On Lent V

On the Fifth Sunday of Lent From the fourteenth memrā On the Fifth Sunday of Lent A homily The good one who made the world with his sign: he made the creation of the evil one to be despised by his envy, my brothers. On the path of the king I was going towards the gate of the kingdom. And the blind envy met me, which the evil inclination leads. Between the paths stood envy and went around with evil deeds. And to the travellers he would ask which path is good. He would put on a guise of compassion and as if from love he would ask. And hidden within was the bitterness of death, beneath the vile spittle of his lips. On the broad path he desired that many would follow him. And because of this he would ask that he might find companionship for destruction. The evil inclination guided the blind envy of the two. And the blind one led the blind one to the place of the gate of Gehenna. The worker of deceit sent envy to the work of evil deeds. So that he might be diligent in his error in the hours of night and day. The dwelling of deceit set up in which was drawn the image of death. And the street confessed to him, with the erring and the very wicked. From the morning of the beginning without ceasing in the work of iniquity. And he extended his bitter labour until the evening of the end. He does not rest from the burden from the beginning to the end. And his workers do not tire at all, nor do they become weary from the labour.

He is taught, he is taught day by day in the likeness of a picture. And with the renewals of his error he pays his bitter debt. He does not fear from old age and does not humble from sickness. Even the one who is old and weak, young and strong, is unable to hinder many. Envy, how much is old, to hinder the young one from youth. Even the one lacking in knowledge is a complete evil deceiver. Envy is a blind one of two, hidden from the light of truth. And in the likeness of night and day, he has made equal grief and truth. Envy is deaf and mute, who does not hear the voice of a command. Hidden from hearing and from speech by his freedom and not by constraint. Envy is sick, who is shaken in limbs and is not in members. And when he thinks he is strong, he weakens all and does not know. The sick one burns himself in envy and burns every day in error. And he is not aware of the flame that is kindled within his mind. The fire of wrath consumes him, the evil inclination in thought. And it kindles in him the coals of anger so that man burns man. His flame is hotter than the fire of Gehenna. And it burns the hidden soul, and is not for the outer body. His winter is harder than a sword and the saw of two mouths. And there is no healer for the slain whom he casts down every hour from man.

He renews the likeness of a man from the image, and he thirsts for the slaying of humanity. He destroys the limbs along with the senses, the soul and the body equally. Many are the slain of the sword, but not like the slain of passion. For the sword kills with violence. What then is this passion that conceals and reveals in its actions? And when it is not in a substance, it destroys substances at every hour. In its seeking, its thoughts are troubled, that it might find where its beginning is. And it seeks the root of error for its branches and its bitter fruits. What then is it that nourishes it, the evil earth of its seeds? And what is it that sustains its causes and spreads its powers? With what weapon does it do battle with spirits and bodies? And with which senses does it contend with the athletes of sorrow? What then is it that arms it and gives it hidden strength? And how, when it is mad, does it become strong and overcome the ranks of the mighty? In its victory, which is unjust, its thoughts are astonished and amazed: how a madman triumphs and bows the head of the triumphant. My thoughts are troubled, that I might seek and find the cause of passion: whether it is through it that one triumphs, or perhaps through something else. The Creator, O hidden King, show me the way to follow in it. And be for me like a guide to the goal of the bitter end. Prepare for me the help of the spirit, the thought that is filled with victory.

He renews the likeness of a man from the image, and he thirsts for the slaying of humanity. He destroys the limbs along with the senses, the soul and the body equally. Many are the slain of the sword, but not like the slain of envy. He makes the image tremble before him by means of tremors, and he strikes a deadly blow, a destroyer. As if in a mystery, he spoke with me, the great power of grace. If you wish to learn, ask, open your path from the beginning. Go with the books of the scriptures, in the company of the words of the spirit. And they will show you the way to the meaning of what your thoughts seek. With the son of Amram, be joined, and go with him to the beginning. And he will show you from where the root of envy began. On the first day of the week, read and examine accurately. And there you will find the thought of your mind, the meaning of the cause you sought. See there the sign of man, and hear the voice of the image. And at the end of the word, see the beginning of envy. The voice of the image heard the envier, who is hidden in the image of the covered one. And the inheritance of death trembles in him at the voice of the sign of the earth. The fire of his nature burned in him, in the furnace of the head of the air. And all was consumed by envy, and the fire gathered in humanity. His door to the grave of his helper, and he poured out his inheritance upon man. And he sealed the depth of creation with the poison of death, the fruit of the tree. He loosed the bond of the mixture, by the hidden knowledge of the covered one. And he dissolved the mixture of the compound, by love and mercy that reconciles all. He divided the dwelling of the equal ones, and made one from one. And he made one from the living, strangers one from his companion.

