Proslogion

Preface

At the pressing entreaties of some of my brethren I published a short work as an example of meditation on the meaning of faith, from the point of view of someone who, by silent reasoning in his own mind, inquires into things about which he is ignorant. When I reflected that this consisted in a connected chain of many arguments, I began to ask myself if it would be possible to find one single argument, needing no other proof than itself, to prove that God really exists, that he is the highest good, needing nothing, that it is he whom all things need for their being and well-being, and to prove whatever else we believe about the nature of God. I turned this over in my mind often and carefully; sometimes it seemed to me that what I was seeking was almost within my grasp; sometimes it eluded the keenness of my thought completely; so at last in desperation I was going to give up looking for something that it was impossible to find. But when I wanted to put the idea entirely out of my mind, lest it occupy me in vain and so keep out other ideas in which I could make some progress, then it began to force itself upon me with increasing urgency, however much I refused and resisted it. So one day, when I was tired out with resisting its importunity, that which I had despaired of finding came to me, in the conflict of my thoughts, and I welcomed eagerly the very thought which I had been so anxious to reject.

It seemed to me that this thing which had given me such joy to discover would, if it were written down, give pleasure to any who might read it. So I have written the following short work, dealing with this matter and with several others, from the point of view of someone trying to raise his mind to the contemplation of God, and seeking to understand what he believes. It does not seem to me that either this work or the one I mentioned before deserves to be called a book or to bear the name of its author; but I do not think they should be distributed without some sort of title, which might make those into whose hands they come read them, so I have given them these titles: the first, ‘An example of Meditation on the Meaning of Faith’; and the second, ‘Faith in Search of Understanding’.

Under these titles they have both already been transcribed by several people, and many of them (above all the reverend archbishop of Lyons, Hugh, apostolic delegate in Gaul, who has commanded this by his apostolic authority) have urged me to put my name on them. For the sake of greater convenience I have called the first book Monologion, that is, a soliloquy; and the other Proslogion, that is, a colloquy.

Chapter 1 In which the mind is aroused to the contemplation of God

Come now, little man,

turn aside for a while from your daily employment,

escape for a moment from the tumult of your thoughts.

Put aside your weighty cares,

let your burdensome distractions wait,

free yourself awhile for God

and rest awhile in him.

Enter the inner chamber of your soul,

shut out everything except God

and that which can help you in seeking him,

and when you have shut the door, seek him.

Now, my whole heart, say to God,

‘I seek your face,

Lord, it is your face I seek.’

O Lord my God,

teach my heart where and how to seek you,

where and how to find you.

Lord, if you are not here but absent,

where shall I seek you?

But you are everywhere, so you must be here,

why then do I not seek you?

Surely you dwell in light inaccessible –

where is it? and how can I

have access to light which is inaccessible?

Who will lead me and take me into it

so that I may see you there?

By what signs, under what forms, shall I seek you?

I have never seen you, O Lord my God,

I have never seen your face.

Most High Lord,

what shall an exile do

who is as far away from you as this?

What shall your servant do,

eager for your love, cast off far from your face?

He longs to see you,

but your countenance is too far away.

He wants to have access to you,

but your dwelling is inaccessible.

He longs to find you,

but he does not know where you are.

He loves to seek you,

but he does not know your face.

Lord, you are my Lord and my God,

and I have never seen you.

You have created and re-created me,

all the good I have comes from you,

and still I do not know you.

I was created to see you,

and I have not yet accomplished that for which I was made.

How wretched is the fate of man

when he has lost that for which he was created.

How hard and cruel was the Fall.

What has man lost, and what has he found?

What has he left, and what is left to him?

He has lost blessedness for which he was made

and he has found wretchedness for which he was not made.

He had left that without which there is no happiness,

and he has got that which is nothing but misery.

Once man did eat angels’ food,

and now he hungers for it;

now he eats the bread of sorrow,

which then he knew nothing of.

Ah, grief common to all men,

lamentation of all the sons of Adam.

Adam was so full he belched, we are so hungry we sigh;

he had abundance, and we go begging.

He held what he had in happiness and left it in misery;

we are unhappy in our wants and miserable in our desires,

and ah, how empty we remain.

Why did he not keep for us that which he possessed so easily,

and we lack despite such labour?

Why did he shut out our light

and surround us with darkness?

Why did he take away our life and give us the hurt of death?

From whence have we wretched men been pushed down,

to what place are we being pushed on?

From what position have we been cast down,

where are we being buried?

From our homeland into exile,

from the vision of God into our own blindness,

from the deathless state in which we rejoiced

into the bitterness of a death to be shuddered at.

Wretched exchange, so great a good for so much evil.

