110 GhazzaWs Alchemy of Happiness. 



It has been clearly shown to you, student of the myster- 

 ies, that the human spirit in its essence and attributes is to 

 live forever, and that it is able to exist without a frame, 

 that the meaning of death is not the annihilation of the 

 spirit, but its separation from the body, and that the re- 

 surrection and day of assembly do not mean a return to a 

 new existence after annihilation, but the bestowal of a new 

 form or frame to the spirit, which shall be under its con- 

 trol in the second period, as the body was under its con- 

 trol in the first period. . . . 



In saying that in the second period, the control of the 

 spirit is easy, it is said in respect to our contracted under- 

 standings, and in comparison with our operations, and to 

 make the matter intelligible to others. When God says 

 in the powerful Koran, " It is easier," and " For me it is 

 easy," he uses the phraseology only for the sake of being 

 understood by man. On the contrary in the first period, 

 there was nothing difficult for God : it would have been 

 nothing to him to have created without matter, in a mo- 

 ment, a thousand worlds like this which we inhabit. 



It follows from what has been said, that it is not a ne- 

 cessary condition of the resurrection and restoration that 

 the spirit should possess exactly the original mould. For 

 that which we seek is not the vehicle of the spirit, but 

 the spirit itself. This mould undergoes change even in 

 this world. Thus, for example, the materials derived from 

 the condensation of the exhalations and the inspissation of 

 the blood in the stomach of the mother are changed by 

 food, and new flesh is produced. Many questions may be 

 asked of those who say that the identical mould must re- 

 turn and rise in the resurrection, and that its absence can 

 in no wise be tolerated, and they will find much difficulty 

 in answering them. One may ask for example, if one man 

 eat another man, and the man eaten become a portion 



