2. Now this is the prayer that he must pray facing the Sun and the Moon, the Great Luminaries. The times of prayer are followed by him; he keeps them, he comes daily to the Prayer, hourly and daily, all the hours of Prayer will be kept, with his fasts and his alms which he gives on all the days of the year. The Alms is this, that he must make an offering of food through the Saint, and piously give it to them. The Alms will be reckoned to his good, the Fast he has kept, the cloth that he has put upon the Saints; and thereby they daily have communion with them in their fasting and their good deeds.
3. The Second duty of the Hearer which he does is this, that the man should give to the Righteousness a son of the Assembly, or his relative or family member; or he should rescue one in trouble; or buy a slave and give him to the Righteousness – so that every good deed which this one whom he has given, that Hearer who gave him has a share therein.
4. Thirdly, that the man should build a dwelling place or establish a place of worship, so that it may become for him a part of Alms-giving through the holy Assembly.
5. When the Hearer fulfils these three great duties which he makes into a gift to the holy Assembly, he has in him a great love, together with a share in every grace and good deed in the holy Assembly; he shall find many graces. Afterwards he is cleansed according to the measure of his works, he is purified and bathed and adorned. After that, he is moulded into a Light-Image, and he soars up and reaches the Land of Rest, so that where his heart is, his treasure also may be there. At the time of his coming forth (separation of Light from the physical body), he departs and reposes in Life for evermore.
Глава 42. Слушатели гнозиса
1. Первая обязанность слушателей - это пост, молитва и подаяние. И пост, которым он постится, такой: истинный и верный слушатель постится по воскресеньям и соблюдает субботы года и отдыхает от работы мира. Он также соблюдает чистоту субботы, воздерживаясь от желания своей супруги, сохраняя свою постель чистой через воздержание. Он умерен в питании, и не оскверняет пищу от мясного обжорства и пролития крови; далее, в постные дни он не ест ничего оскверненного. Также он хранит свои руки от того, чтобы причинять боль и мучения живой душе вокруг.
2. И молитва, которой он молится, такая, что он должен молиться, обращая лицо к Солнце и Луне, великим светильникам. Им соблюдаются времена для молитвы; он хранит их, он ежедневно приходит к молитве, каждый час и каждый день сохраняются все часы молитвы, и посты, и подаяния он дает во все дни года. И подаяния таковы: он должен приносить жертву пищи через монаха, и давать ему пищу благочестиво. Подаяния зачтутся ему в добро, и пост, который он соблюдает, и одежда, которой он покрыл святых; и таким образом они ежедневно имеют общение с монахами в их посте и в их добрых делах.
3. Вторая обязанность слушателя такова, что человек должен давать праведности сына церкви, или родственника, или члена семьи; или он должен спасти человека в опасности; или купить раба и дать его праведности - так, чтобы в каждом добром деле, которое делает тот, кого отдали, тот слушатель, который дал его, мог бы участвовать.
4. В-третьих, что человек должен строить жилище или место поклонения, чтобы оно могло быть для него частью подаяния через святую церковь.
5. Когда слушатель выполняет эти три обязанности, которые он приносит как дар святой церкви, он имеет внутри себя великую любовь, и участвует во всей милости и добрых делах святой церкви; он найдет много милосердия. Кроме того, он очищается в меру его дел, которыми он омыт и украшен. После этого, он будет отлит в Колонне света, и он возвышается и достигает страны отдыха, потому что где его сердце, там будет и его сокровище. Во время его выхода из тела, он покидает его и остается во свете навсегда.
Chapter 43. The Greatness of the Hearer
1. The wise Hearer is he who like juniper-leaves brings to others much profit, like a farmer who sows seed freely in many furrows. Some Hearers are like the evergreen juniper, whose leaves are shed neither in summer or winter. So too in persecution and freedom of religion, in good days and bad, under the eyes of the Elect or out of their sight, the pious Hearer is constant in charity and in faith. The Hearer who bears witness to the Religion is like a ripe fruit hanging on a large tree, he shines like a spark running over the firewood, or he is like a speck of light in the sky giving out its radiance.
2. The Hearer who is warmed by the fire of piety is like a man who took his friend to a well (life giving water); one was on the shore of the sea; one in the boat. Now he who was on the shore towed him who was in the boat, while he who was in the boat, guided him on the seashore upwards to the well. The Hearer who is like this is like a pearl that adorns the diadem on the King’s head, like a bright lamp shining in the Assembly, like a man who offers fruits and flowers to the Elect, and then they praise him as a tree bearing abundant, good fruit. But the Hearer who neglects the Scriptures is like the branch of a fruitless tree; his life is fruitless and vain; and blessed are the Hearers who seek the fruit which grows out of pious deeds! The Hearer who shares knowledge is like a man who threw rennet into milk; it became hard, not liquid; the part that was changed became heavy at first, just as a man seen at first is honored and he may shine for about six days.
3. The Hearer who gives alms to the Assembly is like a poor man who presents a daughter to the King; he reaches great honour. Then the King is pleased with her and keeps her in his harem and has several sons by her, who grow up strong and handsome. The sons who were born to the daughter of that poor man become Kings of the land in turn. The alms in the body of the Elect is purified in the same way as man’s rags, which have been exposed to fire and wind, change into beautiful clothes which on a clean body turn here or there in the breeze.
4. The Hearer, obeying the Precepts, is like a man who prepares an image of the King cast in gold, to whom the King gave presents. The Hearer who copies a book is like a sick man who gave his weapons to a healthy man. The Hearer who presents a daughter to the holy Faith is like the man who took a pledge, who takes his son to a teacher to learn how to serve his father – a pledge is the maiden daughter to this Hearer.
5. How numerous are the virtues of the Hearer! The very assembly of the Hearers resembles this good land which takes to itself the good seed, because it is that which accepts the holy Assembly; it cares for her and gives her rest in all its works and all its sufferings. Where there is no Hearer, therein the holy Assembly has no rest; the Hearers are themselves the resting-place of the holy Assembly.