Apocryphon of John 3

11. [I also] asked to [understand it, and he said] to me, “The Monad [is a unity with nothing] higher than it.

22. [It is that which exists] as [God] and as Father of the All, [the unseen] one, who is higher than [the All, who exists as] indestructibility, [as] pure light upon which no [eye] can gaze.

33. He [is the] unseen [Spirit], of whom it is improper [to think] as a god or as anything similar, because he is more than a god, since nothing exists higher than him and no one «3» rules over him.

44. [This is because he does] not [exist] within anything subordinate [to him, since everything] exists within him, because he is self-[established].

55. [He is eternal], since he needs [nothing], because [he] is complete perfection.

66. [He lacked nothing] that he would need in order to be perfected by [it].

77. [Instead], he is forever completely perfect in [light].

88. He is [limitless], since no one exists [before him] who could place limits on him.

99. He is unfathomable, [since there] exists before him no one who could [fathom him].

1010. [He is] beyond measurement, since no one [existed before him who could measure] him.

1111. [He is unseen, since no] one has seen [him].

1212. [He is eternal], since he [exists] eternally.

1313. He is [unspeakable, since] no one existed who could conceive of him in order to speak [of him].

1414. He cannot be named, since [no one existed before him] who could name [him].

1515. He is [light beyond measure], pure, sacred, and [unstained].

1616. He is unspeakable, [existing in perfect] indestructibility.

1717. (He exists) [not] (confined) within perfection, nor within blessedness, nor within divinity, but he is highly exalted (above these).

1818. He is neither bodily [nor] nonbodily.

1919. He is neither large [nor] small.

2020. [It is impossible] to say that he has a quantity or that [he has a quality], because no one can [understand him].

2121. He is not a being among [beings, but he is] highly exalted, [not] as [though he were loftier], but (he is lofty in) himself.

2222. He neither [participates] in the aeons nor in temporality, because whoever participates in [an aeon] that was established previously [...].

2323. He [was not] not assigned a temporal measure, [since] he does not receive anything from another, [because it would be received] as a loan, since the one who exists before someone (else) [has no need] to accept (something) from [another].

2424. This is because he is the one who gazes at himself, waiting, in «4» [his] light, since the [...] is glorious.

2525. Purity beyond measure belongs to him.

2626. He is an aeon who bestows aeons.

2727. He is [life] that bestows life.

2828. He is a blessed one who bestows blessedness.

2929. He is knowledge that bestows knowledge.

3030. [He is] goodness that bestows goodness.

3131. [He is] mercy and redemption [that bestow mercy].

3232. He is grace that bestows grace,

3333. [not] because it belongs to him, but because he bestows [the light] that is beyond measure and comprehension.

3434. [How can I speak] with you about him, [since] his [aeon] is beyond destruction, at rest and abiding in [silence, resting], existing before [everything, because he] is the leader of [all] aeons, [and] he is the one who grants them strength through his goodness?”