The Subject Tonight Is Love: 60 Wild and Sweet Poems of Hafiz (Compass) [Mass Market Paperback]

Hafiz (Author), Daniel Ladinsky (Translator)

Book Description

Series: Compass | Publication Date: January 28, 2003

To Persians, the fourteenth-century poems of Hafiz are not classical literature from a remote past, but cherished love, wisdom, and humor from a dear and intimate friend. Perhaps, more than any other Persian poet, it is Hafiz who most fully accesses the mystical, healing dimensions of poetry. Daniel Ladinsky has made it his life's work to create modern, inspired translations of the world's most profound spiritual poetry. Through Ladinsky's translations, Hafiz's voice comes alive across the centuries singing his message of love.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Daniel Ladinsky is the translator of The Gift and Love Poems from God. For six years he lived with the family of Meher Baba in a spiritual community in western India.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 88 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (January 28, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140196234
• ISBN-13: 978-0140196238
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #37,243 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #11 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Islam > Sufism

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

48 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Few Lovers Have Kissed Me Like This!, November 25, 2004

By 

C. Wolterding - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Subject Tonight Is Love: 60 Wild and Sweet Poems of Hafiz (Compass) (Mass Market Paperback)

It is rare to find a book of poetry-or any book- that lifts the spirits and touches the heart as deeply as this one. Daniel Ladinsky's translations of the Sufi poet Hafiz are a unique blend of contempoary images and Persisan motifs that evoke scenes that readers will recognize in their own lives. Hafiz, Iran's most treasured poet, is known for an uncanny ability to speak directly to the reader's concerns.His poems have the ability to console the heart throbbing with longing or aching after a few hard knocks.I would especially recommend it for those bouts of Seasonal Affective Disorder that afflict many of us this time of year. I carried this book around with me on the subway during an especially cold winter in New York City and it seemed to transmit a warm, tingly feeling, like a glass of good wine, that warded off the intrusion of depressing thoughts.
One poem in particuar was helpful which said;
Don't surrender your loneliness
So quickly
Let it cut more deep. Let it ferment and season you
As few human
Or even divine ingredients can
Something missing in my heart tonight
Has made my eyes so soft,
My voice
So tender,
My need of God
Absolutely
Clear.

Only a wise old master like Hafiz could give advice like that, in a few choise words that are the equilavent in confort to hours of professional counseling or several trips to the spa. His poetry gives us an appreciation of the wonderful gifts of the soul that we all possess, but rarely take the trouble to access. This book would be a wonderful gift for anyone and especially for youself!.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Never a False Moment, June 19, 2000

By 

Rebecca Whetstine "Rebecca Whetstine" (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Subject Tonight is Love: 60 Wild and Sweet Poems (Paperback)

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.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a wondrous anthology, January 16, 2000

By 

Alina Ranee "mizrani" (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Subject Tonight is Love: 60 Wild and Sweet Poems (Paperback)

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!