at that time they will be found condemning you, and saying that which is written, ‘How hath he disgraced you, and put you greatly to shame: the fire hath blazed out upon you, and your branches have been destroyed, and therefore have ye become a thing of spoil (or prey), over which the lions roar and send out their voices.’ Therefore, O my beloved, be ye like unto those who are good, and let the crown of your head be exalted. The cities which are towards the south, how are they to be taken? There is none who will open unto you. For the sinner shall be carried off because he seeth not the glory of the Lord. Behold, ye have heard. Therefore, O my brethren, let us strive with all our souls, and let us set death before our eyes, and fasten our gaze upon the terrible tortures [of Sheol], so that by means of them the mind may arrive at the understanding, which beareth away the soul from care; and when it weepeth [the mind] maketh it to be a spectator, and with earthly things it enricheth it without wandering to God. And not this only, for when it doeth these things in humility, it persuadeth it to action which is free from every kind of worldly mind, and to contempt instead of vainglory.
Let the soul then, O my brethren, practise philosophy each day in respect of this solid body [of ours], and when we come to our beds in the evening let it say unto each one of the members of the body, ‘O legs, how much power have ye to stand up, and to move yourselves before ye die and become things without motion? Will ye not stand up with good will for your Lord?’ And let it say unto the other members, ‘O hands, there cometh an hour when ye shall be dissolved and motionless, and when ye shall never be clasped in each other again, and when ye shall not have any movement whatsoever; why then before ye fall into that hour and are cut off do ye not stretch yourselves out to the Lord?’ And unto the whole body shall the soul speak thus: ‘O body, before we are separated and are removed far away from each other, and before I descend into Sheol, and receive everlasting fetters under darkness, and before thou art changed into the primal matter of which thou art made, and art cast out upon the earth to become filthiness and corruption, and to decay, rise up boldly to worship the Lord without dislike, and take my intelligence, by means of tears, and make known to thy lordship thy free will servitude; and bear me on that with a good will I may give thanks unto God before thou art crushed under the weight of other things, and dost seek to lie down, and to take thy rest, and dost condemn me to everlasting torment. For there are times when that heavy
