God, the Truth, clothed him with a part of His splendour, covered him with a part of His light, and made him dwell near Him in His abode beyond the living fire.

The servant whom God had created planned to bring forth followers for himself. He brought forth followers, clothed them with some of his garments, covered them with some of his coverings, seated them in his abode on his right and on his left, and gave them the pledge of Truth.

The followers whom he had brought forth planned to set in order other worlds, and said: "Let us order for ourselves worlds like the worlds of this House of Life, by God's leave." They came before their exalted father, the Second, and said to him: "Grant us leave to go and to set in order other worlds, to plant for Thee a planting like that of this House of Life, to plant a planting and build worlds, just as the sons of salvation were created and formed."

Their father granted it to them from the Unseen, and his first-born, the Second, and his brothers gave the charge to one of the sons of salvation, the eldest brother among them, who had been created after the likeness of the sons of salvation. He gave him water and living light and said to him: "Go, order worlds like the sons of salvation, as thou hast seen in the House of Life."

God, the Living, willed it, and thus spoke to Manda d-Haije, who is called Manda d-Haije, the Knowledge of Life: "Grant to the shaping the likeness of the glory." Manda d-Haije answered Him: "Thou hast created me and made me firm, and I am minded to go before that world, before they form plans about that world and put that world in order. They called me the Foremost, the First, that I might sow the seed in it and raise up in it a people who shall be called the children of the great tribe of the righteous. I will send ahead some of my people whom God has granted me. He called me, He urged me on over them and appointed for me [a people], that they may proclaim the call of the Living God, which is more wondrous than the world, and keep themselves far from the world of darkness." Manda d-Haije said: "Here, before that world comes to be, I will take them into fellowship with the Living God; let their dwelling be in the House of Life."

When Manda d-Haije had spoken thus, God kissed him, gave him the pledge of Truth, and said to him: "May Truth keep thee safe, O good one, and keep safe the word in which thou hast spoken. Yes, I will bring some of my people, that they may not be condemned in the world of darkness and may commit no transgressions."

God called Manda d-Haije, who had arisen from the likeness of the glory in the Unseen. He chooses, plants, and leads up to the bright dwelling.

After he had spoken these words to Manda d-Haije, he went and ordered a world for the sons of salvation. The shape which the Second had formed he gave to one of the sons of salvation. He took it and gave it to his son Ptahil, an angel. Ptahil came and cast it into the world of darkness. He brought forth creatures and formed peoples apart from the Living God, who were unworthy of the life. He was called "the one bereft of splendour, cut off from the light", because he cut off the peoples in the world of darkness, so that they are cut off.

When Ptahil, by God's leave, had ordered that world and formed peoples in it, he appointed and set up the angels of the house, that they might serve Adam, the man of flesh, and his wife Eve in that world of darkness. In it he made mountains, seas, birds, wild beasts, fish in the seas, as well as fruits, grapes and trees, so that Adam and his wife Eve might eat and rejoice, that no sorrow might befall him. Of the animals, the fruits, the grapes and the trees, let Adam and his wife Eve have their share, so that he might give rest to his goodly body.

After that world was made, Adam was fashioned in the form God appointed, and after the form of Adam his wife Eve was fashioned. Ptahil cast into him a kind of spirit, and each of the powers that were with him cast something into him. Ptahil and the powers that were with him could not, however, raise Adam and his wife Eve upright. Then Ptahil went to Abathur, his superior, took a hidden soul that was given to them from the House of Life, brought it and cast it into Adam and his wife Eve.

Then a messenger angel flew and came, whom God had sent to him. Adam lifted his eyes; light shone upon him. Adam sneezed and asked after life. The angels who were with Ptahil said to him: "Live, Adam!" Adam answered them: "By trust in the angel who has come to me from the House of Life." Adam said further: "I have come from God, and God was with me. I am the soul, the radiant, that has come from the hidden place. It fell into me and brought me here. Then the good messenger will come to meet me, to lead me out from here, to the place from which I came."

Then Abel was made known to Ptahil, when Ptahil's thoughts had become confused and all his works had been spoiled. Ptahil said: "Woe, woe on my works, over which thou hast been given power." Ptahil left the world which he had ordered and went to Abathur. Abathur was angry with him and put him in confinement until the end of the worlds. Then God will judge between them.

Then Adam rose, bowed, and praised the man who had opened his eyes and set him on his feet. Adam looked and saw all that he saw. Adam saw his wife Eve naked, and his mind was ashamed before her. Abel learned of this and came to Adam while he was ashamed before his wife Eve. Then he made a garment for Adam and his wife Eve, with which they covered their nakedness.

