Chapter 8 soul

The Creator separated a soul from Himself and created beauty in this soul. Life gave this soul the gentleness of the morning breeze, the fragrance of wild flowers, and the softness of moonlight. The Lord gave her a cup of joy and said to her, "You cannot drink this cup of wine unless you forget the past and care nothing about the future." He gave her a cup of sorrow and said, "Take this cup of wine Drink it, and you will understand the true meaning of life's joy." The Lord had instilled in her a love that would part from her if she uttered a sigh of impunity and reproach; he had given her sweetness that would leave her if she uttered a single self-appreciative word.

The Lord gave her learning from heaven, that she might be directed in the way of truth. The Lord put wisdom into her heart, that she could see all things clearly. The Lord created in her an emotion, and that emotion went with the imagination; with the phantom. The Lord clothed her with longing clothes, which were woven by angels with rainbows. Then the Lord put into her heart a perplexing darkness, which was a phantom of light. The Lord drew fire from the furnace of wrath, took the wind from the desert of foolishness, dug the sand from the beach of selfishness, dug the earth from the feet of the ages, and fashioned human form out of them.

He gives blind power: in madness it rises to heaven; in the presence of lust it is impotent. Then the Lord infused man with life; and this life was the phantom of death. The Creator first smiled, then wept, and he felt an infinite love that united man to his soul.