With envy he sows his evil seed for the straying of his own through deaths. And he brought sin into their senses and gave them the fruits of the poison of death. He overturned the precious image and cast it to the ground like a corpse. And he gave death a garment and rejoiced and laughed at its abasement. Behold, the beginning of envy is known; read and understand. See it all and learn its cause: what it wrought from the beginning. In that hour, read in its history, and behold, its deeds are understood. In lamentation, hear its doings, and behold, they stand upon its coverings. It destroyed the beauty of the nature of the race that it had fashioned entirely. And it turned its thirst like an evil one, whose wisdom is entirely from evil. It brought in a multitude of evils and multiplied the worship of gods. And it thirsted for being in its nature, as if it were not established as complete. Behold, the foundation of its petition is the foul worker of filth. See the sons of truth; flee from the evil of its work. Behold, the signs of its meditation are the great fool of the left. Look, disciples of the right; do not be led astray foolishly. Behold, the cup of the multitude of its death, which it mixes and gives to the weary. Do not taste its draught, lest you be destroyed by death. Behold, the broad path of teaching, which through its deeds kills man. See, do not follow its deception, O strong ones on the path of the narrow way. Behold, the scribe of the spirit is revealed to you, the thought in the hour of the petition.

He cast down the house of the laws of the scriptures against the evil one who set a trap for you. He put on the armor of the word of truth and contended spiritually. And he hurled words like arrows in the cunning ranks of envy. He purified the spiritual food for the mind that the evil one had troubled. And he sweetened the bitter poison with the sweetness of the sound of your commandments. He made your ear incline to the angry ones with the word that inclines all. And he called your ear to the harmony of the strength of the love of creation. He made your heart incline to the depths with the casting down of the high kingdom. And he bent your ear, that daughter of the voice, which bears the living. He called to those slain by envy, the slayer of the death of Abel. And he made your ear hear the voice of the blood that cries out from the earth. He opened the house of the archives of the kingdom and called upon the executioners of the living. And he showed the pursuit of the murderers inscribed in the hand of the king. Go out to the conflict with the brothers and see envy when it conquers. And help its victory, the cunning nature of the wanton ones. From there he learns his tricks and the depth of the snares of his cunning. And he prepares sharp tables that spread out the covering of his cunning. Envy put on the form of love and approached Abel. With the sign of the word he deceived him and led him out to destruction, to murder. He saw the abundant beauty of his offerings and his own evil was bitter. For he is blind and does not see the sight, for his mind is fair.

The fruit of murder she poured out, a wound upon the land of curses. And she hastened with her hand the deed, the wrath of the judgment of Elaha. The cup of blood she went and gave to the murderess, but she did not accept it. She was pure from the sinews of Bel'ath, who passed over the commandment. She crushed and cast away the blood, which was not accustomed in her taking. Even he, whose blood does not congeal in her, descended and ascended from her depth. O blood, silent, which cried out the voice of speaking senses. O heavy one, which ascended on the wings of the spirit to the height. O slain and buried in the earth, and his voice spoke like thunder. O hidden and concealed, and he pursues his slayer. O blind wound, which heals with medicine the deeds of both. And when he thought he concealed all, it was revealed like the sun to his sorrow. O consumed one, who when he is burned, scatters his self and does not know. O cunning one, who when he is made wise, shows the hiddenness of his thought. And the wound silenced the perfect one, and covered him with the garment of shouts. And the sign was revealed, known to all, to the hiddenness of his righteousness. She spread and revealed her help with the judgment of her hand, the slayer. And she showed to generations and tribes the consequence of his iniquity. Come, wounds were gathered in his great cry, the wound. That he might shed the pure blood and conceal it from the knower of all. Come, the helpers of the helper bring to their brothers in the likeness of the avenger.

