THE EARLY CHURCH FATHERS WRITINGS - VOLUME 116
Christians under Islam: Syriac, Arabic and Greek Writers
c. AD 840 – 1425

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Texts are public domain except where marked in Sources and Credits.

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INTRODUCTION TO THIS VOLUME
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HOW THIS BOOK IS ARRANGED

This is the hundred and sixteenth volume of a series that gathers the writings of the
early Church. It is an addendum, and it gathers what Christians wrote in the lands that
came under Islam, in Syriac, Arabic and Greek. The first part holds two histories: the
Universal History of Agapius of Hierapolis, written in Arabic, and the Book of Governors
of Thomas of Marga, the history of the monks of the East. The second part holds Syriac
scholars of the Church of the East and the Jacobite church: the Pearl of Abdisho bar
Brikha, his catalogue of Syriac writers, and two works of Dionysius bar Salibi, on
Revelation and against the Melchites. The third part holds the Arabic Christian writers:
Hunayn ibn Ishaq, Yahya ibn Adi, Abdallah and Abu al-Khayr ibn al-Tayyib and Abu al-
Majdalus, on faith, reason and the Gospels. The last part holds two Greek dialogues with
Islam, one by the emperor Manuel II and one by Gerasimos.

The introductions, the descriptions of the parts and the headings were prepared for
SermonIndex with the help of artificial intelligence. The texts themselves are the
translations, and were not rewritten.

TRANSLATIONS AND TEXTS

The English is that of older translators, nearly all of the nineteenth and early twentieth
centuries, and is printed as the website prints it. Most of these texts were read by
machine from scanned books and have not been proofread against the printed pages, so a
misreading may remain. Footnotes, and words in Greek, Hebrew, Syriac, Arabic and Latin,
are left out of this book, as are the translators’ long introductions; the reader who
wants them should go to the printed edition.

DATES AND AUTHORSHIP

The Arabic writers are of the ninth century and after, and several of their works survive
in English only in recent translations, which are printed here without the Arabic text
that stood beside them. The works run in time from about the year 840 to 1425. Some are
replies to Muslim questions and others are not written against Islam at all, and the
reader will see the difference.


UNIVERSAL HISTORY
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UNIVERSAL HISTORY Agapius of Hierapolis

d. c. AD 942

Melkite bishop who wrote a universal history in Arabic.

PART 1

KITAB AL-`UNVAN

1 DECORATED WITH THE EMINENT QUALITIES OF WISDOM, CROWNED WITH VARIOUS SPECIES OF
PHILOSOPHY, ILLUSTRATED BY THE TRUTHS OF KNOWLEDGE. Ms. C Mss. BA In the name of the only
and eternal God. We beseech his help. The book al-`Unvan (of the Title), decorated with
eminent qualities of wisdom, crowned with various kinds of philosophy, illustrated by the
truths of knowledge, composed with care by the eminent sheik, the erudite doctor, the
excellent philosopher, Agapius, son of Constantine, a Greek of Manbidj, and which he sent
to an eminent man `Isa, son of al-Husein. Know, may great God help you, that this blessed
book is composed by its author, and is written according to the Sacred Books of God,
according to the books of the philosophers and the scholars. He worked on it with sorrow,
weariness, assiduity and effort; he composed it for the great benefit and profit of people
who will meditate on it; those who, indeed, will contemplate this book with assiduity,
will understand it, think about it seriously and will be interested, like a man who had
traversed the whole universe, as if he knew the world from its origins and as if the world
were telling its history, its wonders, its extraordinary things, the events and miracles
which have taken place from the origins of creation until his own time and era. May he who
reads it, do so with great care and understand it well.

2 Here is the beginning of the book. The Apostle says: "Every excellent grace and every
perfect gift comes from above and comes down from the Father of lights." God, O friend,
has granted to you in abundance the good and beautiful gift, which inspires in you the
desire to arrive at knowledge and to clarify events, and to arrive at the possession of
the truth about them and the knowledge of the subtleties of their mysteries. In the name
of God, clement and merciful. The Book of history, attributed to Mahbub, son of
Constantine, a Greek of Manbidj. Its title belongs to the man, decorated with eminent
qualities of wisdom, crowned with various kinds of philosophy, illustrated by the truths
of knowledge, the virtuous and good, Abu-Musa-`Isa, son of al-Husein, may the grace of God
towards him endure, may his wisdom be perfect, may his philosophy increase twofold, may
his dignity be raised, may all the power of his enemies, who hate him, be decreased and be
subjected to him, may the hand which preserves be on him, and may his life be prolonged.

3 Mahbub, son of Constantine, the Greek, of Manbidj, composed this book and wrote it
according to the revealed Books of God, may His name be great, and the books of the
philosophers and the scholars; he worked there with much care, great weariness and great
sorrow; he composed it for the great benefit and profit of people who will meditate on it;
whoever will contemplate with assiduity this book, will understand it, will pass through
it in spirit and will know what is in it, --- he will resemble a man who has traversed the
whole universe, as if he knew the world from its origins and as if the world told its
history, its wonders, its extraordinary things, miraculous events which took place and
which are worthy of admiration, and marvellous stories. The beginning of the book. Every
excellent gift - may God prolong your glory and raise the happiness of your rank - comes
down from the Father of lights. God has granted a high spirit and noble and beautiful
qualities to you. He put in you the desire and the intention to find out the history of
the faith and to arrive at the possession of the truth and the knowledge of the mysteries.

4 To the best of my ability, may God help you, I have wanted to publish a book commencing
with the origins of the world and I considered that you were able and worthy, because I
have solid evidence of the fineness of your spirit and your intelligence. I have composed
this book which explains, shows and clarifies. This book contains, from the origins of the
world, complete information on the years of the world, the centuries and dates, and the
nations, nation by nation, with an explanation and description, the events which took
place in former times in the regions of the earth, their history and the wonders which
existed among the nations, the peoples and the kingdoms, nation by nation, kingdom by
kingdom, - and the history of the prophets, prophet by prophet, their date and era, the
philosophers, tyrants and the owner of talismans invulnerable against reptiles or insects,
- the confection of pearls, the art of working hyacinth, marble, Pharaonic glass, -- the
arts, i.e. the ten gifts, that God has given specially to the children of Adam, the
description of the seven wonders of the world and the places where they are.

5 These wonders are: the Capitol in Rome; it is a marvellous building, where Apollonius
taught magic. The second wonder is the Pharos of Alexandria. It is a tower with an
observatory, which is at the entrance to the sea, on four columns of glass. It is this of
which the scholar Bedas speaks who measured the sea, traversed the earth and did not find
any construction in the world higher than this one. The third wonder is the temple of
Çyzicus in Cappadocia, in the country of the Greeks. It is an astonishing building of one
hundred fifty square cubits, on four pilasters, and what is most astonishing, is that the
rain does not fall on it. The fourth wonder are the three stones of Baalbek. The fifth
wonder is the woman (?) in the town of Caesarea in Palestine. The sixth wonder, the Ifos
of Bellerophon; it is an iron horse, on which is an iron rider, suspended in the air under
a vaulted ceiling without any support against the walls of the vault. The seventh wonder
is three statues that Hercules, the most ancient king, made in the sea to preserve
travellers from immersion. Along with this, in this book is gathered the explained history
of the divisions of the earth and the seven climates, their length, their width, their
seas, their gulfs, their famous cities, the state of the inhabitants of the climates,
their manners and what there is in the way of vermin and of use in each climate.

6 In the name of God unique and eternal. We beseech his help. This is the beginning of the
book of the eminent master, the perfect philosopher, Agapius, son of Constantine. May God
give eternal rest and great reward to his soul. Amen. Some intelligent people, versed in
the knowledge of the things which, as you see, happen according to the order of nature
from the origins of the world, know that the beginning of time, the origin of things
created, the order of the years and days are counted from the time of the equinox at the
entry of the sun into the head of the Ram, i.e. the equator. From this time, the earth
starts to produce green grass and the trees start to produce leaves and change colour. The
earth is covered with greenery and shows its beauty and a great number of pretty colours.
At the same time the animals, all the insects of the earth and all the birds, as we see,
mate one with another and bring into the world the little ones of every species and every
kind according to their nature. At the time of which we speak, and in this period, birds
built nests of every kind and form, according to their ability.

7 The time of which we speak starts, according to all the scholars and all the
chronologists, at the origin of the world, the 18 of the month of Adar (Mark), which is
the lunar month of Nisan (April); as for Nisan, it is Redjeb, (the first) the twelve lunar
months at the beginning of the months of the world. We have found that the book of God,
(may it be blessed), revealed via the intermediary of Moses the prophet, agrees with what
we have said on the natural course of the things since the first origins of the world;
(this book) is like it, agrees with it and follows it. However God, may His name be
blessed and His glory be great, inspired Moses his prophet and said to him: "Let this
month be the first and the beginning of the lunar months." The people versed in the books
revealed by God affirm that in this same month the end of the world will take place. Then
there is no-one among all the scholars and people of knowledge who doubts that this month
started on a Sunday at the beginning of the world; and we do not need to examine this
question or to explain the account of this, because it is clear and obvious among all
scholars and all the experts of the Scriptures, that the first beginning of creation took
place on Sunday; the name of this day proves what we say. On this day, this month and this
year the chronology of the history of the world started and from this moment what happened
is reported and related.

8 This book is called in Greek chronikon, which in the Arabic translation means the
sequence of years and the mark of dates and the centuries. This book begins with the first
day, when God created all the creatures, from Adam to the Ascension of Christ, (our) Lord;
it describes, tells and deals with the nations, nation after nation, of the kings of the
earth, king after king, of the things which took place in the world, of the wonders in the
various kingdoms and the various nations and other things. The author and the writer of
this book said; "We must start with the origins, that we seek the reasons and the causes
of what is known about the beginning of the world and the order of the years, that we
explain the evidence and that we tell and set forth this history." 9 He said: In the first
year after the exodus of the Israelites from the country of Egypt, Moses, the prophet of
God, went up on the mountain of God, Tur-Sina (the Sinai), fasted for forty days and forty
nights and prayed. Then God condescended to speak to him and granted to him power, wisdom,
knowledge and the gift of prophecy, so that he prophesied, told, reported and wrote how
God had created this world in six days; and God sent down (revealed) to him the written
tablets of the Law, and Moses wrote five books: The first book makes known things created,
described the beginning of their creation and their qualities. The second book writes and
tells the exodus of the Israelites from the country of Egypt. The third book sets forth
the rules for the priests and the Levites and is called the book of the priests
(Leviticus). The fourth book is that of the number of Israelites, in which Moses the
prophet counted them and enumerated their number. The fifth book is that of Deuteronomy.

10 Here ends the era of the world from the beginning of creation until this year which is
the 81st year since the birth of Moses finishes and which is the year when Moses the
prophet went up on the mountain of God Tûr-Sina (the Sinai); and there were three thousand
eight hundred and forty-seven years until this date and this day, as we can give it
according to the version of the Seventy, Jewish commentators who translated the Pentateuch
and all the books of the prophets from Hebrew into Greek under Ptolemy Philadelphus, king
of Egypt. That took place approximately three hundred years before the arrival of Christ
Our Lord. At the beginning of the first book, Moses the prophet writes that God created in
the beginning the substance of heaven and earth, understanding by the word 'substance' the
hypostasis of heaven and earth and their essence. God created the light, which was a
dispersed and extended light, separated the light from darkness on the first day, which
was the beginning of creation, and which he named Sunday. This is the first day of the
month of Nisan which is the lunar month Redjeb at the beginning of creation. The proof
that this first lunar month was Redjeb and that it was Sunday, is the astronomical
calculation, the formula for which is easy to understand; thus whoever wishes and wants to
know this, will acquire this knowledge with little effort, which will satisfy his
understanding. But sometimes this astronomical calculation is hidden from he who wants to
know it, God willing.

11 On the second day God created the celestial sphere which turns with a perpetual motion
and travels from East to West, making a circuit every twenty-four hours, day and night,
permanently, without stopping; and God named the revolving, attached and raised sphere
'heaven'. On the third day God ordered that all the waters above the earth be gathered in
one location and one place; and after their gathering, the waters were called seas. Then
the earth produced grasses, various flowers, trees with fruit and trees without fruit. On
the fourth day God, may his name be exalted, ordered the extended light to gather and
placed it in all the luminaries, i.e. the sun, the moon and all the fixed and moving stars
according to their categories and their classes, which are moved in the sphere which puts
them in perpetual and continuous motion, and they turn in a direction opposed to that of
the sphere, from West to East.

12 On the fifth day God created from the water all the birds which fly in the air over the
earth, and all the animals of the sea; God created from the water their bodies and the
breath of their life. On the sixth day God created from the earth all the animals and the
wild animals, all the reptiles which crawl on its surface, and the others whose bodies and
breath of life came from the earth. On this day God created a man -- i.e. Adam -- in the
image of God. He created him and made him the most perfect of the creatures and improved
him, putting in him a particular superiority of intelligence, word and soul, endowing with
reason, intelligent and speaking, wherein was the resemblance to God. The body of Adam and
his spirit came from the earth and the four elements, the primitive forms, created before
everything as separate, independent and free; the soul of Adam, intelligent, expressing
thought, speaking, similar to God, immortal, was from God; its flame and all that there is
of good in it, (was also from Him). And the man, i.e. Adam, having become a spiritual and
corporeal being, with a better structure, God took him and put him, he and his wife, whom
he had created from one of his sides, in the garden of Eden.

13 On the seventh day God completed all his works which He had created, and He called
(this day) the day of Sabbath, because Sabbath means rest. Certain scholars believe that
God, may He be blessed and exalted, located the garden of Eden and placed it above the
earth, at a distance of fifteen cubits, without support. God put Adam there and on the one
hand established him as king over the animals and the beasts, which were below him, and on
the other hand He placed him beneath the wisdom and knowledge of the immaterial Angels,
enjoying the special favour of God, who were above him. 14 In the middle of the paradise
God planted the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which He prohibited to Adam,
rigorously prescribed to him not to approach it and He gave him the order not to eat of
its fruit, to test his obedience thus; and if Adam had persevered in obedience, he would
have been worthy to be placed in the order of the angels and to be with them; if he fell
into disobedience and error, he would be rejected from paradise altogether, would be
driven out and would be with the animals. When Adam had disobeyed his Lord and his Creator
and had violated his order, he could not live in the holy and spiritual paradise any more
after the error and the violation of the commandment; this was inadmissible in the holy
and spiritual paradise. God made him leave the paradise, made him live opposite it in the
mountains and did not drive him far, thanks to His leniency to him. This is why David, the
prophet, said in the Book of the Psalms about Adam: "The man, who did not understand his
honour and the favour of God that was granted to him, was delivered to the animals, driven
out to them and became similar to them."

15 Adam and his wife Eve remained sad and afflicted for a hundred years because of their
disobedience towards their Lord, and they experienced sorrow every time that they looked
at the paradise; they regretted the delights which had escaped them, and they were
afflicted at their cohabitation with animals. A hundred years afterwards, Adam knew his
wife Eve, and fathered from her Cain; then, after him, Abel (was born). When they had
reached the age of thirty, they offered to God their offerings; and God accepted the
offering of Abel because of his purity and the kindness of his heart; but God did not
accept the offering of Cain, who had in his heart resentment and secret hatred against his
brother. He envied his brother because God had preferred his offering to that of Cain.
Cain said to Abel, his brother: "Come with us to the fields." They went down from the
mountains to the fields, and Cain threw himself on Abel, his brother, and killed him. God
was angry against Cain and made him pass all his life in fear. Adam and Eve, his wife,
were extremely upset at the violent death of Abel for hundred years more. Adam understood
that the misfortune of Abel, his son, was the punishment of his error and his disobedience
towards His Lord, because the fathers were to be struck and punished for their own sins in
their children; and Adam feared Cain for himself.

16 A hundred years after, Adam and Eve his wife, were comforted for their affliction. Adam
knew Eve, his wife, and fathered Seth, who resembled Adam in appearance and features. Seth
remained with Adam his father, in the mountains, and Cain lived down in the plain. The
seventh descendant of Cain was Lamech the blind man, son of Methuschael, son of Mehuiael,
son of Hirad, son of Enoch, son of Cain, son of Adam. Lamech the blind went out one day
with a child who led him. Trembling, Cain was in the woods. Lamech the blind man heard him
and believing that he was a wild beast of the forest, he took a stone, threw it against
Cain and killed him. The child said to him: "What have you done? You have killed Cain!" In
an access of pain, sorrow, regret and affliction which invaded him, he struck his hands
one against the other, and they hit the head of the child, broke it and killed him. Then
he came to his wives, Hada and Scilla, and said to them: "Hear my voice and listen to my
word in silence, Hada and Scilla, wives of Lamech! If Cain is punished seven times, Lamech
will be seventy-seven times, because he killed a man with a blow of a stone and a child by
striking it a blow with his hands."

17 At that time and during this generation lived Nahama, sister of Jubal and TubalCain,
descended from Cain. There was nobody in the world more expert than TubalCain at playing
the lute, the cymbal and all the string instruments and in all the kinds of entertainments
and recreations. He was the first who introduced them into the world, so that thanks to
excellence of his playing and the beauty of his voice the wild and savage beasts and the
birds gathered near him to hear his voice without attacking each other. Nahama, his
sister, was one of the most beautiful women and the prettiest. It was she which first
taught how to dye and colour fabrics and used coloured clothing. The children of Cain
delivered themselves to recreation and devoted themselves to entertainment, gaity, to
excess in delight and passion, without slackening either day or night. The children of
Seth, being in the mountains above them, heard their voices.

18 In the fifth generation of the children of Adam, -- it was the 135th year of the birth
of Mahalalail, son of Cainan, son of Enos, son of Seth, son of Adam, - Adam died, may God
have pity on him, nine hundred and thirty years old. He had lived seven hundred years
after the birth of his son Seth. Here is the calculation of this, according to the
translation of the Seventy. It is written: Adam lived two hundred and thirty years and
fathered Seth; from the day of the birth of Seth until that of Enos, there were 205 years,
which makes 435 years; from the birth of Enos until that of Cainan, son of Enos, there
were 190 years, which makes 625 years; from the day when Cainan was born, until the birth
of Mahalalail, son of Cainan, there were 170 years, which makes 795 years. After the birth
of Mahalalail Adam completed 930 years, which was the duration of his life.

19 According to the Torah, which is in the hands of the Jews, and which they have
mutilated by reducing the years of the life of the patriarks before the birth of their
children, here is the calculation of the years which are counted in the chronology of the
world. The Syriac Torah depends on the Torah (of the Jews), because it was translated from
Hebrew after Christianity and the deterioration (of the text). It is written there that
Adam lived until the ninth generation of the children of his children, i.e. until the 56th
year of the birth of Lamech, son (of Mathusaleh, son) of Enoch, because the Jews reduced
by one hundred years the years of Adam and other patriarks before the birth of their
children and added them to the years of their life after the birth of their children.
Hanan (Annas) and Caiphas, High Priests of the Jews, wanted to refute the advent of the
Messiah and said that the time of his advent had not arrived yet. The Jews wrote: Adam
lived 130 years and fathered Seth; from the day of the birth of Seth to the birth of Enos
105 years; from the day of the birth of Enos to the birth of Cainan - 90 years; from the
day of the birth of Cainan to the birth of Mahalalail - 70 years; from the day of the
birth of Mahalalail to the birth of Jared - 65 years;

20 from the day of the birth of Jared to the birth of Enoch - 162 years; from the day of
the birth of Enoch to the birth of Mathusaleh - 65 years; from the day of the birth of
Mathusaleh to the birth of Lamech - 187 years. If we count in an exact way what we have
set forth, the number of the years comes to 874 years to the day of the birth of Lamech.
56 years after the birth of Lamech, father of Noah, who was the ninth generation from
Adam, Adam was 930 years old, which is the lifespan of Adam. 21 The beginning of the
flood. This is set down, as a proof and an argument for those who have not read nor
examined the sacred books, without speaking of others, (and who claim) that the life of
Adam did not last until the days of Lamech, father of Noah. After a duration of 1656
years, according to the chronology, Noah, son of Lamech was born. Lamech, his father,
prophesied of him, that he would relieve the world of its sins.

22 It is written that the children of Seth, son of Adam, and his descendants, three
hundred men, gathered and went down from the holy mountain to the children of Cain in the
wicked plain, which had received the blood of Abel, led by the desire to hear their plays
and their recreations. The daughters of Cain united themselves with them, and they
committed adultery with them. A few days afterwards, when they wanted to go up on to the
mountain to their residences and their domiciles, the mountain became a fire in front of
them, so that they could not approach it nor go up there because of their sins. Those who
were on the mountain, supposing that the delay of their companions was a serious thing,
and seeing that they had not gone up home, did not cease going down, one after the other,
themselves, their children and their wives, until there was only Noah alone who remained
on the mountain; he was then five hundred years old, and he was not yet married. Then God
said to Noah that He would send the flood on the earth and would submerge the earth and
those upon it. And Noah arose, picked up the body of Adam, father of mankind, went down
from the mountain and married. All the descendants of Seth and Cain were devoted to
adultery, fell from all the ways of purity and descended in everything to the rank of
beasts. The first cause of this, as we have said, were TubalCain and his sister Nahama.
The sacred book says on this subject that the sons of the Angels dallied with the
daughters of men, meaning by the former the sons of Seth and his descendants.

23 And the word of God and its commandment were in them and with them during their stay in
the holy mountains. But after they had dallied with the daughters of Cain and fallen from
the ways of purity, God ordered Noah, who was five hundred years old, to make a ship; and
God fixed the limit for him and told him of the time of the flood at the end of a hundred
and twenty years. On this, Noah married, as we have already told, and fathered three sons,
Sem, Cham and Jafeth. And God, may He be blessed and magnified, showed them during these
years the rainbow, in the lower part of which there was a cord of fire and some arrows of
fire; the cord was tight; all was on fire, with a sword of fire, which permanently shone
in the air. That is explained in the Book of the Psalms, where David the prophet said:
"His sword shines and his bow is knocked; and the features of war and rage will set ablaze
everything."

24 God wanted men to repent and renounce their sins and their errors; but they did not do
penitence and did not repent; on the contrary, they fell into all kinds of impiety and all
kinds of hypocrisy. They started to kill one another; whoever was stronger than his
companion, killed him and ate him to satisfy himself because of the lack of animals and
beasts. On these events, God reduced the deadline by twenty years, advanced the date of
the flood and fixed it at the end of hundred years. Then Noah was six hundred years old
and Sem, his son, one hundred years. God acted thus from his mercy for them, to prevent
them being led astray, from sinning, from bloodshed between them and from eating each
other. Now before commencing the account of the flood, it is necessary that we return to
the narration of the period from the life of Adam and his children until the flood to
explain the chronology of the world until this year.

25 It is written in the true Torah, that the Seventy learned translators translated, that
Adam lived 230 years and fathered Seth his son in his image and his resemblance. Adam
lived after the birth of Seth 700 years and his life having been 930 years, he died in the
5th generation, 135 years after the birth of Mahalalail. As for what relates to the
mutilated Torah, that the Jews mutilated after the resurrection of the Lord Christ by
reducing the number of the years, it is written there that Adam lived before the birth of
Seth 130 years and after the birth of Seth 800 years. The Jews reduced the years of his
life, which are counted for one hundred years in the chronology of the world, and added
them to the years of his life after the birth of Seth, which do not count in the years of
the history of the world. According to the calculation, which the Jews mutilated, Adam
died fifty-six years after the birth of Lamech, father of Noah. Seth lived for 205 years,
according to the translation of the Seventy, fathered Enos and lived after the birth of
Enos for 707 years; his life was 912 years, and he died in the seventh generation, twenty
years after the birth of Enoch.

26 As for what is in the mutilated Torah, which is in the hands of the Jews, which was
reduced by them and from which the Syriac Torah was transcribed, it is written that Seth
lived 105 years, fathered Enos and lived after the birth of Enos for 807 years; they
reduced the years of his life by a hundred years, which count in the chronology of the
world, and added them to the years of his life after the birth (of Enos); and they did not
count them. In the same way they reduced the years of Adam; and they did the same thing
for the others. According to this calculation he died in the ninth generation, 108 years
after the birth of Lamech, father of Noah. Afriqoun the scholar (Africanus) says that
Seth, son of Adam, was the first to invent letters and taught writing and the Hebraic
language. Enos lived for 190 years before the birth of Cainan, and he lived after the
birth of Cainan for 715 years; his life having been 905 years, he died in the eighth
generation, fifty-three years after the birth of Mathusaleh.

27 As for what we find in the Torah of the Jews, which were reduced by them, and in the
Syriac Torah, which was copied from it, it is written there that Enos lived for 90 years
and fathered Cainan; having lived after the birth of Cainan 815 years, he died in the
tenth generation, 84 years after the birth of Noah. According to what we find in the
Torah, translated by the Seventy, Cainan lived for 170 years until the birth of Mahalalail
and 734 years after the birth of Mahalalail; his life having been 904 years, he died in
the ninth generation, 55 years after the birth of Lamech, father of Noah. Cainan lived,
according to what we find in the mutilated Torah, for 70 years and fathered Mahalalail; he
lived after the birth of Mahalalail 834 years, and he died in the 10th generation, 173
years after the birth of Noah. Mahalalail lived, according to the true Torah, before the
birth of Jared for 165 years and after the birth of Jared 730 years; his life was 895
years, and he died in the tenth generation, 34 years after the birth of Noah. Mahalalail
lived, according to the Torah in the hands of the Jews, and the Syriac Torah, for 65 years
before the birth of Jared; he lived after the birth of Jared for 830 years, and he died in
the tenth generation, 284 years after the birth of Noah. Jared lived for 162 years before
the birth of Enoch and 800 years after the birth of Enoch; his life was 962 years, and he
died in the tenth generation, 266 years after the birth of Noah.

28 Jared lived for the same number of years according to the mutilated Torah. By this
report the version of the Seventy agrees with the mutilated Torah of the Jews. As for the
agreement of the years of Jared in the true Torah and the mutilated Torah of the Jews, it
is one of the arguments which indicate the corruption and the defect (of the latter text).
There is yet another reason for that: if the Jews had reduced (the years) of all the
(patriarchs), Adam would have lived almost until the flood and until the 174th year after
the birth of Noah. But the Jewish priests did not want a scandal; however they fell into
what they sought to avoid, which is seen according to the evidence and testimonies of the
books which we will establish and check later, so that the truth of the Torah, translated
by the seventy commentators, will be manifest, if God wishes.

29 Forty years after the birth of Jared the first millenium of the history of the world
finished, according to the version of the Seventy. This is the explanation and the example
of what we have said (of the manner of calculating); that will suffice for he who wants to
count every year of the history of the world. We have already said that the years which we
count, are those which are before the birth of their children; they count in the general
chronology of the world. As for the years that they lived after the birth of their
children, it is only (to indicate) the length of the life of each one of them. When we
calculated the life of Adam from the day of his creation by God until the birth of Seth,
his years were 230 years; this is the beginning of the chronology of the history of the
world; then we added to this the number of the years of Seth from the day of his birth
until he fathered Enos, which makes 205 years; the total is 435 years; then we added to
this the number of the years of Enos from his birth until he fathered Cainan, which makes
190 years; the total is 625 years; then we added to this the number of the years of Cainan
from the day of his birth until he fathered Mahalalail, which makes 170 years; the total
is 795 years; then we added to this the number of the years of Mahalalail from the day of
his birth until he fathered Jared, which makes 165 years; the total is 960 years. If we
add 40 years to this from the birth of Jared, the first thousand of the years of the
history of the world is complete.

30 With this calculation we will obtain the millenia of years of the history of the world
in the time of their expiration, as we explained and described, until our days and our
time, year after year and month after month, God willing. Specialists and educated men
will understand from this example, how the years of the history of the world are
calculated from the beginning of creation. Enoch lived, according to the true version, for
165 years until he fathered Mathusaleh, and he lived 200 years from the birth of
Mathusaleh, so that his years are 365 years. All his life, he had requested God humbly to
be transported to Paradise, and God granted his prayer, accepted his appeal and
transported him to Paradise, 200 years after the birth of Mathusaleh and thirteen years
after the birth of Lamech. As for what is in the mutilated Torah, which is in the hands of
the Jews, and in the Syriac Torah, which is a copy of it, it is written there that Enoch
lived 65 years and fathered Mathusaleh; and he lived after the birth of Mathusaleh 300
years; and God transported him to paradise, 300 years after the birth of Mathusaleh and
113 years after the birth of Lamech, father of Noah. Enoch is the same person as Idris.

31 Certain scholars also affirm that Enoch — i.e. Idris — made known, explained and taught
the arts of writing, letters, stars (astronomy) and calculation. Manetho, a scholar of
Egypt and an astronomer, affirms that God raised Enoch to the revolving sphere and made
known to him the signs of the zodiac, which are there, the fixed and wandering stars,
horoscopes, the terms of the influence of the stars, the decades of the degrees, the
constellations which are there, and the other mysteries of astrology. This is why it is
said that his book of stars is called a book of hidden meanings. All the Harranians, who
worship the idols and the stars, share the opinion of Manetho the Egyptian. Mathusaleh
lived for 187 years and fathered Lamech, father of Noah; and he lived after the birth of
Lamech for 782 years, his life having been 969 years. This is what is written in the
Torah, which is in the hands of the Jews, and in the Syriac Torah. This also indicates, as
we have said, their corruption and retrenchment of the years, that we have reported.

32 Mathusaleh died in the tenth generation, 600 years after the birth of Noah, in the year
when the flood took place. Lamech lived for 182 years and fathered Noah; and he lived
after the birth of Noah for 590 years, his life having been 777 years. On this point, i.e.
on the years of Lamech, the mutilated Torah of the Jews agrees with what is in the Torah
translated by the Seventy, with complete agreement, without any difference. Lamech died
595 years after the birth of Noah, and the death of Lamech took place five years before
the death of Mathusaleh, his father. Noah lived for five hundred years and fathered Sem,
Cham and Jafeth in the 600 year after the birth of Noah. Sem, his son, being one hundred
years old, the flood spread over all the earth. Noah entered the ark with his three sons,
Sem, Cham and Jafeth, the three wives of his sons and his wife, on Friday the 17th day of
the second lunar month. God made it rain from the sky over all the earth for forty days.
The springs of the earth overflowed, and the earth was submerged with all that there was
on it, men, animals, beasts, and birds. Their exit took place on Sunday the 27th day of
the second month of the following year after 366 days; they remained in the ark (366
days), because the year was a leap year. Certain scholars say that they would have eaten
nothing there, neither they, nor those who were with them, the animals, beasts and the
birds, throughout their whole stay in this ark.

33 The length of the ark was three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits and its height
thirty cubits; the ark had three levels. Josephus the Jew, the scholar, who wrote about
the destruction of Jerusalem after the Ascension of the Messiah Our Lord, affirms that the
planks of the ark were in the town of Afamea. Abidenos and Alexander (Polyhistor), Greek
philosophers, affirm that Kronos was the first man; he showed and revealed to Ksis that on
the 15 of the month of Haziran a great inundation and flood would take place. When Ksis
understood what he was being told, he left, moving by water towards the region of Armenia
in a wooden boat. They claim that some planks of this boat are on the mountain of Ararat,
and that they cure the inhabitants of this country until this day. As for the place where
the ark stopped, this account agrees with that of the Torah. 344 years after the birth of
Noah the second thousand of years of the history of the world was completed.

