Poem XXXVII

1I have heard that thou dost intend to travel: do not so.That thou bestowest thy love on a new friend and companion: do not so.

2Tho’ in the world thou art strange, thou hast never known estrangement;What heart-stricken wretch art thou attempting? do not so.

3Steal not thyself away from me, go not to aliens;Thou art stealthily glancing at another: do not so.

4O moon for whose sake the heavens are bewildered,Thou makest me distraught and bewildered: do not so.

5Where is the pledge and where the compact thou didst make with me?Thou departest from thy word and pledge: do not so.

6Why give promises and why utter protestations,Why make a shield of vows and blandishments? do not so.

7O thou whose vestibule is above existence and non-existence,At this moment thou art passing from existence: do not so.

8O thou whose command Hell and Paradise obey,Thou art making Paradise like Hell-fire to me: do not so.

9In thy plot of sugar-canes I am secure from poison;Thou minglest the poison with the sugar: do not so,

10My soul is like a fiery furnace, yet it sufficed thee not;By absence thou art making my face pale as gold: do not so.

11When thou withdrawest thy countenance, the moon is darkened with grief;Thou art intending the eclipse of the moon’s orb: do not so.

12Our lips become dry when thou bringest a drought;Why art thou moistening mine eye with tears? do not so.

13Since thou canst not endure the reasoning faculty of lovers,Then why dost thou dazzle the eye of reason? do not so.

14Thou art denying sweetmeats to one sick of abstinence;Thou art making thy patient worse: do not so.

15My lawless eye is a thief of thy beauty;O Beloved, thou tak’st vengeance on my thievish sight: do not so.