Khwajah Abdullah Ansari (1006-1088 CE) was a prominent Persian Sufi who lived in Khorosan, in what is now Afghanistan. He was known as Pir-i-Herat, the sage of Herat.
I address You, the Divine;
You rescue hearts in pain,
and bring ecstasy to the hearts of Your obedient.
You accept our shortcomings, when confessed.
No one can enter the path towards You, unless You will it.
No one can discover the path towards You unless
You hold one’s hand and guide.
Hold my hand and guide me towards the Real,
There is no one except You who rescues.
Give me refuge, as there is no one but You who gives refuge.
Protect my heart, as there is no protector but You.
You are the answer to all my questions;
You are the healing for all my pains.
You are the peace that protects me from all my disturbances.
Dear Nawab your last post about the Divine, accepting our shortcomings touched me. In one way, looking at my shortcomings from a distance, I can feel mellow and forgiving. In another way, for me the most painful thing is realising the pain I have, unwillingly , caused to my dear ones.The Divine may accept, but in my concrete life, being accepted with my shortcomings by my dear ones, is the most healing gift. Communicating with the Divine is nice, but if there is no communicating with the people around me, it seems a rather narcistic thing.
Dear Lisa, thank you for this thought. Yes, if it is possible to find forgiveness from those we have hurt, that is very good – but it is not always possible, in which case we must look for the compassion of God. And in any case, is it not so that the forgiveness of our friend is an expression of the forgiveness of God? The people around you are not outside of the Divine Presence.