7. It may be objected that the Intelligence contemplates the divinity.
If, however, it be granted, that the Intelligence knows the divinity,
one is thereby forced to admit that it also knows itself; for it
will know what it derives from the divinity, what it has received
from Him, and what it still may hope to receive from Him. By knowing
this, it will know itself, since it is one of the entities given
by the divinity; or rather, since it is all that is given by the
divinity. If then, it know the divinity, it knows also the powers of
the divinity, it knows that itself proceeds from the divinity, and
that itself derives its powers from the divinity. If Intelligence
cannot have a clear intuition of the divinity, because the subject and
object of an intuition must be the same, this will turn out to be a
reason why Intelligence will know itself, and will see itself, since
seeing is being what is seen. What else indeed could we attribute to
Intelligence? Rest, for instance? For Intelligence, rest does not
consist in being removed from itself, but rather to act without being
disturbed by anything that is alien. The things that are not troubled
by anything alien need only to produce their own actualization,
especially when they are in actualization, and not merely potential.
That which is in actualization, and which cannot be in actualization
for anything foreign, must be in actualization for itself. When
thinking itself, Intelligence remains turned towards itself, referring
its actualization to itself. If anything proceed from it, it is
precisely because it remains turned towards itself that it remains in
itself. It had, indeed, to apply itself to itself, before applying
itself to anything else, or producing something else that resembled it;
thus fire must first be fire in itself, and be fire in actualization,
in order later to impart some traces of its nature to other things.
Intelligence, in itself, therefore, is an actualization. The soul,
on turning herself towards Intelligence, remains within herself; on
issuing from Intelligence, the soul turns towards external things. On
turning towards Intelligence, she becomes similar to the power from
which she proceeds; on issuing from Intelligence, she becomes different
from herself. Nevertheless, she still preserves some resemblance to
Intelligence, both in her activity and productiveness. When active,
the soul still contemplates Intelligence; when productive, the soul
produces forms, which resemble distant thoughts, and are traces of
thought and Intelligence, traces that conform to their archetype; and
which reveal a faithful imitation thereof, or which, at least, still
preserve a weakened image thereof, even if they do occupy only the last
rank of beings.