He who knows the part

Which the divine in him plays

And knows also that which

The carnal ought to play in him

Has successfully reached

The perfection of knowledge.

He who knows the part

Which the spiritual plays

Knows that it is naturally born with him;

He who knows the part

Which the bodily ought to play in him

Proceeds with the knowledge

Which he obtains to nourish

And cultivate it in the direction

Of what he does not yet know.

To complete one's natural term of years

And not come to an untimely end

In the middle of one’s course

Is considered as the fullness of knowledge.

Although it is so, there is an evil

Attending this condition. Such knowledge

Still awaits the confirmation

Of it as correct; it does so because

It is not yet completely defined.

How do we know that what we call

The divine in us is not simply the carnal?

And that what we call the bodily

Is not actually the spiritual?

There must be one who is a true identifier

And then there is the true knowledge

One has possessed. Still, the question

Remains open: Who is he who determines

That the identifier is the true one

And that the knowledge he obtains

By definition is the true knowledge?!