34 We have already said that the total of years to the birth of Jared was 900 years; if we
add to this the years from the day of the birth of Jared until the birth of Enoch, that
makes 162 years; - if we add to this also the years of Enoch, from the day of his birth
until he fathered Mathusaleh, that makes 165 years; --- if we add to this then the years
of Mathusaleh, from the day of his birth until he fathered Lamech, that makes 187 years;
--- if we add to this then the years of Lamech, from the day of his birth until he
fathered Noah, that makes 182 years, --- years until the day when Noah was born, making
1,656 years. 344 years after the birth of Noah the second millenium completed, as we have
already reported. The total number of years of the history of the world from Adam and the
beginning of creation until the year of the flood is 2,256 years, according to the
Septuagint. As for what is in the Torah mutilated and reduced by the Jews and in the
Syriac Torah, the total of years there is 1,656 years.

35 As for those which would like to make the sum and count of these figures, according to
what we explained and exposed, we have given him the method to make the account and
calculation of it. There were ten generations from Adam to Noah: They are those of Adam,
Seth, Enos, Cainan, Mahalalail, Jared, Enoch, Mathusaleh, Lamech and Noah. When Noah had
left the ark, he made sacrifices to God, and the Lord smelled the good odour of the
sacrifices of Noah and purified him. The rainbow. God gave him the rainbow as a guarantee
against the flood and as His sign to him and his descendants in the centuries of the
centuries. God filled the children of Adam with his leniency and his mercy. He gave them
the ark, the cord and the arrows; and God made them from various colours, red, green and
others, which indicate the satisfaction of God, because the translation of "chumreh" (red)
and "khaudreh" (green) according to the Hebrew is the satisfaction and the mercy of God.
God did this as His sign to him and to his children and as a guarantee against the flood
in the centuries of the centuries.

36 The division of the earth. After the flood, the earth was divided between the tribes of
the children of Noah. The borders of Shem, the first-born of Noah, extended from Persia
and Bactria to India, i.e. the country of India. The borders of Cham extended from the
Rinokûrûra country in Gades; the borders of Jafeth extended from Media which is the
country of Mosul and the neighbouring region, to the country of Gades, on the north side.
Their border, which separated their lands, was the river of the Tigris which separates
Media from Persia. There were fifteen tribes of the children of Jafeth, twenty-five tribes
of the children of Shem and thirty-two tribes of the children of Cham, which gives a total
of 72 tribes. The limits which separated the land of the sons of Cham, were the Djaihoun
river, which is the river Nile. We will explain all this, with the distribution of the
seven climates following the division of languages and we will describe their inhabitants,
their uses, their religious opinions, their concerns, their science and the culture of
their spirit; we will speak about their animals, their birds, the lifespan of their
population, their manners and the wonders which can be found in their land, after the
confusion and the division of the languages in Babel; we will mention the seas of each
climate, their gulfs, their length and of their width in parasangs, of the point where
they start and to where they extend, which islands, inhabited and uninhabited, are there;
we will describe the famous cities of each climate, if God wills.

37 Noah lived after the flood for 350 years, and his life having been 950 years, he died
in the fourteenth generation, 74 years after the birth of Scaleh. According the Torah of
the Jews and the Syriac Torah, which the Jews mutilated after the Ascension of the
Messiah, Noah died in the 21st generation, 53 years after the birth of Abraham, the friend
of the Merciful one. This is a proof of the alteration of the Torah by the Jews and the
reduction of the number of the years, as we have already reported. But Noah did not arrive
at the time of the birth of Abraham and did not live until the time of the division of the
languages. Two years after the flood, Shem fathered Arphaxad and lived for 500 years after
the birth of Arphaxad; his life was 660 years. On this point the version of the Seventy is
in agreement with what is in the Torah of the Jews. Shem died 74 years after the birth of
Haber. According to what is in the mutilated and reduced Torah Jews, Shem died 70 years
after the birth of Jacob. Arphaxad, sons of Shem, lived from the day of his birth until he
fathered Kainan, 135 years, and after that 430 years; his life was 565 years, and he died
27 years after the birth of Phaleg. According to the Torah of the Jews, Arphaxad lived,
until he fathered Kainan, for 35 years, and having lived after that 530 years, he died one
year after the birth of Kahath, son of Levi, son of Jacob.

38 According to this calculation, he lived, until he fathered Kainan, 35 years, and having
lived after that 530 years, he died one year after the birth of Kahath, son of Levi, son
of Jacob. According to this calculation he lived until the entry of Jacob in Egypt, which
proves the deterioration (of the text). Kainan lived 130 years, until he fathered Scaleh,
and 330 years after the birth of Scaleh; his life was 460 years, and he died 66 years
after the birth of Phaleg. This is a second Kainan, the son of Arphaxad, son of Shem, son
of Noah; neither his name, nor a mention of him, nor his years are found in the Torah
which is in the hands of the Jews; he is not either question of Kainan in the Syriac
Torah; his name and years are cut out in the Torah of the Jews. In the Syriac Torah it is
written that several Jewish doctors and some honest people stood up to Annas and Caiphas,
high priests at that time, blamed them and reproached them for what they had done to the
Messiah, and made them fear for themselves because of their arrogance towards him, though
they had recognized his grace and his benefits for them.

39 The frightened high priests hid from them; and the treasures of the revealed books of
God being in their hands, they omitted these years of which we already spoke and which we
will explain later, if great God wills. When they had found the name of this second Kainan
among the descent of Noah, whose name was identical with that of Kainan, son of Enos, son
of Seth, son of Adam, they cut out his name from the Torah; and they cut out his years,
with other years still, to make their followers believe that they were in the middle of
the duration of the world, in order to refute the word of the blessed Paul who said that
the last days have arrived; as well as the word of the disciples of the Messiah, who were
after them, that the Messiah will appear at the end of time. They talked among themselves
against them on this subject and said aloud that the time of the Messiah had not arrived
and that it would arrive only at the end of time.

40 When the argument and the controversy had started between them, the disciples (of
Christ) discovered the clear and obvious truth, noted it and forced them to acknowledge
that they had cut out the name of this Kainan. After that they gave a reason to those who
believed in the Messiah, and said to them that they had cut out his name because he had
invented, had proclaimed and introduced the worship of idols. Then it was said to them:
"Alright, you have cut out his name. But his years, where did you put them?" And they
remained stuck and without arguments. We have found the name of this second Kainan written
in the Torah which is in the hands of the Samaritans, and also in the Gospel of Luke the
Evangelist, when he gives the genealogy of the Messiah. Scaleh lived 130 years and
fathered Haber, and he lived after the birth of Haber 330 years. It is said that Haber is
the same person as Hud. His life having been 460 years, he died in the seventeenth
generation, 66 years after the birth of Ar`û (Rahu). As for what is in the mutilated Torah
of the Jews and that which is extracted from it, it is written there that Scaleh lived 30
years and fathered Haber; having lived after the birth of Haber 430 years, he died in the
23rd generation, 65 years after the birth of Jacob. Haber lived 134 years until he
fathered Phaleg; he lived after the birth of Phaleg 270 years; his life having been 464
years, he died in the 18th generation, 8 years after the birth of Sarûg.

41 According to the Torah of the Jews and the Syriac, Haber lived 430 years until he
fathered Phaleg; he lived after the birth of Phaleg 370 years and he died in the 23rd
generation, 39 years after the birth of Jacob. From the name 'Haber' the Jews were called
Hebrews, because the first language was Hebrew. Others say that they were called Hebrews,
because Abraham had crossed the Euphrates. Phaleg lived 130 years, fathered Ar`û and lived
after that 280 years; his life having been 338 years, he died in the 18th generation, 76
years after the birth of Sarûg. According to the Torah of the Jews, Phaleg lived 30 years
until he fathered Ar`û; having lived after that 368 years, he died in the 22nd generation,
37 years after the birth of Isaac. He died 62 years before the death of Haber, his son. At
the time of Phaleg, son of Haber, and from his time, the languages, the people and the
tribes divided among the seven climates of the earth, as we reported above. Each of their
tribes and groups took a country and a climate, of which it was master.

42 Account of the division of languages on the surface of the earth in all the climates.
It is written that the earth had only one race and one language for everyone; this was
Hebrew. Because of this, men gathered to build a high building and a castle, i.e. a tower,
whose the top, as they believed, would reach to the sky, to take refuge there so that the
flood would not arrive and drown them or that they would not be dispersed over the surface
of the earth. The division of languages. When men revolted against their Lord and turned
with eagerness to build the tower, -- there were seventy-two chiefs on seventy-two towers
in this building, on each tower a chief to make his companions work -- God, may his name
be blessed, during their disobedience, their wrongdoing and their revolt against their
Lord, showed to them seventy-two tongues of fire in the air, revolving and of various
colors to warn them, so that they would be converted (to God). But they did not convert
and did not cease revolting.

43 Then God was angry against them, because they had not obeyed the signs of his
dissatisfaction and his anger. The sacred Book said that the Lord then divided their
language into seventy-two languages, so that one did not understand the language and the
words of another, according to the number of their tribes, coming from the children of
Shem, Cham and Jafeth, about which we spoke, and according to the number of their chiefs
who supervised the construction of the tower. According to this account, this country was
called Babel, because the Lord there had confused and divided their languages. As for
Haber, he remained firm in obedience to his Lord, did not share in their wrongdoing, did
not have any leaning to their passions and their perverse thoughts, thanks to his
holiness, because he knew that God could do with them what he wished. A certain scholar
has said that God revealed to him, because of the more perfect knowledge that he had of
God because of his holiness and his purity, what He would do to men, and for language, He
taught the Hebraic language to him. Men dispersed over all the earth, and their attacks,
one against another were renewed.

44 The beginning of the description of the climates. We said at the beginning what we have
reported earlier and wrote on the limits of the countries of the tribes of the children of
Shem, Chain and Jafeth, son of Noah; we set forth how the earth had been divided in
general between them, without indicating the limits of the climates, without describing
who was where, without explanation and comment. We will now begin by telling and setting
forth the division of the seven climates, cultivated and inhabited, and the delimitation
of their length and their width; we will describe the state of the tribes and the peoples
which inhabit them; we will report their habits, their administration, their conditions,
their distinctive characters, the principal events which have occurred on there since
ancient times and since their dispersion; we will speak about the animals and all the wild
beasts which are there, climate by climate, according to what Ptolemy the scholar said and
after him Eratosthenes (?) the scholar.

45 We say that the earth is divided into five parts, of which four are not cultivated, nor
habitable. The first part is that of the east, always hot, blazing and extreme; the second
part is that of the south, located on the right side of the first climate, excessively
hot, so that it is impossible to live there; the third part is that of the west, full of
water; its limits are insuperable seas and uninhabited islands; the fourth part is that of
North, on the right side of the seventh climate, excessively cold, poor and arid, always
covered with snow. There is only one part of these five climates which is cultivated in
the inhabitable world, it is the middle part. It is divided into seven parts and these
seven parts are called in Greek Flimata, i.e. the climates, and in Persan Kouschour. It is
necessary firstly to know that the earth is round like a ball; its cultivated and
inhabited centre represents an elevation; its sides touch the four parts which are located
below; because of its elevation the centre is closer to the course of the sun in the
Eastern part of the earth, i.e. the area of the "scorched" earth. As a man moves and
advances mentally and intellectually from the northern area towards the extreme limits of
the earth and examines it attentively, he finds that the increase in the length of the day
is related directly to the rise of the sun over the northern part of the twelve signs of
the zodiac in the sign of Cancer, and the increase of the length of the night to the
descent of the sun into the Zodiac in the south; he will perceive this by his intelligence
and will understand it.

46 (This part that we are describing) is extremely cold. The explanation of what we
reported the length of the duration of the night and the day in these places, is found in
the astrolabe, i.e. in the "dial" that Ptolemy made, in "the beydeh" (egg), in the “zat
al-Halk” and also in the Book of the Canon, where he tells and describes the length and
the width of the earth, the seas, the islands, the cities and the knowledge of the hours
of the seven climates. Ptolemy reports in his books what follows and he said: "The first
climate starts close to the scorched earth, and this climate is called diameros; it is the
area of India and the part furthest away from China; the longest day is thirteen hours
there. The second climate is called in Greek diastatos which is the country of Kush; it is
the country of Abyssinia; the longest day is thirteen hours and half there.

47 The third climate is called the climate of Alexandria; the longest day is fourteen
hours there. The fourth climate is called in Greek Rodous (Rhodes), the island which is in
the sea; it includes the towns of Syria and Mesopotamia, which is located between two
rivers; it includes Babel and other cities; the longest day is fourteen hours and half
there. The fifth climate is called in Greek Hellespontus (Pontus), where Constantinople,
Amouryah (Amorion) and Rome are; the longest day is fifteen hours there. The sixth climate
is called in Greek Mesopotamia, where the countries of the Bourdjans and others are; the
longest day is fifteen hours and half there. The seventh climate is called in Greek
Baristhanis (Boristhenes), whose inhabitants are always somnolent; the longest day is
sixteen hours. Now we will start to describe the longitude and the latitude of each of
these climates. We say that the latitude of these seven climates, cultivated and
inhabited, which are in the centre of the earth, starting with India and the part furthest
away from China and the area of the scorched earth and going until the end of the seventh
climate, i.e. of the area from the south to north; the whole latitude is of sixty-three
degrees.

48 This latitude is divided into seven parts which are the climates; the latitude of each
climate is nine degrees, as divided by the scholar Hermes and by Ptolemy. The extent of
these nine degrees is twenty-seven days, because the extent of each degree is one hundred
miles. There is obviously no doubt that the extent of each degree is a distance of three
days. This climate begins in the region of the East and extends to the end of the region
of the West; its longitude is 180 degrees, a half of the sphere being above it and other
half below. Its overall length, from the area of the Sea-Ocean to the sea which surrounds
the world, up to its Western point, is 160 days, a total of 5,600 parasangs, according to
the calculation of the Persians and the peoples of the East. We already said that the
latitude of this first climate, from the area close to the scorched earth, extends to the
land of Serendib (Taprobane, Ceylon).

49 The inhabitants of this climate, i.e. from the part of China furthest away from the
edge of the land of the East to the edge of the region of the West, have one
characteristic: they are naked like animals, of hideous and ugly exterior aspect and form.
The majority of them derive from the tribes of the children of Cham. They had many
mysteries and knew magic and other things well; their life is long. In this climate are
found beasts and large animals with dreadful bodies, of hideous aspect, of extremely ugly
form, large birds of which some have the shapes of animals, for example, the ostrich, the
giraffe, the griffon and a bird which is called the sparrow of the elephant, which throws
itself on the great elephant and carries it off; there are found large elephants and other
animals which are not seen and about which are not spoken of elsewhere. Also there are
found there every species of large snake, large dragons, ordinary snakes and hideous and
dreaded reptiles.

50 In this climate the men are experts in magic and know aromatic plants and stones, whose
quality and nature make of them effective remedies for the cure of the diseases; they
treat with these all those who suffer from the bite of these hideous and dreaded reptiles,
and cure them. Its length, as we have already recounted, is, from the region of the East
to the region of the West, 5,600 parasangs, and its width, from the region of the South to
the region of the North, is 285 parasangs. The second climate is that of Abyssinia. Its
width extends from the limits of the land of Serendib to the Western region of the country
of Abyssinia and to the mountains of emerald, precious stones and the gold mines; its
inhabitants are those of the nearer part of China, Sind and India. In this climate are
also found animals, birds and reptiles which are robust, dreaded and large, but less so
than in the first climate; the aspect of its inhabitants, their form and their exterior,
is not quite so hideous as among the inhabitants of the first climate. Many aromatic
plants and stones are also found there which, thanks to their quality and their nature,
produce a cure, if diseases are treated with them. Among its inhabitants, there are many
who know magic, the mysteries and the treatment of the diseases with these plants and
stones very well; but they are less expert than the inhabitants of the first climate. It
is the same thing concerning their life (= their life is shorter). As for its length and
its width, they are the same as the ones we gave for the first climate.

51 The third climate is that of Alexandria. This climate extends from the ends of the
country of Egypt, of the region of the West and the East, from the borders of the land of
Sindous of bysse; and its width goes from the region of the West to the borders of Syria
(Souriya) external and the first part of Persia, close to the country of Ispahan, of Ray
and the country of Maisan and to the border of Alexandria and Barkah and the first part of
Africa. The inhabitants of this climate, I swear by my life, are interested in nature and
in examining physical things; they are assiduous at work; they study literature, the
sacred books and the sciences with more zeal than the inhabitants of the first climate or
those of the second, because this climate is by nature better than the two precedents. As
for its length and its width, they are same dimensions that we gave in connection with the
length and the width of the first climate.

52 The fourth climate in the centre of which is a maritime island which is called Rhodes,
includes many cities which it is impossible to count. But we will list some of them so as
to clarify and explain the charts and the plans where the system of the division of the
seven climates is traced. Of its cities we will name Damascus, Hims, Qinnesrin Haleb,
Menbidj, Afainée, Antioch (Anthakyah), Harran, Edessa (ar-Roha), Rakkah, Râs`Ain, Nisibis,
Mosul, Baghdad and Ray. Its limits extend from its eastern end on a line which goes to the
region of the west; and from the country of Spain they touch part of the country of
Africa, the north coast in Sicily, the country of Laodicea and Tripoli the country of
Athens and Ephesus, in the Greek country with Cyprus and Asia Minor. This climate is in
the centre of the earth, and, for this reason, it is superior to all the climates by the
moderation and the evenness of the temperature. This is why its inhabitants are scholars,
philosophers, scholars, astronomers, writers, doctors, and carry out research on the
physical and natural questions and on the essence of things.

53 The books indicate that among them all the wonders and the ten sciences are joined
together, i.e. astronomy, or the movement of stars, and astrology, i.e. the proverbs which
relate to them, and their knowledge; geometry, i.e. the measurement of surfaces, the
construction of figures, the operations of levelling and unspecified distances;
arithmetic, or books of numbers; music, i.e. the collection and composition of melodies;
medicine, which is the art of treatment; al-Soumie (= ta semeia), this is the science of
alchemy; mechanics, these are books on machines, and al-Arkhifie (?) from which come the
books of magic and the other similar things; the tenth science is that of the categories;
these are the treatises on the way of speaking, which is the art of learning the truth and
distinguishing it from error. The inhabitants of this climate are superior to those in the
third climate and have more scholars and philosophers, because they are characterized by
fineness of spirit and knowledge because of the balance of their character. As for its
length and its width, they are what we already indicated.

54 The fifth climate corresponds to the Hellespont where are Constantinople, Amorion,
Rome, Spain and the province of Thrace. The inhabitants are a fair, reddish people,
passionate, extremely lustful, fiery and irritable. Such was Esau, their father. They are
less erudite and less philosophical that the inhabitants of the fourth climate; they are
wild and are not civilized, but they hasten to adopt civilization and adapt to it quickly;
however the inhabitants of the fourth climate have a finer spirit and a clearer
intelligence than those of this climate. As for its length and its width, it is as we have
already given. 55 The sixth climate corresponds to Mesopotamia, one of the islands of the
sea. The inhabitants of this climate are Bourdjans and Slaves; and other tribes of women
live also in a region of this climate, and the men do not live with them. They are called
in Greek Amazons; they always cut off the right breast and cauterize it with fire to
prevent it from developing in order to be ready for war and combat. They are also called
al-Kharouniat (?) because the Samiris fought them and killed all their male children. They
are obliged because of this not to raise the males, but only the women. They go out and go
once a year to the border of their country, to the country of Bourdjans, where the men of
Bourdjans sleep with them, and they conceive; then they return to their residences. They
are always ready for war and combat. No scientist puts this fact in doubt or denies the
truth of their history such as we report, and nobody disputes it. The inhabitants of this
climate like war and the effusion of blood and are pitiless; this is why they are called
Slaves. They are circumcised. This is a people with no knowledge of moral books, nor
sciences, nor other things. As for its length and its width, it is as we already reported.

56 The seventh known climate corresponds to Borysthenes; it is inhabited by the people who
are called in Greek Youmid.s (? ) i.e. "somnolent"; they are a weak and feeble people
because of the excessive rigour of the cold, because they are close to the region of the
north and the uncultivated and uninhabited places, where the constellation of the Bear
turns always just above their heads. The animals and the beasts of their country are very
small; the cows and the sheep do not have horns because of the excessive rigour of the
cold; no reptiles are found in their country; they cannot build houses; but they
manufacture huts of wooden boards, coat them with tar, put them on carriages pulled by
oxen; they live there, and travel day and night everywhere where they find in their
country the means of living and the pastures for their herds. They are constantly reduced
to misery because of the bad conditions of their deplorable life. It is said that, if they
fall seriously ill, they put their patients on a carriage, remove their men's clothes and
put those of woman on them; they are thus cured. As for the length and the width of this
climate, it is as what we have reported for each of the seven climates. The indications
which we have given on the seven climates, rest on obvious evidence for he who finds them,
using our description, on the plan or the chart on which we have traced where these seven
climates are represented.

57 Now look and examine well this chart and this map where the seven climates are traced,
and see how many ideas this plan shows you, how it shows and explains the course of the
sun in the four regions of the world from the beginning of its course and its rotation
from east to west, - how it makes known you its rotation through the twelve signs of the
zodiac, in every month of the year, - how the sun rises in the northern signs of the
zodiac and sets in the southern signs of the zodiac; (this map) will explain to you the
passage of the sun during the night in the regions lower down and located at the bottom;
and from how many climates the sun is distant, when it is in the sign of Cancer, in the
month of Haziran (June), and leaves behind him a climate and half in the region of the
south, and when the sun enters the sign of the Capricorn, in the month of first Kanoun.
Moreover, on the map there are explanations and information on this fact that the sun,
entering there, leaves (without light) all the seven climates far from him.

58 Here is the description of the climates of the tribes of the children of Noah after the
division of languages over the surface of the earth and over the whole length of these
climates, from the west to the east, or over the width of the region, from south to north.
As for what remains beyond the sixty-three degrees of latitude, which is called the top of
the seven climates, day does not cease there, and lasts in the region of the north beyond
the inhabited earth for twenty one hours and twenty two minutes and arrives at twenty-four
hours, so that daylight does not cease Then one arrives at the country of darkness: the
night lasts six months, the day there also six months.

Chapter of the seas, gulfs and islands.

59 The sea of India has been measured and it is said that it extends in its length from
west to east, i.e. from the coast of India until the coast of Abyssinia; its length is
8,000 miles and its width is 2,700 miles, until it passes beyond the island where night is
equal to day; its second part is 1,900 miles; this sea contains a gulf in the country of
Abyssinia, which extends from the region of Berber and is called the gulf of the Berbers;
its length is 500 miles and the length of the coast is 100 miles. The other gulf is that
on the coast of Aylah; its length is 1,400 miles and its width at the beginning is 700
miles, and its end, i.e. the part which is called the Red Sea, is 200 miles. This sea
contains also on the coast of Persia a gulf which is called the Persian Gulf; its length
is 1,400 miles, its width at the beginning is 500 miles and its end is 150 miles. Between
these two gulfs is the country of Hedjaz and Yemen; the distance between the gulf of Aylah
and the Persian Gulf is 1,500 miles. This sea contains still another gulf, extending to
the end of the country of India, which is called the Green gulf; its length is of 1,500
miles.

60 Among the 1,370 islands, inhabited and uninhabited, at the end of the sea, near the
country of India, on the east coast, there is a large island which is called Taprobane,
3,000 miles of circumference; there are there high mountains and several rivers from where
the red and blue hyacinth are found; around this island there are 90 inhabited islands
where many cities are found. As for the Green Sea, only its proximity to the region of the
west and the north, at the edges of the country of Abyssinia as far as Britain, is known;
ships do not go there. Six islands are found there, located near the country of Abyssinia,
which are called the Eternal Islands (Khalidâth, the Canaries). There is another island,
which is called Ghadyra (Cadiz); this island is located near Spain, close to the strait
which comes out of the other sea. Its width is four miles; it is located between Spain and
Tangier; it is called the strait of Ceuta and emerges in the sea of Roum. On the north
side of this sea are twelve islands, which are called the Islands of Britain. Then this
sea extends away from the inhabited regions and nobody knows anything about it.

61 The sea of Roum and of Misr (the Mediterranean) extends from the strait which leaves
the Green Sea, towards the East, to Tyre and Sidon; its length is 5,000 miles and its
width is about 800 miles. It forms a gulf moving north near Rome, of which the length is
500 miles and which is called the Adriatic Sea; it forms another gulf which starts near
the country of the Berbers, of which the length is 200 miles. In this sea there are 162
inhabited islands, including fifteen large islands: Anhàr (Corsica?) 200 miles in
circumference, Sardinia 300 miles in circumference, Sicily 500 miles in circumference,
Crete 300 miles in circumference and Cyprus 350 miles in circumference. The sea of Pontus
extends from Lazikah to beyond Constantinople; its length is 1,300 miles and its width 300
miles. It receives the river called Tanais; it runs from the north and comes out of the
lake called Mayotis; it is a large sea, but it is called a lake; its length from east to
west is 300 miles and its width is 100 miles. At Constantinople, this sea forms a strait
which runs like a river and throws itself into the sea of Misr; its width at
Constantinople is three miles; Constantinople is built on its sides.

62 The division of the earth. The sea of Djordjan or the sea al-Bab (Caspian Sea). The
length of this sea, from east to west, is 800 miles and its width is 600 miles; it
contains two islands, located near Djordjan, which were once inhabited. Such is the
topography of the inhabited earth and the situation of the seas of the sphere which are
known. The earth is also divided, in another way, into three parts. The first part is that
which lies between the Green sea on the north coast and the strait which leaves the sea of
Pontus in the great Sea, and that which lies between the Lake Mayotis and the sea of
Pontus. The limits of this region are, on the west and north, the Green sea; on the south,
the Sea of Roum (the Mediterranean) and of Misr (Egypt); on the east, the strait, the
Tanaïs river and Lake Mayotis. This land resembles an island and is named Europe.

63 The second part extends from the south coast of the sea to the sea of Abyssinia. Its
limits are, on the west side, the Green sea; on the north side, the sea of Roum and Misr;
on the east side, al-`Arysch, and on the south side, the border of Abyssinia. This part is
named Libya. The third part is what remains of the inhabited country of the earth as far
as the ends of the East. Its limits are, on the west side, the Tanais river, al-`Arysch
and Aylah; on the south side, the sea of India and Yemen; on the east side, it extends
until the end of the inhabited country of China. This part is named Great Asia. These
three parts include the seven climates, all inhabited countries and all the cities. As for
the earth, its length, according to the description that we have just given, extends from
the east to the west and its width from south to north, starting from the middle of the
circumference of the earth, where night and day, summer and winter are equal [in length],
to the region of the north. In this place the days and the nights are twelve hours,
without increase, or decrease.

64 Note on the rising and setting of the sun, on the increase and decrease in the day and
night and on the course of the stars. 65 Night and the day are equal [in length] when the
sun enters the head of the Ram [=Aries] and Libra; then, starting from the entry of the
sun into the sign of the Ram to the entry of the sun into the sign of Cancer, the day does
not cease increasing and the night decreasing, because the sun goes up towards the region
of the north twenty-three degrees and fifty- one minutes; then the sun, from the moment of
its entry into the head of Cancer until the first minute of Libra, goes down from the
region of the north twenty-three degrees and fifty-one minutes. Then the day starts to
increase and the night to decrease until the entry of the sun into Libra, until the night
and the day become equal. Then the sun goes down into the region of the south, from the
head of Libra until that of the Capricorn; these are the degrees about which we spoke, ---
twenty-three degrees and fifty-one minutes. Then it is the day which starts to decrease
and the night to increase until the sun arrives in the first minute of Capricorn. Then the
sun is driven while going up and climbs from the south towards the equator, from the head
of Capricorn to the head of the Ram. At this time the day starts to increase and the night
to decrease;

66 the sun, as we said, is inclined in its rise and descent by twenty-three degrees and
fifty-one minutes, because the sun crosses the centre of the Zodiac, on the right and on
the left. As for the variation of the sun that we see, it occurs in front of the curvature
of the Zodiac. The sun, the moon, the stars and the five planets move from west to east in
a contrary direction to the rotation of the sphere, because the sphere turns from east to
west. The sun moves as much below the earth, as above it; there is always above the earth
the figure of the Zodiac and below it also the figure of the Zodiac; when one appears, the
other disappears. 67 As for the remainder of the earth, it is unknown whether it is
inhabited or deserted; it includes the eleven twelfths of the sphere; there is only one
part out of twelve which is inhabited. In this part, which is the inhabited country, there
are seas and deserts. The researcher who wants to give an account of these things, will
perhaps ask us whether there is in these eleven parts, vegetation, animals, or seas, as in
our own single part; we will answer: the land which was inhabited before us, does not
exceed the limits about which we spoke; as for what is beyond that, nobody has entered
there and nobody came from there to us. The opinions and the ideas of the scholars are in
agreement, and no intelligent person denies that the sun, the moon and the stars move over
us, and that this movement produces the summer, the winter, spring and the autumn, which
everyone knows. If the sun rises above all the places of the surface of the earth, as with
us, just as the moon and stars, it is necessary that there are plants, animals, seas and
mountains, as with us.

68 Here are some reasons why, as follows: if, in the seven climates, the sun, the moon and
the stars move, as we said, it is also necessary that the earth as we described, is
inhabited starting from the equator, i.e. the northern half of the terrestrial sphere and
(the other) half of the terrestrial sphere, i.e. starting from the equator on the south
side; there must be also a climate, like these seven climates which are in the north. In
addition to the division that we have just given, the ancients divided the earth, its
countries and its cities into twelve parts and allotted each part to one of the twelve
signs of the zodiac, so that these countries and cities knew their relation to the signs
of the zodiac and planets to which the ancients had allotted them; they thought thus to
know of either abundance or famine in their countries by calculating the movement of the
years, and from the signs of the zodiac which dominate the year, and from the stars.
According to this idea one may form an opinion on the area and the country where (such a
sign) dominates, according to the knowledge of the scholars, so far as that depends on
external and interior qualities of the celestial sphere and that which it contains.

69 Chapter of the countries and the cities of the earth, named according to the signs of
the zodiac. The countries of the Ram [=Aries] are: Fars, Azerbaijan, Britain, Sicily,
Germany, Palestine and part of el-Balka. The sign of the Bull [=Taurus]: all towns of Mah,
Ispahan, the small islands of the sea of Roum, Cyprus, Minor Asia. The sign of Gemini: the
countries of Djilan, Deilem, Djordjan, Thabaristan, Greater Armenia, Merv, Tripoli
(Athrablous), Marakiah and Misr. The sign of Cancer: the land of the Berbers (Barbary),
Africa, Bithynia, which are in the country of the Greeks, Phrygia, Ladikiyah (?) and
Lydia. The sign of the Lion: the countries of the Turks, Abraschahr, Antioch (Anthakiah),
Halikiyah (?), Aetolia (?) Emesa (Homs), Damascus (Dimeschk) and the country around
Koufah. The sign of Virgo: Corinth, the country of Babel, of Mosul and al-Djezîreh, the
country of the Greeks and Carthage. 70 The sign of Libra: Bukhara, Thabaristan, Kashmir,
Tibet, Schoul, Awsis (?), the part of the country of Abyssinia which is called
Troglodytica, Sedjestan, Carmania. The sign of Scorpio: the country of Hedjaz, Amoul,
Tangier, Hatouliyah, blue Nubia, Souriah (Syria), Cappadocia. The sign of Sagittarius: the
country of Ph.lathiki, Andalusia (Spain) and country of the Slavs. The sign of Capricorn:
the country of India, al-Sous, Mokrân, Hûah (?), Thrace, Macedonia and Illyria (?). The
sign of Aquarius: Sarmatia, the river of Balch, Sogdiania, Ferghânah, as-Schasch, al-
Balkah and Azania in the centre of Abyssinia. The sign of Pisces: Babylonia, Paphlagonia,
Smûnithis (?), Khorramah, Nikûdhûliah (Nicomedia?) We have already explained the state of
the seven climates of the earth and their inhabited country; we have set forth the
conditions wherein are their inhabitants and their distribution on the sphere; finally we
described the earth which is neither cultivated, nor inhabited, as far as the information
found in books of earlier scholars allowed.

