Shall I trust in falsehood, shall I rely upon the staff of the bruised reed, to consider a lodging-place of wayfarers like this as a strong fortress and a king’s sanctuary, the wing of a flea as a point of diamond, a spider’s web as coral and crystal? When thou seest that the days are pleasant, that time frisks and dances, that the moment goes on to give thee repose, and that the hour frolics and rejoices before thee in the world, thou wilt despise the latter days in thy heart. But it is in falsehood that thou trustest: thou seest the shadow of a gourd as though it were a high and lofty mountain. Is it for these things that thou hast cast the soul behind thy back, and hast turned thy way toward the pleasures of the flesh which cause grief? Whenever thou seest that thy soul loves her God, being mindful of her end, and preparing provisions for her journey with the labor of her hands, thou enragest her; whenever she goes up to the house of the Lord, thou provokest her. Shalt thou forsake eternal glory and everlasting delight for the vanities of imaginary pleasures? And it shall come to pass, when thy heart will ask thee to-morrow, when the vicissitudes of time will leap upon thee: ‘Who has begotten me these?’ that thou shalt answer: ‘The stubbornness of thy heart and its evil counsel.’ If a servant spoils the work apportioned to him, will the spirit of the ruler not despise him? If a man walks about with his master without acknowledging him, will he not hate him? Wilt thou pride thyself, O mighty man, when thou grazest in the green pastures after the youths in the presence of the sun, when thy stones are set in fair colors in midday, with the multitudes of thy companions? They say to themselves: ‘Eat and drink’, but they have no heart. They only possess bodies and imaginary height of stature: vainglorious and corporeal things which have no spirit. Knowest thou not that there is a record of thy deeds, and that above thee there is an eye that sees and an ear that hears thine arrogance and raging? And now on whom trustest thou to break down the fences which the mightiest of the shepherds have founded? Is there no God above thee to know thy going out and thy coming in? Are no graves beneath thee wherein to take vengeance on God’s enemies? How is it then that thou didst not lay it to thy heart that these vicissitudes which befall thee are the messengers of Providence? They turn not aside when they go to reward or to punish the individuals of mankind or the sects thereof. It is out of the mouth of the Most High that the decree comes to lay the noble low and to set the ignoble on high. When the base man goes up on the ladder of success, it has been brought about by the Lord; and when the man of God goes down from his high place, it is the King who has said: ‘Go down.’