(511) From our Lord al-Mufaddal ibn Umar al-Ju’fi—peace be upon him—who said: It was said to our Master al-Sadiq—exalted be his glory: "Why does the disbeliever hate death?" He—exalted be his glory—replied: "Because his soul has emerged from the human form after affliction and severe hardship, so it hates to be returned to that from which it emerged."

The last of the shirts of "nasukhiyya" [repetition in humanity] in human form is the feminine, and from it one is transferred to metamorphosis (al-musukhiyya) such as the monkey. Do you not see that it leaves nothing alone because it eats with its hand and laughs with its mouth, while the rest of the animals eat with their mouths and laugh with their limbs? For the dog, if it wags its tail, it has laughed. Likewise the fox, the cat, and the bear also—its creation is near to the creation of the son of Adam. From there, until its knees become in its hands [forelegs], and it becomes a donkey and the like of the frames of beasts. Do you not see it is the best of them in intelligence and sense, and the strongest in memorizing paths? Then to the horses, mules, donkeys, and camels, such that its beard becomes its tail. May God protect us and all the believers from that. It was also related that the first state of reincarnation is the elephant, and from it to the camel.

(512) From Jabir ibn Yazid al-Ju’fi—peace be upon him—who said: I said to my Master al-Sadiq—exalted be his glory: "O my Master, does a remembrance occur to him while he is in metamorphosis?" He replied: "Yes, O Jabir. He may be walking on the road under a load or without a load, and he turns right and left, looking at his human form in which he used to be. He does not know how to turn back to what he was upon, nor does he know that his denial of his Master Amir Almuminin brought him to this end. He stops in his gait, reflecting and regretting his human form in which he used to be. He is then struck, yet does not walk. His remembrance departs in that hour while the stick takes him, yet he does not budge from his place. One who does not know says: 'He has become stubborn,' but it is only his remembering what he used to be in.