وَقَلَّ صِبْغٌ إلاَّ وَقَدْ أَخَذَ مِنْهُ بِقِسْط، وَعَلاَهُ بِكَثْرَةِ صِقَالِهِ وَبَرِيقِهِ، وَبَصِيصِ دِيبَاجِهِ وَرَوْنَقِهِ، فَهُوَ كَالاْزَاهِيرِ الْمَبْثُوثَةِ، لَمْ تُرَبِّهَا أَمْطَارُ رَبِيع، وَلاَ شُمُوسُ قَيْظ. وَقَدْ يَنْحَسِرُ مِنْ رِيشِهِ، وَيَعْرَى مِنْ لِبَاسِهِ، فَيَسْقُطُ تَتْرَى، وَيَنْبُتُ تِبَاعاً، فَيَنْحَتُّ مِنْ قَصَبِهِ انْحِتَاتَ أَوْرَاقِ الاْغْصَانِ، ثُمَّ يَتَلاَحَقُ نَامِياً حَتَّى يَعُودَ كَهَيْئَتِهِ قَبْلَ سُقُوطِهِ، لاَ يُخَالِفُ سَالِفَ أَلْوَانِهِ، وَلاَ يَقَعُ لَوْنٌ فِي غَيْرِ مَكَانِهِ! وَإذَا تَصَفَّحْتَ شَعْرَةً مِنْ شَعَرَاتِ قَصَبِهِ أَرَتْكَ حُمْرَةً وَرْدِيَّةً، وَتَارَةً خُضْرَةً زَبَرْجَدِيَّةً، وَأَحْيَاناً صُفْرَةً عسْجَدِيَّةً
There is hardly a hue from which it has not taken a bit and improved it further by regular polish, lustre, silken brightness and brilliance. It is therefore like scattered blossoms which have not been seasoned by the rains of spring or the sun of the summer. It also sheds its plumage and puts off its dress. They all fall away and grow again. They fall away from the feather stems like the falling of leaves from twigs, and then they begin to join together and grow till they return to the state that existed before their falling away. The new hues do not change from the previous ones, nor does any colour occur in other than its own place. If you carefully look at one hair from the hairs of its feather stems it would look like red rose, then emerald green and then golden yellow.