第二章：解释灵魂说自己在通往联合之路上所经过的这黑夜的性质。
Chapter II: Explains the nature of this dark night through which the soul says that it has passed on the road to union.
在一个黑夜
On A Dark Night
我们可以说，灵魂通往与神联合所作的这段旅程〔更准确地说，是这段「经过」或「过渡」（tránsito）。〕之所以称为黑夜，有三个理由。第一个理由关乎灵魂出发之处，因为灵魂必须借着否定自己所拥有的一切世俗事物，逐渐剥夺自己对它们的欲望；〔直译：「在对它们的否定中」。〕这种否定与剥夺，对人的一切感官而言仿佛就是黑夜。第二个理由关乎中项，〔「中项」指旅程的中间或主要部分。〕或灵魂为达到这联合所必须行走的道路——即信心；信心对于理解力同样像黑夜一样黑暗。第三个理由关乎它所前往之处——即神；同样，神在今生对灵魂而言也是黑夜。这三种黑夜必须经过灵魂——或者更确切地说，灵魂必须经过它们——好使它能达到与神的联合。
We may say that there are three reasons for which this journey [More exactly, this passage’ or transition’ (tránsito).] made by the soul to union with God is called night. The first has to do with the point from which the soul goes forth, for it has gradually to deprive itself of desire for all the worldly things which it possessed, by denying them to itself; [Lit., in negation of them.‘] the which denial and deprivation are, as it were, night to all the senses of man. The second reason has to do with the mean, [By the mean’ is meant the middle, or main part, of the journey.] or the road along which the soul must travel to this union – that is, faith, which is likewise as dark as night to the understanding. The third has to do with the point to which it travels – namely, God, Who, equally, is dark night to the soul in this life. These three nights must pass through the soul – or, rather, the soul must pass through them – in order that it may come to Divine union with God.
2. 在圣多俾亚书中，这三种黑夜由三夜预表出来；按照天使所吩咐的，青年多俾亚必须经过这三夜，才可与自己的新妇联合。第一夜，天使吩咐他把鱼心放在火中焚烧；这表示那喜爱并系于世界事物的心。人若要开始走向神，就必须在神之爱的火中，把这心从一切受造之物中焚烧并炼净。在这炼净中，魔鬼便逃走，因为它只有当灵魂依附于形体和暂时之物时，才对灵魂有能力。
2. In the book of the holy Tobias these three kinds of night were shadowed forth by the three nights which, as the angel commanded, were to pass ere the youth Tobias should be united with his bride. In the first he commanded him to burn the heart of the fish in the fire, which signifies the heart that is affectioned to, and set upon, the things of the world; which, in order that one may begin to journey toward God, must be burned and purified from all that is creature, in the fire of the love of God. And in this purgation the devil flees away, for he has power over the soul only when it is attached to things corporeal and temporal.
3. 第二夜，天使告诉他，他将被接纳进入圣祖的陪伴中；他们是信心之父。因为，灵魂经过第一夜，即自我剥夺一切感官对象之后，便立刻进入第二夜，并单独安住于信心中；这排除的不是仁爱，而是由理解力获得的其他知识，正如我们以后将说明的；而这事并不属于感官。
3. On the second night the angel told him that he would be admitted into the company of the holy patriarchs, who are the fathers of the faith. For, passing through the first night, which is self-privation of all objects of sense, the soul at once enters into the second night, and abides alone in faith to the exclusion, not of charity, but of other knowledge acquired by the understanding, as we shall say hereafter, which is a thing that pertains not to sense.
4. 第三夜，天使告诉他，他将得到祝福，这祝福就是神；神借着第二夜，即信心，不断以如此隐秘而亲密的方式把自己传达给灵魂，以致他对灵魂又成为另一黑夜，因为这所说的传达远比其他那些更黑暗，正如我们马上将说明的。当这第三夜过去时，也就是神在灵内的传达完全成就时——这通常是在灵魂极大的黑暗中作成的——随后便是它与新妇联合，而新妇就是神的智慧。天使也同样对多俾亚说，当第三夜过去后，他应当在敬畏主中与自己的新妇联合；因为当这种对神的敬畏达到完全时，爱也达到完全，而这发生在灵魂借着其爱而完成转化之时。
4. On the third night the angel told him that he would obtain a blessing, which is God; Who, by means of the second night, which is faith, continually communicates Himself to the soul in such a secret and intimate manner that He becomes another night to the soul, inasmuch as this said communication is far darker than those others, as we shall say presently. And, when this third night is past, which is the complete accomplishment of the communication of God in the spirit, which is ordinarily wrought in great darkness of the soul, there then follows its union with the Bride, which is the Wisdom of God. Even so the angel said likewise to Tobias that, when the third night was past, he should be united with his bride in the fear of the Lord; for, when this fear of God is perfect, love is perfect, and this comes to pass when the transformation of the soul is wrought through its love.
5. 黑夜的这三部分全都是一个黑夜；但按黑夜的方式，它有三部分。第一部分，即感官的部分，可比作夜的开始，也就是事物开始从视线中淡去之时。第二部分，即信心，可比作午夜，完全黑暗。第三部分则像夜的终结，也就是神；这一部分如今已接近日光。为使我们更好地明白这一点，随着论述推进，我们将分别处理这些理由。
5. These three parts of the night are all one night; but, after the manner of night, it has three parts. For the first part, which is that of sense, is comparable to the beginning of night, the point at which things begin to fade from sight. And the second part, which is faith, is comparable to midnight, which is total darkness. And the third part is like the close of night, which is God, the which part is now near to the light of day. And, that we may understand this the better, we shall treat of each of these reasons separately as we proceed.