Yaratılışın Sırrı: Serapis Tapınağında Hermes ile Karşılaşma

(The book) begins in these terms: In the name of God, the Clement and the Merciful! I had completed the study of the stars, that of the surface of the earth, of its position and its varied elements; I had finished the study of the science of law and the forms of logic, when I came to the temple of Serapis, proclaiming that there is no other divinity than God the Creator. I found there, in the library of the king, a clear book, without obscure expressions, which treated of the sublime work whose knowledge God has reserved for those who possess wisdom. Never has a more admirable and clearer book been composed before mine, and nothing like it will be composed thereafter, for I have acquired a certain science. I brought my book and I hid it in the sanctuary of the temple of Serapis; only with the permission of God and by His special designation will someone be able to take possession of it. While I was in the midst of praying and asking my Creator to remove from me the serpent that slips into the hearts of humans and to assist me in the undertaking I had formed to compose my book, I suddenly felt myself carried off into the air, following the same path as the sun and the moon. I then saw in my hand a parchment entitled: He who chases away the darkness and who makes the light shine. Upon this parchment were traced figures representing the seven heavens, the image of the two great shining stars, and the five wandering stars that follow an opposite path. Each heaven was surrounded by a legend written with stars. Then I saw an old man, the most handsome of men, seated in a chair; he was clad in white garments and held in his hand a board from the chair, upon which was placed a book. Before him were admirable vases, the most marvelous that I had ever seen. When I asked who this old man was, it was answered to me: "It is Hermes Trismegistus, and the book that is before him is one of those which contain the explanation of the secrets that he has hidden from men."