a drop of water...

"BEHOLD how this drop of sea-water

Has taken so many forms and names;


It has existed as mist, cloud, rain, dew, and mud,

Then plant, animal, and perfect man;

And yet it was a drop of water

From which these things appeared.

Even so this universe of reason, soul, heavens, and bodies,

Was but a drop of water in its beginning and ending.

. . . When a wave strikes it, the world vanishes;


And when the appointed time comes to heaven and stars,

Their being is lost in not being."


Shabistari
The Secret Rose Garden Of Sa’d Ud Din Mahmūd
Part III - The Sea And Its Pearls - A Drop Of Sea-Water
Rendered From The Persian With An Introduction by Florence Lederer
London, J. Murray, 1920, p. 36