A youth of fine bearing lived with Eve, while Adam lived chastely with her. Then Eve said: "Whence came this youth, whose speech is pleasant and whose voice is clear? Abel, son of Adam, they call him, Adam's son by Eve."

Abel had a son, and his name was Seth, and Seth had a son, and his name was Enosh.

Then Adam gave himself to reflection; he reflected on Ptahil, on what the superior of Ptahil had commanded him, and on what Abel had put into the mind of Adam and his wife Eve. Adam and his wife Eve then rose and laid aside the garment with which Abel had clothed Adam and his wife Eve.

When the nine months were completed for Eve, the pains of birth came upon her. Then the worlds said: "Whence came Abel, whence had Eve a son so blessed? Truly this is a wonder to be named, that goes out into all the worlds. It is a shoot that went out into the world, was manifested, and came into the world of the children of men, to do good for the ordinances of the children of men and to lead people back to the place from which they came."

Then Adam lay down, joined his wife Eve, and she conceived by him a double fruit, a male and a female. She was nine months with child, according to what Ptahil had planned concerning her, as his superior Abathur had commanded him. Eve then bore twins, a male and a female.

Then the soul, which had come from the hidden place and fallen into Adam and his wife Eve, had set Adam and his wife Eve on their feet, enlightened their eyes that they saw, [strengthened] their feet that they walked, opened their mouth that they ate, and given Adam dominion over the animals, the fruits, the grapes and the trees, over the birds and the fish in the sea which Ptahil had made for him as food and had destined for Adam. Abel said to Adam: "Come, take the wool of these animals and give it to thy wife Eve, that she may make thee a garment as an adornment for thy body and for the body of thy wife Eve, that thy Lord has provided for thee."

Adam went, sheared the wool from the sides of the animals, gave it to his wife Eve, and she made him a garment, as Abel had put it in the mind of Adam and his wife Eve. She made a garment as an honour for their body. And he prepared for them a couch and set a table before them for eating.

Then the rebellious powers went about, took their stand, and devised secret plots, signals, hatred, jealousy and discord against him. A plot lay in their own secret mind, which they then cast into Adam and his wife Eve. They said: "Let them not hear the speech of the stranger, who has come here, and let them not accept his teaching. Since we made Adam, let him come forward and obey us and our chief. Let the peoples of Adam come forward and worship us and our chief." But Adam had come to love the stranger, whose speech is strange, estranged from the world. The Knowledge of Life had taken his place in the treasury of Adam's heart and in the soul that came and entered into him.

Then the soul said to the rebellious powers and to all the worlds: "Before I was brought and cast into Adam and his wife Eve, your devices had not set Adam and his wife Eve upright. Through the spirit which Ptahil cast into him, which his superior gave him, whom Abathur had commanded, he did not open his eyes, did not stand on his feet, did not open his mouth and did not speak. He had no power over the works which Ptahil had made for him as food. He did not lie with his wife Eve, and the children of men did not awaken in the world, until the soul came from the hidden place, by God's command. From it the peoples spread over the earth. By God's command the seed was sown in the womb of women. From the seed the embryo was formed in the mother's body. The eyes were formed, from the eyes the marrow was formed, from the marrow the head was formed, from the head the bridge of the nose arose. The mouth arose, from the mouth the tongue arose, from the tongue arise the ....., and the hearts arise, and from the hearts arise the impulses. These are in the hearts partly good, partly bad. All the forms the child receives in its mother's womb come to the child in the womb by God's command. By God's leave I became the chief of all the secret powers, I built the frame of the children of men, and I spread the race of the children of men in this world. Were I not set at the head of these powers, were I not with the child, the child would not come out of its mother's womb. For it would not lie within the power of those powers and of that spirit, if I did not build the child, show it the way and bring it out of the mother's womb."

Then Adam lay a second time with his wife Eve, and she bore a male and a female. In three births which she had by Adam there were three men and three women, from whom the world was peopled. Their names are written and pronounced in the Book of Books.

"Behold, at the beginning I came; then I came again as head to the men of tested righteousness. The rebellious powers stand there and whisper. Then they devise a secret plan against the son of the radiant ones, who went here, whose radiance was not from here and whose light was not of this world. The rebellious powers could do nothing against my name; so they went and devised a secret plan against another."

"My name is: the head, the Radiant, the hidden Soul, who has come from his place. Shoot is our name. The world of the Law they call me; Soul they call me; the surname Soul is given me; Redeemer of redemptions they call me; Light they call me; the Sighing of Life is our name; Living Light is our name. I am my hidden name from the House of Life; I am the radiant soul who has come from the hidden place. My brothers the angels, the sons of light, my good friends, brought me here; they arose from there. They were sent to me and brought me there. They decreed upon me death from the bodily dwelling in which I grew up. They clothed me with splendour and covered me with light, that was sent to me from there, from the House of Life. They twisted the locks on my head, laid my good deeds over my shoulders and led me out of the house of life."

