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.
draws all things together in a state of mutual interpenetration. And it is called “Beautiful” because It is All-Beautiful and more than Beautiful, and is eternally, unvaryingly, unchangeably Beautiful; incapable of birth or death or growth or decay; and not beautiful in one part and foul in another; nor yet at one time and not at another; nor yet beautiful in relation to one thing but not to another; nor yet beautiful in one place and not in another (as if It were beautiful for some but were not beautiful for others); nay, on the contrary, It is, in Itself and by Itself, uniquely and eternally beautiful, and from beforehand It contains in a transcendent manner the originating beauty of everything that is beautiful. For in the simple and supernatural nature belonging to the world of beautiful things,1 all beauty and all that is beautiful hath its unique and pre-existent Cause. From this Beautiful all things possess their existence, each kind being beautiful in its own manner, and the Beautiful causes the harmonies and sympathies and communities of all things. And by the Beautiful all things are united together and the Beautiful is the beginning of all things, as being the Creative Cause which moves the world and holds all things in existence by their yearning for their own Beauty. And It is the Goal of all things, and their Beloved, as being their Final Cause (for ’tis the desire of the Beautiful that brings them all into existence), and It is their Exemplar2 from which they derive their definite limits; and hence the Beautiful is the
1 The ultimate nature of all beautiful things is a simple and supernatural Element common to them all and manifested in them all. The law of life is that it has its true and ultimate being outside it. The true beauty of all beautiful things is outside them in God. Hence all great art (even when not directly religious) tends towards the Supernatural or has a kind of supernatural atmosphere.
2 mapaderyuatixov—i.e. the ultimate Law of their being, the Idea or Type.
draws all things together in a state of mutual interpenetration. And it is called “Beautiful” because It is All-Beautiful and more than Beautiful, and is eternally, unvaryingly, unchangeably Beautiful: incapable of birth or death, growth or decay; not beautiful in one part and ugly in another, nor at one time and not at another, nor beautiful in relation to one thing but not to another, nor beautiful in one place and not in another (as if It were beautiful for some but not for others).
No — on the contrary, It is, in Itself and by Itself, uniquely and eternally beautiful, and It contains beforehand, in a transcendent manner, the originating beauty of everything that is beautiful. For in the simple and supernatural nature belonging to the world of beautiful things,1 all beauty and all that is beautiful has its unique and pre-existent Cause.
From this Beautiful all things have their existence, each kind being beautiful in its own way; and the Beautiful causes the harmonies, sympathies and communities of all things. By the Beautiful all things are united together, and the Beautiful is the beginning of all things, as the Creative Cause which moves the world and holds all things in existence by their yearning for their own Beauty. And It is the Goal of all things and their Beloved, as their Final Cause (for it is the desire of the Beautiful that brings them all into existence); and It is their Exemplar,2 from which they derive their definite limits; and hence the Beautiful is the
1 The ultimate nature of all beautiful things is a simple and supernatural Element common to them all and manifested in them all. The law of life is that it has its true and ultimate being outside itself. The true beauty of all beautiful things lies outside them, in God. Hence all great art (even when not directly religious) tends towards the Supernatural, or has a kind of supernatural atmosphere.
2 mapaderyuatixov — i.e. the ultimate Law of their being, the Idea or Type.