Do not be numbered among the foolish who say, ‘Time enough, for I am yet young”. Death claims the breast-child as well as the aged, and on this you should ponder. Consider well your future estate. Here you are the architect of your future abode, the plans prepared here are carried out in another place. Earth is the place of sowing, Heaven is the place of reaping.
Here you are the sculptor who chisels the statue, the potter who fashions the pot, the woodworker who carves the pillar. What is there on Earth more deserving of your care and attention than your own future form and appearance?
Do you recklessly hew or wilfully cut? Do you heedlessly pound the pliable clay and carelessly fashion the unfired pot? Do you mix the colours with proper thought?
What manner of thing are you fashioning in this great workshop? A beauteous being arrayed in radiant splendour, or a hideously foul fiend which can do nought but squirm in the slime of its fitting abode? Whom will you praise for your prudence or curse for your lack of foresight? Who can force you to deal tenderly and responsibly with the slumbering child of your own self? Or prevent you from carelessly and wilfully shattering all hopes for its future wellbeing?
Fragment 13
Rejoice all cities beside the waters, be joyful all people in the land, for great things have come to pass. Behold, the foe is scattered in confusion, they are no more, they are eaten up, victory is with us.
All praise to our Commanding Lord. Hail The Great Leader, hail The Source of Power in the land, live for ever in glory. O Mighty Fighter, let us rest in the shade of Your greatness, let us dwell under Your shadow, under the protection of Your right arm.
You have given us that which we never thought to know again. Men sit in peace, speaking freely one with another. They walk abroad with light steps and their heads are held high. Men look their fellowmen in the eye and there is none to josde them. They are delivered from the shadow of fear, and confidence is renewed in them. The fortresses are no longer overflowing with fighting men and all throughout the land no well is forbidden to the thirsty, all may drink freely where there is water. Men come and go across the wilderness, carrying the burdens of trade and none falls upon them to plunder. Men journey peacefully along the lonely roads and none waylays them to rob. Traders cross the barren places and are unmolested, none rises against them. The bearers of messages no longer hasten about, pale of face and frightened, they no longer carry doleful tidings, they no longer bear words of fear. Their coming no longer causes the knees to tremble and the stomachs to fall. Now the messengers loiter in shady places, remaining there until the nightwatch calls, for there is no urgency in the words they carry. The fighting men rest, their hazardous days have gone; the bow, the sword, the spear and the shield have been laid away in the weapon stores. Women walk freely, they talk gaily, for they are not overshadowed with fear, neither do they tremble for fear of molestation. The faces of the border guardians are no longer haggard with sleeplessness, nor are their eyes tired and strained with watchfulness. Throughout the whole land there is content and tranquillity.
The herds are large and sleek, they are no longer tense and restless. The flocks graze contentedly in their green pastures. The fowls are no longer alert and noisy but squabble playfully, chasing one another through the dust. The voices of men are no longer hoarsened with war cries, instead they can be heard singing as each goes about his appointed task. The doleful wailing of women who mourn their dead is no longer heard and widows no longer proclaim themselves. The husbandman sows contentedly, knowing that where he sows he shall also reap. He no longer doubts that he will enjoy his own harvest.
The face of God is once more inclined favourably towards us, even the lesser gods look again upon the land with favour. The reign of Saku is over, he no longer overshadows the lives of men, all is well in the two lands.
Fragment 14
We praise our own God with joyous and grateful hearts. He has shown Himself among us. He will come again in His season, all is well with us. His desire brings forth the green growing things and the land is clothed in its gay mantle. His hand guides the stars, His mind contains all things that fly above the Earth and all things that walk and crawl upon its face.
We praise You, Great Eternal One whose forms are so many. We kiss the ground before You. All the sacred beings and sacred things men worship are but manifestations of their groping through the clouds of ignorance to understand You. Have pity on them, for they were born into darkness and mysteries, but their hearts are good. Each day You bring some new thing to the attention of men and place before them problems to unravel. The nature of men ever inclines them towards the path of ease and passiveness, therefore they tend to shun the things which are truly profitable. Therefore, deal with men in a manner best fitting for their progress towards Truth.
Fragment 15
Neither life nor love ends at the Grim Portal. The strength of the invisible bond between two souls binds them even after death. That which binds strongest of all is the love which is sincere, true and constant. Such love endures through tribulations and trials.
If one you love has departed through the Western Gates into the Great Halls of Eternity, then be comforted by the words of Truth. This you will then know: that the Guardian at the Grim Portal is no fearsome being but a compassionate attendant who tends you gently while asleep, until the morning of a more glorious day. Then you will be awakened to journey through a greater adventure with the companions of former times.
Fragment 16
In death you are greater than ever you were on Earth, for now the companionable spirits lament for your sake. They strike their bare flesh for you and smite upon their forearms. They tear at their hair and cast dust on their heads.
Yet if they be true to themselves, they are not cast down, they are not distressed. There is a voice speaking out of the silence, saying, “If he goes he shall come, if he sleeps he shall awaken, and if he dies he shall live”. Can you be gone from us forever? No, you are not dead or lost unto us, unless by our own deeds we depart to dwell in different regions.
I am not cast down. You are now in the Great Place beyond the everlasting stars. You have passed over the horizon of immortality and now walk erect along the path of glory. May we meet there in days yet to come. Hail O Glorious One!
Fragment 17
my side when I come before the Assessors, that when I hear the verdict I may not be alone. If my eyes cannot see, then tell me of the balances, do they bear down in my favour?
0 Guardian God, lighten the darkness for me and deliver me from the meshes of the net woven by my own deeds of wickedness and weakness. You are my strength and support, to You have I given my offerings, You I have honoured above all.
There I may be in distress and have none to abide with me. I may have no comforter and may be alone, therefore desert me not in my time of trial. Stand by my side, O Guardian God. If I am numbered among the distressed ones, look upon me with compassion and mercy, and if I am deserted, then sustain me with water, bread and oil.
Fragment 18
1 sing words of glory unto my God who is the Great God Above All Gods, and the words which issue from my mouth shall be exalted above all things. With them I will praise Him in the Sacred Place, in the silence of His Hidden Sanctuary. They will glorify my God, so that His Majesty is not dishonoured and He is not deserted, until the day when He shall be declared before all men.
With the ever loving thoughts of a devoted heart I praise Him. Even as the sun rises joyfully into the daysky, so does my heart rise towards He who gives me life and renews it day by day.