CHAPTER ONE

Hermes the Wise—may his glory be exalted—said in his discourse to his soul: O soul, exemplify and envision the intellectual meanings that I am presenting to you, which exist eternally. For what you have envisioned, you have comprehended, acquired, and become certain of, just as your certainty that "Living" is a genus for the species of Man, and that "Breathing" is a genus for the species of Living [beings], and that "Body" is a genus for the species of Breathing [beings], and that the "Ultimate Essence" is a genus for the species of Body.

It is also like your certainty that the straight is different from the crooked, and that the whole is greater than the part. And that water quenches thirst, being cold and moist by nature; and that fire burns and ripens, being hot and dry by nature.

As for all else that you have comprehended, witnessed, and directly perceived in the realm of the intellect and the realm of the senses, and what has been hidden from you, O soul, of that which I am clarifying to you: employ therein precise, sound, and intellectual representation—free from confusion and inconsistency.