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← Arbre de filosofia d'amor (Tree of the Philosophy of Love)/Book 1 · Arbre de filosofia d'amor
Chapter 87LlullArbreAmor.1.87

2. De les lausors d'amor

Praising the Beloved's Goodness, Greatness, and Eternity

The Friend begins to praise the Beloved using the roots of the Tree, extolling His goodness, greatness, and eternal duration.

Love had nourished1 1.2 another friend, whom he told to praise the Beloved with the roots of this Tree; and this friend praised the goodness of his Beloved to the lovers of love. He gave Him one praise for the being He has in Himself; he gave Him another praise for His work and for the work He has in all creatures.3 The goodness the Beloved has is good in itself, for it is from itself, and it is not from any other goodness. 2. "Lovers," said the new friend, "the goodness of my Beloved is inherently and intrinsically good-making, and by that good-making it makes everything created good, for everything is good through Him. Therefore, the goodness of my Beloved, insofar as it is what it is, causes all created good to endure, and through the good-making it possesses in itself, it brings into being all the good works that creatures have. And for that reason, the goodness of my Beloved stands high above all creatures."45 3. Lovers of great love, said the friend: the greatness of my Beloved is so great that it's infinite; and just as it is infinite by essence and nature, it is great by its own infinite operation, and with that infinite operation it could make all creatures infinite if they could receive it; but no other greatness except that of my Beloved alone can be infinite in any way.67 4. To the lovers of lasting love the Friend said: The duration of my Beloved is eternal, and He can dwell in Himself, and He has eternal activity; for if He were eternal and did not have eternal activity, infinite greatness would fall short of His activity, insofar as it would not be as eternal as eternity; and goodness would fail eternity, insofar as it would be a great evil for her if she had forever remained idle without eternizing; and eternity would fall short of goodness if it did not have eternal making-good, and would fall short of greatness if it did not have eternal magnifying.89 But don't take me to mean that my Beloved's eternity has its eternizing in another essence and nature, but only in Itself; for if it did, it could be greater through eternizing than greatness is through infinitizing and magnifying, which cannot infinitize anything in another essence or nature, but only in Itself.10

The Beloved's Power, Wisdom, Will, and Virtue

The Friend continues praising the Beloved's infinite power, wisdom, will, and virtue, which are the source of all created virtues.

5. Lovers of love, said the Friend: just as I praise to you the nobilities and heights of my Beloved, it is fitting that you raise your remembering, understanding, and loving toward my Beloved, and understand and see the great power of my Beloved; for it is so great that no human being can find in himself, by any means, the will to have as great a power as my Beloved.11 Consider further that all other powers exist through the power of my Beloved, and every empowerment of every other power comes through the power that my Beloved holds within his own.12 6. Lovers of wisdom: consider the inestimable wisdom of my Beloved, for he knows all that is created; and before it was created, he knew it just as well as he does now, when the created things exist that once were not; and he knows more than all that is created, for he knows an infinite number of ideas that are not ideated, nor will they ever at any time be ideated.13 7. The will of my Beloved is entirely full of the one who wills, the one who is willed, and the act of willing; and in the will of my Beloved infinite volibilities and loves could find room, if they could have being; and by the willing of my Beloved all other good willings exist; and the will of my Beloved knows how to will and love far better1415 without any comparison, than all other wills. And for this reason, lovers, said the Friend, you'll be greatly willed and loved if you're willed by the will of my Beloved. 8. Lovers: the angels, the heavens, the elements, plants, beasts, human beings, and anything whatever that exists have their virtue through the virtue of my Beloved—for his virtue comprises all other virtues just as his goodness comprises all other goodnesses, and his greatness all other greatnesses; and every person who wants to have moral virtues out of love for the virtue of my Beloved can have as many of them, and in as much greatness and goodness, as he will be able to will.16

The Beloved's Truth and Glory

The Friend extols the Beloved's truth, which surpasses all understanding, and His eternal glory.