A grievous loss, a grievous sorrow,

the whole thing is grievous.

Alas, I am indeed wretched,

one of those wretched sons of Eve,

separated from God!

What have I begun, and what accomplished?

Where was I going and where have I got to?

To what did I reach out, for what do I long?

I sought after goodness, and lo, here is turmoil;

I was going towards God, and I was my own impediment.

I sought for peace within myself,

and in the depths of my heart I found trouble and sorrow.

I wanted to laugh for the joy of my heart,

and the pain of my heart made me groan.

It was gladness I was hoping for,

but sighs came thick and fast.

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O Lord, how long?

How long, Lord, will you turn your face from us?

When will you look upon us and hear us?

When will you enlighten our eyes and show us your face?

When will you give yourself to us again?

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Look upon us, Lord, and hear us,

enlighten us and show yourself to us.

Give yourself to us again that it may be well with us,

for without you it is ill with us.

Have mercy on us,

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as we strive and labour to come to you,

for without you we can do nothing well.

You have invited us to cry out, ‘Help us’:

I pray you, Lord, let me not sigh without hope,

but hope and breathe again.

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Let not my heart become bitter because of its desolation,

but sweeten it with your consolation.

When I was hungry I began to seek you, Lord;

do not let me go hungry away.

I came to you famished;

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do not let me go from you unfed.

Poor, I have come to one who is rich,

miserable, I have come to one who is merciful;

do not let me return empty and despised.

If before I eat I sigh,

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after my sighs give me to eat.

Lord, I am so bent I can only look downwards,

raise me, that I may look upwards.

My iniquities have gone over my head,

they cover me and weigh me down like a heavy burden.

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Take this weight, this covering, from me,

lest the pit close its mouth over me.

Let me discern your light,

whether from afar or from the depths.

Teach me to seek you,

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and as I seek you, show yourself to me,

for I cannot seek you unless you show me how,

and I will never find you

unless you show yourself to me.

Let me seek you by desiring you,

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and desire you by seeking you;

let me find you by loving you,

and love you in finding you.

I confess, Lord, with thanksgiving,

that you have made me in your image,

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so that I can remember you, think of you, and love you.

But that image is so worn and blotted out by faults,

so darkened by the smoke of sin,

that it cannot do that for which it was made,

unless you renew and refashion it.

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Lord, I am not trying to make my way to your height,

for my understanding is in no way equal to that,

but I do desire to understand a little of your truth

which my heart already believes and loves.

I do not seek to understand so that I may believe,

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but I believe so that I may understand;

and what is more,

I believe that unless I do believe I shall not understand.

Chapter 2 That God really exists

Now, Lord, since it is you who gives understanding to faith, grant me to understand as well as you think fit, that you exist as we believe, and that you are what we believe you to be. We [160] believe that you are that thing than which nothing greater can be thought. Or is there nothing of that kind in existence, since ‘the fool has said in his heart, there is no God’? But when the fool hears me use this phrase, ‘something than which nothing greater can be thought’, he understands what he hears; and what he [165] understands is in his understanding, even if he does not understand that it exists. For it is one thing to have something in the understanding, but quite another to understand that it actually exists. It is like a painter who, when he thinks out beforehand what he is going to create, has it in his understanding, but he does [170] not yet understand it as actually existing because he has not yet painted it. But when he has painted it, he both has it in his understanding and actually has it, because he has created it. So the fool has to agree that the concept of something than which nothing greater can be thought exists in his understanding, since [175] he understood what he heard and whatever is understood is in the understanding. And certainly that than which nothing greater can be thought cannot exist only in the understanding. For if it exists only in the understanding, it is possible to think of it existing also in reality, and that is greater. If that than which [180] nothing greater can be thought exists in the understanding alone, then this thing than which nothing greater can be thought is something than which a greater can be thought. And this is clearly impossible. Therefore there can be no doubt at all that something than which a greater cannot be thought exists both in [185] the understanding and in reality.

Chapter 3 That which it is not possible to think of as not existing

This is so truly, that it is not possible to think of it not existing. For it is possible to think of something existing which it is not possible to think of as not existing, and that is greater than something that can be thought not to exist. If that than which nothing [190] greater can be thought, can be thought of as not existing, then that than which nothing greater can be thought is not the same as that than which nothing greater can be thought. And that simply will not do. Something than which nothing greater can be thought so truly exists that it is not possible to think of it as not [195] existing.

