BOOK XXVI

  We have created man from the black slime of the earth.

KORAN


  If they had had knowledge of hidden things, they would not have been subjected for so long to servile work.

KORAN



VIENT RUÉE THE CHOICE

1 Those who ignore the holy books live and die like beasts who pass through and disappear in the quagmire of death. Those who reject them shall end up in a hell a thousand times worse. 1' The beautiful and good things of this world are only appreciated by a few. How can the holy and wise things become known to the multitude of the self-satisfied ignorant?

2 Your salvation is difficult to approach, Lord, and it is impossible to reach if we come up against the complications of those who preach it and the ignorance of those who teach it. 2' The Churches would be rather necessary for transmitting the holy torch of love, and the monasteries would be rather useful for keeping the holy fire of knowledge.

3 We must persevere in our quest up to the end with blind confidence, for he who has once spoken to the Lord in his heart is no longer ever abandoned or solitary in this world. 3' Holy laziness is what makes us attentive and free to the word of God, and holy ignorance is what makes us transparent and receptive to his ray of life.

4 Oh, the rosebud!
Oh, the leaves on the ground!
4' I have slept outside of him in death, but he never forgets himself anywhere.

5 No more sack on the head, no more blind blows, no more pain and no more cries. 5' Who can walk among the dead without bumping into them and without their bumping into us?

6 The sun has come after the mists of the long winter, and I smile at him while holding out my arms like a little child who greets the light of its birth. 6' Who could now separate me from my Lord? And who could obscure his light in my heart? The clouds still pass, but they do not remain.

7 He who IS becomes again without before and without after, without why and without how. 7' Who can float in the great ocean without becoming restless and without crying for help?

8 A flower sometimes receives the droppings of a bird, but the rain soon cleans it; when a believer receives a distinction from the world, it is rare that humility cleans him so quickly. 8' Life mixed with death is agony and suffering, but pure life is infinite freedom in oneself, and life fixed in the Unique One is eternal joy and glory.

9 The Book is not for people with diplomas who take themselves seriously and who organize themselves in the agony of the world with the aid of brutes. 9' Let it fall from their hands and let their eyes and ears remain stopped up by their conceited pretension!

10 The fact of absorbing the profane science of the world engenders the blindness that distances us from God and his prodigious revelation. 10' We abandon ourselves in God's hands, not to establish ourselves in the inaction of death, but to receive the magnificent gift of imperishable and pure life.

11 We need to become capable of asking everything of God and obtaining everything from him in order not to have fears or cares any more. But that is only given to very few of God's children, because of the impurity of our hearts. 11' Mortals pass through like the grass that is born and dies, but immortals remain like the beloved sun in the eternity of life fixed in God.

12 Nothing for the dead who remain in death. All for the living who fix themselves in life. 12' Who shall be born to the imperishable glory of God? Who? Who? So few! So few! What a weight! What a weight!

13 There are two ways back to God: either the dissolution in free and universal life, or the coagulation in it. 13' The first way is taught by many and accomplished by a few. The second way is taught by a few and achieved by very few.

13" He who separates them is ignorant.
He who unites them is wise.

14 To become unborn again or to be born twice, otherwise to remain a prisoner of the alternatives of deaths and births in the mixed worlds. 14' Vanquish or die, such is the alternative that God proposes to us. Heaven greets the renounced-liberated ones with songs, but adores the victorious-embodied ones.

15 The Church is a good thing, but those who complicate it, who divide it and who obscure it are a bad thing, which we must not confuse with the good one.
"The Lord acknowledges his own in the secret of their hearts."
15' It is the Church of within, immortal and pure through the union of the saints in God, that we should honour in our hearts, and not the Church of without, temporal and soiled by men, that we should idolize in the world.

16 What defeat and what false peace is the abandonment of oneself in this world corrupted by death! 16' The peace of the beasts advocated by some could never be the peace of God proposed by God.

17 Our goal is not to cease to be through dissolution in the origin, nor to be content with agonizing endlessly in the impermanence of mixed creation, but rather to become eternal in the stability that nothing can weaken. That's something that is clear! 17' Our repose, our renunciation and our ignorance are only worthwhile if they permit us to see, understand and touch the mystery of divine incarnation, which is the only one that saves us from the brutishness of death.

