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Chapter 73LlullArbreAmor.1.73

2. Dels plors d'amor

The Roots of Weeping

The Friend weeps from the roots of love, and his tears flow from a heart softened by love, yet the world mocks his devotion.

The Friend wept from the roots of love, which are fountains from which tears and weeping spring in his eyes. For Love softens the Friend's heart, and the heart raises the water to the eyes, which weep from the softening of the heart that sighs for love. And so the Friend languishes from loving, sighing, and weeping.1 2. Love makes the friend strive so that the great goodness of the Beloved may be known and loved by all the people of the world. The friend went through distant lands, telling many people that they should understand and love the great goodness of his Beloved above every other good.2 People won't listen to the friend; instead they mock him and criticize him for what he does out of love. And because the friend can't accomplish what Love wants, the heart sighs and the eyes keep weeping.3

Tears for Love, Not Fear

Good Love and Wisdom teach the Friend to weep for love rather than fear, for tears of love honor the Beloved more than tears of fear.

3. Good and great Love tells the friend to weep for the great and wicked love that persists so long in the world, which belongs to the Beloved and was created for His honor.4 The friend weeps, using his tears to stand against that wicked and great love; he tells good and great Love that his weeping cannot destroy or force out false love.5 Good Love said to the friend that if his weeping does no good for other people against wicked and great love, let it still avail in him, so that she and her Beloved may have reverence and honor in him.6 4. The friend remembered his sins and feared the pains of hell, which last forever, and he wanted to weep but couldn't.7 The friend asked Love for the power to weep out of fear, and Love gave him the power to weep so that he could weep from love for his Beloved and for the dishonor his Beloved receives from so many people.8 5. Wisdom told the Lover to weep more often and with greater tears for love of his Beloved than from fear of his Beloved; for the tears that come from love are more pleasing to the Beloved than the tears that come from fear, since tears of love give rest to lovers, and tears of fear bring distress; and so the Lover wept with one9 j.10 eye greater tears for love, and with the other lesser ones, so that he might do greater honor to his Beloved by love than by fear.11

Weeping for Neighbor and Virtue

The Lover weeps for his neighbor out of charity and is urged by the virtues to weep for the sins of the world.

6. The Lover's will came, clothed in charity, to the Lover's memory, so that he would love his neighbor, a creature of his Beloved; and it told the Lover to weep, because so many people are in error and under his Beloved's wrath because of sin, for which they will be punished in the everlasting fire of hell.✦12 The Lover wept for his neighbor with charity, and told his tears to bring him mercy and pardon from his Beloved, so that through his weeping he might help his neighbor. 7. Virtue came to the lover along with justice and the other virtues, so that he might weep virtuously, free from vice and sin. Justice said it is only right and reasonable that a lover who has offended his Beloved should weep through contrition, satisfaction, and penance. Prudence told the lover that if he doesn't weep for his sins in this world, he won't laugh in the next.13 Fortitude said that weeping born of good and true love is stronger than weeping born of bad and false love. Temperance said that anyone who eats too much and doesn't weep for it in this world will weep in the next for having to endure too much.14 Faith told the lover he should weep, because her servants are not as numerous as the servants of unbelief. Hope told the lover he should weep, because people who remain in sin presume through her to hope for mercy and forgiveness from his Beloved.15 Charity told the lover he should weep, because she is found in so few people. Many other virtues begged the lover to weep, such as humility, who begged him to weep because there are so many proud people, and patience, because through her, people fail to overcome the proud and the angry. The friend wept at the virtues' pleas, and each tear was clothed with virtues.

Truth and Glory in Tears

Truth and Glory dwell in the Friend's tears, making weeping a place of rest and true devotion.

8. Truth told the Friend to set her in his eyes, so that true tears and weeping would flow from them, and so that he would be a true lover and an enemy of false love and hypocrisy.16 The Friend wept many tears and much weeping with Truth; and the Beloved had pity on the Friend, and sent him, as joys, a multiplication of love and loving, languishings, sighs, tears, and weeping for his love.1718 9. Glory wanted to dwell in the Friend's tears so that the Friend could, by weeping, rest in her. The Friend let Glory enter and dwell in his weeping, and he had so much rest in her that he took far greater pleasure in weeping for love than in tasting food or in sleep; and he told the lovers of good love that weeping for good love is love's dwelling place and the solace of Friend and Beloved.1920

The Measure of Weeping

Difference and Concordance of Love teach the Lover to order his tears by love, dread, and fear, and to unite weeping with memory, understanding, and will.

