And whenever the Ruler should cast out the souls, are wont the Angels of Ieou, the first man, these who are vigilant unto the chambers of that Place, he is wont to hasten immediately and to carry off that soul until he bringeth her (close) to Ieou, the first man, the Legate of the First precept.
And is wont Ieou, the first man, he is wont to see the souls and to prove them, he is wont to find them, having completed their cycles.
And it is not lawful for them to bring them unto the World again, because every soul which they will cast unto the dragon of the Darkness which is outer, it is not lawful to bring them unto the World again: are wont to retain them the Receivers of Ieou, if they did not [299 ] complete their number of cycles in the changes of the body, and until they do the mystery of the Ineffable for them, until they turn them unto a good body, this which is wont to find the mysteries of the Light and inherit the kingdom of the Light.
But if should prove them Ieou, and find them having completed their cycle, and it is not lawful for them to turn them unto the World again, and the sign also of the Ineffable is not becoming with them, and is wont to have mercy on them Ieou, he is wont to bring them (close) to the seven Virgins of the Light: they are wont to baptise them (him, MS ) in their baptisms, but they are not wont to give to them the spiritual chrism, and they are wont to take them unto the Treasury of the Light, but they are not wont to put them in the array of the inheritance, because that there is not sign nor is there seal [299 ] of the Ineffable with them.
But they are wont to be delivered from every punishment, but they are wont to put them in the Light of the Treasury apart by themselves, even until the catching up of the Universe: and in the time (in) which they will draw (back) the veils of the Treasury of the Light, they are wont to purify those souls again and cleanse them greatly greatly, and give (the) mystery 168 to them again, and put them in the last array which is in the Treasury.
And are delivered those souls from all punishments of the judgments.
But these having said them the Saviour, said he to his disciples: Did ye understand in what manner I am speaking with you?
Answered also Maria, said she, My Lord, this is the word which thou saidst once in a parable [300 ] saying, Put to you a friend out of the mamonas of the unrighteousness, that whenever ye should be left, he should receive you in unto the tabernacle unto age.
What therefore is the mamonas of the unrighteousness except the dragon of the Darkness which is outer, which is this, the word, He who will understand the mystery of one of the names of the dragon of the Darkness which is outer, whenever he should be left in the Darkness which is outer, or he should complete in the cycle of the change (of the body), and (should) say the name of the dragon, he will be delivered and come up from the Darkness, and they (will) take him unto the Light of the Treasury.
This is the word, my Lord.
Answered also the Saviour, said he to Maria, Well (done) pure spiritual one, this is the explanation of the word.
Added also Maria, said she, My Lord, is wont the dragon [300 ] of the Darkness which is outer, he is wont to come in unto this World, or is he not wont to come?
Themes
◆Apophatic Theologytheology
Describing the divine only by negation—God transcends all positive categories and concepts; the via negativa.
The text repeatedly refers to the 'Ineffable' as a mystery that cannot be fully described or given to souls.
Final, collective cosmic judgment as an event in which the wicked are sentenced and the cosmos restored; distinct from psychopomp_journey (individual passage at death) and emphasising verdict where Zoroastrian frashokereti emphasises restoration.
The passage describes a final judgment where souls are proven, punished, or purified based on their cycles and worthiness.
The felt condition of exile from one's divine origin — Rumi's reed flute torn from its bed, Plotinus's 'we have forgotten,' the Gnostic forgetfulness; the affective wound that complements return_to_source and gives the return its motive.
Souls are cast into the outer Darkness and must be proven before they can return to the Light of the Treasury.