ABSTRACT
Union and separation, among other states, apply to the lover while he is subject to Time (ch. 19). In each of these states the beloved's cruelty has a different effect: in union, the beloved tries through cruelty to extinguish the lover's self-hood (ch. 20), while in separation he derives comfort from her cruelty. However, when the lover's self is thoroughly extinguished and love takes complete possession of his being, then he becomes the master of Time, and at this level love itself is beyond increase and decrease.