This being is yourself, our Lord and God. Lord my God, you so truly are, that it is not possible to think of you as not existing. And rightly so. For if someone’s mind could think of something better than you, the creature would rise higher than its creator [200] and would judge its creator; which is clearly absurd. For whatever exists except you alone can be thought of as not existing. Therefore you alone of all most truly are, and you exist most fully of all things. For nothing else is as true as that, and therefore it has less existence. So why does the fool say in his heart, ‘there is [205] no God’, when it is perfectly clear to the reasoning mind that you exist most fully of all? Why, except that he is indeed stupid and a fool?

Chapter 4 That what the fool said in his heart is something that it is not possible to think

Now how has he ‘said in his heart’ what it is not possible to think; for how could he avoid thinking that which he ‘said in his [210] heart’, for to say in one’s heart is to think. But if he really did, or rather because he really did, both think, because he said in his heart, and not say in his heart, because he was not able to think, then there is not only one way of saying in one’s heart and thinking. For in a way one thinks a thing when one thinks the [215] word that signifies the thing; but one thinks it in another way when the thing itself is understood. So in one way it is possible to entertain the concept that God does not exist, but not in the other way. For no one who truly understands that which God is, can think that God does not exist, though he may say those words [220] in his heart, either without any, or with a special, meaning. For God is that than which nothing greater can be thought. Whoever truly understands this, understands that he is of such a kind of existence that he cannot be thought not to exist. So whoever understands this to be the nature of God, cannot think of him as [225] not existing.

Thank you, good Lord, thank you, for it was by your gift that I first believed, and now by your illumination I understand; if I did not want to believe that you existed, still I should not be able not to understand it. [230]

Chapter 5 God is whatever it is better to be than not to be; he exists in himself alone; and he creates everything else out of nothing

What are you, then, Lord God, you than whom nothing greater can be thought? What are you but that which exists alone over all things, and has made everything else out of nothing? For whatever is not that, is something less than can be thought; but this cannot be thought about you. Then what good can be lacking [235] to the highest good, through whom all other good exists? So you are just, true, blessed, and whatever it is better to be than not to be. For it is better to be just than unjust, blessed than not blessed.

Chapter 6 How he can be perceived, though he is not a body

Indeed it is better to be capable of perception, omnipotent, [240] merciful, and impassible, than not to be so; but how are you able to perceive if you are not a body, how are you omnipotent if you cannot do all things, and how can you be compassionate and beyond passion at the same time? For if only that which relates to the body can perceive things, since the senses are in the body [245] and concerned with it, how can he perceive, when he is not a body but the highest spirit, which is better than any body?

But if to perceive is nothing else but to know, or related to knowing, or if one perceives by knowing according to the appropriate sense, for instance, colours by seeing, tastes by [250] tasting – it is not inappropriate to say that whatever in some way is perceived, is also in some way known. Thus, Lord, although you do not have a body, you truly perceive in the highest way, for you know all things supremely, though not through the bodily senses like an animal. [255]

Chapter 7 How he is omnipotent, though there are many things he cannot do

But how can you be omnipotent if you cannot do all things? How can you do all things, if you cannot be corrupted, or lie, or make false what is true – which would be to make what is into nonbeing – and so forth? If this is so, how can you do all things?

Or is it that these things proceed not from power but from [260] powerlessness? For whoever can do these things, is able to do that which is harmful to him and which he should not do. And the more he can do these things, so much the more will adversity and perversity be in him, and he will be less opposed to them. Therefore he who can do these things, does them not by power [265] but by powerlessness. It is not said that he can do them because he is able to, but because of his powerlessness another can do them in him; or it is meant in some other way, as many other words are used improperly. For instance we use ‘to be’ instead of ‘not to be’, and ‘to do’, when we mean ‘not to do’, or ‘to do [270] nothing’. So we often say when someone denies that something exists, ‘that is as you say it is’, when it would be more correct for us to say, ‘it is not as you say it is not’. We also say, ‘he is sitting’, just as we say, ‘he is doing something’; or ‘he is resting’, just as we say ‘he is doing something’. But to sit is non-doing, [275] and to rest is to do nothing. So when we say that someone has the power to do or suffer something which is not good for him or which he ought not to do, by ‘power’ we really mean ‘powerlessness’. For the more someone has ‘power’ in that sense, the more power adversity and perversity have over him, and he is the more [280] powerless against them. So, Lord God, you are in fact more truly omnipotent because you cannot do anything through powerlessness, and nothing has power over you.

Chapter 8 How he is both compassionate and beyond passion

But how can you be at the same time both compassionate and beyond passion? If you are beyond passion, you cannot suffer [285] with anyone; if you cannot share suffering, your heart is not made wretched by entering into the sufferings of the wretched, which is what being compassionate is. But if you are not compassionate, where does so much consolation for those who are wretched come from? [290]

How then, Lord, can you be compassionate and yet not compassionate, unless you are compassionate from our point of view and not from yours? According to our meaning, not according to yours? When you look upon us in our wretchedness, we experience the effect of your compassion, but you do not experience [295] the emotion. So you are compassionate, when you save wretches, and pardon those who sin against you; but you are not compassionate because you do not experience the feeling of compassion for wretchedness.

