When Adam and Eve were driven out of the Garden of Eden, they were as
helpless as little children. They knew nothing of day or night, heat
or cold; they could not kindle a fire to warm themselves, nor till the
ground to grow food. They had as yet no clothes to wear and no shelter
against rain or sun. As long as they were in the garden, it was always
light and warm, and their bodies were so fashioned that they had no
need of food or sleep or of protection against the burning of the sun;
but since they had eaten of the Tree of Knowledge, they had become like
us. Moreover, all the beasts and birds were friendly with them; but
now they knew that it was not so, and that they had no defence if any
fierce animal chose to attack them; and, more than all, they knew that
they had a cruel enemy lying in wait for them outside the garden, even
Satan, who had hated them from the first, and had brought about their
fall by means of the serpent. And so it was that when they came out of
the gate of the garden and saw the earth stretched out before them,
covered with rocks and sand, and found themselves in a strange land
where there was no one to guide them, they fell down on their faces,
and became as dead, because of the misery and sorrow which they felt.
But God looked upon them and sent His Word to raise them up and comfort
them; and showed them a place not very far from the garden where there
was a cave; and told them that they were to live there. Now this was
the cave which was afterwards called the Cave of Treasures.
When first they entered into the cave, they did nothing but weep and
lament: not only because they had lost the garden, but also because
for the first time the sky was hidden from them by the roof of the
cave; for as yet they had never been in any place where they could
not see it. But when the sun set and there was darkness outside the
cave as well as inside, they were frightened beyond measure; for they
said, "It is because of what we have done: the light is gone out of
the heavens, and will come back no more." Then the Word of God spake
to them and said, "Be comforted; it is only so for a few hours, and
the light will return to you." And they remained praying and weeping
in the cave until the darkness began to grow less. After that the sun
rose, and Adam went to the mouth of the cave, and it shone full upon
him, and he felt the burning heat of it on his body for the first
time, and thought that it was God who had come to afflict and punish
him; and he beat upon his breast and prayed for mercy. But God said,
"This sun is not God; it is created to give light to the world, and
every day it will rise in like manner, and travel over the heavens
and set, as you have seen it. _I_ am God, who comforted you in the
night."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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