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4'and waking: .the secret meaning of this might
" have been, that it was a long while before I became
" desirous of understanding the divine truth. Under
'•' the shield of the night, men enjoy greater free-
" dom, as the occupations of the body and the de-
" pendence of the senses are broken. A sudden
" night fell then, and I was still between sleep and
" waking; that is, between reason and sensuality.
4' I fell into the sea of knowledge; and it was a night
" with thunder and lightning, that is, the seven
" upper agents prevailed, so that the power of hu-
" man courage and the power of imagination sunk
" from their operation, and inactivity manifested its
ct ascendancy over activity. Andlo! Jabrnl came
*' down in a beautiful fora^ with much pomp, splen-
'' dor, and magnificence, so that the house became
cc illuminated; that is, the power of the holy spirit
c' came upon me in the form of the command, and
" made such an impression upon me, that all the
" powers of the rational soul were renewed and
" enlightened by it. And what the prophet said
in the description of Jabrnl, " to have seen him
" whiter than snow, with a lovely face, black hair,
4' and on his forehead the inscription: * There is no
44 ' God but one God;' the light of his eyes charm-.'
" ing, the eyebrows fine, having seventy thousand
ct curls twisted of red rubies, and six hundred thou-
fct sand pearls of a fine-water^'that is, he possessed