On Fashioning
LIV. On Fashioning
1. O God, Who art the fashioner
of goodness, virtue and love!
Fashion me to be thy servant.
2. Within goodness You fashion bonifying
from the bonifier and the bonificable, and are <likewise> able
to fashion magnifying from greatness.
3. From justice does God fashion judgement
and from mercy forgiveness,
while in man He fashions fear and love.
4. God does not cause people to be idle,
nor does He cause people to be proud,
but instead He causes them to be compassionate.
5. God fashions man from a mortal body
and a rational soul,
and causes him to be virtuous and faithful.
6. God does not fashion good from evil,
nor does He fashion transgression or sin,
for He is utterly filled with great goodness.
7. He who fashions loving from virtuous love
is a better fashioner
than is he who builds castles and towers.
8. He who fails to do as he should
and commits sins and misdeeds,
knows little about the nature of comportment.[1]
9. Whoever is able to fashion one good thing from another <such>
and who refuses to commit wrong on any account,
conducts himself well in everything he does.
10. He who causes God to be served and honoured,
knows how to perform good works
and makes himself dearly beloved by God.
[1] This versicle contains wordplay focused on the dual sense attaching to the phrase “de natura d’obrar”, the first sense of which acts in anticipation of the sentiments expressed in the following two versicles concerning good conduct/good works. The verb “obrar” in its second aspect carries the senses of fashioning/creating/acting/operating/performing, etc.