im Anfang war die Tat → in the beginning was the deed

[spiros]

Im Anfang war die Tat → In the beginning was the deed

Faust returns to his rooms, and the dog follows him. Faust translates the Gospel of John, which presents difficulties, as Faust cannot determine the sense of the first sentence (specifically, the word logos – In the beginning was the Logos, and the Logos was with God, and the Logos was God., currently translated as The Word). Eventually he settles upon "In the beginning was the deed" as the translation.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faust:_The_First_Part_of_the_Tragedy