acquainted with His all-encompassing Word, then it behoveth thine eminence
to inquire into these and other questions pertaining to thine origin and
ultimate goal from those whom God hath made to be the Wellspring of His
knowledge, the Heaven of His wisdom, and the Ark of His mysteries. For
were it not for those effulgent Lights that shine above the horizon of His
Essence, the people would know not their left hand from their right, how
much less could they scale the heights of the inner realities or probe the
depths of their subtleties! We beseech God therefore to immerse us in
these surging seas, to grace us with the presence of these life-bearing
breezes, and to cause us to abide in these divine and lofty precincts.
Perchance we may divest ourselves of all that we have taken from each
other and strip ourselves of such borrowed garments as we have stolen from
our fellow men, that He may attire us instead with the robe of His mercy
and the raiment of His guidance, and admit us into the city of knowledge.

18 Whosoever entereth this city will comprehend every science before
probing into its mysteries and will acquire from the leaves of its trees a
knowledge and wisdom encompassing such mysteries of divine lordship as are
enshrined within the treasuries of creation. Glorified be God, its Creator
and Fashioner, above all that He hath brought forth and ordained therein!
By God, the Sovereign Protector, the Self-Subsisting, the Almighty! Were I
to unveil to thine eyes the gates of this city, which have been fashioned
by the right hand of might and power, thou wouldst behold that which none
before thee hath ever beheld, and wouldst witness that which no other soul
hath ever witnessed. Thou wouldst apprehend the most obscure signs and the
most abstruse allusions, and wouldst clearly behold the mysteries of the
beginning in the point of the end. All matters would be made easy unto
thee, fire would be turned into light, knowledge and blessings, and thou
wouldst abide in safety within the court of holiness.