The Metrical Life of Rabban Hormizd

The Metrical Life of Rabban Hormizd

continued

Gate 3

As soon as he had been made certain by the vision he rose up and went quickly: To the pillar, whose light illumined and shone brightly : Mâr Yôzâdhâk, his fellow-monk, and joined himself unto him : And he was exceedingly wonderful in splendid deeds, and shone with great splendour : That he might reveal before him what had been revealed to him, whereon he was meditating :1220 And Mâr Yôzâdhâk from afar off perceived and knew the step : And he made known to those who were reclining with him, and made them to hear the steps : [Saying], "They belong to Rabban Hôrmîzd, our companion", and thus he desired : These are they who were holding loving converse with him : Mâr John, and Îshô'-Sabhran, whose names are lovely :1225 And Mâr Adônâ, and Rabban Simon, whose histories are sorrowful : Perfect men whose triumph was much more glorious than the light : Before he had finished his speech with them whereon each was pondering : Our father knocked at their door, being gracious in the spirit of his person : Mâr Yôzâdhâk made Rabban Simon to hear the words :1230 "Rise up, bring in Rabban Hôrmîzd, whose beauty giveth joy" :

After they had brought him in, and they had sat down in love mingled with the spirit : Mār Yōzādhāḵ declared the truth without hesitation : "Son of the Persians, desirest thou to live in the desert and in the rock? : "As thou hast been led by the Comforter, and hast acquired the grade : "But rise up, my brethren, and let us be careful that the noise of us be not heard : "And let us look preparedly for his arrival without noise" : Then all being ready they rose up and were without doubt : And departed to the Monastery of Mār Abraham of Rīshā as they desired : For it was suitable for the cultivation of a life of contemplation for which they longed : And for which, for a long time past, they had eagerly craved and wished : A company of men who were greatly adorned with purity :

And who had ascended in the scale of divine revelations : In one soul and spirit they were united and also mingled together : And they dwelt there for seven years and rejoiced together exceedingly : All their days they were not accused of blameworthy actions : And with purity and sincerity they were exceedingly white, like the snow : They were cooled from the fire of lust of every kind of the Evil One : And they were crowned with the crown of glorious works by the might of the Spirit : The beauty of these marvellous men adorned and illumined every one : And their immeasurably glorious life stirred up every man : I desire and am anxious to record and to declare their glory : But my strength is weak, and feeble, and insufficient, and my tongue halts : Who is able to recount their history or to declare [it] ? :

For it was the Holy Spirit Who guided, and directed, and taught them : He prepared them for future things, and directed them, and desired them : And by His power He made an end of, and accused, and condemned their Foe : Him and his hosts He broke, and crushed, and brought low, and overwhelmed : And his treasures by his sides He revealed and made them to flee : He made manifest his great glory in their sight, and made them to desire it : And he made the beauty of His light to shine upon them after the manner of a gift : His admirable works which surpass speech He ordered and made white like the snow : And talents, ten and five, by His grace He distributed to them : The treasure in the city of their souls He discovered and revealed : And He strengthened their merchandize and made it to expand and grow up :

Who is able to write down their history as he would wish? : And to recount their glory with the tongue of flesh without fear, lest he should omit something : Our Lord by their hand all the breaches of the world fenced in : And by their power cooled the flame of sin which the Evil One had sown therein : He breathed into the world the odour of their happiness which was like unto frankincense : Come, O my beloved, and let us sanctify our mouth with their history and meditate thereon : And let us strip off and remove from the gaze of our soul the covering of envy : Let us take from them strength and help that we may fence in our breaches : And let us cool and refresh ourselves from the burning heat of our offences : Come, and let us arm ourselves with the armour of their prayers, and meditate thereon :

And let us vanquish him, and let us crush and break in his head therewith : Let us laugh at him by their might and expel and drive him away from us : And by means of them we may cast him out and drive him away beyond Magog : Come, O my beloved, and let us love and desire their history : That we may be delivered from evil and put forth new blossoms of goodness : It is right to look upon these wonderful men, and to meditate upon them : For they have certainly mixed and mingled their love with the love of their Lord : They have cast away the envy of the Evil One to a far place, and have utterly driven it off : They considered seven years as one day, and were never in any way away :1285 Íshô'-Sabhran, a man of spiritual labours, who was taught by the Spirit : Himself ministered unto the fathers cheerfully : The whole week through they were occupied in unbroken and ceaseless contemplation : And on Sunday they wearied themselves with vigil in hope that knew no doubt : They participated in the Adorable Mysteries with a pure and well-washed heart :1290 And then each returned to his habitation in deep thought and meditation : In the hidden power which they had received from the Mysteries, which sprang up in their hearts : And they praised that gift [of the Spirit] which had shone upon them : Íshô'-Sabhran, as he was wont, with whole and untiring love : Brought them bread and water, being exceedingly careful [for them] :1295 Whenever a sick man came to them, or one who was maimed :

Or one who could not stand, he would bring him to our father: For the gift which made the power to operate by him alone was heard of [everywhere]: And the marvellous rumour of him spread abroad and flew into all countries:

Gate 4

Once a blind man was brought nigh unto the holy men: Who had been smitten through the envy of the Evil One, and wounded: Íshó'-Sabhran brought him and led him nigh to our father: And placed him and made him to sit down alone before his cell: It was not hidden from our father, and he rose up and made ready: A washing of his cross and [some of] his earth for the blind man whose eyes were dried up: He placed his hand over them and sang a hymn, and prayed, and chanted: "O our Lord Jesus, Who didst cut away wickedness from the nature which was eaten into thereby: "And didst tear out and pluck away the tare of the Enemy from Thy wheat: "And didst uproot and trample down all his thorns from the vineyard of His betrothed: "And didst shatter and break away his teeth and fangs from her members: "And hast strengthened by His armour His chosen ones, and those who call upon Him, and work in His vineyard:

"And hast made [them] put down roots deep into the foundation of His faith : "Hearken unto Thy servant, and let not his prayer be despised by Thee : "Open Thou the eyes of this Thy servant whom the Evil One hath confounded" : And straightway his eyes received the light, and he began to blink : And wondering he gave thanks to our Lord, and adored His Name : Then they brought unto him a man whom a mad dog had bitten, and he had become mad : And he was gnawing his flesh with his teeth and rending [it] : And by reason of what ran from him his whole body was covered with matter, and he was in a horrible state : And by reason of his lacerations there only remained for him to depart and die : And Îshô'-Sabhran took him to our father's cell and went away :

And Christ revealed unto our father Hôrmîzd, and informed him of him : And according to his wont he made ready a washing, and watched and waited for him : That peradventure he might sleep, and not remember who it was that had healed him : But his severe sickness pained him sore, and made his sleep to depart from him : Then he prayed over him, and he sank into a slumber from which he fell into a deep sleep : And he poured over him the water of the washing, and prayed, and said : "O Lord Jesus, heal Thou him that taketh refuge with Thee": And he had rest and relief and was as happy as a man who had been born afresh: Also from Mâwsel they brought a woman having loathsome leprosy: And he had mercy upon her in the great love which was poured out over all:

He made a washing, and he called her kinsfolk, and commanded them: To anoint her body: and straightway all her body was cleansed: And they praised God Who had set in His Church this testifying athlete: And they went back with joy, and our father set them on their way with prayer: Our father being occupied with his silent contemplation, and being much alone: The Lord revealed unto him concerning a shepherd who had died: He had thrown sops of bread and milk into a basin as he had been wont to do: And had tarried in the eating thereof and had gone away therefrom: An evil reptile came by it by chance and dropped therein: And shot its venom into it and departed and went forth wriggling: As soon as the shepherd had eaten of the food he was smitten: And he suffered great and severe agony, and died and became a dead body:

Now since he loved his Lord and was subject unto Him : Our Lord revealed unto our father the matter of him before he was pierced : Without delay he rose up and made ready to journey along the road : And was meditating going to the place where the shepherd was : Now the shepherd was away at a distance of sixty parasangs : And a Watcher lifted him up and flew away with him, and with a waft of the Spirit : Placed him by the side of the shepherd ; and he saw that he was lying dead : And that all his flock was scattered about on that mountain : He prayed to the Lord, and the shepherd lived, and woke up, and shuddered : And sat upright, and held converse with our father : Then he commanded him to collect his flocks that they might not be lost :