9. Lovers of truth, said the Friend: consider the great truth of my Beloved, for it is so great that it verifies and comprises all truths, and without it nothing can be true, and it is so lovable that if from all the loves that are created there were made one17 love, that love would not suffice to love the lovableness of the truth of my Beloved; and in glory understands more18 one19 soul or one20 angel the truth of my Beloved than all the understandings that are and were in this life could understand, and than if from all of them were made21 one22 understanding that understood as much as all of them together could understand; yet in this world the truth of my Beloved is dishonored, for here it is little known and loved.23 10. You lovers who have loved the glory of my Beloved: consider and see how great his glory is—good, eternal, powerful, and filled with every good—for it is full of his essential and natural being, infinite and eternal!24 Glorifier, glorifiable, and glorifying—for, infinitely and eternally, my Beloved has eternal and infinite glorifying through his own proper glorifier and glorifiable nature; and for that reason an infinite number of lovers could enter and remain in the glory of my Beloved, if they could be created.2526

The Beloved's Perfections: Difference, Concordance, and the Divine Dignities

The Friend praises the Beloved's wisdom in creating diversity, His infinite concordance, and His attributes as beginning, middle, end, greater, equality, and perfection.

11. Consider and see, lovers, the heights and nobilities of my Beloved, said the Lover; see how all creatures differ from one another. And do you know why? It's because the wisdom of my Beloved knows that the one is not the other, and the will of my Beloved wills that the27 one28 not be the other; and because of this, neither by natural nor by artificial work can any creature make two things or more so strongly alike that they have no difference at all. 12. Lovers: remember and see the infinite concordance that is in my Beloved through His making-good, magnifying, eternalizing, empowering, understanding, loving, making-virtuous, making-true, beginning, equalizing, and making-infinite; and no contrariety can stand in it, because infinitely and eternally it stands far from contrariety through eternal and infinite concord.29 13. Lovers of love, said the Friend: no one can stand against my Beloved, since He is that which infinitely and eternally brings into concordance! No opposing force can contend against Him, since all opposition is finite and exists only within time. 14. Consider and see, lovers of love, said the Friend, how my Beloved is infinite and eternal beginning; for in his intellect he infinitely and eternally began, begins, and will begin to understand, for in him he is eternally and infinitely understood, intelligible, and understanding; and the same is true in his love, for eternally and infinitely he began, begins, and will begin loving, beloved, and lovable—and without beginning, the Beloved would not be beginnable, nor would what is beginnable be eternally and infinitely beloved and loving; and the same is true of the making-good, magnifying, and empowering of my Beloved; and therefore my Beloved is by nature beginning through himself.3031 Consider further how my Beloved is the beginning of everything that is created, without any change in his state; for through his eternity he has been able to begin what was not beginning, without having changed from32 one33 state into another: my Beloved couldn't have done this without the eternity and eternalizing that he has in his entity, essence, and nature.34 15. Lovers, said the Friend: consider and see how my Beloved's loving stands in the middle of His love and of the Lover and the Lovable, by infinity and eternity; and the same is true of the making-good of my Beloved's goodness, and of the magnifying of my Beloved's greatness, and likewise of His other dignities; and consider further how my Beloved's mercy places itself in the middle between Him and the sinner who asks Him for forgiveness.35 16. “Lovers,” the Friend said, “my Beloved is the end of all that is created, for everything that is created, my Beloved created for himself—to be known, loved, and served. And if my Beloved is the end of all creation, how much more is he the end of himself, in himself, and through himself, so that his goodness may do good by its very self; and the same is true of his magnifying, eternalizing, empowering, understanding, and loving.” 17. Consider, lovers, said the Friend, how my Beloved is greater than everything created; for everything created has a beginning and an end, but my Beloved is eternal and infinite; and for this reason every greatness is an image and a figure that represents and signifies the infinite and eternal greatness and goodness, and the other dignities, of my Beloved.36 18. Lovers: consider the infinite and eternal equality my Beloved has in goodness, greatness, eternity, power, wisdom, love, and virtue; and likewise the equality of his making good and his goodness, of his magnifying and his greatness, and of the others; and of making good, magnifying, and making eternal, and the others; and of goodness, greatness, eternity, power, and the others.37 19. Lovers, said the Friend: in my Beloved there is nothing lesser that belongs to His essence and nature; for if He had any, there would be in Him smallness in contrast to greatness, finitude in contrast to infinity, and superiority in contrast to equality; and my Beloved would not be in every way eternal or infinite, nor complete in all perfection.3839

The Lovers' Response: Enough Praise

After the Friend's praises through the roots of love, the lovers declare that their love is sufficiently kindled and no further praise is needed.

