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should come and knock, lest the shout of someone nearby or from afar should enter within, lest someone should unawares secretly leap inside; and immediately the king, leaving us, will depart again.” Having said these things, therefore, stand in exultation of soul and cheerfulness, seeing your Master, the uncircumscribable, circumscribed in you uncircumscribably, and understanding His unutterable beauty, and perceiving incomprehensibly His all-holy face, which is unapproachable even to angels and archangels and all the heavenly powers. Be amazed, rejoice and, leaping spiritually, be glad and exult, attending with reverence to what He may command you to say or to do.

Attend, therefore, to what is said to you. For not like earthly kings, being Himself also in need of those under His hand, would He seek something for His own service or need; for He is without need and, unless He first enriches His own servants, He does not come to their house. Since He, therefore, as has been said, is without need, but has enriched you and made you to be without need by His presence, attend to what He will speak in you, He who from such a height came forth inseparably from the blessed bosom of the Father and from the heavens descended to your lowliness. For you would never find Him having done this incidentally, but for the salvation of many others our good and man-loving Master is always accustomed to do this. If, therefore, as we said, you honor and receive Him and give Him space and provide Him with quiet, know well that you will hear from the treasures of the Spirit the ineffable things, not by falling on the Master’s breast, (331) as before John, the beloved of Christ, but bearing the whole Word of God within your breast. You will theologize theologies both new and old and you will understand well all the theologies already spoken and written, and you will become a well-sounding instrument, played upon and uttering sounds beyond all music.

But if you allow any grief that comes to arise within the house, joy immediately flies away; and if anger or wrath, straightway the meek and calm One withdraws; and if hatred and aversion against someone, He who is called Love and is in truth innate and hypostatic Love immediately flees; if you allow envy or strife to approach, He who bears no malice and is good, abominating them, will become wholly invisible. And if He perceives wickedness or duplicity with meddlesomeness wandering outside the house, and you do not quickly drive them away with anger, but He sees you rather meekly disposed toward His enemies and deigning that they approach Him, the simple, guileless, and unmeddlesome One will not even make His withdrawal known to you, but will leave you as one insensible. But if you, who were deemed worthy to meet with such a Master, who became a spectator of such glory, who came into possession of such wealth—I mean the kingdom of heaven, which is God Himself—should guard against all the things mentioned from entering the house of your soul, but also make complete quiet from these for the king, but turning your face, that is, your mind, elsewhere, you converse and speak with another, giving your back, plainly, to the unapproachable God, at whom all the heavenly hosts gaze with fear and trembling, without blinking, will He not justly leave you at once as a despiser and one who is unworthy? But you say that He is a lover of mankind? I too say this to you, but toward those who perceive (332) His love for mankind and worthily honor and thank Him. But if, considering His love and sweetness as nothing, you incline toward the love of another, you will wholly bind the impulse of your soul in it and be sweetened by some pleasure, perhaps of food or drink or clothing or a beautiful sight or gold or silver, or if your soul impresses from within itself the desire for any other form, will He who is by nature pure and holy and undefiled, who also made you such through

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ἐλθών κρούσειε, μή κραυγή τινος ἐγγύς που ἤ μακρόθεν ἐντός εἰσελεύσεται, μή λάθῃ τις ἔνδον εἰσπηδήσας λαθραίως· καί εὐθύς ὁ βασιλεύς καταλιπών ἡμᾶς πάλιν οἰχήσεται». Ταῦτα τοιγαροῦν εἰπών, στῆθι ἐν ἀγαλλιάσει ψυχῆς καί φαιδρότητι, τόν σόν ∆εσπότην τόν ἀπερίγραπτον ἐν σοί περιγραπτόν ἀπεριγράπτως ὁρῶν καί καταμανθάνων τό ἀμήχανον κάλλος αὐτοῦ, κατανοῶν δέ ἀκατανοήτως τό πανάγιον πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ, τό καί ἀγγέλοις καί ἀρχαγγέλοις καί πάσαις ταῖς οὐρανίαις δυνάμεσιν ἀπρόσιτον. Ἐκπλήττου, χαῖρε καί πνευματικῶς σκιρτῶν εὐφραίνου καί ἀγαλλία, προσέχων ἐν εὐλαβείᾳ τί ἄν κελεύσῃ εἰπεῖν ἤ ποιῆσαί σε.

