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Emerald Tablet — Tabula Smaragdina

Arabic version c. 6th–8th century CE; Latin versions from 12th century CE · Medieval transmission (c. 6th–8th century CE); claimed antiquity · Unknown; transmitted through Arabic alchemical tradition

The Emerald Tablet — Isaac Newton's Translation (c. 1680)

1Tis true without lying, certain and most true.
2That which is below is like that which is above,
3and that which is above is like that which is below,
4to do the miracles of one only thing.
5And as all things have been and arose from one by the mediation of one,
6so all things have their birth from this one thing by adaptation.
7The Sun is its father, the Moon its mother,
8the Wind hath carried it in its belly,
9the Earth is its nurse.
10The father of all perfection in the whole world is here.
11Its force or power is entire if it be converted into earth.
12Separate thou the earth from the fire,
13the subtle from the gross,
14sweetly with great industry.
15It ascends from the earth to the heaven,
16and again it descends to the earth,
17and receives the force of things superior and inferior.
18By this means thou shalt have the glory of the whole world,
19and thereby all obscurity shall fly from thee.
20Its force is above all force,
21for it vanquishes every subtle thing and penetrates every solid thing.
22So was the world created.
23From this are and do come admirable adaptations,
24whereof the means (or process) is here in this.
25Hence I am called Hermes Trismegistus, having the three parts of the philosophy of the whole world.
26That which I have said of the operation of the Sun is accomplished and ended.

The Jabir Arabic Version (c. 8th century CE)

1True, without falsehood, certain and most true:
2what is below is like what is above, and what is above is like what is below,
3for the performance of the wonders of the One Thing.
4And as all things proceeded from the One,
5through the meditation of the One,
6so all things are born from this one thing by adaptation.
7Its father is the Sun, its mother is the Moon;
8the Wind carried it in its belly;
9its nurse is the Earth.
10It is the father of all perfection in the whole world.
11Its power is integral if it is turned toward the earth.
12Thou shalt separate the earth from the fire,
13the subtle from the gross,
14acting prudently and with judgment.
15Ascend with the greatest sagacity from earth to heaven,
16and then again descend to earth,
17and unite together the powers of things superior and inferior.
18Thus thou wilt possess the glory of the whole world,
19and all obscurity will fly away from thee.
20This has more fortitude than fortitude itself,
21because it will overcome every subtle thing
22and penetrate every solid thing.
23By it the world was created.
24Hence were all wonderful adaptations, of which this is the manner.
25Therefore I am called Hermes Trismegistus,
26possessing the three parts of the philosophy of the universal world.
27What I have to tell is completed,
28concerning the operation of the Sun.

notes

The Emerald Tablet (Tabula Smaragdina) is one of the most influential texts in Western alchemy and esotericism. Its core axiom — "that which is below is like that which is above" — became the foundational principle of Hermetic philosophy and the basis for the alchemical doctrine of correspondence between macrocosm and microcosm. The earliest known version appears in the Arabic Book of Secrets (Kitab al-Sirr) attributed to Jabir ibn Hayyan (c. 721–815 CE), itself drawing on earlier Pseudo-Apollonius of Tyana material. It entered Latin Europe through translations made in Spain and Sicily in the 12th century. Isaac Newton made his own English translation from the Latin around 1680, which survives in the Keynes Collection at King's College, Cambridge. The "One Thing" and the Great Work (Magnum Opus) of alchemy — the transformation of base matter into gold, and of the soul into spiritual gold — are encoded in its compact verses. Newton's personal engagement with this text is evidence that the boundary between natural philosophy and Hermetic tradition was porous well into the 17th century. Translation sources: Isaac Newton (c. 1680), from the Latin of the Pseudo-Aristotelian Secretum Secretorum tradition; Jabir ibn Hayyan Arabic version as rendered by scholars of Islamic alchemy. Both translations are public domain.

AlchemyCosmologyEsotericHermetic

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