20. When the Friend had praised his Beloved through the roots of love, he wanted to praise his Beloved through the squires of love, until the lovers told the Friend that with the praises of the roots of love he had so strongly kindled them in loving the Beloved's nobilities that there was no need for him to intensify their love further through the squires of love.4041

Read the original Catalan

Nudrit ac amor . j. altre amic, al qual dix que loàs lamat ab les rails daquest Arbre, lo qual amic loà als amadors damor la bonea de son amat. Una loor li donà per lesser que ha en sí metexa; altra loor li donà per sa obra e per la obra que ha en totes creatures. La bonea que ha lamat es bona per sí metexa, car de sí metexa es, e no es de neguna altra bonea.

2. Amadors, dix lo novel amic: la bonea de mon amat ha per sí metcxa e en sí metexa son bonificament, e ab aquel bonificament bonifica tot quant es creat, car tot es bo per él; e per aysò la bonea de mon amat, en quant està so que es, fa estar tot lo be qui es creat; e per la bonificació que ha en sí metexa, fa ésser totes bones obres que an les creatures; e per aysò la bonea de mon amat està alta sobre totes creatures.

3. Amadors de gran amor, dix lamic: la granea de mon amat es tan gran que es infinida; e enaxí com es infinida per essència e natura, es gran per infinida operació que ha en sí metexa, e ab aquela infinida operació poria infinir totes creatures, si eles ho podien reebre; mas neguna altra granea, mas tan solament la granea de mon amat, no pot ésser per neguna manera infinida.

4. Als amadors de durabla amor dix lamic: La duració de mon amat es eternal, e pot estar en sí metexa, e ha eternaF obrar; car si era eternal e no avia eternal obrar, faliria granea infinida a son obrar, en quant no seria aitan eternal com la eternitat; e faliria a la eternitat bontat, en quant seria a ela gran mal, si eternalment avia estada ociosa sens eternar; e eternitat defaliria a bonea si no avia eternal bonificar, e faliria a granea si no avia eternal magnificar. 3 Emperò no entenats que jo entena a dir que la eternitat de mon amat aja eternar en altra essència e natura, mas en sí metexa; car si ho avia, poria ésser pus gran per eternar, que granea per infinir e magnificar, qui en altra essència ni natura no pot res infinir, mas en sí metexa.

5. Amadors damor, dix lamic: enaxí com yo us lou les noblees e altees de mon amat, cove que vosaltres levets vostre membrar entendre e amar a mon amat, e Intenció: Amor 1 3» cntcnets e vejats lo gran poder de mon amat; car tant es gran, que ncgú home no pot en sí metcx atrobar per neguna manera, que vuyla aver tan gran poder com mon amat. Consirats encara que tots los altres poders son per lo poder de mon amat, e tot possificar de tot altre poder es per lo possificar que mon amat ha en son metex poder.

6. Amadors de saviea: consirats la inestimable saviea de mon amat, car él sab tot quant es creat; e enans que fos creat, ho sabia aitan be com ara con son les coses creades que no eren; e sab més que tot quant es creat, car él sab nombre infinit de ydees qui no son ydeates, ni seran nuyl temps ydeates.

7. La volentat de mon amat es tota plena de volent volgut e voler, e en la volentat de mon amat porien caber infinides volibilitats e amors, si eles podien aver ésser; e per lo voler de mon amat son tots altres bons volers; e la volentat de mon amat sab molt mils voler e amar. sens tota comparació, que totes les altres volentats. E per asò, amadors, dix lamic, serets molt volguts e amats, si sots volguts per la volentat de mon amat.

