ThirstyFish

Attar (c. 1145 - c. 1221) was an influential Persian Sufi poet who also inspired Rumi and many other mystic poets. You might recognize him by his work The Conference of the Birds.

• The Tree Unaware Of Its State
  
  A man cut down a tree one day. A Sufi visiting nearby said to him:
  
  "Look at the fresh branch that is yet fresh and happy, unaware that it has been cut off the tree now. One can be ignorant of the damage one has suffered, but there would be time when he realizes the truth. Meanwhile one cannot reason with it and understand it. This severance and ignorance is the current state of human beings.

Attar wrote that about 800 years ago!

Today, humanity is slowly realizing that some time ago, we have already cut ourselves off from nature and off our human nature. But, it's still very difficult to reason with us. We are ignorant of the seriousness of the damage. And scientists are warning that we will soon "realize the truth". That truth is extinction.