10. Difference of Love told the lover to include her in his weeping, so that 1.21 weeping would be for love, another for dread, and another for fear, and that to the22 To the weeping of love he should give more tears than to the weeping of dread, and to the weeping of dread more than to the weeping of fear.23 The lover told Difference of Love that the Beloved divides his tears among his weepings as he wills, just as he does with indulgences on pilgrimages. 11. Concordance of Lover and Beloved told the Lover's weeping to come into concord with remembering, understanding, and loving, for in contrariety to all 3.24 she couldn't stand, nor could he exist without her, whether good, great, virtuous, powerful, or lasting.2526 Weeping came into concord, in itself, with remembering, understanding, and loving, so that from it many tears could flow out, and many sins and faults could be wiped away. The Concordance of remembering, understanding, and loving entered into the Lover and made him weep so much that he couldn't eat or sleep.27

Mockery and Perseverance

Contrariety tempts the Lover to stop weeping, but Concordance and the Beloved strengthen him through mockery and suffering.

12. Contrariety of Love told the Lover's eyes not to weep, for weeping was destroying his sight; and because they wept, people mocked the Lover, saying he wept out of falsehood and hypocrisy, and so that he could deceive and betray some men. The Lover asked Concordance of Love if she would agree with the advice Contrariety of Love was giving him. Concordance of Love knew that the Lover was not strong in love, and begged the Beloved to punish the Lover who feared to weep for His love.28 The Beloved punished the Lover by increasing his sighing and weeping, which only made people mock him all the more.29

Beginning, Middle, and End of Love

The Friend experiences the loss and restoration of tears, and contemplates how the beginning, middle, and end of love sustain his weeping for the Beloved's honor.

13. Beginning of Love wanted to begin new tears in the Friend's eyes, so that weeping could multiply. The Friend didn't want this, for it didn't seem to him that his eyes could bear more weeping than they already did. Beginning of Love didn't want to begin new sighs in the Friend's heart, so the Friend lost his weeping, and tears couldn't come from his eyes; and the Friend lost the pleasure he felt in weeping, and felt himself far from love and from his Beloved, and found himself in trouble and pain; and he had such a great fear of his Beloved that he could neither eat nor sleep and was close to death. The Friend begged Beginning of Love to start new sighs in his heart and new tears in his eyes for his pleasure, and to give him back the old sighs and tears he had lost.30 14. In the middle of love stood Loving, who from the middle of the heart poured out sighing, and from the middle of weeping poured out tears for love of the Beloved. To the Beloved, the Friend said that Loving made him stay in the middle of his love, sigh in the middle of his heart, and weep in the middle of his eyes, and for that reason he could not unlove, forget, or ignore him.31 15. In the end of love, the Lover wanted to rest, so that his eyes would overflow with tears and weeping. For the Lover who contemplates the end of love contemplates the honoring and the honor due to his Beloved; and when he sees honor done to his Beloved, he weeps for love, and when he sees that people do dishonor to his Beloved, he weeps for sorrow. And for this reason the end of love is a fountain of weeping and of tears.3233

Majority and Equality of Love

The Lover chooses the majority of love over minority, and asks Equality to balance his loving, sighing, and weeping for the Beloved's honor.

16. Majority and Minority both wanted to enter the lover's weeping: Majority wanted to enter so that he would shed many tears for love, and Minority wanted to enter so that he would shed few tears for love.34 The lover let Majority of love enter his weeping, and not Minority of love, so that the Beloved and Love would have many servants for weeping; and he told Equality of love to equalize in him the greatest equality of loving, sighing, and weeping that he could, for with greater equality of all.35 iii. he wanted to do honor and service to his honorable Beloved.

Read the original Catalan

Plorava lamic ab les rails damor, qui son fontanes don nexen, en los uyls de lamic, làgremes e plors; car lamor amafical cor de lamic, e lo cor puja l aigua als uyls, qui ploren per la amaficació del cor qui suspira per amor; e per aisò lamic languex per amar suspirar e plorar.

