538 – Ahmad ibn Abi Nasr narrated to me. A sage once remarked:
“The world strikes parables day after day for humankind, and the lessons of time need no interpreter. A man loves this world only when the ears of his heart have gone deaf to admonition, and—were people truly aware—how impetuous their race (toward the Hereafter) would be!”

Ahmad ibn Abi Nasr then recited:

They seek by means of her their pride and power,
though God has already laid bare her disgrace.

O you who tie one knot after another, hoping thereby
for lasting ease—as though death had not undone them all!

How often is the world rebuilt, while the Lord of heaven
intends to level it completely.