(4) This I ask Thee, O Ahura! tell me aright, who from beneath hath sustained the earth and the clouds above that they do not fall? Who made the waters and the plants? Who to the wind has yoked on the storm-clouds, the swift and fleetest two ? Who, O Great Creator! is the inspirer of the good thoughts (within our souls)?

(3) This I ask Thee, O Ahura! tell me aright: Who by generation was the first father of the Righteous Order (within the world)? Who gave the (recurring) sun and stars their (undeviating) way? Who established that whereby the moon waxes, and whereby she wanes , save Thee ? These things, O Great Creator! would I know , and others likewise still.

(7) (For He has sovereign control.) He who conceived of these (truths of the Mãthra) as their first (inspirer), (and as He thought their existence they (all) as (His) glorious (conceptions first) clothed themselves in the stars ), He is through His understanding the Creator of the Righteous Order. And thus likewise He supports His Beneficent Mind (in His saints). And these (holy creatures) may’st Thou cause to prosper by Thy Spirit (since they are Thine own), O Ahura Mazda! Thou who art for every hour the same !

(7) This I ask Thee, O Ahura! tell me aright; who fashioned Âramaiti (our piety) the beloved, together with Thy Sovereign Power? Who, through his guiding wisdom , hath made the son revering the father? (Who made him beloved ?) With (questions such as) these, so abundant , O Mazda! I press Thee, O bountiful Spirit, (Thou) maker of all!

(5) (For) so I conceived of Thee as bountiful, O Great Giver, Mazda! when I beheld Thee as supreme in the generation of life, when, as rewarding deeds and words, Thou didst establish evil for the evil, and happy blessings for the good, by Thy (great) virtue (to be adjudged to each) in the creation's final change.

(5) This I ask Thee, O Ahura! tell me aright; who, as a skilful artisan, hath made the lights and the darkness ? Who, as thus skilful, hath made sleep and the zest (of waking hours)? Who (spread) the Auroras, the noontides and midnight, monitors to discerning (man), duty's true (guides) ?

"They found me, the son of the majesty, in front of the womb that has many forms. I put on the beast and laid before her a great request that heaven and earth might come into being, so that the whole light might rise up. For in no other way could the power of the spirit be saved from bondage except that I appear to her in animal form. Therefore she was gracious to me as if I were her son. And on account of my request, nature arose, since she possesses the power of the spirit and the darkness and the fire. For she had taken off her forms. When she had cast it off, she blew upon the water. The heaven was created. And from the foam of heaven the earth came into being. And at my wish it brought forth all kinds of food in accordance with the number of the beasts. And it brought forth dew from the winds on account of you and those who will be conceived the second time upon the earth. For the earth possessed a power of chaotic fire. Therefore it brought forth every seed. And when the heaven and the earth were created, my garment of fire arose in the midst of the cloud of nature and shone upon the whole world until nature became dry. The darkness that was the earth's garment was cast into the harmful waters. The middle region was cleansed from the darkness. But the womb grieved because of what had happened. She perceived, in her parts, water like a mirror. When she perceived it, she wondered how it had come into being. Therefore she remained a widow. It also was astonished that it was not in her. For still the forms possessed a power of fire and light. The power remained, that it might be in nature until all the powers are taken away from her. For just as the light of the spirit was completed in three clouds, it is necessary also that the power that is in Hades be completed at the appointed time. For, because of the grace of the majesty, I came forth to her from the water for the second time. For my face pleased her. Her face also was glad.

(9) Yea, I conceived of Thee as bountiful, O Ahura Mazda! when (Thine herald) with Thy Good Mind near approached me, and asked me thus: For what dost thou desire that thou may’st gain, and that thou may’st know it? Then for Thy Fire an offering of praise and holiness (I desired. And on that offering for myself) as long as I have the power, will I meditate , (and for its holy power among Thy people will I plan ).

