Yearning like hoping pulls us out of present time and into expectations and dreams of moments that are finer than what we own. Hafiz reminds us that we have a yearning built into our lives of wanting to unite with the source of our love. We yearn to remember who we are. This will not let us be. We may identify it in many different ways at different times of our lives but, like hunger - or any of the restless feels - it lingers and serves as a constant reminder there is a need for something additional in our lives. Our challenge is to not get lured out of the present and learn to recognize that what is ours is always arriving in every moment. Our challenge is to cultivate trust in something larger than ourselves and of ourselves; something that is benevolent and kind and lean into devoting ourselves to that.
Hafiz seems to be reminding us that we are part of a greater elegant design in this poem. It it is within that design that we yearn.
Thank you for listening.
Music: This song by k.d. lang expresses this feeling of yearning divinely.
Maybe a great magnet pulls
All souls to what's true
Or maybe it is life itself
Feeds wisdom to its youth
The original post in this series of poems by Hafiz (including an addendum regarding the authenticity of these poems) can be found here.
The Gift: Poems by Hafiz and translated by Daniel Ladinsky can be purchased here.