Cave of Treasures

Historical source scan page 66

[Note: When still a boy, Abraham had no belief in idols, and, according to the Kebra Nagast (chapter xiii): When he was twelve years old his father sent him to sell idols. And Abraham said, ‘These are not gods that can make deliverance’; and he took away the idols to sell even as his father had commanded him. And he said unto those unto whom he would sell them, 'Do ye wish to buy goods that cannot make deliverance, things made of wood, and stone, and iron, and brass, which the hand of an artificer hath made?’ And they (the people) refused to buy the idols from Abraham he himself had defamed the images of his father. An old tradition says that Terah made idols of mud, and it is possible that some of these may be represented by the terra-cotta figures of gods and goddesses which have been found in such large numbers in recent years at Ur and other ancient sites in Babylonia.] And as he was returning he stepped aside from the road, and he set the images down, and looked at them, and said unto them, 'I wonder now if ye are able to do what I ask you at this moment, and whether ye are able to give me bread to eat or water to drink?’ And none of them answered him, for they were pieces of stone and wood; and he abused them and heaped revilings upon them, and they spake never a word. And he buffeted the face of one, and kicked another with his feet, and a third he knocked over and broke to pieces with stones, and he said unto them, 'If ye are unable to save yourselves from him that buffeteth you, and ye cannot requite with injury him that injureth you, how can ye be called "gods"? Those who worship you do so in vain, and as for myself I utterly despise you, and ye shall not be my gods.’ Then he turned his face to the East, and he stretched out his hands and said: Be Thou my God, O Lord, Creator of the heavens and the earth, Creator of the Sun and Moon, Creator of the sea and the dry land, Maker of the majesty of the heavens and the earth, and of that which is visible and that which is invisible; O Maker of the universe, be Thou my God. | place my trust in Thee, and from this day forth I will place my trust in no other save Thyself. And then there appeared unto him a chariot of fire which blazed, and Abraham was afraid, and fell on his face on the ground; and God said unto him: Fear thou not, stand upright. On the day of the birth of Abraham the house shone with a bright light. Many people fell down, and there was a cry in a loud voice, which said, "Woe is me! Woe is me! For he who shall crush my kingdom hath been born." And he who cried out wept, and described the events which should take place, saying, "It is he who shall burn down my 66 of 130