Poetry and Truth from Daniel Ladinsky's Rendition of Hafiz

WE HAVE SOME LEVERAGE

Always assume you are on the best of terms
with God, for, dear, I will tell you a truth:
We have some leverage over Him.

How do I know that? It was pretty easy to
figure out with this fine brain.

In short: Each of us is like His only heir.

Spoiled and difficult as we may be, He is
very willing to put up with us until we are
enthroned.

JUST BEFORE DAWN

The best time to look for treasure starts

late at night.

The sediment then settles in our sphere,

freed from all the day's hard wants.

One can get a clearer shot at God moving

in the sky forest, just before dawn.

And is there ever a minute, my dear,

when you are not hunting Love?

WHEN A DOG RUNS UP

Start seeing everything as God, but keep
it a secret.

Become like the man and woman who are
awestruck and nourished

listening to a golden nightingale sing
in a beautiful foreign language while God,
invisible to most, nests upon its tongue.

Hafiz, who can tell in this world that
when a dog runs up to you wagging its
ecstatic tail, you lean over and whisper in
its ear,

"Beloved, I am so glad you are happy to
see me! Beloved, I am so glad, so very glad
you have come!"

EACH SOUL COMPLETES ME

My Beloved said, "My name is not complete

without yours."

And I thought: How could a human's worth

even be such?

And God, knowing all our thoughts, and all

our thoughts are just innocent steps on the

path, then addressed my heart,

God revealed a sublime truth to the world

when He sang,

"I am made whole by your life. Each soul, each

soul completes Me."

~ Selected from A Year with Hafiz: Daily Contemplations by Daniel Ladinsky ~