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...as in: 'Can a man hide in secret places so that I cannot see him? — says the Lord — Do I not fill heaven and earth?' (Jer. 23:24).
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To bring this nearer to understanding, I say: were it not that we have become accustomed to the fact that some walls do not block sound, and have experienced that glass does not block light, and have learned that the light of the sun is not harmed by the filth in the world — we would be astonished by this; and all these are considerations that confirm the meaning.
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I also ask: how does it become established in the mind that He knows everything past and future equally? I will demonstrate: it is because creatures came to not know the future only because their knowledge comes to them through the senses;
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what did not reach their hearing, sight, and other senses they did not come to know; but the Creator, whose knowledge is not by any cause — His essence is what knows — past and future are equal to Him, He knows both without cause;
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as in: 'Declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying: My counsel shall stand and I will accomplish all My desire' (Is. 46:10).
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When a person arrives at knowledge of this noble concept through rational inquiry and through the proof of signs and demonstrations, their soul is convinced and their spirit calmed; it becomes present in the innermost chambers of their being — whenever they walk through its palace, they find it —
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as the early teacher said: 'My soul yearns for You in the night, even my spirit within me seeks You early' (Is. 26:9). And they fall deeply in love with it with complete and undoubted sincerity, as in: 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might' (Deut. 6:5).
And that servant remembers Him when they go about during their day and when
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...they toss on their bed, as in: 'If I remember You on my bed, in the watches of the night I meditate on You' (Ps. 63:7).
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Indeed, the spirit nearly escapes — overflowing with longing and yearning at His remembrance — as in: 'I remember God and I groan; I sigh and my spirit grows faint' (Ps. 77:4).
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Rather, His remembrance nourishes them more than physical food, and His name quenches them more than any drink — as in: 'As with marrow and fat my soul is satisfied, and my mouth praises You with joyful lips' (Ps. 63:6).
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Until all their affairs are referred to Him, and they find in Him lasting confidence and calm — as in: 'Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us — Selah' (Ps. 62:9).
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When His delight intoxicates them, they are grateful; when His trial afflicts them, they are patient — as in: 'All the prosperous of the earth shall eat and bow; before Him shall bow all who go down to the dust, even he whose life He did not preserve' (Ps. 22:30).
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And were they to be separated from their body, they would be patient before Him and would not suspect Him of wrongdoing — as in: 'Though He slay me, I will hope in Him; yet I will argue my ways before Him' (Job 13:15).
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And the more they contemplate His works, the more their awe and dread increase — as in: 'Therefore I am terrified before Him; when I contemplate, I am in dread of Him' (Job 23:15).
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And the more they survey His attributes, the greater their praise and the more abundant their joy — as in: 'Glory in His holy name; let the heart of those who seek the Lord rejoice' (Ps. 105:3).
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Until they love those who love Him and honor those who honor Him — as in: 'How precious are Your thoughts to me, O God; how vast their sum!' (Ps. 139:17).
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And they hate those who hate Him and loathe those who rise against Him — as in: 'Do I not hate those who hate You, O Lord, and do I not loathe those who rise against You?' (Ps. 139:21). Until they defend Him and refute all who attack His affairs with wisdom and knowledge, not with forcefulness — as the early teacher said: 'I will speak my judgment from afar
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...'and I will ascribe righteousness to my Maker; truly my words are not false — a perfect knower is with you' (Job 36:3–4).
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They praise and glorify Him with wisdom and logic, not with nonsense and impossibility — as scripture says regarding the praisers: 'Hezekiah spoke to the heart of all the Levites who were wise with good understanding toward the Lord' (2 Chr. 30:22).
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Do not praise Him by claiming He can make five more than ten in a context where no addition is possible, or that He can make the world enter a ring without the ring becoming too small or growing larger, or that He can restore yesterday to the state of yesterday — for all these are impossible.
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Some atheists may ask us about this; we answer: He is capable of everything — but what they asked about is not a thing, since it is impossible, and what is impossible is not a thing; they were therefore asking whether He is capable of nothing — indeed, that is precisely what they asked about in truth.
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Rather, praise Him with the essential meanings: that He is eternal — who always was and always will be, as in 'The eternal God is your refuge' (Deut. 33:27); and that He is the One in truth, as in 'You are He, the Lord, alone' (Neh. 9:6).
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And that He is the Living and Self-subsisting, as in 'For I lift My hand to heaven and say: I live forever' (Deut. 32:40); and that He is omnipotent over all things, as in 'the great, mighty, and awesome God' (Deut. 10:17);
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and that He is all-knowing with complete knowledge, as in 'Wondrous in counsel, perfect in knowledge' (Is. 28:29); and that He is the Creator of everything from nothing, as in 'Not like them is the portion of Jacob, for He is the Maker of all things' (Jer. 10:16).
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And that He does not act futilely or in confusion, as in 'He did not create it as chaos — He formed it to be inhabited' (Is. 45:18); and that He does not wrong or oppress, as in 'The Rock — His work is perfect, for all His ways are justice; a God of faithfulness without iniquity' (Deut. 32:4).
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And that He only does what is best for His servants, as in 'The Lord is good to all, and His mercies are over all His works' (Ps. 145:9); and that He does not change or alter, as
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...'For I, the Lord, do not change' (Mal. 3:6); and that His kingship will not end or perish, as in 'Your kingship is a kingship of all eternities, and Your dominion is throughout all generations' (Ps. 145:13).
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And that His command goes out without resistance, as in 'The Lord has established His throne in the heavens, and His kingdom rules over all' (Ps. 103:19); and that one must praise Him with His beautiful and exalted attributes, as in 'They will sing of the ways of the Lord, for great is the glory of the Lord' (Ps. 138:5).
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And that everything the describers describe Him with and the glorifiers praise Him with — He is higher, more exalted, and loftier than all of it, as in 'Let them bless Your glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise' (Neh. 9:5).
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And what you find in places in scripture — praise and glorification that seems not to be directed to Him directly but to the description of Him, like 'Blessed be the Glory of the Lord' (Ezek. 3:12) and 'Sing to His name' —
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and sometimes attributed to the description of a description, like 'Sing to the honor of His name' (Ps. 66:2), 'Give thanks for the remembrance of His holiness' (Ps. 30:5), 'Blessed be His glorious name' (Ps. 72:19); and in the words of the early ones something attributed to the description of the description of a description: 'Blessed be the name of the glory of His kingdom' —
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I say about all of this: this too is from the workings of language — when it aims at grandeur and exaltation it places words before mentioning the one being exalted, and the more preceding words there are, the more exalted;
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as in with three words: 'when he showed the wealth of the glory of his kingdom' (Est. 1:4), and 'the precious beauty of his greatness' (Est. 1:4) — meaning His wealth, His glory, and His kingdom; His preciousness, His beauty, and His greatness — making the attributes correspond to each other.
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Understand — may God guide you — what I have established; internalize it; solidify it in your thought. Do not rush to a definitive judgment about an expression; rule decisively only on the established foundations, and treat the expression as figure and approximation, as I have explained.
The Second Maamar is completed, by the grace of God.