The Metrical Life of Rabban Hormizd
The Metrical Life of Rabban Hormizd
East Syriac monastic histories
7th–13th century
A long Syriac poem in twenty-two ‘gates’ on the life of Rabban Hormizd, beginning with the Trinity and the creation and then following the monk’s life. It is translated here line for line, and the numbers of the lines in the Syriac text are left out.
Author’s Preface and Explanatory Canticle
Blessed be He Who hath magnified thy triumph : And hath made thee a marvellous man by thy strife : And hath multiplied and increased thy praise : May our congregation be guarded by thy prayer.
Verficles.
Blessed be He Who hath placed thee in His Church : A fountain of life unto him that taketh refuge in thee : And hath bound unto himself a blessed habitation : Bless our congregation by thy prayer : Blessed be He Who by His help hath made thee to overcome : And hath given thee to be a means of help to His people : Pour out in abundance thy blessings : And bless those who dwell in thy monastery.
The Discourse.
O Thou Who meritest praise from all created things, hidden Being : Adorable Being, hidden from all, without beginning : Being Who art, Thou art and shalt be Glorious God : Exalted and raised above every time, and name, and appellation : He is removed and remote from all the periods of time and worlds which exist : His existence had no period of beginning, and it cannot be sought out : And His duration is without end and also without measure : And His origin resisteth the knowledge of all created beings : Without beginning, and without cause, and not [affected] by time : The Knower of times, and of what is above them, as Creator : In powers and created things, that is to say, in things which exist : Complete and perfect because He is self-existent and eternal : He took not being from another, for that was impossible :
Nor His personality, which is hard [to understand] and which cannot be found out : It is admitted that He is One Substance, One Being : Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit, Persons three : One Nature, One Might, One Lordship : One Will, One Dominion, One Knowledge : One Self-existent One, One God, One Kingdom : One wonderful and marvellous Wonder, boundless : Unutterable and not to be sought out by human reason : Incomprehensible to the mind, and unknowable by the comprehension : The Cause and also the effects by individual qualities : And neither in Nature nor in Person doth He belong to the cause : These are the individual qualities without confusion : Begetting, being born, and proceeding forth : Father begetting, Son being born without intermission : Spirit proceeding from the Person of the Father without break : The Father did not begin the Fatherhood since time was :
It existed ever, for His Being and existence had no beginning : The Son was from everlasting and [His] sonship had no beginning : And the Spirit is eternal, for there was never a time when He went forth : Among Them none is older than His Neighbour in existence : But in everything They are One, without division : There is no time, not even a minute, or a moment : Between One and the Other in priority or in coming after : For They are not subservient unto the numbers [used in] reckoning : For They are known by one, and two, et cetera, in composition : But One, One, and One, They are declared [to be] frequently : A series which is exalted above numbers and quantity : God forbid that the Trinity should be declared by number : In a manner which is above all human understanding can [this] only be done :
For not by one, and two, [and] three, nor by multitude : Can the Trinity of the Godhead be established : One substance, between the Persons of Whom there is no distinction : Except only in the individual qualities which are characteristic [of each]: The quality of begetting, of being born, and of proceeding from: The first of these is privative, or negative: Which word, interpreted in Greek, is ἀποφατική: But the middle and the third are hypothetical: When we read (or, say) "One of the Persons of the Trinity": The two Others are [included] with Him in the mention [of the One]: But although there is equality in the Persons: Yet in their characteristics They are different and are not equal: The characteristic of the Person of the Father is giving birth: And this is not attributed to the Persons of the Son and the Living Spirit: Similarly the characteristics of the Son and Spirit: Are not by any means hypothecated to the Person of the Father: And according to plain language I would say, the Father is the Cause: And the Son is His strength, that is, His wisdom and also [His] reason: And the Holy Spirit is His life in very truth: That God might be a wise God, rational, and of a living being: When a man uttereth the Name of God in the congregation: He also maketh known [the existence] of reason and life by the word:
And when a man uttereth the name of a man it is a manner of demonstration : Which of necessity sheweth that he possesseth life and reason : And, as an example, when a man uttereth the name Helios : He maketh known by his word one substance and three persons : Inasmuch as the sun hath one combination, and three persons :100 They are equal and not divided, although they have in them a nature which can be predicated : But they are not equal and are divided when individual qualities are to be declared : And they are found, on the contrary, to be divided and no longer equal : Therefore [the word] "sun" is a general name for [its] persons : So likewise is it in respect of the Trinity, the Living God :105 The name "God" is a new one for the Self-existent, and is not a natural one : It is also Hebrew, and in that it is [also] Syrian, [it meaneth] effective power : The persons of the sun are the sphere, the light, and the heat : None of them is earlier or later [than the other] in the matter of time : The sphere of the sun is not earlier than the rays of its light :110 And his flame is not later than the light or the sphere :
Although here they are powers, [yet] they are not stable persons : And since they are powers here we must understand [them to be] persons there : It is manifest proof that the Trinity cannot be comprehended : And therefore light is called in speech the image of a person : Father, Son, Holy Spirit, [these form] One existence : Two perfect [existences], complete in being, from One perfect [existence] : And also that which was enunciated by the son of thunder (Boanerges) : "In the beginning was the Word" [meaneth] the Lord, the Person of the Son : For by the appellation of individual speech he glorifieth the Person : And he maketh known and informeth concerning the Persons of the Father and Son : There is no word which doth not possess soul, and certainly life : The utterance is the soul, the understanding (or, meaning) is [its] life and reason :
And these are without disappearance, and without interruption : And none is anterior to his fellow by any period of time which can be exactly measured : But these are powers and operative agencies [here] : And there they are Persons and perfect Existences in very truth : And let us bring into comparison a proof from a person by way of example : For without doubt words make certain that there is One Nature : Adam, the first man, was not born, and certainly he was not a son : But he begot, after the manner of one who was a son, the young man Abel : And this one (i. e., Abel) who had been born, did not become a father to all eternity : And Eve [came into being], not by being born, but by proceeding from [Adam] : If in the similitude of the house of Adam, and in the visible creation He thus :
Preserved in one nature, without confusion of persons, the characteristics of each : Let us have no doubt whatsoever about the Eternal Trinity : That It existeth, and that in Its existence It had no beginning : One in Three, and Three in One, One God : To Whom by nature there is neither a name nor an appellation : Every name and appellation which the Holy Scriptures call Him by : And which they ascribe to the Holy One belong now to His Being and now to our creation : Therefore, that He is One God, created beings know well : But how He is, and what, no creatures that live are able to know : And they confess that He is One in Three co-equal Persons : But they cannot know the Persons of the Creator : From [enquiring] how this can be excuse thyself, for it is a very difficult matter. And they know all the matters which concern them without confusion : Their boundlessness and their habitation each with the other : Neither spiritual beings, nor corporeal beings have imagined in writing : If the riches of Christ can neither be enquired into nor sought out :150 How can a created being examine into the nature of His Godhead? : The Father knoweth the Son, Who is begotten of Him, and the manner of His being born : And that He is the Son, for He knoweth Him that brought Him into being, and the manner thereof : It is the Holy Spirit Who can fathom the depths of Godhead : But rational minds are too feeble to know the mystery of self-existence :155 Look, O my brother, upon the sun for thy benefit and not for thy harm : Draw nigh unto the fire that thou mayest be warmed and not burned : Hearken unto our Lord, and believe, and hold His living word to be true : "I am in My Father, and My Father is in Me", and save thyself from investigation : Keep silent and [enquire not] how it can be, for the matter cometh not :160 Into the comprehension of the reason or of the minds of created beings :
