Book of the One

In the Name of the singular One,

let Abraham begin his work.

Chapter 1

The [number] one counts [i.e., divides] itself, and no other number counts it, though it counts every other number. It is the root and foundation, the square and cube. It is similar to the substance of a thing, which bears the accidents. All numbers are potential in it, and it is actualized in each number. It is the generator, and every number is generated through it. It is primordial and creates every other number. It is the cause of every even and odd number. It is not itself a number. It cannot be multiplied or divided, and yet it is the cause of all multiplication and division. There is nothing like it. It does not have a contrary and so does not undergo change. It is divided from one side, while every other number is divided from both sides [i.e., there is no integer smaller than one]. It includes every genus and every particular, for it is first and last. It cannot be divided except by imagining the division of the whole that is one. It is the first of the odd numbers, which are multiplied in the same way that one generates squares. It is also the first of the even numbers, in which the two halves are equal to each other.