The Sheikh Who Played with Children

I have tested reason extensively, and now I seek madness as a refuge.  
One was saying, "I want wisdom to consult in my difficulty."  
Another said, "In our city, there is no wise person except that one who appears mad."  
Look, he rides on a reed, galloping among the children.  
He is a man of opinion and a fiery spirit, a celestial being and a starry rider.  
His splendor has become the soul of the cherubim, hidden in this madness.  
But do not consider every madman to have a soul; do not worship the calf like the Samaritan.  
When a saint openly tells you a hundred thousand secrets and hidden mysteries,  
You lack the understanding and knowledge to distinguish dung from aloeswood.  
The saint uses his madness as a veil; how will you recognize him, O blind one?  
If you have the eye of certainty open, you will see an officer under every stone.  
To the eye that is open and guided, every cloak conceals a Moses.  
A saint is made famous by another saint; whoever he wishes, he makes prosperous.  
No one can recognize him with reason, for he has made himself appear mad.  
When a blind dog bites the owner of a rag, how can it recognize that fierce dog?  
A dog attacks a blind beggar like a lion in battle.  
The dog angrily targets the dervishes, throwing dust in their eyes.  
The blind man, helpless from the dog's bark and fear, submits to the dog.  
"O lord of the hunt and lion of the chase, spare me your hand."  
Out of necessity, the sage honored the donkey's tail and called it noble.  
He said, "Out of necessity, O lion, what can you gain from hunting someone as weak as me?"  
Your companions hunt zebras in the field; you hunt the blind in the alley.  
Your companions seek zebras in the hunt; you seek the blind in the alley with deceit.  
That worldly dog hunted zebras, while this worthless dog targeted the blind.  
When a dog learns knowledge, it is saved from error, hunting lawfully in the forests.  
When a dog becomes knowledgeable, it becomes agile in crawling; when it becomes a mystic, it joins the Companions of the Cave.  
The dog recognizes who the lord of the hunt is; O God, what is that enlightening light?  
The blind do not recognize, not because they lack sight, but because they are intoxicated with ignorance.  
The blind are not more sightless than the earth; this earth, by God's grace, became a discerning adversary.  
It saw Moses' light and honored Moses, swallowed Korah, and recognized Korah.  
It quaked to destroy every claimant, understanding from God, "O earth, swallow."  
Earth, water, wind, and fire with sparks are unaware with us but aware with God.  
We, conversely, are informed of everything but God, unaware of God and so many warnings.  
Therefore, they all said, "We are weary of this life, which is alive with creatures but dead with God."  
When one remains from the creatures, he becomes an orphan; the heart must be pure for God's intimacy.  
When a thief steals from the blind, the blind wails in darkness.  
The thief does not say, "It is I who stole from you, for I am a cunning thief."  
How can the blind recognize their thief when they lack the light of sight and vision?  
When he says, "Seize him tightly," he will reveal the signs of the stolen goods.  
Thus, the greater jihad is the thief's era, to declare what he has stolen as a reward.  
First, he stole the kohl of your eyes; when you reclaim it, you regain insight.  
The wisdom that the heart has lost is certain to the people of the heart.  
The blind-hearted, with soul, hearing, and sight, cannot recognize the devil's theft.  
Seek it from the people of the heart, not from the inanimate, for the inanimate are creatures before him.  
The seeker of counsel came to him, saying, "O father, tell me a secret about the child."  
He said, "Go from this circle, for this door is not open; turn back, today is not the day of secrets."  
If there were a path from place to placelessness, I would be like the elders on the shopfront.  
The inspector found a drunkard asleep at the base of a wall at midnight.  
He said, "Hey, drunkard, what have you drunk? Tell me."  
He replied, "I drank from what is in the jug."  
He said, "Finally, tell me what is in the jug." He replied, "From what I drank." He said, "This is hidden."  
He said, "What you drank, what is that?" He replied, "What is hidden in the jug."  
This question and answer went round and round, leaving the inspector stuck like a donkey in the mud.  
The inspector said to him, "Hey, sigh." The drunkard said, "Ho ho," at the time of speech.  
He said, "I said sigh, and you say ho." He replied, "I am happy, and you speak from sorrow."  
A sigh is from pain and sorrow, while ho ho is from the joy of wine drinkers.  
The inspector said, "I do not understand this, get up, get up, stop crafting knowledge and leave this dispute."  
He said, "Go, where are you from, and where am I from?" He said, "Drunkard, get up, let's go to prison."  
He said, "O inspector, leave me and go; how can you take a pledge from the naked?"  
If I had the strength to go, I would have gone home, and this would not have happened.  
If I were with reason and ability, I would be like the elders on the shopfront.  
The seeker again drew the great one into conversation to make his state clearer.  
The seeker said, "Finally, for a moment, O rider on the reed, drive this horse."  
He said, "I want a woman in this alley; who is suitable for someone like me?"  
He said, "There are three types of women in the world: two are trouble, and one is a flowing treasure."  
One, when you want her, is entirely yours; the other is half yours, half separate.  
And the third is not yours at all, know this; you heard, go away, I am leaving."  
So that my horse does not kick you, and you fall, never to rise again.  
The elder drove among the children, and the young man shouted again.  
"Come, finally, explain this; you said there are three types of women, choose one."  
He drove towards him and said, "A virgin is special; she is entirely yours, and you find relief from sorrow."  
And the one who is half yours is a widow, and the one who is nothing is a wife with children.  
When she has a child from her first husband, her affection and heart go that way.  
Go away, so my horse does not kick you; the hoof of my wild horse will reach you.  
The elder made noise and drove again, calling the children back to him.  
The seeker shouted again, "Come, one question remains, O king of kings."  
He drove this way, saying, "Quickly, what was it that the child took from the field?"  
He said, "O king, with such wisdom and manners, what madness is this, what action is this, O wonder?"  
You are beyond reason in expression, a sun hidden in madness.  
He said, "These ruffians are plotting to make me the judge in this city."  
I was saying no, they said, "There is no scholar like you, a master of skill."  
With your presence, it is forbidden and vile for someone lesser to speak in judgment.  
In the law, there is no permission for us to make a lesser person a king and leader.  
Out of necessity, I became bewildered and mad, but inwardly, I am the same as I was.  
My intellect is a treasure, and I am a ruin; if I reveal the treasure, I am mad.  
He is mad who did not become mad, who saw the constable and did not enter the house.  
My knowledge is an essence, not an accident; this is not a price for every purpose.  
I am the sugarcane, the sugar grove; it grows from me, and I consume it.  
Imitative and instructional knowledge is that which makes the listener groan from its aversion.  
When it seeks grain, it is not for enlightenment, like the seeker of the lowly world's knowledge.  
The seeker of knowledge is for the common and the special, not to find liberation from this world.  
Like a mouse, it makes holes everywhere; when its light drives it from the door, it becomes cold.  
When it has no path to the field and its light, it strives in that darkness.  
If God gives it wings, it will fly from mousehood and soar like birds.  
If it does not seek wings, it remains under the earth, hopeless of the path to the Pleiades.  
The knowledge of speech, which is lifeless, is in love with the face of buyers.  
Even if it is great at the time of discussion, when it has no buyer, it departs.  
My buyer is God; He raises me up, for God has bought me.  
The price of my blood is the beauty of the Majestic; I consume my blood price, earning lawfully.  
Leave these bankrupt buyers; what purchase can a handful of clay make?  
Do not eat clay, do not buy clay, do not seek clay, for the clay eater is always pale-faced.  
Eat the heart so that you are always young, your face radiant like the pomegranate from the divine manifestation.