71 Now we will return to the account of the history of the world. An account which makes
known the true cause of how the worship of the idols entered the world after the division
of languages over the surface of the earth. 72 It is written that when the languages of
the tribes of the children of Shem, Cham and Jafeth, son of Noah, were divided in all the
climates, on the surface of the earth; when they had occupied their areas and when each
language, each people and tribe had moved away into an unspecified region of a climate of
the earth, as we described, the people began to make war on each other, one against
another. Each tribe and each people chose a head of an army, who led their troops and led
them into battle, going at their head. It is told that once, when some of the chiefs of
the warriors and commanders of the troops returned victorious and triumphing to their
companions, their people and their tribe, the people took them as their masters because of
their victory and for their chiefs, renowned and famous for their exploits, their wars and
their success, they set up idols bearing their names and resembling them, so that these
idols recalled the memory of those who had made conquests to their profit and had returned
victorious to them. A long time after this, people started to show veneration towards them
and to offer sacrifices to them, initially as a testimony of veneration for them and to
remember the victories which they had gained; then when misfortunes occurred, when their
enemies, wanting revenge, inflicted on them all kinds of evils and wounds, they came to
these idols, beseeching their help. For this reason, in the times that followed, the
worship and the veneration of the idols were introduced by the living themselves of the
heroes; devils, according to what is written, spoke to the men from the interior of these
idols.

73 The total of the years from the time of the flood until the birth of Ar`û, son of
Phaleg, which took place at the time of the division of the languages, is 670 years; from
Adam and the beginning of the world until that year, there were 2926 years. Here is the
explanation of this calculation: Shem fathered Arphaxad two years after the flood; the
years of Arphaxad from the day of his birth until that of Kainan, his son, were 135 years;
from the day of the birth of Kainan until that of Scaleh, his son, they were139 years;
from the day of the birth of Scaleh until that of Haber, his son, they was 130 years; from
the day of the birth of Haber until Haber fathered Phaleg, his son, 134 years; from the
day of the birth of Phaleg until he fathered Ar`û, 132 years. That gives 670 years. If the
years from Adam to the year of the flood, i.e. 2,256 years, are added to it, the total is
2,926 years.

74 This calculation is made using the Septuagint, which translated the Torah and all the
books of the prophets in accordance with the truth. As for what we find in the Torah which
is in the hands of the Jews, because of the reduction and the mutilation that they made it
undergo, and in the Syriac Torah which is copied from it, it is written there that Shem
fathered Arphaxad two years after the flood, and from the day of the birth of Arphaxad
until he fathered Scaleh, there were 35 years; they omitted Kainan, his son, and, having
removed from the Torah his name and his years, they wrote Scaleh, his grandson; from the
day of the birth of Scaleh until he fathered Haber, there were 30 years; from the day of
the birth of Haber until he fathered Phaleg, 34 years; from the birth of Phaleg until he
fathered Ar`û, 30 years. That made 131 years. According to the reduced and mutilated
Torah, from Adam to the flood there were 2,656 years and from the flood to the birth of
Ar`û, son of Phaleg, at the time which the languages divided, there were 131 years.

75 According to the reduced Torah, from Adam and the origins of the world until this year,
there were 2,787 years, so that the Jews reduced the count until that year by 1,139 years.
In consequence of the confusion and the division of languages, Phaleg was called (the
divider), because the translation of his name in Hebrew and Syriac was "moukassim". Ar`û
lived from the day of his birth until he fathered Sarûg for 132 years and after the birth
of Sarûg 267 years; he lived for 339 years, and he died 77 years after the birth of
Nachor. As for the reduced Torah, it is written there that Ar`û lived for 32 years and
fathered Sarûg; he lived after the birth of Sarûg 367 years, and he died 38 years after
the birth of Jacob; his death happened before that of Haber, his grandfather. 74 years
after the birth of Ar`û the third millenium of the chronology of the world was completed,
according to the version of the Seventy, because we already explained and indicated above
that the years from Adam and the origin of the world until the year of the birth of Ar' û,
son of Phaleg, were 2,926 years; if we add 74 years to this from the birth of Ar' û, the
third thousand years will be complete.

76 History of Nimrod, son of Chanaan, son of Cham, son of Noah, son of Lamec, the Giant-
King. It is written that in the 84 year after the birth of Ar`û, ten years after the third
millennium, there appeared the first king who ruled over all the earth, in Babel, Nimrod,
son of Chanaan, son of Cham, the king-giant, who reigned for sixty-nine years; his crown
was woven and was not of gold. Nimrod built three cities, Arakh, Adja and Kila, i.e.
Edessa (ar-Roha), Nisibis and Seleucia. In the hundredth year of Ar' û the Egyptians,
after the Babylonians, gave themselves a king, whose name was Manouphis, who reigned over
them for 68 years; he was called Mesraïm according to the name of Mesraïm, their father.
It is certain that it is from the name Mesraïm that (Egypt) was called Misr. History of
the children of Kahthan, which is called in the Torah Abrithan who made known weapons and
engines of war.

77 It is written that at that time the sons of Yokthan appeared, who is the same as
Kahthan; they were three chiefs who were giants; one was called Sheba, another Ophir, the
third Heval. The sons of Kahthan started to make war against the peoples and tribes with
every kind of weapons and implements, because they were the first who used engines of war
and who understood them. The first knowledge that they had of them and the first use that
they made of them were suggested to them by the example of wild animals. The lance they
imitated from the animal called in Greek Monokeraton; it is the animal which the Persians
call and know as Karkadann (rhinoceros), and the Arabs also call it by this name, because
it has only one horn which rises in the middle of the head in the shape of a lance, with
which it strikes any beast or animal.

78 The sword they made use of in the imitation of the wild boars, which, when they strike
a tree with their tooth, cut it and split it in two. The arrow they imitated from the
animal which is called the porcupine or douldoul, which, when it draws up one of its
hairs, launches it and does not miss the place aimed at. The shield they borrowed from the
turtle, whose back was of an extraordinary size. In this way, they invented by imitation
all the kinds of weapons about which we spoke. The earth and the countries that each of
these three chiefs obtained for themselves, were the Eastern countries on the coast of
China and the neighbouring countries; pure gold is found there, hyacinths, emeralds,
pearls and all the large trees which exhale perfumes, - for example: the aloe tree, the
sandal tree and others, as the Bible reports.

79 The learned Mousous (?) wrote in his book on the nations that the peoples, tired of
their battle against the children of Kahthan, and the disorders which resulted from the
war and the battles waged against them with every kind of weapons that these people did
not know, allowed them to choose the climates which they would prefer, so that they put an
end to the war. The children of Kahthan chose this country: everyone needs this country,
what is found here and what those who govern it possess, while they do not need anything
of what is found in other countries. Sarug lived until he fathered Nachor for 130 years,
and, after the birth of Nachor, for 200 years; his life was 330 years, and he died 46
years after the birth of Abraham. According to what we find in the Torah, which is today
in the hands of the Jews, in consequence of the reduction that they made to it, and the
deterioration (of the text), Sarug lived for 30 years until he fathered Nachor, and 300
years after the birth of Nachor, and died 61 years after the birth of Jacob; he died
seventeen years before the death of Ar`û, his father.

80 In the year 21 from the birth of Sarug, there appeared the second king of Babel; he was
called Kambiros and he reigned 85 years. In his time currency appeared, i.e. the house to
strike dinars and dirhems and the art of making silver and gold ornaments. At that time
Amorius was distinguished, of the family of Ophir, a craftsman of iron and copper. In the
year forty-six of the reign of Cambiros, king of Babel, this monarch built some cities, of
which the first was great Susa. At that time Kambiros made war on the Chaldaeans and put
them to death, as we find in the books and the accounts attributed to Zoroaster
(Zaradouscht) the Magus. In year 106 of Sarug, there reigned in Babel the third king, who
was called Samiros; the duration of his reign was 72 years; he was the first which had
measures made, the balance and weights.

81 The Birth of Abraham. Nachor lived for 79 years, and fathered Tarikh, father of
Abraham, and he lived, after the birth of Tarih, for 122 years; his life was 201 years,
and he died 47 years after the birth of Abraham. Nachor lived until he fathered Tarih,
according to the Torah of the Jews, for 29 years, and 172 years after the birth of Tarih,
and he died 22 years after the birth of Isaac, son of Abraham; and his death took place
before that of his father and his grandfather. At that time Kisrounis, king of Parthia,
made war against Samiros and after having fought him killed him; he tore off the skin of
his head and the hair, braided them in four braids, and made a crown for himself from it.
Because of that he was called Diokratis, i.e. having two horns (Dou-l-Karnein). This is
not the same person as Alexander Dou-l-Karnein, because Alexander was called Dou-l-Karnein
because of his passage and his arrival in the East and the West.

82 The first to invent the sciences and astronomy. At that time in Egypt there reigned a
king, called Antoutis (Aphintos), for thirty-two years; he was the first to invent books,
sciences, astronomy, arithmetic according to the books of Chaldaeans and the Eastern
scholars, and introduced them in Egypt; he learned science from sorcery and magic. At that
time, Sodom and Gomorrha and also Babylon on the river Nile were built. In year 70 of
Nachor Damascus (Dimeschk) was built. Tarikh lived 75 years and fathered Abraham; after
the birth of Abraham, he lived 130 years; his life having been 205 years, he died 55 years
after the birth of Isaac. This is what is written in the mutilated and truncated Torah of
the Jews. The corruption and reduction continue until the years of the date of the birth
of Abraham because this space of time, which the majority of men know nothing about, is so
distant, the high priests of the Jews reduced the years to the era of the Messiah and
after his ascension into Heaven. At that time two high priests of the Jews, Annas and
Caiphas, wished to falsify the mission of Christ and to refute the time of his advent,
because they were frightened because a great number of their respected and older chiefs
recognized the mission of Christ for them and the authenticity of the miracles among them,
when they had seen the resurrection of Christ, as it is written in the Gospel, in which
the Christians believed firmly. They talked against them, and a controversy took place
between them. Annas and Caiphas, the high priests, made arguments against them and
affirmed that the Messiah whom the prophets had prophesied, would come only in the last
days; but, they said, we are still in the middle of the days of the world.

83 But the others disagreed with them; then they, having the libraries in their
possession, set out to cut off these years from Adam and the beginning from the world
until the time of Tarih and from the birth of Abraham; and because of the distance of time
and ignorance of the majority of the men, as we already said, they cut off from the
history from the world, from Adam to the time of Abraham, 1389 years; when they had
arranged it between them, in secrecy, they showed it to their companions and all the men
who agreed with them in their desire of the death of the Messiah. They made several
copies, which they hid with their right-hand men, so that they would show this version and
mislead people with it; they hid the translation of the Torah, translated by the Seventy
commentators, with their companions, with the books of the Prophets, which were translated
under King Ptolemy Philadelphus in the town of Alexandria; they changed and mutilated in
the Books of the Prophets all that they could, of what referred to the prophecies on the
Messiah. The acts of the Messiah Our Lord which are in the books of the Seventy, are, on
the contrary, faithful and clear. They made this falsification after the Resurrection of
Christ, while the translation of the Seventy was completed approximately 300 years before
the Advent of Christ.

84 We will tell without ambiguity the history of Ptolemy Philadelphus and the care which
he gave to the translation of the sacred books and their explanation, until we arrive at
the end, if God so wishes. The beginning of this history goes up at the time of Ptolemy
and Alexander Dou-l-Karnein, the greatest king. In this history we will explain the
corruption of the Jews and the reduction of the years that they made, if God so wishes.
The account of King Alexander Dou-l-Karnein. His empire was divided between his four
servants, who had been his bodyguards. The sacred book calls them his servants. One of
them was Ptolemy Philadelphus, king of Alexandria, about whom we have already said that
the Seventy, erudite Jews, translated for him into Greek the Torah and all the Books of
the Prophets of Hebrew. It should not be thought that this account has been anticipated
and has been put in a place which was wrong for its date, but it was necessary to mention
it above, because the reduction and the corruption of the years affected the date of Tarih
and of the birth of Abraham. It was necessary for us to explain and to indicate the
reasons and the reasons which caused Ptolemy Philadelphus to be concerned with translation
of the sacred books and to desire this, to show exactly to the learned the motives and
reasons from which the Jewish High Priests, Annas and Caiphas, applied themselves boldly
to the corruption and reduction, and to explain to intelligent people, the learned and to
investigators, how they were exposed and how these passages, mutilated and reduced by
them, were recognized, when they were studied and examined.

85 One of the important people of Persia, called Darius, had a quarrel with (Alexander)
Dou-l-Karnein, who reigned in Egypt for six years. Alexander conquered him and killed him
and seized the best part of his kingdom; after that, he gathered many troops and went at
their head against various countries, to make war on their kings and to seize their
kingdoms; when he arrived at Sind, he seized some of it and was then on the point of
invading India and China. Before that, he divided his empire between four of his
bodyguards, as I have already mentioned above, and continued the war against the kings of
various people until his death. When his death became known to his governors, each of them
seized the country where he had been named as lieutenant. One of his governors, Ptolemy,
son of Arib (Lagos), reigned over Egypt 40 years; Philip reigned over Macedonia; Antigonus
and Demetrius over Syria and the country of Asia. Seleucus, who reigned over the countries
of the East, went against Egypt in year 13 of Ptolemy, son of Arib; previously he had
conquered Syria. Demetrius went towards Asia and having overcome and killed him, seized
Asia, Syria and Babylon, where he reigned 32 years. He wanted to institute for Alexander
something memorable which would recall after his death the benefits which he had received
from him. On this basis he established the count of years according to his name and fixed
the beginning of this era at the first day of the conquest of Syria, year 13 of his reign.

86 From Adam to this year, which is the first year of the reign of Dou-l-Karnein, the
years of the history of the world are 5,197 years, which we will explain later, if God so
wills. At that time Ptolemy Philadelphus reigned, for whom, as we have already told, the
sacred Books were translated; he reigned over Egypt 38 years. He freed from the captivity
the people who were in his kingdom, 130,000, including 30,000 Jews. First of all, there is
an allusion to him in the sacred books, where it is written that there was one of the
great foreign kings, called Ptolemy Philadelphus. It is reported that he resembled
Alexander in his power, and was higher to him in learning, wisdom and philosophy; all his
care and all his pleasure tended only to philosophy, reading books, to all sciences and
the knowledge of their mysteries; he propagated them, by gathering them from all the
countries and all the regions, so that he cultivated them all; these were the sciences
about which we spoke: astronomy, astrology, geometry, arithmetic and the others which we
mentioned. In his history, it is written that he joined together the works of these
sciences, erected the house of Wisdom (library) for them; he cultivated them and knew
their laws and their mysteries. It is written that this king Ptolemy, in gathering books,
thought with satisfaction of what posterity would say of him.

87 Ptolemy gathered the foreigners of all the people who were prisoners in his kingdom,
and counted them, and he found their number was 130,000, including 30,000 Jews; and he
proposed to them that they return to their countries. The Jews were extremely content with
this, were delighted, addressed many prayers for him and thanked him. The causes of the
translation of the Seventy of the old books. 88 Ptolemy said to them: "I give you this
favour; but I have to ask you for something which you will do to show your gratitude."
They said to him: "O King, what it?" He said to them: "My request is that you bring me, by
the messengers who will go with you, some books of wisdom of your country." They agreed to
this and made him an oath to do so. Then the Jews said to him: "Among us, O king, are
found some rare Hebrew books that no other people have; these are the revealed books,
which were sent from Heaven to the prophets, such as regulations, laws, commandments,
order and prohibition; (there are found) what is and what must be." Their language on this
subject astonished him and he liked their conduct. He provided them lavishly with travel
provisions and food as far as their country and gave orders that they should be allowed to
pass to their own place, to the place where they were staying, their governors and their
chiefs; he sent gifts and clothing with them and wrote to them about his request.
Rejoicing (at the news) which had reached them, they went to meet their companions, when
the noise of their journey had reached the borders closest to their country. When they had
read the letters of the king, they hastened to agree to his request: they collected the
books of the Torah and all the books of the Prophets for him, and sent with them a letter
written in Hebrew in letters of gold to him using his messengers; at the same time they
wrote a reply to his letter. The Hebrew books arrived, and this was awkward, because he
not understand them at all. He sent messengers back to them and let them know, requiring
them to send scholars and jurists to him, to translate these books for him into his
language; he promised splendid gifts to them.

89 When his letter had arrived and had been read, they hastened to choose (someone) to
send to him, in order to obtain what he promised. Discord and argument broke out among
them on this subject; finally they agreed to send six people from each of their tribes,
their number being of 72 men, who went to him. When they arrived, he received them in a
very hospitable way and divided them into thirty-six groups. Their tribes being of
differing opinions, he appointed for each group a man who prevented them from meeting,
dealt with their business and, once the translation of the books was completed, passed
them from one group to another, until the Torah and all the books of the Prophets were
entirely finished. He obtained thirty-six copies in Greek, distributed them to all the
countries in his empire and sent a certain number of them to Rome, Ephesus and Byzantium.
During their stay, thanks to his good relations with them, he learned Hebrew and became
more skilful than themselves in the reading of their books.

90 After the end of their labours, he loaded them with gifts and provisions for the
voyage, sent them back to their compatriots and sent his messengers with them with gifts
for their governors and clothing for their chief Eleazar, the high priest, and their
companions; in his letter he praised their work. The scholar translators asked him for one
of these copies so that they could impress their compatriots; and Ptolemy granted them
one. This was the action of the Providence of God who, in his eternal wisdom (knew) the
future acts of Annas and Caiphas, their high priests and chiefs, and their followers, who
acted in an iniquitous way against the Messiah at the time of his appearance, his advent
and their participation in his death, according to what is written in the Gospel of the
Christians. Then the resurrection of Christ happened. Several of them joined him, counting
on His kindness and His mercy towards them, because He raised the dead, cured the leprous
and worked miracles, who struck the spirit, disturbed reason, confused intelligence, made
real the inexplicable, in support of what was written on this subject in the Books of the
Prophets.

91 The Jews revealed what they had changed in the sacred books. Then they revolted against
the high priests on the question of Christ, threatened their life, proposed to kill them
and attacked them. On this, the high priests changed tactics to escape them and switched
their attention to inventing evidence in the question of the Messiah thereby to protect
their lives. The libraries were in their hands, as we already mentioned above, so they
busied themselves with the Torah with a preconceived intention and observed there that the
their own time was very far away from the time of Adam; then they cut off 1389 years from
the count of years of Adam and his descent to the birth of Abraham, after cutting off a
given number of years from the life of each one (among the patriarchs) of the years before
the birth of their children, a hundred years from each, and transferred them to the years
of their life after the birth of their children, who are not counted from the beginning of
time.

92 They found Kainan, son of Arfaxad, son of Shem, son of Noah, and cut out his name and
his years from the book of the Torah. The retrenchment of these years from their place is
obvious to anyone who looks at these passages with their own eyes and examines this
question according to the Torah; this passage will tell him what they have mutilated and
cut out. When they had done this and arranged it in secrecy, they invited a certain number
of those who had revolted against them, because of their manner of acting in the question
of the Messiah, and proffered the evidence to them claiming that his time had not arrived
yet and that his appearance would take place only at the last days of the world; they
said: "We are still in the middle of the space of years of the world." Then they added:
"May this Torah be between us and you!" and they brought out the book of the Torah, which
had been already mutilated by their reduction of these years; with this they threw them
into doubt and diverted them. After that they composed separate copies of this Torah,
which they gave in secrecy to the people of confidence in their countries and the
neighbouring provinces, so that they recited it and supported their arguments in favour of
the corruption and the reduction. Even today this Torah is in the hands of all the
Christians who use the Syriac language.

93 The true Torah, translated by the Seventy, was not shown to them until the reign of
Constantine, son of Helen, the faithful one, who reigned 305 years after the advent of
Christ. He went to Jerusalem, and asked for the relics of Christ and the books of the
Prophets to choose some and benefit from them. The Jews gave him all the books; and among
the books that was given to him was the book of the mutilated Torah. Before that, no
discord had broken out among them; but there were some of them who were afraid that the
truth about the Messiah and what had happened to him might be discovered. Then these
plotted with king Constantine and taught him about the corruption of the Torah which the
Jews had given him, and their perfidy towards him on this matter they informed him that
the copy, made before them by the Seventy commentators, had been hidden, that there were
still (copies) similar to this one in Alexandria, Rome and in the cities which were
between them.

94 The emperor sent to the high priests of the Jews, informing them of what had happened.
They did not agree and disavowed his information. Then Constantine ordered them to be
thrown in prison and sent his messengers to Alexandria, Rome and other cities so that a
copy could be brought to him. That happened to the imprisoned high priests, who were in
fear of their lives. Then they gave in secrecy this copy to some of their impious chiefs
and asked them to inform the emperor Constantine about this business when they had
obtained his forgiveness for them. They did so and, a few days after, they gave the copy
to him. The emperor ordered the high priests to be set at liberty. The copies from
Alexandria, Rome and the other cities arrived, and he compared them and found that they
were of one manner and one language only. Then he asked for the mutilated Torah, and he
found there clear and obvious alteration, man after man, and their years, century after
century, which had been transferred from their early years which count in the chronology
of the world, before the birth of their children, to the later years which do not count.

95 Here is the reason that the emperor Constantine asked for the books of the Torah and
the Prophets: previously he had asked them what was found in the Book of the prophet
Daniel in the way of information and indications of the time of the advent of the Messiah
and his death at the end of the seven weeks and of the sixty-two weeks, after the 70 years
during which the Israelites had remained in the country of Babel, and on the speech of the
archangel Gabriel to the prophet Daniel on this matter, on his mission, on the command
that he gave him to understand his word well, while he was making his speech, on his
revelation of the advent of the Messiah and of his death at the end of these weeks, within
the limits that archangel Gabriel fixed for the prophet Daniel in the discourse which he
addressed to him, and on the exit of the Israelites from Babel and the reconstruction of
Jerusalem.

96 When the emperor Constantine learned of the lie of the Jews and the ruse of their
language in their arguments drawn from what their former kings had been called anointed,
he said to them: "Which of them was called the Messiah (the anointed) and appeared after
the exit of Israelites from Babel at the end of these weeks?" But they did not answer
because they were totally inhibited and embarrassed. Then they said that the Messiah
announced by the prophets would come in the last days: "We await him later, because we are
in the middle of this time." He said to them: "How many years do you count to today?" They
said to him: "The complete length of time is 7000 years, and we are still in year 4000
approximately." Then the emperor answered them and accused them of cheating, when he saw
their audacity in the lie. 97 On this he sent messengers in the bishops, to inform them of
this, and of his interest in the prophecy of the prophet Daniel about the Messiah, and to
tell them what he had seen of the weakness of the arguments of the Jews on this matter. He
asked the bishops to clearly set forth the arguments for him on this subject. The bishops
asked him for a delay so that they could address this subject, until the time of a special
audience. He was astonished by this language and in his desire to know and to understand,
he assigned an audience to them; because he took pleasure in their argument with the Jews
on this subject and ordered them all to speak. He informed the bishops of the statement of
the Jews which confirmed it.

98 Then the bishops said: "The deviation of the Jews from the word of truth, O king, on
the question of the Messiah has been since ancient times, like the heritage of their first
(high priests). Their refusal to believe in his mission for fear of changing their
religion pushed them into acts worthy only of misleading and impious men. The argument
that they plead about the number of the years since Adam, is right only in seeming. You
have examined it and elucidated it to the bottom which you understood rightly. We have
given you two manuscripts in which we have explained everything to you; we have reported
the translation of the Seventy scholars who translated the Torah under king Ptolemy
Philadelphus, approximately 300 years before the advent of the Messiah Our Lord and the
time of his appearance. The copy of the Torah which is today in the hands of the Jews is
made according to that which Annas and Caiphas, their high priests, mutilated at the time
of the Messiah and from which they cut off years which they reduced. In addition to this,
we have clear arguments that we will bring with evidence and explanation and which will be
long to set forth; but if the emperor allows, we will submit the report and will explain
the length of the years according to the weeks of the prophet Daniel until the death of
the Messiah, date per date, king by king." Then the emperor said to them: "Do so." The
bishops said: "(Daniel), the prophet of God, prophesied the destruction of Jerusalem, the
demolition of his walls, the captivity of his people in Babylon, their stay over there for
70 years.

99 When king Bokht-Nassar (Nabuchodonosor) reigned over Babylon, he attacked Jerusalem,
and took into captivity most of the population, among whom was the prophet Daniel. Not
ceasing to attack it during the 20 years which followed his first invasion, in his last
invasion Nabuchodonosor demolished its walls, burned its temple, seized all its people and
devastated the country. And after 50 years the prophet Daniel remembered the word of God
which the prophet Jeremiah had announced during their stay in Babel. It was obvious for
him that this time was already close. On this he was absorbed in prayer with God in
fasting, tears, with humility and compunction. It is written in the Book of Daniel the
prophet: He acknowledged before his Lord the malicious actions of his companions,
enumerated their sins and beseeched his forgiveness and his indulgence for them. He fasted
for twenty one days, without eating bread, drinking water or lying down. In his prayer he
recalled the promise of God to the Israelites to reveal to his prophets the advent of the
Messiah to support their goodwill and to bring them to the good; he asked God (to show
him) the realization of this hope and to indicate to him the time of their return to
Jerusalem. God answered his prayer because of his good faith, the uprightness of his heart
and the purity of his intentions in the request that he addressed to him. God revealed to
him what he asked, because truth follows sincerity and certainty results;

100 and because of the fidelity of Daniel, He answered his request and raised the veil of
what had been hidden from his eyes and that he had not known. God sent the archangel
Gabriel to him to explain his request to him. The angel Gabriel said to him: "The vision
and the word of the prophets about the Messiah, the Holy of Holies, will be accomplished.
Learn and know, O Daniel, the word which is uttered, and which my word has revealed to
you, O man of desire: you will return and rebuild Jerusalem. As for the reign of the
Messiah, until the time of His advent and His death there will be seven weeks and sixty-
two weeks. Then He will be put to death and the Holy City will be destroyed." 101 Thus
began the angel Gabriel; then he said to Daniel: "The vision and the word of the prophets
will be fulfilled, i.e. with regard to the return of the Israelites at the end of 70
years, in accordance with the word of the prophet Jeremiah. After their return, Jerusalem
will be rebuilt and after its restoration the weeks of the Messiah will be counted until
his death." God treated the Israelites as Gabriel had said, to attest the sincerity and
the truth of his words. The transplantation of the Israelites to Babel lasted for 20 years
and was done on different occasions; their return also lasted and was completed in 20
years and was done on different occasions; the total duration of their stay in Babel being
70 years, the equality was perfect, in accordance with the word of the prophet. The first
group arrived to Babel the second year of the reign of Nabuchodonosor, and remained there
during the remainder of his reign until the end of his life, a period of 43 years, then
five years under the sovereigns of his house, and, after them, 22 years under the
domination of Cyrus the Persian - which makes 70 years, in accordance with the word of the
prophet. The other group of prisoners arrived to Babel in the year 22 of the reign of
Nabuchodonosor, and remained there for the 23 years of the remainder of his reign, then
under the reign of his successors 5 years, after that under Cyrus the Persian for 31
years; under king Cambyses 8 years, under the Magus one year and under Darius, son of
Hystaspes, 2 years, - which makes 70 years.

102 The return was completed at the end of 70 years, as the prophet Jeremiah said. They
set themselves to rebuild Jerusalem, in accordance with the word of the angel Gabriel to
the prophet Daniel. But they did not finish it at the time that they had intended, because
the acts of men, compared to their wishes, are such that sometimes they precede it,
sometimes are late, because of the accidental circumstances which prevent them and stop
them. 103 The acts of men are not like those of God, whose words are fixed and time is
determined, as He fixed the stay of the Israelites in Babel at 70 years, the time of the
advent of the Messiah and the term of his death in a given number of years, because the
actions of God in his providence are hidden from men, if he did not want to reveal them to
his servants; as far as it is useful for them, He informs his prophets of them so that
they announce the good news and exhort men to perseverance in good deeds; if He starts to
threaten and announce the punishment who must strike them in punishment of their sins, the
prophets announce it and in fixing the time as a warning to induce them to obey Him, to
lead them to repentance, to frighten them by terrible signs appearing in the sky and to
make them desire the mercy of their Lord and his benevolence towards them. And by
deferring the time, God leaves them the possibility of converting and of repentance, as He
had done at the time of the flood, the confusion of languages, Sodom and Gomorrha, Nineveh
and other events. And concerning this time, the angel Gabriel again determined it in the
explanation that he made about it to the prophet Daniel. He said to him: "First the return
will take place, then the construction"; then, after that, he determined for him the weeks
of the Messiah as from that moment.

104 And the return from exile of the Israelites to Jerusalem occurred 2 years after the
advent to the throne of king Darius, son of Hystaspes. At that time they began to rebuild
the city and did not cease working there until the time of Artaxerxes Longhand. It is
written in the Books of Esdras that in year 20 of his reign king Artaxerxes sent Nehemiah
his wine waiter to supervise the construction of Jerusalem; and Nehemiah found that they
had already finished it five years before. He found that they were building the Temple in
year 46 after the captivity, as the Jewish scholars said to the Messiah: "This temple was
built, completed and finished at the end of 46 years, and You, You say that you will
restore it in three days. However there is nobody who thinks that the Jews worked without
interruption at the construction of the Temple during 46 years; but, as we have already
said, its construction was entirely finished in year 46 after the captivity in Babel.
Nehemiah went to the king and let him know.

105 The weeks of the Messiah are counted from the time of the end of the construction of
the city, according to the word of the angel Gabriel: first the return; then the
construction; then it is necessary to count the weeks from the 2 year before the end of
the reign of king Artaxerxes, and starting from the end of the construction until the
death of the Messiah; then the total is 483 years, which all things considered makes seven
weeks and sixty-two weeks of seven (years), as we have already set forth in detail in our
book, king after king, with the years of their reign. It is also written that the dignity
of the high priests of Israelites was abolished at the time of king Herod, in whose reign
the Messiah appeared. The prophecy of Jacob, leader of the Patriarchs, and Moses was
realised; they said: "The royal sceptre will not be removed from Judah, nor the legislator
from among him, i.e. the prophets, until the one comes who must be its king; and the
people will place their hope in him."

