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7. If the soul is better than the body; and incomparably better than the world is God who created it; he who prefers the body to the soul, and the world created by Him to God, is in no way different from the idolaters.

8. He who has separated his mind from love and devotion to God, and has it bound to any of the sensible things, this is the one who prefers the body to the soul, and the things made by Him to God the Creator.

9. (964) If the life of the mind is the illumination of knowledge; and love for God begets this; it has been well said, Nothing is greater than divine love.

10. When the mind journeys forth with the yearning of love towards God, then it has no sensation at all of any of the things that exist. For being illumined by the divine and infinite light, it becomes insensitive to all things made by Him; just as the physical eye is to the stars, when the sun rises.

11. All virtues work together with the mind towards divine love, but pure prayer more than all. For through this, taking wing towards God, it goes outside all existing things.

12. When the mind is seized by divine knowledge through love, and going outside of existing things, becomes aware of the divine infinity, then according to the divine Isaiah, coming through astonishment to a perception of its own lowliness, it says with feeling the words of the prophet: Woe is me, for I am pierced with compunction; for being a man, and having unclean lips, I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips, and I have seen the King, the Lord of Sabaoth, with my eyes.

13. He who loves God, cannot but love every man as himself, even if he is vexed by the passions of those not yet purified. Therefore, seeing their conversion [edit. περιστρ.] and correction, he rejoices with immeasurable and ineffable joy.

14. An impure soul is one subject to passions; filled with thoughts of desire and hatred.

15. He who sees a trace of hatred in his own heart on account of any fault towards any person, is completely foreign to the love of God; because the love of God absolutely does not tolerate hatred for man.

16. ‘He who loves Me,’ says the Lord, ‘will keep my commandments’; ‘and this is my commandment, that you love one another.’ He therefore who does not love his neighbor does not keep the commandment. And he who does not keep the commandment cannot love the Lord either.

17. Blessed is the man, who is able to love every man equally. [edit. δύναται].

18. Blessed is the man, who is not attached to anything perishable or temporal.

19. Blessed is the mind, that has passed beyond all existing things, and of the divine beauty

unceasingly delights.

20. He who makes provision for the flesh to fulfill its desires [Duo Regit ἐπιθυμίαν], and

holds a grudge against his neighbor for temporal things; (965) such a one worships creation rather than the Creator.

21. He who keeps his body without pleasure and without sickness, has it as a fellow-servant for the service of better things.

22. He who flees all worldly desires, establishes himself above all worldly grief [edit. unusgue ὕλης, Reg. et Fr.].

23. He who loves God, also surely loves his neighbor. Such a one cannot keep money, but dispenses it in a godlike manner, giving to each of those in need.

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ζ΄. Εἰ κρείττων τοῦ σώματος ἡ ψυχή· καί κρείττων τοῦ κόσμου ἀσυγκρίτως ὁ κτίσας αὐτόν Θεός· ὁ προτιμῶν τῆς ψυχῆς τό σῶμα, καί τοῦ Θεοῦ τόν ὑπό αὐτοῦ κτισθέντα κόσμον, οὐδέν τῶν εἰλωλολατρούντων διενήνοχεν.

η΄. Ὁ τόν νοῦν τῆς εἰς Θεόν ἀγάπης καί προσεδρείας ἀποχωρίσας, καί τινι τῶν αἰσθητῶν προσεδεμένον ἔχων, οὗτός ἐστι ὁ προτιμῶν τῆς ψυχῆς τό σῶμα, καί τοῦ κτίσαντος Θεοῦ, τά ὑπ᾿ αὐτοῦ γεγονότα.

θ΄. (964) Εἰ ἡ ζωή τοῦ νοῦ ὁ φωτισμός ἐστι τῆς γνώσεως· τοῦτον δέ ἡ εἰς Θεόν ἀγάπη τίκτει· καλῶς, Οὐδέν τῆς θείας ἀγάπης, εἴρηται, μεῖζον.

ι΄. Ὅταν τῷ ἔρωτι τῆς ἀγάπης πρός Θεόν ὁ νοῦς ἐκδημῇ, τότε οὔτε τινός τῶν ὄντων παντάπασι ἐπαισθάνεται. Ὑπό γάρ τοῦ θείου καί ἀπείρου φωτός καταλαμπόμενος, ἀναισθητεῖ πρός πάντα τά ὑπ᾿ αὐτοῦ γεγονότα· καθάπερ καί ὁ αἰσθητός ὀφθαλμός πρός τούς ἀστέρας, τοῦ ἡλίου ἀνατέλλοντος.

ια΄. Πᾶσαι μέν αἱ ἀρεταί συνεργοῦσι τῷ νῷ πρός τόν θεῖον ἔρωτα, πλέον δέ πάντων ἡ καθαρά προσευχή. ∆ιά ταύτης γάρ πρός τόν Θεόν πτερούμενος, ἔξω γίνεται πάντων τῶν ὄντων.