To His preachers He gave the command to preach and baptize : In the Adorable Name of the Trinity He gave dominion : He did not say unto them how, but what [then ?] : He that believeth and is baptized shall live and put on armour : And he that believeth not shall be one condemned in the day of trial : And shall possess an evil inheritance at the last—the fire of Gehenna : And the Baptist describeth that he who believeth in the Son : Shall have life, and shall be invited to the feast on high : Whilst he who is not obedient unto the Son "shall not see life" : But the anger of God shall abide upon him, and he shall not be with those at the feast : Let us believe, and be sure of, and obedient to, these things, that we may not be with those who are deprived [of them] :
And that we, in the hardness of our heart[s] may not be spoiled by our Enemy : And he who believeth without this faith casteth himself : Into an unfathomable sea, and destroyeth his life, and becometh man : The Self-existent is a Spirit, and the Spirit bloweth where it listeth : And the things which belong to Him cannot be sought out by him that wisheth : And also John made known, "In the beginning was the Word": And the other words, little by little, concerning the Son, the Word: And four times [John says] that He was God with God: And [describes] the manner wherein He made created things in marvellous silence: And the Apostle sings, and Paul the chosen one taught: That by Him God made the worlds, and that He is the light of His splendid glory: And the Image of the Being of His Father, and thus a perfect Person:
But how this is he passeth over in silence in a proper manner: And also the cries of 'Holy', which the angels cried, are three: And make known that there are Three Persons in One Self-existent Being: But they never learned the condition of the Godhead: And they never had the power to teach it or to make it known by speech: And the rational Church [saith :—] "One Holy Father: "And One Son, Who shall be called holy, and is holy: "And One Holy Spirit, holy in one praise:" In these words doth the Church, without any mingling, ascribe praise: I do not say because there are Three [Persons] there are three Beings: But only that there are Three Persons, co-equal in the Self-existent Being: One Self-existent Being with Three Persons is to be confessed : And it must not be believed that any One is inferior to His Fellow :
The Father did not create without the Son, and the Son did not fashion : Without His Father, and the Spirit did not adorn without the Father and Son : But with one power, and with one will common : To their Three Adorable Persons They are co-equal in substance : He fashioned this creation and brought it into the state in which it now is : According to hidden wisdom, and knowledge which preceded all other knowledge : It was not a new thought which was stirred up in the Creator to create creation : Neither did He do it because there was great necessity : But because it thus pleased His will, which is perfect in goodness : And it existed aforetime in His everlasting knowledge : And since it pleased His love not from anything did everything come : He alone was before everything, and He is beyond everything :
In Him were depicted the worlds which came into being after time : And He pondered no new thought as to how, and in what form, and when, they were to come into being : Everything constituted was made and perfected with Him : And when it pleased Him He created everything which is in this world: Great wonder filled creation when created beings began to be: And the hosts on high, if they were created, remained in astonishment: The All-wise made everything which He made wisely: And He ordered His work like a good workman without confusion: Every object which He had planned in the construction of the world: That the rational beings which He had created should become divine His love perfected: He did not desire to give to this world the perfection of existence: But He reserved it wisely for another world: In the new world, which His love had prepared from the beginning:
He wished all rational beings to be perfect, and this was fitting: And [in] this present world, as in the case of children, by degrees: It pleased Him to perfect us by His training which is full of incitement: This is the splendour of the beautiful form of reason: That of its own will it may examine and choose, and not by force: Freedom itself is the child of power [and]: Of the being which bestoweth a hidden nod upon reason: For He is the Power which searcheth into, and chooseth, and rejecteth: He is the Reason, the lord of hidden treasures, and of the labours which are performed : Glorious and to be praised, the Lord of creation, the mighty Nature : But in what manner He ordered the work of His hands is hidden in mystery : On the first day of the week, on the first day, seven natures : Heaven, fire, darkness, air, earth, water, and spiritual beings :235 These, in a mystery, out of silence and in silence He created : On the morning of [that day], with a wonderful voice, He created the light : On the second day He made the firmament from the waters : And that exalted Being placed it between the earth and the heavens : On the third day He collected the waters into the mass of the seas :240 And earth and Paradise sprang up, and the Self-existent fashioned Eden : On the fourth day He stablished the sun, and moon, and stars : And with them He adorned the firmament which appeared at His secret nod : On the fifth day He united the waters and they brought forth creeping things : And birds, and the great beasts of the sea, and everything which is in the waters :245 On the sixth day He created from the earth dumb creatures :
And He created Adam, and called him His form and living image: He made him king over everything which is in this world: Until the time should come when he should become as God, and a being of knowledge: He commanded and warned him not to eat from the tree, But by the counsel of the Enemy he was persuaded, and transgressed the command and trod it under foot: The beloved heir remained a condemned one doomed to destruction: And sin, and the Evil One, and greedy death ruled over him: There went forth on him the sentence of doom: And the king was cast out into exile like a poor man: The desire of the Calumniator was perfected in the destruction of the image: And the wicked servant began to hold in derision the Lord Most High: Rational beings and dumb creatures turned away their gaze together: And there came upon him, without understanding, great affliction:
The Creator saw that His image had become a thing to be despised: And one given over to destruction, through evil, and iniquity, and all kinds of sin: It pleased not the gracious and merciful Lord: That the beauty of His image should be wiped out by Belial: He sent His consubstantial Son, and the Spirit: And the glorious Lord, without leaving [heaven] went down: He dwelt in the womb of a blessed woman, the daughter of mortals: Unending, and without limit or termination: He took from one who had been made in His image and likeness, of the race of earth: Flesh which had been endowed with soul, a rational soul, and perfect manhood: With one will of the Three [Persons] in common: He united to Himself man who was to become God, an only-begotten Son: The Father desired him, the Word abode in him, the Spirit dwelt in him:
And he became a dwelling for the Trinity, and a glorious temple: Although in the will of the Trinity there was unity: Yet separately and individually the Word is of the Son: Father, and Son, and Spirit willed one will: And the Son, in His love, without change, became One Who went down: And One Who had been made humble, and One Who was empty, and One Who was despised: And One Who had been made Man, and endowed with a body and members: He received, and took, and exalted, and deified, and Him that was to become a Son He made so: And He exalted, and honoured, and magnified, and sanctified Him that was to be holy: He made a temple and a shrine, and extolled and magnified Him that was to be magnified: And He united with Him Jesus Who was to be derived from us: He was to become sublime, and a Being divine, and an exalted Being:
And One Who was to become a temple, and a shrine, and One able to unite [with God]: Therefore let us confess Jesus Christ, the Adorable One, the Lord: God and man, existing for time and eternity, the Creator and what is created: Word and flesh, King and purple, Dweller and temple: The simple and compound, He Who taketh and what is taken, the Wearer and what is worn: Being made God, Being made Son, and Being Who is to become God and Son: Being made sublime and magnified, Being Who is to become sublime and magnified: Honourable and extolled, the Being Who is to be honoured and extolled: Holy One and Being made a temple, the Being Who is to be sanctified and made a temple: Being made a shrine and united to God, the Being Who is to become a temple, and united with God: Finite and [in]finite, the Being Who shall be praised:
Two forms and also Two substances—one is the Son: Two Natures and two Persons—one is the Lord: One Person (πρόσωπον) Which keepeth the Natures united: And which preserveth the existing Persons in unity: Besides, Nature and Person are God the Word complete: And Nature and Person are complete in perfection : One is Christ in His Godhead and in His Lordship : And in kingdom, and in glory, and in operative power : He is One in power, and also in honour, and in working : And in extolment, and in ruling, and in judgeship :305 He is One in adoration, and in dominion, and in pardoning : The Son is One, one Redeemer, to Him be confession : With things of Lordship He associated His temple in a manner supernatural : For it was impossible for Him to be a nature derived [from anything] : He gave to it by grace all exalted and glorious attributes :310 Effectively, and in a full manner, in truth : And He took the humble qualities derived from the condition of becoming a shrine : Willingly, and face to face, as a pledge : From birth until baptism was hidden : The wonderful, marvellous, glorious, and secret Dispensation :315 From His public appearance (?) until the Ascension, which was openly seen and evident : By the performance of marvellous and mighty deeds, and wonderful things : Having fulfilled His Dispensation in a fitting manner : He chose the Twelve and the Seventy-two, and gathered together the Apostles : He taught them all manner of secret and hidden things :