8. Amadors: los àngels cel elements plantes bèsties homes e tota res qual que sia, ha vertut per la vertut de mon amat: car enaxi comprèn la sua vertut totes altres vertuts, com la sua bonea totes altres bonees, e la sua granea totes altres granees; e tot home qui vuyla aver morals vertuts per amor de la vertut de mon amat, ne pot aitantes aver e en aytanta granea e bonea, com ne porà voler.

9. Amadors de veritat, dix lamic: consirats en la gran veritat de mon amat, car ela es tan gran, que totes veritats verifica e comprèn, e sens ela neguna cosa pot ésser vera, e es tan amable, que si de tots los amars qui son creats, era feta . j. amor, aquela no abastaria a amar la amabilitat de la veritat de mon amat; e en glòria més entén . j.» ànima o . j. àngel la veritat de mon amat, que no porien entendre tots los enteniments qui son e foren en esta vida, e que de tots fos fet .

j. enteniment qui enteses aitant com enfre tots porien entendre; enperò desonrada es en est mon la veritat de mon amat, car poc ic es coneguda e amada.

10. O, vosaltres amadors, qui amats avet la glòria de mon amatl Consirats e vejats com es la sua glòria gran bona eternal poderosa e complida de tot be; car ela es plena de son essencial e natural infinit eterna! gloriatiu gloriable e gloriar, car infinidament e cternalment ha mon amat gloriar eternal e infinit per son propi gloriatiu e gloriable; e per aysò en la glòria de mon amat porien entrar e estar infinits amadors en nombre, si podien ésser creats.

11. Consirats e vejats, amadors, les altees e noblees de mon amat, dix lamic; vejats com totes les creatures son diferents les unes a les altres. E sabets per que? Per so car la saviea de mon amat sab que la una no es lautra, e la volentat de mon amat vol que la . j. no sia lautra; e per aysò, ni per obra natural ni artificial, neguna creatura pot fer que dues coses o més sien tan fort semblants, que no ajen neguna differencia.

12. Amadors: membrats e vejats la infinida concordansa que ha en mon amat per son bonificar magnificar cternar possificar entendre amar vertuificar verificar comensar egalar e infinir; e neguna contrarietat en ela no pot estar, car infinidament e eternal està luyn a contrarietat per concordar eternal e infinit.

13. Amadors d amor, dix l amic: a mon amat negú no pot contrastar, com sia so que a concordar infinit e eterna! , negú contrariar no pot contrastar, com sia so que tota contrarietat sia finida e en temps posada.

14. Consirats e vcjats, amadors damor, dix lamic, com mon amat es infinit e eternal comensament; car en son enteniment infinidament e eternal comensà comensa e comensarà entendre, car en él eternalment e infinida es entès e entelligible e entendre; e aysò metex es en sa amor, car eternalment e infinida comensà e comensa e comensarà amar amat e amable, e sens comensar, lamat no fóra comensable, nil comensable fóra, eternalment e infinida, amat e amar; e asò metex es del bonificar magnificar e possificar de mon amat; e per aysò mon amat es naturalment per sí metex comensament. Consirats encara com mon amat es comensament de tot quant es creat, sens negú mudament de son estament; car per la sua eternitat ha pogut comensar so que no comensava, sens que no ses mudat de . j. estament en altre: aysò no pogra fer mon amat sens eternitat e eternar que ha en sa entitat essència e natura.

15. Amadors, dix lamic: consirats e vejats com l amar de mon amat està en lo mig de sa amor e de l amant e amable, per infinitat e eternitat; e aisò metex del bonificar de la bontat de mon amat, e del magnificar de la granea de mon amat, e enaxí de les sues altres dignitats; e cogitats encara com la misericòrdia de mon amat se posa en lo mig dél e del peccador qui li demana perdó.

16. Amadors, dix lamic: mon amat es fi de tot quant es creat, car tot quant es creat, ha mon amat creat a sí metex conèxer amar e servir; e si mon amat es fi de tot quant es creat, quant més es fí de sf metex e en sí metex e per sí metexs, per so que sa bontat aja bonificar per la sua pròpia íi metexa; e asò metex de son magnificar èternar possificar entendre e amari

17. Consirats, amadors, dix lamic, com mon amat es major que tot quant es creat; car tot cant es creat es comensat e fínit, e mon amat es eternal e infinit; e per aisò tota majoritat es ymage e figura qui representa e significa la infinida e eternal granea e bonea, e les altres dignitats, de mon amat.

