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shining brightly both of things seen and of things not seen. But nevertheless, for the time being let us make our proof from the things that are seen. 7.2 For he made this marvelous and all-harmonious creation for no one else but for you; and so beautiful and so great and varied and magnificent and lasting and useful and profitable from every side, and suitable both for the nourishment and constitution of the body and for the philosophy of the soul and for the path to the knowledge of God, he prepared for you. 7.3 For not even angels had need of it; for how could they, who existed even before it came to be? For that they are much older than it, hear what God says, speaking with Job: "When the stars were made, all my angels praised me and hymned me with a great voice"; that is, being astounded at the multitude, the beauty, the position, the use, the variety, the brightness, the splendor, the harmony, all the other things which they perceive more accurately than we. 7.4 And he did not beautify it with stars alone, but also adorned it with sun and moon, providing you at each time much pleasure, and much use. For what is more beautiful than heaven, now shining with the ray of the sun, now, as if with glances of eyes, illuminating the earth with the infinite multitude of stars and giving certain guides and leaders to sailors and travelers? 7.5 For he who cuts through the sea and sits at the rudders gives himself up to the assaults of waves and the rush of unruly waters and the force of violent winds and the darkness of a moonless night, trusting in the guidance from this; 7.6 and the star set on high, him who sits at so great a distance, as if being near and close by, thus leads him by the hand with precision and brings him to anchor in harbors, not uttering a voice, but by its appearance showing them the ways and granting them to cut through the sea with safety, indicating the seasons, so that at one time they keep the ship inside the harbor, and at another they confidently lead it out to the sea and not, through uncertainty of the future, unexpectedly fall upon a wintery day and suffer shipwreck. 7.7 And not only do these mark the measures and seasons of whole years, but they also present the hour and moment of each night with great precision and make it known to those who see, when the greater part of it has passed, and when the lesser part is left, and again the contrary, which is useful not only to sailors, but also to travelers, so as not to begin a journey at an untimely hour of the night, nor to sit at home at the proper time. This, along with the stars, the courses of the moon also have been entrusted with precision. 