על החלומות, ספר א מ״גOn Dreams, Book I 43
א׳
1[249] Right well, then, does the Practiser, having learned by continuous exercises that creation is of itself a thing of movement, whereas the Unoriginate is free from alteration and from movement, raise a pillar to God, and having raised it anoints it: for we read “Thou anointedst unto Me a pillar” (Gen. 31:13).
ב׳
2[250] But imagine not that here we have a stone anointed with oil; rather that the doctrine of God as the only Being that stands is exercised and practised in a soul with the trainer’s science, not that by which bodies are made stout and brawny, but that by which understanding acquires a vigour and strength which no opponent can overcome.
ג׳
3[251] For he that has set out for the pursuit of noble practices is a lover of contest and a lover of exercises. Hence having thoroughly mastered the sister art to that of the physician, namely that of the trainer, having put all thoughts of virtue and piety through a course of training and drill, he will dedicate to God an offering most beauteous and firmly established.
ד׳
4[252] Accordingly after the dedication of the pillar he goes on to say, “Thou didst vow to me a vow” (ibid.). Now a vow is in the fullest sense a dedication, seeing that a man is said to give a gift to God when he renders to Him not only his possessions but himself the possessor of them.
ה׳
5[253] For the lawgiver says, “He shall be holy that letteth the locks of the hair of his head grow long” (Num. 6:5), that is, the man who has made the vow; and if he is holy, he is nothing else than a dedicated offering, seeing that he no more comes in contact with anything unhallowed and profane.
ו׳
6[254] What I say is vouched for by that prophetess and mother of a prophet, Hannah, whose name is in our tongue “Grace.” For she says that she is giving as a gift to the Holy One her son Samuel (1 Sam. 1:11), not meaning a human being but rather an inspired temper possessed by a God-sent frenzy. And “Samuel” means “appointed for God.”
ז׳
7[255] Why then, O soul, dost thou any longer trifle and engage in profitless labours, and not rather become a pupil of the Practiser, and learn to use weapons and engage in wrestlings against passion and vainglory? For haply, when thou hast learned, thou shalt be a herdsman, not of a herd without mark, without reason, without discipline, but of one bearing the stamp of genuineness, endowed with reason, and with varied markings.
ח׳
8[256] Shouldst thou become its leader, thou wilt bewail the pitiable race of men, but wilt never cease to approach the Deity with supplications; thou wilt never tire of proclaiming the blessedness of God, nay, wilt grave on pillars holy hymns, that thou mayest not only tell in eloquent language but also sing in sweet melody the excellences of Him that IS. For so shalt thou be able also to return to thy father’s house, and be quit of that long endless distress which besets thee in a foreign land.