Chapter 9 How he who is entirely and supremely righteous spares the wicked; and that it is right for him to have compassion on the wicked

If you are entirely and supremely righteous, how can you spare [300] the wicked? How does the entirely and supremely righteous one do something unrighteous? How can it be right to give eternal life to one who deserves eternal death? God of goodness, good to both good and wicked, how can you save the wicked, if it is not right to do so, and you cannot do anything that is not right? [305]

Because your goodness is beyond comprehension, is this matter hidden in the inaccessible light wherein you dwell? Truly the source whence flows the stream of your compassion is hidden in the deepest and most secret place of your goodness. For in being entirely and supremely righteous, even in this you [310] are kind to the wicked, just because your goodness is entire and supreme. For you would be less good if you were kind to none of the wicked, for better is he who is good to both good and evil men, than he who is good only to good men. And better is he who is good to the wicked by both punishing and sparing them, [315] than he who only punishes them. So you are compassionate because you are entirely and supremely good. And although one can see why you should deal out good to the good and bad to the bad, what is indeed to be wondered at is why you who are entirely righteous and want for nothing should give good gifts to [320] your wicked and guilty sons. How deep is your goodness, O God. The source of your compassion is seen, but is not seen clearly; whence the stream flows is known, but it is not fully known whence it springs. It is the fullness of your goodness that makes you loving towards those who sin against you, but why this [325] should be so is hidden in the depths of your goodness. For even granted that it is out of your goodness that you deal out good to the good and bad to the bad, yet the consideration of justice would also seem to require this. But when you give good things to the wicked, we know it is because the highest good has willed [330] to do it, but we wonder why the highest justice was able to do it.

Ah, from what generous love and loving generosity

compassion flows out to us!

Ah, what feelings of love should we sinners have

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towards the unbounded goodness of God!

For you save the righteous

who are commended by their righteousness,

and you set free those

who by their unrighteousness are condemned;

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the one by the help of what they have deserved,

the other in spite of what they have deserved.

In those you look to find the good you gave them;

in these you overlook the evil which you hate.

Ah, boundless goodness,

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far beyond all understanding,

on me be your compassion

which comes from such generosity!

Let that which flows from you, flow into me.

Spare me out of mercy,

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lest you take vengeance out of justice.

It is hard to understand

how your compassion is no different

from your righteousness,

but it is essential to believe

that it is in no way opposed to righteousness,

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for it flows from goodness,

which is nothing without righteousness

and even coincides with it.

For you are compassionate

because you are entirely good,

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and you are not entirely good

unless you are entirely righteous.

So you are compassionate

because you are entirely righteous.

O righteous and compassionate God,

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whose light I seek,

help me to understand what I am saying!

Truly you are compassionate because you are entirely righteous.

Does not your compassion then proceed from your justice? Do you not then spare the wicked out of justice? If this is so, Lord, teach me how it can be so. Does justice lie in this, that you [370] are good in this way so that you cannot be conceived to be better, and you act with such power, so that you cannot be thought to be more powerful? What is more just than that? But that would not be so, if you were good only in punishment and not in forgiveness, or if you made good men only out of the non-good, and not [375] out of the wicked. So it is just that you should spare the wicked and make good out of bad. Finally, what is not done out of justice, ought not to be done, and what ought not to be done is unjustly done. If it is not right for you to have compassion on the wicked, you ought not to do it; and if you ought not to be com- [380] passionate, it is unjust for you to be so. If it is wrong to say that, then it is right to believe that you have compassion on the wicked with justice.

Chapter 10 How it is right for him to both punish and pardon the wicked

It is also right that you should punish the wicked. For what is more just than that the good should receive good and the bad [385] bad? How then is it just for you to punish the wicked, and also just for you to pardon the wicked?

Is the solution that out of justice you in one way punish the wicked and in another way you spare them? When you punish the wicked, this is just, because it is what they deserve; but when [390] you pardon them, this is just, not because of their deserts, but because it assorts well with your goodness. For in sparing the wicked you are just according to your own nature, not according to ours; in the same way as when we say you are compassionate it is not according to your nature but according to ours. When we [395] say you are compassionate towards us we do not mean you experience the sentiment of compassion, but that we experience compassion as feeling; and when you save those whom with justice you might have deserted, you are just not because you give us our due, but because you act in accordance with your nature [400] as being entirely good. So there is no inconsistency in saying that it is just both for you to punish and to pardon.

