Setting out to hunt in the desert, a king ordered the keeper of the packs of dogs to bring him his greyhound. Now it was a pampered dog, covered in a robe of the finest satin. A golden collar, adorned with precious stones, gave lustre to its neck. There were gold rings on its hind paws as well as on its forepaws; a silken leash was around its neck. The king, who considered this dog endowed with intelligent instinct, therefore took it by its leash and walked behind the animal, which was running, when a bone happened to lie in its path. At the sight of this bone, the dog stopped; the king noticed, and became so angry with the wretched dog that he struck it, expressing his astonishment that, in the presence of a king such as himself, the dog could have paid attention to a filthy bone. Then he cut the leash and said: “Set this ill-mannered dog free; it would have been better for this dog to have swallowed thousands of needles than to have been held by this leash.” The keeper of the dogs then said to the king: “Sire, the dog’s nature has awakened, though this one was well trained. It was suited to dwell in plains and deserts, not to be clothed, like us, in silk, gold, and pearls.” The king said: “Strip this animal of the gold and silver that adorn it, and send it back as it was before, so that, if it reflects, it may remember its adornment, recall the company in which it was, and how it was parted from a monarch such as myself.”
O thou who didst first win God’s friendship and then lose it through Thy negligence! Plant thy foot resolutely in this love, which is the true one; boldly drink from the same cup as the dragon. He who stands firm there is a dragon. For lovers, to have their heads severed is as the price of blood. What brings a man renown is to pay no more heed to dragons than to ants. Lovers, whether there be but one or thousands, attain their goal only when drenched in their own blood.
words: “I am God.” As they did not understand what he meant, they cut off his hands and feet. He grew pale as the blood flowed in abundance from his body. For how, in such a plight, could anyone remain ruddy? Then this man, whose conduct was as beautiful as the sun, hastened to rub his severed hands against his moon-like face, saying to himself: “Since it is blood that gives a man’s complexion its colour, I shall use it today to make my face ruddy. I would not appear pale in anyone’s eyes; rather, I would be red, lest whoever saw me pale at this moment should think I had felt fear. Now, since I feel not the least fear, my face must be ruddy. When the bloodthirsty man who carried out the sentence pronounced against me turns towards the gallows, he will see that there is a brave man here. Since I regard the world no more than the loop of the mîm, why should this place inspire me with fear? He who eats and sleeps in the month of July with seven-headed dragons will fare very ill from such a game, but to him the gallows will be a trifling thing.”