106 We have said that seven weeks and sixty-two weeks make 483 years, because we multiply
them by seven. Here is the explanation of the years of the weeks of the Messiah - 483
years, according to the word of the angel Gabriel to the prophet Daniel, the names of the
kings and the total of their years, king after king. The account of the kings of Persia.
Artaxerxes Longhand reigned 41 years; Artaxerxes II, 5 years; after him Sogdian, one year;
Darius Nothus, 19 years; after him Artaxerxes, his son, 40 years; Artaxerxes Ochus, 25
years; Faris(Arses), son of Ochus, 4, years; Darius, son of Arses, 6 years. The total of
the years of kings of the East is 141 years. After this the count arrives at the years of
the Ptolemies, the years of the kings of the West and the enumeration of the blessed
Ptolemies. Ptolemy Alexander reigned 12 years; Ptolemy Logos, i.e. word, 40 years; Ptolemy
Philadelphus, i.e. he who loves his brother, 38 years; it is he who had the Sacred Books
translated by the Seventy commentators; Ptolemy Ergates (Evergetes), i.e. the do-(good)er,
24 years; Ptolemy Philopator, i.e. he who loves his father, 17 years; Ptolemy Epiphanes,
i.e. the Famous one, 24 years; Ptolemy Philometor, i.e. he who loves his mother, 25 years;
again Ptolemy Evergetes, i.e. the do-(good)er, 19 years; Ptolemy Soter, i.e. the Saviour,
12 years; Ptolemy Alexander the Second, 10 years; Ptolemy Philippe, i.e. he who loves
horses, 8 years; Ptolemy Dionysios, i.e. the noble one, 30 years; Cleopatra, i.e. the
Glorious one, 15 years; Herod, king of the Jews, 35 years.

107 The years of the Messiah Our Lord are 33 years. That gives for the Western kings 342
years. The total of the years of kings of the East and West are 483 years. Because of the
contradictions contained in these books, the emperor Constantine sought for the books of
the Torah, had them examined as well as the books of the Prophets and the recollections of
the Messiah. Before that time, there was among Christians nobody, except for the scholars,
who knew the things kept secret and who knew about alterations and mutilations performed
by the Jews. As for the people, they did not know that the Torah had been mutilated. Thus
today the Christian people, in the East and West, do not know the cause of the
disagreement between the Greek Torah, translated by the Seventy, and the Syriac Torah,
copied from the Hebraic Torah, which is mutilated and reduced, which all the Christians
read in the churches.

108 At the beginning we said that the deterioration and reduction go only as far as the
birth of Abraham, son of Tarih, and the total of the reduction of the years of the world,
from Adam and the beginning of the world until the birth of Abraham, son of Tarih, is
2,389 years. Now the mutilated Torah and all the books of the Prophets in Syriac copies
which are in the hands of the Christians, are widespread in all the countries of the earth
of the East and West, so that because of that the Christians cannot explain them and give
an account of this question. All the scholars and the learned and those who wanted to
translate the books of the Prophets from one language to another, or to make an exegesis
of what they contained, changed nothing and commented on the Syriac text, which is in
disagreement with the translation of the Seventy because the Jews mutilated it and changed
it after the Resurrection of the Messiah.

109 The ending of the history of Abraham. Now that we have explained and recounted the
history of the interpretation and the translation of the Seventy, the efforts and research
of king Constantine on the reason of the difference which he had found in the Sacred
Books, we will return to the account of the time of Abraham; that is the point where we
had arrived before beginning this narrative. At the time of Abraham, Khoudroun, brother of
Tarih, made war on Kisaronos king of Babel, and having fought him and overcome him, he
killed him; (he did it), because he wanted to lead the population into captivity and to
plunder all the country. At that time the empire passed from Bebel, whose kings were
called Babylonians, to the Assyrians, who reigned over the countries of Mosul, Nineveh and
the surrounding provinces. The first of their kings, Boulis, reigned 72 years and built
several cities.

110 Abraham, having lived 100 years, fathered Isaac by Sara; but 16 years before Isaac, he
fathered Ishmael by Agar. We start with Isaac, because the years of the history of the
world are counted from Isaac. After the death of Sara, Abraham fathered a great number of
strong children by Retura; they were called the sons of Cadir (the Strong) and their
children were also called Modar, because of Ishmael. Abraham lived for 75 years after the
birth of Isaac and, his life having been 175 years, he died 40 years after the birth of
Jacob. At that time king Boulis died and after him reigned Ninos, his son, who built the
town of Nineveh, so called after his name. The fifth year after the birth of Abraham,
Jerusalem was built by king Melchizedek. The first king of the Sicyonites was Aglaous who
reigned over them 53 years. 111 In the year 71 after the birth of Abraham wars and
conflicts broke out between king Rodollogomor and the five kings of the country of Sodom
and Gomorrha; they lasted for 14 years until the 10th year after the departure of Abraham
from the country of Ur of the Chaldaeans, which was the country of Canaan, son of Cham,
son of Noah. At that time the town of Hebron was built, which is the al-Ladjoun of the
Canaanites. In the year 75 after the birth of Abraham, God said to him in the country of
Ur of the Chaldaeans: "Get up, leave the house of your father and the place of your birth
and go to the promised land that God promised to give you, to your seed and your
posterity. Thus God concluded a pact and alliance with Abraham, for him and his posterity,
ensuring to him the inheritance of the promised land. From this time, 430 years are
counted that God assigned to the Israelites for their slavery with the country of Egypt.
Other scholars say that these years are counted from the time when Abraham made the
sacrifice of a goat, a pigeon and a dove. We have done some research on this subject, but
have found nothing about it. The total number of years from Adam and the beginning of the
chronology of the world until this year is 3,417 years, because the years from the flood
to this year is 1,161 years.

112 In the year 77 of his life, Abraham went to Egypt because of the famine and the
drought which prevailed in the country of Syria. In the year 85 of his life, Agar the
Egyptian woman came to him, and he fathered by her Ishmael. For this reason her children
were named sons of Agar. They were also called Arabs because of the blood-link of Ishmael
with the tribe of Djourboum, because he married women of this tribe and spoke Arabic. They
were named Ismaelites after Ishmael, their father. Ishmael lived for 137 years and
fathered by Arab women twelve princes who are named and mentioned in the Book of the
Torah. His death took place 63 years after the birth of Jacob. 113 At that time Lot was
made prisoner by king Khodollogomor. In the same period Semiramis reigned in Babel for 42
years; she seized the country of Asia and several cities of Syria, rebuilt Babel for the
second time, and she raised artificial hills and a great number of monuments that are
allotted to her. Abraham reached the age of 99, and God ordered him to circumcise himself.
He was 100 years old when he fathered Isaac by Sara. At the age of 60 years Isaac fathered
Esau, who was hairy, and Jacob, the same as Israel, twins of Rebecca, daughter of Balhuel,
a relative of Abraham, of a family of Haran. Isaac lived 180 years until the 31st year
after the birth of Levi, son of Jacob. At that time the queen Semiramis built a large
temple in a city, at the edge of the Euphrates, to the idol Q.yous (Bel, Baal) and, after
having appointed for Q.yous (Bel) seventy sacrificers, she named this city Hierapolis,
which means the city of the sacrificers; this was the old town of Manbidj.

114 When Isaac had reached the age of 16, God said to Abraham: "Get up. Take Isaac, your
only son, whom you love, place him on the altar and offer him to God, your Lord, in a
holocaust on the mountain of the Amorians (Moriah)." Later, 1,030 years after the birth of
Abraham, Solomon, son of David, built a temple of God on this mountain, the place of the
holocaust of Abraham and the sacrifice of Isaac. We possess the Sacred Books, which tell
and indicate that it is on this mountain, at the place of the holocaust of Abraham, that
Adam was interred and buried; it is said that the body of Adam was with Noah in the ark;
when the flood was over, and Noah with his companions had left the ark, he buried Adam on
this mountain. Thus God led Abraham to travel until he indicated to him the place of the
tomb of Adam. Abraham offered Isaac (to God): he built the altar above the tomb of Adam
and put Isaac on the altar raised on the tomb of Adam, and he was on the point of
immolating him to God in a holocaust. But God saved him, substituting for him a lamb,
because of his confidence in God and because he knew the sincerity of the intention of
Abraham and his confidence that God could return life to his son after the immolation. It
is written that at the moment of the sacrifice of Isaac, when Abraham raised the knife,
the troops of the angels beat their hands and that God announced in the heavens the
holocaust of Abraham; (then) he said: "Stay your hand from the child: now I know that you
love God, your Lord, with all your heart."

115 The first construction of Jerusalem. After the time when Noah went out the ark and
before the installation of Abraham in the promised land of the country of Syria, the high
priest Melchizedek built over the tomb of our father Adam the town of Jerusalem. God let
him know and indicated to him the place of the tomb of Adam, and he offered two sacrifices
of bread and wine to Him. Here what the Jews report in their book that they call the
Mishna: we have heard it said that Hakib and his followers claim that Melchizedek was the
same as Shem, son of Noah, and that Joshua, son of Nun, killed him, along with the thirty
one kings whom he put to death. But all the Jewish scholars disagree with them about this
stupidity and this error. The Christians find in the mysteries of their books that the
cross on which the Messiah was crucified, was planted in the middle of the tomb of Adam,
on his larynx; it is on this cross that the Messiah was crucified; because of that this
place was called al-tarfqah and it is called Golgotha, which means cranium.

116 In the year 19 of the birth of Isaac, Abraham learned that his brother Nachor, son of
Tarih, had several children, and (from the children) of Nachor was born Aram, son of
Kamuel; he gave his name to the Aramaeans, who lived in Haran in Mesopotamia and the
surrounding country as far as the area of Mosul. We have found books which mention and
make known another Aram, resulting from Shem, who lived to the East of Susa (Susiana),
i.e. of Elam, and Assur, brother of Elam, from whom the Elamites, Assyrians and their
tribes come. The borders of Aram (extended) from the native land of Shem to the country of
Misan; it is for that that the population of this country and beyond took the name of Aram
their father, the issue of the son of Shem, son of Noah. In year 37 of the birth of Isaac,
Sara died at the age of 127, because she was 90 years old when she brought Isaac into the
world by Abraham.

117 In the year 44 of his birth, Isaac married Rebecca, daughter of Bathuel, cousin of his
father Abraham. At that time king Abimelech made a pact of friendship with Isaac; his
kingdom was located at Gerar, in the country of the Jordan. At that time the domination of
the Philistines started, who are the inhabitants of Philistine (Palestine); their race
indicates the origin of their country. Jacob was 89 years old when he fathered Levi; the
life of Jacob was 147 years. In year 20 of the birth of Jacob, Esau, his brother, married
the daughters of Canaan, son of Cham, son of Noah; one of them was Judith, daughter of
Beeri, the Hethaean, the other, Basmath, daughter of Elon the Hethaean. When Esau had seen
that his father Isaac did not like them, he married Basmath, daughter of Ishmael. It is
written that Job the Just drew his origin from the children of Basmath, daughter of
Ishmael. It is written that Moses, the prophet, wrote the famous book allotted to Job the
Just; in this book, i.e. in the book of Job the Just, there are 1,348 verses.

118 In the lists of the generation of the tribes and the people (of Esau) Job was called
Jobab, son of Zerah. Job lived 210 years, including 70 years before his misfortunes and
140 years afterwards. We have found among the children of Shem, son of Noah, another
Jobab; certain people claim that he is the same as Job, because they believed him prior to
Abraham. Thus from this people affirm contradictory things on this subject. At that time
Hamor, brother of Sichem, built a large city which he named Sichem, according to the name
of his brother. Some time after, two sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, devastated it and
killed three thousand men there to avenge their sister who was called Dina on its
population. When Jacob had reached the age of 77 and Isaac, his father, that of 137, Isaac
his father blessed him and addressed in his favour the prayers and the blessings which are
reported in the Torah; then he sent him to Haran to Laban, his uncle, because he feared
that Esau would kill him. Jacob left with his staff in his hand.

119 Having arrived at Beitaïl, he prayed and putting his head on a stone, he fell asleep.
In the night he saw angels of God who went up and down along a ladder of which the top
touched heaven and the foot was on the earth. Throughout this night, until dawn had risen,
the angel fought with him. And here God appeared to Jacob and said to him: "Jacob, I will
not let you go until you tell me your name." When it was dawning, Jacob said: "This place
is the window of heaven and the house of God " and he made a vow to devote to God a tithe
of what God had granted to him during his absence, to build to him in this place a house
of God. After that Jacob crossed the Euphrates with his staff and arrived at Haran. In
year 84 of his life, Jacob married Leah, the daughter of Laban, his uncle, and fathered by
her Ruben, Simeon, and at the age of 89 years he also fathered Levi, in whose name the
chronology of the world was regulated. Then after Levi he fathered Judah, after him
Issachar, then Zabulon. Jacob married Rachel, sister of Leah, and fathered by her Joseph
and Benjamin. He also fathered (two sons) by Bilhah, the maidservant of Rachel, who gave
to Jacob Gad and Asher, and (two sons) by Zelphah, the maidservant of Leah, who gave to
Jacob Dan and Nephthali. They gave rise to the twelve tribes of the Israelites.

120 In the year 97 after the birth of Jacob, he went back to Haran to (Isaac), his father;
his herds, she-asses, oxen and cows, slaves and utensils were innumerable. After coming to
the promised land of the country of Syria, Joseph was sold by his brothers. At the age of
seventeen, he was brought into Egypt where he spent ten years as a slave and three years
in prison. When Joseph reached the age of thirty, the Pharaoh, king of Egypt, saw in dream
seven cows and seven ears of corn. Joseph was brought out of the prison and his hair cut;
then he was presented before Pharaoh. Joseph, being thirty years old, explained his dream
to him. Everything happened as Joseph had explained to him. The Pharaoh gave him power
over the country of Egypt. 121 In year 39 from the birth of Joseph, Jacob his father,
arrived in Egypt with all his children and the children of his children in the second year
of the famine and the drought which prevailed in Syria. In fact the Israelites remained in
Egypt, as slaves, for 215 years. The number of the Israelites who arrived in Egypt with
Jacob was 70 men; moreover, Joseph, his two sons, Ephraïm and Manasseh, and their two
sons, (makes) 5 men. Jacob, being 127 years old, presented himself before Pharaoh 7 years
after the death of Isaac, his father. The number of Israelites, when they left Egypt, was
603,500 men able to carry the weapons who were counted in the census, i.e. in the census
(of Moses). When Moses counted them and separated them, he did not register and did not
count those who were younger than 22 years old and those who exceeded 50; the women were
not counted either. Jacob lived in Egypt 20 years, and died 13 years after the birth of
Kahath. Levi lived 45 years and then fathered Kahath, and Kahath lived 60 years and then
fathered `Amran. At that time the Pharaoh the sovereign of Joseph died and Amousiyus
reigned after him in Egypt for 25 years

122 In year 38 from the birth of Kahath, there reigned in Egypt Kebroun for 13 years. At
that time Zeus, whose name is translated as Jupiter (Al-Mouschtari), knew Niobé and
fathered Apis by her, who was named later Serapis and who started to fight the courageous
women (?) who are called Amazons and killed their male children. Zeus reigned over the
country of Crete on the coast. The meaning of "Zeus" is "long lived" because it is told
that he lived for a thousand years. At that time the town of Eleusina was built. In year
51 from the birth of Kahath, son of Levi, Amenophis ascended the throne of Egypt and he
was also called Pharaoh; he reigned 21 years and then he started to persecute Israelites.
`Amran lived 70 years and then fathered Moses the prophet and, having lived after the
birth of Moses for 67 years, he died 13 years before the exodus of the Israelites from
Egypt. In year 6 from the birth of `Amran Joseph died, at the age of 110. His brothers
ordered the Israelites to carry his bones with them, until God called them and made them
leave the country of Egypt.

123 It is written that at that time, under (the king) Agous, the flood took place. In year
12 (after the birth of `Amran) there reigned in Egypt Mensis for 12 years. In the year 24
after the birth of `Amran, Balaios also reigned for 18 years. In the year 68 after the
birth of `Amran, Amenofis (Asfanis, misphres?) reigned in Egypt for 43 years; he ordered
that the first-born males of the Israelites should be strangled and drowned in the river
Nile. The birth of Moses and his history. When Moses came into the world, `Amran, his
father, the very same day was 70. His parents put him in a basket, and exposed him on the
river Nile. He was only three months old and was pretty and beautiful. At that time Mary,
daughter of the Pharaoh, went out to the river Nile where she found Moses. When she saw
that he was circumcised, she knew that he was one of the Israelites. Mary took him, raised
him, educated him and taught him all the sciences of the Egyptians, their education and
their wisdom. Janis and Jambris were the teachers of Moses, who became, in Egypt,
extremely strong and powerful.

124 In the year 28 of the birth of Moses the prophet, the Pharaoh built the town of
Hermopolis on the river Nile which was called also Al-F.r.ma. At that time the Ethiopians
fought the Egyptians and devastated several provinces of Egypt. Then Kenefra, the king,
all his companions, his notable and his close relations were envious of Moses, but because
of Mary, neither he nor they could do what they wanted about this; then they tried to make
him lose his rank and his powerful situation, saying to him: "You have great obligations
towards the queen. Look, the Ethiopians are coming down the Nile in boats, thanks to the
rising waters, and attacking the country of Egypt; they have devastated already several
provinces and reduced their population to captivity. It is your duty to defend the
kingdom, because you are placed at its head and that its defense rests on you. The king,
all his chiefs and his court are thinking that you will attack the Ethiopians. It is said
that all the lands and deserts which are between Ethiopia and Egypt are uninhabited, the
country being full of a great quantity of snakes, which prevent people from passing
there."

125 When Moses had learned of their ambushes and what they were weaving against him, he
ordered 10,000 riders chosen from among the Israelites and the same number from among the
Egyptians; then he ordered them to prepare the greatest possible number of large cranes
(ibis), which was called ka`ka`, and to put them in wicker cages, so that their heads
appeared out of the cages. Moses set out to march with with his companions. He had these
cranes fed at the break of day, and when night fell and he had set up camp, he ordered
that the cages where the cranes were be distributed throughout the camp. During the night,
tormented by hunger, all the cranes made resounding cries. The snakes, having heard their
cries, ran away into the earth for fear the cranes would eat them. Moses did not cease
doing this until he reached the Ethiopian city of Meroe.

126 When the inhabitants saw him with his troops, this struck them with admiration and
fear, and they were astonished that so many troops had arrived at their home through these
deserts. Then God inspired the daughter of the king of Ethiopia and let him know with
certainty that Moses would capture the city and its inhabitants and that God, may He be
blessed, would make him master of it. So she sent a message to Moses that she offered
herself to him in marriage; (in return) she would show him a place from where one could
take the city and capture its surroundings. Moses granted her wish. God gave him the
victory over the city and his inhabitants, and Moses married the daughter of the king of
Ethiopia. This is why the Holy Scripture tells that Mariam, the sister of Moses, and
Aaron, while speaking about Moses, slandered him, because he had married a Kushite woman,
i.e. of the sons of al-Khabaschat (an Ethiopian). God was irritated against Mariam, who
became scabious and leprous, so that the Israelites avoided her.

127 But Moses, the prophet of God, having pity on her, prayed to God for her. And God said
to Moses: "If her father had spit in her face, wouldn't she be covered with shame for ten
days?" Moses remained, after the conquest of the city, in the countries of Ethiopia, with
all his troops, until the time of the flood of the Nile; then he brought his troops back
to Egypt, by means of boats during the rising of the Nile and the high waters, and he
returned to the king laden with riches. On this, the king, all his notables, his
courtiers, his ministers and all the inhabitants of Egypt were afraid of him, and the king
even conceived the idea of killing Moses, after the death of Mary who had raised Moses. In
the year 37 after the birth of Moses, Joshua, son of Nun was born. 128 In the year 41 from
the birth of Moses, the Pharaoh ascended the throne of Egypt who, according to the Sacred
Books, was submerged in the sea, 40 years later, with his troops and his chariots.
According to what is written, Moses, at the age of 40, killed an Egyptian who wanted to
put him to death, and he fled into the country of Midian to Raguel or Jethro or Sa`ïb and,
having married Sephora, daughter of Sa`ib, he fathered Guerson and Eleazar. In the year 42
of the birth of Moses, Caleb, son of Jephonneh was born. At that time Atlas, son of
Prometheus appeared and made himself known, who taught magic (astrology). It is told that,
when his magic reached the celestial sphere, he knew all that occurred of its mysteries.
Because of this, the name of Atlas was given to the mountain which rises above the clouds.
According to his knowledge and his books, Erathosthenes, the scholar, traced the plans of
the sphere with all the species of its constellations and their terms. This book was
translated from Greek into Arabic by Thahir ibn al-Husein, a clever man with its charts,
all its plans and all the kinds of its details. It is a remarkable book and can be
obtained if desired.

129 At that time king Souris was known, who reigned over Dimeschk (Damascus). Where Syria
(asch-Scham) is called Souriah, this name is derived from the name of Souris. In the year
80 from the birth of Moses, Joshua, son of Nun being 39 years old, God appeared to Moses
at Tur-Sina (in the Sinai) and showed to him the miracles which he worked with its staff
and his hand, which became white, and the other things that God did. Then God ordered to
him to go to Egypt to work miracles and celestial signs in order to lead the Israelites
out. In this year Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt; he struck the sea with his staff
and led the Israelites through the sea; when they had passed, he struck the sea again with
his staff, and God submerged the Pharaoh and all his troops. Then the word that God had
said to Abraham was accomplished, that his posterity would remain in a remote country in a
state of slavery for 430 years.

130 Explanation of the causes and the reasons which led to the introduction of the worship
of idols into Egypt. It is told that all the Egyptians who had not gone with Pharaoh and
who had remained in Egypt, having learned the news that the Pharaoh and his troops had
drowned in the Red Sea, were struck by this; and they adored the thing and the object
which they held in the hand, and each one of them made an idol following the example of
the object and adored it, as if it were that which had saved them from immersion. Because
of this, the worship of idols in Egypt increased and, at the end of a certain time, the
devils spoke to them from the interior of these idols. In the year 81 after the birth of
Moses, when the Israelites had left Egypt, the Amalekites attacked them; but God led a
great number to perish via Moses. The hostility between the Amalekites and the Israelites
continued until the time of Haman the Amalekite, the minister of king Artaxerxes. We will
give the account of this in its place, if God so wills.

131 In this year, in the third month, Moses went up on the mountain of God, Tur-Sina
(Sinai), and received from God the knowledge of things. God granted wisdom, the power of
prophecy and knowledge to him, so that he could speak about the origin of the world and
explain the universe, so that he made known and explained why the universe was created and
had a beginning; it is said that in the space of the centuries passed, from the origins of
the world, there had never been as many followers of temporal origin than at the time when
Moses, the prophet of God, composed the Torah, in which he discussed the origin of the
world, to bring men to the opinion that the world was temporal. And the majority of
Israelites adhered firmly to this belief and professed these doctrines; it was their
belief and their religious conviction. Moses also spoke about the Tabernacle. From this
year, Moses appointed to the Tabernacle the oldest of the Israelites, selected from the
twelve tribes, who governed the Tabernacle.

132 The total number of years from Adam and the beginning of the world until the year when
Moses went up on the mountain of God Tur-Sina (Sinai) and received the tables of the
Torah, i.e. until year 81 from the birth of Moses, - the total years from Adam to that
year is 3,847 years. We have set forth all this at the beginning of our treatise and our
book; we have corrected it by shortening the calculation and have explained it above. The
Jews celebrated the first Passover in Egypt on the Sunday of the ninth cycle; and they did
not celebrate Passover for the 40 years that they passed in the desert. Then Moses
governed them, after this year, for 39 years and he died at the age of 120. The years from
Adam and the origins of the world until the year of the death of Moses are 3,886 years.
After that the years are counted, as we have explained, in the history of the world,
according to the years of the government of the Judges over the the Israelites.

133 The explanation is as follows: the total number of the years from Adam to the flood is
2,256 years; from the flood until Ar`û fathered Phaleg, at which time the languages were
divided, -- 670 years; from Adam until that year 2,926 years; from the day of the birth of
Ar' û until the day of the birth of Abraham 416 years; from the flood to that year 1,076
(1,510) years; from Adam to that year 3,342 (3,766) years; from the day of the birth of
Moses to the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt, i.e. until the year when Moses went up
on the mountain of God Tur-Sina and received the tablets from God, - 81 years; from the
flood to that year 1,591 years; from Adam to that year 3,847 years, according to what we
have said above. After that Moses governed for his life until he died, a space of 39
years, so that the years from Adam and the origins of the world until the year of the
death of Moses are 3,886 years. The Jews celebrated the first Passover 40 years after, at
the time of Joshua, son of Nun, near Jéricho, in the tenth cycle. After Moses, it was
Joshua, son of Nun, who governed them for 27 years; then after Joshua, son of Nun, it was
the governors and the judges who governed the Israelites for 556 years; after the end of
their government the chronology of the history of the world is evaluated according to the
years of their kings.

134 This chronology starts with the year when Saul, son of Kisch, of the tribe of
Benjamin, the first king who reigned over the Israelites, ascended the throne. The years
from Adam and the origins of the world until the day when Saul ascended the throne are
4,391 years. The life of Moses was 120 years, of which he spent 40 years in Egypt, 40
years with Jethro in the country of Midian and 40 years in the desert. Moses wrote five
books, about which we spoke earlier; in these books there are 17,041 verses. 135 History
of the art of alchemy, the work of the hyacinth and other precious stones. It is written
that God endowed Beseleel with intelligence and indicated the manner to him of setting up
the Tabernacle; He taught him art and knowledge to work the precious stones and to clean
them from foreign substances and impurities. Béséléel made the Tabernacle and embellished
it with his talent. He was the first who managed to make a work of art. In this year Moses
sent them spies into the countries of Canaan, i.e. Palestine, the Jordan and the regions
bordering, so that they could examined the country and the people. Joshua, son of Nun, and
Caleb, son of Jephonne, cut a bunch of grapes and carried it between them on a pole. At
that time Joshua, son of Nun, was 45 and Caleb, son of Jephonné, 42 (43) years old. When
this year had passed, Balak, king of the Midianites, sent ambassadors to Balaam, the
magician, so that he would come to him and curse the Israelites.

136 In the year 84 of the life of Moses, Aaron, his brother, became high priest. God made
his two sons die because they had offered a profane fire in sacrifice. Eleazar, son of
Aaron, of the tribe of Levi, to which the Levites belonged, married a daughter of Aminazab
of the tribe of Judah. This was the first case of the mingling and family ties of one
tribe with another, because the law allowed only marriages between people of the same
tribe. Eleazar fathered Phinehas of which it is written that he was zealous for God, was
annoyed for Him, struck two adulterers with his lance and hanged them in the air. In the
year 118 from the birth of Moses, Aaron his brother died. He had as a successor Eleazar,
his son. Moses died two years after Aaron; he was 120. After the death of Moses, it was
Joshua, son of Nun, its servant, 83 years old, who started to govern the Israelites in the
place of Moses, two years after Aaron. Joshua, son of Nun, led the Israelites in the
promised land of Canaan that God had promised to give to the posterity of Abraham. After
governing them for 27 years, Josua, son of Nun, died at the age of 110.

137 In the first year of the government of Joshua, son of Nun, the Amalekites made war;
but he overcame them and killed a great number of them, so that there remained only one
small troop of them; with his troops he did not cease pursuing them until the 9th hour of
the day. In fear of not succeeding in what he intended to do with them, he entreated the
sun and the moon and said: "You, O sun, halt over Gabaon, and you, moon, in the field of
Aïloun (Ajalon)!" And the sun remained motionless for 6 hours until he had been avenged on
his enemies. As for the sun halting where it was, it is not, as people believe who do not
examine it and do not know the treasures of books and their mysteries, that the sun and
the moon alone stopped, while the sphere continued to move. That is explained by this fact
that if, as certain people believe, the sun had stopped and the moon had been frozen, then
an upheaval would have occurred in the times and the four seasons, because, once the
celestial sphere had crossed three signs of the zodiac in 6 hours, then instead of spring
we would have had summer, instead of summer, autumn, instead of autumn, winter and instead
of winter, spring. But the books of the scholars indicate that the celestial sphere
stopped with all its planets and all its stars without change in the seasons.

138 From Adam to Joshua, son of Nun, until the death of Moses, there were 27 generations.
In the year 10 of the government of Joshua, son of Nun, he divided the land that God had
given them as an inheritance between the tribes of the Israelites, except for the tribe of
Levi, that of the Levites; he did not give them land, in accordance with what God had
instructed him. He said that the Lord was their portion and their inheritance. And God
ordered that all the eleven tribes gave each year the tenth of their harvest to that of
Levi. In that time Erichthonius the Greek made the first chariot, harnessed four horses
and similar to the moving throne for nine mikdar; ten people were in it and the chariot,
drawn by these four horses, ran on wheels. The king took his seat with his most favoured
notables; and the chariot went where he wanted. It is said that none exist any more,
because there is nobody who can make one; but certain people say that the Greeks do this
even now.

139 In that year the sons of Lot, the Ammonites and Moabites, made war and fought against
the Cananaeans, but the latter killed 5,000 of them, and Joshua, son of Nun, himself
killed also 7 tribes and 31 kings of them. After Joshua, son of Nun, it was Kuschan, the
deceiver, who was the leader of the Israelites and governed them for 8 years. In this time
the Curetes and Corybantes in the town of Knossos made themselves known; they were the
first to invent music, dance, song and various kinds of music with various types of
instruments. Then Othoniel, son of Kaniz, governed the children of Israel for 40 years. In
the first year of his government, Cecrops reigned in the town of Athens for 49 years. It
is written in the poems of Homer that Cecrops and his successors who had the same
religious beliefs were those brought into existence those evil things and those unpleasant
stories received among Greeks; this is what is written in the poems of Homer.

140 In this year Othoniel killed Kuschan, the deceiver, king of Aram, and freed the
Israelites from him. At this time, another flood happened in the time of Deucalion. Some
time afterwards, Plato, who was the teacher of Aristotle, gave us an account and history
of this flood in his books. At this time Zeus is mentioned who, it is reported, was a king
of Crete, a maritime country; his lifetime was 107 years; he did all kinds of abominations
and was soiled with the vices of the Greeks. At that time, Io, who was called Isis because
of her behaviour, went to the country of Egypt. Then the Moabites, from the posterity of
Lot, having overcome the Israelites, governed them for 14 years. At this time the town of
Kourithous was built, which is known by the name of Corinth. At that time the Corinthians
made copper (?) which neither quadrupeds, nor reptiles could attack.

