We are coming to the end of the year 2014. It seemed like a rough one for many, personally, and collectively for the world. I’ve finished reading A Year With Hafiz: Daily Contemplations, translated by Daniel Ladinsky. There is usually one poem a day per page. It was a gift from friend and author Steven Verney. Here are 3 poems towards the end of the book, end of the year, that talk about endings, and, in a way, new beginnings. May they inspire you as we transition into the new year, and for some, into a new life in 2015.
A Prayer I Sometimes Say
It is the Beloved who is revealed in every
face, sought in every sign,
gazed upon by every eye, worshipped in
every object that is adored, pursued in the
visible and in the unseen.
Not a single one of His creatures, not a
single one, my dears, will
fail to someday find the divine Source
in all of its primordial and glorious nature.
And be forever united with the Infinite,
because that—God—is really you.
Muhyiddin Ibn ‘Arabi, look what your
words have become—the restoration of
Truth, the regeneration of Life itself.
December 23, page 391
* * * * *
The Tender Mouth Of The Earth
What will the burial of my body be? The
pouring of a sacred cup of wine into the earth’s
tender mouth and making my dear sweet lover
laugh one more time.
What is the passing of a body? The glorious
lifting of the spirit into the sacred arms of the
Sky, and making existence smile, one more, one
more time.
December 28, page 396
* * * * *
A River Understands
I used to know my name. Now I don’t. I
think a river understands me.
For what does it call itself in that blessed
moment when it starts emptying into the
Infinite Luminous Sea,
and opening every aspect of self wider than
it ever thought possible?
Each drop of itself now running to embrace
and unite with a million new friends.
And you were there, in my union with All,
everyone who will ever see this page.
December 29, page 397
* * * * *
One poem about a river is beautifully told by William Stafford in his poem, Ask Me, where he looks to the stillness in the river to inform him, and the person asking him about his life, and, in a way, the creative process in the moment. Another poem of his, Something That Happens Right Now, also leaves you with a similar unbounded feeling as this last Hafiz poem does.
See other inspiring poems by Hafiz, translated by Ladinsky, posted here.
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