The Bards' Enigma

The Barddas of Iolo Morganwg, Vol. I., ed. by J. Williams Ab Ithel, [1862], at sacred-texts.com

THE BARDS' ENIGMA. ¹

There is nothing truly hidden ² but what is not conceivable; ³
There is nothing not conceivable but what is immeasurable;
There is nothing immeasurable but God;
There is no God but that which is not conceivable;
There is nothing not conceivable but that which is truly hidden;
There is nothing truly hidden but God.

In some Books the Bards' enigma is as follows:--

There is no God but what cannot be comprehended;
There is nothing that cannot be comprehended but what is not conceivable;
There is nothing not conceivable but what is immeasurable;
There is nothing immeasurable but God;
There is no God but what is not conceivable.

Here is the ancient Bards' enigma:--

There is no God but what is not conceivable;
There is nothing not conceivable but God;
There is no God but what is immeasurable;
There is nothing immeasurable but God.

p. 216 p. 217

Here is another form of it.

There is nothing immeasurable but what is not conceivable;
There is nothing immeasurable but God;
There is nothing immeasurable but the greatest of all;
There can be no two of the greatest of all in any thing.

Here is a solution of the enigma.

What is not conceivable is the greatest of all, and the immeasurable of what is not in place;
God is the greatest of all, and the immeasurable of intelligence;
And there can be no existence to any thing but from intelligence;
And the non-existence of all things comes from what is not in place.

As the Bard says:

What is not conceivable is the greatest, and the immeasurable of all that is not in place; ¹
God is the greatest, and the immeasurable of all that are together in place. ²

Footnotes

215:1 p. 214 These aphorisms are sometimes ascribed to Cattwg the Wise, in the sixth century.

215:2 "Dirgel" is compounded of "dir," true, and "cel," concealment.

215:3 It is very difficult to render the exact meaning of "dim" in this place, which is evidently not nothing in the popular use of the term. The translation, which we have adopted, was suggested by the late Archdeacon Williams in his Gomer, p. 136, and is in fact the "nihil cogitabile," as distinguished from the "nihil purum," in Sir William Hamilton's analysis of negative thought.

217:1 p. 216 "Difant," from "di," non, and "man," a place.

217:2 "Cymmant," from "cyd," with, or together, and "man," a place. Al. "that is restored in place"--"that is in place all around "--"intellectual place"--"elementation."