The world-soul fills and encompasses all; God at work, unsurpassable
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Nous — ἐντὸς μὲν αὐτὸ πληροῖ, ἐκτὸς δὲ περιλαμβάνει, ζωοποιοῦσα τὸ πᾶν· ἐκτὸς μὲν τοῦτο τὸ μέγα καὶ τέλειον ζῶον, τὸν κόσμον, ἐντὸς δὲ πάντα τὰ ζῶα· καὶ ἄνω μὲν ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ διαμένουσα τῇ ταυτότητι, κάτω δὲ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς τὴν γένεσιν μεταβάλλουσα. συνέχει δὲ τοῦτον ὁ αἰών, εἴτε δι' ἀνάγκην εἴτε διὰ πρόνοιαν εἴτε διὰ φύσιν, καὶ εἴ τι ἄλλο οἴεται ἢ οἰήσεταί τις· τοῦτό ἐστι πᾶν ὁ θεὸς ἐνεργῶν· ἡ δὲ ἐνέργεια θεοῦ δύναμις οὖσα ἀνυπέρβλητος, ᾗ οὔτε τὰ ἀνθρώπεια οὔτε τὰ θεῖα παραβάλλοι ἄν τις. διό, Ἑρμῆ, μηδέποτε τῶν κάτω μήτε τῶν ἄνω ὅμοιόν τι ἡγήσῃ τῷ θεῷ, ἐπεὶ τῆς ἀληθείας ἐκπεσῇ. οὐδὲν γὰρ ὅμοιον τῷ ἀνομοίῳ καὶ μόνῳ καὶ ἑνί· καὶ μηδὲ ἄλλῳ τινὶ ἡγήσῃ τῆς δυνάμεως ἐγχωρεῖν· τίς γὰρ μετ᾽ ἐκεῖνον εἴτε ζωὴ καὶ ἀθανασία καὶ μεταβολὴ ποιότητος;
Within, it fills the All, and without, encompasses it, giving life to the All; without, this great and perfect living being, the cosmos, and within, all the living beings; and above, in heaven, abiding in sameness, but below, on the earth, changing becoming. And the Aeon holds it together, whether by necessity or by providence or by nature, and if anyone thinks or will think anything else — all this is God at work; and the activity of God is a power unsurpassable, to which neither human nor divine things could anyone set beside. Therefore, Hermes, never deem anything of the things below nor of the things above like to God, since you will fall from the truth. For nothing is like the unlike and alone and one; and do not think any other has room for the power; for who, after him, could there be, whether of life and immortality and the changing of quality?
Nous continues on the world-soul. Within, it fills the All; without, it encompasses it, giving life to the whole — without, this great and perfect living being, the cosmos; within, all the living beings. Above in heaven it abides in sameness, but below on earth it changes becoming. And the Aeon holds the cosmos together, whether by necessity or providence or nature, or whatever else one thinks or will think: all this is God at work; and the activity of God is a power unsurpassable, to which neither human nor divine things could be compared. Therefore, Hermes, never deem anything of things below or above like to God, or you will fall from the truth; for nothing is like the unlike, the alone, the one. Do not think any other has a share of the power — for who, after him, could there be, whether of life and immortality and the changing of quality?
The world-soul, introduced at the end of §3, is now shown in its double action: 'within it fills the All, and without it encompasses (περιλαμβάνει) it' — soul is both the inner life of the cosmos and the embrace around it, and its work is one word, 'giving life (ζωοποιοῦσα).' The same doubleness is mapped onto the two realms the treatise keeps invoking: above 'abiding in sameness (διαμένουσα τῇ ταυτότητι),' the eternal face; below 'changing becoming (τὴν γένεσιν μεταβάλλουσα),' the mortal one. The one soul wears eternity in heaven and mutability on earth.
What binds the whole is the Aeon, and here the Hermetist makes a striking gesture of philosophical humility-and-supersession: the cosmos is held together 'whether by necessity or providence or nature (εἴτε δι' ἀνάγκην εἴτε διὰ πρόνοιαν εἴτε διὰ φύσιν),' or whatever anyone thinks — the three great candidate causes of the schools, Stoic and Peripatetic and Platonic, are named and then folded into one: 'all this is God at work (ὁ θεὸς ἐνεργῶν).' Necessity, providence, nature are not rivals but names for the single divine activity. And that activity is defined by its incomparability: 'a power unsurpassable (δύναμις ἀνυπέρβλητος), to which neither human nor divine things could be set beside.'
From this follows the treatise's sternest warning, and it is epistemological as much as pious: 'never deem anything below or above like to God, or you will fall from the truth (τῆς ἀληθείας ἐκπεσῇ).' To liken God to anything is not merely irreverent but false — an error that drops you out of reality — 'for nothing is like the unlike, the alone, the one (τῷ ἀνομοίῳ καὶ μόνῳ καὶ ἑνί).' God is the one to whom likeness itself does not apply; the via negativa is here a safeguard of truth. And the rhetorical question that closes seals it — who, 'after him (μετ' ἐκεῖνον),' could hold life, immortality, and the power over qualitative change? No one; the power has no second holder.
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