Chapter 11 How ‘all the ways of the Lord are mercy and truth’, and yet ‘the Lord is righteous in all his ways’

But does it not also belong to your very nature, Lord, to exercise justice in punishing the wicked? It is just for you to exercise such justice, for you cannot be thought to be more just. You [405] would in no wise be so if you render good to the good and not bad to the bad. For more just is he who deals out what they deserve to both good and bad, than he who rewards only the good. So, just and merciful God, you act according to the justice inherent in your nature both when you punish and when you [410] pardon. Truly, ‘all the ways of the Lord are mercy and truth’, and ‘the Lord is righteous in all his ways’. And this is not inconsistent. For it would not be right for those to be saved whom you choose to punish; and it would not be right that those whom you choose to pardon should be condemned. For the only thing [415] that is just, is what you will; and the only thing that is unjust, is what you do not will. So your compassion is derived from your righteousness, for it is right that you should be good in this way, that you might be good in forgiving. Perhaps that is why he who is entirely just can will good towards the wicked. But if in some [420] way it is possible to grasp the reason why you can will to save the wicked, reason certainly cannot comprehend why through your supreme goodness you should save some, and through your supreme justice condemn others, when both are equally evil.

So in fact you can perceive and you are all powerful; you are [425] compassionate and you cannot suffer; just as you are alive, wise, good, blessed, eternal, and whatever it is better to be than not to be.

Chapter 12 That he is the very life which he lives and the same is true of other attributes

Clearly, whatever you are, you are in your self; you are not derived from another. You are the very life by which you live, the [430] knowledge by which you know, the goodness by which you are good, and so forth.

Chapter 13 How he alone is without limits or time, yet other spirits also are without limits and time

Everything closed in by time or place in any way is less than that which no law of place or time constrains. Since nothing is greater than you, no place or time limits you, but you are always and [435] everywhere. Because I can say that only about you, you alone know no bounds of place or time. How then can it be said that other spirits are unlimited and eternal?

You alone of all things know no ending, just as you knew no beginning, so you alone are eternal. But how are you alone with- [440] out limits? Is it that compared to you the created spirit is limited, but compared to the body it is unlimited? Certainly that which when it is entirely in one place cannot be at the same time somewhere else, is in every way limited; and this is the case only with bodies. That is truly unlimited which is everywhere at [445] once; and this is understood to be true of you alone. That which when it is entirely in one place can also be entirely in another place, but not in every place, is both limited and unlimited; and that is the case with created spirits. For if the soul were not wholly in each part of its body, it would not perceive wholly in [450] each of them. Thus, Lord, you are unlimited and eternal in a special way, although other spirits are also unlimited and eternal.

Chapter 14 How and why God is both seen and not seen by those who seek him

O my soul,

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have you found what you were looking for?

I was seeking God,

and I have found that he is above all things,

and that than which nothing greater can be thought.

I have found him to be

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life and light, wisdom and goodness,

eternal blessedness and the bliss of eternity,

existing everywhere and at all times.

If I have not found my God,

what is it that I have found and understood

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so truly and certainly?

But if I have found him,

why do I not experience what I have found?

Lord God,

if my soul has found you,

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why has it no experience of you?

If I have not found you,

what is this light and truth that I have found?

How did I understand all this,

except by the light and the truth?

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How could I understand anything at all about you,

except by your light and your truth?

So if I see the light and the truth

I have seen you.

If I have not seen you

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I have not seen the light and the truth.

Or is it that I both saw light and truth,

and also did not see you,

because I only saw you in a certain degree,

and not as you are?

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O Lord my God,

my Creator and my Re-creator,

my soul longs for you.

Tell me what you are, beyond what I have seen,

so that I may see clearly what I desire.

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I strive to see more,

but I see nothing beyond what I have seen,

except darkness.

Or rather I do not see darkness

which is no part of you,

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but I see that I cannot see further

because of my own darkness.

Why is this, Lord?

Are my eyes darkened by my weakness,

or dazzled by your glory?

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The truth is, I am darkened by myself

and also dazzled by you.

I am clouded by my own smallness

and overwhelmed by your immensity;

I am restricted by my own narrowness

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and mastered by your wideness.

How great is that light from which shines out

every truth that lightens the reasoning mind!

How wide is that truth

in which is everything that is true,

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and outside which is nothingness and falsehood!

How boundless is that which in its single gaze

sees all created things,

and by whom and through whom and how

they were created out of nothing!

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What purity, what simplicity,

what certainty and splendour, are here!