And in a moment the Watcher took him back, and he was not fatigued : Mâr Yôzâdhâk, being worked upon by the Holy Spirit : Drew nigh by night unto the cell of our father : "Peace be unto thee", he said, "O our pious brother, Rabban Hôrmîzd" : "By means of thee the shepherd who was poisoned hath been brought back to life : "But poison is about to be driven forth from thy dominion : "And in all thy country no mad dog shall make any to suffer : "Whosoever believeth in the uttering of thy name, and taketh refuge [therein]: "Shall not die from the bite of a mad dog or from poison"

Gate 5

O the mighty work (?) which the Lord made to be done through His servant by His nod!: And which He fulfilled unto our father before the end: His prayer annulled the venom of the serpent and the bite of the mad dog: And according to tradition the oil which he sanctified and [which] was kept in his monastery: He left [it] in his monastery as a thing to be handed on and an inheritance: He bequeathed to his sons the power of his prayers in the oil which he sanctified: And his oil healed men of every kind of sickness: Especially that of the mad dog by the might of his supplication: That I should say his oil healed the sick and diseased is a small thing: For, to say the truth, the power which was hidden in him restored the dead to life: Whosoever was bitten by a mad dog, and took refuge in him: And received his oil in faith and called upon his name:

And kept the fast according to the canon with which he had been commanded: It was impossible for death to draw unto that bite: Whosoever received his sanctified oil and observed continence : Could take hold of a serpent and play with him like a fish : The benefit that the oil which he left in his house possessed resembled : [That of] the serpent which Moses set up in the wilderness for the help of his people : Our Lord, wishing to remove His chosen ones, indicated to him secretly : The place which His will had [fore] seen, and made ready : On the Sunday, according as they were wont, they assembled in His honour : And were rejoicing in the Mysteries of the Son—O His Body and Blood : Îshô'-Sabhran said, "The Lord hath dried up the spring : And hath made it to be like unto dry ground which water hath never moistened" :

Then our father revealed to them, and he made known unto them clearly by his speech : "This thing is from before the Lord, and He willeth it : "That some of us should depart unto the place which He hath ready and prepared : "And for those who remain here the spring will flow again" : The holy man Mâr Yôzâdhâk answered and made his words to flow : "Thus doth the Holy Spirit command our congregation by His nod : "I, Yôzâdhâk, and Mâr Adônâ, who is marvellous in triumph : "And Abbâ Simon, by His help, will depart to the mountains of Kardô: "Rabban Hôrmizd, and Mâr Abraham, by the might of His assistance: "Will depart to Mount 'Edhrai in the victory which His might hath given them: "Mâr John, and Îshô'-Sabhran, according to His dispensation: "Shall bring all their days to an end, according to His will:

"Rise up, O my beloved, and let each one of us depart to his place: "And whithersoever our Lord commandeth us by His nod will we direct our steps":: O the peace which each gave unto his fellow in that hour!: And each kissed his companion with a kiss of love and affection: So they performed and fulfilled that which the Spirit had commanded by His will: And each of them prepared himself [to go] whither He had called him: Our father took Mâr Abraham with him: And they came together to Mount 'Edhrai and found therein: A little cave and a spring of water in front thereof: And they remained in love three days each with his fellow: Then there came upon them, according to His grace, a revelation of the Spirit: That Mâr Abraham should depart to the country to which He had set him apart: Straightway he went forth and betook himself to where He had called him :

And in the country of Nineveh he founded a monastery, and his fame went forth : Our father remained by himself in his cave : And as yet none of the believing men had knowledge of him : It was the village of Al-Kôsh which first of all perceived him : And the believers of that place came to him before any [other] men : Our father blessed their whole assembly in his prayers : And our Lord visited all their sick through his prayers : They all rejoiced that the Lord had sent unto them His servant : And had also, by grace, given unto their village His soldier [as] a neighbour : Then the blessed people of Al-Kôsh answered and said unto him : "Blessed art thou, our father, and adored be the Lord Who hath been mindful of us in His love : "For not according to our merit, but according to His grace hath He given us His pious one :

"To be our neighbour, and the neighbour of our village, adored be His nod : "Therefore our whole congregation crieth unto thee, our father : "And it would love thee to dwell in this place, in its neighbourhood : "We esteem thy blessed arrival as that of an angel : "And if thou wishest to build a monastery we will build it : "All the expense [thereof] we will provide from our own possessions : "And we will supply ready what is required for its maintenance : "Behold, all of us in our congregation are before thee as sons in subjection : "And whatsoever thou commandest in thy loving will we will perform" : When he had heard these things from their congregation he blessed it : And was grateful unto them, and gave them the hēnāna, and sent them on their way with blessings : They went back rejoicing, and praising our Lord, and adoring His Name :

That their village was worthy of being the neighbour of the holy man : All good things came upon the people of Al-Kôsh on his arrival : And afflictions of every kind smote the sons of Bez-kîn on his coming : Sighing and trembling were poured out on the heretics thereby : And afflictions of every kind sprang up for the heretics : There was a village which was called Bêth Kôpê in his country : About two or three parasangs distant from his monastery : When they (i. e., the people) heard of his coming, they took their sick, and went up to him : That they might see him, and be blessed by his prayers : Before they arrived one of the sick folk died on the way : And all the believers were suffering great pain because of it : When [the people began] to bury him the parents of him that was dead prevented [them] : And they swore that they should not bury him without Rabban seeing him : When they came to him he told them first of all concerning him that had died :1450 And he praised their decision not to bury the dead man : He commanded and they brought the dead man before him, and straightway he rose up : And began to pray and to make supplication before his God : He heard his prayer, and made the soul of the young man to go back into him : And he blinked with his eyes like one who had just risen from his sleep :1455 Asking for water our father prepared a washing [of his cross] and gave him to drink : And the believers marvelled at this miracle which had happened at his hand : They praised the Lord Who, in His grace, had made them worthy : To see signs, and also to be blessed by His servant : They fell down before him, and kissed his feet, and praised his name :1460 Until at length they used to take away the dust from under his feet : And esteem it as a hônânâ and a gift of heaven :

And he, according to his humility, rebuked them for doing so : Having gone back they spread the fame of his name in all the country : And everyone who heard brought his sick [friend], and came to him : All the people of the country round about him thronged to him : And received health from God by means of him : On every sick man who came to him, and took refuge in him : He laid his hand, and in the Name of Jesus healed his sickness : He opened the storehouse of the treasures of the Spirit which had been given unto him : And he began to distribute his Lord's money among his companions : This is the good and faithful servant which his Lord set : Over His household to give a portion at the right season : Blessed art thou, our father, how great is the blessing which thy Lord prepared for thee ! : Wherewith in the day of judgment He will make thee to rejoice with His saints : O the mighty man who reckoned the riches of this world as dross : And who never relaxed his fighting all the time of his abiding [therein] ! : O how glorious is the crown of the fighter which the Holy Spirit : Wove to crown him withal in the new world ! :

O the architect who laid his building in the heavens above : And who crowned his tower with the wonderful mansions of his chastity !

Gate 6

That Satanic tavern, which stank with impurity : The Monastery of Bezkin, the accursed and full of iniquity and wickedness Seeing the merchant of the house of God working strenuously : And grasping the sword of the Spirit, and destroying the ranks of the heretics The monks thereof were envious against the righteous man, as was Cyril : Who against Saint Mâr Nestorius worked strife The blind moles and whelps began to burrow : In the ground of the hearts of the nobles and rich men of the country One night ten shorn [monks] went forth with boldness : And after the manner of their father, the chief of the devils, dared impudently To enter into the cave of our glorious father, the prince of the pure : And they found him occupied in the converse of his Lord, and they made him to suffer pains For unmercifully they tortured him with [other] wicked men :

And they beat him cruelly until the skin of his body hung in strips And leaving him lying in agony they returned unto the polluted Bezkin : And the wicked men, the workers of perfidy, thought that he was already dead : But Grace providentially watched over the blessed old man : And the desire of the lovers of impurity was not fulfilled : Blessed art thou, O our father, who didst endure many contests in thy youth :1500 Through devils, and savage fiends, and thou didst remain strenuous : Blessed art thou who in the time of thine old age didst endure from the sons of devils : Blows and stripes from the hands of those who were mad and full of lasciviousness : Blessed art thou, O our father, who didst daily and hourly endure death : For the sake of thy God, and wast never vanquished, but didst gain the victory :1505 The wickedness which the men of Bezkin, who were full of lust, had done : Was told unto the sons of Al-Kôsh, the blessed city of believers : There was a man therein, whose name was Gabriel, who was full of all virtue : And he possessed in abundance men-servants, and maid-servants, and sheep and cattle : He took it upon himself to minister unto him that was full of piety :1510 All the days which he lived upon the earth in all diligence :

