The Gift by Hafiz Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Gift
Book Review: GIFT FROM THE SOUL
Summary: 5 Stars
What a gift of love from Hafiz/Ladinsky-as-Hafiz! One poem says "Hold this book close to your heart for it contains wonderful secrets." There is no doubt that Daniel Ladinsky has "brought through" Hafiz, the great Sufi master, poet, and consummate wordsmith who lived some 700 years ago in Persia. For it takes one to know one. Not only does it take the greatest of beings -- a Hafiz -- to seek to lead in love all would-be lovers of God into themselves, therein to find rubies. It also takes a great-hearted translator and interpreter to bring an author of wonders to life for another time and a different culture. Hafiz should speak for himself to describe this book. As therapist, he says "Love will turn the mouth of sorrow right side up." As spiritual trickster, he says "Stay near this book, it will stretch out its leg and trip you; you'll fall Into God." As cosmic courier, Hafiz is "Announcing a great bash tonight some of the planets are hosting where the lead singer is God himself." Who could turn down the invitation?
"These poems now rise in great white flocks against my mind's vast hills startled by God..." One can hear Hafiz and Kenneth Patchen singing together in some choir of poets SomeWhere. Or one can see a beatific bumper sticker: "It's no fun when God is not near." One knows, with this book, that "Hafiz will be your companion for life."
Book Review: Gift was a gift
Summary: 4 Stars
After attending a Sufi performance, I bought this as a Christmas present for my companion at the performance. My friend took my gift, THE GIFT, to China to read as she traveled. It is a small book, filled with short inspirational insights, perfect for such travel, when brief time periods allow for relaxation and poetic inspiration.Book Review: God Intoxicated and Dancing to the Music
Summary: 5 Stars
This is one review I feel compelled to write. I owe so much to the author and what this book has come to mean in my own spiritual life that I wish this review to be a gesture of my supreme thankfulness to this loving enterprise. If asked what is the one book I would take with me to a desert island this would be the one, no question.
Let me say upfront, I come from a liberal/progressive Christian perspective. I have read widely in the areas of religion and spirituality but nothing comes close to making my heart soar into God as this book. These poems are superb gateways for the spiritual imagination for God lovers of all persuasions, whether one is a Sufi/Muslim, Jew, Christian or simply a believer in a loving higher power.
I would agree with many of the critics throughout these reviews, that this book is certainly not a literal translation of the ancient poetry of Hafiz. I do believe the poems may very well be suffused with the spirit of Hafiz but most certainly with the vibrant spiritual imagination of Daniel Ladinsky. Perhaps a truce could be engendered by calling these the poems of Hafiz-insky? But surely these poems before us are radiant jewels and much to our loss if we become too overly preoccupied with Ladinsky's translation skills. There are more literal translations of Hafiz readily available if this is of major concern to you.
I have come to believe that truth about God is best expressed in song and poetry rather then dense and abstracted theology or philosophy. How can the transcendent God be captured by human logic and propositional abstractions? Metaphors, images, and laughter invite the heart and soul to join the mind in exploring the overwhelming grandeur of God's being.
I live in Hafiz-insky's wild and wondrous metaphors of God. They make my heart soar into a God who as much plays and laughs as awakens the heart with truth. A God whose reality is as much incarnated into the wonder of the physical universe as forever remote in his/her inexhaustible and incomprehensible nature. A God whose compassion and love are as soothing and ever present as his/her omnipotent, sovereign rulership of the cosmos. A God who passionately desires the creation to be sublimely ENJOYED as gift rather than to be seen as lures into temptation and thus renounced.
Religion (spirituality) IMHO needs to be much more an affirmational pointer to who we are, what we can become and about the celebratory nature of life not primarily a rulebook of negation, what not to do and what punishment will be doled out when we fail. I think one of today's most important creative tasks is to reimagine God for a world torn in strife, violence and conflict, often fueled by faulty images of God. God not only spoke then but speaks afresh today to spark our imaginations to see past the deadening images we have sometimes clung onto in an attempt to remain dutifully loyal to our religious heritages. I highly recommend this book as an invitation to meet the most exquisite of all Lovers and to awaken the heart to see the Dancer as forever extending her hand to the grand dance of life.
"Wherever God lays his glance, life starts clapping. The myriad creatures grab their instruments and join the Song. Whenever love makes itself known against another body, the jewel in the eye starts to dance" (Life starts Clapping, pg. 85)
Book Review: Greatest collection of poems on the planet
Summary: 5 Stars
This is my favorite book of all times -- it is happy, loving and translated with charm and ease. It gives a sorely needed insight in to the JOY of Islam, in another era.Book Review: HAFIZ KNOWS GOD!
Summary: 5 Stars
Hafiz with Ladinsky's renderings touches the face of GOD better than any other poet I have encountered. This extensive volume makes me laugh out loud or cry with joy and recognition of the prose of the Divine! Thank you, Ladinsky, for making it accessible to all of us who do not speak ancient persian! This poetry is made for the world to know! Donna P. Savage, Author of The Man and The Shark: A Modern Day Fable of Awakening and Rebirth