“He is the source of evil, as thou sayest,

Yet evil hurts Him not. To make that evil

Denotes in Him perfection. Hear from me

A parable. The heavenly Artist paints

Beautiful shapes and ugly: in one picture

The loveliest women in the land of Egypt

Gazing on youthful Joseph amorously;

And lo, another scene by the same hand,

Hell-fire and Iblīs with his hideous crew:

Both master-works, created for good ends,