Maybe a Year Without Hafiz

Well, I posted (link) recently about Ladinsky's book, A Year with Hafiz, and even posted (link) about his entry for November 20th. Reading further I came across this little bit of Islamophobia on his December 10th entry:

He was walking unnoticed past a mosque, and the shouts of God’s admirers happened to fill the air, saying, “Allah, Allah! Where are You? Reveal Thyself, Beautiful, Precious One.” 

 And the child in the womb of the Master could not remain silent, and sang back, in an astounding voice, 

“I Am Here! I Am Here—dear life!” 

The crowd in the mosque became frantic, and they picked up shoes, clubs and stones. You know what then happened—the story becomes grim. For most cannot bear the truth.

Reading on, it was this entry for December 14th that finally did me in:

Anyone you have made love with, it is because you were really looking for God.

If you have known hundreds of partners, God may not say this publicly, but I think He is proud of all your efforts. 

Don’t let the freedom in this truth get you in trouble. 

There are men out there who get lonely up in the hills and then take it out on their camels, sheep and goats. 

I think about the best I can do today along the lines of moral advice, in such a universe as we live, is to say, 

try to not hurt any living thing, ’cause your odds will then, probably, increase for happiness—and who doesn’t want some of that? 

I tend to side now with the critics who say that Ladinsky's poetry bears little semantic connection with Hafiz. I can't imagine a Perfect Master lauding promiscuity and tolerating bestiality. These imaginings have sprung from Ladinsky's mind and have little to do with spirituality. I'm afraid Ladinsky's poetry will not form part of my spiritual reading.

Figure 1

Ladinsky's father was Jewish and his mother Catholic but religion did not play an important role in his upbringing. Nonetheless, he was both circumcised and baptised. However, he seems to have inherited something of the "Jewish Revolutionary Spirit" from his father and has decided to "revolutionise" Hafiz to the dismay of many, myself included. I wonder what Meher Baba would have thought of Ladinsky's writings? I wonder what Baba Lovers think? I wonder what Francis Brabazon would have thought? Well, I know that I think he's too crass and crude.

I might be criticised for being too old and not open to new poetic approaches but Landinsky is a year older than me so it's just one old guy's reaction to another. My disappointment shouldn't put me off Hafiz. There are many other translations and interpretations of his work available. I should explore some of them. After all, Hafiz was Baba's favourite poet.

I have Hafez: Collected Poetical Works by Delphi Classics in my library so I should perhaps start with that, although I'm sure that there are many Internet sites that are suitable as well. Any Internet searches are bound to contain a lot of Ladinsky links so that's the only off-putting thing.