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
Daviss wonderful translation will show Western readers why Ferdowsis masterpiece is one of the most revered and most beloved classics in the Persian world. (Khaled Hosseini, author of
The Kite Runner)
A magnificent accomplishment . . . [Daviss translation] is not only the fullest representation of Ferdowsis masterpiece in English but the best. (The New York Sun)
Marvelous . . . It represents the best of Persian culture. (Azar Nafisi, from the foreword)
The Shahnameh has much in common with the blood-soaked epics of Homer and with Paradise Lost and The Divine Comedy. . . . The poem is, in a sense, Irans national scripture, and Ferdowsi Irans national poet. . . . Davis brings to his translation a nuanced awareness of Ferdowsis subtle rhythms and cadences. . . . His Shahnameh is rendered in an exquisite blend of poetry and prose. (Reza Aslan, The New York Times Book Review)
Grand . . . To imagine an equivalent to this violent and beautiful work, think of an amalgam of Homers Iliad and the ferocious Old Testament book of Judges. . . . Thanks to Daviss magnificent translation, Ferdowsi and the Shahnameh live again in English. (Michael Dirda, The Washington Post)
Review
“This felicitous translation is a classic and reaches the widest possible audience.”
Review
"There are universes inside Hafiz, a lineage of masters. Daniel Ladinsky follows the playfulness; the rascal moves well."
—Coleman Barks
Review
"A masterpiece of both its author's and its translator's arts."
-Ray Olson, Booklist
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
The selected adventures of Persia?s Hercules, from Iran?s great national epic No understanding of world mythology is complete without acquaintance with Rostam, Iran?s most celebrated mythological hero. According to the Shahnameh (the tenth-century Book of Kings), this titan, magnificent in strength and courage, bestrode Persia for 500 years. While he often served fickle kings?undergoing many trials of combat, cunning, and endurance?he was never their servant and owed allegiance only to his nation?s greater good. Anyone interested in folklore, world literature, or Iranian culture will find Rostam both a rousing and illuminating read.
The selected adventures of Persia?s Hercules, from Iran?s great national epic
No understand ing of world mythology is complete without acquaintance with Rostam, Iran?s most celebrated mythological hero. According to the Shahnameh (the tenth-century Book of Kings), this titan, magnificent in strength and courage, bestrode Persia for 500 years. While he often served fickle kings?undergoing many trials of combat, cunning, and endurance?he was never their servant and owed allegiance only to his nation?s greater good. Anyone interested in folklore, world literature, or Iranian culture will find Rostam both a rousing and illuminating read.
Synopsis
The great national epic of Persiathe most complete English-language edition Wherever Persian influence has spread, the stories of the Shahnameh become deeply embedded in the culture, as their appearance in such novels as The Kite Runner amply attests. Among the greatest works of world literature, this prodigious narrative, composed by the poet Ferdowsi in the late tenth century, tells the story of pre-Islamic Iran, beginning in the mythic time of creation and continuing forward to the Arab invasion in the seventh century. The sweep and psychological depth of the Shahnameh is nothing less than magnificent. Now one of the greatest translators of Persian poetry, Dick Davis, presents Ferdowsis masterpiece in an elegant combination of prose and verse.
Synopsis
The acclaimed translation of a magnificent work of Persian poetry—now updated with new material
Composed in the twelfth century in northeastern Iran, Farid Attar’s great mystical poem is among the most significant of all works of Persian literature. A marvelous, allegorical rendering of the Islamic doctrine of Sufism, it describes the pilgrimage of the world’s birds in search of their ideal king, the Simorgh bird, and the arduous journey they take to reach him. This masterly translation preserves the poem’s rhymed couplet form and nuances of language.
Synopsis
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.
Synopsis
A classic Persian tale of war and forbidden love in the eleventh century Believed by scholars to be the inspiration for Tristan and Isolde, Vis and Ramin was written between 1050 and 1055 and is considered the first epic Persian romance. At the heart of the story is Vis, daughter of the queen of Mah and promised to Mobad, King of Marv. Against a background of court intrigue, broken promises, and open conflict, Vis finds herself escorted to her future husband by his brother, Ramin-an impetuous prince who cannot help falling in love with his charge and jeopardizing the fate of two realms. Vis and Ramin, a masterpiece of psychological perceptiveness, is an epic with timeless appeal.