And gave them power to do wonderful and mighty deeds : He was taken up with great glory to the heaven of heavens : To the adorable throne at the right hand of His hidden Father : He filled the path of the kingdom on high with saints : Virgins, ascetics, monks, [in] bands and companies :325 They heard Him teaching, "Ye shall not possess the possessions of the world": And they went forth naked of the goods thereof, and esteemed them a dream : Men and women clave to Him and journeyed with fervour : And because of His love they endured the works of righteousness : Now one of His chosen ones was our father, of whom our discourse speaketh :330 A cherub in the body, an angel incarnate, and clothed with light : On this path travelled the blessed man of whom history [telleth] : And he cultivated the virtues strenuously in great love : Now again, by the help of the Trinity, I begin : To put in writing a few of the triumphs of the righteous man :335 Righteous zeal compelleth me to declare the history of the chosen one : And the marvellous labours, and the glorious matters of the pious man :
The crown of his triumphs, and the asceticism of the venerable and noble man : Have incited me, the wretched one, to relate the story of the acts of his life : The sincere soul and chaste person of the pure priest : Call me and impel me to describe in words his beautiful deeds : The willing poverty and the strong self-abnegation of this warrior : Invite me to travel the simple road of a true discourse : The solitary life and the stern discipline of this advocate : Demand from me the speech of a collected narrative and I must burden myself with a discourse : The love of his Lord and the innocent love of this warrior : Have counselled me, the sluggard, to rise up and to become strenuous : The compassion and humility of this merciful man : Command me to set in writing certain of the doings of the just man :
His pious fasting and his self-denial which surpass speech : Transfix me and goad me, the man sunk in stupor as with sleep : To arise and preach the might of his triumphs strenuously : And also to depict his glorious qualities at great length : Grant me, O my God, by his prayers, the riches of speech : That I may relate the history of the person who was full of grace : Although I am wanting and ignorant both in speech and in knowledge : And my heart is sunk low in poverty and in confusedness : O Gracious One, Who art full of goodness, Thy great riches : Pour out upon me that perchance my miserable soul may become wise : My mind is too inferior to utter adequately this history : Of the man who was adorned with piety and holiness : From Thy storehouse make me wise and teach my foolish ignorance :
That I may be able to declare the triumph of Thy servant fully : Give Thou speech unto a thing which is dumb and hath no understanding : Put strength into me, the man who hath been made like unto it, with every folly : O my Lord, unto Thee belong the strength and the power : And unto Thee belong all victory and every gift : Extend and give to my mind wisdom and discernment : And guide me in the discourse on Thy chosen one with Thine exalted hand : That I may make known and declare, and my motions may relate all the wonders : Of this Thy triumphant one in holiness and modesty : In the contending of the righteous men who were among the Prophets and Apostles: He strove, and became perfect and exalted in piety and glory: He was set apart from the womb, like Moses the prophet, for things in the future:
And like Samuel he was called to the heavenly priesthood: I desire that in my speech this athlete of righteousness: I may extol, and also that I may praise him in an exalted manner: My mind is timid, and full of trembling, and consternation: Lest my feebleness be not sufficient to make plain the truth: The knowledge of earthly imaginings is far too little: To declare his marvellous labours by the lips: Therefore I have drawn nigh and dismissed from my heart every tremor: For I rely upon his prayers to find skilfulness of tongue:
Gate 1
From the Hûzâyê sprang this spring of hidden things: And from Bêth Lâpat rose this fountain of spiritual things: From the East rose the lamp of righteousness: Our pious father Rabban Hôrmîzd, full of grace: His parents were Christians by belief: And they were prosperous and rich in the fugitive possessions of the world: They possessed men-servants and maid-servants in abundance : Who ministered unto them with exceedingly great reverence : They occupied themselves much with pious fastings and prayers : And were continually affording relief to the poor : The name of his father was Joseph, a righteous and wonderful man : And that of his mother was Thekla, a chaste and faithful woman : When he had arrived at the age of twelve years : The righteous folk took him to school with diligence : That he might learn the Scriptures, and become trained in spiritual learning : And in six years he could recite easily the New Testament and [the Psalms of] David by heart :
And when he had lived full twenty years, there moved in him the natural motions : Which were established in the nature of our creation by the Creator : These fervent feelings were bubbling up in him continually : And he used to say to his parents ceaselessly : "I will become a monk, and I greatly long to be one : "Behold, I am ready to serve the Lord with gladness" : With this thought of the fear of the Lord, and righteous anxiety : He was burning with incorporeal and divine fire : His heart was hot therewith by night and also by day : And he was exceedingly desirous for and awaited the garb anxiously : Our Adorable Lord knew the thoughts of the young man : And what was fair and fitting for His service and for the honour of His glory : As he was lying in the bed-chamber of his father's house :
And was wrapped in an exceedingly deep sleep : He saw a vision of Jesus our Lord sitting : Upon the throne of glory and being praised by the heavenly beings : When the motions of his soul had been united in the sweetness of the vision : The great King commanded one of the companies on high : Straightway, according to His command, the Watcher flew : And stood before the blessed young man, and said unto him : "Why art thou standing, O man, in a place which is not thine? : "For it is the country of the Watchers on high, of marvellous holiness" : He answered the Watcher, "He Who is mighty took me from my country : "And hath set me in a country which, indeed, is not mine : "But I beseech thee that I may not suffer any injury from thee" : And the Watcher heartened him, [saying] "Fear thou not, O wonderful man :
"For I am commanded to be thy guide and not one to harm thee : "And I have not injured thee, as thou didst imagine, and I will not do thee a hurt" Whilst they were thus conversing with each other with this conversation : A crown of glory suddenly appeared with the spiritual being He shewed it to him and said, "O thou young man who art to become beautiful : "Seest thou how this which I hold in my right hand sparkleth ? "If thou wishest this crown to be thine : "Get thee wings like unto mine, and thou shalt become the wearer of the crown" The young man seeing it became like one burning with fire : And he said to the Watcher, "Give it unto me, Master, for I desire it :" As soon as he had put the crown on the head of the just man it shone with light :
And the Watcher flew away, and ascribed praise unto the Bestower Having woke up from his sleep he remained standing in vexation And straightway he learned in secret, in his soul, the manner of the matter He was very hot with the fire of his love of Jesus Christ : And to no man did he reveal this glorious and marvellous vision But the young man determined to go to Jerusalem : That he might pray in the holy places Wherein Christ had wrought His wonderful, mighty deeds : And wherein He had perfected His marvellous dispensation : And he desired to go thence to the wilderness of Egypt : And he longed to dwell with the Fathers in the Scete desert : One day he wished to go forth from his father's house : And to journey along the road to where he had a mind to be as he was able :
After he had travelled seven and thirty days : According to the will of the Lord he arrived at the city of Mâwsel : And he diffidently took up his abode in the church the name of which is Bêth Hâlâ : And by Divine agency he found there three brethren : From the most holy Monastery of Rabban Mâr Bar-'Idtâ : Excellent men, holy men, and lords of wisdom : Abba Jacob from Kephar Zamrê, a pure man : And Mâr John, who was renowned for [his] triumphs, from Shâmrah : And Mâr Hênân-'Îshô', of glorious attributes, from Adiabene : Men of stature, and men who had happiness in contemplation of divine things : When he had been blessed by them, and had sat down modestly : Suddenly the divine fire kindled upon him : And he became fire through and through, an incomparable wonder : The which a tongue of flesh is unable to utter in words :
