1. MAN perceived the general formation of the world, and he prayed that his eyes might be opened for a sign in heaven; and Jehovih answered him, saying:
2. The clouds in the air I bring into view suddenly; by different currents of wind make I thus the unseen visible and tangible to man's senses. In like manner do I cause etherean currents to bring forth a'ji and ji'ay, and nebulæ, prior to making corporeal worlds.
3. In all the universe have I made the unseen to rule over the seen. Let the formation of the clouds stand in the view of man on earth, that he may bear witness to the manner of the unseen becoming seen.
4. Man perceived, and he prayed for a sign of duration, and Jehovih answered him, saying:
5. Behold the tree which hath sprung up out of the ground and fulfilled its time; it falleth and rotteth, and returneth to the earth. But lo, the wind, which thou seest not, never ceaseth to blow. Even so is the comparative duration of all things. Think not, O man, that corporeal things are annihilated because they disappear; for as a drop of water evaporateth and riseth in the air as unseen vapor, so do all corporeal things, even earth, and stones, and gold, and silver, and lead, become as nothing in the firmament of heaven in course of time.
6. Things that man seeth, created I with a beginning and an end; but the unseen I made of endless duration.
7. The corporeal man made I belonging to the seen; but the spiritual man made I as one within the unseen, and everlasting.
8. As the corporeal man beholdeth corporeal things, so doth the spiritual man follow upward the evaporated, corporeal entities of things. As corporeal things are tangible to corporeans, so are es things tangible to the spirits of the dead.
9. As I cause water to rise upward as vapor, and take a place in the air above, let it be a sign and testimony of other places in atmospherea whereon dwell the spirits of the lower heaven.
10. As I made a limit to the ascent of the clouds, so made I a limit to the places of the different kinds of substances in atmospherea; the more subtle and potent to the extreme, and the more dense and impotent nearer to the earth.
11. According to the condition of these different plateaux in atmospherea, whether they be near the earth or high above, so shall the spirit of man take its place in the first heaven; according to his diet and desires and behavior so shall he dwell in spirit on the plateau to which he hath adapted himself during his earth life.
12. For I made the power of attraction manifest in all things before man's eyes that he might not err, that like should attract like made I them.
13. Man sought to know the progress of things. Jehovih answered him, saying:
14. Open thy eyes, O man ! There is a time of childhood, a time of genesis, a time of old age, and a time of death to all men. Even so is it with all the corporeal worlds I have created.
15. First as vapor the vortex carrieth it forth, and as it condenseth, its friction engendereth heat, and it is molten, becoming as a globe of fire in heaven. Then it taketh its place as a new born world, and I set it in the orbit prepared for it.
16. In the next age I bring it into se'mu, for it is ripe for the bringing forth of living creatures; and I bestow the vegetable and animal kingdoms.
17. Next it entereth ho'tu, for it is past the age of begetting, even as the living who are in dotage. Next it entereth a'du, and nothing can generate p. 9 upon it. Then cometh uz, and it is spirited away into unseen realms. Thus create I, and thus dissipate planets, suns, moons and stars.
18. My examples are before all men. My witnesses are without number. I rise the tree up out of the ground; I give it a time to bring forth fruit; and then barrenness, and then death and dissolution. I prepare the new field with rich soil, bringing forth; and the old field that is exhausted, and man shall weigh the progress and destiny of a whole world.
19. Let no man marvel because of the size of the mammoth and the ichthyosaurus, for there was a time for them as there is a time for the infusoria of this day.
20. I have given thee a sign, O man, in the queen of the honey bee; because of the change of the cell cometh she forth a queen, even from the same manner of germ as the other bees. Be wise, therefore, and remember that the earth is not in the place of the firmament as of old. Let this be a testimony to thee of the growth, the change and the travail of the earth.
21. Nevertheless, O man, the seen and the unseen are but parts of My person; I am the Unity of the whole.