Chapter 4 - The Nature of Dao

The Dao is by essence empty,
Yet there is no limit to its usefulness.
Like a vast valley.
It's the ancestor to ten thousand things.

It smooths the toughest of edges;
Unknots the tightest of knots;
Soothes the sharpest of light;
All becomes dust.

We cannot see the shadow of its present;
But we feel its presence.

Who are its ancestors?
It appears to be here before the beginning of time.

道沖，而用之或不盈。淵兮，似万物之宗；湛兮，似或存。吾不知誰之子，象帝之先。