La-yesharim tehilah (Praise for the Upright)

Righteousness, beloved of my soul, may your heart be of good courage. Gird yourself with vigor, for, the further salvation seems to be from us, the more suddenly does our relief come. When in the hot glow of the sun, in the drought of summer, a darkness of thick clouds covers the heavens, and the roaring of the thunder makes the earth beneath tremble, when the lightning flashes like an arrow, and the wind shatters the mountains as if they were earthen vessels, and the noise of the rain deafens every ear, all the beasts of the forests flock together. The pigeons fly to the crevices of the rocks for protection. Then, in a moment, behold, the sun shines forth in the splendor of its light. It pierces and scatters every cloud. The darkness and the whole storm pass away as though they had never been. So, too, in regard to the man who appears crushed—in a moment the ruler of the world causes deliverance to sprout forth for him from affliction.

Reason, joy of my heart, your consolation truly relieves me. Every time I listen to your words a door of hope seems to open for me. But now, please do not keep back from me any good news which you may have.

If I would have any I would not keep it from you. Nevertheless, I hope to have some for you soon even though I have none at present; because the righteous worker does not always fail, and the hope of those that strive after righteousness shall not be lost forever. Behold, Pride ascends and reaches the clouds. He rides upon the heights of the world, succeeds, and spreads himself as one who is mighty and dominant. He does not cease from his passion, nor does he see trouble, and he is ignorant of all the pangs of poverty. But he will be brought down to the netherworld. There all the pride of his heart will be humbled, and instead of haughtiness he will be covered with shame as his apparel. He will always receive disgrace instead of honor. For all the trouble of your soul that you experience, you will find the fruit of your faith in its season, and be satisfied forever. When you will be redeemed, you will give thanks for your affliction. All the troubles which you have passed through are joys on a happy day, for they increase joy, whenever they are remembered.

Oh, I wish that I could possess strength to bear the bitterness of my complaint as I would like to, but that is too difficult for me, when my eyes behold these two stumbling-blocks, namely Deceit and Foolishness, as they confer together to become thorns in my sides, and anguish for my soul. Deceit makes noise in the street with her shouting. Upon all the heights of the town she treads with her audaciousness. She knows not fear. She does not recognize shame. She breaks every covenant, and violates every rule. She has not faith and her oath is false. Her trade is robbery, swearing, and falsehood. She is a sister to every evil; a mother to all transgression; and a deadly enemy to all the children of reason. She sits and slanders them amidst bowls of strong drink. All the thoughts of her heart concerning them are only evil. If she could she would swallow them like a fish, or like a donkey she would bite them so that she would break every one of their bones. Deceit also, by the smoothness of her talk entraps the soul as if it were a bird. She gives poison and death coated with honey, as food to the erring, foolish man. She bites when she kisses. When she relaxes her hands she smites. She does just as she pleases, and is successful.

Surely this is an error of our eyes, for our eyes are but human, and therefore they mistake truth for falsehood. They make darkness into light and light into darkness. Behold, even in those things which they really see they are led astray by every slight accident and chance, how much more so then in regard to those things which are difficult to understand and hidden from them. Look at the end of an oar in the water. Behold it appears to you to be crooked and bent, while in your heart you know, of course, that in reality it is straight. Sheshai and Thalmai (the giants) appear only as pygmies, in a mirror whose surface is concave, and when the mirror is convex, the reverse is true, making small objects appear tall and large. Now look at our Spirit! As the sea in constant battle with the winds can never come to rest, and there is never a moment when its waves are not rolled and dashed hither and thither, so we are not exempt from troubles forever; and just as the waves change and influence the aspect of the sea, so our senses within us undergo change and transformation from time to time. We do not see except according to our desires, and our ears do not hear but according to what we long for, or have imagined. Should we have viewed the world clearly even once, we would have seen these our enemies, so afflicted, stricken and unhappy together that we would have said, “It is enough, we are sated with revenge.” Behold, while your eyes perceive them, all full of pleasure, and satiated with comfort, their heels are held in a trap, from the grasp of which they cannot extricate themselves. All their steps take firm hold on the netherworld. Their feet shall slip. They shall not be able to stand there. Now be of good courage. Gird yourself with strength, for I shall go and see, and I will tell you all that I hear when I return. Only be calm, and direct your designs and all the thoughts of your heart with your wisdom. Behold, there is no power like the power of a man restraining his imagination by force and ruling over his spirit. Only that heart which is calm and quiet removes anger from itself.