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.
Its force is not circumscribed by any), and so possesses, beyond the celestial Intelligences,1 Its firmly fixed abode. For if all the branches of knowledge
Se eme belong to things that have being, and if their limits have reference to the existing world, then that which is beyond all Being must also be transcendent above all knowledge.?]
Sr It is greater than all Reason and all knowledge, and hath Its firm abode altogether beyond Mind and Being, and circumscribes, compacts, embraces and anticipates all things? while Itself is altogether beyond the grasp of them all, and cannot be reached by any perception, imagination, conjecture, name, discourse, apprehension, or understanding, how then is our Discourse concerning the Divine Names to be accomplished, since we see that the Super-Essential Godhead is unutterable and nameless? Now, as we said when setting forth our Outlines of Divinity, the One, the Unknowable, the Super-Essential, the Absolute Good (I mean the Trinal Unity of Persons possessing the same Deity and Goodness), ’tis impossible to describe or to conceive in Its ultimate Nature; nay, even the angelical communions of the heavenly Powers Therewith which we describe as either Impulsions or Derivations 4 from the Unknowable and blinding Goodness are themselves beyond utterance and knowledge, and belong to none but those angels who, in a manner beyond angelic knowledge, have been counted worthy thereof. And godlike Minds,! angelically ? entering (according to their powers) unto such states of union and being deified and united, through the ceasing of their natural activities, unto the Light Which surpasseth Deity, can find no more fitting method to celebrate its praises than to deny It every manner of Attribute? For by a true and supernatural illumination from their blessed union Therewith, they learn that It is the Cause of all things and yet Itself is nothing, because It super-essentially transcends them all. Thus, as for the Super-Essence of the Supreme Godhead (if we would define the Transcendence of its Transcendent Goodness *) it is not lawful to any lover of that Truth which is above all truth to celebrate It as Reason or Power or Mind or Life or Being, but rather as most utterly surpassing all condition, movement, life, imagination, conjecture, name, discourse, thought, conception, being, rest, dwelling, union, limit, infinity, everything that exists. And yet since, as the Subsistence ® of goodness, It, by the very fact of Its existence, is the Cause of all things, in celebrating the bountiful Providence of the Supreme Godhead we must draw upon the whole creation. For It is both the central Force of all
1 i. e. The Angels. I have throughout translated ὑπερουράνιος “celestial” instead of “super-celestial.” Presumably the meaning is “beyond the material sky,” or “celestial in a transcendent sense.”
2 The whole of this passage shows that there is a positive element in Unknowing.
3 παντῶν . . . mpoAnmTiKh—i. e. contains them eternally before their creation.
4 Gs εἴτε ἐπιβολὰς ere παραδοχὰς xpi pavai—i. e. according as we describe the act from above or below. God sends the impulse, the angels receive it.
Its force is not circumscribed by any) and so has Its firmly fixed abode beyond the celestial Intelligences.1 For if all branches of knowledge
belong to things that have being, and if their limits refer to the existing world, then that which is beyond all Being must also transcend all knowledge.2
If It is greater than all Reason and all knowledge, has Its firm abode altogether beyond Mind and Being, and circumscribes, compacts, embraces and anticipates all things,3 while Itself remaining altogether beyond the grasp of them all, so that It cannot be reached by any perception, imagination, conjecture, name, discourse, apprehension, or understanding, how then is our Discourse concerning the Divine Names to be accomplished, since we see that the Super-Essential Godhead is unutterable and nameless?
Now, as we said when setting out our Outlines of Divinity, the One, the Unknowable, the Super-Essential, the Absolute Good (I mean the Trinal Unity of Persons possessing the same Deity and Goodness) cannot be described or conceived in Its ultimate Nature. Indeed, even the angelic communions of the heavenly Powers with It, which we describe as either Impulsions or Derivations 4 from the Unknowable and blinding Goodness, are themselves beyond utterance and knowledge, and belong to none but those angels who, in a manner beyond angelic knowledge, have been counted worthy of them. And godlike Minds,1 angelically2 entering (according to their powers) into such states of union, and being deified and united, through the ceasing of their natural activities, with the Light that surpasses Deity, can find no more fitting way to celebrate its praises than to deny It every kind of Attribute.3 For by a true and supernatural illumination from their blessed union with It, they learn that It is the Cause of all things and yet Itself is nothing, because It super-essentially transcends them all.
Thus, as for the Super-Essence of the Supreme Godhead (if we would define the Transcendence of its Transcendent Goodness *), no lover of that Truth which is above all truth may celebrate It as Reason or Power or Mind or Life or Being; rather, it must be celebrated as most utterly surpassing all condition, movement, life, imagination, conjecture, name, discourse, thought, conception, being, rest, dwelling, union, limit, infinity, everything that exists. And yet since, as the Subsistence5 of goodness, It is, by the very fact of Its existence, the Cause of all things, in celebrating the bountiful Providence of the Supreme Godhead we must draw upon the whole creation. For It is both the central Force of all
1 I. e. the Angels. Throughout, I have translated ὑπερουράνιος as “celestial” rather than “super-celestial.” Presumably the meaning is “beyond the material sky,” or “celestial in a transcendent sense.”
2 This whole passage shows that there is a positive element in Unknowing.
3 παντῶν . . . mpoAnmTiKh, i. e. contains them eternally before their creation.
4 Gs εἴτε ἐπιβολὰς ere παραδοχὰς xpi pavai, i. e. depending on whether we describe the act from above or from below. God sends the impulse; the angels receive it.