I will beguile him with the tongue
Reason says, ” I will beguile him with the tongue.”; Love says,
“Be silent. I will beguile him with the soul.”
The soul says to the heart, “Go, do not laugh at me and yourself.
What is there that is not his, that I may beguile him
Thereby?”
He is not sorrowful and anxious and seeking oblivion that I
May beguile him with wine and a heavy measure.
The arrow of his glance needs not a bow that I should beguile
The shaft of his gaze with a bow.
He is not prisoner of the world, fettered to this world of earth,
That I should beguile him with gold of the kingdom of the world.
He is an angel, though in form he is a man; he is not lustful
That I should beguile him with women.
Angels start away from the house wherein this form is, so how
Should I beguile him with such a form and likeness?
He does not take a flock of horses, since he flies on wings; his
He is not a merchant and trafficker in the market of the world
That I should beguile him with enchantment of grain and loss.
He is not veiled that I should make myself out sick and utter
Sighs, to beguile him with lamentation.
I will bind my head and bow my head, for I have got out of
Hand; I will not beguile his compassion with sickness or fluttering.
Hair by hair he sees my crookedness and feigning; what’s
Hidden from him that I should beguile him with anything hidden.
He is not a seeker of fame, a prince addicted to poets, that I
Should beguile him with verses and lyrics and flowing poetry.
The glory of the unseen form is too great for me to beguile it
With blessing or Paradise.
Shams-e Tabriz, who is his chosen and beloved-perchance I
Will beguile him with this same pole of the age.
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