"A clever horse needs only one touch of the whip." Chinese saying

You make a hundred resolutions to journey somewhere:

He draws you somewhere else.

He turns the horse's bridle in every direction

that the untrained horse may gain knowledge of the rider.

The clever horse is well-paced

because it knows a rider is mounted upon it.

He fixed your heart on a hundred passionate desires,

disappointed you, and then broke your heart.

Since He broke the wings of your first intention,

how do you doubt the existence of the Wing-breaker?

Since His ordainment snapped the cord of contrivance,

how can you remain blind to His Command?

Mathnawi III: 4456-4461Version by Camille and Kabir Helminski

"Rumi: Jewels of Remembrance"

Threshold Books, 1996(Persian transliteration courtesy of Yahyá Monastra)