|
Look at the innumerable and peerless jewels displayed like great dishes at a
banquet. The ruler must have an inexhaustible treasury and infinite generosity,
both of which deserve and require a bountiful and eternal display of all objects
of desire as well as the eternal nature of those enjoying the feast, so that
they will not suffer pain due to death or separation until eternity. Just as
pain’s end brings pleasure, pleasure’s end brings pain.
Look at these displays and listen to the announcements. Heralds proclaim the
miracle‑working monarch’s fine and delicate arts. They show his perfections,
declare his matchless and invisible beauty, and tell of his hidden beauty’s
subtle manifestations. Given this, he must have an amazing beauty and perfection
that is not seen here. This hidden perfection requires one who will appreciate
and admire it, who will gaze on it and exclaim: “What wonders God has willed!”
thus displaying it and making it known.
Concealed and matchless beauty wills to see and be seen, to contemplate
itself in many mirrors and via the contemplations of ecstatic spectators and
amazed admirers. It wills to see and be seen, to contemplate itself eternally,
and to be contemplated without cease. It wills permanent existence for those who
gaze upon it in awe and joy, for eternal beauty cannot be content with transient
admirers.
Moreover, admirers destined to perish without hope of return will find their
love changed into enmity whenever they imagine their death. Such admiration and
respect will lean toward contempt, for we are enemies of what we do not know and
cannot reach. However, we leave this guest‑house quickly and vanish, after
having seen, for only a moment, a dim light or shadow of that perfection and
beauty. As this sight does not satisfy us, we know that we are moving toward an
eternal realm of seeing. |