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Shaikh Muhammad Karim Khan Kirmani – Irshad al-‘awamm [translated by  Henry Corbin and Nancy Pearson]

Let us imagine a being coming down from heaven and entering the Sphere of elemental Air; descending further, he enters the Sphere of atmospheric vapour; descending still further, he will enter in succession the Sphere of the clouds, then the Water of the ocean, and then the bowels of the Earth.  Should one then say to him; ‘Now, climb up again’, up he goes, emerging from the darkness of the Earth, entering the Sphere of Water, passing through its density, and then traversing the Spheres of the clouds and the vapour one after another.  Emerging from the last of these Spheres, he enters into the Air in the pure state.  His eyes gaze on everything around him; he breathes deeply; he is freed from the restrictions that stifled him; he gives himself up to relaxation in immense tranquillity; at last he breathes freely.