Hafiz, The Gift: Poems by Hafiz, The Great Sufi Master, translated from the Persian by Daniel Ladinsky (New York: Penguin Compass, 1999) (My favorite from this collection is 'Act Great.' "What is the key / To unite the knot of your mind's suffering? // What / Is the esoteric secret / To slay the crazed one whom each of us / Did wed. // And who can ruin / Our heart's and eye's exquisite tender Landscape? // Hafiz has found / Two emerald words that ?Restored /Me // That I now cling to as as I would sacred / Tresses of Beloved's / Hair: // Act great, / My dear, always act great. / What is the key / To unite the knot of the mind's suffering? / Benevolent thought, sound / And movement" Id. 328.).
Hafiz, I Heard God Laughing: Poems of Hope and Joy, renderings of Hafiz by Daniel Ladinsky (New York: Penguin Books, 1996, 2006).
Hafiz, The Subject Tonight Is Love: 60 Wild and Sweet Poems of Hafiz, translated from the Persian by Daniel Ladinsky (New York: Penguin Compass, 1996. 2006) (My favorite from this collection is 'Ten Thousand Idiots.' "It is always a danger / To aspirants / On the / Path // When they begin / To believe and / Act // As if the ten thousand idiots / Who so long ruled / And lived / Inside // Have all packed their bags / And skipped town / Or / Died." Id. at 51.).
Hafiz, A Year With Hafiz: Daily Contemplations, translated from the Persian by Daniel Ladinsky (New York: Penguin Books, 2011) (My favorite from this collection is 'Rave-Worthy.' "What is true enlightenment? It is knowing everything is rave-worthy, / but having the balance, the discernment, to withhold your applause at times, when there are / young souls near . . . or people trying to sleep." Id. at 139. However, though it may be too late for me to make use of, 'Appear An Easy Mark At First, is more profoundly meaningful to me, as it embodies a lesson I wish I had known as a younger man. "The less friction you make as you move / through this world, the more power you will / gather and can store. Fire will take an interest / in you and think you are an heir to light. // Lightening will start to ride in your purse. / When could you then feel cold? What divine / food could you not prepare, or supply for any? // It is better like this sometimes: Most everyone / starts thinking you are an easy mark, while in / truth, you are just biding your time // waiting for the optimum moment to strike a / lethal blow and make a real difference. But for / that you need forbearance. What lasting / good has ever been rushed? // When you finally speak up or act with passion / you will help tear down some walls of tyranny." Id. at 331.).