One day, according to his custom, he went up with zeal : To visit our father, and he saw that his features were different from usual : He asked him to inform him what had happened unto him in truth : And he told him that they had been beaten and smitten in war and contest : Gabriel did not inquire further because he knew that he never had rest : From fighting against Satan and the spirits of wickedness : When he had made an end of all his service to our father : He turned his care towards [his] worldly affairs in sorrow : Enquiring after his flocks he went about the mountains : And a shepherd met him and informed him of the deed of those who were the heirs of fire : Straightway he went back blazing with the fire of zeal : That he might learn and know this thing from our father in truth :

Before he could speak, our father, who was full of grace, spoke : And quieted the force of his wrath, and made his anger to cease : He taught him and warned him, "Thou shalt not hasten against the sons of wickedness : "But let the Lord take vengeance for me upon these men who are full of folly : "For the sentence of destruction hath gone forth against them : "And of swift doom hath gone forth upon them from the Most High : "Their allotted span hath come to an end, and they shall be destroyed : "And the time when their monastery shall be a heap [of ruins] for ever is nigh : "O Gabriel, if thou wishest and hast the desire for me : "To dwell here in thy neighbourhood, get longsuffering : "For we have One Who careth for us, and Who will do battle for us :

"And will wage war, and vanquish our enemies, we being at rest" : With these humble words he filled him with happiness : And he went back to his house, his soul rejoicing in grace : The sons of the polluted tavern of Bezkın knew not how to desist : And they made no plans to make to cease the wickedness of their heart[s] : Because they had eaten to their fill of the meats of sinners, and were sick : And they had, like dogs, made their souls lascivious with harlotry and impurity : Like the Sodomites they were drunk with the wine of the sins of lust : And they were heated with desire after the manner of lustful stallions : Outwardly they were shorn [monks], but inwardly they were evil men : And they had craftily contrived to carry out a scheme which was full of calamity ::

Five of them, after the manner of mad men, committed fornication with one woman : She having brought forth a son, they added to and doubled their wickedness :: Because they were afraid of the governor they said to the woman : "Rise up, we will take thee to the village of Arshâm"; thus they promised her :: The five of them took her and her son, and they departed and came : Below the cave of our pious father, and they fulfilled their wickedness :: They dashed the poor woman upon the ground and trampled upon her : And they stabbed her, and threw her at the door of his cell, and departed, and told :: The governor of Mâwsel, and they boasted and vaunted themselves before him, [saying] : "That righteous man of whom the Nestorians boast :: "Hath committed fornication, and hath killed the woman, and forsaken her son, they say" :

And they told many lies and falsehoods concerning him :: Straightway the governor and his company went forth, and came, and arrived : And they saw the murdered woman and her son, who was alive, whom they had cast on the ground :: When the blessed company of the people of Al-Kôsh heard, they grieved : And they armed themselves well, and they all ran together, and came :: They saw the governor who was beating our father, and they restrained [him]: Saying, "It is not right for thee to judge him without examination" Gabriel said, "Concerning matters which are not made plain: "Be not hasty to judge in this wise before they have become evident "But first of all examine carefully both sides: "And whichever is guilty let him be punished with a just punishment" The governor answered, "We have no testimony like this of: "The dead woman herself, who hath, undoubtedly, been cast at the door of the murderer [by him]"

Gabriel made answer to him, "That would indeed be a thing filled with wonder: "A murdered woman who testified against her murderer in the sight of all" The governor agreed to his words, and demanded that they should be fulfilled: And Gabriel persuaded our father to stand up and pray After his prayer he drew nigh unto the dead body boldly: "Unto thee I speak, O dead body, in which there is no life "In the name of Jesus, live, and stand up, and rebuke thy slayer": And at his word the woman lived, and began to speak She revealed to them that for a long time five men worked and committed fornication with her: And that then they brought her and slew her cruelly in that place: "I only know that from lying down in death: "Thou didst call me, and raise me up, and didst rouse me from a state of terror":

And again [Gabriel] began to command the governor: "Take the child, and set him upon the knees": The governor having done even as he had been commanded: Our father adjured the dumb child to utter words: "I command thee, O child without speech, by the might of the Godhead: "To tell and to declare before us who and what is thy father": The Lord opened the mouth of the child, and he spake: And began to reveal who was his father, and who had committed the mad act: "Five of them, like dogs, waxed lascivious in impurity: "And my coming into this world of suffering was due to two of them: "For indeed, of the five three were impotent": And the child became silent until the appointed time of all mankind: The multitudes seeing this wonderful thing which was full of marvel: Went forth before his feet and kissed them, saying sorrowfully:

"Forgive us, our father, for we have sinned and done foolishly; forgive us in [thy] grace: "And let the iniquity of the wicked who are full of error return upon their own head[s]": They took away the dust of his cave in faith like a hēnānā : And they kept it with joy as a heavenly gift : The people of Al-Kōsh returned to their village, being full of gladness : And they brought a bier and buried the woman who died through the children of shamelessness : And Gabriel commanded [them] concerning the child, and to bring him [to him] : And he gave him to a nurse and admonished her to rear [him] : Having grown up and arrived at the age of twenty years he wished to become a monk : In the monastery of our father, and he triumphed nobly in all ascetic excellence : And the governor and all those who were with him remained in wonder :

And were filled with zeal, and they captured Bezkin of the heretics : He fettered the men thereof and carried [them] off to Balādh : And he wrote to the great governor of Māwṣel how they had worked craftily : The heretics of Māwṣel and Balādh made themselves advocates : And bribed the governor of Māwṣel with money in no small [quantity] : He gave them the command to depart to their monastery uninjured : And they went back and began to renew their works of destruction : Our pious father according to his wont being occupied continually : With visions of the spirit and the enjoyment of revelations : Wished to direct his meditation always on spiritual things : And to think closely upon the joy of the new world : Once, however, his thought carried him to the heretics : And how wicked and licentious they were, and how they loved lust :

Suddenly he saw by his side an angel in wonder without compare : And his soul shone with light which man cannot describe : Neither is the mind of man able to set a limit to or to depict : How sublime and filled with wonder are the various kinds of understanding : Then the Watcher and our father began to sing Psalms together : From the beginning of the [Book of] David until the end thereof : Now the voice of the Watcher was too delicate for the singing : And mortal beings were unable to hear the sweet sounds thereof : Before they had ended the soul of our father was well nigh to depart : But the mercy of Jesus gave him strength to play the man : After the Psalms the Watcher began to sing : The Canticle [which] beginneth "A mighty King", and he sang it through : At the end he smote his wings and soared upward : To the place whence he had come down, and mingled with his companions : Our pious father Rabbâ Hôrmizd was filled with gladness : Incomparable, the gladness of the new world :1635 What mouth is able to describe his labours : And what tongue of flesh is able to describe the marvellous histories of him : His various excellences resist the power of every earthly being : And his glorious acts are a stronghold against injury : I am exceedingly desirous of writing down and recounting his narrative :1640 My heart is too feeble, and my tongue is too humble to utter [it] : My mind is timid and I am terrified at approaching : The writing down of the story of the glorious one among the just, and of making it known : Because I am fettered and bound by every kind of weakness : And I am snared and hampered by every kind of wretchedness :1645 It is meet to examine into and to search out [the histories] of just men : And to follow out the[ir] triumphs and to write [them] down : Nevertheless I, the wretched one, have dared to depict : His marvellous history, and have been so bold as to compose a discourse with my words :

Our father is in this country a treasury of all holiness : And the place where he is buried is a fountain of help and healing of every kind : Blessed shalt thou be, O our father, in the day when Jesus thy Lord cometh : To renew thee and to give life unto the dead who have crumbled into dust : Thou shalt stand there with the sons of light without fail : And like the sun thou shalt shine with brightness like unto their own : Thou shalt shine like lightning with the lightning-like light of Jesus : And thou shalt have enjoyment in the happiness of thy fellow-believers : Blessed art thou, O our father, because thou wast most zealous in providing : A portion in its time and season, which was altogether blameless : Come, O ye my beloved, ye mortals, and see and search into : And tell unto all the story of the manner of the labours of our pious father : Praise and confess ye Jesus our Lord Who made His servant to triumph : And strive ye earnestly to walk in his footsteps : O my beloved, come ye and make yourselves friends of the labours of our father : And make yourselves heirs of and possess ye his living and incorruptible prayers : Stand up, be strenuous, and wean your heart[s] from things of earth :

