The Wise Fool

By Sheikh Shabir Kulgami

Friends indeed, they lived in the garden-

The garden of milk and honey indeed,

A friend gifts honey to the gardener

Who smiles and smiles and goes to sleep

The friend now is free like a bird,

Whatever he wishes goes unheard

The other friend speaks of the right word,

And never has he gifted a drop of honey to the master

Who watches him like an eagle on a prey?

And away he sends him out of the garden on the fixed day

I told you dear, eat the right word

Which I speak never and live here for ever

Yet at me, you threw the pots of the rule

What though you are younger than me?

You really are a wise fool.

By Sheikh Shabir Kulgami