i am the first and the last i am the honored one and the scorned one i am the who*e and the holy one i am the wife and the virgin i am the mother and the daughter i am the members of my mother i am the barren one and many are her sons i am she whose wedding is great and i have not taken a husband i am the midwife and she who does not bear i am the solace of my labor pains i am the bride and the bridegroom and it is my husband who begot me i am the mother of my father and the sister of my husband and he is my offspring i am the slave of him who prepared me i am the ruler of my offspring but he is the one who begot me before the time on a birthday and he is my offspring in due time and my power is from him i am the staff of his power in his youth and he is the rod of my old age and whatever he wills happens to me i am the silence that is incomprehensible and the idea whose remembrance is frequent i am the voice whose sound is manifold and the word whose appearance is multiple for i am knowledge and ignorance i am shame and boldness i am shameless i am ashamed i am strength and i am fear i am war