The Gift
by Hafiz

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Book Reviews of The Gift

Book Review: 10 Stars ... gathered around Love's Full Moon
Summary: 5 Stars

. . . However, its subtitle of 'Poems by Hafiz' is a bit of a misnomer -- the poetic 'renderings' in it are not like the renderings of any other book I'm acquainted with (save others by the same author). This is inspired poetry by Daniel Ladinsky, inspired by his deep and whole-hearted immersion in the poetry of Hafiz and expressing the same spiritual themes and truths that Hafiz expressed. In fact, these poems are so beautiful and inspiring and enlightening, and come from such a deep place of spiritual truth and knowing, that it's hard to write about them without sounding fawning or insincere. But if you read them, you will see for yourself. As I mentioned, though, to me they are not translations of Hafiz, and, for the most part, neither are they ordinary versions or renderings of Hafiz poems, because they do not seem to follow the form or the conceptual outline of any of the known poems of Hafiz, as far as I can tell -- though many, if not most, lines express ideas culled directly from Hafiz's poems.

. . . That said, I'm sure Hafiz would be applauding (or perhaps IS applauding) from the spheres above, upon reading:
. . . "If God Invited You to a Party", about the Divinity indwelling in every creature,
. . . or "Against My Own Hand", about God the Beloved showing a perfect reflection of the inner being of the lover,
. . . or "Mismatched Newlyweds", about the inevitable omnipresence of God's grace,
. . . or "Let's Eat", encouraging the reader to drink the Wine of God's love,
. . . or "Looking for Good Fish", encouraging the reader who is looking for truth and love to dine on Hafiz's poems, rather than wander into the desert of materialism, of rationalism, of selfishness and spite, of empty religious ritual and formalism,
. . . or "Why Just Ask the Donkey", about the folly of using rationality to analyze and express love,
. . . or "That Magnificent Storm", about the ruin and annihilation of the lover as the lover merges into the being of the Beloved
. . . or "Too Beautiful", about the fire of love and longing that consumes the lover as he approaches near and nearer to the Beloved.

. . . I could go on and on. In fact, this book is veritably a bountiful feast of poetry, with approximately 250 wonderful and delicious morsels of love and truth.

Here, for the most part, there is no literal rendering of Hafiz
. . . bringing back to view, in antique flavors, the roses and nightingales,
. . . the desert and the dervish Tavern's Wine,
. . . the kings and slaves and emperors of old
. . but
. . . like dewdrops of love's light falling to earth
. . . . . . . . . in an eternal dawn
. . . these poems express in modern language the same spirit of love,
. . . . . of Divine Love, that flows through
. . . . . the colorful images of the old translations.

. . . It's as if Hafiz has temporarily come back to earth, and, peeking through the clouds of the past, has recast some of his poetry into the language of everyday objects and metaphor, to present his message of Divine Love to a modern audience. Here (in my own words) are some of the lessons of Love and God conveyed by these poems:

. . . The soul can reach God
. . . Surrender all to the Master
. . . Be heedless of the world's
. . . . . . frightened and frightening conventions
. . . Sacrifice everything for love
. . . Drink down the wine of love from every source -- from every moment and atom and inch of existence
. . . Every commonplace
. . . . . . image and experience of this world
. . . . . is really an expression of Divine Love
. . . The lover loses everything -- material and intellectual and emotional
. . . . . . in Union with God,
. . . . . . . . the Divine Beloved
. . . Hafiz expresses the out-and-out munificence of Love
. . . . . . as he shares everything, every facet of love,
. . . . . . . . with his listeners
. . . . . . finding the Presence of God
. . . . . . . . in everything
. . . . . . . . . . equally in
. . . . . . . . . . . . every little bit
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . of Creation
. . . Don't let the hypocrisy of conventional
. . . . . . religion and morality
. . . . . . . . . depress you
. . . . . . . . . . . . and stop you from enjoying
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . love and life
. . . There is much pain in love, but don't let that stop you --
. . . . . . just love all the more
. . . I (Hafiz) love you, and so I am writing these poems
. . . . . . to uplift your spirit, to set your heart
. . . . . . . . . dancing
. . . Be happy and enjoy life, for all of life
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . is a divine gift -- never be afraid to love
. . . The world is a place of transient, unpredictable
. . . . . . . ups and downs -- let it go,
. . . . . . . and drink the Wine of God's love
. . . . . . . . . . instead
. . . Oh Beloved, listen to my cry and
. . . . . . come to me
. . . Oh God, Your love makes up
. . . . . . for all the
. . . . . . pain and
. . . . . . shortcomings
. . . . . . . . of this world

Forgive me
. . . if I sound a bit off-kilter
. . . . . . in writing this review
. . . . . . . . . . . tonight
. . . for I have become a bit
. . . . . . . . intoxicated
. . . . . . rereading these poems

... some of these poems
. . . . . . . I actually feel like kissing,
. their truth
. . . . . . is so sparkling and blatant and manifest
. . . . . . . . . . . . . so beautiful and tender
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . that I actually feel
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . like kissing the written page.

These poems are exquisite jewels
. . . that in a moment of unsuspected surprise
. . . . . . . . . . . . cut into the deepest recesses
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . of the heart
. . . . . . exposing to the light the beauty
. . . . . . . . . that has always
. . . . . . . . . . . underlain existence
. . . . . . . . . the beauty
. . . . . . . . . . . that the drudgery and struggle
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . of this world
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . so often
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . make me forget
. . .
This book is well-named -- it makes a great gift for friends. And, through the medium of Mr. Ladinsky's inspired pen, it is manifestly a Gift from the Giver of all gifts.

I feel Mr. Ladinsky has only begun to mine the treasure horde of this virtually infinite lode of underground Wealth, which is the inspiration that old Hafiz gives for this 'modern' age. The gems he has unearthed and polished in the brilliant sun are enough to blind anyone to the darkness and despair and confusion heaped upon us by the ignorance of the present age. It is almost inconceivable... to open these pages and to taste -- to savor down to my heart's depths -- one jewel of love and wisdom and generosity after another after another.... How does he do it...? I eagerly await the next volume.

Poetry Books

• Books > Subjects > Literature & Fiction
• Religion & Spirituality > Islam > Sufism