Τετράδ’ ἑπὶ ζαθέην, ἣ δὴ τέκε μητέρα πάντων,
Πανδοχέα, πρέσβειραν, ὅρον περὶ πᾶσι τιθεῖσαν,
Ἄτροπον, ἀκαμάτην, δεκάδα κλείουσί μιν ἁγνήν·
The Monad, of Number is the sacred source;
From it Number emanates and holds the virtues
With which shines the Tetrad, Universal Mother,
Which produces all things and conceals in its depths
The immortal Decade, honoured in all places.
[509] The nearest root of this word is find, whence is derived finden, to find; its remote root is hand, the seat of touch, whence comes finger, that which feels; its primitive root is אד or יד (âd or id), the hand in Phœnician. This last root, becoming nasal at the final and aspirate at the initial, has produced hand; fang, a capture, and find, a discovery. The syllable emp, which precedes the root find, expresses the movement which lifts up from below; lich designates that which disqualifies by identity, and keit, that which substantiates.
[510] The root of this word is stand, a fixed thing, a state; its remote root is stat, that which is permanent. Its primitive root is שדד (shdad), firmness, force, constancy. The initial syllable ver expresses the movement which carries far away, which transports from the place where one is, to that where one is not.