Wakefulness in the Prison

At night prisoners are unconscious of their prison, at night governors are unconscious of their power.
There is no sorrow, no thought of gain or loss, no fancy of this person or that person.
This is the state of the ‘árif (gnostic), even without sleep: God said, (Thou wouldst deem them awake) whilst they slept. Shy not at this.
He is asleep, day and night, to the affairs of the world, like a pen in the hand of the Lord's control.
One who sees not the hand in the writing thinks (that) the act (of writing proceeds) from the pen by means of movement.

The Masnawi - Volume 1, 390