← All chapters
The Luzumiyat · Chapter
XLVIII explained
A brief quatrain reflecting on the transient nature of human existence, suggesting that even the lowly worm once rested upon what was once stone, now walking dust.
What happens
A brief quatrain reflecting on the transient nature of human existence, suggesting that even the lowly worm once rested upon what was once stone, now walking dust.
Themes in this chapter
Mortality and Transience
The worm's discourse on human flesh and bone underscores the inevitable decay and transformation of all living matter.
Key passages
“Another said: “The creeping worm hath shown, In her discourse on human flesh and bone, That Man was once the bed on which she slept— The walking dust was once a thing of stone.””
A speaker recounts the worm's lesson: the human body, now mere dust, was once solid stone, and the worm once rested upon it.
Illustrates the theme of mortality and the cycle of material transformation.