And they heard the blood that speaks, and it cries out to him a hidden sign. Come, be sought in the pursuit of the murderer who killed Maggā. And they took the sign of envy, which was like a sign for the murderers for life. The threads of the envious one were a sign for the evil inclination, that it should not run hastily in the paths of murder. Like a spectacle it was for him, the seven threads upon the forehead. And he saw his standing secretly, in the tremor and the sweat upon his body. The thought said to the inclination, "See, do not cut off Maggā, lest you be condemned in the pursuit, seven times seven, seventy weeks." Everyone fled from envy, for envy is the begetter of murder. And everyone fled from murder, for the pursuit of murder is bitter. Envy is the root of murder, and from its taste its branches are nourished. And whoever eats from its fruits, the bitterness of death flies within him. Envy plants in creation murder, new and beginning. And envious ones begin to pursue in his footsteps with one thought. Envy prepared a false and envious one to shed innocent blood. And it taught the envious ones to shoot with the bow of clamors. He darkened the light of the face and blinded the movements of thought. And he darkened the whole human from the light of discernment. He made speechlessness in the likeness of beasts without speech. And the discerning inclination errs the wisdoms of his speech.

His envy stripped the shepherd of his reason, so that he contended with his companions. And he did not perceive the cry of the flock when his hands were laid waste. By his envy he conquers the envious ones and pierces the ranks of the enmity. And in the night of his darkness he casts arrows at the bright one. He makes the envious one wise to take up the contest with truth. And he teaches the crafts of the contest, that he should contend in the form of love. In the form of love the envious one contends like a deceiver. And when he is the helper of truth, he goes astray like a lover of falsehood. The deceiver has clothed the envious one like a pursuer of justice. And he shows his deception with a lie and hides all the shame of justice. The wrath without reason stood against the hearing of the good. And when he was not wounded by the side of the good, he receives all shame and becomes bitter. O barren one of enmity, why do you contend with the truthful? What have the perfect ones sinned against you, that you eat all the shame of their slander? O blind one of will, why do you contend with the light? How have the brilliant ones of the beauty of its light bent your blindness? If your will has stripped you from the truth, the light of the two. Why do you contend foolishly, when you have not been wounded by the light? Your evil has closed the door in the face of the light of your father. And you yourself have stripped your stature from the light of righteousness. There is no cause for your wickedness, for what reason do you, yourself, envy?

And this is not your cause, but the scheme of the deceiver. And to show you that he who deceives you, and deceptively receives you, I bring from the deeds a demonstration of your wickedness. What is the cause of the ruin of the glorious crown of the revelations? When did your thirst become like yours, and where is your pride in your likeness? When will your bitter payment for the evil destructions whose time has passed be made? Show openly what your oppression is, and behold, there is a place for your error. And bring witnesses who seal the document of your deceit. But beware, lest this happen: that your foam conquers the truth. You have no valid cause among the party of the truthful. You envy the upright, though your wickedness does not bow down. Without cause you err at all times, and you disturb the peace of the meek. An evil impulse incites you in the guise of friends of bitterness. And with the sword of slander you cut down the ranks of the righteous. To Abel you brought death from life, without sowing the word of life. And to the son of Rachel you offered sacrifice, so that the freedom of his soul would not be lost. To Jacob you brought exile from the dwelling of his fathers to another place. And to the son of Jacob you brought separation from his brothers to the house of the Egyptians. To Job, the diligent worker who labored in the vineyard of truth, you brought removal from his possessions and from the chariot of his limbs.

