Good Deeds – A Hafiz Poem on Spirituality and Religion

Ever wonder how spirituality and religion differ? Or better yet, how they are the same?

In this Hafiz poem, we explore some of these similarities and differences, with the goal of ultimately growing closer to God (the fundamental aim of all spiritual and religious efforts).

So, whether you seek good deeds or awakening, there is something in this poem for you.

Listen to it with a calm and open mind, and allow whatever Truth you may experience to naturally arise, without any struggle or effort.

#hafiz #hafez #spiritualpoetry

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Good deeds
And I, a sinner,
We're far apart;
On different plains,
A different way,
the way of the heart!

No common ground:
We drinkers here;
you puritans there!
The sermon and
The song of the lute!
How can the two compare?

It weighs upon my heart,
This lie of living
in fake purity.
Where is the Saqi?
Where the wine?
They're worlds apart!

What will my enemies
Gain by staring at my
Beloved's face so fair?
They are as dying lamps
And she the brightest Sun
beyond compare!

The thought of the Beloved
Drove out the thought
of days gone by.
Where did the vanity go?
Where is the anger gone?
Where is my pride?

Do not expect
From Hafiz
A life of peacefulness,
Repose.
What is patience?
What is peace?
Who knows?

~ Hafiz Shirazi

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Khwāje Shams-od-Dīn Moḥammad Ḥāfeẓ-e Shīrāzī (Persian: خواجه شمس‌‌الدین محمّد حافظ شیرازی), known by his pen name Hafez (حافظ, Ḥāfeẓ, 'the memorizer; the (safe) keeper'; 1325–1390) and as "Hafiz", was a Persian lyric poet, whose collected works are regarded by many Iranians as a pinnacle of Persian literature.

His works are often found in the homes of people in the Persian-speaking world, who learn his poems by heart and use them as everyday proverbs and sayings. His life and poems have become the subjects of much analysis, commentary and interpretation, influencing post-14th century Persian writing more than any other Persian author.

Hafez is best known for his Divan of Hafez, a collection of his surviving poems probably compiled after his death. Hafez primarily wrote in the literary genre of lyric poetry or ghazals, that is the ideal style for expressing the ecstasy of divine inspiration in the mystical form of love poems. He was a Sufi.

Themes of his ghazals include the Beloved, faith and exposing hypocrisy. His influence on Persian speakers appears in divination by his poems and in the frequent use of his poems in Persian traditional music, visual art and Persian calligraphy. His tomb is located in his birthplace of Shiraz. Adaptations, imitations and translations of his poems exist in all major languages.