Peace and honour be Yours, O Great One, Shadow of Our Days, Comforter of Our Nights, to whom alone we pay homage. Long ago the skydoor opened and You appeared over the land in the days of our forefathers, shaking it with Your wrath, but now You are hidden, Your awesome glory is seen no more. We, Your children, rejoice, for You bring peace and spread contentment and security over the whole face of the Earth. Heaven and Earth and all the spheres of the infinite spaces are filled with Your Spirit. The demons of darkness tremble before You. Yet to us You are truly The Mysterious Hidden One, The Guide of our fathers in the sad days of darkness when the face of the sun was veiled in gloom from the eyes of men.
You pour out goodness, bringing fresh water to the green pasturelands, bestowing life upon all beasts and living creatures therein. Through the blessing of Your bounty, even the parched lands drink unceasingly in then-season. You are The Bestower of Bread, for you cause the corn to increase and the harvest to be plentiful. You are The Supplier of Reeds and The Provider of Fish. Every craftsman is prosperous and deft when under the guidance of Your hand.
Your eye directs the hammers of the smith and Your hand covers the fingers of the potter. Your creating breath is inhaled by the craftsman, so he is inspired to create an object of beauty. You whisper on the breeze and the hearts of men are filled with a gladness which issues from their mouths as joyous song. You move the brush of the painter and direct the pen of the writer.
You are The Warden of Fishes within the waters and direct them into the nets of the fishermen. You are The Watchman who keeps the waterfowl away from the field sown at the rising of the bountiful waters. You are The
Lookoutman at the eye of the barge moving safely over the flowing waters. You are The Director of the energy-giving breezes which press against the sails.
Your hand rolled the coRN grains and Your life-giving breath sucks up the green growing shoots. Your fingers unfold the awakening buds. Your firm will holds stone in stability, so the great buildings endure through the ages. Nothing can escape Your Vigilance, and rest is unknown to You. Eternal activity is the essence of Your nature.
You are The Ever Watchful One, The Great Bearer of the Scales, The Unchanging Guardian of the Helpless and The Protector of the Poor. Those who fill these roles on Earth do them in You name, for You are the motivation and power behind their deeds. Were You nonexistent men would devour one another like crocodiles, while justice and mercy would be things unknown. Something intangible and unseeable flows out from You and rules the lives of men, causing men to deal justly with one another. For though injustice is part of the fabric of life, it is not dominant and Your power mitigates its effects.
You caress the face of the land and at Your touch the womb of Earth is opened, green growth springs through the soil and reaches up towards the sun. All creatures move about according to Your design, and by Your decree their lives are directed. You paint the patterns of life and design its destinies.
Though the prince lay his head on a pillow of down and the beggar lay his on an unyielding stone, both sleep alike on Your bosom. The sleep of the rich man is no better than that of a poor man, while the sleep of a labourer is better than that of an idler. The Nightfrightener does not haunt the dreams of those who have paid their debts to the taskmaster of the day. Those who spend their days in idleness sleep in a restless bed. Thus, You have ordained that the scales of life be adjusted. All is balanced in Your hands.
Your spirit moves over the Earth, instructing the bee in the gathering of its honey and the hornet in the making of its nest. It directs the ant in the complex design of its cavern and the swallow in its mudgathering. It guides the birds in their season and calls the locusts at the appointed times. All creatures have their unlearned wisdom, which is an outpouring force emanating from Your Spirit.
When You fill the Earth with the shining light which rules the day under Your command, all men rejoice, for by this all things are increased and food comes forth in abundance. When the Lady of the Night rules the darkness and all is hushed in mellow coolness, hearts are filled with tranquillity and content. You fulfil all the needs of men, for You are The Great Provider.
Men labour in the fields and fill the storehouses with grain, but You provide the increase. You are The Ever Bountiful One, yet with all You give never is Your substance lessened. You remain everlastingly the same. Man has nought but what originates with You. It is Your waters of life, everlastingly flowing, that sustain him. Eternal glory be Yours, my God and my Life.
I sought You in many temples, only to discover that there was One God hidden behind all other gods. That You are indeed The Father of Gods, yet The Maker of none of them. You have illuminated the widespread universe with beauty and filled it with awesome, imperishable grandeur beyond description. So great are Your works above that they must be veiled, so we can comprehend them only dimly, lest we be overcome. Beforetimes many great men have praised You in error; not knowing what was good for them they sought to attain the things which fed the flesh alone. O Great One, show such as these the error of their ways, giving them not the good things of life but making all better men, that they may be worthy of these. You have loved us with an exceedingly great love, having compassion on our many failings and weaknesses, knowing that men are but frail creatures prone to go astray. O God of Gods, for the sake of our fathers who placed their trust in You, to whom You gave the ordinances of life, be merciful to us. Instruct and guide us along the paths we should follow. Lead us through the many entanglements of earthly life, so we may finally come to rest in Your safekeeping.
CHAPTER TWENTY
A HYMN FROM THE BOOK OF SONGS - 2
O Great and Bountiful One who is the fountainhead of glory and the eternal spring of power; who sits enthroned in wisdom; whose counsel is the Law, great are the manifestations of Your wrath when it purges the land, even
as it was done in the days of our fathers. Yet we, weak, wayward and wilful men, know in the depth of our hearts that whatever You do is done in justice and to our ultimate benefit.
With inscrutable wisdom You prepared a compatible place for the spirits of men, a place encompassing the domain of man, a place wherein man rules under the decrees of Your everlasting and unchanging Law. You have set the boundaries and they are held back, neither troubling nor oppressing us beyond our endurance. The spirits of men rule in the mysterious domains governing the sun and the moon, the stars and the nightwatchers, the mistmen and the hidden caves of power. They undertake their appointed tasks there and are wave wanderers of the watery wastes, guardians of the deep.
You have created man in the likeness of an original conceived in Your mysterious abode, and the manner of his life is fixed according to Your plan. Great and wonderful is the ultimate destiny of man who, as yet, has progressed but a few steps along the road towards the goal of life. Yet You have opened his ear to mysterious and wonderful things.
You have revealed strange mysteries to his eye, he knows things unbelievable in olden times. . This being on whom You have conferred so much is a thing of weakness and frailty. He was shaped from moistened clay and moulded in water, then set upon a mound in the midst of the great chaos. His eyes were shown the glory above but he wearied of looking, for such splendour was beyond his comprehension. Therefore, he sought his pleasures among the things from whence he came, and therein he now finds his delight. So he sits on a pedestal of shame down by the polluted spring. His repast comes from the pot of fornication and he is clad in the garments of wickedness.
Great One. You who are all wise know the words which come forth from his lips. You know the fruit of his mouth, the pollen of his tongue. Be merciful to man and overlook his weaknesses, for he is as he was made and, perchance, so he was meant to be. Who can question the mystery? May Your will prevail!