Diotimos Library · Esotericism & Spirituality Collection · Bilingual Edition
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Facing Pages · Branch 62 of 175
The Concentrated Centre of Nature · Passage 46
German
Derowegen wil ich hier den Egyptern nachfolgen, und aus treuen Hertzen mit gründlicher Erfahrung meinen lieben Nechsten also zuruffen: O Mensch kenne dich selbst! in dir liegt der Schatz aller Schätze! du geniessest in der Lufft den Odem des Firmaments, welchen das wunderliche Gestirn aus dem Licht derer obern Wasser gesogen, und in die Mittel-Lufft ausgehaucht hat, allwo er sich mit Lufft durch die Bewegung läst incrassiren, du Mensch geniessest durch die Lufft den Athem der Erden, und des Wassers, vereinigest in dir beyde, und gebährest unwissend aus allen diesen erzehlten Kräfften ein Ding, welches von uns erfahrnen und wissenden das grosse Wunder der Welt genennet wird, Es ist ein rechtes Wasser-Feuer und Feuer-Wasser, ja mehr als alles Feuer, Lufft, Erde und Wasser. Denn es löset und schliesset radicaliter auf in seiner Rohigkeit das reiffe und sehr beständige ☉, es reducirt solches in eine fette schwartze Erde, dicken Schleim Saltz-Wasser, ohne Feuer-Gewalt und Schärffe, welches kein ander Ding in der Welt verrichten kan. Nichts ist für ihm verschlossen, und ob es schon das köstlichste der gantzen Welt ist, kan doch dessen der König nicht mehr haben als der Bettler.
English
Therefore I shall follow the Egyptians here and, from a faithful heart and thorough experience, call to my dear neighbour in this way: “O human being, know yourself! Within you lies the treasure of all treasures!” In the air you partake of the breath of the firmament, which the wondrous stars have drawn from the light of the upper waters and exhaled into the middle air, where it is thickened with air through movement. You, the human being, partake through the air of the breath of earth and water, unite both within yourself, and unknowingly bring forth from all these stated powers a thing which we who possess experience and knowledge call the great wonder of the world. It is a true water-fire and fire-water, indeed more than all fire, air, earth, and water. For in its raw state it dissolves and opens at the root mature and very stable ☉, reducing it to a fatty black earth, a thick slime and salt-water, without violent fire or sharpness—something no other thing in the world can accomplish. Nothing is closed to it. Although it is the most precious thing in the whole world, the king can have no more of it than the beggar.
Socrates
Reading Centrum Naturae Concentratum · The Concentrated Centre of Nature · The Concentrated Centre of Nature · Passage 46
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Socrates will begin with this book and its sources.About This Reading Edition
The complete supplied German–English edition of the 1682 collection: the main treatise attributed to Ali Puli, Helbig’s preface, distinct companion discourses, the short potable-gold preparation and the anonymous Father’s Last Testament, with four historical figures, 103 annotations and the full Diotimos study apparatus.
Historical Text and Translation
The governing German witness is the complete 1682 collection in Badische Landesbibliothek Karlsruhe, shelfmark 87 B 76050, with an unnumbered title and printed pages 1–80. The historical title’s Arabic and Portuguese antecedents and its authorial persona are retained as claims, not authenticated originals. Johann Otto Helbig (Hellwig), Martin de Delle, J. J. F. and the anonymous testament retain their distinct historical roles.
About Diotimos Editions
This historical edition credits Diotimos Editions as its English translator.
Rights
The historical German source text and engraving are in the public domain. The English translation and editorial material were prepared with AI assistance for Diotimos Editions in 2026, with a supplied translation and sign commentary identified separately, and are published with the site owner’s authorization.