CHAPITRE VII
69. It would be better for us not to pass judgment after our death. 70. He said to me: When the most High created the world, Adam and all his descendants, he created first the judgment and the punishment. 71. And now, thinking about it in your own words, you say: Our heart grows with us.
72 For it is on his account that those who are on the earth will be punished. For they that had understanding had sinned; Although they had received the law in their hearts, they did not keep his commandments; Knowing his law, they abandoned the prescriptions they had received.
73. What will they say when they are judged? How will they speak in the supreme days?
74. How long the Most High has spared those who are on earth! It was not because of them (he did) but because of the time he had set.
75. If I have found grace before thee, I said to him, explain it to thy servant: When we die, and our soul shall come out of each one of us, shall we be in repose till the time come Fixed by Him (God) to hold His judgment, or from when shall we be judged?
76. And he said unto me, I will tell thee, but do not break with the infidels; Do not be among those who will be judged.
77. For you have gained for yourself near the Most High a treasure which is reserved for you, but it will appear to you only on the supreme days.
78. As for the death (it takes place) as soon as the order of the Most High has come out: Let someone die. His soul leaves his body to go to Him who gave it to him,
And begins by bowing down before the glory of the Most High
79. If it be a question of the ungodly who have not kept the ways of the Most High, who have despised his law, who have forgotten his fear,
80. These souls will not enter the (eternal) home, but they will wander, then be chastened, tormented and afflicted, and the seven things will be shown to them.
81. The first is that they have been unfaithful to the way of the Most High.
82. The second: that they could not return to live.
83. The third, that they see the rewards for those who believe in the law of the Most High.
84. The fourth: that they see the punishments which await them in the supreme days.
85. The fifth is that they see the souls of the righteous guarded by the angels in their dwellings, in great rest.
86. The sixth is that they are forced to wander and that they are shown the punishments they will receive from this time.
87. The seventh and greatest of all that I have spoken to you is, that they are mourned with shame, and are covered with ignominy,
When they see before them the glory of the Most High against whom they have sinned and before whom they are to be judged.
88. (Behold) the situation of those who kept the commandments of the Most High when they came out of their mortal bodies.
89. For in all the days that they have passed there, they have served the Most High in continual affliction, bearing their sorrows to fulfill the law of the One who has instructed them.
90. Here is what concerns them.
91. First, they will see with great joy the glory of the One who welcomes them and favors them in these seven ways:
92. The first to have struggled with great difficulty to conquer the evil thought that came to them, so as not to be led astray by it in death or in their present existence.
93. The second is to see the souls of sinners wandering and the condemnation that awaits them.
94. The third is that the One who created them will render in their favor the testimony that they have kept during their life the law that was given them.
95. The fourth is that they will see the rest from which they will enjoy from that moment in their dwellings, with great joy, under the guardianship of the angels, and the glory that is reserved for them.
96. The fifth, that they will rejoice all the more in having escaped from natural death, and having received the inheritance which they have received; Then they will see that they have endured a narrow place, filled with torments, and found the wide space where they rejoice in the shelter of death.
97. The sixth is that they will be shown that their faces shine like the sun or shine like the light of the stars, for they will never die.
98. The seventh, and the greatest of all, is that they will rejoice openly without being ashamed; Assured in their joy, for they will hasten to see the face of him whom they served during their life, near which they will be honored and rewarded.
99. These are the conditions which the souls of the righteous will find; These are the situations and punishments with which the ungodly will be afflicted.
100. I said to him, "After the soul has gone out of his body, will he be given days to see what you have exposed to me?"
101."There will be," he said, "seven days free to see what I have told you; Then they shall go into their dwellings.
102. And I said again, Lord, if I have found favor in thy sight, tell thy servant: In the day of judgment, shall the righteous intercede for sinners in the sight of the Most High?
103. Fathers for children, children for their fathers, (brothers for brothers parents for parents, friends for their friends.
