8. Letter from an Acquaintance
Fifty years in Yamgan . . . why am I in jail?
Two sets of chains: Reason for my spirit,
and devil s shackles for my body. No wonder
the demons don t obey me: am I Solomon?
In fact I am more like Salman.
My words shine like the sun, even if
you haven t seen me in the flesh
for . . . how many years? Your heart:
a moon to the wisdom of my
pearl-scattering sun. Yamgan:
the gold-mine of knowledge and sagacity
(aren t I buried in Yamgan?)
I ve changed a lot since we met -
at least that part of that s
bound to the material realm. But
I have not turned away from the
Path of Faith. For unlike my flesh
my spirit soars. You write
Why don t you leave, come back?
Don t you realise -I m escaping
from demos? Don t blame me!
Don t aks me to make my home
amongst asses and cows - you know
I m not a herdsman. Comedians!
What do you have in common with
comics and their audiences? I m not
interested in laughing or cracking jokes.
Yesterday I laughed; today I weep.
Fools laugh; wisdom s got me by
the neck. Fools eat and enjoy themselves;
je regret, je regret . . . .all that.
The pink tulips of cheeks have
rotted like straw; if I thrash my wheat
with your breezes, I ll have nothing
tomorrow but a bag of wind.
Why has God made me this way?
Yesterday I was a rolling stone;
today I m a moss-grown ruin.
Yesterday tuxedo and tails
today rags. If I leave my hovel
whee should I go. I fear -
or rather I don t fear - I ll never
leave; I will stick to present evil.
I could try to hang on to the world
by the skin of my teeth - but
they d soon have my teeth out
by the roots. No, now that I
am aware of this secret I shall
rise and brush the mould
off my lapels. Before they come to
cart me away, I ll read over
the record once agin. Tomorrow
they ll strip me bare - why should I
bother to conceal anything today?
Repentance turns evil to good
- do God promise us in the Book -
I shall stick to good and stay away
from what doesn t concern me.
Do unto other . . . . that s what it means
to be a Muslim. If I am the servant
of the All-merciful, shouldn t I follow
His Messenger? At least I m
sensible enough to not to think that
two opposites can both be true.
Once again, off again . . .that s a
drunkard s act. I d never expect
you to summons me to join
the inebriates - and if anyone
does call me . . .sorry. No. I ll stay.
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