18 Everything is useless and futile here below, except for God's salvation, but who validly concerns himself with that right now? 18' Who is wise enough to abandon the worthless occupations of the world? Who is mad enough to devote himself to the quest for the Lord of life?

19 All the gold in the world for those who seek the science of death.
No help at all for those who seek the science of life.
19' If the sanctuaries can no longer teach the science of God to those who truly hunger and thirst for it, it is because they have become tombs inhabited by dead people.

20 Let the guardians who cannot transcend the figures, the symbols and the rites of their religions not prevent those who seek God's salvation from going beyond the appearances destined to contain the profane. 20' Enough of nonbelievers who, unable to go beyond the appearances of the transitory world, attempt to do violence to everything in order to discover its content, denying the salvation of the unique Splendour.

21 The Churches burden the believers to the point of absurdity and end up discouraging the best and eliminating the living, by sheer force of dead regulations and stupid demands. 21' The prophets unburden the believers and free the living in the grace and in the love of God. That is why they are hated by the dead installed in the dead letter.

22 Without scholars and without workmen, science books are useless. 22' Without sages and without saints, the books of salvation are worthless.

23 Resurrection begins again and it has already begun again, like a new promise from God. Here we have a marvellous sign for those who understand. 23' The time of purification through fire is coming and that of purification through water is to follow, and the time of heavenly fertilization is hidden between them.

24 God is not a delirious abstraction of the human spirit, as the descriptions of some believers might have us believe. He is a living reality that is seen, smelled, touched, tasted and that gives imperishable life. Is that not sufficient and is it not marvellous? 24' Someone said: "No-one has ever seen God", but we say: "Everyone sees God every day, but no-one recognizes him". Oh, stupor of the dazzling obviousness that no-one sees! Oh, too-cruel humour of the Perfect One who gleams! Oh, accursed stupidity of our proud malice that totally blinds us!

25 Only the obviousness of life is not seen nor believed here below. It is true that the obviousness of death is not better understood. 25' Even the simple ones no longer see nor adore the Lord of life. Who shall send us a savage missionary to convert us to the obviousness and the love of the Highest?

26 Everything we say about God and everything we think about him is false. Only that which God is and that which God does is true. 26' Those who imagine God in their own image are totally blind and ignorant. They vainly recreate on earth that which dazzles them in heaven.

27 God is not a hypothesis, he is an incandescent cloud, a translucent stone, a living reality for ever. 27' No image could give us an idea of the living beauty of the unique heavenly Splendour.

28 There are imbeciles who attempt to prove with words the existence or nonexistence of God. It is certainly the funniest thing in the world, or the saddest. 28' How can you demonstrate water to fish if not by removing them from it momentarily? And how can you demonstrate light to men, if not by plunging them into darkness for a while?

29 To return to unconditioned and unconscious life, or to attain conditioned and conscious life. 29' Supreme mystery: one day the disappeared shall dissolve the rediscovered, and the rediscovered shall coagulate the disappeared.

30 The world has never been as backward as it is now. This shall seem strange to many, but it is a terrifying reality. 30' Those who have become insensitive to the beauty of God's creation can no longer be sensitive to the direct beauty of God.

31 The Lord of heaven sees us. He hears us and he approves of us.
What shall we do, then, with the approval or disapproval of those who have taken upon themselves to transmit his public doctrine in the world and who do not observe it?
31' The Lord of heaven sees us. He inspires us and he fertilizes us.
What shall we do, then, with the approval or the disapproval of those who have undertaken to transmit his secret doctrine in hearts, and who do not understand it?

32 We have called no foreigner "dog", and we have not reserved the Lord's table for any people in particular. Everyone can sit at it if they sincerely desire it in their hearts. Is that not the thought of the holy Church of God right now? 32' The faithful foreigners have become beloved children of God, and the rebellious children have become hated foreigners; it is a hard lesson that should protect us carefully from all denial and from all forgetting of the Lord of life.

33 There are those that are thirsty and those that are hungry for God in all peoples and in all nations. They all choose and sort themselves, and the Lord opens the door of the banquet of life to them when they present themselves before him in a holy way. 33' Those inspired by God shall seek that which is in accordance in the holy Scriptures and shall live. Those inspired by the devil shall seek that which contradicts itself and shall perish. For each shall be judged by his own eye and by his own heart.

