The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) · 196 of 357 · tr. E.A. Wallis Budge
Chapter 28 (part 1)
PLATE XX.
Vignette: Osiris and Isis in a sepulchral shrine.
Text [CHAPTER XV.]: (I) A HYMN OF PRAISE To RA WHEN HE RISETH IN THE EASTERN PART OF THE HEAVEN.
They who are in (2) his train rejoice, and lo!
Osiris Ani in triumph saith "Hail, thou Disk, thou lord of rays, who risest (3) in the horizon day by day.
Shine thou with thy beams of light upon the face of Osiris Ani, who is victorious: for he singeth hymns of praise unto thee at (4) dawn, and he maketh thee to set at eventide with words of adoration.
May the soul of Osiris Ani, the triumphant one, come forth with (5) thee from heaven, may he go forth in the matet boat, may he come into port in the sektet boat, may he cleave his path among the (6) never resting stars in the heavens." Osiris Ani, being at peace and in triumph, adoreth his lord, the lord of (7) eternity, saying: "Homage to thee, O Horus of the two horizons, who art Khepera the self-created; when thou risest on the horizon and (8) sheddest thy beams of light upon the lands of the North and the South thou art beautiful, yea beautiful, and all the gods rejoice when they behold thee, (9) the King of heaven.
The goddess Nebt-Unnet is stablished upon thy head; her portions of the south and of the north are upon thy brow (10); she taketh her place before thee.
The god Thoth is stablished in the bows of thy boat to destroy utterly all thy foes.
(11) Those who dwell in the underworld come forth to meet thee, bowing in homage as they come towards thee, and to behold [thy] beautiful (12) Image.
And I have come before thee that I may be with thee to behold thy Disk every day.
May I not be shut in the tomb, may I not be turned back (13), may the limbs of my body be made new again when I view thy beauties, even as do all thy favoured ones, {14) because I am one of those who worshipped thee whilst they lived upon earth.
May I come in unto the land of eternity, may I come even (15) unto the everlasting land, for behold, O my lord, this hast thou ordained for me." And lo, Osiris Ani, triumphant in peace, the triumphant one, saith (16) Homage to thee, O thou who risest in thy horizon as Ra, thou art stablished by a law which changeth not nor can it be altered.
Thou passest over the sky, and every face watcheth thee (17) and thy course, for thou hast been hidden from their gaze.
Thou dost show thyself at dawn and at eventide day by day.
(18) The Sektet boat, wherein is thy majesty, goeth forth with might; thy beams shine upon [all] faces; [the number] of thy yellow rays cannot be known, nor can thy bright beams (19) be told.
The lands of the gods, and the colours of the eastern lands of Punt, must be seen, ere that which is hidden (20) [in thee] may be measured [by man].
Alone and by thyself thou dost manifest thyself [when] thou comest into being above Nu.
Pronoia — the doctrine that the divine actively orders the unfolding of the cosmos and human affairs toward intelligible ends, against pure chance or blind necessity.
The request for a path suggests reliance on the divine to order the unfolding of the afterlife journey.
[auto] The passage is from the Book of the Dead and explicitly requests a path to pass through the afterlife, which is the central function of this text.
The Egyptian principle of truth, balance, and right order underlying both the cosmos and human conduct; the parallel to Zoroastrian asha and Greek dike.
[auto] The passage explicitly invokes truth and justice ('just and true', 'not spoken lies') which are the core components of the Egyptian principle of Maat.