jamila

A woman came to Ali, 'My baby has crawled out
on the roof near the water drain, where I cannot go.
He won't listen to me. I talk to him,
but he doesn't understand language.

I make gestures. I show him my breast,
but he turns away. What can I do?'

'Take another baby his age
up to the roof.'

The woman did so, and her child saw his friend
and crawled away from the edge.

The prophets are human for this reason,
that we may see them and delight
in the friendly presence
and crawl away from the downspout.

~Rumi "Why the Prophets Are Human"