“Come, Buddha, I want to show you something,” Aziza says,
skipping over to the guava tree in the courtyard and lifting up a few leaves.
Buddha sees three silken cocoons, some larva spinning shrouds from filaments
and a few caterpillars feeding ravenously.
“You know, these ugly worms go into their fortress, which is
their cocoon, and they come out with wings!” Aziza says with amazement and
delight, her arms spread wide as she skips around the courtyard.
“Fortress!” Buddha exclaims.
“Inside our bodies is a city,” Aziza explains.
“Oh, you are using images from Baba’s shabads,” says
Mardana, who has sung Baba’s shabads repeatedly so his entire family
knows them well.
“Yes, and inside the city is a fortress with locked gates.
When you say the name of the Nameless Beloved, the doors swing wide open. You
can go inside, crawling on your many legs, like a caterpillar, and find Allah.
Then your skin bursts like a mango full of juice and you become a beautiful
butterfly with colored wings that can go anywhere at all!” Aziza exclaims.
Mardana and Fatima look at each other and smile.
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