2. Fa lamor tractar al amic que la gran bonea de lamat sia coneguda e amada per tots los homes del mon. Anà lamic per longues terres, dient a molts homes que els entenen e amen la gran bonea de son amat sobre totes bontats. No volen los homes escoltar lamic, ans lescarnexen el reprenen de so que fa per amor; e car lamic no pot acabar so que vol lamor, suspira lo cor e estan los uyls en plorar.

3. La bona e gran amor diu al amic que plor per la gran e mala amor qui tant dura en lo mon, qui es de lamat e qui là creat a sa honor. Plora lamic, e sos plors fa durar contra mala e gran amor; e dix a la bona e gran amor, que son plorar no pot destruir ni forsar falsa amor. La bona amor dix al amic, que si son plorar no val als autres homes contra mala e gran amor, que vayla en él per so que ela e son amat ajen en él honrament e honor.

4. Remembrà lamic sos peccats, e ac paor de les penes infernals, qui tots temps duren, e volc plorar e no poc plorar. Demanà lamic a lamor poder de plorar per paor, e lamor donàli poder de plorar ab que ploràs per amar son amat e per la desonor que pren per tants homes.

5. Saviea dix a lamic que ploràs pus sovén e ab majors làgremes per amar son amat, que per paor de son amat; car los plors qui son per amor son pus plaents al amat, que los plors qui son per paor, com sia so que plor damor do repòs als amadors, e plor de paor do trebayl; e per aysò plorà lamic ab la . j. uyl majors làgremes per amor, e ab lautre menors, per so que feés major honor a son amat per amor que per paor.

6. La volentat de lamic venc vestida de caritat a la membransa de lamic, per so que amàs son pruyme, qui es creatura de son amat; e dix a lamic que ploràs,' per so car tants homens son en error e en ira de son amat per peccat, per lo qual van ésser punits en lo foc infernal qui tots temps dura. Plorà lamic per son pruyme ab caritat, e dix a sos plors que li aportassen, de son amat, misericòrdia e perdó, per so que per son plorar pogués ajudar a son pruyme.

7. Venc vertut al amic ab justícia e ab les autres vertuts, per so que ploràs vertuosament e sens vici e peccat; e dix justícia que raó e dret es que amic qui ha ofès son amat, plor per contricció satisfacció e penetencia; e prudència dix al amic que si él no plora en est mon sos peccats, que no riurà en lautre. Fortitudo dix que plor de bona e vera amor es pus forts que de mala e falsa amor. Temprança dix que qui menuga trop e no plora en est mon per trop menjar, que en lautre plorarà per sobre endurar. Fe dix al amic que ploràs, per so car los seus servidors no son tants com los servidors de descreensa. Esperansa dix al amic que ploràs, per so car los homens estants en peccat cuyden ab ela esperar misericòrdia e perdó de son amat. Karitat dix al amic que ploràs, per so car ela es en tan pocs homens. Moltes d altres vertuts pregaren lamic que ploràs, axí com humilitat, quil pregà que ploràs, per so car son tants homes ergulhozes, e pasciencia, per so car ab ela no vensen los homes erguylhozes e irats.

2 Plorà lamic per los precs de vertuts, e cascuna làgrema fo vestida de vertuts.

8. Veritat dix al amic que la meses en sos uyls, per so que deia ixissen veres làgremes e plors, e que fos ver amador, e enemic de falsa amor e de ypocresía. Plorà lamic moltes làgremes e plors ab veritat: ac lamat pietat de lamic, al qual tramès per joyes montiplicació damor e amar, languiments suspirs làgremas e plors per sa amor.

9. En los plors de lamic volc glòria estar per so que lamic en ela pogués, ab plorar, reposar. Lexà lamic entrar e estar glòria en son plorar, e ac tant de repòs en ela, que molt major plaer avia en plorar per amor, que en sentir menjar ni durmir; e dix als amadors de bona amor, que plorar per bona amor està sejorn damor e solàs damic e amat.

10. Differencia damor dix al amic que la meses en sos plors, per so que . j. plor fos per amor e altre per temor e altre per paor, e que al p? or damor donàs més de làgremes que al plor de temor, e al plor de temor, que al plor de paor. Lamic dix a diferencia damor que lamat partex enaxí ses làgremes en sos plors, a sa volentat, com fa en les pelegrinacions indulgències.