The pious men seeing that secret fire had shrouded the chosen man : Marvelled with astonishment, and perceived with the mind a mystery of the new world: And [marvelled] at his choice for the service of the spirit, and at the gifts: And at the mighty deeds and miracles which should take place through him: Then they were moved, and they prophesied about him in the power of the Spirit: Saying, "A chosen vessel thou art about to be unto the king Christ: "Many through thee shall be made members of the household of the glorious Lord: "And at the utterance of thy name stinking devils shall flee: "And evil reptiles which shoot forth the venom of greedy death: "At the memorial of thee they shall know thee, and shall abide in peace: "But I counsel thee, O our love, to desist from this journey: "And to rise up with us to go to our monastery, for it is better so:
"Our Lord Christ hath revealed unto us the whole matter of thy chosen person: "That thou art useful to Him, and that thou wilt serve His Lordship. "And an overseer of His treasures and rest: "And a almoner of His gifts thou shalt be, as is fit and proper: "When thou hast departed from this world unto the world of rest: "Thy spiritual children shall find alleviation: "They shall rejoice in thee and in thy treasures in abundance : "And thy seed of the spirit shall burst forth in a flood like the Nile : "Thy house which is in the spiritual land shall be : "Like that celestial Jerusalem, a country of glory : "The seed of Pachomius shall never depart therefrom : "And of excellent men until the arrival of the last of all things" : The young man hearing the counsel of the old men without hesitation :
Received [it], and departed to the monastery with them with a joyful heart : Having gone into the monastery the godly congregation received him : With the consent of their Rabbâ, Mâr Sabhr-Îshô', the head of the congregation : Which was in number about two hundred and sixty chosen men : Divine and marvellous men, pure vessels : After the manner of heavenly beings they conversed on the mysteries of the new world : And they were triumphant in the glorious works of excellence : With love, and with lowly humility they received him : The skilled mind, without prying and without investigation : As soon as he had entered into the service of the community, according to rule : He began the service of the angels and of heaven : He rejected everything in this world which dissolveth away : And the delightful things thereof he counted as the dung which is cast out :
He directed his gaze straight to the future world which abideth : And looked at the good things which pass speech and all understanding : Before his eyes he depicted nothing whatsoever except Christ : And he travelled along the celestial way with a joyful heart : This glorious man was greatly beloved by God : And the glorious Lord was wont to answer him quickly : When he had served in the monastery for a few months, according to rule : The brethren brought him on the First Day of the week to the door of the apse : After the receiving of the adorable Mysteries of the Living Son : Mâr Sabhr-Îshô' and the congregation laid hands upon him : And with prayers they shaved the righteous man by the command of the Lord : And with hymns of the Holy Spirit they ordained the pious man :
Even as our Lord wrote in His life-giving Gospel : "Where two or three are gathered together in My Name there am I" : The blessed man having recently received the garb of the monk : Removed himself from the work of the body to that of the mind: And he did this by turns, and became the one instead of the other: Through the fire of his love of Jesus our Lord which burned hotly: That is the fire which our Lord cast into this world: And by it he became a being flaming and burning with heat: By day he toiled strenuously in the service of the monastery: Being well ordered in mind, and quiet, and gentle, and prudent: At the time of compline, when the board was being struck at eventide: The sacristan used to give the venerable man a piece of holy bread: And fasting, he used to go forth in the evenings without food:
And he tasted nothing at all except a handful of water: On the First Day of the week having partaken of the Adorable Mysteries: He then ate a meal of bread, and water, and salt: Having acquired constant and simple humility in his soul: He laboured in self-denial which was boundless and unmeasurable: Of fruits, and of the fruits of trees he never ate: And for seven years he toiled in austere labours of this kind: The whole congregation of the monks marvelled at him: And they and his acquaintances ascribed unto him endless blessing: Within themselves they said, "Who can this young man be : "Who hath made himself wisely the home of every ascetic excellence: "In his boundless understanding he is a righteous man : "The exalted one of understanding possesseth wisdom and knowledge in his soul: "These spiritual excellences cannot be found in [any] other man :
"Except in the old men, that is, those who have lived an exceedingly long time": The coenobites having turned themselves to the refreshment of sleep : He would rise up from their midst with courage: And girding himself about with a rope strenuously : He would clean out the ashes of the furnace with his pure hand: And he would then devote himself to the latrine of the community : And sweep it out with his own hands and clean it: Fair was the humility to which, for our Lord's sake, the young man descended : Fair was this love of the understanding with which he burned: Fair was the fervent desire of the fear of the Lord with which he was on fire : Fair was the abasement of his pious soul to which he abased himself: He was thus strenuous in relieving his brethren in every want of the body :
Because the chosen man knew that he was pleasing his Lord in gratifying the brethren : Then he also devoted himself to service before the Lord : And he was lifting up praises and thanksgiving to such a degree : That our Lord saw the labour and love of the chosen man among the just men : And that he was careful to observe all His lifegiving commandments : He adorned his soul with every kind of spiritual excellence and practice : Especially with the glorious decoration of humility : Which is the robe of the King Christ, and it giveth victory : Unto its possessors, and destroyeth the Satans : Then the grace of the Lord began to blossom in his mind : And the King Christ opened His hidden treasures before him : He filled him with His Spirit, and scattered the wiles of the devils in him :
And in respect of his companions, he did not permit them to be caught in snares : But he was admonishing them continually, and shewing them : And pointing out the various deeds of crafty devils : Now the coenobites esteemed him as a companion of the seers : And they used to call him the "physician of the coenobites" : But that old Enemy, the hater of the truth : When he saw the glory of the wonderful works of the excellent man : Grew jealous, and became angry, and murmured greatly against the blessed man : Our father Hörmizd, whose triumph is famous, and whose memory is pious : One night, when he was alone keeping vigil : And praying and making supplication before his God :575 That Prince of the air, the destroyer, acted craftily towards him : And called out for his rebel company, which was full of guile : They began composing a crafty and cunning device : And said to our father, "O thou good and upright young man : Why dost thou persecute us unsparingly ? :580 We have not sinned against thee, and thou wilt destroy us and our souls : By thee the sword is directed against our ranks, and thou hast put on armour : And without understanding thou dost wish to make war against us : But thou hast not perceived that this world is delivered over to me : And that I order everything which is therein according to my will :585 Therefore hearken unto me, O thou who understandest all things that are seemly : If thou art persuaded by me I will magnify thee in all quarters [of the world] :
"And I will make thee to triumph greatly among the monks in holiness : "And thy praise shall increase in the world gloriously : "And the fame of thy triumph I will carry into all creation : "And I will make thee prince of all the glorious men in all the world : "I will make thee the most glorious of all the men who have been before thee of old : "And all men shall ascribe blessing, O triumphant one : "I will shew thee my glory, as I shewed [it] to thy fathers, in love : "Only thy glory shall exceed greatly the glory of them : "I will fill thee with my spirit, and I will also shew thee all hidden things : "And I will teach thee and make thee to know to the full all secret things : "Thy glory shall be victorious before governors and before kings :
"And they shall bow before thy greatness and become men who kneel [before thee] : "And I have many wonderful things to teach thee : "Which now, at this hour, I wish to hide from thee : "If thou wilt hearken unto me thou shalt live before me a life of rest : "But if thou opposest me I will make all thy days to be troubled : "And thou shalt suffer cruel tortures which will be worse than fire : "But be persuaded by my words and receive my fair counsel :" Thus far did our father hearken unto the wicked Devil : And then in wrath did he revile and curse the malicious Devil : Being on fire with divine zeal : Saying, "I tell thee to shut thy mouth, O thou impudent one : O Liar, and father of all falsehood :610 Thy doctrine is craft which slayeth man by its evil venom : What use to me is thy counsel, which is wicked and full of guile? : In thy fear is thine iniquity, and on thy wretched head is derision : Christ, my God, and my true King, is sufficient for me : And as He loveth me He Himself will teach me the true doctrine :615 I have Christ, the Lord of my life, the Lord : And He will make me to drink abundantly of the love of His love which is better than wine : I shall never make myself a companion in thy foul impurity : And I shall never bow before the persuasion of thy counsel, O thou who strivest : It is Christ Who hath overcome thee, and Who hath laid bare thy crafts :620 He hath given us power by His humility to tread upon thy wretched head : He hath made thee to be a reproach and a mockery unto His chosen ones : And hath made thee, by His secret power, a thing to be trodden upon by His friends :