You are the one who cast down his nest, and you are the one who let fall the rider. By your counsel you made his beloved ones bitter, and he became a helper to his relatives. Why did you not flee from your difficulty, the destruction of the company of his beloved ones? Why did you not hide your burden, the protector of the beautiful things? Where is the one who would bear your likeness, and where is the one who would be silent at your image? For brightness is darkness to you, and true hearing is folly. You saw sight and did not see, and you listened to hearing without understanding. And you called the good evil, and you called the evil good. There is no taste in anything that is evil that rises up against your wickedness. For you turn sweet to bitter, and you, the sweetness of truth, become bitter. There is no people you have not divided by the hatred of one against his neighbor. And there is no kingdom you have not abandoned to stand in peace for a single day. You have justified the error of union that was proclaimed in the love of all. And you have revealed the poverty of humanity, and you have made their faces contemptible. Woe to you, for peace is disturbed, and the love of all is cast down. For you have divided faces into factions, into the sects of every order. Woe to you, for you kill humanity, and you destroy lives in death. For you have made faces speechless, contending with their own lives. O barren womb without mercy, what have the dead sinned against you? For you have driven faces into error, to destroy at every hour their orders.

In your envy, king of bitterness, save your weak ones. He made his bitter nature sweet, and he became subject to his people. Come, grace, to our children, and stand before them as is your custom. For if your help does not arrive, sink them in envy. Spread out the wings of your sweetness, and cover the body from nature. For he seeks to soothe us with the hard bonds of envy. Envy makes strangers to the household of your help. And it expelled from the inheritance of the righteous from the beginning. Envy sacrificed your freedom, and you became slaves to sin. And it brought from greatness to the depth of mortality. Bitter nature imprisoned him in a prison of curses. And it held before him a blindfold so that he could not escape from his subjection. What is the blindness that covers us from the knowledge of truth? That a murderer dwells in us and we do not perceive his dwelling. What is the deafness like a stone, and there is no ear for the sound of his life? That he consumes everyone with the evil envy of his nature. He sharpened the sword of his thought to cut off his own self. And when he thought to strike his companion, he turned his sword and struck his own heart. For he thought to kill his adversary by the blows of his tongue. And he did not perceive that the arrows turned back upon his own lips. He stirs up a storm in the calm that becomes a place for his envy.

And he multiplies and compounds pretexts, that he might bring his deed to light. He casts a snare for the simple, like a trap before a partridge. And he spreads his nets, murderous ones, and ensnares all the senses. In the guise of a suppliant he deceives, the envier in his tears. And like a beautiful king, he shows himself to the physician. He puts on the garment of the bitterness of self, and wraps himself in the name of compassion. And he seeks peace with his lips, but conceals a sword in his mind. He bows and hastens to his companion, as if pitying his own limb. And he watches for when he might find an opportunity to accomplish his will. Saul, who was hidden in two forms, the envier who feigns brotherhood with his brothers. He was weeping while he called, "My son David," with cunning. Tears of a suppliant he was shedding, Saul before the son of Jesse. And his mouth was filled with words of love, but his mind concealed a sword. With his lips he was calling "my son," and feigning with the concealment of his thought. His tongue interprets beautifully, and the speech of his mind is twisted. He calls, "Turn, do not fear, my son David, I will not harm you." And he conceals his intention, like a robber bent on murder. With tears of the eyes deceitfully, and the mouth cries out cunningly. The face is mournful in a pitiful way, but the heart thirsts for blood. He signals inner movements to the outer senses of the body, that they might increase and compound the pretexts of the schemes of falsehood.

He sets his mind on murder in the form of a dagger. And he sweetens his voice like a lover to his beloved. O bitter guile! And there is no limit to your cunning. And the iniquity of the whole world is not satisfied with your wickedness. O all-cunning one, in whom there is no place for simplicity. O deceiver, who at all times mixes poison in the guise of sweetness. O potion that is compounded with waters that emit sparks. O raging furnace that sounds its voice of death. Sweet and gentle is the sound of his melodies when he sings deceitfully. And hidden in the conclusion of his songs is the poison of death for his hearers. The hearing of his song casts down all the senses of those who listen. And when his voice reaches the soul, it dissolves and carries away its tranquility. In the guise of a lover he appears at the beginning of his first discourse. And the evil end of his word is from a tempter and a murderer. In Saul, behold his wickedness, how much he poured it out upon David. And though it is clear as the sun, he conceals it in the guise of friendship. Behold the guiles of Saul, how guile set a snare for his mind. And he did not see the beauty of the victories of the son of Jesse, how gentle they were. In him were found the snares that the magicians of his brothers set. For he who increased and lied greatly, guile killed him by the hands of the uncircumcised. Let David be a lesson for the guileful in their afflictions.