ιβ΄. Ὅταν διά τῆς ἀγάπης ὑπό τῆς θείας γνώσεως ὁ νοῦς ἁρπαγῇ, καί ἔξω γενόμενος τῶν ὄντων τῆς θείας ἐπαισθάνηται ἀπειρίας, τότε κατά τόν θεῖον Ἡσαΐαν ὑπό ἐκπλήξεως εἰς συναίσθησιν ἐλθών τῆς ἑαυτοῦ ταπεινώσεως, μετά διαθέσεως λέγει τά τοῦ προφήτου ῥήματα· Ὤ τάλας ἐγώ, ὅτι κατανένυγμαι· ὅτι ἄνθρωπος ὤν, καί ἀκάθαρτα χείλη ἔχων, ἐν μέσῳ λαοῦ ἀκάθαρτα χείλη ἔχοντος ἐγώ κατοικῶ, καί τόν βασιλέα Κύριον Σαβαώθ εἶδον τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς μου.

ιγ΄. Ὁ ἀγαπῶν τόν Θεόν, οὐ δύναται μή καί πάντα ἄνθρωπον ὡς ἑαυτόν ἀγαπῆσαι, εἰ καί πρός τά πάθη δυσχεραίνει τῶν μήπω κεκαθαρμένων. ∆ιό καί τήν ἐπιστροφήν [edit. περιστρ.] αὐτῶν βλέπων καί τήν διόρθωσιν, ἀμετρήτῳ καί ἀνεκλαλήτῳ χαίρει χαρᾷ.

ιδ΄. Ἀκάθαρτος ἐστι ψυχή ἐμπαθής· λογισμῶν ἐπιθυμίας καί μίσους πεπληρωμένη.

ιε΄. Ὁ ἴχνος μίσους βλέπων ἐν τῇ ἑαυτοῦ καρδίᾳ διά οἰονδήποτε πταῖσμα πρός τόν οἱονδήποτε ἄνθρωπον, ἀλλότριος τυγχάνει πάμπαν τῆς εἰς Θεόν ἀγάπης· διότι ἡ εἰς Θεόν ἀγάπη, τῆς εἰς ἄνθρωπον μίσους παντελῶς οὐκ ἀνέχεται.

ιστ΄. Ὁ ἀγαπῶν με, φησίν ὁ Κύριος, τάς ἐντολάς μου τηρήσει· αὕτη δέ ἐστιν ἡ ἐντολή ἡ ἐμή, ἵνα ἀγαπᾶτε ἀλλήλους. Ὁ οὖν μή ἀγαπῶν τόν πλησίον, τήν ἐντολήν οὐ τηρεῖ. Ὁ δέ τήν ἐντολήν μή τηρῶν, οὐδέ τόν Κύριον ἀγαπῆσαι δύναται.

ιζ΄. Μακάριος ἄνθρωπος, ὁ πάντα ἄνθρωπον ἐξ ἴσου ἀγαπῆσαι δυνηθείς. [edit. δύναται].

ιη΄. Μακάριος ἄνθρωπος, ὁ μηδενί πράγματι φθαρτῷ ἤ προσκαίρῳ προσκείμενος. ιθ΄. Μακάριος ὁ νοῦς, ὁ πάντα τά ὄντα περάσας, καί τῆς θείας ὡραιότητος

ἀδιαλείπτως κατατρυφῶν. κ΄. Ὁ πρόνοιαν τῆς σαρκός εἰς ἐπιθυμίας [Duo Regit ἐπιθυμίαν] ποιούμενος, καί

μνησικακίαν διά πρόσκαιρα πρός τόν πλησίον ἔχων· (965) ὁ τοιοῦτος λατρεύει τῇ κτίσει παρά τόν κτίσαντα.

κα΄. Ὁ ἀνήδονον καί ἄνοσον τό σῶμα διατηρῶν, σύνδουλον αὐτό ἔχει πρός τήν τῶν κρειττόνων ὑπηρεσίαν.

κβ΄. Ὁ φεύγων πάσας τάς κοσμικάς ἐπιθυμίας, πάσης λύπης [edit. unusgue ὕλης, Reg. et Fr.] κοσμικῆς ἑαυτόν ἀνώτερον καθίστησι.

κγ΄. Ὁ τόν Θεόν ἀγαπῶν, καί τόν πλησίον πάντως ἀγαπᾷ. Ὁ δέ τοιοῦτος, χρήματα τηρεῖν οὐ δύναται, ἀλλ᾿ οἰκονομεῖ θεοπρεπῶς, ἑκάστῳ τῶν δεομένων παρέχων.