He it is who created you from clay. Adam was two things: clay and spirituality. His clay pertained to the World of the Creation, and his spirituality to the World of the Command. What pertains to creation is “He fermented Adam's clay in His hand.” What pertains to the command is I have blown into him of My spirit [15:29]. Surely God chose Adam [3:33] pertains to the beauty of the command, and Adam disobeyed [20:121] to the taint of creation. In Adam were both rose garden and field of clay, so the clay was the place of roses. Every rose, however, has a thorn. A rose like the bosom friend Abraham had a thorn like the rebellious Nimrod. A rose like Moses had thorns like Pharaoh and Haman. A rose like Jesus had thorns like those impure Jews. A rose like MuḤammad the Arab had a thorn like Abū Jahl the wretched. Who knows the secret of Adam's innate disposition? Who recognizes Adam's good fortune and rank? No eagle of anyone's mind has alighted on the branch of the tree of Adam's good for- tune. No eye of anyone's insight has perceived the beauty of the sun of Adam's limpidness. When he was at rest in the highest paradises, he supposed that the same tent of safety would be pitched for him endlessly. Then he was addressed by the side of the Compeller and the court of the Exalted: “What, one who is reared amidst ornaments? [43:18]. O Adam, We want to make a man of you. You have become satisfied with color and scent like pretty brides! “How long will you sit like a woman in hope of color and scent? Fix your aspiration on the road and set out like a man! [DS 205] “O Adam! Pull your hands back from the neck of Eve, for you must use your hands for the neck of passion's crocodile. You must become the drinking companion of the Shariah's lion. Pull back from the attributes of being, for you must travel with the feet of discipline and the boots of blame into the open horizons of poverty. Go, sit on the dust-pile, and be content with a piece of bread, ragged clothes, and ruins, so that you may become a man. “Throw away life, travel the road, live upright, and be a man! Then you will subsist-when you empty your skirt of these ruins.