18. Amadors: consirats la infinida e eternal egaltat que ha mon amat en bontat granea eternitat poder saviea amor e vertut; e aysò metex de la egaltat de son bonificar e bontat, e de son magnificar e granea, e les altres; e de bonificar magnificar eternar, e les altres; e de bonea granea eternitat poder, e les altres.

19. Amadors, dix lamic: en mon amat no ha neguna menorlat qui sia de sa essència e natura; car si ho avia, seria en cl poquea contra granea, e finitat contra infinitat, e majoritat contra egaltat; e mon amat no seria per totes maneres eternal ne infinit, ni de tota perfecció conplit.

20. Con lamic ac loat son amat per les rails damor, volc loar son amat per los donzels damor, tro que los amadors dixeren al amic que ab les loors de les rails damor lur avia tan fortment amiíicats en amar les noblees de lamat, que no calia que pus los amificàs ab los donzels damor.

Notes

  1. 1 ↩Reading Old Catalan ac as hac (“had”), with the past participle fronted: “Love had nourished…”. The continuous source continues into the next sentences.
  2. 2 ↩Medieval edition numeral .j. rendered as 1., matching the numbered praises that follow (2., 3., …).
  3. 3 ↩Reading lesser as l’ésser (“being/essence”), the medieval spelling without apostrophe.
  4. 4 ↩Normalized 'per sí metcxa' as 'per sí metexa' ('by itself'), matching the repeated phrase elsewhere in this chapter and the parallel 'en sí metexa'.
  5. 5 ↩'bonificament' / 'bonificació' is Llull's technical term for goodness's own act of making good; rendered as 'making-good' to keep the operative sense rather than a softer paraphrase like 'beneficence'.
  6. 6 ↩'infinir' is Llull's technical operative verb for greatness (parallel to bonificar/magnificar); rendered as 'make infinite' to keep the act of infinitizing rather than a softer paraphrase.
  7. 7 ↩The double 'mas' construction ('mas neguna altra granea, mas tan solament...') is taken as exceptive: no other greatness except only the Beloved's can be infinite.
  8. 8 ↩Normalized reading takes source 'eternaF' as 'eternal' (OCR/corruption).
  9. 9 ↩Llullian technical verbs kept close: 'eternar' as eternizing, 'bonificar' as making-good, 'magnificar' as magnifying; 'obrar' as working/operation.
  10. 10 ↩Leading stray '3' in the source sentence is treated as non-semantic artifact and omitted from the English.
  11. 11 ↩Normalized past page-header intrusion 'Intenció: Amor 1 3»' (recurring edition running head in this witness) and OCR forms cntcnets→entenets, ncgú→negú, metcx→metex.
  12. 12 ↩Catalan possificar is Llull's technical verbalization of poder (the act of powering/empowering), parallel to bonificar, eternar, magnificar elsewhere in this chapter.
  13. 13 ↩Llull distinguishes divine ideas (ydees) from ideas brought into created actuality (ydeates). Rendered here as ideated to keep that technical contrast; sense: ideas God knows that are never realized in creation.
  14. 14 ↩Catalan volent / volgut / voler is Llull's correlative triad of will (the one who wills, the one willed, and the act of willing), parallel to amant / amat / amar.
  15. 15 ↩volibilitats is Llull's technical coinage for possible willings or modes of will; rendered here as volibilities to keep the parallel with unideated ideas in the preceding section.
  16. 16 ↩Catalan vertut covers both operative power in creatures and moral virtue; morals vertuts is rendered as moral virtues to mark the shift.
  17. 17 ↩Medieval Catalan .j. is the numeral 'one' (un/una), not the letter j.
  18. 18 ↩amabilitat kept as lovableness (the quality of being worthy of love), not amiability.
  19. 19 ↩Source reads j.»; .j. taken as numeral 'one'. The stray closing guillemet » looks like a typesetting artifact and is not rendered.
  20. 20 ↩Medieval Catalan .j. is the numeral 'one' (un), here before àngel.