11. Concordancia d amic e d amat dix al plorar de lamic ques concordàs ab membrar entendre e amar, car en contrarietat de tots . iij. ela no podia estar, ni él no poria ésser, sens ela, bo ni gran vcrtuós poderós e durable. Concordà plorar, en sí metex, membrar entendre e amar, per so que dél poguessen moltes làgremes ixir, e molts peccats e colpes poguessen delir. Entrà concordansa de membrar entendre e amar en lamic, e feu lamic tant plorar, que no podia menjar ni durmir.

12. Contrarietat d amor dix als uyls de lamic que no plorassen, car per plorar se destruhia veer, e per so car ploraven, escarnien los homens lamic, qui dehien que él plorava per falsia e per ypocresia e per so que pogués alcuns homes enganar e trair. Demanà lamic a concordansa d amor si consentria al conseilh que li donava contrarietat d amor. Concordansa damor conec que lamic no era forts en amor, e pregà lamat que ponís lamic qui temia plorar per sa amor. Poní lamat lamic montipÜcant en él suspirar e plorar, e feulo pus fortment a les gents escarnir.

13. Comensament damor volc comensar en los uyls de lamic noveles làgremes, per so que plorar pogués montiplicar. No ho volc lamic, car no li era semblant que sos uyls poguessen major plorar sostenir que aquel que sostenia. No volc comensament damor comensar en lo cor de lamic novels suspirs, e lamic perdé son plorar, e de sos uyls làgremes no pogren ixir; e lamic perdé lo plaer que sentia per plorar, e sentís lunyat damor e de son amat, e trobàs en trebayl e dolor; e ac tan gran paor de son amat, que no podia menjar ni dormir e estava pres de morir. Pregà lamic comensament damor que comensàs en son cor novcls suspirs, e que en sos uyls comensàs noveles làgremes a son plaer, e que li retés los antics suspirs e les antigues làgremes que perdudes avia.

14. En lo mig damor estava amar qui del mig loc del cor gitava suspirar, qui del mig de plorar gitava làgremes per amor del amat, al qual dix lamic que amar lo faiha estar en lo mig de sa amor, e suspirar en lo mig de son cor, e plorar en lo mig de sos uyls, e per aysò noi podia desamar ublidar ni ignorar.

15. En la fi damor volc lamic reposar, per so que sos uyls abundassen en làgremes e en plors; car l amic qui consira la fi damor, consira lonrament e lonor qui es degut a son amat; e cant veu fer honor a son amat, plora per amor, e can veu que les gents fan desonor a son amat, plora per dolor; e per aysò la fi damor es font de plorar e de làgremes.

16. Majoritat e menoritat volgren entrar en lo plorar de lamic: majoritat hi volia entrar per so que gitàs moltes làgremes per amor, e menoritat hi volc entrar per so que gitàs poques làgremes per amor. Lexà lamic entrar majoritat damor en son plorar, e no menoritat damor, per so que lamat e l amor aguessen molts servidors per plorar; e dix a egaltat damor que egualàs en él la major egaltat damar suspirar e plorar que pogués, car ab major egualtat de tots . iij. volia fer honor e servici a son honorable amat.

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩Lev.19.18 — You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.

