Therefore, associate yourself with the noble aspects of things so that you may draw near to your Creator through the way of homogeneity (resemblance). Know that noble things are joined to their noble counterparts, and base things are joined to their base counterparts.
O soul: Do you demand stability while you are in the world of generation? What stability can be found in the world of generation? Indeed, as long as the waterskin 1 remains upon the surface of the water, it has no stability and no tranquility whatsoever. Even if it settles for a moment, it is only by accident; then the water returns to its turbulence and its rippling with whatever is upon its surface. The waterskin only finds stability when it is taken out of the water and returned to the Earth—which is its fountainhead and its origin, resembling it in density and weight; only then does it settle firmly.
Likewise, as long as the soul remains within the flow of nature, it has no stability, no rest, and no tranquility, for nature exhausts and severs it. But when the soul returns to its Fountainhead, it settles, attains rest, and is relieved from the hardship and humiliation of exile.