Mantic uttaïr, The Peacock

There was a madman, possessed by an excess of love for God, who held a lofty station. Khizr said to him: “O perfect man! Wouldst thou be my friend?” — “Thou wouldst not suit me,” he replied, “because thou hast drunk long draughts of the water of immortality, so that thou shalt endure for ever. But I wish to renounce life, because I am without a friend, and thus could not bear existence. While thou art occupied in preserving thy life, I sacrifice mine every day! It is therefore better that we part, like birds escaped from the net. Farewell.”