From the wise man who sat with soldiers, princes, sultans and more
With the lettered, the well read, and all the ones that people adoreThe scholar wants to demonstrate, by being put to the test
What he sees as his intellectual prowessThe intellectual, through his mental capability
Knows that also as a leader, is where he ought to beThe leader may have rank, authority, perhaps love and honour
But deep down inside he also wants to be seen as a scholarThe scholars most certainly don’t want to lead
That would inhibit them very much indeedThe intellectuals wouldn’t want to be scholars
That would prohibit them, that would be a horror of horrorsTo be ‘would-be intellectuals’ is not the stuff of leaders
For them that’s not a model for great and real achievers
Written this day in Safar 1429 (February 2008)