Synopses & Reviews
Acclaimed translator Dick Davis breathes new life into the timeless works of three masters of 14th-century Persian literature
Together, Hafez, a giant of world literature; Jahan Malek Khatun, an eloquent princess; and Obayd-e Zakani, a dissolute satirist, represent one of the most remarkable literary flowerings of any era. All three lived in the famed city of Shiraz, a provincial capital of south-central Iran, and all three drew support from arts-loving rulers during a time better known for its violence than its creative brilliance. Here Dick Davis, an award-winning poet widely considered our finest translator of Persian poetry” (The Times Literary Supplement), presents a diverse selection of some of the best poems by these world-renowned authors and shows us the spiritual and secular aspects of love, in varieties embracing every aspect of the human heart.
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Review
“If you haven’t yet had the delight of dining with Daniel Ladinsky’s sweet, playful renderings of the musings of the great saints,
I Heard God Laughing is a perfect appetizer.... This newly released edition of his first playful foray into Hafiz’s divinely inspired poetry is essential reading . . . . Ladinsky is a master who will be remembered for finally bringing Hafiz alive in the West.” —Alexandra Marks,
The Christian Science Monitor
Review
“Davis [is] widely acknowledged as the leading translator of Persian literature in our time…
Faces of Love has made the Persian originals into real and moving English poems.”
—Michael Dirda, The Washington Post
"Davis has done something Id thought impossible: given us an Englished Hafez whose verses retain an intimation of what all the fuss is about...this anthology is a revelation."
—Michael Robbins, The Chicago Tribune
"Radiant...Davis expertly elucidates the conventions these poets worked within and played against."
—A. E. Stallings, The Times Literary Supplement Books of the Year
"Dick Daviss love affair with Persian literature has resulted in another marvelous offspring. Faces of Love reveals to us the mysterious connections between three vastly different fourteenth-century Persian poets. Through their eyes, Davis brings us that other Iran of poetry, lyrical beauty, diversity, and sensuality; only a lover and a poet could so passionately and meticulously capture the true spirit of these magnificent poems that transcend the boundaries of space and time."
—Azar Nafisi, author of Reading Lolita in Tehran
"For me, the most remarkable poetic translation project in the last twenty years has been Dick Davis ambitious recreations of classical Persian literature. In book after book, Davis has memorably translated one of the worlds great literatures into real English-language poetry. Finally, Davis has brought us new versions of Hafez and the great Shiraz poets. What can I say about this new book except: Yes! at last we meet one of the greatest lyric poets in history fully alive in English."
—Dana Gioia, former chairman of the NEA and author of Pity the Beautiful: Poems
"In this heady volume of wine, roses, nightingales, and forbidden trysts, Dick Davis shows us three faces of medieval Persian love poetry: the elusively mystical, the searingly personal, and the gleefully profane. For those of us unfamiliar with this world, the excitement is something akin to stumbling across a new Pindar, Sappho, and Catullus in a single volume—that is, if they were contemporaries and flourished in the same small town. This book is equally valuable for its wide-ranging introduction and pellucid and musical translations (quotable as English poems in their own right)—it would be worthwhile for either, but is a gem for both. Perhaps the most thrilling surprise contained here, however, is the debut in English (if not the West) of Jahan Malek Khatun, an intellectual princess whose bold and moving poems of heartbreak (often daring in their exploration of gender roles) and exile are a revelation. Her pen name means “the world” and indeed we feel that, in bringing these poems into our language, scholar, poet, and translator Dick Davis has opened a new world for us. One couldnt write a better description of this volume than one of her own epigrams:
Shiraz when spring is here—what pleasure equals this?
With streams to sit by, wine to drink, and lips to kiss,
With mingled sounds of drums and lutes and harps and flutes;
Then, with a nice young lover near, Shiraz is bliss"
—A.E. Stallings, MacArthur Fellow and author of Olives
Synopsis
From the renowned translator of The Gift, a rich collection that brings the great Sufi poet to Western readers To Persians , the poems of Hafiz are not "classical literature" from a remote past but cherished wisdom from a dear and intimate friend that continue to be quoted in daily life. With uncanny insight, Hafiz captures the many forms and stages of love. His poetry outlines the stages of the mystic's "path of love"-a journey in which love dissolves personal boundaries and limitations to join larger processes of growth and transformation.