141 Towards the end of the reign of Moabites, there reigned over Athens, after Cecrops,
Cronos, whose name translated means Saturn, for 9 years. At that time, in the town of
Athens, the assembly of the Areopagus was established, which means the assembly of the
judges and the scholars. It is told that at that time Dionysios, son of Deucalion, started
to plant vines and to press wine; and men drank it. But that does not agree with what
certain people say in their ignorance: they said that the first who learned how to drink
wine and gave indications on this subject, were the devils; but we also found in the
Sacred Books that before that time Noah planted vines, pressed wine and drank it. 142
Ahoud (Ehud, Aod), son of Hara (Gera), governed the Israelites for 80 years. It was he who
killed Eglon, king of the Moabites, of the race of Lot; he killed him as follows: he
attached to his thigh a sword with two edges; then he was presented before Eglon and said
to him: "I have a secret for you; I want to entrust it to you." Eglon ordered all his
companions to leave and remained alone with him. Then Ahoud detached his sword from his
thigh and stabbed him in the belly, so that his entrails came out, and killed him; after
that he left. He governed the Israelites and overcame the Moabites. In year 25 of the
government of Ahoud, the fourth thousand of the years of the history of the world was
completed. This is clear, because we have already set out and described in a precise way
that the space of the years from Adam and the origins of the world until the year of the
death of Moses, prophet of God, was 3,886 years. If we add to it, from the day of the
death of Moses, the years of the government of Joshua, son of Nun, over the Israelites,
i.e. 27 years; --- after him those of Kuschan, the deceiver, 8 years; then those of
Othoniel, 40 years; after Othoniel, those of the Moabites, the children of Lot, 14 years;
then if we add to it the 25 years of the years of the government of Ahoud, who, as we
said, governed them for 80 years, we obtain the number of 114 years, and if we add this
figure to the years past from Adam to the day of the death of Moses, i.e. 3,886 years,
then that will give the 4,000 year figure of the chronology of the world, just at the end
of 25 years of the government of Ahoud over the Israelites, which we spoke about earlier.

143 At this time Nicomedes built Nicomedia, i.e. Constantinople; but at the end of a
period of time this city sank into the earth. Then after that, king Byzas rebuilt it and
called it, after his name, Byzantium. At the end of a period of time, Constantine, son of
Helen, ascended the throne; he enlarged it, increased it and called it by his name
Constantinople (Constaniyniya). At that time Poseidon married Lysianasse and fathered by
her Douk.ntis and Busiris; some time after, Busiris seized the country which is located on
the river Nile; he massacred the foreigners who passed, and travellers, and he ate them.
Then (Samgar) governed the Israelites, after Ahoud, for 22 years. At that time Phrixus was
illustrious; it is told that, thanks to his agility and speed, he flew like a bird, and
that neither the most excellent horses, nor the gazelles could catch him. Then Barak, of
the tribe of Nephthali, governed the Israelites for 40 years; he made war with Sisara and
killed him with all his troops and 500 iron chariots which he had.

144 At that time Achaeus built a city and gave his name to it. At that time Sibyl, the
prophetess lived, who clearly explained the thoughts of men by her gift of prophecy. At
that time it was a question of prayers and supplications of ….. addressed to the gods …
Zeus; he knew a slave of the family …. on the edge of Lake Triton; she brought Aphrodite
into the world, which means Beauty (Venus). At that time Melampus the magician, Tantalus
and Tityus are notable, who with their magic revealed hidden things, so that people
admired them. It is told that Zeus also knew Leto and fathered on her Apollo and Hercules.
At that time reigned the kings whose history is in the books of the poems of Homer. After
Barak, the Midianites, who were Arabs, governed the Israelites for 7 years; they
devastated all their country. [End of PO 5.4 ]

145 At this time Phemonoe the magician was notable; she predicted the future in hexameter
verse and disturbed the spirits of people. In that time, Gideon, son of Joash, saw the
angel of the Lord who encouraged him to deliver the Israelites. Then he arose and governed
the Israelites for 40 years. At the same time, Perseus returned to the country of Persia
and cut of the head of Gorgon (Gharghou) the courtesan, who, by her beauty and grace, had
struck all those who looked at her, so much so that they seemed changed into stones, as
Didymus the scholar reports in his books. Gideon governed the Israelites for 31 years,
when the daughters of Helios appeared and were made known, whom Klytia had given him; the
names of these seven girls were Circe (Qirqâ), Merope (Mirfa), Hirqa (?) Zirqa (?), Qirda
(?), Lampétie (?), (Midyâ) and Pasiphae (Basoufiyâ); they were magicians. It is said that
a man could see his face in that of each of them, because of the beauty of their colour;
and when one of them arose in the darkness, the place shone.

146 At that time, the towns of Cyrene and Miletus were founded. At that time reigned
Fasouniyous (?) Apollo (Afoulyoun). It is told that he played the cithar; it was he which
was made a lute from stone; the wild beasts and the deer gathered to him to hear his
voice, without injuring each other, because of the great beauty of his voice, his playing
and his song; it is told that sometimes, when he sang, the wild beasts and the deer fell
asleep. It is written that Gideon, having gathered an army of 30,000 men, went out with
them against the Midianites. But God did not want the victory to be due to the great
number of troops, and ordered him to take with him 300 men; and Gideon delivered the
Israelites from the Midianites. After Gideon, Abimelech, his son, governed the Israelites
for three years. When he became king, he killed his seventy brothers by his father Gideon.
When Abimelech had gone out against the town of Tebec, a woman threw on him, from the top
of the citadel, a fragment of a grinding stone and killed him. Thus God repaid him and
rewarded him by promptly punishing him for his bad conduct and the evil which he had done
to his brothers. Then Tholag, his cousin, judged the Israelites for 22 years.

147 In that time, Kora (Proserpine), daughter of Zeus, was abducted. At that time, Marsyas
the shepherd (Silenus) was a flute-player and tried to excel Apollo; they made both a
contract and a bet. Then Marsyas, having been overcome, was hung from a tree, as had been
agreed between them In the year 21 of the government of Tholag, the town of Tarsus was
built by king Perseus. At that time, Apollo married a woman and fathered on her Asclepius.
Dionysius captured India, was governor of it and built the town of Nysa there on the banks
of the river Indus. In that time, after Tholag, Jair, of Gilead, judged the Israelites for
22 years; he had thirty sons who mounted with him on thirty foals. At that time, the town
of Cyzicus was built on the shore of the sea. This is the Cyzicus, of which we already
said that the temple, one of the seven wonders, had been built there.

148 Then, after Jair, the Israelites were subjected to the Ammonites, descendants of Lot,
for 18 years. At that time, Linus, the teacher of Hercules announced himself, the first
great king who, as we have said, erected in the sea three marvellous statues to preserve
sailors from shipwreck; they were one of the seven wonders of which we spoke at the
beginning of our book. In the first year of the victory of the Ammonites, the town of Tyre
was built. As the Ammonites oppressed the Israelites at every meeting, the inhabitants of
Gilead went to find Jephte, fifteen years after driving him out and sent away from them.
They went to him, brought him back and placed him at their head; then he governed the
Israelites for six years. He engaged himself by a vow and an irrevocable oath to offer to
God in sacrifice, after his return from combat, the first of his house which he met, if
God granted the victory to him. Having gone out and having overcome the enemies, he
returned: however, his only daughter came out to meet him; he immolated her and offered
her to God in sacrifice, in accordance with the vow which he had made.

149 Then Ebsan (Abîsan) or Hesbon, of Bethlehem, judged the Israelites for seven years. He
had thirty sons and thirty daughters; he married off his thirty sons and, in one day, he
acquired thirty daughters-in-law; he married off his thirty daughters and, in one day, he
obtained thirty sons-in-law. Then Elon, of the tribe of Zabulon, judged the Israelites for
ten years. In that time, the witch Medea announced herself. By her magic spells she made
Creon (Qâroun) and Glaucus (`Alouqa) burn. In an fit of rage, she killed all her sons.
Then Labdon or `Abdon judged the Israelites for eight years. He had forty sons and thirty
grandsons who rode with him on seventy foals. In that time, king Hercules fell seriously
sick; he threw himself in the fire and died, at the age of 52. At that time, Apollo was
taken with and in love with Daphne to such a point that he lost his head and became
insane.

150 The Israelites having sinned and their faults having become enormous, God delivered
them into the hands of the Philistines, i.e. of the people of Palestine, for 41 years.
Then, after the Philistines, Samson, devoted to God by his parents, judged the Israelites;
he was of the tribe of Dan, he was a judge for 20 years. In the year 3 of his government,
he began a war against the Philistines. In year 5 of the same, the story of Ruth the
Moabite took place, i.e. originating from the tribe of Moab. Boaz married her and fathered
by her Obed, grandfather of the prophet David. The story of Ruth contains 246 verses; her
book is so beautiful, that it was translated from Greek into Arabic. 151 In year 8 of the
government of Samson, Alexander Paris, son of Priam, king of Ilion, took some offerings
and went to offer them to the god Apollo, in the country of HelIas, at the age of 33,
because he said that this was the god who had predicted to his father that he would have a
son. When he had left and had been presented to the king of Sparta who was called
Menelaus, he saw Helen there. Her beauty and her grace charmed him and he ardently desired
her. Her husband being delayed where he had gone, and being far from him, Paris abducted
the young woman and brought her to Troy, in the country of Phrygia, to his father, without
having presented his offering [to Apollo]. When Menelaus arrived and learned what had
happened, he sent messengers and called to his assistance twenty kings with their ships,
to the number of 2,250. They went by sea and fought Priam and his son who had abducted the
beautiful Helen. They captured Helen and all the country which had made war against them
for ten years, until the year 18 of the government of Samson. At this same time, the town
of Ilion, described in the book and poetries of Homer, was destroyed.

152 In year 19 of the government of Samson, Zeus, king of Crete, died and was buried at
Aqrathi, i.e. on the shore of the sea. He had lived 780 years. Because of his longevity he
was called Zeus; but before he was called Dios. In that time, after Samson had killed a
great number of the Philistines, he was handed over to them; they put out his eyes because
of one of their women, whom he had loved passionately. This girl-friend did not cease
employing tricks against him until he had let her know that his strength was in his hair.
While he slept in the room of this woman, she cut the hair devoted to God from him; his
strength disappeared, she strangled him and called the Philistines to him. After Samson
the Israelites were without a judge for 12 years. The book of Joshua, son of Nun, the
first book of Judges, contains 1,953 verses; the second book, 2,880 verses.

153 After that the priest Heli (`Ali) came who judged the Israelites for 40 years; he had
become their judge at the age of 38. In year 18 of the government of the priest Heli
priest, was born the prophet Samuel, consecrated to God by his parents. In year 20 of the
government of Heli, Anne, mother of Samuel, presented him and dedicated him to the Lord,
when he was two years old; and he remained with the priest Heli in the temple, for the
remainder of his government, without leaving it. On the death of Heli, the prophet Samuel
succeeded him and judged the Israelites for 20 years. When he replaced Heli who had just
died, Samuel was 22. This was the year when the Philistines seized the Ark of the Lord;
but as they could not endure the pain which took them from behind, when it arrived, they
restored it and sent at the same time offerings in its honour. When Samuel had governed
the Israelites for 20 years, they requested him to name and appoint a king for them; they
asked to be delivered from the government that the Lord exercised over them by the
intermediary of the judges and the governors. Consequently, Samuel gave them for king
Saul, son of Cis.

154 The number of the years from the government of Joshua, son of Nun, and from the judges
who followed him, until the day when Saul, son of Cis, began to reign, was 505; from Adam
to that year, 4391 years. This is explained by what we have set out above. We have said
that from Adam to the flood there were 2,256 years; from the flood to the birth of `Aru,
670 years; from Adam to the year of the birth of Ar`u, 2926 years; from the birth of Ar`u
until that of Abraham, 416 years; from Adam to that year, 3342 years; since the birth of
Abraham until that of Moses, 424 years; from Adam to the birth of Moses, 3766 years; from
the year of the birth of Moses until the year of the exodus of the Israelites of Egypt and
the ascension of Moses on the mountain of the Lord, Tur Sina, 81 years; from Adam to that
year, 3847 years. Then, after bringing the Israelites out of Egypt into the desert, Moses
governed them for 39 years. From Adam and the origins of the world until the year of the
death of Moses there were 3,886 years; if we add to this the total of the years of the
judges who governed the Israelites, i.e. 505 years, the years of the history of the world,
from Adam and the origins of the universe, will be 4,391 years. (This book) is called the
book of the Judges.

155 Saul, son of Cis, of the tribe of Benjamin, reigned over the Israelites and governed
them for 40 years, and the years from the beginning of his reign are counted and these
years added to the years of the history of the world which, as we said, until the
beginning of the reign of Saul, are 4,391. After that the years of their kings are added,
one after the other, until the moment when king Nabuchodonosor (Bokht-Nasar) reduced them
into captivity. Then, after the period of the kings and the captivity, the work of
Nabuchodonosor, by adding them to the era of the world, the total of the years of kings of
Persia and the East are counted, one after the other, until the end of the time of the
latter; and the total of the calculation reaches the first year of the Ptolemaic kings who
were kings of the West and the first was Ptolemy Alexander or Dou' l-Karnein.

156 We will recount this in our account; we will write the whole story, the events, the
news and the wonders which marked these centuries and those times; after which, we will
continue the annals from the beginning of the reign of Alexander Dou' l-Karnein until our
own times and even to this day; we will tell what happened then and you will set it out in
a clear account, if God wills. The history of the prophet Samuel, last governor and the
last judge of the Israelites; the history of Saul, son of Cis, first king of the
Israelites. 157 It is written that the prophet Samuel governed the Israelites for 20
years. They obeyed, as we said in the beginning, neither Samuel nor their Lord; and they
set themselves to demand of the prophet to be exempted from the government of the judges,
requesting him to obtain for them from the Lord, following the example of the other
peoples, the establishment of a king, thus scorning the worship of the Lord and the
government which he exercised over them through Samuel, in order to run after their love
of pleasure. Samuel advised them, exhorted them, warned them, told them which would be the
conduct of the kings towards them, [of the kings] who would seize their daughters to make
of them weavers, tapestry-makers, bakers and cooks, and would reduce them to slavery.
Samuel informed them this, hoping to reach them; but they did not obey and did not attend
at all to his remonstrances; on the contrary, they came from there to accuse the son of
Samuel of lying and to charge them wrongfully. They said to Samuel: "As for you, we want
to loosen your yoke." In view of their audacity, their importunity and their manifest
impiety, he asked God for permission to give them a king. The Lord ordered him to go out,
to anoint for them Saul, son of Cis, of the tribe of Benjamin, and to make him reign over
them to punish them.

158 That took place 545 years after the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt, and this
figure includes all the time in which they were administered by their governors, their
judges and also by their Lord of whom these were the intermediaries. After Saul, reigned
the prophet David and, after him, his son Solomon. To Solomon his son succeeded, and,
after him, the son of his son, until the last of their kings and until Nabuchodonosor had
taken them into captivity to Babylon. During the long period of their kings, lived the
prophet Elijah, the prophet Abdias, the prophet Eleazar, the prophet Micaiah, the prophet
Judas and the prophet Hosea. After his ascension into heaven, the prophet Elijah was
replaced by his disciple Elisha. At the time of king Oziah, the prophets Isaiah, Joel and
Zachariah, son of Barachiah, prophesied about Christ. The Jews stoned Zachariah, son of
Barachiah, in the temple, because he reproached them for the abominations which they had
committed: they killed him between the temple and the altar. The Lord, irritated against
them, put them under the yoke of king Salmanasar who took their ten tribes into captivity.
According to the Jews these are those who [are] beyond the river Gozan.

159 The Bible says that Saul, son of Cis, reigned over the Israelites for 40 years. This
was the punishment which the Lord inflicted on them to punish them. In the year 3 of his
reign, Saul made war on the Amalekites and overcame them. In the year 10 of the same
reign, was born David, son of Isaiah; his mother was Nahas; he belonged to the tribe of
Judah. At that time, the kings of the Lacedemonians and Corinthians began to reign and the
town of Nileus was built. In the year 23 of the reign of Saul, the prophet David was
annointed by the prophet Samuel, who was then 65 years old; David was 13. In year 28 of
the reign of Saul, David, 18 years old, killed the giant Goliath. In year 33, a pilgrimage
of the prophets to Nayoth took place, a town of Ramah; and king Saul prophesied with them.

160 In year 35 of the reign of Saul, died the prophet Samuel. In year 30 from the birth of
David, 17 years after his anointing and 5 years after the death of Samuel, Saul died in
battle against the Philistines, who are the inhabitants of Palestine. The tribe of Judah
was assembled, and took David for its king at Hebron. Then he was annointed again and
reigned over all the tribes of the Israelites. He reigned in Jerusalem for 33 years, in
all for 40 years. The complete book of Samuel contains 3,436 verses and the book of David,
i.e. the Psalms, 4,830 verses. David, in year 10 of his reign, gathered all the Israelites
and made the Ark of the Lord leave the house of Amminadhab in the Tabernacle which he had
designed and constructed for it. In that time, the prophets Gad, Nathan and Asaph
prophesied. Nathan is the one who presented himself before David to say that he would not
build the house of the Lord, but that it would be his son Solomon who would build it; it
is he also who reprimanded David because of the wife of Uriah. Being in the town of
Gabaon, this prophet died there and was buried there. Asaph was of those whom David
established to praise God before the Ark of the Lord. It was Gad whom God ordered to tell
David to get up and to build an altar to the Lord on the ground of Ornan.

161 It is said that David united to the dignity of prophet and king that of priest. We do
not need to bring testimonies to show that he was a king and prophet, because it is an
obvious and manifest fact which every one knows. It remains for us to show and demonstrate
that he was also a priest. We are assured that Jesus Christ attested this in the Gospel,
saying: David ate the unleavened bread that nobody could eat except the priests alone,
that nobody had the right to eat, except them. Moreover, David wore all the time the
priestly vestments. One of the famous men of this time was the high priest Abiathar. In
that year, i.e. in year 10 of his reign, David brought up and placed the Ark of the Lord
in the Tabernacle, i.e. the house which he had built to receive it; he established before
the Ark of the Lord, in the Tabernacle, cantors who sang psalms, praised and glorified
God, we mean Asaph and his companions.

162 From that time dates the custom of praying at three o'clock, at six o'clock and nine
o'clock, without counting the prayers of the morning, evening, before the day and
midnight: this makes a total of seven prayers of the day and the night. It is also said
that the custom of making these prayers goes back to the time of Enoch, son of Seth, son
of Adam, because Enoch, the first, started to name and to call upon the Lord; Adam and
Seth already knew the name of God (Allah). But it was Enoch who gave him the name of Lord
(ar-Rabb) and made mention of the name of God (Allah). He said: "Allahomma! my Lord and my
God!" He was the first to know the name of the Lord (ar-Rabb). In year 16 of the reign of
David, died Nahach, king of the Ammonites. Then David sent his son Hamon (Hamnoun) to
comfort the Ammonites. When he arrived, an argument broke out between them. Hamon was
unjust to him; then he went away. In year 18 of the reign of David, Hamon revolted against
his father David; he hired the kings of Harran, Nisibis and Aram for a thousand talents
(kikar); the kikar is a great amount of money; he brought them with a numerous army which
numbered 32,000 men to make war on David. Joab, son of Zerouya (Sarouyâ), and his brother
Abisaï, both son of David's sister and leaders of David's troops, advanced to meet them;
they fought a battle with Hamon and his troops, put them to rout, exterminated them and
captured Rabbath, a city of the Ammonites.

163 In that time, David had Uriah the Hethaenn killed and took his wife. At the same
period the towns of Magnesia and Myrina were built in Asia. In year 30 of his reign, David
made war on the Philistines; in the battle that he fought with them, he killed the four
giants of Gath and destroyed the race of the giants. At that period the town of Ephesus
was built. In that period, the Greek poet Homer lived. In year 39 of his reign, David
reorganised the families of the Levites, the tribe of the priests; he established 288
priests who were to praise and glorify God, while singing before the Ark of the Lord; he
divided them into twenty-four classes; each class, which included twelve priests, was to
sing for one of the 24 hours of the day and the night, one group of twelve priests
succeeding another, without interruption. He instituted the tribes of the priests, one
following another.

164 After a reign of forty years, David died, aged 70. From his time, the Jews received
part of the Mishna, which is the book of Chema`sa, according to the books of Ananias and
others as well as astonishing stupidities which are not good and which it is inadvisable
to make known by repeating them in our book. There are yet other stupidities, which the
foolish ones believe down to this day, together with their eminent scholars, without
speaking of others who also like and want to know these [follies]. To David succeeded his
son Solomon, who reigned over the Israelites for 40 years, as it says in the Bible. In the
first year of his reign, he drove out and exiled the priest Abiathar, as well as his
brother Adoniah and killed Joab, son of Zerouya (Sarouyâ). In the year 11 of his reign,
Solomon completed the construction of the Temple of the Lord, construction begun in year 4
of his reign, at the beginning of the month of Ayar (May), on the ground that David had
bought from Oman (Arân) the Jebusaean, on the mountain of the Amorrhaeans. He thus built
the Temple in seven years, this construction having been finished in year 11 of his reign,
the 2nd of the month of Tichrin II (November). It is said that God had inspired in David
the idea to buy this ground and to order his son Solomon to build the Temple of the Lord
there, because, as we told above, it was the place where Abraham had offered to the Lord
his Isaac son in a holocaust; we described this place with precise details.

165 In the place of the priest Abiathar whom Solomon had deposed, the prophet Zadok
(Zadeqiyâ) was appointed to his position as priest. It is said that he was the eighth
since Aaron. In the place of Joab, son of Zerouya (Sarouyâ), Benaya son of Yoyada was
appointed as head of the army. At that period, Hesiod and Homer, poets of the Greeks, were
illustrious. In the year 24 of his reign, Solomon destroyed Antioch and built Tadmor in a
desolate and deserted country. In the year 29 of the reign of Solomon, the prophet Ahiya
the Scilonite prophesied. It is written that Solomon, in year 34 of his reign, built on
the mountain which is opposite Jerusalem, a altar to Kamoch, god of the Moabites, and to
Malkoum, god of the Ammonites: he obeyed some of his wives who had made him impious and
had misled him. At that period, Jeroboam, son of Nabat, fled to Egypt to king Sesac
(Shishak) and remained there until the death of Solomon and the advent of his son Roboam
(Ardjab`am).

166 The book of the Proverbs of Solomon contains 1,762 verses; the book of Great Wisdom
1,550 verses. The book of Ecclesiastes, which means the sermon of Solomon addressed by him
to the Israelites, when he reigned over them and gathered them in order to deliver this
speech to them, contains 427 verses. In the book of the Song of Songs there are 256
verses. Roboam, son of Solomon, was born from an Ammonite woman named Naama, a year before
the advent of Solomon. Roboam, son of Solomon, reigned 17 years; he lived 58 years. In the
first year of his reign, not having taken the advice of the old men who had advised to him
to act with uprightness and to be gentle towards the Israelites, but having shown to them
even more harshness than his father, the Israelites revolted against him, assembled and
stoned Adoram (Oudous), the controller of the taxes. The kingdom was divided into two
parts, according to the word of the prophet Ahiya.

167 Jeroboam, son of Nabat, who had fled to Egypt, reigned over ten tribes for 22 years;
Roboam reigned only over the tribe of Judah. Jeroboam built Sichem, on the mountain of
Ephraim. In year 2 [of his reign], Jeroboam made two golden calves and brought them out
for the worship of the Israelites. In year 5 of the reign of Roboam, Sesac (Chishaq), king
of Egypt, went up to Jerusalem and took all the shields of gold that Solomon had made in
the Temple; Roboam replaced them by others made of bronze. After the death of Roboam, his
son Abiah succeeded him for 3 years. In the first year of his reign, he gathered his
troops to the number of four hundred thousand to make war with Jeroboam and with the
tribes of Israel. Jeroboam on his side gathered his troops which counted eight hundred
thousand riders, and they made war. Jeroboam was overcome and fled. Five hundred thousand
warriors of the Israelites succumbed. In that time, Abiah took fourteen wives; he had
twenty-six sons and sixteen daughters.

168 After his death, his son Asa reigned for 41 years; he lived 60 years. In year 3 of his
reign, Nadab began to reign, after Jeroboam, over the Israelites, and reigned for two
years. In year 5 of the reign of Asa, the hight priest Abimelek flourished. Then Ba`asa
(Ba`cha) reigned over the ten tribes of the Israelites for 24 years. Asa, in year 10 of
his reign, gathered the idols and burned them; he drove out the public women from all his
kingdom and sent away his mother, because she celebrated the festivals of the idols of the
grove. In year 29 of the reign of Asa, Ela, son of Ba`asa, reigned over the Israelites and
occupied the throne for two years; and after him, Zimri, his servant, for seven days. Then
the kingdom of the ten tribes of the Israelites was divided: one part lined up under the
standards of Tibni, another under the standards of `Amri. The troops of `Amri being
numerous, Tibni was so afraid and so dismayed that he fell sick and died because of this.
`Amri reigned over [only] the [ten] the tribes for six years. In that time, `Amri bought
the mountain of Samaria (Chamarîn) which belonged to Samer (Chamîr); he built there a city
which he called Samaria (Chamarîn), like the mountain. It became the seat of the kings of
the ten tribes of Israel. The seat of the kings of the tribe of Judah was in Jerusalem.
`Amri reigned another six years in the royal city which he had built.

169 In year 30 of the reign of Asa, king of the tribe of Judah, Zarah, king of India, went
against Jerusalem, by land and sea, at the head of an army of eleven hundred thousand men;
he camped under its walls and besieged it. Then king Asa addressed his prayers to his
Lord,... he removed his royal clothing, covered himself with sackcloth and, humbly
prostrate on ashes, prayed to God, asking His help and assistance against Zarah, king of
India, and against his troops. God, who is powerful and great, answered his prayer, spoke
to him and ordered him to assemble his troops and go out at their head against Zarah, in
order to show him His power; but He prohibited him from including in his army people who
carried swords or who shot arrows. When he went out with his army and came hand to hand
with the troops of Zarah, those bent their bows, whose cords made a sound similar to the
buzz of hives full of bees. They launched their arrows; but when these arrows reached
their destination, God returned them to the hand of each rider of Zarah. The riders
wounded by the arrows complained and informed their king of what had happened to them: "It
is one of the magic spells which the Israelites have brought out of Egypt, " said the king
to his companions.

170 The soldiers took their swords then and set to kill each other, because God had given
them, each to the eyes of the others, the appearance of the Israelites: thus they
exterminated themselves. Those who escaped death, drowned in the sea; and three days after
the sea threw them on to the shore. Then God ordered king Asa to go out with his troops
towards the sea to take their skins. May no-one be astonished by my account in which I
explain the order given by God to king Asa: any intelligent man knows, indeed, that
victory and triumph depend on God. The history of the campaign of Zarah against Jerusalem
and the reason which caused him to make war on the Israelites would take a little too a
long time to tell. 171 After Asa, king of Jerusalem, his son Josaphat reigned over the
tribe of Judah for 25 years. In year 2 of his reign, Ahab succeeded his father `Amri and
reigned in Samaria over the ten tribes of Israel. He then married a woman, named Jezabel,
the daughter of Ethba'al, king of Sidon. He rebuilt the accursed city of Jericho that
Joshua, son of Noun, had cursed, when he captured it at the time of the exodus of the
Israelites from Egypt; Joshua had cursed also he who rebuilt it. Jericho was rebuilt 700
years after its destruction. One of the prophets of this time was Elijah, of the family of
Aaron. He lived in a town of Gilead. On the day of his birth, his father saw him in a
dream, surrounded by flames and going up to the sky. Another prophet was Abdias, of the
tribe of Ephraim, who had hidden a hundred prophets for fear they would be killed by king
Ahab. There was also the prophet Micaiah who had proclaimed to king Ahab the victory that
he would gain over his enemies; the chaldaean prophets, among whom was Zedekiah, son of a
Canaanite woman; Eleazar with 400 prophets who prophesied in the city of the queen Jezabel
against her whims and passions.

172 In year 8 of the reign of Josaphat, king of the tribe of Judah, Ahab built a temple
and some altars to the idols in the town of Samaria. Josaphat, in year 12 of his reign,
made war on the king of Ramah who was called Ben-Hadad (Bar-Hadad) and with 32 kings who
were with him; he overcame them and killed 7,000 of their men. Among the prophets of this
time, there were Oziel (Hazayyal) and Eleazar. In the year 24 of the reign of Josaphat,
king of the tribe of Judah, Ochozia (Ahaz), son of Ahab, began to reign over the ten
tribes of Israel and occupied the throne for two years. Josaphat died at the age of 60 and
had as successor his son Joram who reigned over the tribe of Judah in Jerusalem for eight
years; he lived 40 years. At that time, the prophet Elijah was lifted up into heaven.

173 Joram, king of the tribe of Judah, married Athalia, sister of Ahab, king of the tribes
of Israel. At the same time, Joram killed all his brothers, the children of Josaphat.
After which he fell ill: all his entrails came out of his belly which was thus completely
emptied, and he died. Then Ahaziah, son of Joram, reigned over the tribe of Judah for one
year; he lived 23 years. That year Jezabel died; she reigned for 36 years, including 15
years after the death of her husband. It is written that after the death of Ahaziah, son
of Athalia, sister (daughter) of Ahab, Athalia seized all the royal princes of the tribe
of Judah and killed them, except Joash, son of Ahaziah, whom Josabeth (Yahouchaba`), his
aunt, had hidden with her nurse. The policy of Athalia and its goal throughout were to
destroy the kingdom of the tribe of Judah and reduce it to just one, by joining it
together with that of her brother Ahab, king of the ten tribes of Israel; then to tear off
the sceptre with the tribe of Judah of which it was written that the Messiah was to come,
as if she wanted of her own will to prevent the advent of the Messiah, while obeying the
suggestions that Satan, revolted against God, had thrown in her heart; because Satan would
have liked to make empty the revelations made by God to the prophets on the arrival of the
Messiah, and this is why he made of Athalia his instrument and the place of his residence.

174 In year 7 of the reign of Athalia, Joiada the high priest gathered all the tribe of
Judah, and they proclaimed king Joash, son of Ahaziah, who was seven years old; he reigned
over the tribe of Judah for 40 years and lived 47 years. At that time, Lycurgus the
legislator flourished. At the same time, Elisha and Zachariah prophesied; this last was
the son of the priest Joiada. Joash, king of Judah, ordered the prophet Zachariah, son of
the priest Joiada, put to death, and the prophet was killed in the court of the temple.
Joash also killed all the children of Joiada and attracted on himself the anger of God. In
year 25 of the reign of Joash, son of Ahaziah, died the high priest Joiada. This same
year, Joachaz, son of Jehu began to reign over the ten tribes of Israel and reigned for 17
years. 175 In year 30 of the reign of Joash, king of Judah, the prophet Elisha died, who
had lived 50 years after the removal of Elijah to the sky and 67 years after annointing.
Joash, king of Judah, was killed by his servants and died a miserable death. Amaziah his
son reigned after him for 29 years; he lived 54 years. In year 2 of his reign, a king,
whose name was also Joash, started to reign over the ten tribes of Israel. But he drew his
origin from these ten tribes and was not the Joash who had reigned over the tribe of
Judah. He reigned over the ten tribes for 16 years. In year 13 of the reign of Amaziah,
king of Judah, Joash, king of the tribes of Israel, made war on him. He drew up balistas
against Jerusalem, destroyed the enclosing wall over a length of four hundreds cubits and
entered the city; he then took all the vestments from the temple of the Lord, the sacred
vessels, and the royal treasures and returned to Samaria, the capital of his kingdom.

