It was in those days that Eiqab came to the desert to walk amongst the People, for he grew greedy for the praise of Man. Disguised as a human, he wandered for many moons. He was pleased by the strength his cruelty wrought, but angered to find his worshippers living beside Wahir’s oases and dancing beneath Wahir’s pale light.
Eiqab hung his head and returned to his brother in shame, saying, Even in the deep vastness of the desert Man worships me by name only, for in their hearts they praise the gifts of Wahir.
Wahir confessed then, The men who live upon my great waters and worship me grow weak and resentful, so I made the oceans as a desert, poison to drink, that Man might face adversity and grow in strength and virtue.
In this way, the Brothers understood one another and recognized Life was best when balanced between desert and ocean, sun and moon.
Masira once again saw wisdom in her sons and said: I am not desert nor ocean, sun nor moon, but I am all things and unfit for such Life. I will leave here and ask only that you give to me the Dead, so all things that are mine return to me.
In this way the vultures of the sands and the waves of the sea carried the Dead back to Masira.
—Excerpt from the Litab Almuq