"Cease thy blasphemy, O impudent one"; and the righteous man cursed him [saying]: "In the Name of Jesus the Nazarene thou shalt be submissive" Immediately he heard the Name of Christ Satan fled: From before the eyes of our pious father, whose triumph is renowned And as he was flying in the air he who had been found guilty cried out: "The follower of Nimrod thinketh that I have been vanquished "Little by little I shall push aside his lofty spirit: "Until I bring him down to the lowest depth like mire "Many made their boast in the Name of the Nazarene: "But I have brought them down, and they have remained overthrown, and have never risen up again" When our pious father saw the defeat of the Devil: He was not lifted up in any way, but gave thanks to the hidden Being And with a humble and grateful heart he gave thanks to Christ:
Who had given him the power to overcome the herd of devils of the Evil One [Saying] "O our Lord Jesus, Who by Thy divine humility: "Didst break the spiritual heads of him that is full of wickedness "Thou art He, O our Lord, Whose head did bless us in the Crucifixion: "Thou didst make to bow the head of the Adversary, and he put on shame Thou didst give us courage, and didst say, 'I have overcome the world : "Be not afraid of Belial, the perverse Enemy :' "It is Thou, O our Lord, Who in Thy grace hast given us the gift : "Of treading upon with boldness serpents, yea, scorpions : "And that all the power of the Calumniator, the head of wickedness : "We may drive away in Thy Name like smoke before the flame : "Thou art He Who did command Thine Apostolic band :
"Saying, Go forth, preach and baptize the nations and all peoples : "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Spirit, Three Persons : "One Substance, One Nature, One Being : "Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, Thou didst say in speech : "Open the eyes of the blind, and cast out devils from mankind : "Raise the dead, and like God, make ye for them a Resurrection : "And with new tongues ye shall speak by the power of the tongue : "Also, lay your hands on the sick, and they shall gain relief : "And ye shall not be harmed even if ye drink poison" : And these things actually came to pass for the blessed, apostolic band : And then they were handed down through all generations until the end: By the physicians whom the Lord established in His chosen Church: To become the light and the salt which doeth away insipidity:
And illuminers of the children of men by means of guidance: Leading them to the fair life of spirituality: Christ visited His Church in a time which was full of trouble: By our father Hôrmîzd, whom He filled with spirit and all gifts: He set him apart for the keeping of His treasury, and He made him a chosen vessel: To give money unto his companions in a fair order: Now Satan, having been overcome in the first combat: Neither ceased nor desisted from his tyranny and crafty rage: On the second night they gathered together all the devils in creation: And they took with them all kinds of singing and horns: And they put on robes which were shining like lightning in brightness: And they surrounded our father that they might make him cease to pray: Our father was occupied with his Lord and was united unto Him: And in that divine union was gaining enjoyment:
And suddenly lightning, which was full of fiery rays: He breathed on the camp of the foul devils which were in ambush: Straightway were destroyed, even as is a light cloud by the air: The herds of devils, and the legions of the fiends, with disgrace and shame: Then the light which was united to his pious soul: Shrouded our father, and his soul had delight in that joy: The extent of which the tongue of flesh cannot relate: For it is a pledge of the joy of the new world: In all these things our father with a humble heart to our Lord: Gave thanks with innumerable sighs and tears: Saying, "O our Lord Jesus, Thou beloved Son: "For Whose sake Thy servants suffer pain with every endeavour: "And daily perform strivings without regarding [them]: "And also drive away from them every care and every thought: "According to the word of Paul, who said, He who striveth:
"Must keep his mind from everything and perform his course": Our father stole away his soul from all matters of the world: And only held fast to the Lord in his heart without turning aside: "He heard that our Lord said in His life-giving word: "Him who loveth Me and keepeth My word diligently: "I will love and will shew him Myself continually: "And I and the Father, without doubt, will make him to be a chamber : "Who hath made his pious and holy soul a dwelling of the Spirit :" And he was, moreover, by his glorious works, like unto a mirror : For the fathers and brethren in the monastery who laboured in works : The name of our perfect father was greatly beloved among them : And the triumphs of this labourer were exceedingly renowned : And the purity of his soul and his simplicity which surpassed measure :
Our pious father made himself like unto a drag-net (or, broom) : And he abased himself like a purge before the brotherhood : One day they brought to the monastery a young man vexed by the devil : For twelve years had he been tortured by the foul devil : And twenty and nine days only was he there : And he was most evilly entreated by the devil by which he was tortured : He broke chains in pieces and tore his apparel into strips : He gnawed the flesh of his arms with his teeth, and plucked pieces out of them : Now his parents were exceedingly wearied by the young man : Who was in this affliction the whole of the day and the whole of the night : The congregation of the brethren were in sorrow because of him : And they all with one common voice and mind prayed for him :
That, if it were possible, the youth might be set free from his affliction : But if not it might be according as the hidden will [of God] inclined : Our Lord, by Divine Providence, hearkened unto the request of His servants : And killed the young man, and removed him to life and also to rest : Now his parents and all his kinsfolk were in pain and affliction : And were weeping for him with lugubrious groans : The sound of their bitter and painful mourning : Went forth with cries of lamentation into all the monastery : And everyone who heard the voice of their mourning was drawn : To weeping, and pain, and sorrow, and was exceedingly afflicted : Now our father who was still working strenuously in the common house : Was greatly moved by the sound of their bitter weeping : For he was not permitted to go and see their sorrowful circle :
But his compassion drew him to go with a sighing heart : And when he had drawn nigh and seen his kinsfolk in suffering and grief : The man who toiled mourned more than did they with suffering : Therefore our Lord seeing His servant covered with tears : Wished to console him, and to make his grief an acceptable sacrifice : Straightway our father perceived in his heart the tranquil peace : Which the mercy of our Lord poureth out upon them when He maketh His compassion abundant :735 The good Lord gave His servant freedom of speech : Whereby he persuaded them they should find deliverance through him : Those sorrowful folk were afflicted with bitter suffering : And on their behalf the renowned soldier cast himself into the strife : Of him that had asked Him Jesus Christ was not unmindful in any way :740 For He had good knowledge of what He had fashioned, the glorious man : He urged His servant to ask still more with a joyful heart : That by means of his persuading He might make the youth who was decaying to live again : The flesh of the young man began to tremble, and to be moved by the soul : And our father prayed on his behalf that he might make him to be alive wholly :745 And because it was night he was still holding his own apparel : And the air was bitterly cold, and the rain drove fiercely in great showers :
With the hidden eye of the purity of his mind the beholder : Looked forth, and saw the Watcher, who clave always to the young man : Holding on to parts of his soul, and he would not let them go : Because the restoration to life was to be fulfilled by the hands of our father : Now between these and these things our father was in doubt : He was greatly afraid to draw nigh openly unto the dead man : Lest he should be recognized before the morning dawned and be glorified : And should be well known quickly and clearly from his poverty : For he possessed neither apparel nor covering : But naked he boldly marched along the path of the Gospel : And that he might not put on glorious raiment he was very mindful : Lest it should become to the crafty Enemy the excuse for a snare :
But he wisely made a plan against the Enemy : That he might not be tripped up in the nets of the foul devil : Straightway then he ran quickly, and went to the common house : And stripping off his own garment put on that of the steward : And whilst the kinsfolk were groaning and weeping he came upon them suddenly : And there was no one who knew him, and like a stranger he began to ask them questions: They thought that he was either the bishop or the head of the monastery: And they answered in their sorrow, "Thou art a stranger then, O man: "That thou hast no knowledge of this bitter affliction: "Which the wicked Devil, the abominable Enemy, hath made our son to bear: "We have continued here in hope for thirty days: "That perchance our son might be healed, and our sad heart be consoled:
