---
title: A fascinating tale of a translation imposter
description: Every translator has probably had at least one moment when they longed to change something in a text they were working on. Ethics, of...
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---

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# A fascinating tale of a translation imposter

[Medical Pharmaceutical Translations](https://aiatranslations.com/blog/topic/medical-pharmaceutical-translations) • Jul 10, 2020 12:00:00 AM

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Every translator has probably had at least one moment when they longed to change something in a text they were working on. Ethics, of course, forbids it – not to mention the risk of getting caught.

Neither of these stopped [Daniel Ladinsky](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Ladinsky), an American translator of 14th century Persian poet Hafez of Shiraz.

It’s recently been discovered that Ladinsky didn’t just make a few personal touches; instead, he’s been writing his own poems and claiming they’re the translations of Hafez’s originals.

[Read on](https://thewire.in/books/hafez-persian-translation-daniel-ladinsky) to learn more about this story, which raises so many questions about the boundaries of translation, creation, and identity.

*Hafez of Shiraz and Daniel Ladinsky*

[*Image source*](https://thewire.in/books/hafez-persian-translation-daniel-ladinsky)

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