Another bird said to the Hoopoe: 'I love gold; for me if is like the almond in its shell. If I do not have gold I am bound hand and foot. Love of worldly things and love of gold have filled me with vain desires which blind me to spiritual things.' The Hoopoe replied: "O you who are dazzled by exterior forms, in whose heart the value of real things never dawns! You are Like a man who can see only in the dark, a nyctalope; you are like an ant, attracted by appearances. Try to understand the sense of things. Without its colour gold would be an ordinary metal; yet you are seduced by colour, like a child. Love of gold is not becoming to a real man; why, they hide it in the vagina of a mule! Does one hide precious things in such a place? If you let no one benefit by your gold you will not profit either. But if you give an obol to some poor wretch, both of you will profit. If you have gold you can benefit many; but if your shoulder is marked, that also is because of gold. For a shop, you must pay rent and sometimes the price is your own soul. You sacrifice everything for your business, even those to whom you are most attached, and in the end you have nothing. We can only hope that fortune will leave a ladder under the gallows. It does not mean that you should make no use at all of the things of the world, but you should spend on all sides that which you possess. Good fortune will come to you only as you give. If you cannot renounce life completely you can at least free yourself from the love of riches and honours.'

A young pupil, unknown to his shaikh he thought) had a small hoard of gold pieces. The shaikh said nothing, and one day they set out together on a journey. At length they came to a dark valley at the entrance of which were two roads. The pupil began to be afraid, for gold corrupts its possessor. Trembling, he asked the shaikh, 'Which road ought we to take?' The shaikh replied: 'Get rid of that which makes you afraid, then either road will be good. The devil fears hirn who is indifferent to money, and promptly flees from him. For the sake of a grain of gold you would split a hair. In the way of religion gold is like a lame donkey; it has no value, only weight. When wealth comes to a man unawares it first bewilders him, then governs him. He who is identified with the love of money and possessions has been bound hand and foot and thrown into a pit. Avoid this deep pit if you can, if not, hold your breath, for the air in it is quite extraordinary.'

A holy man who had found prosperity in God gave himself up to worship and adoration for forty years. He had fled from the world, but since God was intimately united to him he was satisfied. This dervish had enclosed a plot of ground in the desert; in the middle of it was a tree, and in the tree a bird had made its nest. The song of the bird was sweet to hear for in each of its notes were a hundred secrets. The servant of God was enchanted. But God told a seer about this state of things in these words: 'Tell this Sufi I am astonished that after so many years of devotion he has ended by selling me for a bird. It is true that this bird is admirable, but its song has caught him in a snare. I have bought him, and he has sold me.'