He sets his mind on murder in the form of a dagger. And he sweetens his voice like a lover to his beloved. O bitter guile! And there is no limit to your cunning. And the iniquity of the whole world is not satisfied with the old man and the youth. He took her crown in one of his violent acts. The evil of his love is like a dream. The lovers of spiritual love. He who rides on the tones of melodies. Over his murderer, bound in chains. In one Sheol, he learned all strife. His end is the evil of envy. And in David, he saw the fruits of love, how sweet they are. In a king and a king, it was sought: one who envied and another who was envied. Envy killed the envious one, and love killed the envious one's brother. Envy in Sheol shows us how it consumes its relatives. And love in David teaches us how it loves its beloved. Behold, the whole hidden thing is revealed to us: the death of Sheol is envy. Let not our mind be caught in the hidden snares of his deceits. Behold, the son of Jesse taught us how to conquer his enemies. He sweetened the bitterness of envies with the sweetness of love, like David. Love speaks through the mouth of David to the envy of Sheol the second: "What have I done to you, envy, that you pursue me in the likeness of Sheol?" The injustice of the envious one was given to the seeker of hidden things. For he condemns envy in the pursuit, as of Sheol. By the death of Sheol, the harsh pursuit of envies was proclaimed. And by the triumph of the son of Jesse, the crown of victory of the oppressed was completed. Do not hide, oppressed one, from envy at the voice of the clamors of envy. Be old and be silent like David, that you may reign with him in peace.

Do not exult, O schemer, in a false accusation. For it is prepared that the sword of deceit will enter into your heart as into Sheol. Do not think, O schemer, that you have conquered the meek by your audacity. You have conquered when you did not wish that they should be strong against your storms. You are guilty, you are from when you were, and you have not taken victory. For that victory of yours is a disgrace, and your triumph is a shame of face. When did your deed succeed except in a deceitful pit? And where did your vile cunning conquer except in a wanton arrogance? You are blind, cut off from light, and you are not discerned in truth. And your deceits are fair, and your beloved ones are evil. The herb of your brother's garden you see as a city, and the city of your enemies you do not even consider to exist. Bring forth before the schemer the harsh anger of your mind. And then you will judge with your companion over the produce of his own soul. How long will you pray for a lie, and swallow living things? How long will you purify the members and defile the inner limbs? Why do you contend with sinners like a gambler of sorrow? When have you shown your companionship in the pursuit of what is contrary to truth? O voracious one from you, how much do you err in truth! For while he is the one who is adorned, you are deceived by his image, adorned as if.

Woe to you, blind one of two minds, who have made light and darkness equal. And when light shines, all the dark clouds are scattered before its rays. In you the deceivers are confounded, who have hidden a lie from the truth. And upon you the knowers weep, that while you live, you are a dead one of two minds. Your life is not life, which destroys life through your living. And woe, for death from the beginning was dead, and death would have been nullified by your death. You are the one who first opened the path of death to humanity. And if you had restrained your passions, the rebel would not have reigned. O earth, vessel of humanity, how have you sinned against your humanity? For you have killed from the beginning and have not been sated with your destruction. O earth, thirsting for the blood of humanity, while you have been enraged for your destruction. Cease a little from your madness and let the remnant escape to your salvation. How have you raged against the belly and burned against your salvation? Restrain the wrath of your flame, lest it destroy us all entirely. But now, uproot the root of your evil and cut off the source of your wickedness. So that your error may not produce fruits that embitter the sweetness of good things. Woe, for your seed has been destroyed and your offspring has not been established. Woe, for your mother did not open the door to your exit. Not for yourself have you sinned in your wickedness, but for all equally. And even those who accuse you, the burdens fall upon them in your course.

