Section 4

But I made answer unto them: "O ye fishers, who lap up your filth, no fisher am I who fishes for fish, and I was not formed for an eater of filth. A Fisher am I of souls who bear witness to Life. A Poor Fisher am I who calls to the souls, collects them together and gives them instruction. He calls to them and bids them come and gather together unto him. He says unto them: If ye . . . come, ye shall be saved from the foul-smelling birds I will save my friends, bring them on high and in my ship make them stand upright. I will clothe them with vestures of glory and with precious light will enwrap them. I will put a crown of æther upon them and what else for them the Greatness erects on their head. Then sit they on thrones and in precious light do they glisten. I bear them thither and raise them aloft; but ye Seven shall stay here behind. The portion of filth and of filthy p. 75 doings shall be your portion. On the day when the Light ascends, the Darkness will return to its region. I and my disciples will ascend and behold the Light's region." Life is exalted and is victorious, and victorious is the Man who has come hither. THE LIGHT-SHIP OF THE FISHER (§ 37). In the Name of Great Life may hallowed Light be glorified. A FISHER am I of Great Life, a Fisher am I of the Mighty; a Fisher am I of Great Life, an Envoy whom Life has sent. It (Life) spake unto me: "Go, catch fish who do not eat filth, fish who do not eat water-fennel and reek not of foul-smelling fennel. They do not come nigh to devour bad dates and get caught in the nets of the marsh." Life knotted for me a noose and built for me a ship that fades not,—a ship whose wings are of glory, that sails along as in flight, and from it the wings will not be torn off. 'Tis a well-furnished ship and sails on in the heart of the heaven. Its ropes are ropes of glory and a rudder of Truth is there to it. Sunday takes hold of the pole, Life's Son seized the rudder. They draw thither to the shekīnahs and dispense Light among the treasures. Thrones in them ( sc . the shekīnahs) they set up, and long drawn out come the Jordans upon them. On the bow are set lamps that in the wildest of tempests are not put out. All ships that sight me, make obeisance submissively to me. Submissively they make me obeisance and come to show their devotion unto me. In the bows stands the Fisher and delivers wondrous discourses. [There are] lamps [there], whose wicks shift not hither and thither, and a . . . is not by him. He wears no ring of Deception, and with white robes is he clad. He calls to the fish of the sea and speaks to them: "Give heed to yourselves in the world! Beware of the foul-smelling birds who are above you. If you give heed to yourselves my brothers, I will for you p. 76 be a succour,—a succour and a support out of the regions of Darkness unto Light's region." Life is exalted and is victorious, and victorious is the Man who has come hither.