Look but do not see;
It is "invisible"

Listen but do not hear;
It is "inaudible"

Touch but do not feel;
It is "intangible"

These three cannot be analysed
Like roiling waters; they make up the One

Its heights are not bright
Its depths are not dark

It continues on and on, like a strand of silk, unable to be named
It retraces its steps home, into non-existence

So we try to name the form of the formless,
The image of nothingness,
Yet to speak of it muddies the mind

We receive it like a guest, but do not see its front
We follow its tracks, but do not see its rear

Carry out the ancient Way
When dealing with the modern

Know the ancient dawn
So we can untangle the Way's thread

視之不見
名曰夷

聽之不聞
名曰希

搏之不得
名曰微

此三者不可致詰
故混而為一

其上不皦
其下不昧

繩繩兮不可名
復歸於無物

是謂無狀之狀
無物之象
是謂惚恍

迎之不見其首
隨之不見其後

執古之道
以御今之有

能知古始
是謂道紀