4-816 Both Aḥmad (Muḥammad) and Bū Jahl645 went into the idol-temple; but there

is a great difference between the one going into it and the other.

4-817 This one (Muḥammad) enters, the idols lay down their heads before him; that
one (Bū Jahl) enters and lays down his head before the idols, like the peoples
of old.

4-819 But lust is the slave of holy men: gold does not burn in the fire, because it is
sterling coin from the mine.

4-820 The infidels are alloy, while the holy men are as pure gold: both these classes
of persons are within this crucible.

4-821 When the alloy came into the crucible, it became black at once; when the gold
came in, its goldenness was made manifest.

4-1656 Although the fleshly soul (nafs) is shrewd and astute, her qibla (goal) is this
world, therefore regard her as dead.

4-1654 The fleshly soul is not bound by any covenant; for that reason she ought to be
killed: she is base, and base is the spot to which her desires are directed.

2-3472 Kill the snake of lust at the beginning; otherwise, you see, your snake becomes
a dragon.

Story. [2.4.2]
3-977 A snake-catcher went to the mountains to catch a snake by means of
incantations.

3-996 There he saw a huge dead dragon, the sight of which filled his heart with fear.

3-1003 The snake-catcher took up that snake and came to Baghdad in order to cause
astonishment.

3-1005 Saying, “I have brought a dead dragon: I have suffered agonies646 while I was
hunting it.”

3-1006 He thought it was dead, but it was living, and he did not see it very well647.

3-1007 It was frozen by frosts and snow: it was alive, but it looked as if it were dead.

3-1008 The world is frozen: its name is jamād (inanimate): jāmid means “frozen”, o
master.

645
Bū Jahl is an abbreviated form of Abū Jahl: ‘Amr ibn Hishām, an uncle of the Prophet, was a Meccan leader
who ferociously opposed Islām. He disliked Ḥażrat Muḥammad and publicly humiliated him. He had once been
known as Abū’l-Ḥakam – “Father of Wisdom”, but because of his hostility towards Ḥażrat Muḥammad, he
became known as Abū Jahl – “Father of Ignorance”.
646
Literally “I have consumed livers” (Nich.).
647
I.e. his view was superficial (Nich.).

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