Sunday, December 30, 2018

This dervesh was once a sober man

This dervesh was once a sober man
The shrine in his heart was uninhabited

He roamed the markets buying ever new wares
Brought by merchants from afar

"I cannot live without this new soft Persian rug"
Thought this dervish once with fervent desire

Thoughts of the new rug gripped him until he bought it
However the joy of having the new rug lasted not more than a fortnight

When his thoughts were drawn to the new carriage his neighbour bought
Drawn by white and grey steeds of the finest variety from Medina

This dervish who speaks now, started saving up for the carriage
And so continued the hoarding and unending conquests of desires

However the happiness remained elusive as ever
The void in the shrine of the heart seemed to grow

Until the dervish caught whiff of the beloved's holy feet
Sweet "attar" wafted from a great distance as the faithful started their worship

The fakir's enigmatic presence started pulling at my heart strings from a distance
The unbearable yearning filled the void now and I ran towards the shrine like one possessed

The children remarked, "There goes another madman running after the fakir!!!"
This happened once in a while when someone was this close to eternal happiness

I drank in the wine of the beloved's presence all night
I then danced in unbounded joy at the fakir's sight

Once I left for the fakir's shrine in the city centre
The fakir came back to reside in my heart shrine

From that day all sobriety was lost like the chaff before wind
And this person became the drunken dervish never to become sober again!

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