Original content

English translation

Such a thing befell Dhu al-Nun of Egypt: within him a new fervor and madness was born. The fervor became so great that its salt reached livers beyond the sphere. Beware: do not place your own agitation, O salty earth, beside the fervor of the pure lords. The people had no endurance for his madness; his fire was seizing their beards. When fire caught in the beards of the common people, they bound him and put him in a prison. There is no possibility of pulling back this rein, although the common people feel constricted by this path. These kings have feared for their lives from the common people, for this group is blind and the kings are without outward signs. Since judgment is in the hands of rogues, Dhu al-Nun was necessarily in prison. The mighty king rides alone; thus is an orphan pearl in the hands of children. What a sea hidden in a drop; what a sun concealed in a mote. A sun showed itself as a mote, and little by little unveiled its face. All motes were effaced in it; the world became drunk from it and then sober. When the pen is in the hand of a traitor, without doubt Mansur is on a gallows. Since this affair and sovereignty belong to fools, 'they kill the prophets' becomes inevitable. A misguided people said to the prophets, out of folly, 'We take evil omen from you.' See the Christian's ignorance: he has sought security from that Lord who became hanged. Since, according to his account, he was crucified by Jews, how could he grant him security? When that king's heart is bloodied by them, how can there be the protection of 'while you are among them'? Pure gold and the goldsmith are in greater danger from the treacherous counterfeiter. Josephs are hidden from the envy of the ugly, for the beautiful live in fire from enemies. Josephs are in the pit through the brothers' cunning, for through envy they give Joseph to wolves. What befell Joseph of Egypt through envy? This envy is a huge wolf lying in ambush. Therefore gentle Jacob always had fear and dread for Joseph because of this wolf. The visible wolf never circled Joseph; this envy, in action, surpassed wolves. This wolf showed mercy and came with the polished excuse, 'We went off to race.' A hundred thousand wolves do not have such cunning; in the end this wolf will be exposed. For on the day of harm the envious will surely be mustered in the form of wolves. The resurrection-form of the very greedy, vile carrion-eater will be that of a pig on the day of reckoning. Adulterers will have the stench of the hidden parts; wine-drinkers will have the stench of the mouth. The hidden stench that reached hearts will become perceptible and manifest at the resurrection. Human existence is a forest; beware of this existence if you are of that breath. In our existence are thousands of wolves and pigs, righteous and unrighteous, beautiful and ugly. Judgment belongs to the nature that is dominant; when gold is more than copper, it is gold. The disposition dominant in your existence is the image in which your resurrection is necessarily formed. At one moment wolfishness enters a human; at another, a Joseph-faced beauty like the moon. From breast to breast, by a hidden path, pass righteousness and rancor. Indeed, from human beings into ox and donkey pass knowing, knowledge, and skill. The skittish horse becomes smooth-gaited and tame; the bear performs tricks, and the goat gives greeting too. A human desire passed into the dog until it became shepherd, hunter, or guard. Into the dog of the Companions a disposition from that company passed, until it became a seeker of God. At every moment some kind raises its head in the breast: now demon, now angel, now domestic beast, now wild beast. From that wondrous forest, of which every lion is aware, there is a hidden path to the snare of breasts. Steal the coral of the soul from within, O less than a dog, from within the gnostics. Since you steal, at least steal that subtle pearl; since you become a bearer, at least bear a noble burden.