Then to the spirits and souls of the men of tested righteousness fellowship (with God) was granted, to those who were themselves wise and gave wisdom to others who dwell in this world which is full of deceit and illusion. Adam, whom Abel had taught and admonished, said: "Blessed is he who stands fast by this admonition of Abel, Seth and Enosh. The urged-on men, who came from the pure place and go to the pure place, in whom there is no mixture with the sins and transgressions of the world, were set upright by their own provision for the journey, that reached them from their own dwelling, which their Lord granted them. They had gain, no loss. They did not eat of the consuming fire of this world, did not occupy themselves with it, did none of the works of the rebellious powers in the world, did not eat of the provision of the children of men, but were set upright by their own provision for the journey, which reached them from their dwelling, which their Lord granted them. The deceit and wickedness of the world was not with them, none [of the world] favoured them, and they had nothing in common with the world. No, though the rebellious powers be against them, and their persecutors pursue them with sword, fire and water, yet they remain victorious by virtue of their provision, their garment and the light which their Lord bestowed on them, while the rebellious powers are defeated. If you hold to these words, stand fast, give alms and your heart [abides] in faith, fellowship with the House of Life will be granted you: by virtue of the admonition of the three men you will ascend and not be cut off from fellowship with them."

Abel said to Adam, the man of flesh: "O Adam, the man of flesh, who stand there admonishing thy sons and peoples (saying) that this world was not created for the sake of vanity, let them hold fast to thy words. This world was subjected to trial through the transgressions [of the rebels], and the rebels stand there, lie in wait on the treasure of their mind and lead the children of men into sin.

When we leave this world, when the locks of our hair are twisted and our good deeds go before us, the truthful and faithful men will go out with us, also the men of tested righteousness, formed of flesh and blood, who heeded our call, held fast to our name, gave alms and stood upright in faith, trusting us: they too will ascend. Since we have trodden the path for them, set up the boundary stone and levelled the way, on which there is neither fear nor affliction, they will ascend and behold the great place of light and the bright dwelling to which our eyes look up."

When the rebellious powers and the Deceiver heard that Abel directed these words to Adam and his people, the Deceiver tore the necklace from her neck, pulled out the locks from her head and said: "Let me take over this world." The rebellious powers and their followers said to her: "..... the people become very great, the people become mighty. As far as it lies in our power, we will act, for we are masters of our will."

While they spoke thus, and Abel and his brothers pursed their lips at them, the Deceiver and the rebellious powers conceived the plan of bringing forth a lying messiah, that he might lead all worlds into sin, divide the world among men into different regions and tongues, and distort the speech in the mouths of men.

While the rebellious powers spoke these words, Manda d-Haije was there among them, hidden, among the rebels. In a moment he came near, raised up the heart of his people and let it rest upon its support. Manda d-Haije came, took away from the rebels their splendour and covered it, took away their heart, [removed them from] the living light with which they were clothed, and left them in the consuming fire, to have speech and hearing in it and to devise good in it. Then it was taken from them. Then a false messiah, the son of the Deceiver, was brought forth.

These words of the Law, when it came to Adam, I called out in admonition and gave to the men of tested righteousness: "O men of tested righteousness! Eat of all the fruits and works that Ptahil made for his charge Adam, of the fruit, the grape and the tree, the birds, the cattle and the fish of the sea, and give alms. Before the soul came into Adam, Adam ate nothing. But after the soul had come into Adam, he and the peoples who were with him rose and ate.

Likewise, of all the spices and fruits which the earth brings forth, as well as the fragrant flowers and spices, whose scent is pleasing to the soul that came into Adam, Ptahil said that he should smell them and that it should be pleasing to the soul which he placed in Adam. Let him and all his peoples in this world not grieve over the fruits, grapes and trees, the birds, the fish in the sea and the cattle, male and female, which were made for him. He took the fruit, the grape and the tree, he took male and female of them; they let fall [seed] and bear fruit. Of the birds, the fish in the sea and the cattle, the male mounts the female, then they conceive and bear.

Blessed is this world! For Ptahil, the angel, a place of honour is set up in it, and he is the steward of this world that he built and ordered by God's command. He did not bring it into the power of the Deceiver and the rebels and did not leave it with them. The Deceiver and the rebels did not pursue this world, and there was no affliction in it. Yes, Ptahil, the angel, is destined for the earth of light, while the Deceiver and the rebels are cut off here in this world of darkness, and their eyes do not see the light, they and all their creatures.

God stands firm in His dwelling, God is victorious over all works. Those whose Lord is victorious are themselves victorious, and victorious are Abel, Seth and Enosh.

And praised be God."