(5) What I was saying of that only bride Of the Holy Ghost, and which occasioned thee To turn towards me for some commentary, So long has been ordained to all our prayers As the day lasts; but when the night comes on, Contrary sound we take instead thereof. At that time we repeat Pygmalion, Of whom a traitor, thief, and parricide Made his insatiable desire of gold; And the misery of avaricious Midas, That followed his inordinate demand, At which forevermore one needs but laugh. The foolish Achan each one then records, And how he stole the spoils; so that the wrath Of Joshua still appears to sting him here. Then we accuse Sapphira with her husband, We laud the hoof-beats Heliodorus had, And the whole mount in infamy encircles Polymnestor who murdered Polydorus. Here finally is cried: 'O Crassus, tell us, For thou dost know, what is the taste of gold?' Sometimes we speak, one loud, another low, According to desire of speech, that spurs us To greater now and now to lesser pace.

(6) The light in which was smiling my own treasure Which there I had discovered, flashed at first As in the sunshine doth a golden mirror; Then made reply: "A conscience overcast Or with its own or with another's shame, Will taste forsooth the tartness of thy word; But ne'ertheless, all falsehood laid aside, Make manifest thy vision utterly, And let them scratch wherever is the itch; For if thine utterance shall offensive be At the first taste, a vital nutriment 'Twill leave thereafter, when it is digested. This cry of thine shall do as doth the wind, Which smiteth most the most exalted summits, And that is no slight argument of honour. Therefore are shown to thee within these wheels, Upon the mount and in the dolorous valley, Only the souls that unto fame are known; Because the spirit of the hearer rests not, Nor doth confirm its faith by an example Which has the root of it unknown and hidden, Or other reason that is not apparent."

(1) NO Money, nor goods, nor Art, nor Power, can bring you to the eternal Rest of the eternal soft Meekness of Paradise, but only the noble Knowledge; into that you may wrap up your Soul. That is the Pearl which no Moth can eat, nor Thief can steal away; therefore seek after it, and then you will find the noble Treasure.

(2) "The first thought hath arisen in me concerning the word which thou hast spoken: 'Now, therefore, the soul giveth the apology and seal unto all the rulers who are in the region of the king, the Adamas, and giveth the apology and the honour and the glory of all their seals and the songs of praise to the region of the Light,'--concerning this word then thou hast spoken unto us aforetime, when they brought thee the piece of money and thou didst see that it was of silver and copper and didst ask: 'Whose is this image?' They said: 'The king's.' And when thou sawest that it was of silver and copper mixed, thou saidst: 'Give therefore the king's unto the king and God's unto God,'--that is: If the soul receiveth mysteries, it giveth the apology to all the rulers and to the region of the king, the Adamas; and the soul giveth the honour and the glory to all those of the region of the Light. And the word: 'It hath glistened, when thou didst see that it is made up of silver and copper,'--it is the type thereof, that in it [ sc. the soul] is the power of the Light, which is the refined silver, and that in it is the counterfeiting spirit, which is the material copper. This, my Lord, is the first thought.

(3) And I: "My Master, among such as these I ought forsooth to recognise some few, Who were infected with these maladies." And he to me: "Vain thought thou entertainest; The undiscerning life which made them sordid Now makes them unto all discernment dim. Forever shall they come to these two buttings; These from the sepulchre shall rise again With the fist closed, and these with tresses shorn. Ill giving and ill keeping the fair world Have ta'en from them, and placed them in this scuffle; Whate'er it be, no words adorn I for it. Now canst thou, Son, behold the transient farce Of goods that are committed unto Fortune, For which the human race each other buffet; For all the gold that is beneath the moon, Or ever has been, of these weary souls Could never make a single one repose." "Master," I said to him, "now tell me also What is this Fortune which thou speakest of, That has the world's goods so within its clutches?" And he to me: "O creatures imbecile, What ignorance is this which doth beset you? Now will I have thee learn my judgment of her.

