Then the Mother of the Universe (34), the Propatôr, the Autopatôr, the Prôtogennêtôr, and the Powers of the æon of the Mother sang a great hymn to the One and Only God, praising Him and saying:
"Thou alone art Boundless, Thou only art the Deep, Thou only art the Incomprehensible One, for Thou art He whom all beings seek and [without Thy grace] find Thee not, for none can know Thee against Thy will, and none can praise Thee against Thy will. For Thy will only is a Space for Thee, for nothing can contain Thee who art the Space for all. Thee I pray that Thou mayest give an holy ordering to those of the World, that Thou mayest dispose my offspring according to Thy will. Grieve not my offspring, for never has anything been grieved by Thee; yet no one knows Thy Counsel. Of Thee all beings of the Inner and the Outer Worlds have need, Thou only Incomprehensible, Thou only beyond All vision, beyond All mind. Thou only hast given character to all creatures and hast manifested them in Thyself. Of that which is not yet manifested art Thou the Creator, and Thou alone dost know these things, for we know them not [of ourselves]. Thou alone revealest them unto us [through Symbols and Images], so that we may supplicate Thee on their behalf, so that Thou mayest make them manifest, and we may know them [as they are in themselves apart from all Symbols] by Thy Grace alone. Thou alone hast raised up the Secret Worlds to Thyself, so that they might know Thee, for Thou hast given unto them the boon of knowing Thee, for Thou hast given birth unto them from Thy Incorporeal Body and hast taught them that from Thy Self-productive Mind Thou hast the Man brought forth in Contemplation and in a perfect Concept, yea, even the Man brought forth by Mind to whom Contemplation has given a form. Thou it is who hast bestowed all good things upon the Man, and He weareth them like vestures. He putteth them on like garments and wrappeth Himself with Creation as with a robe (35). This Man is He whom all the Universe yearneth to know, for Thou alone it is who hast ordained unto the Man to manifest Himself, so that in Him Thou mightest be known and that all might learn that it is Thou who hast brought Him forth and that Thou art manifested according to Thy Will.
"Thee do I invoke, and I pray Thee, O Father of all Fatherhood, Lord of all Lords, to give an holy ordering unto my kinds and to my offspring, that I may rejoice in Thy Name and in Thy goodness, O Thou Sole King, O Thou who changest not. Bestow upon me from Thy goodness, and I will make known unto my children that Thou art their Saviour" (36).
When the Mother had finished praying to the Boundless One Beyond Knowledge, who fills the whole Universe and gives life unto all, He heard her and those with her, for all of them were His own, and He sent unto her a Power who came forth from the Man whom they desired to behold.
From Being Unbounded came forth the Infinite Spark of Light, at whom all the æons wondered, asking themselves where He had been concealed before manifesting Himself from the Infinite Father, He from whom the Universe was manifested and who was latent therein. The Powers of the Secret Worlds followed Him when they were manifested and came into the Temple of the Plêrôma. He hid Himself amidst the Powers who came forth from the Father in Secret (37). He made a world and bore it into the Temple. Then the Powers of the Plêrôma beheld Him and loved Him and praised Him in hymns ineffable, unspeakable to tongues of mortal flesh, and good to dream of in the heart of man. He received their hymn and made a veil surrounding their world like a wall; then went He to the borders of the Universal Mother [without] and stood above the Universal Æon (38). The Universe was moved at the presence of the Lord of the whole Earth; the Æon was troubled and in suspense because it had seen that which it knew not. The King of Glory was seated, He divided matter into two halves and into two parts (39). He fixed the borders of each part and taught them that they came from One Father and from One Mother. To those who ran unto Him and adored Him He gave the place at the right hand, and gave them Life for ever and ever and Immortality. He named the place on the right "The Land of Life," and the place on the left "The Land of Death"; He named the Earth on the right "The Earth of Light," and the Earth on the left "The Earth of Darkness"; He named the Earth on the right "The Earth of Repose," and the Earth on the left "The Earth of Sorrow." He placed boundaries between them and veils, so that they might not see each other; He gave many Glories to those who had adored Him and gave them dominion over those who had resisted and opposed Him. He extended the World of the Right into many places and placed them [who followed Him] in each hierarchy, in each æon, in each world, in each heaven, in each firmament, in many heavens, in each region, in each space, in each receptacle. He gave them [who had followed Him] laws and delivered unto them commandments, saying, "Keep My sayings and I will give unto you eternal life; I will send Powers unto you, yea, I will strengthen you with mighty spirits, and will give unto you the dominion of your desire: no one shall hinder your will, and you shall bring forth æons, worlds, and heavens. When the intellectual spirits come to dwell in you then shall ye become gods, then shall ye know that ye came forth from God, and then shall ye behold Him within yourselves, in your eternities shall He dwell."
These words spake the Lord of the Universe unto them; then He withdrew Himself from them and hid Himself from them. And those who had been the births of matter rejoiced that their thought had been accomplished; they rejoiced because they had come forth from the narrow and the sad. They prayed unto the Hidden Mystery, saying, "Give us power to create æons and worlds according to the word which Thou hast sworn unto Thy servants, for Thou alone art He who changest not, Thou alone art the Infinite and Boundless One, Thou only art unengendered, born of Thyself, Self-Father, Thou only art Unmoved and Unknowable, Thou only Silence art and Love and Fount of the Universe, Thou only art immaterial and hast no stain, ineffable in Thy generation and inconceivable in Thy manifestation. Hear us, then, O Father Incorruptible, Father Immortal, God of Hidden Beings, sole Light and Life, Alone beyond Vision, only Unspeakable, only Unstainable, only [Foundation] stone of Adamant (40), sole Primal Being, for before Thee nothing was. Hearken unto this prayer which we make unto Him who is concealed in every place. Hear us, send unto us incorporeal spirits that they may dwell with us and teach us that which Thou hast promised unto us; that they may dwell in us and that we may become bodies for them, for it is Thy will that it should thus be. So may it be. Give law unto our work and strengthen it according to Thy will and according to the order of the hidden æons; dispose us according to Thy will, for we are Thine" (41).
And He heard them and sent unto them discerning Powers which knew the order of those who are hidden. He established the Hierarchy like the Hierarchies above and according to the concealed order. They began from the base to the summit, so that the building might unite them to their companions. He created the aerial earth as a place of habitation for those who had come forth, so that they might dwell therein until the strengthening of those who are below them; then created He the true habitation in the interior of that, the place of repentance in the interior of that, the antitype of Aerodios; then the place of repentance in the interior of that, the antitype of Autogênes: in this place they baptise themselves in the name of Autogênes, who is God over them, and there are Powers placed in this place over the Fount of the Waters of Life which they make go forth. These are the names of the Powers who are over the Waters of Life: Michar and Micheu; and they baptise in the name of Barpharanges. In the interior of these Spaces are the æons of Sophia; in the interior of these Spaces is the True Truth, and Pistis Sophia is found there and also the pre-existent Jesus the Living, Aerodios and his twelve æons. There are placed in this space Sellaô, Eleinos, Zogenethêles, Selmelche, and the Autogênes of the æons. There are placed in him four lights: Èlêlthêth, Daueithe, Ôroiaêl ... (42). He saith (43):
O Alone-begotten of Light, I praise Thee.
O Light unengendered, I praise Thee.
O Light self-begotten, I praise Thee.