No power can detain it
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ⲁⲩⲱ ⲥⲉⲛⲁⲣ̅ϩⲟⲧⲉ ⲉⲙⲁϣⲟ ⲛ̅ϭⲓⲡⲁⲣⲁⲗⲏⲙⲡⲧⲏⲥ ϩⲏⲧϥ̅ ⲙ̅ⲡⲟⲩⲟⲉⲓⲛ ⲛ̅ⲧⲉⲯⲩⲭⲏ ⲉⲧⲙ̅ⲙⲁⲩ· ⲁⲩⲱ ⲥⲉⲛⲁⲥⲱϣⲙ̅ ⲛ̅ϭⲓⲙ̅ⲡⲁⲣⲁⲗⲏⲙⲡⲧⲏⲥ ⲛ̅ⲥⲉϩⲉ ⲛ̅ⲥⲉⲕⲁⲧⲟⲟⲧⲟⲩ ⲉⲃⲟⲗ ⲉⲡⲧⲏⲣϥ̅· ⲉⲃⲟⲗ ϩⲛ̅ϩⲟⲧⲉ ⲙ̅ⲡⲛⲟϭ ⲛ̅ⲟⲩⲟⲉⲓⲛ ⲉⲛⲧⲁⲩⲛⲁⲩ ⲉⲣⲟϥ· ⲁⲩⲱ ⲧⲉⲯⲩⲭⲏ ⲉⲧϫⲓ ⲙ̅ⲡⲙⲩⲥⲧⲏⲣⲓⲟⲛ ⲙ̅ⲡⲓⲁⲧϣⲁϫⲉ ⲉⲣⲟϥ ⲥⲛⲁϩⲱⲗ ⲉⲡϫⲓⲥⲉ ⲉⲥⲟ ⲛ̅ⲟⲩⲛⲟϭ ⲛ̅ⲁⲡⲟⲣⲣⲟⲓⲁ ⲛ̅ⲟⲩⲟⲉⲓⲛ. ⲁⲩⲱ ⲛ̅ⲥⲉⲛⲁϣⲧⲁϩⲟⲥ ⲁⲛ ⲛ̅ϭⲓⲙ̅ⲡⲁⲣⲁⲗⲏⲙⲡⲧⲏⲥ ⲁⲩⲱ ⲛ̅ⲥⲉⲛⲁⲉⲓⲙⲉ ⲁⲛ ϫⲉⲁϣ ⲧⲉ ⲧⲉϩⲓⲏ ⲉⲧⲥ̅ⲛⲁⲃⲱⲕ ⲛ̅ϩⲏⲧⲥ̅ ⲉⲃⲟⲗ ϫⲉϣⲁⲥⲣ̅ⲟⲩⲛⲟϭ ϣⲗⲓϭ ⲛ̅ⲟⲩⲟⲉⲓⲛ ⲛ̅ⲥ̅ϩⲱⲗ ⲉⲡϫⲓⲥⲉ ⲁⲩⲱ ⲙⲉⲣⲉⲗⲁⲁⲩ ⲛ̅ⲇⲩⲛⲁⲙⲓⲥ ⲉϣϭⲙ̅ϭⲟⲙ ⲉⲕⲁⲧⲉⲭⲉ ⲙ̅ⲙⲟⲥ ⲉⲡⲧⲏⲣϥ̅· ⲟⲩⲇⲉ ⲣⲱ ⲛ̅ⲛⲉⲩⲉϣϩⲱⲛ ⲉⲣⲟϥ ⲉⲡⲧⲏⲣϥ̅·
And the receivers will be exceedingly afraid of the light of that soul, and the receivers will grow faint and fall down and desist altogether, out of fear of the great light which they have seen. And the soul which receives the mystery of the Ineffable will soar into the height, being a great stream of light. And the receivers will not be able to seize it, and will not know in what way the road runs that it will travel — for it becomes a great ray of light and soars into the height, and no power is able to detain it at all, nor indeed can they come near it at all.
The scene at the moment of death continues, and the roles reverse. The receivers — death's own officers, who a moment ago held the soul in custody — are now the ones who are afraid. They grow faint, fall down, and desist altogether before the light of the soul they were sent to collect. It soars into the height as a great stream of light, and the officials are left below with two failures: they cannot seize it, and they cannot even work out what road it took. No power can hold it down at all, nor so much as come near it.
The reversal is complete in one sentence: the collectors are afraid of what they came to collect. The receivers — styled with the Furies' adjective a passage ago — grow faint, fall down, and "desist," and the desist-word is the bodily idiom the book loves: they take their hands off, the same gesture by which the final chapter will describe the saved man who "does not leave his hand off" the mysteries. Death's officers let go; the initiate never does.
The sharper point hides in what the receivers do not know. They "will not know in what way the road runs that it will travel." The punishment-chapters were all itineraries — so many months at this desk, so many days at that gate, a fixed circuit through Amente and the chaos, every road mapped because every road belongs to the administration. This soul travels off the map. The verb for what no power can do to it is <em>katechein</em>, to hold down, to detain — the word Greek speakers used for arrest and legal seizure. The ascent is described entirely in administrative negatives: not seizable, not detainable, route not on file. Where chapter 84 measured the heights ratio by ratio, the freed soul is the one thing in the cosmos that leaves no measurement behind.
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