The Sufi appreciates the Jain conception of harmlessness and considers that kindness is the only true path of purity and perfection. Shams-i-Tabriz, the Shiva of Persia, was flayed alive by the people because he had been accused of declaring that the Godhead existed in his mortal body. From his decayed flesh small vermin grew and waxed larger and larger as they devoured it and he, when while walking saw any of them fall from him would pick them up and place them again upon his body saying, "Your food has been created in this." From past times until the present Sufis have shown great renunciation in their lives. Now most of them are as Jains or Brahmins, leading a most harmless life.