The Book of the Desert, Chapter IV

The kingdoms fall like dust, but the faithful rise as fire from the ashes.

And a great silence fell upon the desert, as though the earth itself held its breath. Then the sky opened with thunder, and the seekers beheld visions: cities swallowed by flame, mountains split by lightning, and seas rising to devour the proud. The merchants wailed over their treasures, and the kings cried out to their idols of stone, but none answered them.

One of the seekers fell upon his face and cried: “Lord, who can endure this day?” And the voice of the wilderness replied: “The day is not for the strong in flesh, nor the wise in their own eyes, but for the faithful who embraced suffering when the world mocked them. The fire destroys the straw but purifies the iron.”

Then the earth trembled, and graves were opened, and the bones of the forgotten stirred. The meek who had endured in silence rose, clothed in light. The arrogant, who had fattened themselves with indulgence, were swept away like dust in the whirlwind. The seekers saw it and feared, but they did not despair for the desert had already trained them in death, and thus resurrection was no stranger to their hearts.

The nations gathered their armies, yet their weapons turned against them. The mighty walls crumbled as sand before the storm. And it was shown to the seekers that no fortress built on pride can stand, but the soul founded on discipline is unshakable, even when the heavens fall.

And the desert spoke once more: “Children of dust, do not fear the end, for the end is a beginning. The world will pass as smoke, but those who endured will rise as fire. Their names will be written not on stone that crumbles, but on the eternal sky.”

Therefore the seekers rejoiced with trembling. For though the earth was in ruin, they had found their homeland in the wilderness, and their strength in extremity. And they knew that even if the mountains collapsed and the stars fell, the soul disciplined in silence would stand as a pillar unbroken.

Thus concludes the fourth chapter: a vision of judgment and of hope, a fire that consumes but also crowns. The kingdoms fall like dust, but the faithful rise as fire from the ashes.