In your course, the thoughts of the deceivers are confounded, who have hidden a lie from the truth. And the bitterness of your evil has been revealed, and I have gone out from the order. By your deception, your tricks have astonished me, and I have been deceived by your sweetness. And when I thought that no one would cover me, I was condemned to be deceived at my standing. O how sweet is your evil to your lovers and to your deceivers. And if your praise is a man, it is a departure, or if it is a liar, it is an equal. You have equated what you were established upon, that you saw the sword of your slain. And your thought has returned, that you remembered that your evil is not pure. Free-born, your creator has created you, and your master has made you the lord of your will. And it is yours to distinguish between truth and falsehood. Do not, my lord, judge me for this, that I have been deceived wantonly. And I have accused the evil inclination, which has caused bitter harm. There is no standing for the harm that the beautiful one has equated with its sign. It is the inclination that harms every man with the beauties of each other. The inclination gives birth to harm and raises it with deceits. And when its evil is completed, it brings it into the world with its fruits. Nor is the inclination itself a standing apart from the soul. It is a separation that in the soul is stirred up in all forms. The soul is the mistress of the human being, who is powerful over movements and sensations. It guides the body as its will desires.

In your soul, the two kinds of seeds, good and evil, are equal. And it is a choice, as in a test, to set one over the other. The soul is mounted upon the body like a charioteer upon a chariot. And it guides the human being by the reins of the passions of its concealment. The outer senses run like horses in a stadium. And the breath pants and slackens by the hands of the passions of the soul. The body grows weary and runs constantly wherever the charioteer wishes. And the passions and senses are guided as the rider wishes. Every thought cries out to the senses that have gone astray from it. And it arranges the whole body like a commander his camp. Behold, you have learned from your soul that your freedom is your soul. And your human being is not bound to be a place for your enemies. Behold, your will shows us that your will sins and repents. And there is no compulsion that drives us to a place that does not match your will. Behold, you have no discernment that the wisdom of things is its own. And it distinguishes well to reach and to block unjustly. Its own is the blind blocking that hides from the light of love. Its own is the foolish error that does not understand the necessary duty. Its own is the desire that embitters, placing life and inheriting death. It sows the sweetness of peace, and from it springs forth bitterness. How long will your will be crooked and not be able to straighten your loins?

Of free will it is that tests him to the beauty of his soul, a free man. Free will is the root, and it does not give wisdom. For free will is capable of doing good or evil. Again, then, it is said that your judgment is with the freedom of the will's choice. And the discernment of your separation is from the laws of your purity. It says to the freedom of your soul: "Why do you begrudge my standing in your place? And why do you hate wickedly the life of your neighbors? Why do you hide the desire of the charioteer in the limbs of love? Why do you loosen the bond of his waist, a sign that disturbs all? Why do you not judge justly, as is fitting for your separation? Why do you not cover your standing, as you judge others? Why do you not see your errors in the pure mirror of the air? Why do you not wash your stains in love that cleanses all blemishes? Why do you raise your voice, as if you were pursuing the one who errs? And you are more deaf than a deaf person towards the pursuits of your standing. Why do you begrudge the one who begrudges foolishly? Do all, why do you help the one who helps his own harm? Like David, how are you found to sweeten the one who is disturbed? Full of blemishes, how do you seek to correct the ear of others? Set your standing first, and enter into the examination of your deeds.

And see that you are wholly guilty, and you are convicted by your sins. You are slain by the sword of your envy, and you are not aware of your own wound. You are dead and buried while you are alive, and you do not feel your own death. The lamp of your mind is awake to see the faults of others, and you have set yourself entirely to choose the iniquity of your own nature. You are cunning in the likeness of a sophist for the wickedness of your deeds, and you are a layman among laymen for the condemnation of your errors. You are a liar instead of truth, when you deny deceitfully. And you are a transgressor when you are found to have violated the command of your foolishness. With arrogance you condemn others, and with hypocrisy you justify yourself. And deceitfully you pronounce a judgment of knowledge upon yourself and your companions. There is no truth in your choice; let your envy cease, do not deny. For it does not befit the mind to know which is consumed and which afflicts. From your establishment as judge, the iniquity of all iniquity. You are a liar from the time you were, and you have not seen the door of truth. A lover of truth in appearance, ever cloaking envy. And by perversion instead of truth, he stirs up his bitterness. He envies the one who is better, who is attached to the truth. And he also helps the one who is inferior, in the guise of a lover of zeal. He strives in the one who is contentious, by the twisting of words of the spirit.