(1) The Owl came forward with a bewildered air and said: 'I have chosen for my dwelling a ruined and tumbledown house. I was born among the ruins and there I take my delight - but not in drinking wine. I know hundreds of habited places, but some are in a state of confusion and others in a state of hatred. He who wishes to live in peace

must go to the ruins, as the madmen do. If I mope among them it is because of hidden treasure. The love of treasure draws me there, for it is to be found among the ruins. Also, I can conceal my anxious quest, and hope to find a treasure that is not protected by a talisman; if my foot should light on one, my heart's desire will be achieved. I well believe that love toward the Simurgh is not a fable, for it is not experienced by the heedless; but I am feeble, and am far from being firm in his love, since I love only my treasure and my ruins.'

The Hoopoe said to him: 'O you who are drunk with love of riches, suppose you do find a treasure! Ah well, you will die on this treasure, and life will have slipped away without your having attained the high aim of which at least you are aware. Love of gold is a characteristic of infidels. He who makes an idol of gold is another Thare. Will you not, perhaps, become as one of the Samiri of the Israelites who made the golden calf? Don't you know that everyone who has been corrupted by the love of gold will on the day of resurrection have his face changed, like a false coin, to the likeness of a mouse?'

(56) O! hear thou Priest, there belongs neither Gold nor Money, nor any self-chosen Holiness about it; there is a very worthy Champion which assists the Soul; and if it gets no Victory in him, then thy Hypocrisy shall not help it. Thou takest Money, and sayest Mass for every one, whether they be in Heaven or in Hell, thou dost not inquire after that; and besides, thou art altogether uncertain of it, but only thou mayest be sure, that thou appearest before God to be a perpetual Liar.

(6) Wherefore "let the false lips become speechless, and let the Lord destroy the boastful tongue: those who say, We shall magnify our tongue, and our lips are our own; who is Lord over us? For the affliction of the poor and the groaning of the needy now will I arise, saith the Lord; I will set him in safety; I will speak out in his case." For it is to the humble that Christ belongs, who do not exalt themselves against His flock. "Lay not up for yourselves, therefore, treasures on the earth, where moth and rust destroy, and thieves break through and steal," says the Lord, in reproach perchance of the covetous, and perchance also of those who are simply anxious and full of cares, and those too who indulge their bodies. For amours, and diseases, and evil thoughts "break through" the mind and the whole man. But our true "treasure" is where what is allied to our mind is, since it bestows the communicative power of righteousness, showing that we must assign to the habit of our old conversation what we have acquired by it, and have recourse to God, beseeching mercy. He is, in truth, "the bag that waxeth not old," the provisions of eternal life, "the treasure that faileth not in heaven." "For I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy," saith the Lord. And they say those things to those who wish to be poor for righteousness' sake. For they have heard in the commandment that "the broad and wide way leadeth to destruction, and many there are who go in by it." It is not of anything else that the assertion is made, but of profligacy, and love of women, and love of glory, and ambition, and similar passions. For so He says, "Fool, this night shall thy soul be required of thee; and whose shall those things be which thou hast prepared?" And the commandment is expressed in these very words, "Take heed, therefore, of covetousness. For a man's life does not consist in the abundance of those things which he possesses. For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" "Wherefore I say, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for your body, what ye shall put on.

(97) Woe unto you, ye sinners, for your riches make you appear like the righteous, But your hearts convict you of being sinners, And this fact shall be a testimony against you for a memorial of (your) evil deeds.

(20) Accordingly they spread darkness over the light of intelligence, the spirit attracting the exhalations that arise from lust, and thickening the masses of the passions by persistency in pleasures. Gold is not taken from the earth in the lump, but is purified by smelting; then, when made pure. it is called gold, the earth being purified. For "Ask, and it shall be given you," it is said to those who are able of themselves to choose what is best. And how we say that the powers of the devil, and the unclean spirits, sow into the sinner's soul, requires no more words from me, on adducing as a witness the apostolic Barnabas (and he was one of the seventy? and a fellow-worker of Paul), who speaks in these words: "Before we believed in God, the dwelling-place of our heart was unstable, truly a temple built with hands.