Synopsis
Daniel Ladinsky’s stunning interpretations of 365 soul-nurturing poems—one for each day of the year—by treasured Persian lyric poet Hafiz
The poems of Hafiz are masterpieces of sacred poetry that nurture the heart, soul, and mind. With learned insight and a delicate hand, Daniel Ladinsky explores the many emotions addressed in these verses. His renderings, presented here in 365 poignant poems—including a section based on the translations of Hafiz by Ralph Waldo Emerson—capture the compelling wisdom of one of the most revered Sufi poets. Intimate and often spiritual, these poems are beautifully sensuous, playful, wacky, and profound, and provide guidance for everyday life, as well as deep wisdom to savor through a lifetime.
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
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.
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
Dick Davis is currently professor of Persian at Ohio State University and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. His translations from Persian include The Lion and the Throne, Fathers and Sons, Sunset of Empire: Stories from the Shahnameh of Ferdowsi, Vols. I, II, III.
Dick Davis is currently professor of Persian at Ohio State University and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. His translations from Persian include The Lion and the Throne, Fathers and Sons, Sunset of Empire: Stories from the Shahnameh of Ferdowsi, Vols. I, II, III.
Table of Contents
Preface
Introduction: The Life and Work of Hafiz
One: Startled by God
Startled by God
Let's Eat
When the Violin
Looking for Good Fish
A Hunting Party
This Sane Idea
We Have Not Come to Take Prisoners
I Can See Angels
You're It
I Rain
Two: I Have Learned So Much
I Have Learned So Much
God Just Came Near
The Sun Never Says
The Seed Cracked Open
Why Just Ask the Donkey
Who Wrote All the Music
Your Mother and My Mother
Mismatched Newlyweds
Your Seed Pouch
That Magnificent Storm
Three: Removing the Shoe from the Temple
Removing the Shoe from the Temple
Against My Own Hand
Out of This Mess
If God Invited You to a Party
To Build a Swing
A Crystal Rim
This One Is Mine
Curfews
The Ear That Was Sold to a Fish
An Infant in Your Arms
Four: I Hold the Lion's Paw
I Hold the Lion's Paw
If the Falling of a Hoof
What the Hell
Someone Untied Your Camel
When I Want to Kiss God
For a Single Tear
That Shapes the Eye
So Many Gifts
Love Is the Funeral Pyre
Allah, Allah, Allah
Five: Don't Die Again
Don't Die Again
Like a Life-Giving Sun
The Great Work
Effacement
Some Fill with Each Good Rain
The Vintage Man
Everywhere
Lifts beyond Conception
God's Bucket
Just Looking for Trouble
Six: The Gift
The Gift
Laughing at the Word Two
Life Starts Clapping
The Foundation for Greatness
Courteous to the Ant
His Winter Crop
The Scent of Light
No Conflict
Stop Calling Me a Pregnant Woman
A Strange Feather
Seven: I Am Really Just a Tambourine
I Am Really Just a Tambourine
The Stairway of Existence
What Do White Birds Say?
How Do I Listen?
The Earth Braces Itself
The Difference Between
The Angels Know You Well
Crooked Deals
The Millstone's Talents
Let Thought Become Your Beautiful Lover
Eight: Get the Blame Straight
Get the Blame Straight
Rewards for Clear Thinking
Please
This Constant Yearning
The Sad Game
That Regal Coat
Stop Being So Religious
Friends Do Things Like This
It Felt Love
Look! I Am a Whale
Two Bears
The Sky Hunter
Forgive the Dream
Nine: The Prettiest Mule
The Prettiest Mule
Today
Wise Men Keep Talking About
Back into Herself
The Mule Got Drunk and Lost in Heaven
Why Abstain?
The Warrior
Dividing God
I Saw Two Birds
Muhammad's Twin
Ten: Tiny Gods
Tiny Gods
This Union
When You Can Endure
This Talking Rag
Who Will Feed My Cat?
