Part 5

256 They said to the Lover: ‘Corruption is contrary to being, as generation, which is opposed to it, is the contrary of non-existence. If it were eternally corrupting and corrupted, it would be impossible that non-existence or end should harmonise with corruption.’ By these words the Lover saw in his Beloved the principle of eternal generation.

257 If that which increases the love of the Lover for his Beloved were falseness, that which diminished it would be truth. And if this were so, it would follow that there would be a want of the great and the true in the Beloved, and that there would be harmony in Him between the false and the mean.

258 The Lover praised his Beloved, and said that if in Him were the greatest degree of perfection and the greatest possible freedom from imperfection, his Beloved must be simple, pure and present in essence and operation. And while the Lover praised his Beloved thus, there was revealed to him the Trinity of his Beloved.

259 In the numbers 1 and 3 the Lover found greater harmony than between any others, because by these numbers every bodily form passed to existence from non-existence. And the greatest harmony of number, the Lover thought, was in the Unity and the Trinity of his Beloved.

260 The Lover extolled the power, the wisdom and the will of his Beloved, who had created all things, save only sin; so that, but for His power and wisdom and will, had nothing existed. And neither the power, the wisdom nor the will of the Beloved are an occasion of sin.

261 The Lover praised and loved his Beloved, for He had created him and given him all things; and he praised and loved Him too because it pleased Him to take his form and nature. And it may be asked, Which had more of perfection, his praise or his love?

262 Love tempted the wisdom of the Lover, and asked him whether the Beloved showed the greater love in taking his nature, or in redeeming him. And the Lover was perplexed, and replied at last that redemption was destined to put away unhappiness, and the Incarnation to bring about bliss. And this reply provoked the question again: ‘Which was the greater love?’

263 The Lover went from door to door asking alms to keep in mind the love of his Beloved for His servants, and to practise the virtues of poverty, humility and patience, which are well-pleasing to the Beloved.

264 They asked pardon of the Lover, for the love of his Beloved; and the Lover not only pardoned them but gave them himself and his goods.

265 With tears in his eyes the Lover described the Passion and the pains which his Beloved bore for love of him; and with sad and heavy thoughts he wrote down the words which He uttered; and by mercy and hope he was comforted.

266 The Beloved taught His Lover how to love; and Love intruded him in speech; and Patience, to bear afflictions for the love of Him to whom he had given himself to be a servant.

267 The Beloved asked men if they had seen His Lover, and they asked Him: ‘What are the qualities of Thy Lover?’ And the Beloved said: ‘My Lover is ardent yet fearful; rich and yet poor; joyful, sad and pensive; and every day he grieves because of his love.’

268 They asked the Lover: ‘Wilt thou sell thy desire?’ He answered: ‘I have sold it already to my Beloved, for such a price as would buy the whole world.’

269 ‘Preach, O Fool, speak concerning thy Beloved; weep and fast.’ So the Lover renounced the world, and went forth lovingly to seek his Beloved, and to praise Him in those places wherein He was dishonoured.

270 The Lover builded a fair city wherein his Beloved might dwell; of love, thoughts, tears, complaints and griefs he builded it; with joy, devotion and hope he adorned it; and with justice, prudence, faith, fortitude and temperance he furnished it.

271 The Lover drank of love at the fountain of the Beloved, and there the Beloved washed the Lover’s feet, though many a time he had despised and forgotten His greatness, and the world had suffered thereby.

272 ‘Say, O Fool, what is sin?’ He answered: ‘It is the turning and directing of the intention away from the final Cause and Intention for which all things have been created by my Beloved.’

273 The Lover saw that the world was created so that eternity should be more in harmony with his Beloved, who is Infinite Essence of greatness and all perfection, than with the world, which is a finite quantity; and therefore the justice of his Beloved was before time and finite quantities were.

274 The Lover defended his Beloved against those who said that the world is eternal, saying that the justice of his Beloved would not be perfect, if He restored not to every man his own body, and for this no place or material order would suffice; nor, if the world were eternal, could it be ordered for one end only; and yet, if it were not so ordered, there would be wanting in his Beloved perfection of wisdom and will.

275 ‘Say, O Fool, wherein is the beginning of wisdom?’ He answered: ‘In faith and devotion, which are a ladder whereby understanding may rise to a comprehension of the secrets of my Beloved.’

