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Sacred Poetry from Around the World

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Muslim / Sufi

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US
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Hafiz (Daniel Ladinsky)

Timeline (1945? - )

Poems by Hafiz (Daniel Ladinsky)
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People sometimes wonder why I don't feature more of Hafiz's poetry from Daniel Ladinsky's book, The Gift. They are such delightful, ecstatic, irreverent poems that have inspired so many people...

Ladinsky's books put me in an awkward spot. I really like the poetry from Ladinsky's books... but, well, they aren't actually by Hafiz. His collection of poetry entitled "The Gift: Poems by Hafiz the Great Sufi Master" actually contains no lines of poetry written by the great Sufi poet Hafiz!

Daniel Ladinsky seems to acknowledge this in his introduction to the book, when he writes, "I feel my relationship to Hafiz defies all reason... I had an astounding dream in which I saw Hafiz as an Infinite Fountaining Sun (I saw him as God), who sang hundreds of lines of his poetry to me in English, asking me to give that message to 'my artists and seekers.'"

You might say that Ladinsky's poetry is "inspired by" Hafiz. Or, if you prefer a broader interpretation, you could say Ladinsky channels Hafiz. But his "translations" are not the historical writings of Hafiz. From the more limited scholar's definition, these are poems by Daniel Ladinsky, not Hafiz.

So here's what I do: I enjoy Ladinsky's playful, profound poetry, but I look to other books to savor the historical poetry of Hafiz that Sufis and seekers have delighted in for centuries.

For some English versions of the historical Hafiz poetry, click here.

Poems by Hafiz (Daniel Ladinsky)

	A Crystal Rim
	A Still Cup
	An Astronomical Question
	Consumed in Grace
	Covers Her Face with Both Hands
	Everywhere
	Geronimo
	How Could a Lover Fall?
	I Have Learned So Much
	Laughing at the Word Two
	Love is the Funeral Pyre
	No Conflict
	Reverence
	That Lamp That Needs No Oil
	That Magnificent Storm
	The Great Religions
	The Hatcheck Girl
	The Source
	The Thousand-Stringed Instrument
	Then Winks
	Today
	What the Hell
	Why Aren't We Screaming Drunks?

Recommended Books

	The Gift: Poems by Hafiz the Great Sufi Master, by Daniel Ladinsky Amazon.com
	I Heard God Laughing: Renderings of Hafiz, by Daniel Ladinsky Amazon.com
	Love Poems from God: Twelve Sacred Voices from the East and West, Translated by Daniel Ladinsky Amazon.com
	The Subject Tonight Is Love: 60 Wild and Sweet Poems of Hafiz, by Daniel Ladinsky Amazon.com

Related Links:

	Murat Nemet-Nejat on Daniel Ladinsky's Hafiz http://home.jps.net/~nada/hafiz.htm A brief article that points out how the poetry in Ladinsky's The Gift may be inspired by Hafiz, but it is not based on the actual writings of Hafiz.

Please support the Poetry Chaikhana, as well as the authors and publishers of sacred poetry, by purchasing some of the recommended books through the links on this site. Thank you!

Poetry Chaikhana Sacred Poetry from Around the World

Hafiz (Daniel Ladinsky)

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Poetry Chaikhana
Sacred Poetry from Around the World

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