The Uses of Fear

God may bring down a king so that he strikes the ranks with his greed.  
The king's intention is not to make people safe; his aim is to bind the kingdom.  
The one fleeing seeks escape to avoid the blow of that moment.  
His intention is not to draw water or to use it to extract oil from sesame.  
The ox rushes out of fear of a harsh blow, not to carry a cart and goods.  
Yet God has given him such fear of pain so that benefits may be achieved as a result.  
Similarly, every merchant in the shop strives for himself, not for the betterment of the world.  
Each seeks a remedy for his pain, and thus the world is sustained.  
All are afraid of good and bad, yet no one fears themselves.  
Therefore, the truth is governed by someone who is near, even if not perceived.  
He is perceptible in a hidden place, but not to the senses of this world.  
The sense through which God manifests is not the sense of this world; it is another.  
If the animal sense could see those forms, even a cow or donkey would be a saint.  
He who made the body a manifestation of every spirit, and who made the ship Noah's steed,  
If He wills, He can make the ship itself a dream, O seeker of light.  
Every moment is a flood and a ship, O changeable one, connected with your sorrow and joy.  
If you do not see the ship and sea before you, observe the tremors in all your parts.  
Since the eyes do not see the source of their fear, they fear various illusions.  
A drunk fool strikes a blind man, who thinks a camel is kicking him.  
Because at that moment, he hears the camel's sound; the blind man has ears, not sight.  
The blind man says, "Wasn't this a stone, or perhaps from a noisy dome?"  
This wasn't it, nor was that; the one who created fear showed these things.  
Fear and trembling are certainly from others; no one fears themselves, O sorrowful one.  
That little sage calls fear an illusion; he has misunderstood this lesson.  
No illusion exists without truth; no counterfeit circulates without the genuine.  
When does a lie have value without truth? In both worlds, every lie arises from truth.  
He saw the success and brilliance of truth, and in hope of that, he spread lies.  
O lie that sings from truth, be grateful for the blessing; do not deny the truth.  
Shall I speak of the philosopher and his madness, or of his ships and seas?  
Rather, I shall speak of his ships, for they are the heart's advice; I say that the part is included in the whole.  
Recognize every saint as Noah and the captain; recognize the company of these people as the flood.  
Flee less from lions and fierce dragons; be wary of acquaintances and relatives.  
In the encounters of your days, they carry you away; their memories graze on your absence.  
Like a thirsty donkey, each one imagines, sipping the drink of thought from the body's cup.  
The imagination of those desires has drained from you the dew you have from the sea of life.  
Thus, the sign of water absorption in the branches is that it does not move in stillness.  
A free limb is a fresh and green branch; you pull it in any direction, and it stretches.  
If you want a basket, you can make it; you can also make a collar around its neck.  
When it becomes dry from absorbing its root, it does not go where the command pulls it.