It is indeed more than a creature can understand!

Chapter 15 That he is greater than it is possible to think

Lord, you are then not only that than which nothing greater can be thought; you are something greater than it is possible to think about. For since it is possible to think that this could exist, if you [520] are not that thing, then a greater than you can be thought; and that will not do.

Chapter 16 That this is the ‘light inaccessible in which he dwells’

In truth, Lord,

this is that light inaccessible in which you dwell.

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Nothing can pierce through it to see you there.

I cannot look directly into it,

it is too great for me.

But whatever I see, I see through it,

like a weak eye

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that sees what it does by the light of the sun,

though it cannot look at the sun itself.

My understanding cannot take it in,

it is too bright, I cannot receive it;

the eye of my soul

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cannot bear to turn towards it for too long.

It is dazzled by its glory, mastered by its fullness,

crushed by its immensity, confounded by its extent.

Light, entire and inaccessible!

Truth, whole and blessed!

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How far you are from me who have come so close to you.

How remote you are from my sight,

while I am thus present in your sight.

Everywhere you are entirely present,

and I cannot see you.

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In you I move and have my being,

and I cannot come to you.

You are within me and around me,

and I have no experience of you.

Chapter 17 That in God, in his own unutterable way, are harmony, smell, taste, softness, beauty

Still, Lord, you hide from my soul in your light and beauty, and therefore it still lives in darkness and in misery. I look all round, [550] but I do not see your beauty. I listen, but I do not hear your harmony. I smell, but I do not gather your fragrance. I taste, but do not know your savour. I touch, but do not feel your yielding. For, Lord God, it is in your own unutterable manner that you have these things; you have given them to what you have [555] created in a manner which can be felt, but the senses of my soul have been hardened, dulled, and blocked by the ancient sickness of sin.

Chapter 18 That there are no parts in God or in his eternity, which is himself

I seek for joy and gladness, and once again there is confusion; sorrow and grief stand in the way. My soul was hoping to be [560] filled, and once again it is overcome with need. I was striving to be filled, and now I hunger all the more. I tried to rise up to the light of God, and I have fallen back into the darkness of myself. Or rather I have not only fallen into it, I feel myself surrounded by it. ‘Before my mother conceived me’ I fell into it, I was conceived [565] in it, and when I was born it wrapped me round. In fact we all fell once in him ‘in whom we have all sinned’. There was that which he held easily, and unhappily lost for us and for himself; in him we have all lost it, and when we want to seek it, we are ignorant of it; when we look for it, we do not find it; when we [570] find it, it is not what we were looking for. Help me, ‘according to your goodness’, Lord. ‘I have sought your face; your face, Lord, will I seek; hide not your face from me’. Raise me from myself to you. Cleanse, heal, make keen, illuminate the eye of my inner being, so that I may see you. Let my soul gather together [575] all its powers, and direct its whole understanding towards you, Lord.

What are you, Lord, what are you,

What shall my heart understand you to be?

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You are in very truth, life, wisdom and truth,

You are goodness, blessedness, eternity and all true good.

So many things you are; my narrow thought

Cannot behold them in a single glance

In order to delight in all at once.

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So, Lord, how are you all these things?

Is each a part of you, or rather, is each wholly you?

For anything conjoined from several parts

Is not entirely one, but somehow plural and divided from itself,

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It can be broken up, in fact or in the mind; such things

Are alien to the one than whom naught better can be thought.

No parts therefore are in you, Lord,

You are not many, you are so much one

And coextensive with yourself that nothing in you [595] is dissimilar;

For you are unity that cannot be divided by the mind.

Life, wisdom and the rest, are then not parts of you

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But all are one and wholly what you are, as all are in the others.

Therefore since parts are not in you or your eternity,

No part of you or your eternity

Is anywhere at any time,

But whole and everywhere at every time

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Yourself and your eternity exist as one.

Chapter 19 That he is neither place nor time, but all is in him

‘To have been’ is not ‘to be in the future’; ‘to be’ is not ‘to have been’ or ‘to be in the future’; yet through eternity you have been, and are, and will be. How is it that your eternity is always a whole?

Is it that in your eternity nothing is past in the sense that it is [610] not now, or future, as though it were not already existing? So it is not that you existed yesterday, or will exist tomorrow, but that yesterday, today, and tomorrow, you simply are. Or rather, you exist neither yesterday, today, nor tomorrow, but you exist directly right outside time. For yesterday, today, and tomorrow [615] are nothing else but time; you however, though nothing can be without you, are not in place or time; but all are in you. Nothing holds you, but you hold all things.