"But this evening he choked and died at the setting of the sun: "And Fortune hath made us to drink grief and suffering, as thou seest": Then our pious father stilled the voice of their weeping: And encouraged them, and spake unto them in a sweet voice: Saying, "Weep ye not, O strangers, for the young man is not dead: "Cease [weeping] before me, for his soul is in him and he is alive": When they had heard the joyful, glad tidings from the pious man: They stilled their weeping, and were relieved a little, and ceased from anxiety: But our father was still lying in grievous pain: And in secret his eyes shed tears on their behalf: He waved his hand three times in the sign of the Cross: And prayed, and said, "O our Lord Jesus, Thou Good Lord : "When Thou wast performing Thy human dispensation on our behalf :
"Thou didst restore to life the daughter of Jairus, the chief of the synagogue : "In Thy great love Thou didst give life to the widow's son : "And for Lazarus Thou didst effect resurrection from the grave : "Now, O Lord, unto Thy secret power nothing is difficult : "And Thy will is one with Thy Father in the creation of created beings : "Thou, Lord, didst say to Thy disciples, and didst command in Thy word : "Ask, and ye shall receive ; seek, and ye shall find, in truth : "Every petition which ye shall ask My Father in My Name : "Shall be [granted] unto you by My Father abundantly : "Open, O my Lord, Thy door to the voice of the weeping of Thy servants, Thy creatures : "And accept Thou the person of me, the feeble one, Thy wretched servant : "Lift up the doors of Thy Church which Thou hast redeemed by Thy living blood :
"And raise up the head of her who hath been brought low by restoring the young man's life : "And also let Thy holy Name, O Jesus the Lord, be glorified : "In the sight of men of evil eye, and of evil and filthy men who are [our] enemies, without cause" Having finished his prayer, and said Amen, O Lord : He cried to the young man three times, and the pious man said : "O John, in the Name of Jesus Christ, arise": And straightway he rose up from the sleep of greedy death by His glorious power Straightway, at the word, the young man opened his eyes : And began to stammer, and asked for water to drink [to quench] his thirst And he gave praise twice, and said, "Worshipped be Thou, O Christ : "Who hast given me life, and hast freed me also from trouble"
The wicked devil, seeing that the young man had returned to life : Cried out in the Persian tongue, and the abominable one said "Glory be unto that holy splendour, Jesus, the Living One : "For He hath built me my house, and moreover, He did not leave me a stranger "And I was not like my companions who have no dwelling-place, and wander about : "But by His secret nod I will return into my habitation" And again the kinsfolk of the young man heard the voice of the deceiver : And they were terrified at the sound of the speech of the crafty devil Thereupon our father was exceedingly afraid of the devil : Lest he should expose him in the sight of men, and he should be known : He prayed with pain that he might bind the devil and make him to be fettered : And having felt that he had received within himself power from on high : He turned to the devil and spake in the Persian tongue, saying, :820 "Fie upon thee, O devil! How wicked, and abominable, and despicable art thou : From of old thou didst never feel ashamed or that thou wast disgraced : And to the end of time thou wilt never be able to feel ashamed : By Jesus, Who drove thy legion out of that man : Thou shalt keep silence, and shalt never expose me before the sons of flesh :825 For I am a sinner that is in need of the mercy of Jesus the Lord : Shut thy mouth, and never speak again, and be dumb, O mad one" : The devil hearing the humble words of our father : Was terror-stricken, and by the power of the Watcher who helped him : Cried out, and said, "Hear, O man who art cunning in [spiritual] merchandize :830 Hadst thou not acted thus craftily against the ruler [of devils] and death : With the sign of thy humility, and its victorious qualities :
"Thou wouldst not so easily have conquered two mighty men" :: Our father made a washing of the cross which was on him : And he gave it to the young man who had been restored to life to drink :: And three times he signed him with the sign of the Cross : And he repeated over him the adorable Name of Jesus Christ :: Then our pious father departed from them : And no man among them knew who the chosen man was :: He went back to the common house to the monks, who were asleep, And took off the apparel of the steward :: When the morning dawned the [report of the] triumph of the restoration of the young man flew abroad : And all the brethren who had spent the whole night in sorrowful pain :: Rejoiced a hundredfold, and sixtyfold, and thirtyfold : And they gave fitting and grateful thanks unto Jesus the Most High ::
The whole congregation who had made ready to bury the young man : With exceeding joy met the face of the dead who had come to life :: But there was much enquiry among all the brethren : And they said to the kinsfolk, "Who caused the young man to live?" :: And they said, "That is the affair of the man who made him to live, and no [other] man knoweth" : And each of them was saying a different thing concerning him: [And about] that which had been done by Divine agency: Who is able to pry into and to seek out a wonderful sign? But they said, "The angel of the Lord came down from heaven: "And made the soul of the young man to go back into its inner place" Now the Evil One was murmuring at these things which were happening to our father: And he was desirous and anxious to fulfil his will:
But in fighting with him the wretched being was put to shame: And he gained nothing but defeat for himself thereby: Inasmuch as our father was girt about with the invincible armour: Of honest and simple humility, and was arrayed therein withal: Our Lord clothed Himself with this garment: On going down to the strife and contest with Satan: But Satan himself was the one vanquished in his fight: And he and his camp carried off woe for themselves: These things having been performed for the holy man: After three nights the Evil One waxed bold: That is, it was permitted by the Divine agency: That he should wage war against the soldier of righteousness: And as the blessed man was [occupied in] converse with God: At midnight there burst upon him a company of foul [fiends] : And with terrifying words and threats against the blessed man the filthy beings : Fell upon the righteous man and smote him unmercifully : And they left him lying in torture, and pain, and suffering : And with only one small breath remaining in his soul :875 Now the pious man was lying in a small cell in the common house : And none of his brethren perceived the things which had been done to him : Our Adorable Lord was beholding His fighter : And was not unmindful of his contending against devils : Straightway He sent one of the Watchers to the help of the righteous man :880 And he took him by his hand, and strengthened his feet, and strengthened his heart : [Saying,] "Fear not, O son of Adam, the strife : For thy Lord seeth thee and also the abominable one : Thou shalt only strive with them for a season : And afterwards thou shalt enjoy high honour" :885 And with the word the spiritual being went away and departed : And the blessed man received rest from the blows : In secret the devils were torturing him all night long : And openly whilst in the monastery in the daytime he was working under rule :
Even after [the devil] had been vanquished by Divine help : He was neither sorry nor ashamed to strive with the pious man : But he began [again] with other crafty plots and schemes : And was inviting his hosts to the combat : He was making ready his companions with boldness : And he cried to them, [saying,] "Help me, O my ranks, like athletes : "He is the man by whom we are held to be creatures to be derided : "And our hosts appear in his eyes to be contemptible : "And our companies and all our ranks are to be mocked at : "And our assemblies and gatherings things to be rejected : "But what is more evil for us than all kinds of injuries is : "That he esteemeth not us as beings which have to be considered in the world : "From the beginning of the world until now we have been mighty ones :
"And we have subjugated the world and made it to journey on in error : "In all the generations of the world we have cast to the earth virgins : "And thousands and myriads of chaste and righteous men by crafty schemes : "[Yet] this man hath stiffened his neck and rebelled against us : "And hath armed himself against us and our ranks like a warrior :· "This is a thing to laugh at, and we shall be something to laugh and marvel at : "If this man vanquish our armies :· "Come, O my hosts, and let us deal wisely with this fighter : "Let us cast him into shame, and make him a disgrace and a reproach :· "That he may not be strong against us, lest we be considered as a deceitful phantom by him : "And he rebel against us, and we be slain before him like a partridge :·
"And he make us a laughing-stock, and make us drink gall and bitterness : "And he laugh at our hosts shamelessly and insolently :· "Woe to us if we be vanquished by him, and we remain broken : "Woe to our ranks which one man can make hateful" :· Then rank by rank the devils began to take up arms : And the armed ones made fierce attacks upon him like soldiers of a body-guard :· In the nights the rebellious ones disturbed him : And the foul and abominable ones shewed him phantoms innumerable :· Of beasts which ravage and destroy, herds upon herds of them of various kinds : And of dragons and serpents the mad ones were bringing :· That they might frighten and terrify the chief of combatants : That having confused him the foul and stinking beings might lead captive his mind : But through this scheme which the disgraced ones had contrived :