276 ‘Where then have faith and devotion their beginning?’ He answered: ‘In my Beloved, who illumines faith and nurtures devotion.’

277 They asked the Lover: ‘Which is greater--the possible or the impossible?’ He answered: ‘The possible is greater in man, and the impossible in my Beloved, since power and possibility are in agreement, and impossibility and actuality.’

278 ‘Say, O Fool, which is the greater--difference or harmony?’ He answered: ‘Save in my Beloved, difference is greater in plurality, and harmony in unity; but in my Beloved they are equal in plurality and in unity.’

279 ‘Say, O Lover, what is true worth?’ He answered: ‘It is the opposite of this world’s worth, which false and vainglorious lovers desire; for they go after worth and achieve only worthlessness.’

280 ‘Say, O Fool, hast thou seen one without his reason?’ He answered: ‘I have seen a lord of the Church, who had many cups on his table, and many plates and knives of silver, and in his chamber had many garments and a great bed, and in his coffers great wealth--and at the gates of his palace but few poor.’

281 ‘Knowest thou, O Fool, what is evil?’ He answered: ‘Evil thoughts.’ ‘And what is loyalty?’ ‘It is fear of my Beloved, born of charity and of shame which men reproach.’ ‘And what is honour?’ He answered: ‘It is to think on my Beloved, to desire Him and to praise His glorious Name.’

282 The Lover went one day into a cloister, and the monks inquired of him if he, too, were a religious. ‘Yea,’ he answered, ‘of the order of my Beloved.’ ‘What rule dost thou follow?’ He answered: ‘My Beloved’s.’ ‘To whom art thou vowed?’ He said: ‘To my Beloved.’ ‘Hast thou thy will?’ He answered: ‘Nay, it is given to my Beloved.’ ‘Hast thou added aught to the rule of thy Beloved?’ He answered: ‘Naught can be added to that which is already perfect. And why,’ continued the Lover, ‘do not you that are religious take the Name of my Beloved? May it not be that, as you bear the name of another, your love may grow less, and, hearing the voice of another, you may not catch the voice of the Beloved?’

283 The trials and tribulations that the Lover endured for love’s sake made him weary and apt to be impatient; and the Beloved reproved him, saying that he whom either trouble or happiness affected thus knew but little of love. So the Lover was contrite and wept, and he begged his Beloved to restore his love again.

284 ‘Say, O Fool, what is love?’ He answered: ‘Love is that which throws the free into bondage, and to those that are in bonds gives liberty.’ And who can say whether in love there is more of liberty or of bondage?

285 The Beloved called His Lover, and he answered Him, saying: ‘What wilt Thou, O my Beloved, Thou who art the sight of my eyes, thought of my thoughts, love of my love and sum of my perfections,--yea, and the source of all my beginnings?’

286 ‘O my Beloved,’ said the Lover, ‘I come to Thee, I walk in Thee, for Thou dost call me. And I greet Thee with Thine own Sign, by which I hope for eternal life and eternal blessing.’

287 The Lover cried aloud and said: ‘Fire gives warmth, its heat gives lightness, and that lightness draws on high. And in like manner love inflames the thoughts, gives lightness and draws on high. And one love unites three things, binding them securely the one to the others.’

288 They asked the Lover: ‘What is the world?’ He answered: ‘It is a book for such as can read, in which is revealed my Beloved.’ They asked him: ‘Is thy Beloved, then, in the world?’ He answered: ‘Yea, even as the writer is in his book.’ ‘And wherein consists this book?’ He answered: ‘In my Beloved, since my Beloved contains it all, and therefore is the world in my Beloved rather than my Beloved in the world.’

289 ‘Say, O Lover, who is he that loves and seems to thee as a fool?’ The Lover answered: ‘He that loves the shadow and makes no account of the truth.’ ‘And whom dost thou call rich?’ ‘He that loves truth.’ ‘And who is poor?’ ‘He that loves falsehood.’

290 They asked the Lover: ‘Is the world to be loved?’ He answered: ‘Truly it is, but as a piece of work, for its artificer’s sake, or as the night by reason of the day which follows it.’

