Favorite bedside book these days. Hafiz has always had a very special place in my heart with those flamboyant hints of Shiraz and his equally incredible celestial metaphors. This translation is very smooth, less befogged than any other available translation in English. Also, this deluxe edition has explored Jahan Malek Khatun and Obayd-e-Zakani as well. There are some essays by Dick Davis in the start discussing poetic traditions. Also, this edition is very beautiful- even the pages are styled as an old age manuscript. Bought it with my first pay, super glad to have done it.

Davis has written a good (extensive but not dull) introduction to the history and the poets, as well as the poetry. There are also end notes giving plenty of further analysis of the poems without interrupting the reading of the poems themselves.

I especially appreciated Davis’ notes on his translation, with explanations of the challenges (such as recreating the ancient styles of verse used), the things he was able to recreate in English and the things that are lost. I also enjoyed the appendix of three tongue-in-cheek poems Davis wrote about the difficulty of translating Hafez! I learned a lot, for instance that Persian pronouns do not distinguish between male and female, so most of the time it isn’t clear whether the subject of a poem is male or female. (From historical records and those poems that do make it clear – by referencing body parts, for example – we know that it was common for poets of the time to write admiringly of attractive youths of both genders.) It was also common (as with some western poets of a similar era) for references to a person to mean both a flesh-and-blood person and God, or to switch between the two.

Read my full review at: http://www.noseinabook.co.uk/2014/08/17/order-will-come-to-your-distracted-mind-again

pretty book, prettier poems.

I love this collection, and I love Dick Davis as a translator. The translations are formal, with meters and rhymes, but they all sound natural and fluid instead of rigid and forced. The poems in this collection are very diverse, ranging from mystical to bawdy to drunken to yearning to wheeling to inspiring. I think I like Hafez and Jahan more than Rumi. There, I said it, sue me.

Three very different poets in one volume, which works as an exploration of time and place, but maybe less well thematically. Having the same, talented, translator also proves disconcerting, as elements of the style seem eerily similar even though the styles are quite different. Hafez' mannered, opaque love poetry, the melancholic anger or lament of Jahan, and the in-the-face satire of Obeyd-e.
I enjoyed all three poets, and the introduction is informative and thought-provoking. But there's just ... limitations to poetry in translation. I'm glad I got a taste, but it doesn't feel like really understanding.