Notes

  1. 1 ↩Old Catalan amafica'l / amaficació: Love softens or tenderizes the heart. Rendered here as softens / softening; Llull uses it as a technical love-allegory term for love's melting work on the heart.
  2. 2 ↩"que els entenen e amen" read as a hortatory content clause (urging hearers to understand and love), which fits the next sentence's refusal; a purely indicative reading is less likely here.
  3. 3 ↩"lescarnexen" read as fused "l'escarnexen" (they mock/scorn him).
  4. 4 ↩Catalan 'qui là creat a sa honor' may be read as 'which was created there for His honor' or as an elided perfect ('l'à creat' = 'He has created it'); rendered as creation for the Beloved's honor.
  5. 5 ↩'forsar' rendered as 'force' (compel/overpower); alternatives include 'compel' or 'overcome by force'.
  6. 6 ↩'honrament e honor' is a near-synonym pair; rendered as 'reverence and honor' to keep both terms without flattening them into one word.
  7. 7 ↩Old Catalan 'ac' here is the preterite of haver ('had'), not an additive connective; 'no poc plorar' is 'could not weep' (poc < poder).
  8. 8 ↩The subject of 'pren' ('receives') is not explicit; rendered as the Beloved, the nearer honor-bearing referent after 'son amat'. It could also be read as Love.
  9. 9 ↩Witness ends mid-phrase at 'ab la .'; continuous reading resumes in s3–s4 as 'ab la uyl' ('with one eye' / 'with the eye').
  10. 10 ↩Standalone 'j.' is almost certainly a line-break/print artifact between 'la' and 'uyl', yielding 'ab la uyl'. Left untranslated as a non-lexical fragment.
  11. 11 ↩Opening 'uyl' continues the broken phrase from s2–s3: 'ab la uyl' = 'with the eye' / 'with one eye'. Rendered as the continuation 'eye…' to keep one object per sentence ref.
  12. 12 ↩Catalan caritat rendered as charity (theological virtue clothing Will), not generic love; amic/amat kept as Lover/Beloved to preserve Llull's allegorical personae.
  13. 13 ↩Medieval penitential triad: contrition, satisfaction, and penance (Catalan contricció, satisfacció, penetencia).
  14. 14 ↩Catalan 'sobre endurar' rendered as excessive hardship or deprivation in the next life, contrasting this-world overeating.
  15. 15 ↩'cuyden ab ela esperar' taken as presumption: sinners misuse Hope while remaining in sin.
  16. 16 ↩Catalan deia is read as d'ella (“from her/them”), referring to Truth placed in the Friend’s eyes; the eyes then yield true tears.
  17. 17 ↩ac is read as hac (“had”), the common h-dropping preterite of haver in this text, not Latin additive ac.
  18. 18 ↩per joyes presents languishings, sighs, and tears as joys sent by the Beloved—paradoxical consolations of love.
  19. 19 ↩Old Catalan ac read as hac (“had”), matching the parallel in LlullArbreAmor.1.73.9.s3 (ac lamat pietat); not treated as a mere additive connective.
  20. 20 ↩sejorn rendered as “dwelling place” (sojourn/lodging of love); solàs as “solace.”
  21. 21 ↩Source 'j.' is the medieval Roman numeral for 1 (i.), introducing the first differentiated weeping.
  22. 22 ↩Catalan temor and paor are both fear-terms; rendered as 'dread' and 'fear' to keep Llull's three-way scale (love > dread > fear).
  23. 23 ↩Opening 'or damor' completes the prior broken 'al p?or damor' / 'al plor damor' ('to the weeping of love').
  24. 24 ↩Source 'iij.' is the medieval Roman numeral for 3 (iii.), completing 'tots iii' (all three: remembering, understanding, and loving).
  25. 25 ↩Source 'vcrtuós' read as intended 'virtuós' (virtuous).
  26. 26 ↩Feminine 'ela' taken as Concordance; masculine 'él' as the Lover. Continuous reading across s2–s4: in contrariety to all three, Concordance could not stand, nor could the Lover be good or great, virtuous, powerful, and lasting without her.
  27. 27 ↩Source 'durmir' read as intended 'dormir' (sleep).
  28. 28 ↩"sa amor" taken as the Beloved's love (His love). "ponís" rendered as "punish" (Old Catalan ponir/punir).
  29. 29 ↩Normalized "montipÜcant" read as "montiplicant" (multiplying), supported by neighboring "montiplicar" usage in this chapter.
  30. 30 ↩Source reading 'novcls' treated as 'novels' (new); an obvious typographical error in the normalized Catalan.
  31. 31 ↩Personified Amor abstractions retained as Loving (amar), sighing (suspirar), and weeping (plorar), matching Llull's allegory. 'noi podia' read as 'no i podia' / 'he could not'; 'desamar' kept as 'unlove' (cease to love) rather than a weaker paraphrase.
  32. 32 ↩Catalan fi damor is rendered as 'the end of love,' parallel to mig damor ('the middle of love') in the preceding section; in Llull's scholastic usage fi also carries the sense of purpose/final cause.
  33. 33 ↩lonrament e lonor: near-synonym pair kept as 'the honoring and the honor' to preserve both the act of honoring (onrament) and honor itself (onor).
  34. 34 ↩Catalan majoritat and menoritat are Llullian roots of love (paired with egaltat); rendered Majority and Minority as named technical agents, consistent with neighboring roots such as End and Mean.
  35. 35 ↩The normalized sentence breaks off after 'tots'; the following numeral 'iij.' and the next fragment likely continue the same clause.

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