mystery of man, and of all creatures in this world; the Last Judgment and change of this world; the mystery of the resurrection of the dead; and of eternal life. 15. This shall arise in the depth, in great plainness and simplicity. But why not in the height in art? [In order] that no man should dare to boast that he himself hath done it, and that hereby the devil's pride should be discovered and brought to nothing. 16. But why doth God so? Of his great love and mercy towards all people and nations, and to shew hereby that now is near at hand the time of the restitution of all whatsoever is lost, wherein men shall behold and enjoy the perfection, and move in the pure light and deep knowledge of God. 17. Therefore, beforehand, will arise the dawning of the day, or morning redness, whereby the day may be known or taken notice of. 18. He that will now sleep, let him sleep still; and he that will awake and trim his lamp, let him awake still: Behold the Bridegroom cometh, and he that is awake and is ready accompanieth him into the eternal heavenly wedding: But he that sleepeth at his coming, he sleepeth for ever, eternally in the dark prison of fierceness or wrath. 19. Therefore I would have the Reader warned that he read this book with diligence, and not he offended at the meanness or simplicity of the author, for God looketh not to high things, for He alone is high: But he careth for the lowly, how to help them.
20. If you come so far as to apprehend the spirit and sense of the author, then you will need no admonition, but will rejoice and be glad in this light, and thy soul will laugh and triumph therein. 21. Now observe, The gracious, amiable, blessed love, which is the fifth fountainspirit in the divine power, is the hidden source, fountain or quality which the corporeal being cannot comprehend or apprehend, but only when it riseth up in the body, and then the body triumpheth therein, and behaveth itself friendly, lovely and courteously; for that quality or spirit belongeth not to the imaging or framing of a body, but riseth up in the body, as a flower springeth up out of the earth. 22. Now this fountainspirit taketh its original at first out of the sweet quality of the water. Understand this, how it is, and observe it exactly. 23. First there is the astringent quality, then the sweet, and next the bitter: The sweet is in the midst between the astringent and the bitter. Now the astringent causeth things to be hard, cold and dark; and the bitter teareth, driveth, rageth and divideth or distinguished. These two qualities rub and drive each other so hard, and move so eagerly, that they generate the heat, which now in these two qualities is dark, even as heat in a stone is. 24. As when a man taketh a stone, or any hard thing, and rubbeth it against wood, these two things are heated: Now this heat is but a darkness, having no light therein: And so it is, in the divine power also.
25. Now the astringent and the bitter qualities, without the sweet water, rub and drive themselves so hard the one against the other, that they generate the dark heat, and so are kindled in themselves. 26. And this [process] together [with the agents therein] is the wrath or anger of God, the source and original of the hellish fire. As we see by Lucifer, who elevated and compressed himself so hard together with his legions, that the sweet fountainwater in him was dried up, wherein the light kindleth, and wherein the love riseth up. 27. Therefore now he is eternally an astringent, hard, cold, bitter, hot and sour stinking fountainsource: For when the sweet quality in him was dried up, it became a sour stink, a valley of misery, and a house of perdition and woe. Now further into the Depth. 28. When the astringent and the bitter qualities rub themselves so hard the one upon the other that they generate heat (the sweet quality, the sweet fountainwater, being therein in the midst or centre, between the astringent and bitter qualities), the heat becometh generated between the astringent and the bitter qualities in the sweet fountainwater, through [by means of] the astringent and the bitter qualities: 29. There the light kindleth in the heat in the sweet fountainwater, and this is the beginning of life: For the astringent and bitter qualities are the beginning and cause of the heat and of the light also, and thus the sweet fountainwater becometh a shining light, like the blue or azure light of heaven. 30. And that bright light fountainwater kindleth the astringent and the bitter qualities, and the
mystery of man, and of all creatures in this world; the Last Judgment and change of this world; the mystery of the resurrection of the dead; and of eternal life. 15. This shall arise in the depth, in great plainness and simplicity. But why not in the height in art? [In order] that no man should dare to boast that he himself has done it, and that hereby the devil's pride should be discovered and brought to nothing. 16. But why does God so? Of his great love and mercy towards all people and nations, and to show hereby that now is near at hand the time of the restitution of all whatsoever is lost, wherein men shall behold and enjoy the perfection, and move in the pure light and deep knowledge of God. 17. Therefore, beforehand, will arise the dawning of the day, or morning redness, whereby the day may be known or taken notice of. 18. He that will now sleep, let him sleep still; and he that will awake and trim his lamp, let him awake still: Behold the Bridegroom comes, and he that is awake and is ready accompanies him into the eternal heavenly wedding: But he that sleeps at his coming, he sleeps for ever, eternally in the dark prison of fierceness or wrath. 19. Therefore I would have the Reader warned that he read this book with diligence, and not he offended at the meanness or simplicity of the author, for God looks not to high things, for He alone is high: But he cars for the lowly, how to help them.
20. If you come so far as to apprehend the spirit and sense of the author, then you will need no admonition, but will rejoice and be glad in this light, and your soul will laugh and triumph therein. 21. Now observe, The gracious, amiable, blessed love, which is the fifth fountainspirit in the divine power, is the hidden source, fountain or quality which the corporeal being cannot comprehend or apprehend, but only when it rises up in the body, and then the body triumphs therein, and behavs itself friendly, lovely and courteously; for that quality or spirit belongs not to the imaging or framing of a body, but rises up in the body, as a flower springs up out of the earth. 22. Now this fountainspirit takes its original at first out of the sweet quality of the water. Understand this, how it is, and observe it exactly. 23. First there is the astringent quality, then the sweet, and next the bitter: The sweet is in the midst between the astringent and the bitter. Now the astringent causes things to be hard, cold and dark; and the bitter tears, drivs, rags and divids or distinguished. These two qualities rub and drive each other so hard, and move so eagerly, that they generate the heat, which now in these two qualities is dark, even as heat in a stone is. 24. As when a man takes a stone, or any hard thing, and rubbs it against wood, these two things are heated: Now this heat is but a darkness, having no light therein: And so it is, in the divine power also.
25. Now the astringent and the bitter qualities, without the sweet water, rub and drive themselves so hard the one against the other, that they generate the dark heat, and so are kindled in themselves. 26. And this [process] together [with the agents therein] is the wrath or anger of God, the source and original of the hellish fire. As we see by Lucifer, who elevated and compressed himself so hard together with his legions, that the sweet fountainwater in him was dried up, wherein the light kindls, and wherein the love rises up. 27. Therefore now he is eternally an astringent, hard, cold, bitter, hot and sour stinking fountainsource: For when the sweet quality in him was dried up, it became a sour stink, a valley of misery, and a house of perdition and woe. Now further into the Depth. 28. When the astringent and the bitter qualities rub themselves so hard the one upon the other that they generate heat (the sweet quality, the sweet fountainwater, being therein in the midst or centre, between the astringent and bitter qualities), the heat becomes generated between the astringent and the bitter qualities in the sweet fountainwater, through [by means of] the astringent and the bitter qualities: 29. There the light kindls in the heat in the sweet fountainwater, and this is the beginning of life: For the astringent and bitter qualities are the beginning and cause of the heat and of the light also, and thus the sweet fountainwater becomes a shining light, like the blue or azure light of heaven. 30. And that bright light fountainwater kindls the astringent and the bitter qualities, and the
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