I Heard God Laughing Review

By Celeste Daniels

Hello, audacious readers!

Happy new year! I hope you all got plenty of rest during the holidays and wish you nothing but the best in 2025. As we navigate these turbulent times, it’s more important than ever to root ourselves in joy, like in the poetry volume, I Heard God Laughing by Hafiz (translated by Daniel Ladinsky).

Written in 1300’s Persia, Hafiz was a famous spiritual teacher and poet that would later influenced the likes of Waldo Emerson and Rilke centuries later. Using classic Persian poetry conventions, he plays the role of friend, lover, and guide to the reader, urging them to look at everything in their life that weighs them down and trade it for joy and love. Funny, unexpected, and loving, I Heard God Laughing dares the reader to recontextualize their relationship with a higher power and themselves.

So, there’s no denying it: This is a religious poetry volume. This suggestion was probably a bit surprising coming from me because I usually keep the book choices secular and definitely plan on keeping that up. However, what caught my eye about this is the approach towards the topic of God (specifically Allah, as this was written by an Islamic writer) as well as the universal lessons within the poetry.

I’ve grown up in the South so religion, the practice and culture of Christianity, are very familiar to me. However, in the last few years, it’s been…contentious (that’s a safe word for it) and the core message of it has been lost into a confusing mix of opinions, manipulations, justifications, etc. Even worse, when I look at the media surrounding it, they’re often ridig with a very specific agenda.

This book was a pleasure surprise becuase, despite being writtten centuries ago and for another religion, Hafiz’s writing brings the root message of both religions front and center in his work: Create love and connection. This book it didn’t try to focus on a morality debate, saying “this is correct” and “this is wrong.” Instead, it invites levity because into the conversation. Reading this, it felt like Hafiz was my carefree friend who was constantly getting me out of the house to go dancing in town. Every poem dared me to cast aside my rigid view of God and bask in the joy I can find in everyday life.

By referring to the reader as Beloved and himself as Friend, (a feature I really appreciate), Hafiz creates a safe space for the reader to be honest wiht themselves and let go of what doesn’t serve them. The poems are simple, quite frustratingly so, but I think that’s what makes it so special. He doesn’t allow fluff to distract from the beauty of the truth. He invites you to look beyond social expectations of your body, status, and physical attachments to become in tune with yourself. Hafiz’s poetry (and Daniel Ladinsky’s lovely translations) is here to remind us to find love and happiness at all costs. After all, we’re not here forever so why not dance and laugh as much as we can?

I hope you enjoyed I Heard God Laughing! Going forward, reviews and intros will be released mid-month, so I will see you guys around Valentine’s Day! Feel free to comment your thoughts below. Until next time, don’t forget to read audaciously!