Another bird said to the hoopoe: “I believe that I have attained, for my part, all the perfection of which I am capable, and I have attained it through painful austerities. Since I obtain here the result I desire, it is difficult for me to leave this place. Hast thou ever seen anyone leave a treasure and go off to wander painfully through mountain and plain?”
The hoopoe replied, “O diabolical nature, full of pride! Thou who art sunk in egotism and hast an aversion to action, thou hast been beguiled by thine own imagination and hast strayed from the field of knowledge of divine things. The concupiscent soul has gained the upper hand over thy spirit; the devil has taken possession of thy brain. Pride has seized thee and completely mastered thee. The light which thou believest thou hast upon the spiritual path is naught but fire, and the taste thou hast for heavenly things is but imaginary. The ecstatic love and spiritual poverty which thou believest thou hast are but vain imaginings: all that thou dost boast of is nothing but impossibility. Let not the gleam that reaches thee from the path beguile thee; so long as thy concupiscent soul is with thee, be watchful. Thou must fight such an enemy with sword in hand: how could anyone in such a circumstance believe himself safe? If a false light appears to thee from thy concupiscent soul, thou must regard it as the sting of a scorpion, for which thou must use parsley. Accept not the gleam of this impure light; since thou art not the sun, seek not to be more than the atom. Let not the darkness thou shalt find upon the path on which I would lead thee drive thee to despair, nor let the light thou shalt encounter make thee presume that thou art the sun’s companion. So long as thou remainest, my dear, in the pride of thine existence, thy readings and thy efforts will be worth no more than an obol. Only when thou renouncest this pride wilt thou be able to abandon life without regret; for, were the pride of existence not to subjugate thee, thou wouldst not feel the pain of nothingness. Yet thou must have at least a little sustenance from existence; and with it, infidelity and idolatry. And yet, if thou comest into existence for but a single moment, the arrows of misfortune will await thee on every side. So long as thou livest, indeed, thou must subject thy body to the pains of the soul and bend thy neck beneath a hundred adversities; so long as thou art visibly in existence, the world will inflict a hundred vexations upon thee.”
Shaikh Abu Bakr of Nishapur set out from his convent at the head of his disciples. The shaikh was mounted on his ass, and his companions followed him along the road. All at once the ass made an indecorous noise; the shaikh perceived it immediately, uttered a cry, and tore his robe. His disciples and all those who witnessed the shaikh’s action did not approve of it. At last one of them asked him why he had acted thus. He replied: “As I looked all around, I saw the road filled with my companions. I had disciples before and behind me, and then I said to myself: ‘In truth, I am no less than Bayazid. Just as today I am agreeably attended by devoted disciples, so tomorrow, doubtless, I shall enter the plain of resurrection proudly, with the joy of glory and honour.’ It was,” he added, “when I had thus presumed upon my destiny that the ass committed the indecency of which you were witnesses, and by which it wished to say: ‘This is the answer an ass gives to one who makes such a claim and entertains so vain a thought.’ Then the fire of repentance fell upon my soul, my thoughts changed, and my imagined position collapsed!”
So long as thou remainest in the bewilderment and beguilement of pride, thou shalt remain far from the truth. Banish bewilderment, burn away pride and the promptings of corrupt nature. O thou who changest at every instant! Thou who hast a Pharaoh at the root of every hair, so long as an atom of thee remains, it shall be stamped with falsehood. Take refuge from every notion of individuality, and thereby thou shalt become the enemy of both worlds. If thou destroyest the self within thee for one day alone, thou shalt be radiant, even if thou remainest all night in darkness. Speak not the word “I,” thou who, because of that word, hast fallen into a hundred calamities, if thou wouldst not be tempted by the devil.