That is [the meaning of] His—the Almighty’s—words: {Ways of separate sects (Tara’iq Qidada)} 1 , meaning: every essence was created from its [corresponding] essence 2 .
Man was segmented (Qudda) and came to eat and drink by means of the Fire, to see and know by means of the Light, to hear and smell by means of the Wind, and to find the pleasure of food and drink by means of the Water, and to move by means of the Spirit. Were it not for the Fire within his stomach, he would not digest food and drink. Were it not for the Wind, the fire of the stomach would not ignite, the waste (al-Nufl) would not exit his belly, and the Water would not become cool; and the fire of the stomach would have burned him. Were it not for the Light, he would not see; and were it not for the Spirit, he would not come or go. The Clay is his form, the bone in his body is like the small tree in the earth, and the blood in his veins is like the water in the earth; and there is no stability for the earth except by water, just as the human body does not stand except by blood. The hair of his body grows outward like the grass upon the face of the earth, and the marrow is the fat and the foam of the blood 3 .