"And on thee, O Adam, while in My garden and obedient to Me, did that bright light rest also. But when I heard of thy transgression, I deprived thee of that bright light. Yet, of My mercy, I did not turn thee into darkness, but I made thee thy body of flesh, over which I spread this skin, in order that it may bear cold and heat. If I had let My wrath fall heavily upon thee, I should have destroyed thee, and had I turned thee into darkness, it would have been as if I killed thee. But in My mercy, I have made thee as thou art; when thou didst transgress My commandment, O Adam, I drove thee from the garden, and made thee come forth into this land and commanded thee to dwell in this cave, and darkness came upon thee, as it did upon him who transgressed My commandment.
"Thus, O Adam, has this night deceived thee. It is not to last for ever, but is only of twelve hours; when it is over, daylight will return. Sigh not, therefore, neither be moved, and say not in thy heart that this darkness is long and drags on wearily, and say not in thy heart that I plague thee with it. Strengthen thy heart, and be not afraid.
"This darkness is not a punishment. But, O Adam, I have made the day, and have placed the sun in it to give light in order that thou and thy children should do your work. For I knew thou shouldest sin and transgress, and come out into this land. Yet would I not force thee, nor be heard upon thee, nor shut up, nor doom thee through thy fall, nor through thy coming out from light into darkness, nor yet through thy coining from the garden into this land. For I made thee of the light, and I willed to bring out children of light from thee and like unto thee.
"But thou didst not keep one day My commandment until I had finished the creation and blessed everything in it. Then I commanded thee concerning the tree, that thou eat not thereof. Yet I knew that Satan, who deceived himself, would also deceive thee. So I made known to thee by means of the tree, not to come near him. And I told thee not to eat of the fruit thereof, nor to taste of it, nor yet to sit under it, nor to yield to it.
"Had I not been and spoken to thee, O Adam, concerning the tree, and had I left thee without a commandment, and thou hadst sinned, it would have been an offence on My part for not having given thee any order; thou wouldst turn round and blame Me for it. But I commanded thee, and warned thee, and thou didst fall. So that My creatures cannot blame me, but the blame rests on them alone.
"And, O Adam, I have made the day for thee and for thy children after thee, for them to work, and toil therein. And I have made the night for them to rest in it from their work, and for the beasts of the field to go forth by night and seek their food. But little of darkness now remains, O Adam, and daylight will soon appear."
XIV. Then Adam said unto God: "O Lord, take Thou my soul, and let me not see this gloom any more, or remove me to some place where there is no darkness."
But God the Lord said to Adam, "Verily I say unto thee, this darkness will pass from thee, every day I have determined for thee, until the fulfilment of My covenant when I will save thee and bring thee back again into the garden, into the abode of light thou longest for, wherein is no darkness. I will bring thee, to it, in the kingdom of heaven."
Again said God unto Adam, "All this misery that thou hast been made to take upon thee because of thy transgression, will not free thee from the hand of Satan, and will not save thee. But I will. When I shall come down from heaven, and shall become flesh of thy seed, and take upon Me the infirmity from which thou sufferest, then the darkness that came upon thee in this cave shall come upon Me in the grave, when I am in the flesh of thy seed. And I, who am without years, shall be subject to the reckoning of years, of times, of months, and of days, and I shall be reckoned as one of the sons of men, in order to save thee."
And God ceased to commune with Adam.
XV. Then Adam and Eve wept and sorrowed by reason of God's word to them, that they should not return to the garden until the fulfilment of the days decreed upon them, but mostly because God had told them that He should suffer for their salvation.
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