A soul am I of the Great Life,

a soul am I of the mighty Life,

a soul am I of the Great Life.

Who brought me here?

Who brought me here

among the dark rebels?

How shall my heart bear it,

how shall I endure the persecution of the world?

How shall I live with lions,

with devouring dragons?

How shall I live with the wicked,

who daily let loose evil?

Daily they let loose evil,

daily they let loose terror.

Daily they let loose terror

and say: "We will frighten the soul.

Yes, we will frighten him,

so he will be humbled among us.

So he will be humbled among us,

and we shall then stand above him.

Yes, we will terrify him,

then he will be able to dwell among the works of our hands."

The soul, with his pure mouth,

then spoke to the planets:

"By the power of my exalted Lord

your terror will not come upon me.

By the power of the words of my Lord

your frightening does not touch me.

By the power of my great helper

I shall stand above you.

The word of my Lord is better than yours,

and wondrous is His speech.

Wondrous are the words

that have come from the treasure of my Lord."

All lament

and strew dust upon their heads.

Dust they strewed upon their heads

and tore the garments of their lust.

They glowed in their evil heat

and were angry with themselves:

"How could we say

that we would destroy the soul among us?"

When the planets spoke thus,

a voice came from the house of God, the Great Life.

A voice came from the house of God, the Great Life,

called the soul and woke him.

It called and woke the soul,

he stood up and rose above them.

He stood up, rose above them

and pronounced a rebuke against them:

"Be gone and vanish from before me,

you wicked, cut-off, perishing ones.

The light is not reckoned with the darkness,

firmness is not granted to sinners.

Were firmness granted to sinners,

persecution would not have been left behind here."

......, and they took nothing from him,

to distribute it in various portions.

The soul, secure, directed and raised his eyes

toward his place.

Then my helper came, he reached me,

he reached me and formed a protector for me.

He rebuked the wicked spirits

"if only you do not come to me with perishing words."

Well did the Great One know,

well did the Mighty One know,

well did the Great One know,

that the soul had excellently endured many things,

that the soul had endured many things,

therefore his protector reached and came to him.

His helper delivered him,

he embraced him and lifted him up.

He held fast and persevered long,

as that one had persevered here:

"Come, come, soul,

we shall bring you into the house of the Great One.

Into the house of the Great One we shall bring you;

rise, tell the Mighty One.

Rise, tell the Great One

what the Seven did to you:

that they wished to cut you off from themselves,

to set themselves above you."

Yes, the soul set out with his angel

and betook himself before the Mighty One.

He stood before the Mighty One

and told Him what the Seven had done to him:

"Do You not know, Great One,

do You not know, Mighty One,

do You not know, Great One,

that I directed a rebuke against the Seven?

Despite their strength I rebuked them,

and the Seven sank down beneath me.

Beneath me the Seven sank down,

and I stood above them.

Above them I stood,

then my helper reached and came to me.

My helper came to me and reached me,

my escort came to me and reached me.

My escort arrived and appeared to me,

my protector, helper and escort.

He embraced me, and I came to You

and told You what the Seven did to me."

Then the Great One blesses me

and the Mighty One preserves me:

"How you held out and persevered,

until the commission given to you was fulfilled!

Until your departure came

and you were freed from the hands of the toll-keepers."

The Great One looked on him and loved him,

the angels of light honoured him. —

And praised be God, the Living.