291 The Lover cried out to his Lord concerning his Beloved, and to his Beloved concerning his Lord. And the Lord and the Beloved said: ‘Who is this that makes division in Us, that are One only?’ The Lover answered and said: ‘It is pity, which belongs to the Lord, and tribulation, which comes through the Beloved.’

292 The Lover was in peril in the great ocean of love, and he trusted in his Beloved, who came to him with troubles, thoughts, tears, sighs and griefs; for the ocean was of love.

293 The Lover rejoiced in the Being of his Beloved, for (said he) from His Being is all other Being derived, and by It sustained, and made subject and constrained to honour and serve my Beloved. By no being can He be condemned or destroyed, or made greater or less.

294 ‘What is the Being of thy Beloved?’ He answered: ‘It is a bright ray throughout all things, even as the sun which shines over all the world. For if it withdraw its brightness, it leaves all things in darkness, and when it shines forth it brings the day. Even more so is my Beloved.’

295 ‘My Beloved is one, and in His unity my thoughts and my love are united in one will; my Beloved’s unity is the source of all unities and all pluralities; and His plurality of all pluralities and unities.’

296 ‘O Beloved, by Thy greatness my desires, my thoughts and my afflictions are made great; for so great art Thou that all things which have remembrance and joy and understanding of Thee are great; and Thy greatness makes all things small which are contrary to Thy honour and commandments.’

297 ‘Thou knowest my sinfulness, O Beloved; be merciful, then, and pardon. Thou knowest better than I who Thou art; yet even I know Thy pardon and love, since Thou hast awakened in me contrition and pain, and the desire to die a shameful death that Thy Name may be thereby exalted.’

298 ‘Thy power, O Beloved, can save me through Thy goodness, mercy and pardon, yet it can condemn me through Thy justice, and my failures and imperfections. But let Thy power work its will in me, for it is wholly perfection, whether it bring salvation or eternal punishment.’

299 ‘O Truth that I love, visit my contrite heart, draw water from mine eyes, that my will may love Thee; and since Thy truth, O Beloved, is sovereign, draw truth from my will, that I may honour Thy Name, and cause it to hate my shortcomings.’

300 The Lover gazed at the rainbow, and it seemed to him as though it were of three colours. And he cried: ‘O marvellous distinction of three, for the three together are one! And how can this be in the image, unless it be so of itself, in truth?’

301 The Beloved created, and the Lover destroyed. The Beloved judged, and the Lover wept. Then the Beloved created glory again for the Lover. The Beloved finished His work, and the Lover remained for ever in the companionship of his Beloved.

302 By verdant paths, with feeling, imagination, understanding and will, the Lover went in search of his Beloved. And in those paths the Lover endured griefs and perils for his Beloved’s sake, that he might lift up his will and understanding to his Beloved, who wills that His lovers may comprehend and love Him exceedingly.

303 The perfection of the Beloved uplifted His Lover, and his own shortcomings cast him down. Which of these two forces, think you, has by nature the greater power over the Lover?

304 ‘Thou hast placed me, O my Beloved, between my evil and Thy good. On Thy part may there be mercy and pity, patience, humility, pardon, restoration and help; on mine let there be contrition, perseverance and remembrance of Thy sacred Passion, with sighs and tears.’

305 ‘O Beloved, that makest me to love, if Thou aidest me not, why didst Thou will to create me, and why didst Thou endure grief for my sake and bear Thy so grievous Passion? Since Thou didst help me thus to rise, my Beloved, help me also to descend to the remembrance and hatred of my faults and failings, that my thoughts may the better rise again to desire, honour and praise Thee.’

306 ‘My will, O Beloved, hast Thou made free to love Thy honour or despise Thy worth, that in my will my love to Thee may be increased; and in granting me this liberty, O Beloved, hast Thou put my will into danger. Remember, then, Thy Lover in this danger, that I may place in servitude my free will, praise Thy honour, and multiply tears and grief in my heart.’

307 ‘O Beloved, never from Thee came fault nor failing to Thy Lover, nor can Thy Lover attain to perfection but through Thy grace and mercy. Then, since the Lover has Thee in such possessions, do Thou remember him in his perils and tribulations.’

