"On Pleasure" Summary

A hermit on his annual visit to town asks about pleasure, and Almustafa says it is a freedom-song but not freedom, the blossoming of one's desires but not their fruit, a depth calling to a height but neither the deep nor the high, a caged bird flying but not a space encompassed. Almustafa wishes people would sing the freedom-song wholeheartedly without losing their hearts in the singing. It is wrong to judge and rebuke youth for seeking pleasure as if it were everything. Let them seek and find, together with pleasure, her seven more beautiful sisters. Digging for roots can yield treasure. Some elders regret pleasures they recall, but regret only clouds the mind without chastising it. It is better that they remember their pleasures with gratitude. If it comforts them to regret, however, let them be comforted. Some...