Chapter 20 That he is before and beyond all eternity

You then fill and enfold all things, you are before and beyond all things. You are before all things because before they were, you [620] already existed. In what way are you beyond all things? How are you beyond those things that have no ending?

Is it that without you they would not exist at all, while even if they return to nothing, your existence is in no way less? That is one way in which you are beyond them. Is it that they can be [625] thought to have an end, but that cannot in any way be thought of you? In that way they do indeed have an end and you do not. And clearly that which does not have an end is beyond that which has some kind of end. In that way you go beyond even eternal things, since your eternity and theirs is entirely present [630] to you; while they do not have their eternity that is still to come, nor do they now have what for them is past. Thus you are always beyond them, for that which they have not reached is where you always are, or rather it is always present to you.

Chapter 21 Whether this is ‘the age of the age’ or ‘ages of ages’

Is this then ‘the age of the age’ or ‘ages of ages’? Just as the age [635] of time contains all temporal things, so your eternity contains the ages of time. Because of its undivided unity this is an age; and because of its unlimited immensity, it is also ages. You are so great, Lord, that all things are filled by you and are in you; but you yourself have no dimension of space, so that there can be no [640] middle or half or other part in you.

Chapter 22 That he alone is what he is and who he is

Lord, you alone are what you are and who you are. For that thing is not entirely itself that is one thing as a whole, and another in its part, and in which there is that which can change. That thing does not strictly and absolutely exist that began to [645] exist out of nothing, that can be thought of as not existing, and that can return to not existing unless it subsists in something else, and that does not now have what it was before, and does not yet have what it will be in the future. You are what you are, truly, for whatever you are at any time and in any way, [650] that you are entirely and for ever.

You are that being who exists truly and simply, because you neither were nor will be but always already are, nor can you be thought not to be at any time. And you are life and light, wisdom and blessedness, eternity and many other such good [655] things, indeed you yourself are nothing other than the one and highest good, entirely sufficient to yourself, needing nothing, but he whom all things need for their being and well-being.

Chapter 23 That this good is equally Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; and that this is the one Being necessary, which is entirely and wholly and solely good

God the Father, you are this good; this good is your word, that is, your Son. For in the word which you yourself utter, there can [660] be nothing other than yourself, or anything greater or less than you. For your word is true just as you are true, and so it is the truth that is you yourself and no other. You are one, and from you nothing can be born except yourself. And this is the one love, between you and your Son – the Holy Spirit which proceeds [665] from you both. This love is nothing less than you and your Son; for your love for him and he for you are as great as you are. That which is no different from you and him is not something other than you and him, for there cannot proceed from the height of your oneness anything that is not yourself. So Father, [670] Son, and Holy Spirit is wholly as Trinity what each is in himself; for each is none other than the highest single unity and the highest unity of persons, which can neither be multiplied nor made other.

‘Moreover, one thing is necessary,’ This is that one thing [675] necessary, which contains every good, or rather which is wholly, uniquely, entirely, and solely, good.

Chapter 24 Surmises about the nature and extent of this good

Now arouse yourself, my soul, attend with all your mind, and think as much as you can about the nature and extent of so great a good. For if each good thing is delightful, think carefully how [680] delightful must be that good which holds within it the joy of every good, and not such a good as we experience in created things, but as different as Creator is from creature. For if life that is created is good, how good must the life of the Creator be? If salvation that is wrought is joyful, how joyful must that salvation [685] be that saves all things? If the wisdom that knows everything that is made is lovable, how lovable must that wisdom be that made all things out of nothing? Finally, since there is so much and such deep delight in delightful things, how much better and deeper is the delight which is in him who made these delights? [690]

Chapter 25 Of the good that belongs to those who enjoy it, and how great it is

He who would enjoy this good, what will be his and what will not be his? He will have whatever he wants, and what he does not want he will not have. There will be those goods of body and soul, such as ‘the eye has not seen, nor the ear heard, nor has the heart of man’ understood. So why do you wonder about so, little [695] man, seeking goods for your body and soul? Love that one good in which are all goods, and it suffices. Desire that one good that is every good, and that is enough. What does my flesh love, what does my soul desire? Whatever you love, whatever you desire, it is there, it is there indeed. [700]

