The Persian Sufi poet Hafiz (1326–1390) is a towering figure in Islamic literature—and in spiritual attainment as well. Known for his profound mystical wisdom combined with a sublime sensuousness, Hafiz was the supreme master of a poetic form known as the ghazal (pronounced "guzzle"), an ode or song consisting of rhymed couplets celebrating divine love. In this selection of his poems, wine and the intoxication it brings are the image that expresses this love in all its joyful abandon, painful longing, bewilderment, and surrender. Through ninety-five free-verse renditions, we gain entry into the mystical world of Hafiz's Winehouse, with its happy minstrels, its bewitching Winebringer, and its companions in drunken longing whose hearts cry out, "More wine!" Thomas Rain Crowe brings a new dimension to our growing appreciation of Hafiz and his wise drunkard's advice to the seekers of God: In this world of illusion, take nothing other than this cup of wine; In this playhouse, don't play any games but love.

I.B.Tauris in association with the Iran Heritage Foundation

Life lessons from one of the greatest poets of all time in all new translations by a master poet and translator. This is the perfect introduction to Hafiz for all lovers of poetry and seekers of love, spirituality, and meaning. "Hafiz's poetry aims to close the gap between mortal humans and the divine and this book opens a door to the poet's gardens. From the first page, you are invited to settle into a sublime sanctuary and partake in enchantment until you feel the Beloved inside your beating heart and running through your veins."--Ari Honarvar, author of A Girl Called Rumi I have this gem And it's looking for a beholder Hafiz's Little Book of Life is a lush collection of more than 250 poems by Hafiz, commonly known as the Tongue of the Hidden. In Iran, ordinary people memorize poetry of Hafiz. Lines from his poems are quoted as proverbs in everyday life. Stars can be heard singing his poetry on the radio. A copy of his collected work (divan) can be found in any average household. Translated by native Persian speaker, Erfan Mojib and the award-winning translator Gary Gach, this collection will be sure to strike a chord with Hafiz lovers everywhere. Let the unforgettable words of Hafiz shine through you with their love, depth, and celebration of life. This collection of mystical poetry focuses on the issues we encounter in everyday life. The book unfolds as Garden of the World, Garden of Love, and The Garden of Bliss. These encompass a range of experiences a person is likely to encounter in a lifetime. World includes personal and social themes, such as solitude, hypocrisy, and hope. Love spans separation, longing, and union. Bliss, the capper, is the briefest. Also included is a small biography of Hafiz, translators' notes, and a section on using Hafiz's work for divination. A typical Hafiz Oracle occurs every year at a Yalda celebration (the longest night of the year). During the evening, someone might make a wish and open a book of Hafiz and read a poem out loud. They then pass the book to the next person.

Roger S. Gottlieb provides a lucid and accessible overview of what spirituality is, enabling a clear-eyed understanding of the concept, its manifold connections to other aspects of personal and social life, its role as a positive psychological and social phenomenon, and some of the risks that attend it.

Provides up-to-date profiles on the careers of leading and emerging poets.

Can the documentary be useful? Can a film change how its viewers think about the world and their potential role in it? In Kill the Documentary, the award-winning director Jill Godmilow issues an urgent call for a new kind of nonfiction filmmaking. She critiques documentary films from Nanook of the North to the recent Ken Burns/Lynn Novick series The Vietnam War. Tethered to what Godmilow calls the “pedigree of the real” and the “pornography of the real,” they fail to activate their viewers’ engagement with historical or present-day problems. Whether depicting the hardships of poverty or the horrors of war, conventional documentaries produce an “us-watching-them” mode that ultimately reinforces self-satisfaction and self-absorption. In place of the conventional documentary, Godmilow advocates for a “postrealist” cinema. Instead of offering the faux empathy and sentimental spectacle of mainstream documentaries, postrealist nonfiction films are acts of resistance. They are experimental, interventionist, performative, and transformative. Godmilow demonstrates how a film can produce meaningful, useful experience by forcefully challenging ways of knowing and how viewers come to understand the world. She considers her own career as a filmmaker as well as the formal and political strategies of artists such as Luis Buñuel, Georges Franju, Harun Farocki, Trinh T. Minh-ha, Rithy Panh, and other directors. Both manifesto and guidebook, Kill the Documentary proposes provocative new ways of making and watching films.