And walk and journey on prosperously in the way of our father: Scatter ye wisely all the crafts of the Evil One: And accustom yourselves to self-abnegation and exceeding abstinence: Strengthen with wisdom and unceasingly your weaknesses: And be not spoiled by the Enemy as by a thief through despair: And dispel and cast afar off his divers craftinesses: Esteem him as a feeble one, and be proud and boast yourselves over him: And make yourselves glorious and most splendid over all his hosts: And with the humility of our father deck yourselves beautifully: For it is the garb of Jesus; care ye for it, and put it on, and abase yourselves: So that the arrows of the Evil One may not pierce it, and vanquish him and do him harm: O my beloved, come ye and make yourselves like unto our father in love: And cleanse and refine your conscience and heart, and let them be like snow:

Guard yourselves wholly against the possessions of this world: Let go and hate the passions of the flesh, and despise lust: Come ye and take refuge in the prayer of our father who is arrayed in victory: Shut yourselves within it, and multiply woes against all its hosts: Glorify and praise the Lord Who magnified our pious father : And yoke ye yourselves beneath his yoke and make yourselves divine : O my beloved, forgive ye each other, and let each pardon the other : And break ye and blunt thereby the sharp arrows of the Evil One : Expel, drive out, and cast forth craft and guile from your heart : And carry therein love and mercy, and fill it full therewith : Make it clean and undefiled by abominable things and the filth of sins : Wash ye with tears and keep and fulfil the commandment of the Lord :

Gate 7

Let us return to our goal and proclaim in order the history of our father : And little by little we will shew forth and declare all wonderful things : A sickness afflicted the son of 'Ûkbê, the governor of Mâwşel : Which was hidden from the knowledge of all the physicians : His sickness having become more sore, and being nigh to be deprived of his life : All the physicians confessed, [saying], "It is hidden from our power" : "But set him upon a litter that he may not suffer pain : "And before he be deprived of his life by death : "Rise up, and carry him unto Rabban, whose power is mighty : "And he possesseth the power to drive out the devils from every one who is possessed" : The Amîr received their counsel, and he prepared his soldiers : And quickly and without delay he went forth to the holy man : Having drawn nigh unto Al-Kôsh his son was deprived of life :

And he cried out and wept for his only son who had been cut off by death : Gabriel drew nigh unto 'Ûkbê, and thus spake : "O Amîr, grieve thou not, neither be filled with anger : "For by the prayer of our father thy son Shaibîn who lieth dead shall exult : "And thou shalt rejoice in him and in his healing anew" : And he commanded and they placed him on the back of an animal, being made firm and comfortable : And 'Ûkbê, having arrived where our father was, remained ashamed : And entreated our father not to regard him as a light and contemptible man : And not to let him return to Mâwsel with a sorrowful heart and deprived of his son : Our father had knowledge, for the Holy Spirit informed him secretly : That 'Ûkbê should not this time be bereaved of his son :

He made a sign to Gabriel and commanded him to bring the young man near : And he stood up in prayer that death might depart from that dead man: "In the Name of Jesus, stand up, O Shâibîn, and be glad and exult": And at his word his flesh began to move, and he rejoiced: Twice he commanded him, "Rise up, for death hath departed from thee: "By the might of Jesus be delivered therefrom, and thou shalt leap up": Christ loosed the penalty of his death, and mocked at Sheol: And gave us power that, like Him, we might overcome and mock it: Straightway the dead man opened his eyes and sat [up] and talked: And Rabban gave him a washing and some of the Oblation, and he ate and was glad: And the congregation rejoiced with joy beyond compare: There burst forth on them a contemptible and foul multitude of contentious men:

Who had come to comfort 'Ûkbê, with one who had departed from the truth: And seeing that the son of the governor had risen he remained [there] ashamed: And began craftily to proclaim the praise of our father: Who by raising Shâibîn to life had made us all to rejoice and be glad: And the governor refrained altogether from answering them: Because he knew their craftiness, and because there was no truth in him he despised and spurned him: The company of the contentious ones is subject to the devils and is spoiled by them: And by Satan it is raised up above all wickednesses and wandereth foolishly: And it leaneth to the doctrine of devils, and is greatly harassed by them: And it armeth itself with the strength of sins thoroughly, and prevaileth and rageth: It is cut off from and deprived wholly of the virtues of excellence: And is stripped of the confession of the orthodox and is shorn thereof:

Then 'Ukbê answered our father and began to arrange words [saying]: "How shall I call thee? I do not know how to speak in a well-ordered manner: "Like an angel thou hast intimate knowledge of spiritual things: "And like [that of] God thy name shall be proclaimed through thy works: "That I may reward thy love as is meet I desire earnestly: "But the riches of this world are accounted by thee as a clod of earth: "I beseech thy love, although I am remote from the truth: "Give us the baptism of thy Lord that we may not again go astray: "In Him let us obtain pardon, and let us not be despoiled by Satan: "And let us not be grievously afflicted by the crafts and wiles [of the devils]: "Through thy prayers let us not be bereft of blessings: "And let us not be pierced by the sharp arrows of the Enemy:

"And let us not be deprived of the Grace of Jesus thy Lord: "And in His Name let us live, and acquire strenuousness, and become strong thereby": Our father made answer, "I possess neither earthenware vessel nor table": For the riches of this world were despised in his sight like a scab and a sore:

Gate 8

Then the shorn chief of the abominable ones impudently dared: Falsely to declare unto the governor in his speech: "In our monastery is everything requisite for baptism in the fullest: "For baptism by him and by us is the same and is [equally] excellent and beneficial": Our father seeing that the heretic [was wishing] to steal: Cried out in violent wrath against the wretched man who was so bold: "O sinner, dare not [to speak] thus insolently: "For our baptism and thine are not alike, and it is not seemly (?): "Even as Satan cannot be praised with God: "And it is impossible for a luminary to shine side by side with the darkness: "Similarly thy baptism cannot be praised in the same way as ours : And if thou wishest us to shew [this] openly and declare it by a deed" [we will do so] : Our pious father commanded Gabriel to send quickly and in haste : To bring a basin (or, tank) and two children, and not to be troubled : [One] the son of heretics and the other the son of baptized believers without hindrance :1770 And he did so. And our glorious father sanctified the baptism : Having taken and baptized the Nestorian who had been signed with oil : The waters congealed together, even as in bottles, and would not spread over him : The son of the heretics having gone down into the waters they flowed up over his head : And the crowds wondered, and asked them to make plain the interpretation thereof :1775 Then our father with the truth of his word made them an answer : "The baptism of the Nestorians is perfect in the Spirit, and flourisheth : The baptism of the Jacobites lacketh sanctity, and is without the spirit" : The multitudes seeing marvelled, and wondered, and believed, and praised God : Shâibîn, and 'Ukbê, and his companions were baptized, and prospered, and did well :1780 And the company of the shorn went forth ashamed, and were mocked and scorned :

The men of Al-Kôsh, and 'Ûkbê, and his companions returned rejoicing : And the report of our father mounted up and spread abroad in all regions : In proportion as the triumph of our father flew abroad and spread everywhere : The company of the heretics became furiously enraged, and they blasphemed : Blessed shalt thou be, O our father, when in the clouds from above there appeareth : The King Christ, Who shall be borne aloft by angel[s] : On Satan and the heretics anger shall flow : And on every one who served, and sacrificed, and was submissive unto them : In rays of light among the company of the righteous thou shalt shine : And thou shalt shine brightly with the angels and shalt also be triumphant : When on the righteous the light of thy Lord shall rise and shine forth : And like the stars in little or much shall be abundant :

Blessed shalt thou be, O our father, on the day wherein thy Lord shall open His door : And His light shall shine forth and be extended upon all, and every one shall desire Him : When the weight of the sufferings of every one who is smitten shall be cast away : And also the foul matter which cometh from every one that is wounded shall be purged from him : When Satan shall not be at rest with him that is wounded : And shall be in pain and anguish, and be tortured abundantly :: When with weeping he afflicteth his heart and crieth out through his trouble : And all his congregation is hurled headlong into Gehenna :: When his appointed season is cut short and upon him bursteth : Fierce wrath, and he shall be pained and troubled every hour by his emotions :: When to dust by the voice of the Son every man He sendeth :

