19. When he had spoken thus my Guide led the way up a long flight of steps, narrow and steep at the beginning but broadening out and more easy as we advanced, and when we had reached to the top of them we found ourselves on a higher Level of the Tower, and here we entered the Nineteenth Chamber. Here at first I saw nothing, but surrounding me lay as it were a shapeless mist permeated by a vivifying luminosity. Presently in the uniformity of the mist I saw as it were a germ forming, a point of condensation; gradually it assumed a more definite shape, and then it appeared to me like a pure crystal of salt suspended in the Ocean. Then the crystal vanished slowly, and through the spot where it had been I saw the hills forming; then they became more distinct and I saw the shapes of trees appearing, and flowers of every hue, with butterflies and insects buzzing among them, and the fishes were leaping in the rivers; and as I marvelled the glory of the Light broke through the mist and I saw beneath me a lovely Garden in which the children of men, youths and maidens, played among the flowers, rejoicing in the gift of Life. Then I heard my Guide exclaim: 'Behold, the Spirit of the Eternal through the Chaos of the Material World hath reached to the Manifestation of Humanity!'

      20. When the Mist began to close round me again I followed my Guide to the Twentieth chamber. Here I saw spread out before me the Field of Solitude - the Burial Place of Humanity - and no living thing stirred therein and no noise was known to be. And as I gazed upon the waste of Life I heard the sound of a great trumpet, the voice of Israfel calling to Humanity. And I saw in the centre of the Field of Solitude Azrael - the Angel of Death - sitting in meditation; and at the sound of the trumpet he rose and flapped his sable pinions like a tired bird about to retire to his rest, and then he drew his great wings around his form, for the sleep of Eternity was upon him. And in the Field of Solitude I saw the graves open and the dead rising therefrom, and the rending of their grave-clothes was like the roar of the sea seeking to break down the barrier of the land.

      My Guide, seizing my trembling hand, said to me: 'Fear not; it is the Voice of the Eternal calling to Humanity. Behold the Breath of the Unity rising to the Spirit World and casting aside the shackles of the Material World!'

      21. When the visions had faded away I followed my Guide to the last Chamber on the elevated Level of the Tower, and it was the Twenty-first in Number. Here there appeared to me a young man riding on a fine horse, and with eyes burning with desire he gazed steadfastly at a young girl who danced before him glorious in her nakedness, and her hair was adorned with garlands of roses. By his side an old hag hobbled along, holding his stirrup with one hand, while she held an hour-glass in the other, in which I saw that the sand was fast running out. As I looked I saw of a sudden a deep precipice ahead, and at that moment a hideous dog rushed forth and bit the legs of the horse to urge him on his career. As the rider grew closer to the precipice, the young girl who danced before him changed in my sight, and the colour in her cheek changed into the waxen hue of Death, while the petals of the roses on her head shrivelled and fell to the ground, and I saw her hair spreading out across the sky like the grey threads of a spider's web. Then the young man, having no power to check the fury of his steed, passed away and was lost in the abyss.

      While my heart was heavy with pity for this young man, I heard my Guide saying to me: 'Watch and behold'.

      Again a young man appeared to me, and he was clad in armour, and in his hand was a goodly spear. Wild and dangerous beasts I saw striding across his path, but he looked neither to the right hand nor to the left hand, but with the power of his spear he drove them away. And I saw him begin the ascent of a steep mountain full of obstacles, but they seemed to cede before him, and as he reached the summit the sun shone forth illuminating his armour, and in the glory of that light the vision faded from my sight.

      Then my Guide said to me: 'In the First Chamber on this Level of the Tower thou sawest the Divine Spirit rising through Matter to the Human World. In the next Chamber thou wast shown the rise of the Divine Spirit from the Human World to the Spiritual World. Now this is the meaning of what thou hast seen in this Chamber. In the World in which thou livest an Equilibrium exisreth between Matter and Divine Spirit. Now in the heart of each man a point lieth hid on which this Equilibrium is poised, and this point is the Mystery of his Individuality, which hath the power of turning the balance to the right hand or to the left hand, towards Matter which leadeth to the Abyss, or towards the Divine Spirit which accelerates the moment of Reunion with the Unity. Woe unto him therefore who in the Human World letteth the idleness of one hour to impair the power of his Individuality to turn the balance towards the Light'.

      22. Then my Guide led me without the Chamber, and said to me: 'All have I shown thee, yet one Chamber remaineth'. I said unto him: 'Are my eyes worthy to see what is therein?' He replied: 'If thou desirest to see, thou must rise to it alone'. Then he pointed the way to a steep and tortuous flight of steps which led to the highest pinnacle of the Tower; these with toil and pain I began to ascend alone, and when I had reached to a great height I saw before me the entrance to a chamber closed by a heavy Veil. I pushed it aside and penetrated within, and when the Veil had fallen back behind me it seemed to me that the grave-stone had fallen upon the grave, and that I was severed for ever from the World of Humanity. A feeling of solitude crept upon me and a desire to pray, and kneeling down I worshipped the Unknown, seeking for Illumination , and by degrees the knowledge of the things which I had seen increased within me, and when I lifted up my eyes I saw that the Chamber in which I was was formed like an Ellipse, and that in the centre thereof a Figure sat upon a Throne, neither Man nor Woman, but Humanity in the Womb of Time, - the Ellipse of the Absolute. And as I gazed and marvelled, I saw a Mystic Flower at the summit of the chamber open its four great petals, on each of which a Sign was burnt in fire, and from the depths of the Flower three rays of light descended upon the Figure beneath illuminating it with splendour, so that I saw the overpowering serenity of its face - ever youthful - on which no wrinkle was writ. Then the Figure crossed its hands, so that forefinger was extended against forefinger, and with the tips of the forefingers it touched its lips, placing thereon the Seal of Silence. Then my soul grew bewildered with the beauty of that face, and I covered myself with my hands, and when again I opened my eyes I felt the breath of dawn upon my face, and I heard the lark singing above, and the joy of calm was in my heart, and the morning star shone in all its glory above the Solitude of the Desert.

      When the Mystic Dervish had ceased to relate what he had seen, the Young King spoke to him thus: 'Oh! Sage, where is the Strange Land to be found where the Temple of Knowledge lieth?'

      The Dervish replied: 'Oh! King, wouldst thou know where lies the Strange Land where dwell the Disciples of the Path - the Seekers after Truth? Turn to thy Heart; hidden therein lieth the magnificent Temple of Human Knowledge, but the Key to the Gate thereof God alone can give'.