If the Sheikh had seen my beloved, he would have excused my condition, but he could never go to that gathering.

Here, the poet offers a gentle, witty critique of the rigid moralist, the Sheikh, who constantly judges the lover's frenzy. The poet muses that if only the pious elder had glimpsed the beloved's breathtaking beauty, he would have instantly excused the lover's madness and felt the same intoxication. The playful tragedy, however, is that bound by orthodox dogma and self-righteous pride, the Sheikh could never bring himself to enter that vibrant gathering of love.