Hermetik Zafer: Tek Bir Şeyden Doğan Eser

I protest to you before God, and upon the eternal salvation of my soul, with a sincere heart touched with compassion for those who have been for a long time in this great search; and I give you notice, all you who esteem this wonderful art, that our whole work takes its birth from one thing alone, and that in this thing the work finds its perfection, without needing any other thing whatsoever, except to be dissolved and coagulated, which it must do of itself, without the assistance of any foreign thing. When we put ice into a vessel placed on the fire, we see that the heat makes it dissolve into water; we must use the same way with our stone, which only requires the help of the artist, the operation of his hands, and the action of natural fire. For it will never be dissolved of itself, even if it should remain forever on the earth; it is for that reason we must assist it, in such a manner, however, that we add nothing to it which is foreign or contrary to it.