Wisdom: Snakes may appear beautiful

Snakes may appear beautiful and graceful, with pleasant colors
and scents, but it is not wise to capture one and bring it up. No
matter how beautiful it seems, it has poisonous fangs. If you wrap
it around your body, it will display its poisonous qualities and you
will die.

If you really want to rear a snake, catch it, hold it carefully,
and remove its four poisonous fangs. Then you might escape its
poison. But even then its qualities will not change; it will continue
to hiss and bite. Even when its poisonous teeth have been extracted,
you must not handle it carelessly, for it has other teeth with mild
poison which can also be dangerous.

In the same way, no matter how beautiful and loving a human poisonous snake is, he still has the four qualities of arrogance,
pride, jealousy, and treacherous self-interest. You must not
embrace him or carry him on your body for the sake of beauty.
You will suffer if you do. However, if you first take away his
evil qualities as you took out the snake’s teeth, replacing them
with God’s love and wisdom, you may be able to embrace and
carry him safely if you remain cautious. That would be beneficial
to both of you.

Muhaiyaddeen, M.R. Bawa. The Golden Words of a Sufi Sheikh. Philadelphia:Fellowship Press, 1981, 2006