GhazzaWs Alchemy of Haziness. 



71 



inclines to the cares of the world and sensual pleasures, 

 no creature is more feeble, infirm and contemptible than 

 man. At one time he will be the slave of disappointment 

 and melancholy, at another suffering from disease and 

 misfortune; at one time exposed to hunger and thirst, 

 and at another the slave of avarice or ambition. He is not 

 indulged with the enjoyment of a single day in peace. 

 And when he is disposed to partake of the pleasures of the 

 world and stretches out his hand to them, for a long time 

 he cannot succeed in freeing himself from calamity. Even 

 the pleasure of eating will be attended with oppression and 

 pain, and afterwards be followed by some adverse ac- 

 cident. In short, of whatever enjoyment he partakes, 

 regret is sure to follow it. If we regard knowledge, power, 

 will, beauty and grace of form as constituting the glory 

 and honor of this world, what is the wisdom of man ? If 

 his head pain him, he knows not the cause or the remedy. 

 If he have pain at his heart, he knows not the occasion of 

 it, or why it increases, or what will cure it. He sees the 

 plants and medicines that could cure it, perhaps even holds 

 them in his hands, and is not aware of it. He knows no- 

 thing of what will happen to him on the morrow, nor what 

 action will be a source of enjoyment to him, nor what will 

 be to him a source of pain. If you look only to the strength 

 of a man, what is more impotent than he is. If a fly or 

 mosquito molest him, he cannot get rid of it. If he is at- 

 tacked by disease, he has no remedy to meet it with. He 

 has no power to preserve himself from destruction. If you 

 look at the firmness and resolution of man, what is more 

 contemptible than he is ! If he see any thing more extra- 

 ordinary than a piece of money, he changes color and loses 

 his presence of mind. If a beggar meet him, he turns 

 away, and dares not look him in the face. If you look at 

 the form of man, you see that it is skin, drawn over blood 

 and impurity. . . . 



