A translation of the Emerald Tablet by Isaac Newton (Nuremberg 1541)
Tis true without lying, certain and most true.
That which is below is like that which is above and that which is above is like that which is below
to do the miracle of one only thing
And as all things have been and arose from one by the mediation of one: so all things have their birth from this one thing by adaptation
The Sun is its father, The Moon its mother, the wind hath carried it in its belly, the earth is its nurse.
The father of all perfection in the whole world is here. Its force or power s entire if it be converted into earth.
Separate thou the earth from the fire, the subtle from the gross sweetly with great industry.
It ascends from the earth to the heaven and again it descends to the earth and receives the force of things superior and inferior.
By this means you shall have the glory of the whole world and thereby all obscurity shall fly from you.
Its force is above all force, for it vanquishes every subtle thing and penetrates every solid thing.
So was the world created.
From this are and do come admirable adaptations where of the means is here in this.
Hence I am called Hermes Trismegistus, having the three parts of the philosophy of the whole world.
Resources:
en. wikipedia.org/wiki/Emerald_Tablet
(excerpt originally taken from..
Keynes MS.28, King’s College Library, Cambridge University. The Chymistry of Isaac Newton. Ed. William R. Newman. June 2010. Retrieved March 4, 2013.)