(66) Yet it is seen that some wealthy People drew near to Christ, whereby it may be perceived, that the Kingdom of Heaven consists not in Misery only, but in Joy in the Holy Ghost; and none ought to esteem himself happy, because he is poor and miserable; he is in the Kingdom of the Devil notwithstanding, if he be faithless and wicked. Also none that is rich ought therefore to cast his Goods and Wealth away, or give them to be spent lavishly, in hope to be saved in so doing; no, Friend, the Kingdom of God consists in Truth, and in Righteousness, and in Love towards the Needy; to be rich damns none that use it aright; thou needest not to lay down thy Scepter, and run into a Corner, crying; that is but Hypocrisy. Thou mayest do Righteousness, and better Service to the Kingdom of God in holding thy Scepter, by helping the Oppressed, protecting the Innocent, and granting Right and Justice, not according to thy Covetousness, but in Love, and in the Fear of God; and then thou art also a Brother to Joseph of Arimathea, and shalt shine brighter than others, as the Sun and Moon compared with the Stars. It is only the Pride, Covetousness, Envy, Falshood, and Anger, that is the Crown of the Devil; therefore conceive it right. Of Christ's Rest in the Grave [or Sepulchre.]

(9) And therefore we also have longed to seek after that Pearl, of which we write at present; and though now the Unregenerated (in the Kingdom of this World) will give no Credit to us (as it has happened to our Forefathers, from the Children of this World) we cannot help that, but it shall stand for a witness against them, which shall be a Woe to them eternally, that they have so foolishly ventured [and lost] so great an eternal Glory and Holiness, for a little Pleasure of the Eye, and Lust of the Flesh.

(30) Thou must continue steadfast in this resolute Purpose; and though thou gettest no Virtue [or Strength] into thy Heart, and though the Devil also should beat down thy Tongue, that thou couldst not pray to God, yet then thou shouldst desire and sigh to him, and continually hold and go on in this Thought and Purpose, with the Canaanitish Woman; the more thou pressest forward, the weaker the Devil is; thou must take the suffering Death and Satisfaction of Jesus Christ before thee, and must throw thy Soul into his Promise; where he says, My Father will give the Holy Ghost to them that ask him for it. Also, Knock, and it shall be opened unto you; seek, and you shall find; ask, and you shall receive; and the more earnestly thou pressest forth from the Devil, and from thy Sins, the more mightily does the Kingdom of God press into thee; but have a Care that thou dost not depart from this thy Will, before thou hast received the Jewel; and though it holds off from Morning till Night, and still from Day to Day, [let not that discourage thee,] if thy Earnestness be great, then thy Jewel will also be great which thou shalt receive at thy Over-coming.

(1) I, at any rate, am not conscious, when speaking in reply to Greeks or others, of fancying to assist good men, in case they should be able to know and speak the very truth, as it really is in itself. For, when this is correctly demonstrated in its essential nature, according to a law of truth, and has been established without flaw, every thing which is otherwise, and simulates the truth, will be convicted of being other than the reality, and dissimilar, and that which is seeming rather than real. It is superfluous then, that the expounder of truth should contend with these or those. For each affirms himself to have the royal coin, and perchance has some deceptive image of a certain portion of the true. And, if you refute this, first the one, and then the other, will contend concerning the same. But, when the true statement itself has been correctly laid down, and has remained unrefuted by all the rest, every thing which is not so in every respect is cast down of itself, by the impregnable stability of the really true. Having then as I think well understood this, I have not been over zealous to speak in reply to Greeks or to others; but it is sufficient for me (and may God grant this), first to know about truth, then, having known, to speak as it is fitting to speak.

(28) ... in a dream [...] silver [...]. But [...] becomes wealthy [...] among the authorities ... ... (1 line unrecoverable) ... But the sixtieth [...], thus [...] world [...] they [...] gold ... ... (18 lines unrecoverable) ... they think ... ... (1 line unrecoverable) ... we have been released from the flesh. ... ... (1 line unrecoverable) ... not turn him to [...] Jesus ... ... (1 line unrecoverable) ... the beginning [...] a son ... ... (1 line unrecoverable) ... out of [...], which is the pattern [...] light of ... ... (16 lines unrecoverable) ... to find from [...] defilement which ... ... (1 line unrecoverable) ... they do not blaspheme [...] them not, neither is there any pleasure nor desire, nor can they control them. It is fitting that they should become undefiled, in order that they might show to every one that they are from the generation of the Son of Man, since it is about them that the Savior bore witness.