And from the earth without let or hindrance he riseth and cometh forth :: When the Lord shall praise and give honour to every man according to his [merit] : And shall bestow upon him the reward of his actions, whether good or evil :: When the wicked and the rebels are slain with tortures : And the fiends and the devils shall never again obtain refreshing or rest :: Blessed shalt thou be when the odour of renewal breatheth forth without end : And floweth in great abundance over heavenly and earthly beings :: When all the rational beings who longed for Him shall triumph gloriously : And He shall give unto all incomparable abundance, and every one shall yearn for Him :: When thy Lord shall gratify the righteous with [His] promised blessings : And every man shall enjoy rest according to his deeds and virtues: The nation of the heretics which hated love and loved tumult:

In proportion as the triumph of our father was noised abroad, became troubled: It pondered day and night desiring earnestly: The murder of the righteous man and like fire burned with fraud: How many times in the nights did it strive hard to murder him: And inasmuch as this was prevented by Grace he went away and escaped: One night, however, the mind of our father had flown to heaven: And his understanding was shining in his converse with God: Therefore he neither knew nor was able [to do aught]: Because he was wholly shrouded in spirituality and was exalted therein: In the morning-season after the dawn had come, and his mind had burst upon him: He went forth from his cave to walk about, and by the door he found: A group of about ten heretics who had come to attack him: And who remained senseless having been restrained by Thy grace:

He perceived that they formed a company of evil men who had been sent against him: And he shed tears and wept [to think] how much they had lacked grace: And how eager they had been to fulfil the wish of devils : And how greatly they had been inflamed by the fervour of foul devils : Our blessed father poured out on them the overflowing abundance of his love : And he loosed and set them free from the bonds wherewith justice had bound them : Like his Master he forgave their folly, himself being untroubled : And into his cave he took them in willing love : And he, being joyful and glad, answered and said unto the uncircumcized of heart : "Ye have armed yourself with weapons of violence like murderers : "Lay down your staves and knives, and enter in and take your rest" : And he washed with his hands the feet of the impure people who were lascivious and abominable :

He gave that company of foolish men, who were destitute of goodness, to eat and to drink : And they were defiled and corrupted by the impurity of wickedness and iniquity : He dismissed them that they might depart to their companions, a foolish and senseless company : Which was pierced and worn away by the droppings of Satan : Now in proportion as our father made himself a sacrifice for their error : They the more sharpened their teeth to crush the glorious man : When they saw that they gained no advantage by all [their] schemes over him that was glorious in virtues : But that iniquity was closing in and overwhelming them the more : Henceforth they took the way of the foolish and stupid Cyril : And as he offered sacrifices unto devils and made them smell their savour [even so did they] :

Gate 9

The company of Bezkin ran quickly and speedily to the shrine of Mattai : For there the wretched man sacrificed unto devils, and was mingled with them : With the little brethren before the head of their shrine his face he' blackened : And the mouth of the naked ones was rent with a cry to devils : The devil heard the prayer of the old men of shame, and he inflamed [them] : To be brazen of face in [making] petitions before him, and he incited and urged [them] : To bore a hole in a cake, and gave them power to hang it on the neck of their chief : And on the necks of them all, one after the other, and he made them hot and to burn : To be participators in the iniquitous laying on of hands he incited [them] : 1. I. e., the head of the monastery. And he taught and urged them forward to deliver themselves to his sorcery:

After their Satanic feast was ended and concluded: The polluted company, which was skilled in wickedness, removed to Bezkîn: Quickly and without delay it departed and went away: And brought and gave to 'Uḳbē and his son no small moneys: Now therefore the polluted company, which burned with impurity having drawn nigh unto Māwṣel: According as it had been made wise by the deceiver, and had been inflamed by him: Hung the cake on the neck of John that he might not be rejected: And mingled with wine a few of the crumbs which fell from it: That peradventure having offered [it] to 'Uḳbē and his son their heart[s] might become obscured: And he might not be despising everything which the polluted company might say: And the governor made [them] to sit upon his throne: Having tasted their wine he was inflamed with love for them: It darkened, and blinded, and dug out the eyes of his understanding:

And he neither despised nor treated with contempt their works and sorcery: The wretched man wandered from the truth of our father, and spurned and trampled upon it with his feet: And the grace which he had wrought for him he forgot and abhorred: The craft of the wicked which destroyed his life went deeply into his heart : And he was inflamed by their devils, and became hot and burst into flame :· Like an ox by his slaughterer he was led away by them : And to the shrine of idolatry through love of them he was carried off :· The persuasion of their evil counsel he did not refuse : By their acts they bound him, and they left him like a dead man who hath been mummified :· Straightway the venomous and crooked serpents sharpened arrows : To shoot in secret at the upright of heart, and they mingled falsehood :·

Before the governor they begot iniquity and put forth falsehood : And the deceiver called to our father, and they raged at him :· O wretched men, how should be moved by your baseness : He who made strong his wall by virtues which were harder than iron :· O audacious ones, how should have fear of your folly : He whose mind was always swimming in spirituality :· O cruel ones, how should be snatched away by your teeth : He who was never rent by the devils, the sons of your hordes :· O ye who are aided by your teeth, how should be torn asunder : He who made to tremble and fear the hosts of furious devils :· O senseless ones, how should be burned by the fire of your iniquity : He who was never burned by the coals of fire of Jesus : O ye heretics, in your swift actions how could be kept in obscurity : He who was reared on the breasts of grace and was brought up thereby : Cease, O ye heretics, from your growlings, and be not inflamed :1900 Against the man who prayed for your wretched estate, and that ye might not be shaken hither and thither : Cease ye and bark not like little dogs because he hath become an alien to the world : For he hath no fear of your barking, neither is he afraid : Meditate, O ye wretched συνουσιασται, and be ye strenuous : Because your end hath come, and also your boasting shall be extinguished :1905 Your polluted monastery shall not escape from the anger of God : And shall remain a heap, and your blood shall be mingled with the dust : O ye wretched ones, observe that sharp arrows have been shot forth : And there is no escape to you from them ; fear ye, and be afraid : Because of this. Your dwelling-place shall be laid waste, and also brought very low :1910 And in your habitation no man shall have the power to dwell :

The people of Al-Kôsh and Gabriel were very eager : And with fear and with sorrow they went up to our father : For they saw that 'Ûkbê clave unto the heretics and was joined [with them] : And besides our father marvelled at them and was wounded : Before the blessed men came unto him our father escaped : And he said unto them, "My sons, the glory of the contentious ones is nigh to be pulled down : "The destruction of the Zion of the heretics hath appeared and come : "Their vine shall be cut down, and their vineyard shall be wasted, and shall become [a place for] gleaning : "Fear ye not, O my sons, the strife of the evil ones, who love the craving for dainty meats : "And be not distressed because by reason of anger they have no escape : "Although they have bribed 'Ûkbê on my account, and have made him to possess hesitation :

"And have made straight the arrows of two talents and have made a mark of and shot at me : "I prayed that they might not again be left all [this] incitement : "But the Lord did not desire this and prepared for them a deep pit : "The arrow of wrath He placed on the string like an archer : "And He passed sentence upon them, and drew His sword : "By the life of Christ Who taught me and gave unto me strenuousness : "To-morrow there shall not be left a stone which shall not be moved and overturned" The blessed men of Al-Kōsh answered "Amen", with fervour : And they were blessed by our father, and went down with leaps Then our father stood up in his prayer mingled with love : And prayed strenuously for the church and the people of Bezkin At the end thereof he saw by his side a burning Watcher :

With a crowbar in his hand, and he was ready and eager to destroy Bezkin "Why prayest thou, O good servant?" he said unto the understanding one : "Take this crowbar wherewith I am commanded to uproot it and overthrow it" The Watcher smote it, and the inhabitants thereof he scattered and burned : And he smote it again, and he made its foundations to totter, and he threw [them] down Whosoever fled at the first quaking destruction did not come to him : [If] he went forth from the tavern of the polluted ones before it was overthrown Whosoever dared to resist boldly and audaciously the voice of the Watcher : Remained beneath the stones, and died by a cruel and terrible death Úkbê first of all heard the voice of the Watcher of every one who was burned up : And with quaking he went forth thence, being fearful and afraid :

He was exceedingly ashamed before our father because he had despised him : And [because] he had been subservient to the flame of the children of sin and had been burned in their war : Seeing the destruction of the tavern of the polluted one and that he had escaped : He turned aside to the house of Gabriel of Al-Kôsh and entered therein : He confessed that he had sinned and had consented unto [evil] deeds and had mingled himself therewith : And that by his own will the flame of the polluted ones had gained dominion over him :

