see, provided that we are not blinded by our vanity and lies, and false opinions:
CHAPTER 3: The Meek Those Who Hunger for Righteousness and the Merciful
see, provided that we are not blinded by our vanity and lies, and false opinions: we see, I say, the accomplishment of what is here stated. For we will see with the eye what is the state of all those who act like wolves among men, and who devour and plunder their neighbors, who want to gain everything through pride and arrogance. For they have no rest. Let them own the land, let them be great lords, if they do not know how to set foot anywhere, so that they do not remain paralyzed by fear. Whether they have their castles and fortresses, whether they have as many guards, as well equipped as they want, it is certain that there they are in prison. If they are in the middle of the fields, although they are well accompanied, if they are never assured, they are always in fear and trembling. Briefly, wherever they go, if they always see clearly that they are like Cain, that is to say that they have no rest, that they are agitated with worry, now on one side, now on the other. In possessing therefore they possess nothing: for they cannot enjoy what they think they have. So it is with all the great ones of this world. They are consumed within with their perplexity, and yet there is no occasion for men to be troubled. But who is the cause? This is all the more so because they want to trouble everyone; God must put them in such trouble that they do not know what to become. And how? Let everyone be their enemy, and let big and small threaten them. For even if no one dares to say a word, if without lifting a finger against them we still resent them: and even if everyone is silent, what is more, we honor them, if it is nevertheless necessary that God has his hand extended to chastise them according as they are worthy of it.
But on the contrary, even though poor people who walk sincerely, and who are patient, endure, and endure many outrages and oppressions, so much so that they do not fail to possess the earth, as is spoken of in Psalm 37. For when they do not have a foot of land, when they do not have a meadow, a vineyard, a field, or a house, yet they know that God has given them a dwelling in this world: and when they are like birds resting upon a branch, if they will still have this rest, to say, Well, God will govern me wherever I am: still the earth will give me its bosom to receive me: and as much as it is ordained for this use, - God will not allow me to have some habitation there, but will keep me there as his guest as long as he sees himself to be good. Now when a man has this, and knows that God maintains him and will always maintain him, he is in a much better possession than all those who extend their paws and their claws everywhere, and who are not content with kingdoms, duchies, nor with countries, nor with cities, so much so that they would like to swallow up everything: and yet it finally happens to them that they do not know where to retire, nor where to