Page:Masnavi I Ma'navi.pdf/117

STORY II.] THE PAUPER AND THE PRISONERS. 69 That I may slay the children of my enemies.

From every one who has true faith for food,

And as bread for his provisions by the way,

I take it away by fraud or deceit,

So that they raise bitter cries of regret.

Sometimes I menace them with poverty,[1]

Sometimes I blind their eyes with tresses and moles."

In this prison the food of true faith is scarce,

And by the tricks of this dog what there is is lost.

In spite of prayers and fasts and endless pains,

Our food is altogether devoured by him.

Let us seek refuge with Allah from Satan.

Alas! we are perishing by his insolence.

The dog is one, yet he enters a thousand forms;[2]

Whatever he enters straight becomes himself.

Whatever makes you shiver, know he is in it,-

The Devil is hidden beneath its outward form.

When he finds no form at hand, he enters your thoughts,

To cause them to draw you into sin.

From your thoughts proceeds destruction,

When from time to time evil thoughts occur to you.

Sometimes thoughts of pleasure, sometimes of business,

Sometimes thoughts of science, sometimes of house and home.

Sometimes thoughts of gain and traffic,

Sometimes thoughts of merchandise and wealth.

Sometimes thoughts of money and wives and children,

Sometimes thoughts of wisdom or of sadness.

Sometimes thoughts of household goods and fine linen,

Sometimes thoughts of carpets, sometimes of sweepers.

Sometimes thoughts of mills, gardens, and villas,

Sometimes of clouds and mists and jokes and jests.

Sometimes thoughts of peace and war,

Sometimes thoughts of honour and disgrace.

Ah! cast out of your head these vain imaginations, ¹ Koran ii, 279. Cf. Gulshan i Raz, p. 86.