He shuts up the one who does not kill, as if he were zealous for doctrine. He mocks the face of the one who is honored, that he may not increase what is beautiful over him. And he disfigures the face of the one who is humble, that he may not know that he is honored. He places blemishes on the teachers and on the disciples, reproaches. For behold, he makes everything of his, that one may love and another may hate. They began to go to the elements that bring near to perfection. And they do not perceive their ways towards the foundation of truth. With these forms he leads astray, envy towards every order. And he confuses the crown and the head, the commanders and the obedient. There is no place where he has not spread the nets of iniquity, the envy. There is no place where he has not hidden the snares, the evil ones, of the passions. There is no people that he has not enslaved by the evil yoke of his service. There is no kingdom that has not gone astray from the evil foundation of its error. Into the sea and the abyss he casts the narrow net woven with wiles. And upon the mountains and the heights he spreads out its long ropes. With the rich and the poor he casts the fullness of merchandise. When the excesses enter with the envious and the envied. The envious cast his seed into the souls of his obedient ones. And the envied raise up a clamor with the voice of the reproaches of the envious. Over all and in all the calumny of the slanderer has spread. And the world sits in envy, as in a deep darkness.

He darkens the light of righteousness with the dark envy of error. And he turns the salt of virtue into the foolish taste of injustice. To all his messengers he gave commands to announce concerning his coming. And he filled the whole world with the bitterness of their voices. There is no place where he can hide, the humble lover of peace. For envy drives harmony out of the human dwelling. Wherever the lover dwells, bound by his love for humanity, there foolishness makes equality just and divides the world against itself. The side of the friends of truth is diminished by the insolence of envy. And the envious help him to destroy night and day. His forces do not sleep, nor does the armor of his wickedness grow slack. For they are prepared to shed blood, better than the hour of slaughter. He made a mockery of every order with priests in their generations. And he shed the blood of the envious in a curse without end. He destroyed the first prophets who had been deceived by wonders. And he also killed the apostles, the expounders of the power of the mysteries. He strove and ascended above humanity to the cause of human salvation. And the murderer poured out his poison upon the peace that pacifies all. O envy, ravenous dog that barks night and day, and diminishes all distinction for householders and for strangers. O insolence that cannot be restrained from shedding innocent blood.

O the murderer who does not hope in the skins that he casts upon every man. O the wrath of the curse that does not listen to the voice of the mourners. And it does not turn aside the sounds of love at the proclamation of its bitterness. O the deadly serpent that lies coiled in the abyss of nature. And it constantly stirs up thoughts in the bitterness of its perversions. O the insatiable oppressor, O the sea that cannot be filled. For the curse of his wrath has spread and reached even to the cause of good things. He drove Adam from his inheritance and killed the righteous Abel. He deceived Jacob because he was humble, and Joseph because he was wise. He envied Job when he saw him growing in the wealth of body and soul. And he stoned Moses because he was honored by God in the midst of the earth. And when will the man come who can withstand his wrath against the works of the righteous? For he has persecuted and risen up in arrogance against the Lord of creation. In Judah he fulfilled his will, completing it at the cause of salvation. When he thought he was triumphant, that he would cut off the cause of life. From then on his cursed wrath learned that completion persecutes man. For how much is hidden in his wickedness from mercy and from compassion? There is no cause for the wicked one that he persecutes the beautiful ones. He himself is the cause of his own standing, and in everything he composes causes. And if there is a cause for the servants, the whole nature is guilty. But for the one who is pure and holy, what cause can be found?

And the guilty were the cause for one another like the guilty. The victor, what did he gain? For he shed his blood in vain. Behold, it was shown in the deed that in vain you struck the upright. And for a cause and without cause you shed your blood upon mankind. Not only for the good did you strike, O destruction that strikes mankind. For the good and the evil alike, your arrow's poison was spread equally. Not only for the known did the sting of your blow press. For behold, among the wise and the foolish the snares of your arrow are set. Against the righteous and the wicked your bow is bent beneath it. And you struck all the limbs with the scattered arrows of your arrow. Over the whole body of humanity the poison of your wickedness was scattered. And there is no sound limb that is not loosened by your arrows. O how evil is your evil, evil destruction and slanderer. And there is no evil like yours, even if he were your disciple. O how twisted is your cunning, and there is no limit to your malice. And if there is one who is wounded and shattered by the snares of your arrow, let him be silent. The mouth of the archer does not suffice to tell how many snares you set. And there is no one who can count the foundlings that your arrow produces. One knows how to spread you and reveal the blemishes of your faults. He who set them upon the deceiver, your secrets are hidden from the beholders.

