Chapter 43
The Son said: "Sometimes a great reward arises out of a little good. The date-palm has a wonderful odor, and in its fruit there is a stone. If this seed is planted in rich soil, it sprouts and blossoms and grows into a tall tree. But if it is planted in barren soil, it dries out. The soil that delights in sin is wholly barren of goodness. If the seed of the virtues is sown there, it does not sprout. Rich is the soil of the mind that knows its sin and laments having sinned. If the date-stone, that is, the thought of my severe judgment and power, is sown there, it strikes three roots in the mind.
The first root is the realization that a person can do nothing with out my aid. This makes him open his mouth in petition to me. The second root is to begin giving some small alms for the sake of my name. The third root is to withdraw from one's own affairs in order to serve me. The person then begins to practice abstinence and fasting and self-denial: this is the trunk of the tree. After that, the branches of charity grow as he leads every one he can toward the good. Then the fruit grows as he instructs others according to his knowledge and piously tries to find ways of giving me greater glory.
This kind of fruit is most pleasing to me. In this way, from a small beginning one rises up to perfection. As the seed takes root at first through a little piety, the body grows through abstinence, the branches are multiplied through charity, the fruit grows fat through preaching. In the same manner, a person sinks down from a small evil to the greatest condemnation and punishment.
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