Letter 27

To the same man. I see, brother, that you are filled with much foulness in respect to the inner man, from head to foot, from which you could not be cleansed unless your spirit rises before dawn, out of the night, toward the God who enlightens us by his divine commandments, and who gives life to those who have been deadened by negligence, and who supplies the dew of the wisdom from on high, which heals every sickness of the soul and every infirmity. For "your dew," says the Scripture, "is healing to them" [Isaiah 26:19]. And again God says: "And I will be to him as the dew, and he shall blossom as the lily" [Hosea 14:5]. This dew, therefore, coming now also upon your heart which is inflamed with the love of pleasure, and whistling through it with a calm spirit and with a certain peaceful and gentle breeze, will shake off your flame, as it once did the flame of the Babylonian furnace [Daniel 3], and will refresh you and save you, making you a true philosopher, and persuading you no longer to sleep much, but to keep vigil with fervor.

Βλέπω σε, ἀδελφὲ, ὅτι ὥρας πολλῆς ἐμπεπλησμένος ὑπάρχεις κατὰ τὸν ἔσω ἄνθρωπον ἀπὸ κεφαλῆς ἕως ποδῶν, ἧς οὐκ ἂν δύναιο καθαρθῆναι, εἰ μὴ ἐκ νυκτὸς ὀρθρίζει τὸ πνεῦμά σου πρὸς τὸν θεὸν τῶν. φωτίζοντα ἡμᾶς τοῖς θείοις προστάγμασι, καὶ ζωο- ποιοῦντα τοὺς ἐν τῇ ἀμελείᾳ νενεκρωμένους, καὶ τῆς ἐξ ὕψους σοφίας τὴν δρόσον παρέχοντα, ἰωμένην πᾶσαν νόσον ψυχῆς, καὶ πᾶσαν μαλακίαν· « Ἡ γὰρ δρόσος παρὰ σοῦ, φησὶν ἡ Γραφή, ἵαμα αὐτοῖς ἐστι. » Καὶ πάλιν λέγει ὁ Θεός· « Καὶ ἔσομαι αὐτῷ ὡς δρόσος, καὶ ἀνθήσει ὡς κρίνον. » Αὕτη τοίνυν ἡ δρόσος, ἐπελθοῦσα καὶ νῦν τῇ φιληδονίας φλεγο- μένῃ καρδίᾳ σου, καὶ διασυρίσασα πνεύματι γαλη- νιαίῳ, καὶ αὔρᾳ τινὶ εἰρηνικῇ, καὶ λεπτῇ, ἐκτινάξει σου τὴν φλόγα ὥσπερ τῆς Βαβυλωνίας ποτὲ καμίνου, καὶ ἀναψύξει, καὶ σώσει σε ἀληθῇ φιλόσοφον ἀπεργα- ζομένη, καὶ πείθουσα μηκέτι πολλὰ καθεύδειν, ἀλλ’ ἀγρυπνεῖν ἐκθύμως.