With this stunning collection, Ladinsky has succeeded brilliantly in translating the essence of one of Islam's greatest poetic and spiritual voices.
Synopsis
From bestselling poet Daniel Ladinsky, a rich collection that brings the great Sufi poet Hafiz to Western readers
To Persians, the poems of Hafiz are not "classical literature" from a remote past but cherished wisdom from a dear and intimate friend that continues to be quoted in daily life. With uncanny insight, Hafiz captures the many forms and stages of love. His poetry outlines the stages of the mystic's "path of love"--a journey in which love dissolves personal boundaries and limitations to join larger processes of growth and transformation.
With this stunning collection, Ladinsky has succeeded brilliantly in capturing the essence of one of Islam's greatest poetic and spiritual voices.
"If you haven't yet had the delight of dining with Daniel Ladinsky's sweet, playful renderings of the musings of the great saints, I Heard God Laughing is a perfect appetizer. . . . This newly released edition of his first playful foray into Hafiz's divinely inspired poetry is essential reading. . . . Ladinsky is a master who will be remembered for finally bringing Hafiz alive in the West." --Alexandra Marks, The Christian Science Monitor
Synopsis
From the renowned translator of The Gift, a rich collection that brings the great Sufi poet to Western readers
To Persians, the poems of Hafiz are not classical literature from a remote past but cherished wisdom from a dear and intimate friend that continue to be quoted in daily life. With uncanny insight, Hafiz captures the many forms and stages of love. His poetry outlines the stages of the mystics path of lovea journey in which love dissolves personal boundaries and limitations to join larger processes of growth and transformation.
With this stunning collection, Ladinsky has succeeded brilliantly in translating the essence of one of Islams greatest poetic and spiritual voices. BACKCOVER: If you havent yet had the delight of dining with Daniel Ladinskys sweet, playful renderings of the musings of the great saints, I Heard God Laughing is a perfect appetizer. . . . This newly released edition of his first playful foray into Hafizs divinely inspired poetry is essential reading . . . . Ladinsky is a master who will be remembered for finally bringing Hafiz alive in the West.
Alexandra Marks, The Christian Science Monitor
Synopsis
From the renowned translator of The Gift, a rich collection that brings the great Sufi poet to Western readers To Persians , the poems of Hafiz are not "classical literature" from a remote past but cherished wisdom from a dear and intimate friend that continue to be quoted in daily life. With uncanny insight, Hafiz captures the many forms and stages of love. His poetry outlines the stages of the mystic's "path of love"a journey in which love dissolves personal boundaries and limitations to join larger processes of growth and transformation.
With this stunning collection, Ladinsky has succeeded brilliantly in translating the essence of one of Islam's greatest poetic and spiritual voices.
Synopsis
"If you haven't yet had the delight of dining with Daniel Ladinsky's sweet, playful renderings of the musings of the great saints,
I Heard God Laughing is a perfect appetizer. . . . This newly released edition of his first playful foray into Hafiz's divinely inspired poetry is essential reading . . . . Ladinsky is a master who will be remembered for finally bringing Hafiz alive in the West."
-Alexandra Marks, The Christian Science Monitor
Synopsis
The first full-length volume of Rumi’s cherished verse by bestselling poet Daniel Ladinsky Renowned for his poignant renderings of Hafiz’s mystical texts, Daniel Ladinsky captures the beauty, intimacy, and musicality of another of Islam’s most beloved poets and spiritual thinkers. In collaboration here with Nancy Owen Barton, and with learned insight and a delicate touch, they explore the nuances of desire—that universal emotion—in verse inspired by Rumi’s love and admiration for his companion and spiritual teacher, Shams-e Tabriz. These poems thoughtfully capture the compelling wisdom of one of Islam’s most revered artistic and religious voices and one of the most widely read poets in the English language.
About the Author
Daniel Ladinsky’s books include
A Year with Hafiz,
I Heard God Laughing,
The Subject Tonight Is Love, and
The Gift, as well as a collection of translations of poems by twelve mystics and saints,
Love Poems from God. He lives in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
Nancy Owen Barton is a literary agent, educator, and movement therapist. She has collaborated with Ladinsky since the publication of his first Hafiz volume in 1996.