Call to mind now, that the spirit of a man is eternal: It has not perished at death. Can you doubt then, that that spirit which had chosen the glare and glitter of the world for its beloved object, and had been absorbed heart and soul in the occupations of the world—when in a moment of time, all that which it had been gaining day after day, which it had obtained with great perseverance and industry, and which it had been coveting and striving for during many years, is taken out of its hands by death, can you doubt that it will be the prey of endless sorrow and grief, of abundant mortification, regret and remorse? This accords with what the apostle of God declares, "Love what thou hast loved: but thou shalt be separated from it." But when a man realizes that this world is a stage of a journey, and that the purpose of his coming hither is to attain the knowledge and love of God, and when he is day and night occupied with this, forsaking the world before death arrives, and perhaps even envying and longing for death, there can be no doubt that in the event of death, he is delivered from all pain and sorrow, and obtains rest and spiritual union.
From what has been said, it follows that the torments of the grave are for the friends of this world and the seekers of the world, and not for the devout and pious. And here we find an explanation of what the prophet of God said: that "the world is the prison of the believer and the paradise of the infidel."
Since you have now learned, student, that the torment of the grave is occasioned by love of the world, know also that there are different degrees of it. It is in proportion to each person's affection and love for the world, and will come upon some with great severity....
If, for example, a person possess a female slave to whom he is exceedingly attached, and on account of his being every day by her side, he is not conscious of his attach-