He can uproot your root from the earth of your life. And he will scatter the branches of your fruits from the tree of your thought. With the sweetness of his debt, the bitterness of your cup will be overturned. And with the light of his terror, the dark cloud of your grievous affliction will be removed. At the dawn of his word, the lambs that were submerged in error will be awakened. And they will begin the work of love, even at the eleventh hour. Come, O dead ones, be hidden in the bosoms of bitter love. For behold, a grudge like a tempest pursues your humanity. Come, flee to a high place where wrath does not rule. For behold, error has taken an oath and swallowed up the whole inhabited world. Come, seek help for yourself from the mercies that have lived for your sake. For behold, the humility of your sake has overturned the evil of your evil nature. Give a hand to grace, that it may help you in the time of need. For behold, the whole of humanity has sinned from the cries of envy. He has reconciled the debt; all who labor with righteousness will live. For behold, the evil of nature has pressed the sweetness of the peace that pacifies all. Nature has loosened the bond of your peace with the worker. And it is ours if our wills desire that which we have loosened be tightened. Nature has sealed us in sin and defiled the purity of our thought. And if he wishes, it is easy for him to purify us through the repentance of our life. Nature has laughed at envy and cast a tumult into our hearts.

And his own is that which shakes the two together and the maker. To him, the secret of the formation, even the father, and its revelation as if clothed. Because when the divider is, he has made a spell with one of his wills. To him, the covering of the names that justify his division. Envy, wrath, and error are the fruits that are his. He is the father of envy, and error is born of him. And if he wishes to be raised, and if not, he does not strike, they are not. He is the one who rides upon seeds, like a rider upon chariots. And he is the one who drives the senses outside, eyes, ears, and tongues. By his wink, the inner ones are stirred, and by his authority, the outer ones. And if he wishes, he drives in order, and if he desires, in a disorderly manner. His own is the power of the wisdoms and the swiftness from the foundation. And wherever he wishes, he is the sophist after a short while, a commoner. He taught me to say with him that upon what his freedom is scattered. And he revealed to me that his own is cunning and simplicity of heart. He winked to me that I should restrain and arrange the movements that serve envy. And he urged me to cast words like arrows in the ranks of the church. He examined for me the opportunity that he mounts in his hypocrisy. And he showed me deadly traps that are hidden in the guise of giving. At the sound of the hymns, I awoke when the voice of the tempter sang. And the watcher was hiding within from the lower part of his lips.

The hearing of him who changes the tones, cunningly like a bird. And he increases the humiliation of his hearers, like a dancer who summons death. I saw him marvel at his form, and his hope that all of it was beautiful. And he turned within it and revealed to me the memory of his vision in his actions. O maker, how wise you are, and how fine are your works. O how good you are, if you would not take hold of your own face. Every kind of form you assume, wherever you wish to be present. And there is none simpler than you, when you wish to be adorned. In your wisdoms you have amazed many, and in the authority of your freedom. How many easy difficulties for your will, wherever it wills. From you disciples learn, and through you teachers become wise. To your door the poor run, and to your treasury the rich. Behold, it has been revealed to you, our maker, that both are ours: to love the love of our brother, and to bear the harm of our slayer. Come now, like dividers, and separate the mixture of our nature. For behold, the maker of our house has examined us, that ours is the tumult and wrath. Come now, speak to him honestly, to our maker, the lord of our will. That you not change the sweetness of love into the bitterness of envy. Come now, come from him, and interpret for him from his books. That the maker may see, and not be disturbed by your envy, the tumult of the fire.

The envious ones cried out and said to him, "O craftsman of your members, remain a craftsman, do not be kindled by the flame of envy." He came to the pursuit of the rich man, who was being burned harshly. And he was looking to that one who had helped him, to draw him away from his burning. To that daughter of the voice, the envious ones recalled, who are the magi of the envious. That she is a great one who cannot pass through her to Abraham. Their overthrow, the Lord of the heights, who disturbed the form of his face by his envy.