(12) And Thou, O Ahura! do Thou (Thyself) arise to me! Through Âramaiti give me power, O most bountiful Spirit Mazda! through (my) faithful appeals and offerings ; and for (my) Righteousness grant me mighty strength, and (Thy) thrift-law through (Thy) Good Mind .

(8) Therefore , as the first did I conceive of Thee, O Ahura Mazda! as the one to be adored with the mind in the creation, as the Father of the Good Mind within us, when I beheld Thee with my (enlightened) eyes as the veritable maker of our Righteousness, as the Lord of the actions of life !

(2) Aye, (that blessedness, which is the) best (creation) of this most bounteous spirit, Ahura Mazda will bring forth in action with words from the mouth and tongue of His Good Mind (within His seers), and by the two hands of Âramaiti (His Piety as she lives within the soul). And by such wise (beneficence is) He the father of the righteous Order (within our worship and our lives).

(7) Yea, I conceived of Thee as bountiful, O Great Giver Mazda! when he (Thy messenger, Obedience) drew near me, and asked me thus: Who art thou? And whose is thine allegiance? And how to-day shall I show the signs that give the light on this (our) question, (signs) as to the lands (from whence thou camest) and in thyself?

(7) Upon this Âramaiti (the personified Piety of the saints) approached, and with her came the Sovereign Power, the Good Mind, and the Righteous Order. And (to the spiritual creations of good and of evil) Âramaiti gave a body, she the abiding and ever strenuous . And for these (Thy people) so let (that body) be (at the last), O Mazda! as it was when Thou camest first with creations !

(1) Unto you (O Ahura and Asha!) the Soul of the Kine (our sacred herds and folk) cried aloud: For whom did ye create me, and by whom did ye fashion me? On me comes the assault of wrath, and of violent power, the blow of desolation, audacious insolence, and (thievish) might. None other pasture-giver have I than you, therefore do ye teach me good (tillage) for the fields (my only hope of welfare )!

(11) (And this doctrine was the first of rules to regulate our actions. Yet the opposer speaks beside Thee.) For when first, O Ahura Mazda! Thou didst create the (holy) settlements, and didst reveal the religious laws ; and when Thou gavest (us) understanding from Thine own mind, and madest our (full) bodily life , and (didst thus determine) actions (by Thy power), and didst moreover deliver to us (nearer) injunctions whereby (as by a rule) the wisher may place his choices ,

(7) Created was the matter which they have; Created was the informing influence Within these stars that round about them go. The soul of every brute and of the plants By its potential temperament attracts The ray and motion of the holy lights; But your own life immediately inspires Supreme Beneficence, and enamours it So with herself, it evermore desires her. And thou from this mayst argue furthermore Your resurrection, if thou think again How human flesh was fashioned at that time When the first parents both of them were made."

(3) And every God by his own proper power brought forth what was appointed him. Thus there arose four-footed beasts, and creeping things, and those that in the water dwell, and things with wings, and everything that beareth seed, and grass, and shoot of every flower, all having in themselves seed of again-becoming. And they selected out the births of men for gnosis of the works of God and attestation of the energy of Nature; the multitude of men for lordship over all beneath the heaven and gnosis of its blessings, that they might increase in increasing and multiply in multitude, and every soul infleshed by revolution of the Cyclic Gods, for observation of the marvels of Heaven and Heaven's Gods' revolution, and of the works of God and energy of Nature, for tokens of its blessings, for gnosis of the power of God, that they might know the fates that follow good and evil [deeds] and learn the cunning work of all good arts.

(3) And Thou art therein, O Ahura Mazda! the bountiful One who appertains to, and who possesses, that (most bounteous) spirit in that Thou art He who for this (man, in whom this spirit works) hath made the joy-creating Kine. (And as to her), for her, as joyful meadows of her peace, wilt Thou bestow (Thine) Âramaiti (who is our Piety as earth considered), since he (for her) hath taken counsel with Thy Good Mind, Lord!