On the Divine Names and the Mystical Theology — trans. C. E. Rolt
The translator’s English as printed (C. E. Rolt). The original-language text is not held; names are romanised as the translator printed them.
6. And if God be called Similar (even as He is called “Same,” to signify that He is wholly and altogether like unto Himself in an indivisible Permanence) this appellation of “Similar” we must not repudiate. But the Sacred Writers tell us that the All-Transcendent God is in Himself unlike any being, but that He nevertheless bestows a Divine Similitude upon those that turn to Him and strive to imitate those qualities which are beyond all definition and understanding. And ’tis the power of the Divine Similitude that turneth all created things towards their Cause. These things, then, must be considered similar to God by virtue of the Divine Image and Process of Similitude working in them; and yet we must not say that God resembles them any more than we should say a man resembles his own portrait. For things which are co-ordinate may resemble one another, and the term “similarity” may be applied indifferently to either member of the pair; they can both be similar to one another through a superior principle of Similarity which is common to them both. But in the case of the Cause and Its effects we cannot admit this interchange. For It doth not bestow the state of similarity only on these objects and on those ; but God is the Cause of this condition unto all that have the quality of Similarity,1 and is the Fount of Very Similarity;2 and all the Similarity in the world possesses its quality through having a trace of the Divine Similarity and thus accomplishes the Unification of the creatures.
1 If anything derived this quality from some other source than God, that thing, instead of standing towards God in the relation of effect to Cause, would be co-ordinate with Him. But as it is, all things stand towards God in the relation of effect to Cause.
2 Vide supra on Very Existence, Very Life, Very Wisdom, etc.
6. And if God is called Similar (just as He is called “Same,” to signify that He is wholly and altogether like Himself in an indivisible Permanence), we must not reject this title “Similar.” But the Sacred Writers tell us that the All-Transcendent God is in Himself unlike any being, and yet that He bestows a Divine Similitude on those who turn to Him and strive to imitate those qualities which are beyond all definition and understanding. And it is the power of the Divine Similitude that turns all created things towards their Cause.
These things, then, must be considered similar to God by virtue of the Divine Image and Process of Similitude at work in them; and yet we must not say that God resembles them, any more than we would say that a man resembles his own portrait. For things which are co-ordinate may resemble one another, and the term “similarity” may be applied indifferently to either member of the pair: both can be similar to one another through a superior principle of Similarity common to them both.
But in the case of the Cause and Its effects we cannot admit this interchange. For It does not bestow the state of similarity only on these objects and on those; rather, God is the Cause of this condition in all that have the quality of Similarity,1 and is the Fount of Very Similarity;2 and all the Similarity in the world possesses its quality through bearing a trace of the Divine Similarity, and so accomplishes the Unification of the creatures.
1 If anything derived this quality from some source other than God, that thing, instead of standing towards God in the relation of effect to Cause, would be co-ordinate with Him. But as it is, all things stand towards God in the relation of effect to Cause.
2 See above on Very Existence, Very Life, Very Wisdom, etc.