34 The Book of light is offered to blacks in a dark time; shall our brothers the miners not also receive it? 34' The wise Book is now given to the simple ones, as in the past the Book of simplicity was given to the wise.

35 At present, we offer the Book of resurrection to the humble, to the humiliated, to the rejected, to the blacks, so that the masters become slaves and the slaves become masters.
"The gift of God must no longer be offered to the sated who reject it, but rather to the hungry who expect salvation from it."
35' You were without a Book, without a prophet and without Scriptures, and you languished like the dregs of humanity. God sends you the jewel of his crown and the pearl of his treasure, for there you are, humble among the humble and poor among the poor. Shall you not receive them with enthusiasm and love, and shall you not live in a holy way before him?

36 The heirs may well ignore or reject their inheritance because they think they have been sufficiently instructed in their religion or wise enough in their science. Their pride and their malignity shall not force the gift of life of the Highest, and their intelligence shall be humiliated, and their freedom shall be taken away in the end.
Shall they not come back humbly to God in their hearts instead of remaining slaves on foreign soil?
36' The powerful, the scholars, the rich and the intelligent of the world have scorned and rejected the gift of heaven. Shall you not be more prudent and more grateful to the Lord who freely offers you imperishable life? Oh, the faces of the powerful when they realize they are without strength! Oh, the heads of the scholars when they realize they are imbeciles! Oh, the faces of the rich when they realize they are wretched! Oh, the noddle of the intelligent when they realize they are stupid!

37 The conceited believers reject the new message, for they have not yet understood the old one that they keep fruitlessly buried in the death of letters and stones, instead of embodying it in the life of spirits and hearts. 37' Quench your thirst, simple children of God, and bathe in the water of life that never runs out, while the proud and self-assured of the world lie dying in the stench of death.
"Each one chooses his lot and no-one will be able to recriminate at the end."

38 You shall become glorious and you shall dominate your former masters, for the reign of the Holy Spirit draws near.
Treat them well, in memory of him who gave you the Book of glory.
38' Receive among you as equals those who will have adopted it in their heart, for many of them have also received as equals those of you who have adopted their Scriptures in their hearts.

39 The Semite slaves inherited from the proud Egyptians the secret of God, and they became free and glorious. The Western people inherited from the proud Semites the secret of God, and became free and glorious. 39' The Black slaves now inherit from the proud Western people the secret of God, and they shall become free and glorious. Shall they be able to remain humble before God so as to keep the love of the Highest?

40 Here we are fallen in the mud, but we can choose to return to the free water or to fix ourselves in the precious stone. 40' Thus, the delivered ones go to the mother water and the saved ones go to the holy stone, but the accursed ones shall remain in the stinking mud.

41 "No filth inside, but no filth outside either." A purified saint covered in mud is better than a perfumed wicked man full of rubbish; however, the sage keeps himself clean inside and out. 41' All came from red to go to black, passing through yellow and white. All shall return to red, starting from black and passing through white and yellow.

42 It pleased you, Lord God, to send us to the people of the humble and the gentle, to the people of simple children who believe in your holy Name of truth and who love you in their hearts. Shall you not make them shine above the pride of the rebels who bury your inspired word? Shall you not water them at your sacred spring that saves from death? 42' What a surprise for the rebellious peoples who think of appropriating everything through force and violence, when they find themselves knocked to the ground amid their smoking ruins! How astonished they shall be when they see God's chosen people come out once more unscathed from the moving brazier of extermination! And what terror when they see the flames pursue them and engulf them without mercy!

43 We have written the Book under God's inspiration, without knowing to whom it was destined. The Lord revealed it to us at the last moment and our astonishment was great, and our admi-
ration boundless, for if the ways of the Lord are impenetrable, his logic is brilliant and it illuminates the spirit of the believers.
43' The peoples that surround us think they are too strong to receive the Book of God's grace, but in reality they are too sick and too perverted. They think they are too righteous to receive "He truly gives to the poor."

44 The sated ones of the world have left us without help, for their hearts have remained closed in exchange for the message, and their hands have remained closed in exchange for our work.
Thus, let what they have done to us be done to them, and let them one day lack the necessary amid the abundance of those who have rejoined God!
44' The Book of plenitude is removed from the sated ones and given to the hungry, so that they be fulfilled but not overfed.
Oh, poor ones! oh, humble ones! oh, simple children of God! shall you not offer the bread and wine to him who offers you the substance and the essence of heavenly life?