176 In that time, prophesied the prophet Hosea of the tribe of Issachar, and the prophet
Amos, of Thecue (Taqou`), who was killed by order of Amaziah. At that time, prophesied the
prophet Younan, who is Jonah, son of the prophet Amathi (Matai). He prophesied against the
town of Nineveh and its inhabitants. It is said that Jonah was the son of the widow, that
like the prophet Elijah he was resuscitated after his death. In year 18 of the reign of
Amaziah, king of Judah, Jeroboam began to reign over the ten tribes of Israel and reigned
for 41 years. When Amaziah had reigned 29 years over the tribe of Judah, his servants
killed him, and he died a miserable death. His son Uzziah succeeded him and reigned for 52
years; he lived 68 years. The books of the Kings, according to which we have written and
tell the history of the kings, indicate that Uzziah was son of Amaziah; Amaziah, son of
Joash; Joash, son of Ahaziah; and Ahaziah, son of Joram. No-one among the learned is
worried about this. But three of these kings are not mentioned in the genealogy of Christ,
contained in the Gospel of the evangelist Matthew (on him be safety!) Matthew says, in
fact, that Joram fathered Uzziah; and he omits these three kings, i.e. Amaziah, Joash and
Ahaziah, father of Joash, and makes no mention of them in the genealogy of Christ.

177 The astonishing history of Amaziah, of his son Joash, of Ahaziah, son of Joash, kings
of Judah, from whom Christ draws his origin. We will recount and indicate the reason why
the evangelist Matthew did not mention these kings, when he drew up the genealogy of the
Messiah in the Gospel, and [we will say] why he omitted them, from Joram to Uzziah. Thus
the Gospel begins where Matthew says: "History of the birth of Jesus-Christ, son of David,
son of Abraham"; then he adds: "Abraham fathered Isaac. Isaac fathered Jacob. Jacob
fathered Judah and his brothers. Judah fathered by Thamar Pharez and Zarah. Pharez
fathered Esrom (Hosroun). Esrom fathered Aram. Aram fathered Aminadab. Aminadab fathered
Nahson. Nahson fathered Salmon. Salmon fathered by Rahab Boaz. Boaz fathered `Obed by
Ruth. `Obed fathered Jesse. Jesse fathered king David. David fathered Solomon, by the wife
of Uriah. Solomon fathered Roboam. Roboam fathered Abia. Abia fathered Asa. Asa fathered
Josaphat. Josaphat fathered Joram. Joram fathered Uzziah." Matthew draws up a continuous
genealogy of Christ to Joseph, promised in marriage to Mary; but he omits kings from Joram
to Uzziah, as we said, i.e. three kings, from which Christ draws also his origin according
to our calculation. Matthew does not insert them in the genealogy of Christ, and these
are: Amaziah, Uzziah and Joash.

178 The Christian scholars and doctors say that Joram did a thing at which the Lord was
angry: he married Athalia, sister of Ahab, king of the tribes of Israel, who had married
the Jezabel queen, murderess of the prophets. God was angry against Joram, because he had
married the sister of the husband of the queen Jezabel, as if he had massacred the
prophets and built temples and altars to idols. It is because of this that king Ahab had
undertaken what he did. The Bible also says about this: After the death of Ahaziah, king
of Judah, Joash, son of Ahaziah, alone remained by the care of Josabeth, his aunt, who had
hidden him with her nurse. This is why God was angry against Joram, as we have already
said, because he had married Athalia, sister of Ahab, the woman who would have liked to
destroy the kingdom of Joram and that of the tribe of Judah and its posterity, from where
Christ draws his origin; who would have liked to extirpate the descent of the tribe of
Judah and his kingdom, to make it hers and that of Ahab her brother, and, if possible, to
destroy the descent of Judah from where the Messiah was to come, to join together the two
kingdoms, that of Judah and that of the ten tribes, in only one. Athalia, sister of Ahab,
husband of Jezabel, also killed all the children of the high priest Joiada. Then Joram was
not satisfied to have married Athalia, sister of Ahab: God was angry again against him
because he massacred all his brothers, children of his father Josaphat. God thus brought
down on him his vengeance: he fell ill; his entrails escaped and his belly was entirely
emptied; he died thus a miserable death.

179 Then his son Joash ascended the throneand killed the prophet Zachariah in the court of
the temple of the Lord. He also killed all the family of the high priest Joiada. Then God
delivered him into the hands of his servants who killed him; and he died a miserable
death. When his son Amaziah ascended the throne of Judah, he killed the prophet Amos at
the end of his reign. Then God was angry against him and delivered him into the hands of
his servants who killed him; and he died a miserable death. It is because of these very
striking facts that the evangelist Matthew excluded from his Gospel the names of these
three kings, when he made the genealogy of Christ, out of horror of their actions. The
most hideous of these stories is that of Athalia which had thought of exterminating the
tribe of Judah, because Satan, who lived in this woman, had persuaded her to prevent the
advent of the Messiah. We already explained this to you and we are showing it to you now,
so that you can understand it. Ask (may God keep you!) who you like among the scholars,
the wise ones and the people skilled in learning, about the history of these three kings
who are the ancestors of Christ. I have set it forth to you and explained it. It is one of
the mysteries of the Gospel which contains innumerable such.

180 We have said that Uzziah, son of Amaziah, reigned over the tribe of Judah for 52
years. It is written that in year 6 of his reign the dynasty of the kings of the Assyrians
ended, i.e. of Mosul, and that their kingdom fell into the power of the Medes, with the
country of Babylon (Babil). The first king of the Assyrians was Phoul, son of Sa(?); he
reigned over them for 35 years. In that time, the repentance of the inhabitants of the
town of Nineveh took place. At the same time, Hosea, Amos (`Amoun), Jonah, son of Amathi,
and Isaiah who was from Jerusalem and which was sawn with a saw and put to death by order
of Manasseh, then buried with the cemetery of Siloe, prophesied. After having prophesied
for 35 years, he was deprived of the gift of prophecy for 28 years, i.e. for all the reign
of the four kings in question; he lived 113 years. Here is the reason why the Isaiah
prophet was deprived of the gift of prophecy for 28 years: Uzziah, king of Judah, was
impudent, although he was not a priest, so far as entering (the temple) to offer incense
to God. Deterred by fear, the prophet Isaiah did not inform him, did not condemn him, he
did not reprimand this audacity and impudence. Then Isaiah was deprived of the gift of
prophecy for 28 years, until the death of Uzziah. His entire body was covered with leprosy
and scales; his skin became white like snow; and all that, in a wink of an eye. After the
death of Uzziah, Joatham, his son, succeeded him and reigned over the tribe of Judah for
16 years. God again inspired Isaiah who again prophesied for 61 years.

181 Here what is written in his prophecies, according to the Bible: "The year of king
Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting in the Temple on a throne that was high and lifted up.
The chosen Seraphs stood before him, each them having six wings; with two wings they
covered their faces, with two others they covered their feet and with the last two they
flew, one toward another, saying: Holy, Holy, Holy are the Lord of the armies; heaven and
earth are full of his glory and his majesty." The book of the prophet Isaiah has 3,926
verses. In the year 29 of the reign of Uzziah, king of Judah, Zachariah ascended the
throne of the ten tribes of Israel and reigned for six months. After him Selloum, son of
Jabez, reigned thirty days; then Manahem, son of Gadi, reigned 10 years. At that time, the
first king of the Macedonians reigned, i.e. the Greeks (Roum). He was named Qaranos.

182 Porphyry, the commentator of the book of Aristotle, and deacon of a church in the town
of Tyre (Sour), was arrogant before all the deacons, his equals. This is why they threw
themselves on him one day in the temple and beat him. Then he revolted, gave up
Christianity, disavowed Christ, apostasised and denied the Gospel. This Porphyry claims
that the philosopher Homer, composer of the book of the poems of the Greeks at that time,
recounted their wars. In that time flourished Zachariah, son of Barachiah, and Ananie
(Anouniya) high priests of the Israelites. It is written that the Jews stoned Zachariah,
son of Barachiah, in the temple; and he died. A second time: Lycurgus, legislator of the
Greeks, flourished at that time. In the year 23 of the reign of Uzziah, king of Judah,
Phoul, king of Babylon, made an expedition against Samaria, city of the kingdom of the ten
tribes of Israel; he overcame it and captured it. Then the king of Samaria gave him a
thousand talents of silver, which makes thousand purses, and Phoul returned into the East.

183 At that time, Phidon, of Argos, who manufactured measurements and weights, was made
known. In year 40 of the reign of Uzziah, king of Judah, Peqachya, son of Manahem, reigned
over the tribes of Israel for four years. King Teglatphalasar reigned in Babylon and
Nineveh for 35 years. At the same time, Ardysus (Ardashir) reigned as the first [king of
the Lydians]; the kings of the Corinthians ceased; the first king of the Greeks reigned in
the town of Athens or Cecrops, for 23 years. In year 5 of the reign of Uzziah, leap years
began to be counted, one leap year every four years. From that time dates the beginning of
the war between the Prasini and Veneti, i.e. between the partisans of the green and the
partisans of the blue. The colour was only a pretext which the kings used for themselves
to make war break out between the parties. There fell in the fray 500,000 men, more or
less, as we find in the books. Their kings employed this trick to prevent them multiplying
and from revolting against them. Their history is astonishing, but a little long; if you
are ready to hear it, you can hear it. We found that the majority of bishops of these
ancient and former times had grasped this [principle] and stuck to it. I have heard one of
them say: "If the flocks of a bishop live in peace and prosperity, the bishop will be
unhappy, [and that will continue] until the day when the flocks are afflicted." I believe
that the majority of them stuck to this principle; this is why they divided their flocks
into two parties.

184 The total of the years from Adam and the origins of the world until the first olympiad
are in total 4,725 years; from the flood to that year, 2,469 years; from the exodus of the
Israelites of Egypt until the same year, 878 years; from the reign of Saul, the first king
who reigned over the Israelites, 334 years. In year 50 of the reign of Uzziah, king of
Judah, Peqach, son of Remalya (Roumalya), began to reign over the ten tribes of Israel and
he occupied the throne for 20 years. In his time Teglatphalasar time, king of Babylon,
made an incursion: he fought the Israelites and took into captivity to Babylon a great
number of them. When Uzziah died, after a reign of 52 years, his son Joatham succeeded him
and reigned over the tribe of Judah for 16 years; he lived 41 years. At that time, the
prophets Joel, of the tribe of Ruben (Roubal), and Micaiah, of the tribe of Ephraim,
prophesied.

185 Then also the town of Rhodes was built, which is an island of the sea. Ptolemy tells,
in his book of the Canon, that it was in the middle of the fourth climate. It remained for
1,405 years. Then the Arabs destroyed it and took its inhabitants into captivity. After
the death of Joatham, his son Ahaz succeeded him and reigned 16 years; he lived 36 years.
He raised himself up against his Lord, served the gods of the gentiles, and worshipped
their idols. Then God brought against him Racin, king of Syria, and Peqach, son of Remalya
(Roumalya), who massacred 120,000 combatants of the tribe of Judah and took captive a
great number. Ahaz, king of Judah, sent presents to Teglatphalasar, king of Babylon, and
asked him for his help and assistance. This prince lent him aid and, arrived at Damascus,
he fought against Racin, king of Syria, in the country of Esch-Scham, overcame him and
killed him; then he took into captivity a great number of the inhabitants of his kingdom.

186 In year 2 of the reign of Ahaz, Hosee, son of Ela, ascended the throne of the ten
tribes of Israel and reigned for 9 years. The following year, he called to his aid
Adramelek the Kushite, king of Egypt. At that time, the sage Thales, the first physician,
made himself known. In year 8 of the reign of Ahaz, Salmanasar began his reign which
lasted for 14 years. 187 This same year, the first king of the Romans (Roum) who were the
Franks, not the Greeks of the East (Younaniyoun), ascended the throne. Remus (Roumanaous)
and Romulus reigned over the Roman-Franks; they built the marvellous city of Rome. The two
brothers reigned together and they called the town of Rome from the name of Remus.
(Romulus) reigned for 38 years; he attacked his brother and killed him. It is told that
Remus and Romulus were born from a lukaina, i.e. a she-wolf. It is what their carved
statues which are found to this day in the town of Rome portray. As for the learned, they
tell that their grandfather Amulius, thinking that they had been born from an adultery,
ordered them immediately thrown in the forest; they were thrown there. The name of their
mother was Helen (Aelia, Ilia), who was a priestess of Ares, i.e. of Mars. Their
grandfather thought that a rider of the Roman-Franks had commited adultery with her. The
learned and the poets tell that Ares made her pregnant, and that she had by him Remus and
Romulus; then that, when they had been thrown into the forest, a woman who fed the herds
found them, and seized with pity, took them and nourished them with her milk. In the
language of the people of this country those who kept the herds were called "Liqouniyous",
which means in the Greek language "a wolf": so "Liqouniyous", i.e. "Pastor" belongs to the
Frank language and means in the Greek language "a wolf". They were so called, because they
always fed their herds in the deserts and the wild places and that they lived there like
the wild animals and beasts.

188 A scholar tells that the husband of Helen (Ilia) having spent the night with her,
fathered them both then and that this same night he died, leaving her pregnant. Then when
she had brought them into the world, their grandfather Amulius believed that they had been
born from an adultery, and this is why he ordered them thrown into the forest, among the
wild animals. There is nothing strange that Helen (Ilia) conceived them in one night,
since we know already that Thamar conceived by Judah, after he had slept with her at a
crossroads, and that she had by him Pharez and Zarah. We are not astonished, either, that
the husband of Helen (Ilia) died the same night. 189 When (Remus and Romulus) had reigned
together, as we said, for ten years, they changed to enmity and hatred and came to blows.
Romulus threw himself on his brother Remus, killed him 3 and reigned alone. But after this
murder, throughout the year, the town of Rome did not cease being shaken by earthquakes,
nor its inhabitants from making war and committing suicide. Then Romulus addressed prayers
to God to ask him to put an end to the earthquakes. God said to him in a dream: "the
earthquakes will cease in your capital only if you place your brother beside you on the
royal throne; it is only on this condition that the city will cease being disturbed by war
and earthquake and that its inhabitants will find shelter from the punishments." Then
Romulus made a statue of gold om the image of his brother; he placed it beside him on the
throne, and when he ordered or forbade, he spoke in the plural, saying: "We order, we
forbid, we do," and so on, always expressing himself on his own behalf and in the name of
his brother. This is why the kings of the Romans stick to this habit of speaking in the
name of two people, when they order or forbid, from the time of Romulus until today, for
example: "we order, we forbid, we do", and so on. Hardly had Romulus placed the statue of
his brother at his side on the throne, when the earthquakes ceased in the city and that
the people laid down their weapons.

190 When he had built the seven ramparts of the town of Rome, had laid out and decorated
its streets with art, Romulus made a great festival. He called "March" the month which is
the new moon of Nisan (April) and which always corresponds to the month of Adar (March),
when the equinox takes place. This month was before called Primus, and the translation (of
Martius) is "month of Ares", i.e. of Mars; and Mars means in the frank language (Latin)
the beauty of the flowers, because, in that month, the ground shows its beauty and is
covered with a multitude of pretty flowers. The Romans celebrate this festival, that
Romulus instituted, every year until today, and call it the kalends of Mars; on that day
they offer presents to their king and to each other. (This festival) resembles that of the
new year (Naurouz) among the inhabitants of the East.

191 After that, he made an (other) great festival where he distributed many largesses to
the Romans. He established the upatoi (consuls?) for them, i.e. the leaders of the public
affairs. Since that time kings have adopted the practice of creating division, war and
dissension among their subjects to distract them from themselves, by civil war, and to let
them destroy each other. Romulus built a circus, i.e. a marvellous theatre in the town of
Rome, to draw aside the opposition, dissatisfaction and resentment which were among the
inhabitants of the town of Rome, angry against him because he had killed his brother.
Romulus made a festival in the honour of the sun and placed the (four) elements on a
chariot drawn by four horses on which he made war. He gave names to these four elements:
(he called) the earth "Prasinus", i.e. green, because of its grass; he named the sea
"Venetus", i.e. colour of the sky, because the colour of water resembles that of the sky;
he made the colour of fire red and that of the air white. These four things have existed
in the town of Rome until today. The inhabitants of the city were divided into two
parties, and since then war and battles [between them] have continued ever since. This is
one of the tricks which kings have invented so that their subjects will destroy each other
and cease being dangerous, the king always inclining towards most powerful of the two
parties.

192 In year 17 from the foundation of Rome, the king made a count of them and counted the
inhabitants; and their number was 950,000 men. Eight years after, he counted them for the
second time, and their number was 7,000,000 men. Oenomaus, king of Pisa also instituted
and celebrated a festival in the honour of the sun on the 25th of the month of Adar
(March); he organized the combat and fighting on land and sea and subordinated these four
elements, i.e. fire, the air, water and earth, to the sun. 193 In year 9 of the reign of
Hosea, king of the ten tribes of Israel, in year 8 of the reign of Ahaz, king of Judah, in
the first year of the reign of Salmanasar, king of Babylon, Salmanasar attacked the town
of Samaria, capital of the kings of the ten tribes of Israel; he camped before it and,
after having besieged it for three years, captured it; after which he took the inhabitants
of the ten tribes of Israel into captivity in Babylon. Then Salmanasar, king of Babylon,
sent a great number of inhabitants of the country of Mosul and other cities, to guard the
countries where the Israelites had lived. These people were called Samaritans, which means
in Hebrew guardians or guards. But the lions and the wild animals were going to attack
them and kill them. This was reported to Salmanasar who said: "Perhaps this has happened,
because the people that I have sent don't know the worship of the god of this country?"
And he sent them a certain number of Israelite priests, to teach only the Torah to them:
the wild animals went away. It is for this reason that the Samaritans only accept among
the prophets the Book of the Torah. They say that they are the true Israelites, but they
are mistaken, because they are only the descendants of the people who came from the East.

194 After the death of Ahaz, king of Judah, his son Hezekiah reigned for 29 years; he
lived 54 years. In year 6 of his reign, Sennacherib ascended the throne in Babylon and
reigned for 9 years.Then he made a expedition against Jerusalem, and he had Bocht-Nassar
as secretary. But the Lord, hearing the prayer and supplications which king Hezekiah had
addressed to him, made 185,000 men of his army perish. Its history is written in the Book
of the Kings of Israel. When Sennacherib had escaped, his son Asarhaddon, seeing that his
troops had been exterminated, captured him and killed him; then he reigned after him for
three years. In year 15 of the reign of Hezekiah, Merodach-Baladan reigned for 48 years.
History of king Hezekiah. It is written that king Hezekiah gave satisfaction to God in all
his actions: he abolished from the middle of his people the idols and their worship,
purified the Temple of the Lord of any stain and impurity, sanctified it and put priests
there, in the way in which the prophet David had done.

195 In his time the prophets Isaiah and Micaiah lived. Isaiah prophesied on the advent of
the Messiah. There was [also] the prophet Hosea who, for all his life, exhorted the
Israelites, diverted them from the cult and worship of idols and set himself to prayer and
supplication to obtain from His Lord to move Sennacherib away from his people: God heard
his prayer and broke the anger of Sennacherib, king of Babylon. God wanted the prophet
Hosea to know the hardness of the heart of the Israelites and their obstinacy towards Him.
So He said to this prophet: "Go, marry a repudiated woman who prostitutes herself
publicly, and another woman who commits adultery in secret." The prophet Hosea was amazed
at this order from God and he conceived an overpowering sorrow from it. But God wanted to
make known to him his lack of patience compared to that of the Lord towards the
Israelites. The truth indeed, according to the prophet Hosea, it is that several of them
adored the idols in secret, and others publicly. This is why God ordered him to marry a
repudiated woman who prostituted herself publicly, and another who committed adultery in
secrecy, so that the prophet would not importune his Lord any more because of them.

196 It is written that king Hezekiah committed himself to dedicate himself exclusively to
the service of God, without marrying, because he remembered the promise and the oath that
God had made the prophet David, namely that the race and the posterity of David would not
cease occupying his throne until the consummation of the centuries. King Hezekiah thought
to himself and said: "The blessing that God gave to the prophet David and the promise that
He made to him, namely that his race and posterity will not cease to occupy his throne
until the consummation of the centuries, - is a perfect blessing by God, who could never
withdraw His promises nor His gifts. As my fathers and my grandfathers married and had
children, the blessing passed from one to another, from father to son, who thus inherited
the throne of the prophet David." And the prophet Hezekiah thought that, if he remained
virgin and did not marry, he would reign and would occupy the throne of the prophet David
until the consummation of the centuries. He had not understood that it was necessary to
interpret differently than he thought, the word addressed by God to the prophet David. But
on this God sent the prophet Isaiah to him saying to the latter: "Go and tell king
Hezekiah to make his will in favour of his own, because he will die and will not live any
more"; as if he said: "People will die and live again at the day of Resurrection; as for
him, he will die and will not live again any more, because he thought that it would remain
[alive] until the end of time."

197 And king Hezekiah fell sick, as soon as the prophet Isaiah had told him and reported
the word of the Lord. On his bed, he started to weep hot tears, the prey of sadness. He
spat against the wall, saying: "Pah for this earthly mud from which I draw my origin! and
I believed that I could live until the consummation of the centuries!" Then he recalled to
God his actions and what he had done to please his Lord. God approved his prayer and sent
to him for the second time the prophet Isaiah saying to the latter: "Go to king Hezekiah
and say to him: The Lord has added fifteen years to your life; and here is the proof: ask
at your pleasure that the sun, on the sundial of your father Ahaz, should advance by
fifteen degrees, or that it go back by fifteen degrees." Then king Hezekiah said himself:
"It would not be a wonder that the sun advanced, since it is the way of its course and the
law of its movement. Let it rather go back by fifteen degrees!" He thus said to the
prophet Isaiah: "I ask that the sun go back by fifteen degrees." However the sun, which
was then in the middle of the sky, at midday, at the time when it goes down again, at the
end of the sixth hour, retraced its steps towards the East as if it were at the time of
its rising, at the hour of the morning prayer.

198 But for two reasons I do not see what king Hezekiah was thinking, when he asked that
the sun go back: firstly, this is not the way of its movement nor the line of its route;
in the second place, often people, in their work, their occupations or their discussions,
spend several hours of the day without realizing it; but it is when the sun was in the
middle of the sky, at the end of the sixth hour, that is when people needed to eat, the
workmen, the managers and others, and to rest, that the sun rereturned its steps, at
similar hour, and returned to the time of its rising, to the hour of the morning prayer.
Then all men had to notice this and note this; even the animals had to realize it, without
speaking like men. It is not necessary however that somebody thinks that the sun returned
from the degree of the middle of the sky to the place (litt. degree) of its rising without
the return of the whole celestial sphere. Also we say that the whole celestial sphere
retrogressed, returned with all its stars and its planets — the stars remaining in their
places - and returned from the middle of the sky towards the East. And we add that, if the
sun returned from the degree of the middle of the sky instead of its rising, the three
signs of the zodiac also retraced their steps and the four seasons of the year were
changed: if it were the season of spring, it changed into the season of summer; if it were
the season of summer, it changed into the season of autumn; if it were the season of
autumn, it changed into the season of winter, and if it were the season of winter, it
changed into the season of spring; so that the four seasons changed.

199 You (may God keep you!) must have and indeed possess those things which belong to the
depths of learning and the mysterious treasures of wisdom; it is necessary that you have
an exact knowledge, when you question on this point the learned and those who plunge into
the reading of the books of learning or literature. You will see then if there is only one
among them who knows similar mysteries and you will be delighted to have these hidden
treasures of learning, that nobody, except you, knows, neither the wise ones, nor the
patriarchs, nor the bishops, nor other men. 200 It is written that Merodach-Baladan, king
of Babylon, sent to king Hezekiah presents, gifts and offerings, when he had noted that
the sun had returned from the middle of the sky to the East. The Magi worship the sun,
fire, water and all the luminous elements; therefore king Merodach, witnessing the return
of the sun, said to his companions: "I see that our god has been put to rout; there must
be another god more powerful who ran up against it, pushed back and made it move back."
Then he informed himself on this. And when he knew what had happened to king Hezekiah and
he learned of the prophecy of Balaam the magician who had said: "A star will come forth
from Jacob and a leader from Israel," he was seized with fear and was afraid of king
Hezekiah; this is why he sent gifts and present to him, in testimony of his veneration, to
seek his favour because he feared him. When the ambassadors of king Merodach arrived with
king Hezekiah, with their offerings and their presents, he boasted; he spread out all the
vases of the temple and all the wonders which it contained, to show them to the envoys.
Then God was angry against him and said to him: "In truth, says the Lord: All that you
showed and of which you have boasted, will be plundered and carried off into the regions
of the East; your sons and your descendants will be led there in captivity."

201 After this king Hezekiah married and fathered Manasseh, who, after the death of his
Hezekiah father, ascended the throne at the age of 13. His reign lasted 55 years, and he
lived 68 years. At that time, in the town of Rome, (Numa) Pompilius reigned for 43 years.
He added to the months of the Romans Kanoun II (January) and Chebat (February); until that
time the Romans had known only ten months; (imagine that!) and each month was of 36 days.
He built and set up in the town of Rome the Capitol, the first of the seven wonders; he
widened its hall and rooms, because they were narrow. Manasseh, in year 18 of his reign,
was taken into captivity in punishment for his great injustice, his impiety, his
opposition to the Lord and the restoration of the worship of the idols; he remained
imprisoned in Babylon for 39 years. He addressed to the Lord prayers and supplications and
he returned to his kingdom where he removed the idol with four faces which he had made and
placed in the temple of the Lord; he moved this idol from the temple and had it burned.
The prayer of Manasseh is beautiful in its sadness and the humble supplication which the
king addresses to his Lord; it is inscribed in the books of the Christians and Jews.

202 In year 39 of the reign of Manasseh, Sennacherib the Younger began his reign which
lasted 31 years. In year 52 of the reign of Manasseh, king of Judah, Byzantium was built
by king Byzos. It was previously called Nicomedia and had been absorbed. Then, 970 years
after the foundation of the town of Byzantium by king Byzos, the emperor Constantine the
Great, son of Helene, restored it, increased it, built there palaces, theatres and
surrounding walls and gave it his name, Constantinople (Qastantiniya). After the death of
Manasseh, his son Amon succeeded him and reigned 12 years; he lived 24 years. At that
time, Alcman flourished, who is called Loqman among the Arabs. In year 5 of the reign of
Amon, was born his son Josias. From that time, after 348 years, the prophecy on the Altar
was carried out. After the death of Amon, his son Josias reigned in his place for 31
years.

203 In that year, the Magus ascended the throne of Babylon and reigned 33 years. In year 6
of the reign of Josias, the prophet Sophoniah, son of Kouchi, of the tribe of Simeon,
prophesied. [At that time] there lived the priest Hilkiya, father of the prophet Jeremiah.
In year 13 of the reign of Josias, the prophet Jeremiah started to prophesy. In year 31 of
the reign of Josias, the lame Pharaoh (Nechao) ascended the throne of Egypt and reigned
for 6 years. He killed Josias. The son of the latter, Joachaz, reigned after him for three
months. Then the Pharaoh, king of Egypt, returned, killed Joachaz also and established in
his place his brother Joachim, called Eliakim, who reigned for 12 years and lived 18
years. In year 3 of the reign of Eliakim, Nabuchodonosor ascended the throne of Babylon
and reigned for 45 years. In the first year of his reign, he attacked Jerusalem, took into
captivity part of its inhabitants and carried off all the utensils and all the vases of
the temple, according to the word that God had said to king Hezekiah, when this one was
boasting about these [treasures] and had shown them to the envoys of king Merodach. Among
these first prisoners that Nabuchodonosor took, that year, there were Daniel with his
companions, Ananias, Azarias and Misael. Nabuchodonosor had them thrown into a burning
furnace; but they remained healthy and safe, and their clothing was not even smoke-
damaged.

204 In year 5 of the reign of Eliakim, Nabuchodonosor killed the lame Pharaoh (Nechao),
king of Egypt, after whom Psammeticus (Samizis) reigned for 17 years. At that time the
Pharaoh devastated the town of Menbidj located on the Euphrates. When it was rebuilt, it
was called Hierapolis, i.e. the city of priests. In year 8 of the reign of Eliakim and in
year 5 of the reign of Nabuchodonosor, Nabuchodonosor attacked Jerusalem for the second
time and imposed a tribute on its inhabitants; but Joachim continued to reign in his
place. In year 8 of the reign of Nabuchodonosor, Joachin died, and his son Joachin
succeeded him; it is he who is named in the Gospel Jechoniah. He reigned for three months.
When he had deviated from the obedience which he owed to his Lord, king Nabuchodonosor
attacked him and took him captive to Babylon, where he remained prisoner for 37 years,
until the time when Evilmerodach succeeded Nabuchodonosor. Evilmerodach took Jechoniah
from his prison, made him sit at his table and eat with him; the son of Jechoniah married
Suzanne, daughter of the priest Hilkia and sister of the prophet Jeremiah.

205 When Joachin was taken into captivity, Nabuchodonosor established in his place his
uncle Zedekiah, called Mathanya; he was called also Jechoniah. He reigned for 11 years and
lived 32 years. In this same year, the prophet Ezechiel was taken captive to Babylon with
the Israelite prisoners. In year 5 of the reign of Zedekiah and in year 9 of the reign of
Nabuchodonosor, the Prophet Ezechiel began to prophesy. In the same year, Astyages began
to reign over the country of the Persians and occupied the throne for 38 years. The
prophet Jeremiah, knowing by his prophecies that the temple was going to be burned and the
people of the Israelites taken into captivity to Babylon, took the Tabernacle and the Ark
of the Covenant that Moses had drawn up in the desert, and hid them in a cave, of which
nobody, to this day, knows the location. 206 At that time, Hophra reigned in Egypt for 25
years. In year 9 of the reign of Zedekiah, on the tenth day of the tenth month,
Nabuchodonosor undertook his fourth campaign [against Jerusalem] and besieged it until the
eleventh year of the reign of Zedekiah, king of the Jews. In this same year, which is the
twenty-first of his reign, Nabuchodonosor captured Jerusalem and burned the Temple. The
Temple, since the time when Solomon, son of David, had built it, until the day when it was
set on fire, lasted 534 years. 22 kings of the tribe of Judah are counted until this date,
and they reigned in total for a period of 518 years and six months. When the Israelites
were taken captive to Babylon, Nebuzardan seized the high priest Sophoniah and other
chiefs and big men of the people as well as Zedekiah, king of Judah, and he transported
them to Babylon where he had them killed; he had the eyes of Zedekiah put out and the
throats of his sons cut; then he made him turn a mill by hand. He was then 32 years old.
After his death his corpse was thrown behind the curtain wall; and thus the prophecy was
accomplished which the Lord had made over him by the mouth of the prophet Jeremiah.

207 As for the Jews who remained in Jerusalem, they took the prophet Jeremiah and went
down to Hophra, king of Egypt. There, they killed the prophet Jeremiah who died and was
buried. He had prophesied for 38 years. His book contains 4,252 verses; the book of Kings
contains 1,113 and the book of Paralipomen 3,503. The Jews who were in captivity also
seized the prophet Ezechiel and killed him; he was buried over there, in the tomb of Shem,
son of Noah. He had prophesied for 28 years. His book contains 4,376 verses. A little time
afterwards, Nabuchodonosor attacked the town of Tyre. He ordered his troops to pile up
stones in the sea to reach the city. But at this sight, the inhabitants of Tyre threw in
the sea all that they had and fled on their vessels. Nabuchodonosor took Hiram, king of
Tyre, and returned home. Hiram lived 50 years, during the reigns of the 21 kings of the
tribe of Judah. When the troops of Nabuchodonosor had left the town of Tyre, the country
of Egypt fell into their hands. Nabuchodonosor reigned 24 years after the destruction of
Jerusalem and the burning of the temple. It is from the year 22 of his reign that we start
to count the 70 years of the captivity of the Israelites in Babylon.

