NOTE: These poems are all pretty short, and I don't even care if you read every one. However, in each section, skim through them and try to read at least a few that really speak to you. If one seems too confusing or abstract, go to the next one, but do try to read a few more than once, since as with most poems, repetition helps the metaphors sink in and the music come out.
Answer 2 of the following:
Q1: Like the Tao te Ching's use of the word "Tao" (or "the way"), Hafiz uses "God" and "Love" as the two key concepts to his spiritual philosophy. In these poems, how does he define one or both of these terms? Just as we can translate "Tao" in many different ways, how else might we translate "God" or "Love" based on the way Hafiz uses them in his poems?
Q2: Hafiz, like Lao Tzu, is against the idea of definitions and naming. We see this explicitly in a poem like "I Have Learned So Much" (32), when he writes, "I have learned so much from God that I can no longer call myself a Christian, a Hindu, a Muslim, a Buddhist, a Jew." Why might he reject these religious titles? What has God taught him that makes him wary of defining himself by a religious doctrine or creed?
Q3: Daniel Ladinsky writes in his Introduction that "To some readers a few expressions in this book may appear too contemporary for this work. To that I say--nothing doing" (5). Which poem or poems seem to use really contemporary ideas or language that makes it hard to believe this poem was written in the 14th century? Why do you think he chooses these words? Do they take you out of the poem, or bring you closer inside it?
Q4: Which poem reminds you the most of a poem from the Tao te Ching? What makes them similar? Is it an idea, a metaphor, or an actual line from the poem? Be as specific as possible.
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