  21. 21 ↩Comparative que no porien uses the Old Catalan expletive negative in comparisons (cf. French ne); rendered as plain than ... could understand, not as a true negation.
  22. 22 ↩Source fragment «j.» is read as the medieval numeral 1 (i/j), completing the previous section’s clause «e que de tots fos fet .j. enteniment…» («and if from all of them there were made one understanding…»).
  23. 23 ↩«ic» read as locative «here» (cf. hic/ací); alternative normalization «hi» yields the same sense («little of it is known and loved»).
  24. 24 ↩Normalized reading treats source "amatl Consirats" as "amat. Consirats" (period/boundary lost before the imperative).
  25. 25 ↩Llullian correlatives gloriatiu / gloriable / gloriar kept as glorifier / glorifiable / glorifying (agent, receptivity, act).
  26. 26 ↩Normalized reading treats source "cternalment" as "eternalment".
  27. 27 ↩Source sentence is truncated mid-clause after 'vol que la'. Continuous sense resumes in s6; the missing noun is almost certainly 'una' (the one), matching the parallel 'la una no es lautra' earlier in the sentence.
  28. 28 ↩Printed reading is only 'j.', which does not make sense in the clause. Most plausible intended reading is 'una', completing 'la una no sia lautra' from the broken ends of s4 and s6 (likely a signature mark, catchword, or OCR/typesetting intrusion).
  29. 29 ↩Source reading "cternar" is treated as a corruption of "eternar" (eternalizing), matching the work's regular dignity-act series (bonificar, magnificar, eternar, possificar, etc.).
  30. 30 ↩Normalized OCR vcjats→vejats (cf. neighboring vejats / Consirats e vejats).
  31. 31 ↩Kept Llull's correlative triads: entès / entelligible / entendre as understood, intelligible, and understanding; amar / amat / amable as loving, beloved, and lovable. bonificar / magnificar / possificar rendered as making-good, magnifying, and empowering to match this run's dignity-act diction.
  32. 32 ↩Sentence is truncated mid-phrase before the medieval numeral .j.; continuous reading with s4–s5 restores: 'sens que no s'és mudat de .j. estament en altre'.
  33. 33 ↩Medieval Catalan numeral j. = 1 ("one"), bridging s3's unfinished 'de .' and s5's 'estament en altre'.
  34. 34 ↩eternar rendered as eternalizing, parallel to this chapter's dignity-act verbs (bonificar, magnificar, possificar, eternar).
  35. 35 ↩Llullian correlatives retained as Lover / Beloved / Lovable / loving (amant / amat / amable / amar). 'bonificar' and 'magnificar' rendered as making-good and magnifying to keep the verbal force of the dignity-acts; 'dignitats' kept as dignities for Llull's attribute-system.
  36. 36 ↩Source reading 'tot cant es creat' is treated as 'tot quant es creat' (all that is created), matching the parallel clause earlier in the same sentence and ordinary Old Catalan orthography.
  37. 37 ↩Llull’s correlative verbs bonificar / magnificar / eternar name the active operations of the divine dignities (making good, magnifying, making eternal), set in equality with the dignities themselves (bontat, granea) and with one another; bonea in the last series is the same goodness-family as bontat, likely the dignity or its object-correlate rather than a different concept.
  38. 38 ↩Normalized source reads "seria en cl poquea"; translated as "en ell" ("in Him"), the reading that fits the surrounding contrasts.
  39. 39 ↩"menorlat" taken as Old Catalan menoritat (anything lesser / lesserness), the correlative of Llull's majoritat and egaltat.
  40. 40 ↩amiíicats / amificàs: taken as Llullian amificar (to make more loving / intensify love as friendship), parallel to bonificar and magnificar; rendered as "kindled them in loving" and "intensify their love."
  41. 41 ↩Source "amiíicats" treated as OCR for "amificats."

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