at that time.
Daniel Ladinsky is really more of an interpreter than a translator. Of course I wasn't there and I haven't looked at other translations, the earliest by H. Wilberforce Clarke published in 1891 ("Divan of Hafiz"). He writes how often worked on multiple translations of the same poem with nuances changing the meaning or lyrical focus.
I am a devoted Coleman Barks follower of his Rumi translations and I will say that Barks somehow avoids conveying the mood of his own burgeoning decade like Ladinsky does. It's probably just me. The Subject Tonight is Love reminds me of the late 60s.
December 7, 2022
Quotes from the poems and verses of the famous 14th century Sufi mystic Hafiz are found everywhere these days and I’ve gotten a lot of delight in contemplating some of the crazy wisdom they embody. However, their popularity in the Western world is a fairly new thing. This volume features 60 Hafiz poems translated by American seeker Daniel Ladinsky who was first introduced to the works of Hafiz on a spiritual journey to India as a college student. Of course I can’t discuss this book without addressing the obvious controversy of a non-Persian speaking Westerner translating these age-old verses. I think the criticisms are valid and deserve noting and considering. For any serious study of this poet’s work, it would certainly necessitate looking into a more scholarly translation. Still for the average non- Eastern seeker, these translations may just make their ecstatic, often “holy fool” wisdom more accessible to the rest of us. To bolster this point, I found a translation of a Rumi quote in another book I read recently called The Rumi Prescription, written by Iranian-American Melody Moezzi whose Persian father’s life-long passion for this other Sufi poet led him to this conclusion on the matter of different translations: “Better to be of the same heart than of the same tongue” And really, this gets to the heart of the matter. These poems as the title says, are all about love and there will always be something universal about the language of love.
April 25, 2023
Simple, accessible language; clear images; playful and silly while also being deep and poignant: masterful.
Daniel Ladinsky’s translation of Hafiz is such a joy to read. It’s hard to keep from smiling (and laughing) while reading. Rarely do I read poetry that is so childish, imaginative, and lighthearted that I wish I was there with the author, basking in his jolly and sagacious presence. I use the word “childish” and “lighthearted” here in the positive sense. These poems are not vapid or dull; they are bursting with color and life much like the mind of an imaginative and lighthearted child. Which is something to aspire to these days.
I’m not familiar with the culture and language of 14th century Persia so I have stake in the accuracy of Ladinsky’s translations but I do know these poems are a breath of fresh air when pressed against much modern poetry that is overly complex, serious, and all-too-often indecipherable.
My only qualm is how short the book is and perhaps not quite as concentrated in quality as The Gift or I Heard God Laughing but still great.
Daniel Ladinsky’s translation of Hafiz is such a joy to read. It’s hard to keep from smiling (and laughing) while reading. Rarely do I read poetry that is so childish, imaginative, and lighthearted that I wish I was there with the author, basking in his jolly and sagacious presence. I use the word “childish” and “lighthearted” here in the positive sense. These poems are not vapid or dull; they are bursting with color and life much like the mind of an imaginative and lighthearted child. Which is something to aspire to these days.
I’m not familiar with the culture and language of 14th century Persia so I have stake in the accuracy of Ladinsky’s translations but I do know these poems are a breath of fresh air when pressed against much modern poetry that is overly complex, serious, and all-too-often indecipherable.
My only qualm is how short the book is and perhaps not quite as concentrated in quality as The Gift or I Heard God Laughing but still great.
October 3, 2019
"Light
Will someday split you open
Even if your life is now a cage,
For a divine seed, the crown of destiny,
Is hidden and sown on an ancient, fertile plain
You hold the title to."
"This is the kind of Friend
You are —
Without making me realize
My soul’s anguished history,
You slip into my house at night,
And while I am sleeping,
You silently carry off
All my suffering and sordid past
In Your beautiful
Hands."
"As soon as you opened your mouth
And I heard your soft
Sounds,
I knew we would be
Friends.
The first time, dear pilgrim, I heard
You laugh,
I knew it would not take me long
To turn you back into
God."
"Don’t surrender your loneliness
So quickly.
Let it cut more deep.
Let it ferment and season you
As few human
Or even divine ingredients can."
"Just speak what you love about me.
Come closer if you are feeling
A little timid today
Or dense"
Will someday split you open
Even if your life is now a cage,
For a divine seed, the crown of destiny,
Is hidden and sown on an ancient, fertile plain
You hold the title to."
"This is the kind of Friend
You are —
Without making me realize
My soul’s anguished history,
You slip into my house at night,
And while I am sleeping,
You silently carry off
All my suffering and sordid past
In Your beautiful
Hands."
"As soon as you opened your mouth
And I heard your soft
Sounds,
I knew we would be
Friends.
The first time, dear pilgrim, I heard
You laugh,
I knew it would not take me long
To turn you back into
God."
"Don’t surrender your loneliness
So quickly.
Let it cut more deep.
Let it ferment and season you
As few human
Or even divine ingredients can."
"Just speak what you love about me.
Come closer if you are feeling
A little timid today
Or dense"
July 1, 2023
I loved these poems, even now when I find that they are only 'inspired' by the classical Persian poet, Hafez. Ladinsky went a bit far in calling himself a translator, but I still love these wild and sweet poems about God. I remember that Sonnets from the Portuguese were really originals penned by Elizabeth Barret Browning.
That should explain the title. The subject of this book is love of God, real, joyous, playful love.
Perhaps
For just one minute out of the day,
It may be of value to torture ourself
With thoughts like,
"I should be doing
A hell of a lot more with my life than I am--
Cause I'm so damn talented."
But remember,
For just one minute out of the day.
With all the rest of your time,
It would be best
To try
Looking upon your self more as God does.
For He knows
Your true royal nature.
God is never confused
And can see Only Himself in you.
That should explain the title. The subject of this book is love of God, real, joyous, playful love.
Perhaps
For just one minute out of the day,
It may be of value to torture ourself
With thoughts like,
"I should be doing
A hell of a lot more with my life than I am--
Cause I'm so damn talented."
But remember,
For just one minute out of the day.
With all the rest of your time,
It would be best
To try
Looking upon your self more as God does.
For He knows
Your true royal nature.
God is never confused
And can see Only Himself in you.
September 7, 2024
For the first time reading Hafiz, I was expecting a lot. I feel like Daniel failed to capture the beauty of his poems. The way most of these poems were delivered were painful to read and left me so confused. Hafiz’s poems, I heard, were delightful, moving, and had rhyme. It’s definitely challenging to translate a poem with the same effect in a different language, but that’s what was expected in this book. It’s not impossible to do. To compare, I’ve read Rumi’s poems (translated in English) and they were so beautiful. Daniel should have tried harder, his interpretation didn’t capture the beauty of the poems.
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