How To Beguile Him?

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 food is light, so how should I beguile him with bread?
He is not a merchant and trafficker in the market of the world
that I should beguile him with enchantment of gain 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-i Tabriz, who is his chosen and beloved -
perchance I will beguile him with this same pole of the age.

Mystical Poems of Rumi 2, A. J. Arberry The University of Chicago Press, 1991

ArtWork by Sermed Berktav