The Place Where You Are Right Now-Hafiz

This poem was meant for me!  Never quite before have I realized that the place where I am at now is the place where God wants me to be. I need to bask in this present time and enjoy what is before me.   I am finally able to connect reasons to why certain things happened my life.  All of my hurts were for me to understand loneliness, pain, sorrow, helplessness so that I can empathize and reach out to those who have felt the same.  How could I have related to such people if I had never felt the same?  This gives me a sense of camaraderie and sense of being one with them.  How  beautiful! How amazing! With God there is always hope and redemption!

 

The Place Where You Are Now

by Hafiz

This place where you are right now
God circled on a map for you.

Wherever your eyes and arms and heart can move
Against the earth and the sky,
The Beloved has bowed there –

Our Beloved has bowed there knowing
You were coming.

I could tell you a priceless secret about
Your real worth, dear pilgrim,

But any unkindness to yourself,
Any confusion about others,

Will keep one
From accepting the grace, the love,

The sublime freedom
Divine knowledge always offers to you.

Never mind, Hafiz, about
The great requirements this path demands
Of the wayfarers,

For your soul is too full of wine tonight
To withhold the wondrous Truth from this world.

But because I am so clever and generous,
I have already clearly woven a resplendent lock
Of his tresses

As a remarkable truth and gift
In this poem for you.

~Hafiz

Translation by Daniel Ladinsky, The Subject Tonight Is Love

 

For Those Who Have Hurt Me

And I pray for

the spirit of forgiveness

to rise up in me

so that I may bless you

instead of curse you.

I ask that I see you

through the eyes of

the spirit of compassion

instead of the eyes of

the spirit of resentment.

And I pray for the peace

that surpasses all understanding

to flood every facet

of your life

that when you lay down at night

that sleep will come

quickly and gently

and that each morning

you wake refreshed

ready to face the new day.

I pray that the Lord

bestow wisdom and discernment

upon all decisions

you have to make

that your path

always be brightly lit

with no hint of shadows

hindering your way.

I pray for your health and safety

that the Lord will keep you

in His ever extending hands

that He will protect you and shield you

from all harm

and that when the storms arise

He will harbor you

and keep your dry.

I pray that the Lord

grows you and challenges you

in the ways that He sees fit

and that through the process

that you flower

bearing a bounty of fruit.

I pray that the Lord

blesses the works of your hands

and that He turns your

failures into success

that your economic situation

will be secured.

I pray that your enemies scatter

to all directions of the wind

that the Lord rains down love

upon the fields

of your life.

And I pray that

through His strength

the Lord will give me

the willingness and courage

to love you as He loves you,

a love without any expectations,

a love that may never be returned.