The Gift

This book, The Gift: Poems By Hafiz The Great Sufi Master, (Translations by Daniel Ladinsky) is not a book I have read cover to cover. Instead it is one which when moved to do so, I open randomly and skim through until a particular poem has caught my attention. Once captured, I read through the composition slowly, several times, and then sit with it for a while. Reading his poetry is like listening to and sharing time with a beloved friend. And much like my time with dear friends, I usually end up crying and laughing at the same time—my favorite emotion.