| Hafiz (Daniel Ladinsky) US (1945? - ) Timeline Muslim / Sufi Poems by Hafiz (Daniel Ladinsky) Books - Links |
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.
If you'd like to explore and compare them, here are some links to start with:
- More of Ladinsky's Hafiz
- Historical Hafiz.
Poems by Hafiz (Daniel Ladinsky)
- A Crystal Rim
- A Still Cup
- An Astronomical Question
- 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: Hafiz (Daniel Ladinsky)
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.
