Let Them Sleep

Let Them Sleep - form Summary

A Ghazal of Ecstatic Renunciation

This poem is presented as a ghazal from the Divan-e Shams-e Tabrizi. Its short, aphoristic lines and abrupt shifts mirror the ghazal's economy: condensed couplets that leap between images and imperatives. That form forces a tone of urgent renunciation, where mystical Love replaces theology and intellectual study. Commands to let the unawakened "sleep" and the image of spiritual nakedness gain force through the poem's compact, repetitive structure. Recognizing the ghazal form prepares the reader for concentrated, non-linear argument and the poem's emphasis on direct, experiential union over doctrinal learning.