7.8 For just as the sun regulates the hours of the day, so also the moon regulates those of the night and provides much other use, and a temperate effusion of air and the generation of dew for the sprouting of seeds, and providing much benefit from itself for the constitution of men, and standing in the middle of the choir of stars and the splendor of the sun; for it is less than the one, but better and much greater than the others. 7.9 And not small is the pleasure and use for the spectators from this variety, just as the benefit is not ordinary which comes from the seasons, from the hours, from the measure, from the greatness and the smallness, from the unspeakable difference; for it is possible to see one smaller, and another greater and brighter, and some of them appearing at different times. 7.10 For the abundance of inventive wisdom works great variety everywhere, at once displaying the proof of its own wonder-working, and at the same time providing for the need of those who see, and offering great and unspeakable benefit, and with all these things, also pleasure. 7.11 For what is more delightful than heaven, now spread out above our head like a clean and transparent linen, and now variegated like a meadow of many flowers and showing its own crown? For it is not as pleasant to see a meadow in the day as it is pleasant and delightful to see heaven at night with countless flowers of the

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διαλάμπουσα καὶ τῶν ὁρωμένων καὶ τῶν οὐχ ὁρωμένων. Πλὴν ἀλλ' ἀπὸ τῶν ὁρωμένων τέως ποιησώμεθα τὴν ἀπόδειξιν. 7.2 Τὴν γὰρ θαυμασίαν ταύτην καὶ παναρμόνιον κτίσιν δι' οὐδένα ἕτερον ἐποίησεν ἢ διὰ σέ· καὶ καλὴν οὕτω καὶ μεγάλην οὕτω καὶ ποικίλην καὶ πολυτελῆ καὶ διαρκῆ καὶ χρησίμην καὶ πανταχόθεν κερδαλέαν καὶ πρὸς σώματος διατροφὴν καὶ σύστασιν καὶ πρὸς ψυχῆς φιλοσοφίαν καὶ πρὸς θεογνωσίας ὁδὸν ἐπιτηδείαν κατεσκεύασε διὰ σέ. 7.3 Οὐδὲ γὰρ ἄγγελοι ταύτης ἐδέοντο· πῶς γὰρ οἱ καὶ πρὶν ἢ γενέσθαι αὐτὴν ὄντες; Ὅτι γὰρ ἐκεῖνοι πολλῷ ταύτης πρεσβύτεροι, ἄκουε τί φησιν ὁ Θεὸς τῷ Ἰὼβ διαλεγόμενος· «Ὅτε ἐγένετο ἄστρα, ᾔνεσάν με πάντες ἄγγελοί μου καὶ ὕμνησαν φωνῇ μεγάλῃ»· τοῦτ' ἔστιν, ἐκπλαγέντες τὸ πλῆθος, τὸ κάλλος, τὴν θέσιν, τὴν χρείαν, τὴν ποικιλίαν, τὴν φαιδρότητα, τὴν λαμπηδόνα, τὴν ἁρμονίαν, τὰ ἄλλα πάντα ἅπερ ἀκριβέστερον ἡμῶν συνορῶσιν ἐκεῖνοι. 