45 The Holy Spirit is better than all the diplomas and all the degrees of vanity distributed by the world. Let us therefore maintain it among us, and let us not be seduced by profane science that estranges us from God's love and salvation. 45' Let us help one another mutually in all possible ways, and let us prudently stay away from the nonbelievers who reject the Book that is given to us, and who advocate impious science. Let us remain as a people of free saints, devoted to God.

46 Let us rejoice in the good news, for on the hundred and tenth day of the sun and on the seventh day of the moon, a prophet has been given to us and a Book has been offered to us to guide us towards the Lord of life and to comfort us in this dark world. 46' Thus, we are no longer either orphans or abandoned in the exile of death, and the door of salvation is open to us in particular, after so many others. Shall we not be able to pass through it in great number, remaining faithful to our holy inheritance?

47 Faith, simplicity and sobriety shall sustain us in life more surely than science, than progress, and than the abundance of the profane world that is on its way to death without knowing it. "Shall we receive the gift of God with intelligence?" 47' We give you the crowning stone that completes the holy edifice, and its light shall illuminate the nations, for the foundation stone is like the summit stone, and the summit stone is like the foundation stone in the unity of the One.

48 The scholars and the intelligent deny the obviousness of God's miracle, and the proud believers nail him in time without seeing that he renews himself constantly under their eyes of the blind. 48' Did the master not say: "He who falls on the foundation stone shall be broken, and him on whom the summit stone falls shall be crushed"?
Do we no longer hear it?

49 Many have been broken because of the impurity of their hearts that has prevented them from recognizing the foundation stone planted in the earth. 49' Many shall be crushed by the summit stone because of the impurity of their eyes that shall prevent them from seeing it fall from the sky.

50 The foundation stone is a cubic stone, and the summit stone is a pyramid-shaped stone. Did you know that? 50' We have added nothing and we have taken away nothing. Do you see?

51 When we have become once more innocent and pure like little children, we shall also look at everything face to face, and we shall see the truth of the Perfect One shine, for we shall be transparent and precious like the diamond. 51' Only the sons of God attract the innocent children and read in their eyes, and only the innocent children attract the sons of God and read in their hearts. It is a sign that does not deceive.

52 The curse that weighed on the sons of Cham is lifted for those who receive the Book of forgiveness and who keep it in their hearts. 52' God has given us the most despised part of humanity, but is it not also the most hidden and the best? Is it not the most faithful and the most grateful?

53 On obeying the voice of God, we gather you up piously like a holiest gift, despite the opprobrium in which you are enveloped, and we wash you in the tears of joy of the rediscovered Lord. 53' God does not look at the colour of your skin, but only at the purity of your hearts. Shall you not come to him, who gives himself to you without measure? "Oh, royalty of innocent love, you attract innocence and you fix it in the purity of love."

54 The new Book for the new people.
The abundance of heaven for the hungry and the thirsty of the earth.
54' For those gorged with food, for those sated with learning and for those overflowing with malice, the purge of death is quite enough.

55 Let us keep ourselves from the multitude of drugs and medicaments of the over-scholarly ones, which kill the body. 55' Let us eat and drink moderately, giving thanks to the Lord who gives us life and who sustains it.

56 Let us keep ourselves from the games of chance and the alcohol of the over-greedy ones, which kill the spirit. 56' Let us instead sing and dance, and let us rejoice with our wives, without hypocrisy, in the Lord.

57 Let us keep ourselves from the radios and the newspapers of the overshrewd ones, which kill the soul. 57' Let us read the Book of deliverance that is dedicated to us, and let us compose praises to the Lord who sends it to us.

58 The sated peoples have rejected the message and the messenger. 58' Shall the hungry peoples perhaps receive them more generously?

59 Not even the price of a cannon, nor the price of a bomb-shell, nor the price of a cartridge for the Book that pleads before God for the life of all the men lost in the world. 59' If we praise God because of God's servant, it is a great joy, a great honour and a great reward for him and for us.

59" But how shall this stupid and rebellious people be saved, in spite of the astounding patience of the Highest?

  The way of heaven is similar to the archer who, bending his bow, lowers that which is high and raises that which is low.

LAO TSE


  That which is pure appears covered in shame.
The origin of that which is precious is that which has little value, and that which is elevated is founded on that which is low.

LAO TSE