thy heart
unsullied, thy thoughts pure, and thy nature sanctified, so that, free and
content, thou mayest put away this mortal frame, and repair unto the
mystic paradise and abide in the eternal kingdom for evermore.

"45: ALAS! ALAS! O LOVERS OF WORLDLY DESIRE!..."

ALAS! ALAS! O LOVERS OF WORLDLY DESIRE! Even as the swiftness of lightning
ye have passed by the Beloved One, and have set your hearts on satanic
fancies. Ye bow the knee before your vain imagining, and call it truth. Ye
turn your eyes towards the thorn, and name it a flower. Not a pure breath
have ye breathed, nor hath the breeze of detachment been wafted from the
meadows of your hearts. Ye have cast to the winds the loving counsels of
the Beloved and have effaced them utterly from the tablet of your hearts,
and even as the beasts of the field, ye move and have your being within
the pastures of desire and passion.

"46: O BRETHREN IN THE PATH! Wherefore have ye neglected the mention of
the..."

O BRETHREN IN THE PATH! Wherefore have ye neglected the mention of the
Loved One, and kept remote from His holy presence? The essence of beauty
is within the peerless pavilion, set upon the throne of glory, whilst ye
busy yourselves with idle contentions. The sweet savors of holiness are
breathing and the breath of bounty is wafted, yet ye are all sorely
afflicted and deprived thereof. Alas for you and for them that walk in
your ways and follow in your footsteps!

"47: O CHILDREN OF DESIRE! Put away the garment of vainglory, and
divest..."

O CHILDREN OF DESIRE! Put away the garment of vainglory, and divest
yourselves of the attire of haughtiness.

"48: O BRETHREN! Be forbearing one with another and set not your..."

In the third of the most holy lines writ and recorded in the Ruby Tablet
by the pen of the unseen this is revealed: O BRETHREN! Be forbearing one
with another and set not your affections on things below. Pride not
yourselves in your glory, and be not ashamed of abasement. By My beauty! I
have created all things from dust, and to dust will I return them again.

"49: O CHILDREN OF DUST! Tell the rich of the midnight sighing of the
poor,..."

O CHILDREN OF DUST! Tell the rich of the midnight sighing of the poor,
lest heedlessness lead them into the path of destruction, and deprive them
of the Tree of Wealth. To give and to be generous are attributes of Mine;
well is it with him that adorneth himself with My virtues.