7.4 Οὐκ ἀστράσι δὲ ἐκαλλώπισε μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἡλίῳ καὶ σελήνῃ κατεκόσμησεν, ἐν ἑκατέρῳ τῷ καιρῷ πολλὴν μέν σοι τὴν ἡδονήν, πολλὴν δὲ παρέχων τὴν χρείαν. Τί γὰρ ὡραιότερον οὐρανοῦ, νῦν μὲν ὑπὸ τῆς ἀκτῖνος λαμπομένου, νῦν δέ, καθάπερ τισὶν ὀφθαλμῶν βολαῖς, τῷ ἀπείρῳ τῶν ἄστρων πλήθει καταυγάζοντος τὴν γῆν καὶ ναύταις καὶ ὁδοιπόροις ὁδηγούς τινας διδόντος καὶ χειραγωγούς; 7.5 Ὁ γὰρ τὸ πέλαγος τέμνων καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν οἰάκων καθήμενος καὶ κυμάτων ἐμβολαῖς καὶ ὑδάτων ἀτάκτων ῥύμῃ καὶ πνευμάτων βιαίων φορᾷ καὶ νυκτὸς ἀσελήνῳ σκότῳ ἐκδίδωσιν ἑαυτόν, τῇ παρὰ τούτου ὁδηγίᾳ θαρρῶν· 7.6 καὶ ὁ ἐν ὕψει κείμενος ἀστὴρ τὸν ἐκ τοσούτου καθήμενον διαστήματος, ὥσπερ ἐγγὺς καὶ πλησίον παρών, οὕτω μετὰ ἀκριβείας χειραγωγεῖ καὶ πρὸς λιμένας ὁρμίζει, φωνὴν μὲν οὐκ ἀφιείς, τῇ δὲ ὄψει δεικνὺς αὐτοῖς τὰς ὁδοὺς καὶ τὴν θάλασσαν τέμνειν αὐτοῖς χαριζόμενος μετ' ἀσφαλείας, καιροὺς ὑποδεικνύς, ὥστε νῦν μὲν εἴσω τοῦ λιμένος κατέχειν τὸ πλοῖον, νῦν δὲ θαρροῦντας εἰς τὸ πέλαγος ἐξάγειν καὶ μὴ διὰ τὴν τοῦ μέλλοντος ἀδηλίαν ἀπροόπτως εἰς χειμέριον ἐμπίπτοντας ἡμέραν ναυάγιον ὑπομένειν. 7.7 Καὶ οὐχ ὁλοκλήρων δὲ ἐνιαυτῶν μέτρα μόνον καὶ καιροὺς χαρακτηρίζουσιν οὗτοι, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἑκάστης νυκτὸς καὶ ὥραν καὶ ῥοπὴν μετὰ πολλῆς παριστῶσι τῆς ἀκριβείας καὶ ποιοῦσιν εἰδέναι τοὺς ὁρῶντας, πότε μὲν τὸ πλέον αὐτῆς παρῆλθε, πότε δὲ τὸ ἔλαττον ὑπολέλειπται καὶ αὖ τοὐναντίον πάλιν, ὅπερ οὐ ναύταις μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὁδοιπόροις χρήσιμον, ὥστε μὴ ἀωρὶ τῆς νυκτὸς τῆς ὁδοιπορίας ἅπτεσθαι, μήτε ἐν καιρῷ τῷ προσήκοντι οἴκοι καθῆσθαι. Τοῦτο μετὰ τῶν ἀστέρων καὶ οἱ σεληναῖοι δρόμοι μετὰ ἀκριβείας εἰσὶν ἐμπεπιστευμένοι. 7.8 Καθάπερ γὰρ ὁ ἥλιος τὰς ὥρας τῆς ἡμέρας, οὕτω καὶ ἡ σελήνη τὰς τῆς νυκτὸς κανονίζει καὶ πολλὴν ἑτέραν χρείαν παρέχει καὶ ἀέρος εὔκρατον χύσιν καὶ δρόσου γένεσιν πρὸς τὴν τῶν σπερμάτων βλάστην καὶ πολλὴν οἴκοθεν εἰς τὴν σύστασιν τῶν ἀνθρώπων παρεχομένη τὴν ὠφέλειαν καὶ μέση τοῦ χοροῦ τῶν ἀστέρων καὶ τῆς ἡλιακῆς ἱσταμένη λαμπηδόνος· τῆς μὲν γάρ ἐστιν ἐλάττων, τῶν δὲ ἀμείνων καὶ πολλῷ μείζων. 7.9 Οὐ μικρὰ δὲ καὶ ἐκ τῆς ποικιλίας ταύτης ἡδονὴ τοῖς θεαταῖς καὶ χρεία, ὥσπερ οὐδὲ τυχοῦσα ἡ ὄνησις ἡ ἀπὸ τῶν καιρῶν, ἡ ἀπὸ τῶν ὡρῶν, ἡ ἀπὸ τοῦ μέτρου, ἡ ἀπὸ τοῦ μεγέθους καὶ τῆς βραχύτητος, ἡ ἀπὸ τῆς διαφορᾶς τῆς ἀφάτου· τὸν μὲν γὰρ ἐλάττω, τὸν δὲ μείζω καὶ φαιδρότερον ἔστιν ἰδεῖν καὶ κατὰ διαφόρους καιροὺς φαινομένους αὐτῶν τινας. 7.10 Ἡ γὰρ περιουσία τῆς εὐμηχάνου σοφίας πολλὴν πανταχοῦ τὴν ποικιλίαν ἐργάζεται, ὁμοῦ μὲν τῆς οἰκείας θαυματουργίας τὴν ἀπόδειξιν ἐπιδεικνυμένη, ὁμοῦ δὲ καὶ τῆς τῶν ὁρώντων προνοοῦσα χρείας καὶ πολλὴν καὶ ἄφατον τὴν ὠφέλειαν παρεχομένη καὶ μετὰ τούτων ἁπάντων καὶ τὴν ἡδονήν. 7.11 Τί γὰρ τερπνότερον οὐρανοῦ, νῦν μὲν ὡς σινδόνος καθαρᾶς καὶ διαυγοῦς ὑπὲρ κεφαλῆς ἡπλωμένου, νῦν δὲ ὡς λειμῶνος πολυανθοῦς ποικιλλομένου καὶ τὸν αὐτοῦ φαίνοντος στέφανον; Οὐδὲ γὰρ οὕτως ἡδὺ λειμῶνα ἰδεῖν ἐν ἡμέρᾳ ὡς ἡδὺ καὶ τερπνὸν οὐρανὸν ἰδεῖν ἐν νυκτὶ μυρίοις ἄνθεσι τοῖς τῶν