Burglars Hear Watchdogs
A Still Cup
That Lamp That Needs No Oil
Too Wonderful
Eleven: Elephant Wondering
Elephant Wondering
An Old Musician
The Fish and I Will Chat
The Heart Is Right
Out of God's Hat
The Clay Bowl's Destiny
I Hope You Won't Sue This Old Man
Faithful Lover
Now Is the Time
Twelve: Counting Moles
Counting Moles
Hafiz
The Body a Tree
A Great Need
There Could Be Holy Fallout
Trying to Wear Pants
This Sky
It Is Unanimous
Two Puddles Chatting
His Ballet Company
Thirteen: Reverence
Reverence
That Tree We Planted
I Vote for You for God
A One-Story House
The Great Religions
What Happens to the Guest
I Want Both of Us
Like Passionate Lips
Cucumbers and Prayers
Fourteen: A Cushion for Your Head
A Cushion for Your Head
These Beautiful Love Games
The Bag Lady
The Ambience of Love
Tired of Speaking Sweetly
A Root in Each Act and Creature
Our Hearts Should Do This More
Turn Left a Thousand Feet from Here
Imagination Does Not Exist
Throw Me on a Scale
The Hatcheck Girl
Damn Thirsty
Fifteen: Two Giant Fat People
Two Giant Fat People
Scratching My Back
If You Don't Stop That
Elegance
A Hole in a Flute
Until
Why Aren't We Screaming Drunks?
Dropping Keys
All the Talents of God
The Great Expanse
I Imagine Now for Ages
Sixteen: Spiced Manna
Spiced Manna
A Hard Decree
And For No Reason
Sometimes I Say to a Poem
The Suburbs
She Responded
We Might Have to Medicate You
The Idiot's Warehouse
When You Wake
This Teaching Business Isn't Easy
The Mountain Got Tired of Sitting
Seventeen: Where Is the Door to the Tavern?
Where Is the Door to the Tavern?
Becoming Human
In Need of the Breath
The Heart's Coronation
The Thousand-Stringed Instrument
Then Winks
And Then You Are
The Intelligent Man
The Chorus in the Eye
Find a Better Job
The Lute Will Beg
Eighteen: When the Sun Conceived a Man
When the Sun Conceived a Man
A Mime
The Quintessence of Loneliness
Needing a Mirror
Zikr
The Tender Mouth
Greeting God
Reaching Toward the Millet Fields
Nineteen: Lousy at Math
Lousy at Math
The Sun in Drag
Between Our Poles
Stay Close to Those Sounds
An Invisible Pile of Wood
It Has Not Rained Light
Berserk
No More Leaving
Wow
What Should We Do about That Moon?
Twenty: Cupping My Hands Like a Mountain Valley
Cupping My Hands Like a Mountain Valley
Why Not Be Polite
Twenty-one: The God Who Only Knows Four Words
The God Who Only Knows Four Words
You Were Brave in That Holy War
Bring the Man to Me
Too Beautiful
My Eyes So Soft
The Diamond Takes Shape
That Does Perish
Chain You to My Body
Covers Her Face with Both Hands
Dog's Love
Twenty-two: Stay with Us
Stay with Us
I Am Full of Love Tonight
Many Lives Ago
It Will Stretch Out Its Leg
Some of the Planets Are Hosting
What Is the Root?
The Same Suntan
For Three Days
Twenty-three: A Clever Piece of Mutton
A Clever Piece of Mutton
Who Can Hear the Buddha Sing?
Buttering the Sky
How Fascinating
Where Great Lions Love to Piss
A Potent Lover
An Astronomical Question
I Wish I Could Speak Like Music
In a Circus Booth
Maybe Even Lucrative
Troubled
Twenty-four: The Silk Mandala
The Silk Mandala
A Forest Herb
Your Camel Is Loaded to Sing
Stealing Back the Flute
Where the Drum Lost Its Mind
Every City Is a Dulcimer
Ruin
Between Your Eye and This Page
Practice This New Birdcall
Twenty-five: I Know I Was the Water
I Know I Was the Water
With That Moon Language
Without Brushing My Hair
Integrity
There
When Space Is Not Rationed
Birds of Passage
Act Great
The Only Material
I Got Kin
Only One Rule
Your Thousand Limbs
And Love Says