A Cow In Baghdad

(If) a cow come suddenly into Baghdád and pass from this side (of the city) to that (farther) side, Of all (its) pleasures and joys and delights she will see nothing but the rind of a water-melon. (If) straw or hay has fallen on the road, (it is) suitable to his (such a one's) bovine or asinine disposition. (Hanging) dry on the nail of (his bestial) nature, like strips of meat (exposed to the sun), his spirit, bound with (the cords of) secondary causes, does not grow; But the spacious realm where means and causes are torn to shreds (transcended) is the earth of God, O most honourable sire. It is ever changing, like a (fleeting) picture: the spirit beholds in clairvoyance a world (appearing) anew and anew. (Everything), though it be Paradise and the rivers of Eden, becomes ugly when it is congealed (fixed permanently) in one aspect.
 THE MASNAWI 4, 2375