Gate 10

The tavern of the foolish ones, Bezkin, being overthrown, was fulfilled : The word of your father, and its craft was laid bare to the eye thoroughly : The iniquity of the wicked ones returned upon their own head, as on Mânî : And their wickedness went up on their eggs and was united and heaped up : In the language of old it is meet to call it the "second Nineveh" : And like Sodom her sister is seemly the naming of her in every utterance : Like Gomorrah her destruction came by suffocation : And she was a companion [thereof] like Admah, and Zoar, and the other [cities]: That which was found therein was carried off by the villages round about her: After anger had brought down her inhabitants to the devouring pit: Then the sons of the Monastery of Íth-Allâhâ, a congregation devoted to the ascetic life: He had never been neglectful of our holy father since he had been his companion:

Fifty of them, glorious men, who were testified to abundantly: They became unto the monastery first of all a foundation: Then the rumour was noised abroad in the land, "The monastery is built": Every man gave as he pleased of his possessions and brought [it]: From Bêth Kôpê also the name of Khôdâhwi was proclaimed: Seven talents of silver he gave our father and thus he confessed: "When these have come to an end I will give another similar amount": And he asked a prayer from our father and also made supplication: Our father dismissed him with a joyful heart and prayed for him: And he called George and delivered [unto him] the riches of the son of Shûbhhi: He began to put the coping-stone on the building of the temple and monastery: And he set the hand to cells for the habitation of the brethren : The people of the dominion and also of the state began to pour forth :

And everyone was hastening that he might be the first of all to be a participator : And ran quickly [there] after the manner of a huntsman : Little and great for any purpose that would be helpful : And 'Ûkbê himself, by his own prompting, manifested love : And made three talents of silver to come to our father by the hands of Shâibîn : Our father accepted [them] and delivered them over to his overseers and told them : That they were to be careful for the building of his monastery as he wished : In those days it was revealed unto our father by the Holy Spirit : That he should go to Mattai and uproot the idol of the devil and deceiver : He went forth in the morning and departed and came to the tavern of Matthew : And before he went in he stood up in prayer and he besought and prayed :

That he might be concealed from the eyes of the heretics : So that he might not be diverted from the matter which he was held worthy to perform : When the doorkeeper saw his venerableness he was greatly stupefied : And according to his will without delay took care and fulfilled [his wish] : To sleep he brought him in to the door of the shrine of Mattai and departed :And according to his wont he rose up to keep vigil and delayed not :Straightway suddenly one of the Watchers appeared unto him :And opened the shrine of Abbâ Mattai and put in his hand :1995 And brought forth a wretched little idol of white brass and shewed [it] :And its eyes were of beryl, and he gave it to our father, and related unto him :"This wretched little contemptible idol which is despised by all :"Hath led astray the heretics of this monastery :"Mâr Mattai was a companion and follower of Mâr Awgin :2000 "And through the Spirit the lot fell upon him, and in it he departed :"All the inhabitants of this country he turned :"To the faith of the Trinity, and in it he directed them :"He taught and made manifest that the Nature of God is immortal :"And he confessed that the Nature of Jesus the Man was, by grace, Divine :2005 "Their faith having been destroyed, and their truth corrupted :"Through Cyril the crooked serpent, and having been made to stink by him :"Their whole congregation hath been forsaken and rejected by Divine Providence :

"In all the ends [of earth] beneath the heavens it hath been made abominable and blind :: "Then Marcion by his sorceries destroyed, and corrupted, and made to stink : "All their understanding, and he polluted and defiled their temples :: "He taught them and told them to place idols in the altars : "And promised them that they should be deliverers from the night-devils :: "And that they might not be afflicted in the month of Shebat by them he made incantations : "And they delivered themselves over to his sorceries, and his seed shot up well in their hearts :: "Now there is no altar in which an idol hath not been hidden : "And him they serve because he performs their business :: "The grace of thy Lord hath, however, retreated from them afar : "Through Cyril He hath brought upon them injury and He hath afflicted [them] ::

"He it was who first of all ministered unto devils and boasted in them : "He was the first who offered sacrifices unto devils, and was greatly puffed up :: "Through Kâkî, a certain Egyptian sorceress, he was led astray : "And he gave the sons of his following to eat and to drink of this death :: "In all countries the seed which he had made to grow sprang up and flourished : "Through the miserable little idols of accursed devils, and through them hath waxed great :- But take thou this one and depart unto thy monastery and be at peace : And let us pray that their resting-place may be removed from this place":- And when they had prayed the prayer which they were praying the Watcher removed : Our father by the might of the Spirit and made him to come into his cave without labour :- At the time of dawn Gabriel saw him and he was filled with gladness : And he shewed him the idol, and related the story thereof before him :- Then he revealed it and made it known unto the whole congregation : And he narrated how the angel of the Lord had helped him :- Straightway the devil was terrified at our father, and he began : To complain, saying, "Woe is me through thee, O Son of Nazarenes :- Woe is me through Thee, O Jesus Christ, Thou Son of Mary : Woe is me through Thy servant Hōrmizd, the son of Persians :- For thou hast persecuted me in all the bounds of earth and my strength hath declined : I fled from Thee into the abyss of Sheol, and my name hath been brought low :- Thou hast brought up my person which is hated from the interior thereof in shame :

"And Thou wishest to make me a scoffing unto my friends and unto him that honoureth me : In the cities and villages wherein my name hath been proclaimed : And in the places wherein was my power Thou hast also made it to be abrogated : Henceforward my reproach will be proclaimed therein and behold, it will also be revealed : And my glory will be abated, and my disgrace increased, and also made to appear" :2045 The company of the disciples of our father was astonished at what the devil declared : From out of the idol, and that he had exposed the wretchedness of himself in the sight of all : George took the idol and brought [it] down and shewed [it] : In the towns and villages which were there, and also told the story, [saying] : "This is the god of the heretics which hath been turned out and cast away :2050 And the prince of the religion of the evil man Cyril, the mole that was blind : The name of the shrine of Mattai the erring one hath polluted and made to sin : And this is the night-devil of Egypt which it hath made to go astray" : And Gabriel the man of Al-Kôsh was fully occupied : With ministering unto the workmen and artificers, and was not sluggish :2055 After a period of ten months the monastery was built : And it was provided with all furnishings, and was well built :

Our pious father in no way neglected his ascetic life : And in love employed his body and his soul with the Cross of his Lord : With his marvellous works he rejoiced the Watchers of heaven and men : And the hordes of fiends and devils he despised and held in contempt : He perceived and searched into minutely and skillfully : The hidden mystery which was from the angels and everything which was covered : The mystery, which was revealed unto us of our image which was corrupted, was raised upon high : And an adorable throne on the right hand he inherited and acquired : Being made worthy of the throne of the Word, the Son Who was of the Father : He, our first fruits, the Son Who was of Mary, Who appeared in the earth : He was derived and chosen from every race of Adam :

And He wrought mighty deeds, and healed the sick, and vivified the dead : He Who is not easily comprehensible and Who cannot be understood became comprehensible : And He hid His glory and became a perfect being in His two Natures : At the time of the Crucifixion by the Jews He drank vinegar : All the souls that were lost by His voice He brought back [to life] : At His death He removed from Sheol the dead who had gone to corruption : And He gave us freedom from the service of death which was cast out : He in the beginning the head of our generations made to come into being : And He stablished anew by His voice our nature which was created afresh : Like a weak man in the sight of the children of men He appeared : And as God by rational beings He was confessed :

Two of them, without doubt, in Him were perfected : And the words which the prophets prophesied concerning Him He fulfilled and accomplished : The yoke of death He cast out from our nature and destroyed and made an end thereof : And the stinking wounds with the medicine of His words He bound up and healed : Compassion and mercy for every one who turned back He poured out abundantly : And He made every man who was chosen by Him worthy of the honour of his glory : Our own father He honoured and magnified greatly and without measure : And He exalted to the highest height the exaltedness of his spirituality : Ceaselessly in vigil the watcher sang psalms and hymns : And in the fire of his love he made himself like unto the son of sojourners : In marvellous and quiet contemplation in the cell our father delighted :

