294 LITERATURE OF GNOSTIC WISDOM
MYSTERY OF UNDEFILED MARRIAGE
No one can know when the husband and wife have sex
except those two.
Marriage in the world is a mystery for those who are married.
If there is a hidden defilement in the marriage,
how much greater is the true mystery of the undefiled marriage!
It is not fleshly but pure.
It belongs not to desire but to the will.
It belongs not to the darkness of the night
but to the day and the light.
If a marriage is open to the public,
it has become prostitution,
and the bride plays the harlot
not only when impregnated by another man
but even if she slips out of her bedroom and is seen.
Let her show herself only to her father and her mother
and to the friend and attendants of the bridegroom.
They are permitted to enter every day into the bridal chamber.
But let the others yearn just to listen to her voice
and to enjoy her fragrant ointments,
and let them feed on the crumbs falling from the table,
like dogs.
Bridegrooms and brides belong to the bridal chamber.
No one shall be able to see the bridegroom or bride
unless one becomes a bridegroom or bride.ABRAHAM'S CIRCUMCISION
When Abraham rejoiced in seeing what he was to see,
he circumcised the flesh of his foreskin,
teaching us that it is proper to destroy the flesh.HIDDEN PARTS ARE UPRIGHT
As long as they are hidden, most things in the world
are upright and live.