The more he condemned them, and he regarded them as phantom biers of the dead : He laughed at their power and likened them unto dead bodies : And he cut the meshes of all the nets which the disgraceful one had prepared : He sent among all their ranks a voice like a warrior : And by his humility he overcame, and brought [them] low, and left [them like] dust : At this defeat the evil ones were not ashamed, but that night : They brought back [their] bow and began to shoot forth arrows in secret : If peradventure he might be languid, and his mind have become terrified : And it might be unarmed and do battle with them : The attack of the devils this time was exceedingly strong : So that at the sight of the horrible phantoms his heart might fall : The life of his body was destroyed, and he became like a dead man :
And but for the mercy of Jesus he would never have lived : Christ, the Most High, is never unmindful of His athletes : Whose gaze is fixed upon Him in every breath : O how mighty and fierce is the attack of the wicked devils : Who are waging war unmercifully against the saints! : And again the devils made ready attacks [after due] preparation : Sowing in him the thought of boasting and pride : That by means of a plot of this kind he might become caught in their net : And might fall into their hand[s], and become unto them a matter for scoffing : The evil ones well knew how great was his humility : And that there was no means of disgracing him by their arrows : But that having been stripped of this armour of humility : It would be very easy to twist him like a thread in their hand[s] :
The Evil One desired continually and burned with the wish [for the time when] : Our father should be made to stumble before him : And he might lift up the heel upon him, and he might become a mocking : And when he might be able to say, "Aha, Aha, our eye hath seen him" : But the Evil One himself was caught in his own net : And he who had planned the matter found himself in his own pit : After a few days the head of the monastery called our father : And gave him silver, and commanded him to depart like a good [servant] : And he told him, "Buy us a little oil for use in the monastery : "Not inferior oil, but some for the altar and some for the brethren" Our pious father was exceedingly obedient to the command of the brethren :
And in his humility he surpassed greatly every man of his time Straightway he offered penitence to Rabban as was his wont : And he took with him two coenobites and possessions [i. e., money or sheep] And they went along the road to the city Ma'le-thâyê : And they all of them passed the night together in a church And they found therein seven and twenty poor folk assembled : Who had been driven there by the governor because of the poll-tax Our father, seeing the poor folk in tribulation : Now they had been bound in fetters by the governor because they believed Judged in his mind which was full of mercy and compassion : "It is better for me to redeem these prisoners who are held in fetters here" Saying in his pious soul, "For Christ's sake : "I will redeem the people who confess His glorious Name
"I will hope in Him that He knoweth the reason of [my] journey : "And that I and the fathers have need of oil" He was exceedingly afraid of boasting and pride : Lest he should fall under the judgment of Satan and destroy what was good : As the treasure which is hidden is laid up in the earth : So he was anxious to work the deeds of excellence in secret : He was greatly afraid, and in no small degree, of vainglory : For it is not easy for a man to pluck the fruits of the spirit : Therefore, wishing to give money unto those needy folk : "Take [this], set yourselves free, and pray for me", he said to the afflicted : Three hundred and fifty silver [zûzê] they took and gave to the governor : And seven and twenty souls were released from that accursed one :
From among them the blessed man removed himself : And he drew nigh unto his fellows, and said unto them, "Forgive me : "O my fathers, I have heard that there is suitable oil : "But whether in the city of Mâwsel, or in Balâdh I know not : "I counsel you, O my beloved, to go along the road : "And let each one of you bring us a report of the oil" : His companions hearing this took the road without delay : Because they considered it as a command from an angel : After he had sent away the coenobites, the animals which were with him : He took in the darkness outside the city of Ma'le-thāyē: He found there on the edge of the river a hidden place: And in a place which could not be seen he fastened the animals: And he turned his face to the East and prayed:
And made strong entreaty unto Jesus, our Lord, with groans and sighs: "O Thou Who givest rest unto all strangers and poor folk: "Thou, O Lord, by Thy power, didst change water into wine at Cana: "Thou didst make thousands to be satisfied with a little bread: "And also in Thy Gospel Thou didst promise Thy disciples, a company of blessed men: "If two of you be in the earth and they become petitioners: "My Father shall grant unto those who desire according to their will: "And, Your Father knoweth what is necessary for you: "Thou hast stirred me up to ask, and now I make entreaty: "Although with my whole heart I have committed myself unto Thee: "I have not toiled one hour before Thee for fair alms: "But because Thou hast received my person, and my great sins: "Thou hast put away and cast behind Thyself mercifully: "Thou, in Thy grace, hast made Thy servant to possess boldness of speech :
"Whereby I can ask the things which are greater than my wretched nature :" "Do Thou, O Lord, according to Thy grace, give me that which is in its secret nature water : "And in Thy great love make it to appear oil outwardly" :" And at the end of his prayer our pious father : Took from the loads skin bottles and began to fill [them] with water :" Satan stopped him and would not let him pour in water : The wretched creature saying that he had compassion on the bottles of the brethren :" And, "I will not let thee pour [water] into the bottles of the monks : "And I will not let thee fulfil that which is in thy heart :" "Get thee gone from their monastery that they may be assembled at work which ought to be done : "And henceforward for them they shall be fewer [by] one in seven" :"
When our father saw that Satan would not let him [fill the bottles] : He entreated the Lord to send him help :" Suddenly there appeared unto our pious father a Watcher : And he compelled the devil himself to fill the skins with water :" Then in his mind the Lord made the quest of the coenobites to fructify : And he prayed to his Lord to bring back the companions of the chosen man : His fellow monks more than two or three stages had as yet : Not gone away, and suddenly by Divine agency appeared : A Watcher in the form of our father Hörmizd, and said in a [loud] voice : "Come, my beloved, for I have bought oil without any crooked dealing" :1035 And he strode along, and journeying after him quickly : They arrived at the place where our father was standing in readiness : And by the Divine agency the shadow : Of the being who had called them was, they saw, united with the stature of our father : They had imagined that he who had called them was the righteous man himself :1040 But because of their joy in him they did not enquire into the matter : The blessed man had himself filled [the skins] with seven loads : And as he was journeying along his road the man of understanding was praying and saying : "O Thou glorious God, Thou alone art the doer of wonders : Shew me Thy way, and I will walk in truth, O Lord, Thou Self-existent One" :1045 Now after the following day they arrived at the monastery : And the brethren saw that the oil which the messenger had brought was exceedingly fine :
And they all lovingly praised and glorified those who had brought it: And he who was renowned for triumphs was exceedingly wise in the business of his Lord: Now, as soon as he had gone in to the coenobites, being full of grace: They said unto our pious father with gladness: "Didst thou buy this beautiful oil from the Paradise of Eden?: "For the odour, and colour, and taste which it possesseth [are wonderful]": He in his humility said unto them, "I am not skilled: "In buying and selling, O my fathers, but [am] only a simple man: "I offered the money which ye sent with me to the seller: "And he weighed out and gave me this oil according to his will: "But it is owing to your prayer that what hath happened hath been fulfilled: "And I, like a useless servant, have [only] ministered thereunto": Thus whilst going on from strength to strength in divine triumphs:
He became humble and meek more and more: And while our holy father was still labouring strenuously in the common house: Mâr Sylvanus, the shepherd of Kardô, came to the monastery: This pious man was wonderful, and worthy of blessings: And his soul was wont to enjoy divine visions: His mind was occupied continually with the contemplation of divine things: And he was fed abundantly upon revelations at all times : He was cherished by Divine Providence : And he sat for three days in a cell which was near the common house : The brethren having completed the prayers and the first section of the Psalms : And the reader having sat down to read the commentary on Genesis to the brethren : The mind of Mâr Sylvanus was carried away in silent contemplation : And all the things which were about to be, and hidden mysteries, were revealed to him :
