[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
One doth come, to show His mercy unto thee, in order that thou mayest have the power to catch a
thought of this so mighty God, one single beam of Him to shine into thy thinking. For thought alone
"sees" the Unmanifest, in that it is itself unmanifest.
If, then, thou hast the power, He will, Tat, manifest to thy mind's eyes. The Lord begrudgeth not Himself
to anything, but manifests Himself through the whole world.
Thou hast the power of taking thought, of seeing it and grasping it in thy own "hands", and gazing face
to face upon God's Image. But if what is within thee even is unmanifest to thee, how, then, shall He
Himself who is within thy self be manifest for thee by means of [outer] eyes?
3. But if thou wouldst "see" him, bethink thee of the sun, bethink thee of moon's course, bethink thee of
the order of the stars. Who is the One who watcheth o'er that order? For every order hath its boundaries
marked out by place and number.
The sun's the greatest god of gods in heaven; to whom all of the heavenly gods give place as unto king
and master. And he, this so-great one, he greater than the earth and sea, endures to have above him
circling smaller stars than him. Out of respect to Whom, or out of fear of Whom, my son, [doth he do
this]?
Nor like nor equal is the course each of these stars describes in heaven. Who [then] is He who marketh
out the manner of their course and its extent?
4. The Bear up there that turneth round itself, and carries round the whole cosmos with it - Who is the
owner of this instrument? Who He who hath set round the sea its bounds? Who He who hath set on its
seat the earth?
For, Tat, there is someone who is the Maker and the Lord of all these things. It cound not be that
number, place and measure could be kept without someone to make them. No order whatsoever could be
made by that which lacketh place and lacketh measure; nay, even this is not without a lord, my son. For
if the orderless lacks something, in that it is not lord of order's path, it also is beneath a lord - the one
who hath not yet ordained it order.
5. Would that it were possible for thee to get thee wings, and soar into the air, and, poised midway
'tween earth and heaven, behold the earth's solidity, the sea's fluidity (the flowings of its streams), the
spaciousness of air, fire's swiftness, [and] the coursing of the stars, the swiftness of heaven's circuit
round them [all]!
Most blessed sight were it, my son, to see all these beneath one sway - the motionless in motion, and the
unmanifest made manifest; whereby is made this order of the cosmos and the cosmos which we see of
order.
6. If thou would'st see Him too through things that suffer death, both on the earth and in the deep, think
of a man's being fashioned in the womb, my son, and strictly scrutinize the art of Him who fashions him,
and learn who fashioneth this fair and godly image of the Man.
Who [then] is He who traceth out the circles of the eyes; who He who boreth out the nostrils and the
ears; who He who openeth [the portal of] the mouth; who He who doth stretch out and tie the nerves;
20 of 54
who He who channels out the veins; who He who hardeneth the bones; who He who covereth the flesh
with skin; who He who separates the fingers and the joints; who He who widens out a treading for the
feet; who He who diggeth out the ducts; who He who spreadeth out the spleen; who he who shapeth
heart like to a pyramid; who He who setteth ribs together; who He who wideneth the liver out; who He
who maketh lungs like to a sponge; who He who maketh belly stretch so much; who he who doth make
prominent the parts most honorable, so that they may be seen, while hiding out of sight those of least
honor?
7. Behold how many arts [employed] on one material, how many labors on one single sketch; and all
exceeding fair, and all in perfect measure, yet all diversified! Who made them all? What mother, or what
sire, save God alone, unmanifest, who hath made all things by His Will?
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]