Beloved everywhere: “… the more deeply {Hafiz} sees, the more astonished he is to find his Beloved everywhere. He discovers that the essence of life is the expression of beauty—it is Poetry …” ~ Daniel Ladinsky
As part of the Hafiz poem renderings in his book, I Heard God Laughing: Poems of Love and Joy (see full attribution below), Daniel Ladinsky offers his take on the “theme” of each chapter through a brief preamble at the start … plus an excerpted quote from one of the poems within that chapter. Today’s poem – I Am So Glad – is from the chapter Maybe I Could Become a Poet … with this preamble:
“… Hafiz sometimes speaks about himself in his poems, often in an apparently offhand and bemused way. At first he is puzzled by life. “What kind of work can I do in this world?” he asks. But the more deeply he sees, the more astonished he is to find his Beloved everywhere. He discovers that the essence of life is the expression of beauty—it is Poetry. He arrives at a stage in Love’s Journey where everyone becomes a Poet!
“Start seeing everything as God, But keep it a secret.” ~ Hafiz.
So, here’s Hafiz, through Daniel, on this “seeing” … we’ve taken the liberty of pre-pending “Beloved Everywhere” to Daniel’s title ….
Beloved Everywhere: I Am So Glad
Start seeing everything as God,
But keep it a secret.
Become like a man who is Awestruck
And Nourished
Listening to a Golden Nightingale
Sing in a beautiful foreign language
While God invisibly nests
Upon its tongue.
Hafiz,
Who can you tell in this world
That when a dog runs up to you
Wagging its ecstatic tail,
You lean down and whisper in its ear,
“Beloved,
I am so glad You are happy to see me.
Beloved,
I am so glad,
So very glad You have come.”
~ Hafiz
=== ==== ===
“… the spirit of Hafiz {is} a spirit of infinite tenderness and compassion, of great exuberance, joy and laughter, of ecstatic love and fervent longing for his Beloved, and of wonder and delight at the divine splendor of the universe …” ~ Daniel Ladinsky
Daniel’s above characterization is evident in Hafiz’s poems … and is excerpted from the chapter titled: Releasing the Spirit of Hafiz, which serves as the “Introduction” to this book …
Anyone on the self realization journey, at some stage, encounters the unbridled “drunk with the Divine” joy of Rumi or Hafiz‘s “… fervent longing for the Beloved …” Both are of Persian descent – and titans of ecstatic poetry (although Hafiz’s body of work is much smaller than Rumi’s) – so the gateway to their gifts, particularly for the west, has largely depended on the translators. Rumi’s popularity and accessibility, (in the western, English speaking world) increased dramatically due to Coleman Barks. Daniel’s renderings did the same for Hafiz.
For both Barks and Ladinsky, inevitably, the matter of translation vs rendering comes up. So, … to learn more about Daniel’s views on the matter of translation vs rendering … and his journey of “finding” Hafiz, please read one of our previous posts: Awake Awhile – Hafiz by Ladinsky … and click here for a deeper exploration of all our Hafiz related posts.
And, for all you Rumi lovers, click here for all of our Rumi posts.
Opening Quote and Hafiz’s poem: I Heard God Laughing: Poems of Hope and Joy, by Hafiz (Author), Daniel Ladinsky (Translator).
Images (edited and logo added): Featured and 1) Beautiful architecture in the park by Tuchong-Microstock1, 2) Beautiful waterfall in the forest by Tuchong-Microstock1, 3) Tapestry of Blazing Starbirth by NASA, ESA, and STScI – CC BY 4.0. All Purchased from depositphotos for use only on our website/social channels (these images are not permitted to be shared separate from this post).