And he learned the meaning of the hidden mysteries of the new world : And concerning Elijah and Enoch, and the righteous men in Genesis : And he learned in a vision concerning the blessed man himself : And concerning his deeds, and his mode of life, like the sun : And that glorious man having been in the countries of the spiritual beings : And by the bestowal of the spirit having enjoyed the contemplation of divine things : By the might of grace his mind returned unto him : And he understood the mysteries and the hidden things which he had learned : Then the blessed man desired to make enquiries concerning our father : And to be blessed by him, and to learn what manner of man he was by searching [him] out : And since the mercy of the Son restrained him from doing those things :
He desired to go into the monastery and to see him in the morning season : And the true man was prohibited and restrained from this also : Inasmuch as it was not permitted by the spirit of Jesus Christ, the Lord : Now when the time for the glorious and adorable Mysteries had come : One commanded the sacristan to go up and beat the board for the brethren : And having beaten the board for the second part of the service, and begun [to do so for that] concerning the Trinity : The board fell from his shoulders, and he remained in a state of wonderment : His mind was carried away in the contemplation of spiritual things : And on Mâr Sylvanus also alighted this gift : They had enjoyment together in the constitution of the new world : And they were in wonderment which was without compare for three hours :
They came back to themselves, and learned everything which was in the vision : And they became companions together in exceedingly great joy : And they enjoyed that happiness of the new world : In which all rational beings are about to be at the end [of all things] : Now when Mâr Sylvanus had learned to know him by the Holy Spirit : He went up to the monastery to our father the holy man :- And our father perceiving this removed himself into the common house : That he might not be smitten by the arrow of [vain] glory :- By which many fathers have been made to stumble and fall : And have become superfluous to their labours and have died in sin :- Therefore our father was exceedingly afraid of this combat : For no man hath ever fallen thereby and been saved therefrom easily :-
O merchant who wast filled with spiritual wisdom : Who didst break the head of this dragon by humility :- When Mâr Sylvanus the bishop had perceived : That our venerable father had removed himself from the monastery :- He set all in order and laid up what he had learned from our pious father : He followed in his foot-steps and overtook him on the eastern side of the monastery :- There they embraced and kissed each other with a pure kiss : And they prayed and sat down to converse in love and affection :- After an hour in which they conversed on the judgment of the world to come : They began to talk concerning the new world and the future glory [thereof] :- And according to the Divine Providence which watch-eth all things : They both were shrouded in the contemplation of divine things : Corporeal and incorporeal, and they were examining closely into all knowledge :
And secret things, and hidden mysteries, which were beyond measure : And by the Divine agency their understanding returned unto its power of discerning : And they renewed their believing minds : Which were remote from [all] opposing doubt : And from the thoughts of the children of men which were full of guile : Mâr Sylvanus departed thence, and passed on to his country : Taking with him in his soul the loving thought of our father : How a lamp of light like unto this could be found : To illumine creation by the light of his intellectual glory :
Gate 2
After he had fulfilled the service in the monastery and was without fear : The head of the monastery called our pious father and drew nigh unto him : Lovingly he said unto our father, "Enough of the monastery : "For behold, thou hast fulfilled seven years therein, and thy triumph is renowned" : He received the counsel of the holy man, who was answered by him, "Yea": And secretly he armed himself with prayers, and went forth boldly: He began to change his manner of life and to reduce himself: And mightily did he make to be parched and dried up the passions of his body: And he prepared himself for the service of the mind: And he wished for and desired to live alone in silent contemplation: He girded up his loins with the Word of truth that he might not be remiss: And he shod his feet with the preparation of the Gospel: He was grasping the shield of faith and was exceedingly bold:
He set the sword of the Spirit upon his side and made himself ready: He was grasping the mighty bow of holy fasting, and he brought it near [him]: And he made ready and prepared the arrows of prayer with healthy wings: He laid waste and destroyed the ranks of the devils like the lightning: He sent his voice among their hosts, and scattered and overcame them: He was strenuous, and quick, and watchful, and zealous, and stern, and bold: He was skilful, and mighty, and was never wasted by the Satans: The devils were dried up by him as [by] the burning blast of the desert: And he burnt them up by the armour of his humility like the fiery wind of the storm : The ranks of Beelzebub, the passions and the devils, turned their backs : And he pursued them by the power of his Lord the Master : Our father sat in the cell and observed a life of silent contemplation : Once in ten days he maintained a strict fast and indulged in no way :1155 By night and by day in vigil he loved and embraced the Watcher : And upon the ground he neither reclined nor lay at full length : Whenever he had need to take a little sleep for his necessity's sake : He rested his back (or, side) against the wall, and thus supported he took it : Laborious fasting and prayers he added diligently for himself :1160 And he weakened and brought low all the thoughts and passions of nature : His body through stern labours he reduced, and he became emaciated : His vision declined, and the pupils of his eyes became dark, but he was unconquered : The love of his Lord spread abroad and blazed in his heart : And he was neither moved by the matters of the world, nor occupied thereby :1165 But he renewed his youth in chastity, and purity, and was well preserved :
And he ascended the lofty grade of spirituality, and became magnified: He found impassible sincerity (or, simplicity): And he was at all times bringing his mind nigh unto spiritual things: And the whole of him became fire in fire, like the Cherub: And things that were afar off he saw as if they were near in . . . . . The wiles of the corrupt one he exposed and destroyed from [one] end of creation [even unto the other]: And their branches and their roots he dried up and withered: He was not in any way whatsoever carried away by their crafts: And his strength did not diminish through their corruptness, and he was never overcome: By all the evil things which they brought upon him he was not pained: And in all the days of his life he never indulged the lust of the body: When he had remained in [the Monastery of] Mâr Bar-'Idtâ, the famous athlete:
Labouring for seven and thirty years, being bold in heart: The signs and wonders which were wrought by his hands everywhere became famous: And in every country and city he was revealed and was magnified: The Ruler of wickedness was moved before him, and terrified, and consumed: Because in the war which he was waging with him he saw that he was not vanquished : The wars of devils never ceased from him until he had grown old : And they made heavy their blows upon him, but he never submitted : O the athlete, who made powerless the wars of the enemies : And like a mighty man delivered his soul from their snares : One night he was in loving converse with the angels : And suddenly he was carried away by the contemplation of his Lord : And there blazed into his cell the light which never setteth :
And which is seven times brighter and stronger than the light of the sun : The sweet odour which never lesseneth breathed from his cell : And the smell thereof overcometh all the scents of the world : Mâr Abraham, who is worthy of all good, had placed himself by his side : An excellent man who had trodden under foot the thorns of devils and the horned one : He had enjoyment with him according as the Lord had given : He was happy only proportionately, and not to an equal degree : For he had not as yet arrived at the state of asceticism of our father : Neither had he approached his perfection : And having for three hours enjoyed this vision and been glorified : He returned to himself by the grace of Jesus the Lord : And he understood with his fair mind and stood up, being ready :
And he drew nigh unto the marvellous man Mâr Abraham willingly : After he had opened the door, and brought him in, each embraced the other : And they prayed, and sat down according to custom, and praised Jesus : Then he said, "Our father, I think we should depart together" : And Mâr Abraham agreed with him gladly, and made answer : Thirteen years he had enjoyed his own will in Bêth-Âbhê : And he also prepared himself to depart from this place : Therefore, henceforward, O father, it shall not be for me to answer thee : But [only] to fulfil all thy commandments and thy will, O Rabbâ : He laid down a condition, and our pious father pledged himself thereto : And he devoted himself to his service all his days : They remained there three months in mingled love : And then, in a vision, it was revealed to our father that departure was nigh :