208 In year 37 of the reign of Nabuchodonosor which is year 13 of the captivity,
Nabuchodonosor made this great statue of gold, which was 60 cubits high. It is because of
this idol that Ananias, Azarias and Misael were distinguished: they were thrown into a
burning furnace; but they remained healthy and safe, because God preserved them from the
flame. From this time, among the Greeks, Joseph (Yousifous) was distinguished, i.e. Aesop
(Yousfâs) the fabulist. After the death of Nabuchodonosor, his son Evilmerodach reigned
for one year. In year 5 of the captivity, Balthasar ascended the throne; and it is in the
first year of his reign that the prophet Daniel saw in a dream the beast which came up
from the sea. In year 2 of his reign, Balthasar made a feast and while he was sitting on a
raised seat, he had them bring in the sacred vessels which had been removed from the
Temple of the Lord, and drank from them. But hardly he had drunk from these vessels, than
a hand appeared on the wall opposite, writing the misfortune which would happen to him and
the punishment which awaited him. Here what was written: "He who counts the hair of the
head (God) has counted and numbers his kingdom and torn its veil (has deprived it of
defense)." The same night Darius the Mede and Persian, entered his place, killed him and
annexed his kingdom to that of the Medes and Persians...

209 Darius, son of Assuerus (Ahchirach) began to reign in year 28 of the captivity. In the
first year of this reign, the prophet Daniel made a prayer, because he saw clearly that
the years were approaching and that the 70 years that God had fixed for their slavery in
Babylon was coming to an end. They had started, indeed, in the thirteenth year of the
reign of Josias, the time when the prophet Jeremiah made his beginning as a prophet.
Having heard the prayer and supplications of Daniel, the Lord sent the archangel Gabriel
to him and announced to him concerning the weeks, the destruction of Jerusalem and the
kings who reigned at that time and who are mentioned in the book of the prophet Daniel. In
that time, Daniel was thrown in the lion's den. Cyrus the Persian rose up. He killed
Astyages, king of the Medes, and Darius, king of the Babylonians; then he established the
empire of the Persians, in year 81 of the captivity of Israelites. He reigned 30 years. In
the first year of his reign, he ordered that 50,000 Israelite prisoners should be released
and set free and he sent them to Jerusalem. As of that moment he ordered them to rebuild
the Temple of the Lord; but they were prevented from doing so by the people who surrounded
them, until the end of the sixth year of Darius, son of Hystaspes, which is year 46 of
their captivity, as it is written in the Gospel of John. Let no-one think in consequence
that the Jews took 46 years to rebuild this Temple.

210 In year 2 of the reign of Darius, Daniel was thrown, a second time, into the lion's
den because he had frustrated and confused the priests of the idols in their temple and
revealed and published their artifices. Daniel killed the Dragon. In year 3 of the reign
of Darius, the prophet Daniel fasted for three weeks, that is to say twenty-one days; he
started to fast on the 4th of the first month of Nisan (April). Then God sent the angel
Gabriel to him. Daniel collapsed and fell down, seized with fear. This same year, the
prophet Daniel died, while the Israelites were still captive, and he was buried in
Babylon. Daniel was of the tribe of Judah. His book contains 1,550 verses. At that time
prophesied the prophet Habakuk, of the tribe of Simeon. It was he whom the Angel took by
the hair, when, mounted on an ass, he carried their meal to the harvesters. The Angel of
the Lord carried him from the country of Jerusalem to Babylon, to the prophet Daniel, who
was in the pit. Habakuk gave the prophet something to eat from the collation which he
carried with him and which was hot. Then the Angel of the Lord brought him back to the
country of Jerusalem.

211 At that time prophesied the prophet Haggai, of the tribe of Levi, and the prophet
Zachariah, son of Barachyah. At the same time, the lived the Magus Zoroaster
(Azeradhoucht), author of the doctrines of the Magi, which consisted of the worship of
water, fire, of the elements, and other shameful practises, which it is not advisable to
describe in this book. At that time, the doctrines of Pythagoras appeared and Simonides
and Anacreon were distinguished, inventors of lutes and guitars. In year 10 of the Persian
Cyrus, the seventy years of the first captivity were accomplished, which had started in
year 3 of Joachim (or Eliakim). After the death of Cyrus, Cambyses, or, as the Hebrews
say, Nabuchodonosor II ascended the throne. He reigned for 8 years. At that time, Judith
distinguished herself who, by her stratagem, killed Holophernes, king of Babylon. The book
of Judith contains 1,268 verses. 212 Among the Israelites there was the high priest
Joshua, son of Josedek; and in Jerusalem, Joachim (Ilyaqim). Cambyses, in year 6 of his
reign, invaded Egypt, captured it and killed Amasis (Maqnousiyous), king of Egypt. After
which the kingdom of Egypt ceased existing until year 15 of the reign of Darius. At that
time, Fansamous (?) cut up the stone which spoke, because he believed he would find the
mysteries of magic inside. After Cambyses, the Magus reigned 3 years and 7 months; after
this latter, Darius, son of Hystaspes, reigned 36 years. In year 2 of his reign, the
seventy years were accomplished; and in year 6, the 3rd of the month of Adar (March), the
construction of the Temple of the Lord was completed. At that time, the philosopher
Democritus flourished. After the death of Darius, his son Xerxes i.e. Assuerus
(Akhchirach), reigned for 26 years.

213 At that time the painter Zeuxis was famous. At the same time, there lived the Jews
Esther and Mordecai, nephew of the prophet Jeremiah, sons of the high priest Barachyah;
Mordecai was the uncle d' Esther. They were both prisoners in Babylon. In that time,
flourished the prophet Malachi, one of the twelve prophets; he prophesied in the country
of Judah. After his death there were no more prophets known among the Israelites. The book
of the Twelve Prophets contains in all 3,643 verses. The book of Esther contains 654
verses. In year 11 of his reign, Xerxes (Akhchirach) captured the town of Athens and many
other cities. His son succeeded him for two years and half, and had himself as a successor
Artaxerxes Longhand, called Ariyoukh who reigned for 41 years At that time, a stone fell
from the sky in the river of Aigos (Augoch); its name was Afsis (aix?).

214 In year 7 of his reign, king Artaxerxes ordered the scribe Esdras to go up to the
country of Judah and to rebuild Jerusalem; it was under the pontificate of the high priest
Joshua, son of Josedek. This was explained and revealed to Esdras. Esdras wrote down all
the Torah and the Prophets from memory, because he knew them by heart; he also set to
describe and tell how the people had left Babylon. He was the fourteenth high priest after
Aaron. The book of Esdras contains 2,808 verses. At that time lived the wise Empedocles of
Sicily. He went to see and examine the fire which spouted in swirls out of a cave. Not
being able to understand this mystery, he threw himself into the cave; but he forgot his
shoes, outside. Thus he betrayed himself and made known that he did not have the qualities
that its contemporaries had allotted to him.

215 At the same time, Democritus and Hippocrates were famous, who were doctors; Zeno and
Heraclites. It was then also that the Romans sent messengers to the town of Athens: [these
messengers] copied [the laws of the Athenians] and wrote the XII Tables based on them.
Artaxerxes, in year 20 of his reign, sent Nehemiah, his wine waiter, to rebuild Jerusalem;
Nehemiah remained in Jerusalem until the end of year 25 of the reign (1) ** of Artaxerxes.
Then lived the minister of king Artaxerxes, Haman the Amalekite. He remembered the old
enmity and the wars which had formerly separated the Israelites and Amalekites; he kept
the resentment of it. And he asked the king to kill and exterminate the Jewish people. In
this same year, the construction of Jerusalem was completed, with its streets, its
palaces, its citadels: it was under the pontificate of the high priest Joiadah, son of
Elisee. When Nehemiah had gone up to Jerusalem, the Jews did not have any sacred fire and
they did not dare to offer sacrifices to God with a profane fire: at the time where they
had been taken captive to Babylon, they had taken the sacred fire of the altar of the Lord
and had thrown it in a well which was in one of the suburbs of the town of Apamea; this
suburb was called Ashin (?). The wine waiter Nehemiah had a vase and bowl brought from
this well, sixty-four years after the fire had been thrown there; he placed this vase and
this bowl on the wood of the altar; and the fire ignited.

216 At that time, Plato was born and the sophist Socrates was famous in (1) the town of
Athens. As he perverted the young people, he was made to drink poison, and he died. But he
left Plato who revealed his actions as well as his depraved and infamous doctrines. At the
same time, while Haman, minister of the king, employed all the resources of his spirit to
seek ruses to destroy and exterminate all the people of Israel, Esther and Mordecai
covered themselves with sackcloth and addressed to God their prayers and their
supplications. God made the artifices of the Amalekite Haman collapse on his own head:
Artaxerxes had him killed and crucified. The history of Esther, niece of Mordecai, nephew
of the prophet Jeremiah, and Haman the Amalekite, minister of king Artaxerxes. 217 It is
written that king Artaxerxes prepared a great feast where he gathered all the delights; he
gathered his notables there, his parents and the leaders of his (1) army. The Amalekite
Haman was his Prime Minister and his intendant. At this feast, when the king had enjoyed
to satiety all the delights and all the kinds of pleasures that he could wish, he said to
himself that there remained nothing any more but only one pleasure at his disposal; it was
that the queen Vachti wear her most beautiful finery and present herself to give him
things to drink, him and to his companions. Consequently, the king sent to tell the queen
to leave the flowers and to hurry herself to come to his banquet and to that of his
companions. But she made him a most unpleasant and most crushing answer. The king
conceived such a sorrow at this that he forgot all the pleasures of that day and of the
years of his reign. Witnessing his sorrow and his sadness, his companions and his friends
left him. And it is said that he ordered that queen Vachti should be driven out from his
realm, and to choose for him a thousand women, from among all those in his empire. This
empire contained 127 cities subjected to his sceptre. So he sent his messengers to choose
for him the women most remarkable, as far as possible, for their beauty, their grace and
their spirit. When the choice of these women was done, Esther the Jew was among them. (1)

218 The king then ordered that the hundred most beautiful and most intelligent women be
chosen from among them. These hundred women were chosen, and Esther was among them. Among
these hundred women, he ordered the ten most particularly remarkable for beauty, grace and
spirit to be chosen. Ten of them were chosen, and Esther was among them. Again, he ordered
three women to be chosen, from among these ten. Three of them were chosen, and Esther was
still among them. Finally he ordered, from among these three, the one chosen who exceeded
all the others by her beauty, grace and spirit. And, among these three, Esther, niece of
Mordecai was chosen, because no woman exceeded her in beauty, grace and spirit. Then the
king ordered Esther to embellish and prepare her ornaments for thirty days, at the end of
which she would enter his house. From the day when she was presented and became queen in
the place of Vachti, Mordecai remained at the door of the king and did not leave it.
Haman, extremely annoyed and concerned about this attitude, employed a trick and a lie to
gain the ascendancy over king Artaxerxes; he said to him: "In your empire, O king, there
is a people or rather a small troop of Israelites. And he did not cease insisting until he
had bought from the king, with the help of a predetermined amount of money, that he
offered to him, [the heads] of (1) all the Israelites who were in the towns of his empire.

219 The contract was signed between him and the king and the execution of the clauses were
fixed by him for a specific date. Then the governors of all the cities of the empire
received, by the messengers of Haman, the order to kill the Israelites who were there on
the expiry of the fixed term, when they received the letter. He had a gibbet prepared, 120
cubits high, to hang Mordecai there; and he hid this gibbet in his house. 220 During that
time, two eunuchs of Turkish origin, specially assigned to the bodyguard, one named
Bagathan (Ba`thân) and other Tarech (Itnâh), devised a conspiracy and resolved to kill the
king the same night. Mordecai, uncle of queen Esther, learned of this project and he
discovered clear evidence of it, because he was assiduous and was attached to the palace.
So he presented to Artaxerxes an honest report and gave him the evidence of the conspiracy
of the two eunuchs. At nightfall, the king had them placed under surveillance. They did
not know that the king knew about their actions. Therefore they were taken at the moment
when Artaxerxes saw with his own eyes the evidence which had been presented to him. They
acknowledged it; then they were put to death by order of the sovereign. (1) That which
concerns the report of Mordecai was written in the Book of the acts of the Kings. It is
written that the king, during one sleepless night where he could not find sleep, had the
history of the kings read to him. The secretary continued his reading until he came to the
history of Mordecai and his report. Then the king said to the secretary: "What reward did
we give this man?" - "The king did not reward him at all," he was told. So he ordered him
to remind him of this business when morning came, in order to reward Mordecai; and at this
moment sleep made heavy his eyelids and he fell asleep.

221 The day came, and Haman his minister, who was the first to enter to the king, was
presented: "What would be, in your opinion, the right reward for a man whom the king
wishes to distinguish and honour?" asked the sovereign. --- "Nobody, more than myself, has
the favour of the king," Haman thought; and he said: "O king, this would his reward: this
man must be mounted on the royal horse, your own crown placed on his head; then he who
holds the bridle of his horse, having rolled up his clothing, will lead him around the
city, shouting: (1) This is the reward of the man whom the king wants to distinguish and
honour!" - "So get up immediately," the king told him, "place Mordecai on the royal horse,
place my royal crown on his head with a sign at his neck, take the bridle of his horse and
do for him what you said!" Haman went out from the king and did for Mordecai what the king
had ordered him. When he had returned home, sad and afflicted, his wife said to him: "What
news? Why do I see you sad and sorry?" And he told her the story. "Of which people and
which nation is this man?" asked the woman. "He is an Israelite," he answered. The woman
remembered that formerly God had granted his help to Israelites against Amalekites; and
she said to Haman: "Since this man is of the people of Israelites and you have already
started to fall and to humiliate yourself before him, receive thus the humiliations which
have happened to you." Then Mordecai remembered that the term fixed between the king and
Haman approached, the term when the Israelites were to be massacred according to the
clauses of the agreement. He then made a request to the queen Esther to speak to the king
and he repeated several times his request on this subject.

222 The law of the Persian kings demanded that whoever presented themselves before the
king (1) without being called, had their the head cut off by the torturers, unless the
king touched he who appeared before him with his sceptre. It was the sign of [royal]
protection. Esther, who remembered this law of the (Persian) kings, feared for her life;
but her uncle Mordecai insisted on it. Seeing her slownesses, he had said to her: "If you
do not repurchase your life by saving the people of the Lord, i.e. the Israelites, the
Lord who is their God will come graciously to their help. Otherwise you will be one of
those who are sold by the king, one of those whom Haman must make die. So do not imagine
you that you will be able to escape. Then the queen Esther had her uncle Mordecai asked to
fast, pray and order all the virgins of Israel to fast at the same time as him, for three
days and three nights. The queen Esther fasted and prayed for three days and three nights;
then she was covered with sackcloth, prostrated herself on ashes and prayed, begging God
with great cries to preserve her from the [anger] of the king and to save his people from
the malice of Haman. On the fourth day, when her fast was finished, she dressed in her
royal robes (1) and presented herself before the king, while he was sitting on the throne.
She was one of the prettiest and most gracious women.

223 The officers prepared to kill her. But the king extended his sceptre to her, which was
with the kings of the Persians the sign of safety. He ran towards her, because she fell
senseless to the ground. So the king arose from his throne, picked her up, put her head on
his chest and started to stroke her face; and to support her, he placed her by his side on
his throne. 224 "Ask of the king what you wish," he said to her. "I ask the king to come
tomorrow to dine with me, with his minister Haman," she replied. He agreed to this and,
the following day, he dined with her with his minister Haman. The meal finished, the king
said to Esther: "Ask what you wish." --- "I ask the king and his minister Haman to return
tomorrow to dine with me. The king accepted; and the following day he and his minister
Haman dined with her. After dining the king said to her: "Ask what you wish. She answered:
"I ask that the king and his minister Haman again dine with me tomorrow. The king
accepted, and the following day he and his minister Haman dined with her once again. But a
coolness and a feeling of jealousy towards his minister Haman slipped into (1) the heart
of the king. After dining he said to Esther: "Ask what you wish. The queen Esther
answered: "What request could someone who is about to be put to death and to lose her life
make, whose people will be exterminated? The king, filled with sadness and affliction,
said to her: "But who has did this? She answered him: "It is he who is jealous of you
because of me and who does not want you to have a wife like me, --- it is your minister
Haman who is here. At that moment the sadness and affliction loosened the belly of the
sovereign so much that it had to rush out.

225 Then he went out (of the latrines) and saw Haman prostrate himself before the queen
Esther and kiss the end of her feet. Seized with jealousy, the king exclaimed: "What! you
still want to dishonour us? Thus God heard the prayer of Mordecai, accepted his fast as
well as the prayer of the queen Esther and all the Israelite women. The king gave orders
that Haman was hanged; and somebody having reported to him that Haman had had made a
gibbet, 120 cubits high, to hang Mordecai on, he (2) ** ordered that his minister should
be hanged on this gibbet. Thus God saved the Israelites and preserved them from the
perfidy of Haman the Amalekite. 226 After Artaxerxes Longhand, Artaxerxes II reigned for
two years; after him, Sogdianos reigned for one year, and after him, Darius Nothos for 19
years. At that period lived Euclid the geometrician. In year 5 of the reign of Darius, the
inhabitants of Egypt revolted against the Persians and, after having been under their yoke
for 124 years, gave themselves a king. At the same period, flames coming from Mount Etna
consumed a great number of cities. In that time, the Greeks acquired twenty-four letters;
they had only sixteen before. Cadmus and Agenor, who were from Egypt, came to the town of
Athens and brought there the sixteen characters, with which the Greeks wrote first of all.
Here are these characters: (2) a b g d e i k l n al-Alfa al-Bita al-Gama al-Delta Youta
Qaba Lambd Nou p r C t u ph o Bi Rau Sigma

227 Tau These characters are called Phoenician characters. Then Palamedes, of the town of
Argos... invented four other characters which are these: zthech. Finally Simonides
invented four other characters, i.e.: mxops. It is said that the Egyptians invented the
first the alphabet and that Phoenicians (learned it) from them. These were the letters
that Cadmus had earlier brought into that country. Then the Greeks (learned the alphabet)
following the Phoenicians. At that time, [the Greeks] had Socrates put to death: they made
him drink poison and he died. After him his disciples Plato and Epicurus distinguished
themselves, who taught various doctrines. (2) In year 15 of king Artaxerxes, Africanus
(Afriquiyons) invaded the country of Carthage (Carchedona) and captured it; after which
this country was called Africa, from the name of Africanus. Then Artaxerxes II reigned for
27 years. At that period there took place the enumeration and census of the inhabitants of
Rome; this census lasted for three years; and it was halted in consequence of the
exhaustion of those who were doing it.

228 In that time, Nectanebo (Fastou), king of Egypt, fled to Ethiopia, because in the
report of the omens, many armies were to founder on him. Some people say that he was the
father of Alexander. The empire of the Egyptians was abolished for 42 years, until the
time of Ptolemy, one of the servants of Alexander, son of Philip. In year 4 of the reign
of king Artaxerxes, Aristotle, aged 17, was at the school of Plato. (2) At that time,
Philip, father of Alexander, began to reign in Macedonia; the name of his mother was
Olympias. In year 13 of king Artaxerxes, Alexander, son of Philip was born, and Plato
died. At the same period, Manasseh, son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, build a temple on
Mount Garizim in imitation of that which was in Jerusalem. Then Darius, son of Arsaces,
reigned for 6 years. In the first year of his reign, Alexander, son of Philip, the
Macedonian, ascended the throne. He was 20 years old. He reigned initially over Hellas for
12 years and he lived 32 years. He subjected many regions and, after having made thirty-
five kings perish, he captured their States; his army was made up of one hundred twenty
thousand men; he had three horns on his head.

229 It was he who made the barrier to stop the invasions of Gog and of Magog. At that
time, he gathered and assembled troops at the head of which (2) he invaded [different]
countries, making war with the kings of the whole world and seizing their States. So he
arrived in the country of Sind and captured it; from there he prepared to invade India. So
he sent part of his troops, and at their head one of his lieutenants named Seleucus, to
call the Indians to obedience. Seleucus was ordered obtain their willing submission and,
if they resisted, to fight them. Arriving at the border of India --- it was at the
beginning of the winter --- Seleucus wrote to the Indians what Alexander had ordered him
in their connection, and sent his letter by three notables from his army. The reading of
this letter caused the Indians fear mixed with stupor; but they answered the proposals of
Seleucus negatively, and let him know that he was not in a position to fight their troops.
They retained his envoys, until they had arranged their troops; after which they started
moving at the head of a multitude so numerous that no similar one has ever been seen. They
brought a crowd (2) of elephants, atop which they fought. They met Seleucus, who had not
moved from his camp and who did not have time to arrange [his troops] in order of battle.
He went out nevertheless with his army, and the two parties came to blows. But the cavalry
of Seleucus, afraid at the sight of the elephants, dispersed and returned to the camp.
Seleucus wrote then to Alexander to tell him about his situation and that of the Indians,
their elephants which had put his cavalry to rout, and to ask him whether the battle
should be begun again.

230 Alexander, having read the letter of Seleucus, convened his philosophers, communicated
to them this letter and asked them their opinion in this respect. They said by mutual
agreement that it was necessary to abstain from the war for the remainder of the winter,
so as to undertake it then himself. Then he wrote to Seleucus, the head of his army, and
ordered him to remain where he was, in the country of Sind, for the remainder of the
winter. On this news, the Indians, who only asked the Greeks to leave them alone, moved
away. Alexander profited from this delay and immediately made preparations: he gathered
the workmen who could work bronze and ordered them to prepare forty hollow bronze
elephants, resembling the elephants of (2) the Indians, and to fill them with coal. The
feet of these elephants were dismountable and could be assembled [at will]; below wheels
were fitted on which they could advance. Alexander appointed guards to prevent anyone from
approaching them and seeing them, because he had his reasons to hide them from the eyes of
the people. He ordered the guards to follow one another without interruption in their
activity and to the workmen to make the feet of the elephants solid and to arrange
openings on their backs so that fire could be introduced.

231 The Indians, seeing that he for a long time did not concern himself with them, hoped
to gain his friendship. They wrote to him without allowing anything of their fear appear
and started talks by seeing that he had philosophers with him. The king of India made him
a marvellous present and sent a letter to him in which he filled with praises the Indian
philosophers who were with him. Then Alexander ordered his philosophers to answer. A
correspondence began between them and differences of opinions were not slow in appearing
in their ranks. The two kings entered into correspondence to organize a meeting of these
philosophers. They discussed in their letters what the disagreement between Socrates, (2)
as we explained, and Hippocrates, Democritus, Aristotle and their followers, consisted of.
The meeting of the philosophers was fixed for a day and an hour, to explain that which was
disputed. And they met to this end.

232 Here is the letter of the king of India to Alexander on this subject: "To Alexander
the greatest of kings, the king of India and all his subjects, greetings. May happiness, O
king, enfold you; may your wisdom be perfect; may your health last a long time; may the
whole earth belong to you; may your rank be high; may philosophy flower with you; may your
people be submitted; may that be open for you what misfortune closes, and that for you be
closed what misfortune opens; may all the desirable things of the world come to your hand;
may the blows of fortune fall far from you; may you be sheltered from being surprised by
evil; may the defense of your kingdom be well organized; may by you the hopes of your
subjects increase; may noble children come to surround you; may your life be strengthened
in the quietude of the heart as long as you enjoy life and by a plenitude of the
intelligence until the end of the world; may your life be prolonged in health and may your
troops be victorious to the borders of your empire; may you (2) speak with glory about
wisdom; may you enjoy this low world with all its goods; may your capabilities be
strengthened by increase of your power; may God help you to find proven assistance; may
you succeed in the rightness of your projects; may your worries be overcome by the
experience of the government; may you be sheltered from the vicissitudes of fate! We and
our subjects make these wishes for you and we inform you of this in our greetings because
of our high opinion of you.

233 It is said that the earth has given you power over his countries; that all peoples
obey you; that your power is greater than that of the kings of the earth, your
contemporaries; that the result [of your enterprises] appeases the envy of your enemies;
that your power cannot be abated; that you reign over the peoples of the four kings; and
that you will reign thus until the end of time, [great] as the king who already rose among
the Persians, and powerful like Nemrod, son of Chanaan, among all the other kings; so that
your empire will shine with the splendour of the kings like a lamp; that its foundations
will be solid like the mountains; that its sacrifices will burn like fire, and that its
force will be as firm as iron; that it will live among the other kings, until the end of
time, like the four elements: water, fire, earth and air."

234 Such was the content of this letter. (2) By order of Alexander his philosophers
answered, but they shortened part of the title of the king (of India), because their
opinion on this subject was different. Here is the reply of Alexander: "On behalf of
Alexander, the greatest king of the age and the earth, the support of the world, to the
king of India. You have received a splendour without stain; you are adorned with the royal
dignity and you have arrived at the utmost degree of virtue; you are famous for the
greatness of your power. May there be a hand upon you to guard you; may your empire be
durable; may the earth be subjected to you; may you get rid of the former kings, and may
all power be given to you until the end of time!" The two kings, while they dealt with
their correspondence and abstained from the war, did not scorn to make use of trickery,
each against the other, being on their guard, and watching over the state of their
business.

235 The king of India entered into correspondence with the king of China; he let him know
that Alexander had attacked him, and told him what had occurred between them; he warned
him to take care that Alexander did not attack him, once he had gained the victory over
(himself); he asked him for help, assistance and support, thus hoping to have strength and
power to compensate for his weakness before the great force of Alexander, to overcome his
resistance, to expel him out of his country and away if they fell out of agreement and
understood each other. When the king of China had read his letter, as he knew his manner
of thinking, as well as the accuracy of his intentions of which he wrote, and of his
request, he sent a favourable answer to him; because he hoped to profit from all this; and
he recognized, in his letter, the advantages of this enterprise. He let him know that he
was beginning his preparations, that he was ready to start work at once and to employ all
his power in this; [at the same time] he asked him to inform him of the moment when he
would need his help.

236 Alexander learned this news, whereas he had already made his preparations and had
completed all his work. A few days after announcing that he would set out, he left with
his troops, arrived at the country of India and halted at the camp of Seleucus his
lieutenant. He wrote to the king of India, to inform him and invite him to make his
submission; if not, he would declare war on him. He prepared couriers for the letter; and
Alexander himself joined them secretly, because he wanted to see the place with his own
eyes, to study it, so he could fight the Indians when he passed through their country, and
to learn their position and to understand their situation. 237 The king of India received
them with benevolence and filled them with favours; but he greeted them quickly, as
opposed to what Alexander would have wished, and let him know in his answer that he would
not await the arrival of Alexander, but that he would come to him with his troops. On this
the king of India wrote and let the king of China know the intention that Alexander had
conceived, and asked him to come more quickly with help, as he had written to him.
Alexander chose an advantageous place for his army, at a distance of 30 parasangs from the
residence of the king of India. As soon as he arrived in the camp of his army, he
expedited the departure and started marching with a great quantity of provisions and food,
camped in that place and forced the king of India to approach him, while he was still
awaiting the help of the king of China. Learning this, the king of India wrote a
threatening letter to Alexander to intimidate him. Then he went out at the head of his
troops and camped at a distance of a mile from the army of Alexander. The site of his camp
was lower than that of the camp of Alexander, which was on a height.

238 Alexander let him know that he wanted to meet him in the morning. He arranged his
bronze elephants in order, filled them with coal and, in the night, lit a fire in them. It
was not yet day, when the fire produced a heat so intense that nobody could approach the
elephants. The day having come, the king of India, who had arisen early in the morning
with his troops, was surprised by the stratagem: he approached the camp of Alexander in an
improvised way, having at the front of his army several elephants, ridden by warriors.
When his elephants had approached and seen the elephants of Alexander, they started a
combat with them, because the riders who were on the elephants believed that in fact the
elephants of Sind were unaccustomed to combat; and the Indians attacked them imprudently.
Then Alexander had his elephants pushed from behind straight against them; they were set
moving and ran on their wheels at high speed, because of the height and the slope of the
ground. The elephants of the king of India did not delay in throwing themselves on them,
as they were accustomed to doing during the engagements, and struck the elephants of
Alexander with their horns, but they were burned and they escaped without looking behind
them and without it being possible for their drivers to stop them; suffering terribly from
their burns, they crushed all the Indian cavalry and foot whom they met; this threw the
Indian cavalry into disorder, so that the king of India and his troops took flight. The
troops of Alexander pursued them in all directions and killed a very great number of them.

239 After this the auxiliary troops of the king of China, agitated and drawn out, came to
the king of India, with their tired beasts of burden. They halted in the camp of the
Indians without movement or resources. Alexander, who was unaware of their situation,
thought, after having seen their camp, that this was a trick on their part. So he gathered
his philosophers and said to them: "You have already seen with which speed their
reinforcements arrived and what a state of exhaustion we are in; [you see] that we have
fewer resources than they do. Yesterday, at nightfall, we had massacred them and made them
perish. But hardly has the day begun, and their army has returned more numerous than
before. What is your opinion on this, our situation and our position?" While they were
reflecting, the oldest of their philosophers said: "I believe that we must attack them and
fight them next Tuesday." However this opinion was pronounced on Wednesday, seven days
before Tuesday.

240 The king of India was extremely sad for the Chinese help, because of their misery and
the fatigue of their mounts. For this reason he gathered his astrologers who examined the
same question as Alexander, concerning the suspension of the war and the request which he
had made, to examine what was better and easier than war. Their letter and their request
agreed with the desire which Alexander had for a suspension of the fighting, because he
had seen their situation with his own eyes. Then he called his philosophers and said to
them: "Let's go and visit the enemy, listen to them, enter into argument with them and try
to learn their intentions; then we will act as seems best." They carried out this order;
and after listening to the Indians, they left, inviting them to come to see Alexander.
Then the Indian philosophers accompanied them to hear the answer of Alexander on this
subject. However he had prepared some of his notables and his cavalry for them, to which
he had told his intentions and his words. The meeting took place under these conditions.
[The Greeks] told the Indians that they were very sad at the march of Alexander, his
arrival on their premises and that he had invaded their kingdom, because the two sides
were in an obvious error and a manifest mistake, in massacring each other because of these
two kings. They acted as Alexander had ordered them, and gave them his answer.

241 Hearing these words, the Indians fell into agreement with them and said that it was
also their opinion. Other (companions of Alexander) said: "Your king is very powerful in
his physical force and his art of drawing up horse; and our king is small in size and
weak, and he does not know the art of drawing up horse. If you have the same intentions
and the same desires, urge your king to fight in single combat with our king, we will do
the same with ours, and one of them will be inevitably victorious. Then we will rest, we
and you, from this war and this calamity." The Indians went off after having accepted
these conditions and not doubting the sincerity of the Greeks in any way; this confidence
filled them with joy, and they said to the Greeks: "Let us set to work, both of us!"
Having taken the answer that Alexander had made to their letter, they left, without having
obtained an audience of the latter.