104. And he said unto me, Because thou hast found favor before my eyes, I will say unto thee: The day of judgment shall be done, and the seal of truth shall be shown on every one of our commands.
105. Just as now the father does not send the son in his place; Nor the son, the father; Nor the master, his servant;
Nor friend, friend to be sick, or lie down, eat, or be cured in his place;
106. In the same way, it will be absolutely impossible for someone to intercede for another; There will be no one who rejects his burden on his fellow man, for each will suffer what he deserves and be responsible for his actions.
107. And I said to him, How is it that we find that Abraham once interceded for Sodom (Genesis, xviii. 23) and Moses for your fathers when they sinned in the wilderness (Exodus xxxiii.
108. And Joshua (Yoseh) for Israel (Isrâel), in the days of Akan (Joshua, VII, 6-9) and Samuel (Saul) in the time of Saul (Saul) , 18, 19, 23);
109. And David, concerning the plague (II, Kings, xxiv. 10), and Solomon for the temple (XIII, Kings, VIII, 15-61);
110. Elias (Elyas) for rain (III, Kings, XVIII, 42) and to resuscitate a dead person (III, Kings, XVII, 20-21);
111. Hezekiah for the people in the days of Sennacherib (Samachrem) (IV, Kings, xix, 15-19) and many for many?
112. If, then, at the time when corruption increased, and injustice multiplied, the righteous interceded for sinners, why should it not be the same on that day?
113. And he said unto me, Because then the present end of this world did not yet exist, and the glory of the Lord which is to be eternal was not yet manifest;
Because of this, the strong were able to intercede for the weak.
114. But the day of judgment will be the end of this world and the beginning of the future world, when death will cease, and immortality will rise.
115. Then weakness will be discarded, discord will end, justice will grow and equity will be strong.
116. That day no one will have pity on him who will succumb in judgment; No one can harm the one who has conquered.
117. And I said to him, It is as I said at first; And now it would have been better if the earth did not produce Adam rather than produce it and instruct him to sin.
118. What is the use of living in sadness while a judgment awaits us after our death?
119. O Adam, what have you done? If you had not sinned, this evil would not have happened to us.
120. What is the good of having promised us an immortal world if we do death?
121. What good is it to have spoken to us of good hope, since we are pursuing evil?
122. What is the good of keeping us dwellings in which there will be neither sickness nor grief, since we commit sins?
123. What use is it for the glory of the Most High to be among the righteous who suffer to strengthen them if we walk in our fault?
124. What is the use of a garden whose fruit will not dry out, where will joy and life be?
125. Since we shall not enter into it, for we have done blameworthy actions
126. What good is it that the faces of those who have shown great patience shine, while our faces will be obscured by darkness?
127. Here we live without knowing what will happen to us after our death.
128. He said to me, "This is the thought of this world; That man born on this earth struggles and fights.
129. So that if he be defeated, he will find what you say; If he is victorious, he will find what I say.
130. This is the way that Moses pointed out to the people, "Choose life for you so that you may live" (Deuteronomy xxx, 19).
131. But they did not believe him, neither did the prophets who came after him.
132. Nor did I speak to them. There will be no sadness about their loss ... for the lives of those who believe.
133. "Lord," I said to him, "I know that now the Most High is called the Clement, because he has had pity on those who are always as if they were nothing;
134. The Compassionate, because he has mercy on those who turn to his law;
135. The Patient, because he showed to those who sinned the same patience as to his children;
136. The Generous, because he hath given to those whom I have spoken unto you, as they deserve by their deeds;
137. Most Merciful, because He lavishes His mercy on those who exist, both to those who disobey and to those who are worthy of praise.
138. For if he did not lavish his mercy, the world could not subsist, neither did those who dwell therein.
He is generous; For if he did not grant by his goodness that sinners should be relieved of their sins, mankind would not live.
140. He is the judge, for if he did not keep the work he has done, he would destroy the multitude of the ungodly,
And there would be left of the crowd that he created only a very small number of men.
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