you will attain the degree of declaring transcendence while another has fallen into the depths of likening God to creatures. Do this, then, and purify your garment. This much concerning these reports will suffice, for the chapter has grown long.
(Relating These Expressions to Creation)
The Most Holy Spirit breathed into the most precious innermost heart through the expressions given above: when the one who marvels marvelled at one who came forth in his image yet differed from him in his inward nature, he rejoiced at his existence, laughed at witnessing him, grew angry at his turning away, welcomed his drawing near, and forgot his outward aspect. He breathed and released his coursing vessels, stood firm in his kingdom, and ruled his domain through determination. Thus what he willed came to be, and to God is the return.
These are disembodied spirits for which bodily forms stand waiting. When the appointed time arrives and the allotted times have passed, the heaven heaves, the sun is rolled up, the earth is changed, the stars fall dim, affairs are transformed, the hereafter appears, and the human being and other creatures are gathered back to their former state, then the bodily forms offer praise, the spirits breathe the breeze, the Opener discloses Himself, the lamp blazes, the wine sparkles, pure love appears, insistence ceases, the wing flutters, and building takes place at al-Durah, from the beginning of the night until dawn. How radiant a dwelling, and how desirable to souls a state that brings completion! May God grant us its enjoyment.
Notes
Translator’s note TN381-1: The rhymed passage compresses its images and pronoun references. Mawakhir ordinarily evokes vessels ploughing through water; “coursing vessels” retains that image without supplying an unstated explanation. In the final sequence, ibtina can mean building or establishing, and can also refer to entering a marriage. Al-Durah is retained as a proper name; the supplied passage does not explain this final image.
