Are you fleeing from Love because of a single humiliation? What do you know of Love except the name? Love has a hundred forms of pride and disdain, and is gained by a hundred means of persuasion. Since Love is loyal, it purchases one who is loyal: it has no interest in a disloyal companion. The human being resembles a tree; its root is a covenant with God: that root must be cherished with all one's might. A weak covenant is a rotten root, without grace or fruit. Though the boughs and leaves of the date palm are green, greenness brings no benefit if the root is corrupt. If a branch is without green leaves, yet has a good root, a hundred leaves will put forth their hands in the end.