308 ‘O Beloved, who in one Name, Jesus Christ, art called both God and Man, by that Name my will seeks to adore Thee as God and Man. And if Thou, Beloved, hast so greatly honoured Thy Lover, through none of his merits, why honourest Thou not so many ignorant men, who knowingly have been less guilty of dishonouring Thy Name, Jesus Christ, than has this Thy Lover?’

309 The Lover wept, and he spake to his Beloved in these words: ‘O Beloved, never wert Thou sparing or aught but liberal to Thy Lover, in giving him being or in granting him many creatures to serve him. Then wherefore, O Beloved, Thou who art sovereign liberality, shouldst Thou be slow to give Thy Lover tears, thoughts, griefs, wisdom and love that he may do honour to Thy Name? So then, O Beloved, Thy Lover asks of Thee long life that he may receive of Thee many of the gifts aforesaid.’

310 ‘O Beloved, if Thou dost help just men against their mortal enemies, help to increase my thoughts and desires for Thy honour. And if Thou dost help sinners to lead just lives, help Thy Lover that he may sacrifice his will to Thy glory; and as to his body, that he may tread the martyr’s path as a testimony of love.’

311 The Lover made complaint to his Beloved of temptations which came to him daily to disturb his thoughts. And the Beloved answered him: ‘Such temptations are occasions of recourse to the memory, that the lover may think upon God and love His grace and honour.’

312 The Beloved had mercy upon His Lover, because of His perfect love, and because of His Lover’s needs. Which of those two reasons, think you, moved the Beloved the more strongly to forgive His Lover’s sins?

313 Our Lady and the Saints and angels in glory cried to my Beloved: ‘Remember the errors into which the world has fallen through ignorance, but remember how great is Thy justice, O Beloved, and how great the ignorance of Thine enemies.’

314 The Lover lifted up the powers of his soul, and mounted the ladder of humanity to glory in the Divine Nature; and from the Divine Nature the powers of his soul descended, to glory in the human nature of his Beloved.

315 The straiter are the paths along which the Lover journeys to his Beloved, the vaster is his love; and the straiter his love, the broader are the paths. So that however it be the Lover receives love, trials and griefs, comforts and joys from his Beloved.

316 Love comes from love, thoughts from thoughts and tears from griefs; and love leads to love, as thoughts lead to tears and griefs to sighs. And the Beloved watches His Lover, who bears all these afflictions for His love.

317 The desires of the Lover and his memories of the Beloved’s greatness kept vigils and went on journeys and pilgrimages. And they brought to the Lover graces which lit up his understanding and made his will to increase in love.

318 With his imagination the Lover formed and pictured his Beloved’s Countenance in bodily wise, and with his understanding he beautified It in spiritual things; and with his will he worshipped It in all creatures.

319 The Lover purchased a day of tears with another of thoughts; and a day of love came through a day of tribulations; and both his thoughts and his love were increased.

320 The Lover was in a far country, and he forgot his Beloved, but was sad at the absence of his lord, his wife, his children and his friends. But soon the memory of his Beloved returned to him, that he might be comforted, and that his exile might cause him neither vexation nor sorrow.

321 The Lover heard his Beloved’s words; his understanding beheld Him in them; his will had pleasure in that which he heard; and his memory recalled his Beloved’s virtues and His promises.

322 The Lover heard men speak evil of his Beloved, and in this evil-speaking his understanding perceived his Beloved’s justice and patience; for His justice would punish the evil-speakers, while His patience would await their contrition and repentance. In which of these two think you that the Lover believed more earnestly?

323 The Lover fell sick, and made his testament with the counsel of his Beloved. His sins and faults he bequeathed to penance and contrition; worldly pleasures to contempt. To his eyes he left tears; to his heart sighs of love; to his understanding his Beloved’s graces, and to his memory the Passion which his Beloved endured for love of him. And to his activity he bequeathed the guidance of unbelievers, who go to their doom through ignorance.

324 The scent of flowers brought to the Lover’s mind the evil stench of riches and meanness, of old age and lasciviousness, of discontent and pride. The taste of sweet things recalled to him the bitterness of temporal possessions and of entering and quitting this world. The enjoyment of earthly pleasures made him feel how quickly this world passes, and how the delights which are here so pleasant may be the occasion of eternal torments.

