Thus Bob Collén in a recent electronic-mail message. He was lamenting all the chains even the likes of us have to endure. He had in mind my new identity card, about which I had written a day or two earlier, but he mentioned similar indignities even those from the land of the free have to live with, such as driver’s licenses and social security numbers. “We Sufis…” The words come back to me almost daily, and they feel so soothing. So very soothing. It is time to nail them down, I decided a moment ago. We Sufis will not suffer chains lightly.

Addendum (May 8, 2018)

To my chagrin, Bob is no more (“Brothers of Mind,” September 24, 2014). We Sufis have shrunk in ranks, to be sure. Although he will be with me till my last breath, I miss our occasional exchanges either by snail or electronic mail. Having searched my magnum opus on the World Wide Web for the piece announcing his departure, I am quite surprised. Four years already! And I would have guessed that no more than a couple of years have passed since that fateful day. Indeed, time is yet another chain we Sufis have to endure till the end. It shrinks and stretches in unpredictable ways, but a chain it always remains (“The Mystery of Time,” April 11, 2018). Would that Bob were still around for yet another exchange about the unshakable chain of time…