And swiftly he trod the path of the righteous and emulated them : All his days he never relaxed the habit of profound contemplation : And he made himself like unto the spiritual beings and Watchers of heaven : He proclaimed the fruits of glory and praise and made them to blossom : He counselled his soul wisely and wept for it : [Saying], "Receive my counsel and deliver thyself from Gehenna, O my soul : "And despise, and hate, and reject the riches of the world and its desirable things : "Raise up thy mind unto Him who is about [to come], and search Him out : "Make thy thoughts to dwell on high, and glorify and praise thy Lord : "O bride of the King, admonish thy understanding and thy motions, and cleanse [them] : "And make straight and wide thy deeds and actions in truth and righteousness :

"Make the eyes of thine heart blind unto all beautiful things which are vain : "And satisfy thyself like the spiritual beings with the love of thy Lord : "Rouse thyself, O my soul, and shew love, and return glory : "Give a reward unto thy Lord, and be thou exalted over all [thy] passions : "Flee from every man who possesseth customs of sluggishness and is a whoremonger : "And remove thyself and be away from [him], and let thy tears run down like waterspouts : "Like the sinful woman, lay hold upon and cling fast to the skirts of thy Lord : "And wash His feet with the tears of thine eyes, and wipe them with [thine] hair : "Like Simon after his denial [of Christ], repent and be contrite : "And, like the thief on the right hand, confess thy Lord : "Cling unto thy brethren, and redeem and deliver thyself from their wars :

"And by thy discipline rebuke and make wise the simplicity of their hearts" : With such counsels he counselled his soul, hearken ye, O my brethren : And by his understanding he set free his disciples from all error : Our pious father cried out to his disciples, saying, "Come ye, incline unto my words : "And in your person[s] fulfil all my deeds and keep ye my ordinances : "Come all ye ascetics who are gathered together, and enter into my folds : "Put your necks under my yoke, and train ye yourselves in all my doctrines : "Come, O my beloved, and occupy yourselves in all my discourses : "Take heed unto yourselves, and acquire ye the truth of all mine admonitions : "Draw nigh unto mine entreaties, and observe and search out the work of my hands : "And proclaim the truth and act like mighty men in the hope of my words :

"Ye know that I have neither concealed from you my judgments : Nor all the tribulations which I have endured and suffered from mine enemies : I became an alien and a stranger unto all my neighbours : Be ye like unto me, and be ye participators in my labours : O my lords, be ye careful and fulfil ye your love towards me : Cleave ye unto me, and transgress ye not [any of] all my statutes : At this time I praise you, O ye who have shewn goodness unto me : And in your reverence, according as I have taught you, be ye my consolers : By my counsels and words be ye persuaded, O my obedient sons : And incline [your ears], and understand, and listen unto the discourse of all my words : O my neighbours, ye who encourage me, observe ye the things which I have endured : Fulfil my statutes, perform my commands and all my laws" : The disciples hearkened unto their master and inclined unto the command of his mouth : And they shewed [it] to each other, and they taught [it], and laboured [in it] and performed it : They received the law and statute of their master, [and] in their heart they kept it : They performed his word, and also honoured his covenant with them :

They embraced it in their hearts and believed it in all the motions of their soul: And they wrote in their hearts the teacher of the truth and the preceptor of the spirit: They went after him and also found their help in his hands: And they magnified and praised him and proclaimed his rule in the sight of all: They became his disciples with their whole hearts and never left him: And they called him the investigator of mysteries and the philosopher of the spirit: Thus and more was our father, even as they exalted him: And in his piety, after the manner of the Apostles they likened him and compared him: By our father's prayer they expelled the Evil One from his habitation: And drove him away, and they vanquished his strength, and drove him out: And they cast out and expelled the Prince of wickedness beyond the borders:

They thrust him out like scorpions and serpents, and trod upon him with the foot: The property of the devils they made their own possession and spoiled him: And the wall of his strength with the weapon of their humility they shook and threw down: They fulfilled the doctrine of our father and stablished and furnished his monastery: And, like heralds, they proclaimed him and made him known in the ears of every man:

Gate 11

Our father humbled and brought low the Prince of the air : And he broke and humiliated his hordes and bands like an athlete : By crimes of every kind the children of his dogmas he led to destruction : And every one who was a heretic like Cyril he made to suffer and brought to doom : He grasped the sword of the spirit in his hand like an athlete :2160 And the wretched idols of the heretics he uprooted and brought low : By the help of his prayer, and the assistance of his words which he made sharp by the Spirit : He rooted out the night-devil which led [men] astray and rejected [him] and set him to rest : The arrows of his prayer with the bow of fasting he shot out and drove them : Into the heart of the enemies of Jesus our Lord, and extinguished their strength :2165 Blessed art thou, O our father, before whom the Prince of wickedness was made to suffer : And in thy presence all the array of his warriors was brought low : His arrogance and boasting were obscured in thy presence : And through thee nothing whatsoever was carried off by the claw of his wickedness : The oppression of Bezkín, the tavern of devils, was extinguished by thy power :

And the assemblies of the "shorn" were slain and brought low in the abysses of Sheol : The might of their audacity and insolence thy love blotted out : And through thee their wasted monastery was overturned on the heads of its inhabitants : By their own will the Devil blinded and obscured their understanding : And he left them to the lizards (?) and the moles, and darkened their minds :2175 Therefore thy Lord cast and poured out upon them the fire of wrath : And made their habitation beneath the earth, and there He mingled : That which He had promised the heretics whom He had kept back from thee : And he whose luck was evil was prohibited from Mount 'Edhrai : Thy love was poured out in thy heart on their behalf continually :2180 And thou wast praying that peradventure the Lord might turn away His wrath from them : Their appointed time was fulfilled, and they were cursed in anger : And such was their madness that their root was never again to take firm hold in the mountain : Blessed art thou, O our father, whose rank was so high with thy Lord : And kings, and governors, and satraps adored thine honour :2185 Blessed art thou, O our father, whose grade is beyond measure :

And the height of whose position no man is able to declare: Blessed art thou, O our father, who didst rejoice the Watchers by thy humility: And who didst make glad exceedingly men by thy self-denial: Blessed art thou, O our father, whom the riches of this world never flattered: And who wast never turned aside from thy course by its polluted beauties: Blessed art thou, O our father, whom the storm of passion never vanquished: And the ship of whose soul the waves of the world never overwhelmed: Blessed art thou whose wisdom journeyed in the whirlwinds of thy mind: And the flood of the sea of whose understanding led thee into the haven of life: Blessed art thou, O our father, whose history is so marvellous and wonderful: And whose knowledge is exalted and more excellent than [that of other] rational beings: Blessed art thou, O our father, whose birth-place was the East:

And in whose beauty the North, and the South, and the West rejoice: Blessed art thou, O our father, who hast sanctified the earth by thy steps: Wherein, like thy Lord, thou hast performed thy mighty deeds and miracles: Blessed art thou, O our father, whose doctrine poured forth like Gihon: Upon all the souls who drew nigh unto thee and took refuge in thee :: Thine understanding was like unto the pouring forth of the Tigris : And thy knowledge shewed itself to be deep as the depths of Pison :: Like the river Euphrates thou didst water the flock of thy Lord : With the refreshing drink of thy paternity and lordship :: From thy youth thou wast chosen and called to the fellowship of thy Lord : And like Jeremiah and the son of strangers (i. e., Elijah) thy name waxed glorious :: Come, O priest, that I may write down thy history and may praise thee :

And may reveal unto men all thy paths and thine excellences :: Come, O thou zealous one, in thine integrity and righteousness : That I may magnify thy truth, O thou whose aim was as straight as a line :: Come, O chosen one, that I may incite thy sons to jealousy by thy glorious acts : And may exalt thee with my halting tongue and may praise thy name :: Come, O thou who art the most zealous of all the righteous men thy kinsfolk in name : Who hast laboured and filled thy treasury with the riches of the Spirit which made thee wise :: 1. See line 3310. Come, O thou lowly one, whom the pride of thine Enemy never carried away : Who didst love thy Lord, Who was Himself thy Helper, and Whose power aided thee : How is it possible for a wretched man like myself to recount thy gifts :

Wherewith the Holy Spirit, according to thy fitness, adorned thee : Thy history is exalted, and thy quest was immeasurably sublime : And it is impossible for my tongue to be sufficient [to do so] in a fitting manner : The region of the Persians, that is, Bēth Lāpāt, rejoiceth in thy beauty : For it gave thee birth, and gave thee as a treasure unto the Syrians : The city of Āthōr and all its dominions rejoice in thy name : For thou didst go about among them when thou wast a stranger and didst reveal thy beauty : Thou didst make a tarrying for a length of years with Mār Bar-'Idtā : And there according to rule thou didst perform thy ministration as a coenobite : There thou didst wage war against the Enemy with the weapon of thy humility : And thou didst vanquish his power, and break his head with the sword of thine abstinence :

