Dancing With the Beloved

“Thomas Rain Crowe has done a masterful job bringing out the spirit of Hafiz’s romantic longing, which is in truth, a deep spiritual yearning for the Beloved, an original longing, or original love for All There Is. Hafiz understands that this original source of love will always remain a Great Mystery. Crowe renders his words this way: ‘The face of the Beloved can only be seen by those that are pure, so don’t waste your time looking unless your mirror is completely clean, ’ Hafiz says: ‘O pilgrim, give up your religion. Love is a mystery, and like light upon your face, it plays.’ I am grateful for this rendering of the best of Hafiz’ Divan. Dancing with the Beloved is a way shower to remembering the Divine.–Glenn Aparicio Parry author of Original Love: The Timeless Source of Wholeness

“Hafiz was drunk with the divine wine. What an intoxication he had! The wine of grapes could not compete with Hafiz and his intoxicating ‘brew.’ Only a man who was spiritually ‘drunk’ all the time could write such stanzas that can make you drunk too. We must do as he said and wakeup the beauty and glory of our home here in our hearts. With pen and paper, Crowe is letting the world know it.–Irwin Luck, author of The Silent Master: Meher Baba

“What Robert Bly did to Kabir and what Coleman Barks did to Rumi, Thomas Rain Crowe has done to the mystical poetry of Hafiz–made it fresh, contemporary, and accessible.–Ramesh Bjonnes, author of Sacred Body, Sacred Spirit

“Thomas Crowe brings the voice of Hafiz alive for us today. It feels as if the poet were speaking from the steps of a local tavern. Blunt, direct, funny, ecstatic, and so very human, these poems call us to join him in the arms of the Beloved.–Rick Hanson, Ph.D., author of Buddha’s Brain, Hardwiring Happiness, and Resilient

“Like Hafiz drunk on God in the Winehouse, it was wonderful to read Dancing With the Beloved! Along with Hafiz’s signature humor and contemporary relevance, Crowe’s translations echo Kabir’s irreverence and ecstatic love, and Rumi’s longing for the Beloved–good medicine for our time praising security through cryptocurrency and salvation through A I. Hafiz warned, ‘Pilgrim, put down that book you are reading about money and the rich.’ This book is full of gems for seekers, writers, and others, in many cases desperate for meaning through external recognition. ‘like a loud voice that the Winebringer hears / over all his other customers.’ If I were still teaching poetry, I would use this book.–Scott T. Starbuck, author of Hawk on Wire and Bridge at the End of the World

Persian lyric poet Hafiz (born Khwja amsu d-Dn Muammad Hfez-e rz) grew up in Shiraz. Very little is known about his life, but it is thought that he may have memorized the Qur’anafter hearing his father recite passages. When his father died, he left school to work at a bakery and as a copyist. Hafiz became a poet at the court of Abu Ishak and also taught at a religious college. He is one of the most celebrated of the Persian poets, and his influence can be felt to this day. As the author of numerous ghazals expressing love, spirituality, and protest, he and his work continue to be important to Iranians, and many of his poems are used as proverbs or sayings.

Thomas Rain Crowe is an internationally-published and recognized author, editor and translator of more than thirty books, including the multi-award winning nonfiction nature memoir Zoro’sField: My Life in the Appalachian Woods (2005) and an internationally acclaimed anthology of contemporary Celtic language poets entitled Writing the Wind: A Celtic Resurgence (The New Celtic Poetry). He has translated three volumes of Sufi-related poetry including the poet Hafiz (Drunk On the Wine of the Beloved) and the poet Kabir (Painting from the Palette of Love) both published by Shambhala Publications. He lives in the Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina.

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