Where is my Ruined Life ?

Shams al-Din Hafiz 1315 (Shiraz) – 1390 (Shiraz)



WHERE is my ruined life, and where the fame
Of noble deeds?
Look on my long-drawn road, and whence it came,
And where it leads!

Can drunkenness be linked to piety
And good repute?
Where is the preacher's holy monody,
Where is the lute?

From monkish cell and lying garb released,
Oh heart of mine,
Where is the Tavern fane, the Tavern priest,
Where is the wine?

Past days of meeting, let the memory
Of you be sweet!
Where are those glances fled, and where for me
Reproaches meet?

His friend's bright face warms not the enemy
When love is done--
Where is the extinguished lamp that made night day,
Where is the sun?

Balm to mine eyes the dust, my head I bow
Upon thy stair.
Where shall I go, where from thy presence? thou
Art everywhere.

Look not upon the dimple of her chin,
Danger lurks there!
Where wilt thou hide, oh trembling heart, fleeing in
Such mad haste--where?

To steadfastness and patience, friend, ask not
If Hafiz keep--
Patience and steadfastness I have forgot,
And where is sleep?

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

55 sec read
128

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABAB CDCD EFEF CGCG CHXH IJIJ KJKJ LMLM
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 971
Words 183
Stanzas 8
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4

Shams al-Din Hafiz

Khwāja Shams-ud-Dīn Muḥammad Ḥāfeẓ-e Shīrāzī (Persian: خواجه شمس‌‌الدین محمد حافظ شیرازی‎), known by his pen name Hafez (حافظ, Ḥāfeẓ, 'the memorizer; the (safe) keeper' and as "Hafiz", was a Persian poet who "lauded the joys of love and wine but also targeted religious hypocrisy". more…

All Shams al-Din Hafiz poems | Shams al-Din Hafiz Books

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