“20:  O ye that are lying as dead on the Couch of heedlessness!...”

In the eighth of the most holy lines, in the fifth Tablet of Paradise, He saith:  O ye that are lying as dead on the Couch of heedlessness!  Ages have passed and your precious lives are well-nigh ended, yet not a single breath of purity hath reached Our court of holiness from you.  Though immersed in the ocean of misbelief, yet with your lips ye profess the one true faith of God.  Him whom I abhor ye have loved, and of My foe ye have made a friend.  Notwithstanding, ye walk on My earth complacent and self-satisfied, heedless that My earth is weary of you and everything within it shunneth you.  Were ye but to open your eyes, ye would, in truth, prefer a myriad griefs unto this joy, and would count death itself better than this life.

“21:  O moving form of dust!  I desire communion with thee, but thou wouldst...”

O moving form of dust!  I desire communion with thee, but thou wouldst put no trust in Me.  The sword of thy rebellion hath felled the tree of thy hope.  At all times I am near unto thee, but thou art ever far from Me.  Imperishable glory I have chosen for thee, yet boundless shame thou hast chosen for thyself.  While there is yet time, return, and lose not thy chance.

“22:  O Son of desire!  The learned and the wise have for long years...”

O Son of desire!  The learned and the wise have for long years striven and failed to attain the presence of the All-Glorious; they have spent their lives in search of Him, yet did not behold the beauty of His countenance.  Thou without the least effort didst attain thy goal, and without search hast obtained the object of thy quest.  Yet, notwithstanding, thou didst remain so wrapt in the veil of self, that thine eyes beheld not the beauty of the Beloved, nor did thy hand touch the hem of His robe.  Ye that have eyes, behold and wonder.

“23:  O dwellers in the city of love!  Mortal blasts have beset the everlasting candle,...”

O dwellers in the city of love!  Mortal blasts have beset the everlasting candle, and the beauty of the celestial Youth is veiled in the darkness of dust.  The chief of the monarchs of love is wronged by the people of tyranny and the dove of holiness lies prisoned in the talons of owls.  The dwellers in the pavilion of glory and the celestial concourse bewail and lament, while ye repose in the realm of negligence, and esteem yourselves as of the true friends.  How vain are your imaginings!

“24:  O ye that are foolish, yet have A name to be wise!...”