And it was done; and Michael showed Abraham all the regions of the
world. He saw men ploughing and carting, keeping flocks, dancing,
sporting, and playing the harp, wrestling, going to law, weeping,
dying, and being carried out to burial: even all the things that are
done in the earth, both good and evil. And in one place they saw men
with swords in their hands, and Abraham asked Michael, "Who are these?"
And Michael said, "These are thieves who are going out to steal
and to kill and to destroy." Then Abraham said, "O that God would
hear me and send evil beasts out of the forest to devour them!" And
in that moment wild beasts rushed out upon them and tore them to
pieces. Then in another place he saw men and women feasting and
drinking before their idols, and he said, "O that the earth might
open and swallow them up!" And immediately it happened as he had
said. And in yet another place he saw men breaking through the wall of
a house to enter it and rob it; and he prayed again, and fire fell
from heaven and burnt them up. Then there came a voice which said,
"Michael, prince of My host, turn the chariot and bring Abraham back,
lest, if he sees any more of the sinners upon earth, he destroy the
whole race of men. For he is a righteous man, and has no compassion
upon sinners. But I created the world, and I would not have any
perish. Bring Abraham therefore to the entering in of the gate of
heaven, that he may see the judgment and the recompensing of men, and
may have pity upon the souls whom he has blotted out."
Michael therefore turned the chariot and brought Abraham across the
great river of Ocean to the entering in of the gate of heaven, and
showed him the judgments. And Abraham saw the narrow gate of life and
the broad gate of destruction, and between the gates he saw our
father Adam sitting upon a throne, and clad in a glorious robe of
many colours; and he saw how Adam lamented when the souls went in
through the broad gate, and how he rejoiced when they attained to the
narrow gate, and how his weeping exceeded his rejoicing. Moreover,
Michael showed him how the souls of men are examined concerning their
works and how their acts are re-corded and weighed. But when he saw
how hard it is to enter in at the strait gate, it repented him that
he had prayed for the punishment of the sinners, and he said to
Michael, "O prince of the host, let us entreat the Lord that He
would have mercy upon the souls of the men whom I cursed in my anger;
for now I know that I sinned before God when I prayed against them."
Then they both prayed earnestly to God; and after a long time there
came a voice saying, "Abraham, I have heard thy prayer, and I have
given back life to the men whom thou didst destroy."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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