The Dream of Perfect Nature

As for Hermes, he mentioned in his book that when he decided to get to the secret of creation he found a very dark basement wherein he could not see anything, yet it had a strong wind going through it. It was so windy that he could not keep a light lit. That night he was visited in his dreams by a good-looking spirit, that spirit told him to take a light and put it in a glass lamp to protect it from the wind and that will light the way for you.

Then he told him to enter the basement and dig in the middle of it and take out a statue of a talisman that was made and buried there and he said if you take that statue out, the wind will stop in that basement and it will also light up the rest of the place. Then he told him to dig in the four corners of the place and he will find the creation's secret, nature's secrets, and the wonders of things and their nature.

The descent and origin of the philosopher Balīnūs

Now I should like to acquaint you with my origin and my descent. I was a poor orphan, an inhabitant of Tyana. In my locality there was a statue of stone, standing on a wooden column. On the front of the statue was written: "I am Hermes, the threefold sage. I have erected this sign in public, yet in my wisdom I have veiled it, so that only a sage like me can reach it." Underneath it was written in the first language: "He who wishes to know the secret of creation and the production of nature should look under my feet." People did not consider what he might have meant by it. They always looked under his feet and saw nothing. Because of my youthful age I was of a weak nature. But when my nature grew stronger and I read what was written on the front of the statue, I noticed what had been in his mind. I dug under the column and came across an underground passage which was completely dark, since the light of the sun could not penetrate it, even when it rose directly above it. Winds blew in it incessantly. Since it was so dark down there, it was impossible for me to enter, for every light was extinguished because the winds were so many.

In the face of this I was perplexed and grew very depressed. While I reflected with an anxious heart how much trouble I had taken [in vain], my eyes closed. Now behold, an old man appeared to me, resembling me in form and figure, and said to me: "Rise, Balīnūs, and enter the underground passage here, so that you may attain knowledge of the secrets of creation and arrive at the production of nature." I replied: "I can see nothing in the dark here and every light is extinguished for me, since the winds are so many." However he said: "Balīnūs, set your light in a clear vessel to keep the wind away from it, and it will not be able to get at it, and you will thereby lighten the darkness here." Now I grew calm of mind; for I knew that I had attained my desire. I said: "Who are you, my God-sent benefactor?" He replied: "I am your perfect nature." Highly delighted, I awoke. I set my light in a clear vessel, as he had commanded me, and entered the subterranean passage. There I saw a man sitting on a golden throne and holding a tablet of green emerald in his hand. On the tablet the production of nature was written, and in front of him lay a book containing the secret of creation and knowledge of the causes of things. In all calm I took the tablet and the book and then left the subterranean passage. From the book I have learnt the secrets of creation and knowledge of the causes of things. From the tablet I have obtained the production of nature. Thus I have become very famous as a sage. I have made amulets and miracles. I have understood the mixtures and compositions of the natures as well as their contradiction and harmony.

Source: Classical Heritage in Islam by Franz Rosenthal, quoting from the Sirr al-Khalīqah, attributed to Balīnūs (Balīnās) (Apollonius of Tyana), according to the Istanbul MS Köprülü 872, 2b–3b, and J.Ruska, Tabula Smaragdina (Heidelberg, 1926), pp. 134 f., 138 f.

And thou hast seen, O Alexander, what happened to thee with regard to the Talisman which was bound for the protection of the buried treasure I told you of in the pyramid of Hayatil [Haital]. It has caused the people, whom thou hast ordered to dig it, to go to sleep, so that I made for thee a Talisman to counteract its action, and thou didst gain that treasure.

Some historians say that there was found in this treasure, on which there was a Talisman, a tomb made of gold, whose length was 10 yards, height 2 yards, and breadth (on the top) a span. Inside the tomb there was found a coffin in which there was a corpse perfectly preserved in body, hair, and eyes. On its head there was a crown weighing 10 ratls, made of a single piece of red ruby. And under the corpse there were spread large pearls of great value. On the chest of the corpse there was a tablet of emerald, 3 yards long and 1 yard wide. In it there was found the following inscription in Syriac letters:

"In the name of God the most compassionate, the most merciful. Everything that has a beginning has an end. I ruled over the four inhabited quarters of the globe for one thousand years. The total revenue of my empire in one day was equal to this tomb in weight and to its contents in value. And the Sun, Moon, and Wind used to obey me. I had found out the secret of nature, and had acquired the extreme knowledge of creation. And I ascended to the heavenly assembly with my pure spiritual essence according to the pleasure and acceptance of its maker, and I left this composite, earthly temple to corruption and annihilation. In order that one who comes after me should know that the real sovereign is one who never dies, and the true lord is He who is supreme in His power, may His name be blessed and glorified."

A section on philosopher's egg, the emerald tablet, and the properties of red and white stones follows.

Source: Robert Steele's edition of Bacon's secretum secretorum. The book says, further: The Eastern Arabic Form, Discourse X, ‘de scienciis incantamentorum’ (pp. 157-63), is a scientific theory of talismans, to which every Arabic MS. adds a different series of illustrations. It includes the oldest known text of the ‘Emerald Table’ of Hermes. It is replaced in the Western form by Gate XIII which treats of alchemy, talismans, and the properties of gems.

It is read that very many people have had some kind of spirits known to them through some awareness, or so familiar that they remain with them and speak to them. These are described by Hermes in the Golden Rod, Apollonius in the Secrets of Nature, and Aristotle in Data Neiringet. Hermes recites the very words addressed to him by his familiar spirit speaking to him. Apollonius, when, as he himself writes, alone in the desert he turned over an altar of the Sun - as an inscription persuaded him to do -, and was not able to take a light into the cave of Hermes which he found underneath because of the blasts of air coming from the cave, suddenly (he says) was aware of someone's presence. This man told him how to put together a lamp, and then immediately disappeared.