If beauty delights you, ‘the just shall shine as the sun’. If you enjoy that speed, strength, and freedom of the body that nothing can withstand, ‘they will be like the angels of God’, for ‘that which was sown a natural body, shall rise as a spiritual body’, by a power beyond nature. If it is a long and healthy life [705] you desire, there is there a healthy eternity and an eternity of health, since ‘the just will live for ever’, and ‘the salvation of the just is from the Lord’. If you want abundance, they shall be satisfied ‘when the glory of God shall appear’. If it is drink you desire, ‘they will drink of the fullness of the house of God’. If it [710] is melody, there the choirs of angels sing together unceasingly before God. If you delight in any pleasure that is not impure but pure, ‘they shall drink from the torrent of the pleasures’ of God. If it is wisdom you crave, the wisdom of God himself will show itself to them. If it is friendship that delights you, they will love [715] God more than themselves, and each other as themselves; God will love them more than they love themselves, because it is through him that they have love for him and themselves and one another; and it is through his own self that God loves both himself and them. If your joy is in unity, there will be one will for [720] them all, for they will have nothing except the one will of God. If it is power you want, their wills will be all powerful just like God’s will. For as God can do what he wills in his own power, so through him they will be able to do what they will; for they will want nothing but his will, and therefore he will want whatever [725] they want; and what God wills needs must be. If it is honour and riches that you aim at, God will set his good and faithful servants over many things, even more, they will be called and will be ‘gods’ and ‘sons of God’; and where his Son is they will be also, ‘heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ’. If it is true security that [730] you long for, that security, or rather that good, will never in any way fail them, for they certainly will not lose it of their own free will, and the God who loves them will not take it away against their will from those who love him; and there is nothing more powerful than God, which could separate him and them against [735] their will.

Where there is such and so great a good, how rich and great must be the joy! If man abounded in all these things, how great would be the joy of his heart, that needy heart, well-versed in, indeed overwhelmed by, suffering. Question within yourself, [740] could you hold the joy of so great a bliss? But surely if another whom you loved in every way as yourself, had that same bliss, your joy would be double, for you would rejoice no less for him than for yourself. And if two or three or many more had this same blessedness, you would rejoice for each of them as much as [745] you do for yourself, if you loved each one as your self. So in that perfection of charity of countless blessed angels and men, where no one loves another any less than he loves himself, they will all rejoice for each other as they do for themselves. If the heart of man can scarcely hold the joy that comes to him from so great a [750] good, how will it hold so many and such great joys? In so far as each one loves another, so he will rejoice in the other’s good; and as in that perfection of happiness, each one will love God incomparably more than he loves either himself or others, so he will rejoice more and without regard in the happiness of God than [755] in that of himself and of everyone else. But if they love God with their whole heart, mind, and soul, while as yet their whole heart, mind, and soul is not equal to the dignity of that love, truly they will rejoice with their whole heart, and mind, and soul, so that their whole heart, mind, and soul will not suffice for the fullness [760] of their joy.

Chapter 26 Whether this is the ‘fullness of joy’ promised by the Lord

My Lord and my God,

my joy and the hope of my heart,

tell my soul if this is that joy

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which you spoke to us about through your Son,

‘Ask and you will receive that your joy may be full.’

For I have found a fullness of joy

that is more than full.

It is a joy that fills the whole heart, mind, and soul,

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indeed it fills the whole of a man,

and yet joy beyond measure still remains.

The whole of that joy cannot enter into those who rejoice,

but those who rejoice can enter wholly into that joy.

Speak, Lord, to your servant, in the depths of his heart,

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tell him if this is that joy that your servants enter into

when they enter into ‘the joy of their Lord’?

But, of course,

that joy in which your chosen ones will rejoice,

‘neither has eye seen, nor ear heard,

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nor has it entered into the heart of man’.

So as yet, Lord, I have not spoken about or understood

how greatly your blessed ones rejoice.

They will rejoice as much as they love,

and they will love as much as they know.

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How much will they know you, Lord,

how much will they love you?

Truly in this life,

‘neither has eye seen, nor ear heard,

nor has it entered into the heart of man’,

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how much they will know and love you in that life.

My God,

I pray that I may so know you and love you

that I may rejoice in you.

And if I may not do so fully in this life,

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let me go steadily on

to the day when I come to that fullness.

Let the knowledge of you increase in me here,

and there let it come to its fullness.

Let your love grow in me here,

800

and there let it be fulfilled,

so that here my joy may be in a great hope,

and there in full reality.

Lord,

you have commanded, or rather advised us,

805

to ask by your Son,

and you have promised that we shall receive,

‘that our joy may be full’.

That which you counsel

through our ‘wonderful counsellor’

810

is what I am asking for, Lord.

Let me receive

that which you promised through your truth,

‘that my joy may be full’.

God of truth,

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I ask that I may receive,

so that my joy may be full.

Meanwhile, let my mind meditate on it,

let my tongue speak of it,

let my heart love it,

820

let my mouth preach it,

let my soul hunger for it,

my flesh thirst for it,

and my whole being desire it,

until I enter into the joy of my Lord,

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who is God one and triune, blessed forever. Amen.

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