Kaivan was master of noble demonstrations and subtile distinctions: one of the Moslem lawyers having asked him: “Why dost thou forbid thy followers from eating flesh, slaying animals, and injuring living creatures?” He thus replied: “The seekers of God are named the peculiar people of the heart; and the heart itself, the true Kâabah: therefore, what is an abomination in the sanctuary formed of water and clay cannot a fortiori be suitable to the true Kâabah: that is, the eating of animals and the slaughter of living creatures. A great man says: “I have heard that a sheep once thus addressed the butcher, At the moment he prepared to cut off her head with his sword: ‘I now behold the retribution of every bush and bramble of which I tasted; What then shall that person not experience who eats my fatted loin?’” Kaivan also said: “If you think proper, keep your tenets secret wherever you happen to be, concealing them even from your brethren in the faith; as they, for the confirmation of their system, will make you publicly known.” Azizi also says: “As long as thou canst, communicate not thy secret to thy friend; For that friend has another; beware therefore of thy friend’s friend?” Some one asked him: “In the schism of Abad Ansari, which faith shall I adopt, and whose arguments must I regard as true?” Azar Kaiván replied: “Remain in the same faith that, until the present time, God doeth as seemeth good to him; and for the time to come he will do whatever he thinks proper.” Urfi of Shiraz says,[322] “Thy essence is able to call into being all that is impossible, Except to create one like thyself!” He once said to a holy man: “The knowledge of evanescent objects is not properly knowledge, but bears the same relation to reality as the mirage of the desert to water: the searcher after which obtains nothing but an increase of thirst.” Shah Subhan says: “Men favoured by fortune drink the wine of true knowledge; They do not, like fools, quaff the dregs of infidelity; The science acquired in colleges and by human capacity Is like water drawn out of the well by a sieve.” They once observed to Kaivan: “Notwithstanding the great exertions made by his highness the sincere and faithful Akbar, and the grand justiciary, the caliph Omar, and the possessor of the two lights, Osman, in the way of the faith proved by miracles, and their mighty labors in diffusing its institutes, the Shee-ites are opposed to these great personages?” He replied: “The mass of mankind are acted upon by time and place, in opposition to the seekers after truth. It is also to be observed that the people of Iran have adopted the Shee-ite faith; and as the above-mentioned great personages destroyed the fire-temples of that nation, and overturned their ancient religion, therefore rebellion and envy have remained in their hearts.”