The Light in countless powers — a boundless cosmos
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Καὶ εἰπὼν ταῦτα ἐπὶ πλείονα χρόνον ἀντώπησέ μοι, ὥστε με τρέμειν αὐτοῦ τὴν ἰδέαν. ἀνανεύσαντος δέ θεωρῶ ἐν τῷ νοΐ μου τὸ φῶς ἐν δυνάμεσιν ἀναριθμήτοις ὄν, καὶ κόσμον ἀπεριόριστον γεγενημένον, καὶ περισχέσθαι τὸ πῦρ δυνάμει μεγίστῃ, καὶ στάσιν ἐσχηκέναι κρατούμενον. ταῦτα δὲ ἐγὼ διενοήθην ὁρῶν διὰ τὸν τοῦ Ποιμάνδρου λόγον.
And having said these things, for a long while he looked me in the face, so that I trembled at his form. And when he nodded, I behold in my mind the light in countless powers, and a boundless cosmos come to be, and the fire encompassed by a mightiest power and held in check, having taken on stability. These things I grasped in thought by seeing, through the word of Poimandres.
Poimandres holds Hermes's gaze until he trembles; then, at his nod, Hermes beholds within his own mind the Light in countless powers, and a boundless cosmos coming to be — the fire held in check by a mighty power. He grasps all this by seeing, through Poimandres's word.
The teaching keeps its promise from I.3 — 'hold it in your mind' — literally: Hermes sees the vision not out in front of him but 'in my mind' (ἐν τῷ νοΐ μου). Revelation happens inside the νοῦς, which is why Nous can be at once the teacher, the faculty that receives, and the thing shown.
What he sees is the Light resolving into 'countless powers' and a boundless cosmos taking shape — the formless flood of I.4-5 now held and stabilized. The last clause is the quiet key: he grasped it all 'by seeing, through the word (λόγος) of Poimandres.' Sight and word together do the work; the vision is legible only because the Logos is speaking it.
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