Number 12

MasnaviIraqi style
English

Number 12

I never heard of a bird that fled the trap and came back willingly to share its secret. A wild bird that has flown to the wall, who can ever catch it again? You bring back those who have left with kindness, not by fighting and wounding them worse.
Explanation: The escaped bird is a metaphor for a person who has left; the poem argues that only gentleness, never force, can win them back.

Original · Persian

شمارهٔ ۱۲

نشنیدم که مرغ رفته ز دام باز گردید و سرّ گفته به کام
مرغ وحشی که رفت بر دیوار که تواند گرفت دیگر بار؟
رفتگان را به لطف باز آرند نه به جنگش بتر بیازارند