Πρόσεχε τοίνυν τοῖς λεγομένοις σοι. Οὐ γάρ ὡς ἐπίγειοι βασιλεῖς, ἐπιδεής ὤν καί αὐτός τῶν ὑπό χεῖρα, εἰς ἰδίαν θεραπείαν ἤ χρείαν ἐπιζητήσοι τι· ἀνενδεής γάρ ἐστι καί, εἰ μή τούς ἑαυτοῦ δούλους πλουτίσει πρῶτον, οὐ παραγίνεται εἰς τήν οἰκίαν αὐτῶν. Ἐκείνου οὖν, ὥσπερ εἴρηται, ὄντος ἀνενδεοῦς, σέ δέ πλουτίσαντος καί ἀνενδεῆ πεποιηκότος τῇ παρουσίᾳ αὐτοῦ, πρόσεχε τί λαλήσει ἐν σοί ὁ τοσούτου ὕψους ἐκ τοῦ εὐλογημένου κόλπου τοῦ Πατρός ἐξελθών ἀχωρίστως καί ἐκ τῶν οὐρανῶν μέχρι τῆς σῆς ταπεινότητος κατελθών. Οὐ γάρ παρέργως τοῦτό ποτε εὕροις αὐτόν ἐργασάμενον, ἀλλ᾿ ἐπί σωτηρίᾳ καί ἄλλων πολλῶν εἴωθεν ἀεί τοῦτο ποιεῖν ὁ καλός καί φιλάνθρωπος ∆εσπότης ἡμῶν. Εἰ οὖν, ὡς εἴπομεν, τιμήσεις καί ἀποδέξῃ καί δώσεις τόπον καί ἡσυχίαν παράσχῃς αὐτῷ, εὖ ἴσθι ὅτι ἀκούσεις ἐκ τῶν τοῦ Πνεύματος θησαυρῶν τά ἀπόρρητα, οὐκ ἐπί τοῦ στήθους πίπτων τοῦ ∆εσποτικοῦ, (331) καθά τό πρίν ὁ ἠγαπημένος Χριστοῦ Ἰωάννης, ἀλλ᾿ ὅλον ἐνστήθιον φέρων τόν Λόγον τόν τοῦ Θεοῦ· θεολογίας θεολογήσεις καινάς τε καί παλαιάς καί πάσας νοήσεις τάς ἤδη ῥηθείσας καί γραφήσας θεολογίας καλῶς, καί γενήσῃ ὄργανον εὔηχον ὑπέρ ἅπασαν μουσικήν ἀνακρουόμενον καί φθεγγόμενον.

Ἐάν δέ λύπην ποθέν ἐπελθοῦσαν ἐάσῃς προκῦψαι τῆς οἰκίας ἐντός, εὐθύς ἀφίπταται ἡ χαρά· εἰ δέ ὀργήν ἤ θυμόν, αὐτίκα ὑποχωρεῖ ὁ πρᾷος καί γαληνός· εἰ δέ μῖσος καί ἀηδίαν κατά τινος, εὐθύς φεύγει ὁ ἀγάπη κληθείς καί ἀγάπη ὤν αὐτοφυής ἐπ᾿ ἀληθείας καί ἐνυπόστατος· ἐάν φθόνον ἤ ἔριν πλησιάσαι ἀφῇς, ὁ ἀμνησίκακος καί ἀγαθός βδελυξάμενος αὐτά ὅλος ἀφανής γενήσεται. Εἰ δέ καί πονηρίαν ἤ ποικιλίαν μετά περιεργίας ἔξωθεν γνῷ τῆς οἰκίας περιερχομένας καί μή διώξῃς μετ᾿ ὀργῆς συντόμως αὐτάς, ἀλλά πραέως ἴδῃ σε μᾶλλον πρός τάς ἐχθράς αὐτῷ φερόμενον καί ταύτας αὐτῷ πλησιάζειν καταδεχόμενον, οὐδέ τήν ὑποχώρησιν αὐτοῦ ὁ ἁπλοῦς καί ἄκακος καί ἀπερίεργος γνῶναί σε ποιήσει, ἀλλ᾿ ὡς ἀναίσθητον καταλείψει σε. Ἐάν δέ σύ, ὁ τοιούτῳ ∆εσπότῃ καταξιωθείς ἐντυχεῖν, ὁ τοιαύτης δόξης γενόμενος θεατής, ὁ τοιούτου πλούτου, τῆς βασιλείας λέγω τῶν οὐρανῶν, ἥτις αὐτός ἐστιν ὁ Θεός, ἐν κατασχέσει γενόμενος, ἐκ μέν τῶν εἰρημένων ἁπάντων φυλάξῃς τοῦ μή εἰσελθεῖν ἐν τῇ οἰκίᾳ σου τῆς ψυχῆς, ἀλλά καί ἡσυχίαν πᾶσαν ἐκ τούτων ποιήσῃς τῷ βασιλεῖ, τό δέ πρόσωπόν σου ἤτοι τόν νοῦν στρέψας ἄλλοθεν, ἑτέρῳ προσδιαλέγῃ καί ὁμιλεῖς, τόν νῶτόν σου δούς δηλονότι τῷ ἀπροσίτῳ Θεῷ, ᾧ πᾶσαι μετά φόβου καί τρόμου ἀσκαρδαμυκτί ἐνατενίζουσιν αἱ οὐράνιαι στρατιαί, οὐχί δικαίως ὡς καταφρονητήν καί ἀνάξιον εὐθύς αὐτός καταλείψει σε; Ἀλλά λέγεις εἶναι τοῦτον φιλάνθρωπον; Κἀγώ τοῦτό σοι λέγω, ἀλλ᾿ εἰς τούς ἐπαισθανομένους (332) τῆς φιλανθρωπίας αὐτοῦ καί ἀξίως τιμῶντας καί ἀπευχαριστοῦντας αὐτῷ. Εἰ δέ, καί τήν ἀγάπην καί τήν τούτου γλυκύτητα εἰς οὐδέν ἡγησάμενος, πρός ἑτέρου τινός νεύσεις ἀγάπην δεσμεύσεις ὅλως τήν ὁρμήν ἐν αὐτῷ τῆς ψυχῆς σου καί ἡδονῇ τινος ἡδυνθῇς, βρώσεως τυχόν ἤ πόσεως ἤ ἐνδύματος ἤ ὄψεως εὐειδοῦς ἤ χρυσίου ἤ ἀργυρίου, ἤ τινος ἑτέρου εἴδους ἐπιθυμίαν ἐναπομάξῃ σου ἔνδοθεν ἡ ψυχή, ἆρα ὁ φύσει καθαρός καί ἁγνός καί ἀμίαντος, ὁ καί σέ τοιοῦτον ποιήσας διά τοῦ