I Heard God Laughing: Poems of Hope and Joy

From the renowned translator of The Gift, a rich collection that brings the great Sufi poet Hafiz 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 continues 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.

“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

• The Gift
• The Subject Tonight Is Love: 60 Wild and Sweet Poems of Hafiz (Compass)
• A Year with Hafiz: Daily Contemplations
• Love Poems from God: Twelve Sacred Voices from the East and West (Compass)
• The Essential Rumi, New Expanded Edition
• The Purity of Desire: 100 Poems of Rumi
• Darling, I Love You: Poems from the Hearts of Our Glorious Mutts and All Our Animal Friends
• The Illuminated Hafiz: Love Poems for the Journey to Light
• Rumi's Little Book of Life: The Garden of the Soul, the Heart, and the Spirit
• The Path: What Chinese Philosophers Can Teach Us About the Good Life