Then thou didst remain for six years in the Monastery of Rīshā : There thou didst perform mighty deeds and didst manifest thy deeds of power : The village of Al-Kôsh above all [other] places exalted thee : And thy Lord, by His nod, wished to make thee to rest in the neighbourhood thereof :· Unto this place from the East thy Lord brought thee : That therein thou mightest plant the vines of thy vineyard and also thy plants :· By its inhabitants thy temple was stablished and thy monastery built : That they and thy sons might abide in thy love and in thy blessings :· Blessed be Al-Kôsh which was worthy of the eventide of thine old age : It received blessings from thee, and became also the place of thy rest :· Blessed be Christ Who strengthened thee, and Who made thine end marvellous : And filled thee with the revelations and visions of the Spirit :·

Blessed be He Whose nod was with thee and went about with thee : And Who was thy Helper and Sustainer in all thy labours :· Blessed be Christ Who hath set thee among the ranks of His workers : And Who exalted thee greatly by the revelations of things which were to come :· Blessed be He Who knew thee of old and gave thee the wages of thine aim : And instead of the beauty of thine excellence made thee to inherit the marriage chamber :· Blessed art thou, O our father, whose Lord thus honoured and magnified thee : And Who fished thee out of the sea of the world and set thee apart for His service : Blessed art thou, O our father, whose memorial is more exalted than [that of] all the righteous : Whom the Lord called unto him with His voice, like Samuel :

Blessed art thou, O our father, whose history is marvellous, and whose happiness is exalted : Who hast, like David, by thy strenuousness overthrown thine Enemy : Happy is every man who shall travel in the way of thy path and in thy footsteps : And who shall strive earnestly to emulate thy strenuousness : O our Lord, Thou hast given our father Hōrmizd dominion over the treasure of Thy riches : And because he kept Thy covenant and loved Thy Name Thou didst make [him to be] a participator in Thy glory : Because he made entreaty unto Thee each night with supplications and with prayers : Like Joseph, Thou didst deliver him by Thine arm from the hand[s] of enemies :

Gate 12

After our father had built his monastery and finished and completed it : Mār Tūmārṣā, the Catholicus, went forth unto him : When the rumour smote his ears he received [it] with joy : And with a glorious company of his bishops he departed from Babel: He was a fellow-monk with our father and had been planted with him: And he also had laboured in the Monastery of Rabbâ Mâr Bar-'Idtâ: Because of the love which was between each other he ran and made haste: And moreover a matter of necessity worked upon him: Our father receiving [news] of his coming by means of a revelation: Called George and Gabriel and spake unto them: "Rise up, my brethren, run and get ye down, and make haste to Bêth Kôpe: "And sing praises and glorifyings before our father Mâr Tûmârsâ: "According to his beauty honour him rightly and bring [him] to us": And they did thus and fulfilled everything which our father had admonished them:

Because [our father] was weak in body through old age and abstinence: He went down into his presence before the temple, and received his person: But who can declare the gladness of Mâr Tûmârsâ: Or seeing our father and on saluting him lovingly: He neither sat down, nor ate, nor drank, until he had consecrated the altar: And he consecrated and distributed the mysteries of the Son Emmanuel: They all had happiness after the manner of the spirit, and made rejoicings: And they kept the feast and celebrated the festival to our father Mû'îl: Then our father the Catholicus warned and admonished: And he wrote a writing with his own hand, and sealed [it], and make known thus: "I Tûmârşâ the Catholicus, by the grace of God: Command, and ordain, and curse by the might of the strength of God: "That there is no power to [any] bishop to bind or to loose:

"In this monastery, neither shall his name be proclaimed [therein], [nor] command, [nor] speak: "Whosoever shall transgress this ordinance shall be dismissed and degraded: "And shall be counted a heretic in the Church, and vile, and contemptible": All the bishops united in giving approval to this: And they all made their declaration, and sealed the writing and delivered it unto our father: After they had finished all these things, they gave praise in the spirit: They ate the Food of the Lord, and raised hymns of praise unto God: Then Khôdhâwî with love for them fettered himself: And offered [them] a feast, and they drank three cups [each], and were refreshed: And he brought and laid down before Tûmârşâ a talent of silver: And asked and besought from him, with hope, a prayer: Mâr Tûmârşâ marvelled at the love of him who [thus] served the Lord: And blessed him in the might of Him that had put forth twelve parables:

[Saying], "O Khôdhâwî, in return for this thy love my Lord shall grant thee: "Forgiveness of sins and He shall strengthen thee at His right hand: "The honour [which thou hast paid] us is sufficient, and thou shalt not work thyself further: "For we have heard of thy care for this monastery [from] one who lieth not: "Take back thy money, my riches are sufficient for me", and he separated himself from this [gift]: "And money like this is useless to me; take it and let it be carried away": The believing man constrained him, and made answer to him, saying, "It is a votive offering, and my lord moved my heart [to vow it]: "It shall never again return to me nor be gathered up by me": Tûmârsâ placed another talent upon those which he had received: And handed [it] over to the monastery by the hand[s] of George and Gabriel:

After his petition had been accepted, and he had been shewn the right road: And he had been well inducted by our father into the mystery of revelations: He was set free wholly from contests and was also strengthened: He was set on fire with the fire of love for our father Hôrmízd: And being delivered and having gained freedom he was no longer weak : But if he were hung upon the neck[s] of hidden enemies : Beneath the destruction of the corrupt ones by the prayer of our father he would not fall : And by their hidden wickednesses he would neither be polluted nor defiled : Where the prayer of our father is the might of the Rebel is dissipated and dispersed :2320 And like the phantoms of the desert and reeds he is reckoned and held in contempt : On the morning of the [next] day Mâr Tûmârsâ rose up, and departed quickly : And our father accompanied him on the road as long as he was able to endure the toil : Then they separated, each from the other, in unspeakable love : And being full of the Spirit our father went into his cave :2325 Blessed art thou, O our father, for thou wast linked unto the chain of the Apostles : And thy body through [thy] labours was not broken down or made powerless : Blessed art thou, O our father, for thy Lord's sake thou didst get austerity : And he was constrained neither by the blandishments of the world, nor the crookedness thereof : Blessed art thou, O our father, for the building of thy tower was crowned on high :2330 And could never be washed away by the floods which dashed against it :

Jesus, the Word, the Headship of our nature, having become a Temple : In His Humanity He suffered through the Jews and endured sufferings : With the disgrace of the cross for our redemption, and was stripped naked : And having gone up [on it] by His might the horde of devils was greatly confounded : But He overshadowed the ranks of His chosen ones and those who called upon Him : And of the place of miracles they were made worthy by the Comforter and continued so to be : Our pious father by means of these things was at once highly exalted : And the corrupt devil looked and saw him and was made guilty by him : When he met him and saw the aspect of his face he was moved as by a storm : At his exaltation he burned as with fire, and became cinders, and was burned to ashes :

By mysteries of holiness and with [divine] gifts he triumphed and was crowned : And the report of him flew abroad and was carried into every country : The Name of our Redeemer was sanctified by him and was praised : And through him the Calumniator was made foolish and brought to derision : By the prayer of our father the Devil was afflicted with all manner of tribulations : And the building of his fraud fell down, and was washed away, and carried to a distance : By the prayer of our father the devil of pride fell down and was spurned : And he ceased his glorifying and boasting, and was made of no effect : Seeing that none of the plots which he wove benefited him : He contrived schemes, and went unto the heretics, and was shewn to be a liar : As at the beginning of the world he was crafty and plotted against Adam :

So with insolence he made an attack upon our father, and was made contemptible : The athlete of the Spirit made war against him, and was crowned with the Spirit : And in his strenuousness he was never wetted by the waters of his passions : He waged war against him with his snares, and he was never tripped up : And he was neither caught in his traps and nets, nor impeded by them : The wretched one waged war and was put to shame, but was not made an end of : Until he was pierced with goads and knives ; he bore [these] and was slain : The Evil One waged war and cried to his host, and it quickly gathered together : And with great noise rose up in his crookedness and neighed like a stallion : The Enemy fought with our father who made him an object of derision :

And he broke him, and trod him under foot, and considered the voice of his threats like the sound of a tinkle : The cunning one fought, and the dominion of himself was loosed : And every rational being wove a crown of glory for the triumph of our father :