325 The Lover endured hunger and thirst, cold and heat, poverty and nakedness, sickness and tribulations; and he would have died had he not had remembrance of his Beloved, who healed him with hope and memory, with the renunciation of this world and contempt for the revilings of men.

326 The Lover made his bed between trials and joys: in joys he lay down to sleep and in trials he awakened. Which of these two, think you, was nearer to the bed of the Lover?

327 In anger the Lover lay down to sleep, resenting the revilings of men; in patience he awakened, remembering his Beloved. Which, think you, did the Lover feel the more deeply--the love of his Beloved or the scorn of men?

328 The Lover thought upon death, and he was afraid, until he remembered the city of his Beloved, to which love and death are the gates and the entrance.

329 Two men were disputing concerning simplicity, the one against the other. And the one said: ‘The simple man is he who knows nothing.’ The other said: ‘The simple man is he who lives without sin.’ And the Lover came and said: ‘True simplicity has he who commits all his ways to my Beloved.’

330 ‘For simplicity is to exalt faith above understanding, which it so far exceeds, and in all that pertains to my Beloved it is to avoid completely all things vain, superfluous, curious, over-subtle and presumptuous. For all these are contrary to simplicity.’

331 Another time they both inquired of him, asking that he would tell them if the science of the simple is a great one. He answered: ‘The science of great sages is as a great heap of a few grains, but the science of the simple is a small heap of numberless grains, because neither presumption nor curiosity nor over-subtlety are added to the heap of simple men.’ ‘And what is the work of presumption and curiosity?’ The Lover replied: ‘Vanity is the mother of curiosity, and pride is the mother of presumption, and therefore is their work the work of vanity and pride. And the enemies of my Beloved are known by presumption and curiosity, even as love for Him is acquired by simplicity.’

332 The Lover lost a jewel which he greatly prized, and was sorely distressed, until his Beloved put to him this question: ‘Which profiteth thee more, the jewel that thou hadst or thy patience in all the acts of thy Beloved?’

333 Many lovers came together, and they asked Love’s messenger where and in what thing the heart was most ardently inflamed with devotion and love. Love’s messenger answered: ‘In the House of God, when we humble ourselves and adore Him with all our powers; for He alone is Holiest of the holy. And those that know not how to do this, know not what it is truly to love Him.’

334 The Lover thought upon his sins, and for fear of hell he would fain have wept, but he could not. So he begged Love to give him tears, and Wisdom answered that he must weep earnestly and often, but for the love of his Beloved rather than for the pains of hell; for tears of love are more pleasing to Him than tears shed through fear.

335 The Lover obeyed Wisdom; and, on the one hand, he shed many and great tears for love’s sake, and, on the other, few and small tears for fear, that by love and not by fear he might honour his Beloved. And the tears which he shed for love brought him solace and rest, while the tears of fear gave him sorrow and tribulation.

336 The Lover fell asleep while thinking on the trials and the obstacles which he met in serving his Beloved; and he feared lest through those hindrances his works might be lost. But the Beloved sent consciousness to him, and he awakened to the merits and powers of his Beloved.

337 The Lover had to journey long over roads that were rough and hard; and the time came when he should set out, carrying the heavy burden that Love makes his lovers to bear. So the Lover unburdened his soul of the cares and pleasures of this world, that his heart might bear the weight with more ease, and his soul journey along those roads in its Beloved’s company.

338 Before the Lover, one day, they spoke ill of the Beloved, and the Lover made neither reply nor defence of his Beloved. Which, think you, was the more to be blamed, the men who spoke ill of the Beloved, or the Lover who was silent and defended Him not?

339 As the Lover contemplated his Beloved, his understanding conceived subtleties and his will loved Him more and more. In which of the two think you that memory grew more fruitful in thinking on the Beloved?

340 With fervour and fear the Lover journeyed abroad to honour his Beloved. Fervour bore him along and fear preserved him from danger. And while the Lover was journeying thus, he found sighs and tears, which brought him greetings from his Beloved. Through which of these four companions think you that the Lover received the greatest consolation in his Beloved?

341 The Lover gazed upon himself that he might be a mirror in which to behold his Beloved; and he gazed upon his Beloved, as in a mirror wherein he could learn to know himself. Which of these two mirrors, think you, was the nearer to his understanding?