I would have liked to ask Hassein a great many more questions about the astral plane and its many curious forms of life, but we were now fast leaving it behind, and passing downwards through those lower spheres which I had partly explored before. We were traveling through space at a wonderful velocity, not quite with the rapidity of thought but at a speed difficult for the mind of mortal to conceive. Onward and still onward we swept, sinking ever lower and lower away from the bright spheres, and as we sank a certain sense of awe and expectancy crept over our souls and hushed our talk. We seemed to feel in advance the horrors of that awful land and the sorrows of its inhabitants.
I wanted to ask Hassein many more questions about the astral plane and its strange lifeforms, but we were quickly leaving it behind. We descended through the lower spheres I had partially explored before, moving through space at an incredible speed. Though not as fast as thought itself, our velocity was hard for a human mind to grasp. We continued our rapid descent, moving further from the bright spheres. As we sank lower, a feeling of awe and anticipation came over us, silencing our conversation. We seemed to sense the approaching horrors of that dreadful place and the misery of those who dwelled there.
And now I beheld afar off great masses of inky black smoke which seemed to hang like a pall of gloom over the land to which we were approaching. As we still floated on and down, these great black clouds became tinged with lurid sulphurous-looking flames as from myriads of gigantic volcanoes. The air was so oppressive we could scarcely breathe, while a sense of exhaustion, such as I had never experienced before, seemed to paralyze my every limb. At last our leader gave the order for us to halt, and we descended on the top of a great black mountain which seemed to jut out into a lake of ink, and from which we saw on the horizon that awful lurid country.
As we approached, I saw vast clouds of black smoke looming in the distance, casting a gloomy shadow over the land ahead. As we drifted closer, these dark masses became streaked with eerie, sulfurous flames, as if countless massive volcanoes were erupting. The air grew so thick it was hard to breathe, and an overwhelming fatigue unlike anything I'd ever felt before seemed to weigh down my entire body. Finally, our leader ordered us to stop, and we landed atop a massive black mountain that jutted into what looked like a lake of ink. From there, we gazed at the hellish landscape stretching out to the horizon.
Here we were to rest for a time, and here, too, we were to part from our friends who had so far escorted us upon our journey. After a simple repast consisting of various sustaining spiritual fruits and food which we had brought with us, our leader on behalf of the whole company offered up a short prayer for protection and strength, and then we all lay down upon that bleak mountain top to rest.
We stopped here to rest and say goodbye to the friends who had accompanied us on our journey so far. After a simple meal of nourishing spiritual foods we'd brought along, our leader said a brief prayer for everyone, asking for protection and strength. Then we all lay down to rest on the barren mountaintop.