Customer Reviews

The Subject Tonight Is Love: 60 Wild and Sweet Poems of Hafiz

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I am a student of Persian at Columbia University, and I love and respect the poetry of Hafiz. I think I will need many more years to understand him correctly. As for Ladinsky, he admits in the introduction that he does not speak Persian and has given up studying it. What would you say about a translator of Shakespeare who does not speak English? However, if you prefer sweet new-age songies about the dolphins, go ahead. You'll love this.

I love Ladinsky's interpretations of Hafiz - always uplifting! I got this copy for my mother - I hope she enjoys it as much as I do.

Hafiz wrote these poems almost a thousand years ago. Yet, in this beautiful, delicate and passionate translation Ladinsky shows that the most important things in life - joy, beauty, open heartedness, realization of interconnectedness of life - are timeless and that Hafiz's open heart can inspire us as it has countless generations of Persians. Indeed, this book itself is a ladder which we can climb to meet the Friend.

This overwhelmingly beautiful and passionate collection of poetry is sure to alter your view of the world after just one poem. Mr. Ladinsky brings out the joy, humor and sensual nature of Hafiz's writing in a way that will touch your heart and soul forever. After consuming this collection of Love, you will be compelled to pass it along to everyone you meet.

This book is a must have for any seeker of love or God. I carry it in my purse all the time. Any time I have a few minutes I pull it out for a delightful moment in the presence of God. I can read and re-read the poems and I never get tired of them--each time there is a different twist or something new in the meaning. It is like having my own secret treasure hunt of love. I would recommend this book to everyone.

Dan Ladinsky moves the language of these poems to our hearts without asking permission from the guards at the gates. Hafiz the great Persian poet is also widely recognized as a perfect master, one merged in Godhood, and it is possible to glimmer something of that experience through these translations. The subject tonight is joy. The subject tonight is awash in the bright light of living day.

Daniel Ladinsky moves language from audible sound or readable text and places the wording directly in the heart. How he does this, how anyone can bypass the critical guards at the gate of the mind, is something to be pondered. Through these renderings of the poems written by Hafiz, recognized in the East as a 'perfect master,' a divinely realized human being, we are able to understand something of that process. The subject tonight is joy. The subject tonight is the bright light of day.

Hafiz... each piece falls like rain,like buttery light,like a gentle knowing laugh and like quiet gems.. jeez... as a writer I am dumbfounded by his infallable heart and purely penetrative selection of the word.... I'd surely like to share my prayer mat with him when those days come to me....

do not pass go folks... read it by candle light or thrum of rain while your lover looks on... or the silent room embraces you... hafiz is a master.

Hafiz... each piece falls like rain,like buttery light,like a gentle knowing laugh and like quiet gems.. jeez... as a writer I am dumbfounded by his infallable heart and purely penetrative selection of the word.... I'd surely like to share my prayer mat with him when those days come to me....

do not pass go folks... read it by candle light or thrum of rain while your lover looks on... or the silent room embraces you... hafiz is a master.

this is one of the best collection of poems i have ever read. it helps to bring Hafiz's work to a wider audience.the best poem deals with ego and its annihilation. happy reading!