(5) I have coveted no man's silver, or gold, or apparel. Yea, ye know, that these hands have ministered unto my necessities. I have shewed you how that so laboring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said,

(1) I HAVE perused many Master- Pieces of Writing, hoping to find the Pearl of the Ground of Man; but I could find nothing of that which my Soul lusted after. I have also found very many contrary Opinions. And partly I have found some who forbid me to search, [or seek,] but I cannot know with what Ground or Understanding, except it be that the Blind grudge at the Eyes of them that see. With all this my Soul is become very disquiet within, and has been as full of [Pain and] Anguish as a Woman at her Travail, and yet nothing was found in it, till I followed the Words of Christ, when he said; You must be born anew, if you will see the Kingdom of God: Which at first stopped up my Heart, and I supposed that such a Thing could not be done in this World, but [that it should first be done] at my Departure out of this World. And then my Soul first was in Anguish to the Birth, and would very willingly have tasted the Pearl; and gave itself up in this Way more vehemently to the Birth, till at last it obtained a Jewel. According to which [received Jewel] I will write, for a Memorial to myself, and for a Light to them that seek. For Christ said; None lights a Candle and puts it under a Bushel, but sets it upon a Table, that all that are in the House may see by the Light of it. And to this End he gives the Pearl to them that seek, that they should impart it to the Poor for their Health, as he has very earnestly commanded.

(2) Wherefore, putting away lying, speak every man truth. Neither give place to the devil. Let him that stole, steal no more; but rather let him labour, working that which is good" (and to work is to labour in seeking the truth; for it is accompanied with rational well-doing), "that ye may have to give to him that has need," both of worldly wealth and of divine wisdom. For he wishes both that the word be taught, and that the money be put into the bank, accurately tested, to accumulate interest. Whence he adds, "Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth," - that is "corrupt communication" which proceeds out of conceit, - "but that which is good for the use of edifying, that it may minister grace to the hearers." And the word of the good God must needs be good. And how is it possible that he who saves shall not be good?

(32) Thus that noble Jewel (and in it the Pearl) is sown. But observe it well; it is not instantly become a Tree; O how often does the Devil rush upon it, and would fain root up the Grain of Mustard- seed! How many hard Storms must the Soul undergo and endure! How often is it covered with Sins! For all that is in this World is against it, it is as it were left alone and forsaken; even the Children of God themselves rush upon it; for the Devil does plague the poor Soul thus, to try if he can lead it astray, either with Flattery and Hypocrisy, that the Soul might flatter itself, or else with Sins in the Conscience. He never ceases, and thou must always strive against him; for so the Tree of Pearl grows, as Corn does in the tempestuous Storms and Winds; but if it grows high, and comes to blossom, then thou wilt enjoy the Fruit well enough, and understand better what this Pen has written, and where it was born. For it was a long Time in this Condition, many Storms went over its Head; and therefore this shall be for a lasting Memorial, and continual Remembrance to it; seeing we must sit here in the murdering Den of the Devil; if we do but overcome, our great Reward will soon follow us.

(56) Accordingly he has not forbidden us to be rich in the right way, but only a wrongful and insatiable grasping of money. For "property gained unlawfully is diminished." "There are some who sow much and gain the more, and those who hoard become impoverished." Of them it is written: "He distributed, he gave to the poor, his righteousness endures for ever." For he who sows and gathers more is the man who by giving away his earthly and temporal goods has obtained a heavenly and eternal prize; the other is he who gives to no one, but vainly "lays up treasure on earth where moth and rust corrupt"; of him it is written: "In gathering motley, he has gathered it into a condemned cell." Of his land the Lord says in the gospel that it produced plentifully; then wishing to store the fruits he built larger store-houses, saying to himself in the words dramatically put into his mouth "You have many good things laid up for many years to come, eat, drink, and be merry. You fool," says the Lord, "this night your soul shall be required of you. Whose then shall be the things you have prepared?"