That which God said to the rose,
and caused it to laugh in full-blown beauty,
he said to my heart,
and made it a hundred times more beautiful.
- Jalaluddin al-Rumi

A man lost his way in the desert, and wandered aimlessly for several days. He ran out of food, and thought he would die. Then he saw a bag lying in the sand. He opened it, and at first he thought it was filled with grains of barley. He was overjoyed. But when he tried to eat them, he discovered they were pearls—and he plunged into despair.
- Saadi ash-Shiraz, "Gulistan"