The Gift : Poems Inspired by Hafiz, the Great Sufi Master

Daniel Ladinsky

ISBN 10: 0140195815 / ISBN 13: 9780140195811

Published by Random House Aug 1999, 1999

About this Item

Neuware - Daniel Ladinsky s 250 unforgettable lyrical poems are inspired by the cherished verse of Hafiz, one of the greatest Sufi poets of all time. More than any other Persian poet, Hafiz expanded the mystical, healing dimensions of poetry. Because his poems were often ecstatic love songs from God to his beloved world, many have called Hafiz the Invisible Tongue. Daniel Ladinsky s poems are not translations in a literal sense. Rather than capture the form of a particular classical work, Ladinsky crafts poems that release the spirit of Hafiz based on his study of stories and poems attributed to the revered Persian writer. The Gift imparts the wonderful qualities of this master Sufi poet and spiritual teacher: encouragement, an audacious love that touches lives, profound knowledge, generosity, and a sweet, playful genius unparalleled in world literature.

Seller Inventory # 9780140195811

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Gift : Poems Inspired by Hafiz, the Great Sufi Master
• Publisher: Random House Aug 1999
• Publication Date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0140195815
• ISBN 13: 9780140195811
• Binding: Taschenbuch
• Condition: Neu

About this title

Synopsis

Chosen by author Elizabeth Gilbert as one of her ten favorite books, Daniel Ladinsky’s extraordinary renderings of 250 unforgettable lyrical poems by Hafiz, one of the greatest Sufi poets of all time

More than any other Persian poet—even Rumi—Hafiz expanded the mystical, healing dimensions of poetry. Because his poems were often ecstatic love songs from God to his beloved world, many have called Hafiz the “Invisible Tongue.” Indeed, Daniel Ladinsky has said that his work with Hafiz is an attempt to do the impossible: to render Light into words—to make the Luminous Resonance of God tangible to our finite senses.

I am
a hole in a flute
that the Christ's breath moves
through—
listen to this
music!

With this stunning collection of Hafiz’s most intimate poems, Ladinsky has succeeded brilliantly in presenting the essence of one of Islam’s greatest poetic and religious voices. Each line of The Gift imparts the wonderful qualities of this master Sufi poet and spiritual teacher: encouragement, an audacious love that touches lives, profound knowledge, generosity, and a sweet, playful genius unparalleled in world literature.

About the Authors

Daniel Ladinsky has published three previous translations of Hafiz's poems, The Gift, The Subject Tonight Is Love, and I Heard God Laughing, as well as a collection of translations of poems by twelve mystics and saints, Love Poems From God. His most recent collection is The Purity of Desire: 100 Poems of Rumi. For six years, he made his home in a spiritual community in western India, where he worked and lived with the intimate disciples and family of Avatar Meher Baba. He lives in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

Daniel Ladinsky is an acclaimed poet and renderer of mystical poetry. His books include The Gift, The Subject Tonight Is Love, I Heard God Laughing, A Year with Hafiz, Love Poems from God, The Purity of Desire, and Darling, I Love You. For six years, he made his home in a spiritual community in western India, where he worked and lived with the intimate disciples and family of Avatar Meher Baba. He lives in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.