The Dreams

Dream 59

His great height was amazing — and so was his behavior. He was as tall as the minaret at our local mosque. As for his actions, he would block the path of anyone he chose among the people of our quarter, angling down from his lofty altitude until he stood face to face with them.

He would stare piercingly at their features, searching for their hidden secret. He would keep doing this, then bolt out of sight behind a bend in the road. People would encounter him with dumb surprise and intense dismay — until one of them trailed him to discover the secret of his mystery. When the man failed to come back after a long time, a group of the neighbors went out to search for him and make sure he was all right.

The shaykh of the hara then came to search as well, as was his duty, but returned with wounded pride. The affair wound up on every tongue, as ideas and fantasies multiplied in peoples’ minds. Yet to no avail, for forgetfulness swallowed the whole business — or nearly so.

One evening the shaykh was chatting in front of the mosque when he felt the peculiar man’s presence. The shaykh not only grasped his miraculous nature, but also caught a glimpse of his enigma, which had so confounded others. He resolved on the spot to seize hold of him, and to broadcast what he knew of his riddle to the crowd gathered around. But then his strength betrayed him completely — he could not move, nor could he speak.