These Garden Nights: The Ghazals of Hafez

Hafez, a 14th century Sufi Master, is Iran’s most beloved poet, one who has touched millions of readers and listeners through-out the world for centuries. Roger Sedarat captures in his translations the many dimensions of Hafez’s poems. As an Iranian-American poet, translator, and scholar, Sedarat’s sensibility is clearly at one with Hafez. Both Hafez and Sedarat admonish themselves not to take themselves too seriously; yet each is ＂deadly＂ serious in his desire for enlightenment. Hafez commits himself to the way of the heart, his journey is that of the lover returning to the arms of the Beloved. He speaks passionately and evocatively of his ＂beloved.＂ But are the words directed to a flesh and blood woman or to the Divine? Sedarat’s translations are unique in that they capture these multiple features in Hafez’s poems. Sedarat shares how embarking on this mystic and poetic path to wisdom can be fun.