242 When they arrived in their camp, they informed their companions of this project, which
had the general approval of the multitude. They did not doubt that the victory would be
with the king of India, their Master, if the meeting took place. What led Alexander to
this daring enterprise was his conviction that he would die only after his return and his
arrival at Rome; he did not have any doubt in this respect: he thus entrusted to himself.
The Indians did not cease to pester their king until he had agreed to fight in single
combat with Alexander, provided that the empire would belong to the winner. They entered
in correspondence on this subject, made their conventions and, by mutual agreement, set
the meeting for the seventh day, which, according to their calculation, was a Tuesday.
Alexander ordered his companions to prepare a short lance for him, in the handling of
which he was skilful so that he never missed. Then he went out with his troops, and the
other arrived with his, and the two armies lined up in good order. The two kings came out
from the ranks. Alexander, who spoke the language of the Indians, said to the king of
India: "You are a giant, while I am small and weak; however you fear me and my position
fills you with terror; you have asked others for help against me." The king of India,
irritated by these words, said: "What need have I to beseech help against you?" Alexander
answered him: "Of the rider which is behind you!" The king of India turning to look behind
him, Alexander stabbed him in the nape of his neck with a blow of his lance: thus he
struck him a mortal blow, when the former turned his head. He fell dead from his horse and
his companions carried him away. The two armies returned to their camps.

243 Alexander then ordered the Indians to come to him and he gave this speech to them: "I
have no intention of either remaining in your country, or taking your goods; I ask you
only for obedience. If every year you bring to me, on the same day, a bag of earth from
your country, that will be for me the sign of your submission. Go, choose a king and let
him reign over you." Then Alexander left them. The Indians, surprised at his language,
encouraged and delighted by his speech, returned to their companions, and everyone was
delighted by the news which they brought. Then they carried gifts to Alexander, piled up
the rarest things of their country for him, sent many sumptuous processions to him and
loaded him with presents. They indicated to him the place in their country where the
Chinese were camped and asked Alexander to treat them in the same way. They asked him
moreover to give them a king of their own sort. He agreed to this and gave them as king
the one whom they had chosen. Then Alexander left them, traversed the country around them
and behind them, as far as the borders. After which he left for Babylon.

244 During this march through the desert, Alexander felt weak and found himself ill with
sunstroke: he got down from his horse. His companions put him at the shade of their gold-
covered shields. But he did not improve. Towards the end of the day, he ordered them to
lead him to the nearest village. They did as he ordered, and he spent the night there. At
the dawn of the day, the illness had worsened: he asked for the name of this village, and
when it was reported to him that he was called Roumiya al-Madaïn (Rome), he lost any hope,
persuaded that he was predestined that death was to strike him in Rome in a house of gold.
Feeling overcome by the disease, he spoke to make his will; and as he did not have any
heirs, he spoke in favour of Seleucus, his lieutenant, whom he indicated should succeed
him in Babylon. Death struck Alexander in this place. He had lived 32 years in this world
below and reigned for twelve years. It is told that one of his servants gave him poison to
drink in this locality and thus killed him. Ptolemy, who reigned after him, carried him to
Alexandria and buried him there.

245 When his officers (litt. his servants) learned the news of his death, each of them
seized the region where he had established them as lieutenants: among them, there was
Ptolemy, son of Lagos who reigned over Egypt for 40 years; Philip who reigned over
Macedonia and Antigonia; Demetrius who reigned over Syria and Asia; Seleucus which marched
against Egypt in year 13 of Ptolemy, son of Lagos, who conquered Syria and, having pursued
Demetrius to Asia, killed him. He was Master of Asia, Syria and Babylon where he reigned
for 32 years. At that time, Antiochus built Antioch and gave it his name. At that time,
Seleucus built Apamea, Aleppo, Kinnesrin, Edessa (ar-Rohâ), Seleucia and Laodicea. The
celebrated Simeon, son of Jechonias, was then the high priest of the Jews; he had as
successor his brother Eleazar. In year 9 of the reign of Ptolemy, Antiochus the Great
subjugated the Jews: having come to Judaea where they lived, he made them slaves. In year
11, Ptolemy Epiphanes sent Scopas, one of his generals, besieged the cities of Syria and
Judaea and captured them. Antiochus the Great went to meet him, in year 11 of the reign of
Ptolemy. Antiochus then made war on the Romans who overcame him and took his son Antiochus
Epiphanes as a hostage, in the town of Rome. He was obliged to give them each year a
thousand talents of silver.

246 Ptolemy, in year 13 of his reign, made a peace treaty with Antiochus which gave him
his daughter Cleopatra in marriage, and Ptolemy accepted from him Syria and Phoenicia as a
dowry. In year 17 of Ptolemy, Antiochus the Great was killed in the country of Persia; he
was stoned in the temple of a god. After him, his son reigned for 12 years. At that time,
Simon or Simeon addressed a petition to Apollonius, head of the army in Phoenicia,
promising to give him much gold. When Seleucus learned by the report from his general
Apollonius that there was much gold in the Temple of Jerusalem, he sent an army. But God
punished him, and he was put at death. In year 131 of the Greeks, Ptolemy Philometor
ascended the throne and reigned 35 years. At that time, Aristobulus flourished, who
translated the Torah [into Greek] for King Philometor.

247 In year 6 of Ptolemy and 137 of the Greeks, in the indiction when Antiochus, son of
Antiochus, began to reign ---- the one who had been hostage in the town of Rome, ----
Antiochus marched to make war on Ptolemy, king of Egypt. Prevented from doing so by the
Romans, he returned to Judaea and gave the sovereign pontificate to Jason (Sim`oun),
brother of Onias, son of Jechonias. Then he removed it from him and gave it to Onias,
called Menelaus. This dissension which broke out between them, was the cause of evils and
afflictions for the Jews. In the year 14 of the reign of Ptolemy and 145 of the Greeks, in
the second indiction, Antiochus Epiphanes ascended the throne and reigned for eight years.
He sent a general from his companions with a strong army against Jerusalem. Capturing it
by trickery, on the 25 of the month of Kanoun I (Dec.), he entered the Temple and defiled
it; he set up on the altar of the Temple the desolation and ruin about which the prophet
Daniel speaks. It was a statue of Olympian Zeus. He also placed an(other) statue of Zeus
Xenios, on Mt. Garizim. He had the Books of the Law burned. He oppressed all the
Israelites until they followed the path [of the gentiles] and adhered to their errors.

248 But Mathathias, son of John, son of Simeon the priest, of the family of Jonadab, who
lived in Mod`im, rose up. He had five son: John called Gaddis (Khafis), Simeon called
Tarsi, Judas called Maccabeus, Eleazar Haurân and Jonathan called Hîfous (Apphus). They
were seized with zeal and ardour to defend the Law of the Lord. They covered themselves
with sack-cloth and were deeply grieved. One of them who was near this idol, --- taken
there to make him sacrifice, --- he saw a Jew then approaching to offer a sacrifice to
this idol. Inflamed with anger, he seized him and killed him. He killed the chief who was
obliging them to sacrifice; after which he destroyed the idol and fled into the mountain
with those which were zealous for the law of the Lord. Then an old man named Eleazar,
chief of the doctors of the Law, was taken; after having endured cruel torments, he died;
but he did not sacrifice, because he wanted to observe the law.

249 Also a woman, named Chamouni (Achmounith), and her seven sons were taken; they were
brought into the presence of king Antiochus and were each of her sons subjected separately
to the various torments: for the first one the extremities of all the members were cut
off, then he was thrown into a boiling pot; for the second one they tore off the skin of
his head; for the third one they cut off his tongue. As for the fourth, he said to the
king: "For me death is good, because I hope to be reborn, and I will not sacrifice to the
idols". After the death of these seven brothers, their mother Achmounith died in her turn.
They were buried in Antioch. In their memory a great church was built; in their honour
also every year a great fair was held, accompanied by a great festival. We have told here
their history and their sufferings, because they were the first who suffered martyrdom to
testify to their obedience to our Lord Christ.

250 At that time, the Jews were allowed to transgress the Sabbath, to fight [enemies] who
wanted to attack them on that day. In year 148 of the Greeks and 17 of Ptolemy, Mathathias
died, and after him his son Judas Maccabeus became governor of the Jews for three years.
He was strong and fought for the cause of the people of Israel. The same year, Judas
purified the Temple of the impure idols and iniquities which defiled it. In year 149 of
the Greeks and 18 of Ptolemy, Antiochus Epiphanes died, struck by a cruel disease, in the
country of the Persians. Antiochus (Eupator) reigned after him for two years. The
following year, Antiochus sent a large army of 120,000 men to Jerusalem to deport the
people of the Jews. Eleazar, called Haurân, saw a large elephant; believing that it
carried the king, he placed himself below it and pierced its belly with his sword; the
disembowelled elephant fell on Eleazar who died. After the battle, the bodies were
gathered and buried in Jerusalem. In collecting them, the gold of these idols was found in
the clothing of a man. Then Judas Maccabeus sent three thousand drachmas to the priests of
Jerusalem, requesting them to offer a sacrifice for those who had died, and to intercede
for them, because he hoped for the resurrection of the dead.

251 At that time, the Romans and the Jews were linked by a peace treaty. In year 151 of
the Greeks, Demetrius Soter, son of Seleucus, having left Rome, came (to Syria) and
occupied the throne of his ancestors for twelve years. Because of him (his soldiers)
killed Antiochus and Lysias, his confidant. At that time, after the death of the high
priest Menelaus, Alcimus the impious, who was not a Jew, became high priest by simony. At
this spectacle Onias, son of Onias, fled to Egypt where he built a city and a temple in
imitation of that of Jerusalem. But God struck Alcimus the impious and killed him. In his
place Judas Maccabeus was established and, after the death of the latter, Jonathan his
brother who was at the same time governor of the people and high priest. He fought against
Bachides, general of Demetrius, and overcame him. 252 In year 160 of the Greeks, Demetrius
left for Egypt and captured it. Then the king of Egypt gave him in marriage his daughter
Cleopatra. Others say that it was the eldest daughter of Ptolemy Evergetes. Anastasius (?)
bishop of Rome, says about this that it accomplished the word of the prophet Daniel who
said: "The daughter of the city of the south will be given to the north." Theodoret,
bishop of Cyr, said: "In her whom Ptolemy Epiphanes gave in marriage to Antiochus the
Great, was accomplished [the prophetic word of Daniel "], etc. In year 165 of Alexander,
Ptolemy Evergetes ascended the throne and reigned 29 years. At that time, John (Younân)
became high priest and governor of the Jews. In year 167 of the Greeks and 3 of Ptolemy,
Demetrius, son of Demetrius, [called] Siderites was killed, after having reigned for three
years. Jonathan the high priest was killed, in year 170, by the perfidy of Tryphon, head
of the army of Demetrius. His brother Simon succeeded him for three years.

253 At that time, Ptolemy gave his daughter in marriage to Demetrius, and [with her] the
kingdom of Alexander. In year 174 [of the Greeks], Antiochus, brother of Demetrius, called
Sidetes, ascended the throne of Syria and reigned for nine years. At that time, Simon sent
to the king of Rome some gold tablets and made with him a treaty [of alliance] on a bronze
tablet. At the same time, the high priest Simon sent John, his son, against Cendebeus
(Qandoubyous), head of the army of Antiochus. When he had overcome him and destroyed his
army, he freed the Jews from a slavery which had lasted for 28 years; they were also freed
from the tribute. It is certain indeed that since the reign of Seleucus Nicator and the
beginning of the Greek era, the Jews had paid the tribute to the kings of Syria. In this
year the second history of the Maccabees finishes.

254 In year 177 of the Greeks and 21 of Ptolemy, Simon, son of Onias, was killed in the
month of chebat (February), and his son John succeeded him; but Ptolemy killed him. John
was the one called Hyrcanus; he was high priest for 28 years. From this time date the
rulers of Edessa; they fulfilled their functions until the time of the other kings who
were of the family of Abgar, king of Edessa. In year 182 of the Greeks and 17 of Ptolemy,
Arsaces, the Parthian, killed Antiochus Sidetes. Demetrius, son of Demetrius, his brother,
succeeded him for four years. After the latter [Antiochus] Grypos reigned for 12 years.
After this Antiochus laid seige to Jerusalem, with which he reduced the inhabitants to an
extreme embarrassment. Seeing their lassitude, John Hyrcanus opened the tomb of the
prophet David, who was richest of all the kings, and took 3,000 talents of gold from it;
he gave 300 of the talents to Antiochus who moved away from Jerusalem.

255 At that time, Hyrcanus devastated the town of Samaria; then he rebuilt it and called
it Sebastia. In this year which is year 186 of the Greeks, during which Antiochus ascended
the throne and besieged Jerusalem, begins the dating of the Tyrians. In year 194, Ptolemy
Soter ascended the throne and reigned for 17 years. After this Hyrcanus, ruler of the
Jews, went with Antiochus to the war, and they killed Indates, the general of the king of
the Parthians. In year 198, Antiochus Cyzicenus ascended the throne of Syria and reigned
for 18 years. At that time, there was a shock and an earthquake in the town of Rhodes; and
the Colossus fell. In year 205, John Hyrcanus died, and his son Aristobulus succeeded him
for one year. He was high priest; he was also the first king of the Jews, in the 484 years
since the temple had been set afire and their kingdom destroyed. But Aristobulus had a
brother called John or Alexander and another called Antigonus; he killed this one by
trickery and jealousy. And in the very place where it had shed the blood of his brother,
his own blood was shed. John, their father, had prophesied, indeed, that they would not be
very good in government. Their father was a veracious man, who spoke with inspiration
about God.

256 In year 207, after the death of Aristobulus, John-Alexander reigned for 27 years. He
governed the people of Israel with harshness, severity and roughness. At that time,
Ptolemy Soter was driven out by his mother, the queen Cleopatra, who deprived him of
power. Ptolemy Alexander succeeded him for 10 years. In year 211 of the Greeks, the dating
of the Ascalonites starts, from the 208th year of the Greeks. In year 216 of the Greeks
and 5 of Ptolemy, Epiphanes, head of the troops, killed Antiochus Cyzicenus, after he had
burned his presents. Philip reigned after him over Syria for two years. After that, in
year 217, the kingdom of Syria ceased to exist. In year 222 of their era, Ptolemy ascended
the throne. This is he who lived eight more years. From his time, a census was taken of
the inhabitants of Rome. 470,300 of them (460,300) were counted.

257 Ptolemy, who was over there also, was burned by the Thracians. In year 230, Ptolemy
Dionysius ascended the throne of Egypt and reigned for 30 years. In year 5 of his reign
and 234 of the Greeks, John-Alexander died, and Alexandra, called Salina, ruled for 9
years. She observed the precepts of the Law carefully and punished those who transgressed
it. Then she made her son Hyrcanus high priest. But when he was raised [to this dignity],
rivalries broke out among the Jews. After many disturbances, it was agreed concerning both
(sons of Alexandra), that Hyrcanus would be high priest and Aristobulus king. Pompey,
general of the Romans, came then, seized Aristobulus and deported him in chains to Rome.
He established the high priest Hyrcanus in his place. In the year 14 of Ptolemy and 243 of
the Greeks, Hyrcanus started to rule and ruled for 33 years as high priest.

258 At that time, the Romans devastated Antioch, the city of Syria, made the Jews subject
again and imposed a tribute on them; they refounded several cities. Then they gave
governors to the Jews, of which the first was called Antipater. This Antipater, who
belonged to the gentiles, was the son of a hegemon named Herod. The Idumeans, i.e. the
children of Edom, descendants of Lot, during one of their expeditions, had attacked a
temple of Apollo which was close to the ramparts of the town of Ascalon, and had made
Antipater captive. And as his father did not have the money to repurchase him and deliver
him, Antipater his son remained in their hands and departed with them. This young man,
having recovered his freedom, took as his wife the daughter of Arethas, king of the Arabs,
whose name was Aritâh; his name for her was Cypris. He then became the friend of Hyrcanus,
the high priest of the Jews, fought vigorously in his favour and supported him in his
contentions with his brother. Then on behalf of Hyrcanus, he went to find Pompey, the
general of the Romans. And this is why he also became the friend of the Romans, who liked
him and established him in their name as procurator of the Jews. Antipater had [four] sons
by Cypris the Jewess (the Arab): Joseph, Pherorah, Phasaël and Herod, and a girl who was
called Salome. As for Phasaël and Joseph, they became, a little time afterwards,
procurators of the Jews. As for Antipater their father, he died, poisoned by one of his
wine waiters. His son Herod went to Rome and after receiving there the royal power over
the Jews, he returned. It is this Herod who lived at the time of Christ Our Saviour; we
will speak soon about him and his family.

259 In year 259 of the Greeks and 30 of Ptolemy, those who are called upatoi (consuls)
took up their duties; they were named Caius Julius and Marcus Antonius. This same year,
after the death of Ptolemy, Cleopatra in Egypt reigned for 22 years. In the 2nd year of
the reign of Cleopatra, Pompey, general of the Roman army, was killed in battle. Then the
deeds of the Maccabees finished. The Jews concluded a treaty with the Romans and made them
an act of submission. The first book of the Maccabees includes 2,766 verses, the second
5,600. From the beginning of the Maccabees, i.e from the 93 Greek year, until the end of
their history, 168 years are counted. In year 5 of the reign of Cleopatra and 264 of the
Greeks, the dating of the Antiochians starts. This year began on the Monday after the leap
year. From Adam to that year there were 5,461 years

260 In this same year, the Romans considered it convenient to convene their senate which
numbered 320 men, and whose meeting was called boule. They made one of these consuls of
which we spoke, emperor: this was Caius Julius; [he reigned] for four years. He was also
called Caesar, in the language of the Romans, because his mother died while he was still
moving in the womb; the entrails of the mother were opened and he was taken out; then he
was raised until his majority. He reigned over the Romans, in Rome, and he rose above the
kings, by saying that he had not been born as they had been born, and that he had not come
out where they had left, wanting to imply that he had not come out by the way that modesty
hides. The month Quintilis, which is the month mesori (?) i.e. tammouz, was also called
since that time, Julius (July), because it was in this month that the emperor Julius
started to reign.

261 After the death of Julius, in year 268 of the Greeks, Augustus Caesar succeeded him
for 56 years and six months. Concerning the two days which are missing in the month chebat
it is written that at the time of [Manlius] Capitolinus (Qabiton), general of the Roman
army, a troop of cavalry having invaded his country, he made war on it and overcame it.
But one of the Roman Generals who was called Februarius (Frourious) and other depraved men
made opposition to Qabiton and removed the power which he had over the Romans from him.
The enemy cavalry, having heard and learned that Qabiton had been just removed, advanced
and seized Rome during the night. The generals fled with Februarius and took refuge in the
Capitol, the temple of the idols; then they sent to Qabiton: "We have done wrong and we
are guilty. Gather the Romans on the side where they will be able to seize the Capitol.
Deliver us, and we will make you king." He then gathered an army of Romans and, during the
night, (attacked) the town of Rome on three sides and confined the attackers in the
middle; then having killed them, as well as the head of their troop, he reigned over the
Romans. Februarius, who wanted to deliver the city to the enemy, was seized; he was put in
a net, made to ride an ass, and struck with blows of sticks and rods, while saying to him:
"Agba, Frourié!" which means: "Get out, O Chebât (February)!" Then he was thrown in the
sea. The king ordered that this month should bear the name of Februarius, so that, each
year, his evil memory would be an object of contempt.

262 As for these two days during which the unexpected attack of the enemy expedition had
taken place, which had gone against Rome, they were rejected, because this event had taken
place on the 28th of the month; but one of these two days was added to the month of phibin
(?) which is Temmouz (July), and the other to the month of Kanoun II (January), so that
each of these two months had thirty one days. After some time, another king reigned over
the Romans and said: "It is not appropriate that the month of chebat, i.e. February, is in
the middle of the year." He thus removed it and placed it at the end of the year before
March, which is Adhar. It was he who called one month Julius, after his name, and the
other Augustus, after the name of his uncle. For this reason Chebat has two days less.
Since this time, the Romans have not ceased to believe in bad omens in the month of Chebat
and to believe that the demon appears in this month and that the malignant spirits
dominate then.

263 In year 8 of the reign of Augustus Caesar and 275 of the Greeks, in the 146th
Olympiad, the kingdom and the priesthood of the Jews were abolished. Herod, son of
Antipater, who, as we have reported, was of the race of the gentiles, reigned over the
Jews for 37 years. As for Hyrcanus the high priest of the Jews, he was taken into
captivity in the country of the Parthians; on his return, Herod had him killed with his
son Jonathan. Then the word of Jacob was accomplished, the chief of the Patriarchs, who
had said: "(The sceptre) will not be removed from Judah, nor the legislator from among his
feet, until he comes to whom the kingdom belongs and whom the people await." And in truth,
it is at that time, after a short delay, that the advent of Christ took place. And in the
same way the prophecy of Daniel was accomplished which the archangel Gabriel had revealed
to him about the seven and the sixty two weeks which make 433 (483) years and which were
completed [in that time; the first year was] the sixth of the reign of Darius, son of
Hystaspes, in which the Temple of the Lord was finished, in the 6th Olympiad. From that
time until Herod started to reign, all the rulers of the Jews were called Messiahs
(anointeds), i.e. high priests. Then the existing priesthood ceased to exist and also the
government formerly which they chose themselves in their own land.

264 When Herod had accepted the kingship from the Romans and had arrived in the country of
the Jews, they opposed him. Then he made war on them without mercy, destroyed all the
walls of Jerusalem and made a great number of Jews in the city perish; he seized the
sacerdotal insignia which the high priest alone could wear. Herod took them to his own
house and put them under seals; and he did not allow anybody to be high priest for more
than one year. A little time afterwards, he established Aristobulus, son of Hyrcanus,
brother of his wife, as high priest; then he had him killed and established Hananiel in
his place. In the year 14 of the reign of Augustus Caesar and 7 of the reign of Herod, the
emperor Augustus marched against Antony the general of his army, who had risen against him
and who was under the domination of Cleopatra, queen of Egypt. Augustus vigorously made
war on both of them, overcame them, seized the two sons of Cleopatra who were called Sun
and Moon and put them to death. It is said that these two sons, being unable to escape
him, killed themselves with their own hands. The kingdom of Egypt then ceased to exist and
fell under the domination of the Romans.

265 At that time, there was a census in the town of Rome; the inhabitants were counted and
four million hundred sixty-four thousand were found. Augustus, in year 18 of his reign,
sent Tiberius, general of the Romans, into Armenia, who also subjected the Parthians and
gave freedom to the inhabitants of Samos. At that time, the Romans started to call the day
which arrived every four years 'bissextile'; i.e.: idus pro ex kalandon martion. As for
the Greeks, they call it bisexton. In year 28 of the reign of Augustus, Herod built
cities, walls, many fortresses; he also built a city and called it Caesarea, in honour of
Caesar. Previously this city bore the name of "Strato's Tower". At that time, Sextus the
Pythagorean philosopher was illustrious. [Judas] the Galilean and Sadoc, of the town of
Gamala, were impostors. They revolted, and said: "In truth, it is not allowed to pay the
poll-tax and to give us mortal masters."

266 In year 42 of the reign of Augustus Caesar, 35 of the reign of Herod, 46 of
Antiochenians, 309 of the Greeks, in the first indiction, the 2nd year of the 19th
Olympiad, Our Lord and Saver Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem, town of Judaea, pro ̀
okto ̀ kalandon̓ianouarion, on the twenty-fifth day of Kanoun I (December). From Adam to
that year there were in total 5,566 years. The beginning of this year fell on a Monday.
According to the calculation of the Greeks, it was the twelfth day of the moon, and
according to the calculation of the Romans it was the sixteenth day. The previous year in
which Christ was conceived, the 25th day of the month of Adhar (March), had begun on a
Sunday. According to the lunar calculation of the Greeks, it was the first day of the
year, and according to the calculation of the Romans, the fifth day. In this year, the
moon was intercalated.

267 The year before the birth of Christ, Cyrinus, egemo tes sunkletou (president of the
senate), an assembly which governed the empire, was sent to count the population of Judaea
subjected to the capitation tax. In fact he was upatos (consul) and belonged to those who
gathered in the boule (senate). However, when everyone was going to enroll in his city,
Joseph, husband of Mary, also went up to register in the town of Bethlehem; and at this
point in time Christ was born. The Greek scholar Longinus, who also reports [the events
of] this time in the third part of his book, where he treats of the war and victory of the
Romans over Antioch, a town of Syria, wrote to Caesar: "Some Persians who have come from
the East entered your States and offered presents to a little child born in Bethlehem; we
have not yet learned who he is, and whose son." Then Augustus sent to Longinus the
following letter: "Herod, the satrap (governor), whom we set up over there, over the Jews,
will write to us and will make everything known to us."

268 As for the king of the Persians who had sent the Magi, he was called Pharansoun. In
year 44 of Augustus, these Magi came to the Christ who, according to some, was then two
years old. But Cyril and Africanus along with others tell that Christ was seven days old
at the time of the arrival of the Magi. This opinion is more probable, because in the
images and the effigies of many churches, we have found the Magi and the pastors
represented beside Christ and of her mother Mary. We have also showed that Christ was born
in year 35 of the reign of Herod who reigned for 37 years. If Christ had been two years
old, Herod would have been dead. Then the Gospel tells of the escape of Joseph with Christ
into Egypt and his two years stay in Egypt, until the death of Herod and the advent of his
son Archelaus, who succeeded him.

269 Herod, seeing that the Magi had not kept their word, then sent to kill all the
children of Bethlehem and the surrounding region, who were two years old and below,
according to the indications provided by the Magi. When pure Mary gave birth to Christ Our
Saviour, she was thirteen years old; she died aged 51 years and five years after the
Ascension of Christ. In year 307 of the Greeks, the 24th of the month of Eloul
(September), John, son of Zachariah, was conceived; he was born on the 24 of the month of
Haziran (June), in the year 308 of the Greeks. Mary received the message on the 25th of
the month of Adhar (March), six months after the conception of John. Nine months after, in
year 309 of the Greeks and the 25th of Kanoun I (December), Christ was born in Bethlehem
and he was circumcised there, at the age of eight days. At the end of forty days he was
carried to the temple, and it is there that the old man Simeon took him in his arms. It is
from there [also] that Joseph fled with him into Egypt.

270 We already told that at the time of the death of Herod, Christ was two years old; we
stated that Christ was born in year 35 of the reign of Herod who reigned thirty-seven
years. So if, at the time of the arrival of the Magi, Christ had been two years old, Herod
would have been dead. It is said that the year when the Magi had their vision, [Christ]
withdrew into Egypt, where he remained for two years; that after this Joseph, learning of
the death of Herod, left Egypt when Christ was already four years old: this is the opinion
of a certain number. But here the truth: Christ withdrew into Egypt, at the age of forty
days, because we have already showed that Herod died two years after the birth of Christ;
and that proves that he remained in Egypt only for the two last years of the life of
Herod, because the Gospel says: "Joseph, having learned that Herod had died, left Egypt
and went to Nazareth, where Christ was raised." The Gospel says [also] that the Magi came
to Jerusalem and learned about the birth of Christ; that the Jewish scholars told Herod,
when he questioned them on the same subject, that the Christ was to be born in Bethlehem;
that Herod sent the Magi to obtain information on Christ. The Gospel says [finally] that
the Magi returned to their country by another way and did not return again to Herod. That
proves that the Magi did not come to Christ in Jerusalem.

271 So we say that Christ was born in year 35 of the reign of Herod, two years before the
end of his reign; that the same year when Christ was born, Joseph and his Mary mother took
him and went away into Egypt, where he remained for two years until the death of Herod;
that Herod, after having lived 70 years and reigned 37 years, died in year 44 of the reign
of Augustus Caesar, which is the 311th year of the Greeks. This is one of the proofs that
Christ remained in Egypt for two years and that Joseph took him there immediately after he
had been carried in the arms of the old man Simeon, who had said by an inspiration of the
Holy Spirit that he would not taste death before he had seen the Christ Our Lord. At the
temple he thus took Christ in his arms and requested the Lord to let him die, saying: "It
is now, Lord, that You may let Your servant die in peace, because my eyes have seen the
salvation that You have prepared for all the people, like the light which will illuminate
the nations, and for the glory of Your people of Israel."

272 There are other accounts about which the Gospel says nothing. Simeon, being upright,
with the Christ in his arms, rendered up his spirit. The people who saw this wonder,
Simeon dead and standing with Christ in his arms, told that of which they had been the
eyewitnesses. The news came to Herod after the departure of the Magi for Bethlehem. If
Christ had been two years old before his escape into Egypt, Herod would be dead and could
not have said to the Magi: "Go and inform yourselves about the child; and when you find
him, return here and let me know it, so that I may worship him." Consequently the account
of those which believe that the Magi saw Christ in Jerusalem is lacking in truth. The
Gospel did not need to tell the stories about which we spoke. From these considerations
and other similar ones, it results that the Magi and the shepherds arrived at the time of
the birth of Christ, as our ancestors represented it in the churches.

273 Herod died of a bitter and cruel disease. It is said that first he killed his wife,
following an argument which he had with her in the bed where they slept together; finally
his wife quarrelled with him so much, that Herod arose, took her pillow, placed it on the
face of his wife and remained sitting until she died. He then killed his daughter and
several of his close relations, because he was in the grip of a strong access of madness.
His entrails were covered with ulcers which caused him violent pains; his feet were
swollen with gout; his pubis and his testicles broke up and swarmed with worms; terrible
and persistent ulcers covered his body. Tortured by the pain and the suffering, Herod took
a knife and an apple; he started to cut apple, hoping to benefit from the carelessness of
those who surrounded him, to strike himself in the heart with a blow of the knife. But
they realized it and did not let him do it. Then he also said to his sister Salome and to
her husband: "I know that the Jews will make a great festival after my death and that they
will be delighted much by it. So let us gather all those who are joined together here, put
them in prison and kill them, so that the Jews, when they gather, weep for me, out of
liking or perforce." It was thus that Herod died in atrocious suffering, and that God
punished him to avenge the massacre of the innocent children, [a massacre committed] in
spite and bold enmity against God, who is powerful and great.

274 We have written this according to what the scholars say who lived at that time. But
[others] say that all these trials struck him before the massacre of these children,
before his unjust and daring acts against God. Herod had nine wives and [eight] sons: by
Doris, he had Antipater who killed his brothers and was finally killed by his father; by
Mary, daughter of the high priest Hyrcanus, whom Herod had killed, Aristobulus and
Alexander, who lost their lives by the intrigues of their brother Antipater, and another
Herod, called Antipas who married Herodias, the wife of his brother, and killed John the
Baptist, because the latter exhorted him and condemned him for marrying the wife of his
brother. Herodias hated him and did not cease inventing tricks to make him die. On the
anniversary day of his birth, Herod made a feast for all the important people of his court
and Herodias sent her daughter, who danced before king Herod. He with all the guests were
charmed at her dance. He had agreed beforehand with her that she would ask for the death
of John, promising to give her his head in a dish. Herod thus promised to give her
anything she asked, be it half of his kingdom; and when Herodias asked for the head of
John from him, he sent into the prison one of his torturers, who cut off the head of John
the Baptist and brought it. Herod then gave it to the girl, who took it and carried it to
her mother.

275 Herod Antipas had by Malkous the Samaritan Archelaus, who reigned after him; by
Cleopatra the Jerusalemite another Herod who lived as a private man and Philip who was put
to death by his brother, the kidnapper of his wife; by Pallas, he had Phasaël. (Herod) had
then three grandsons: Aristobulus, brother of Alexander; Herod who was king of Chalcis;
Agrippa called Herod, who had James, the brother of Christ Our Lord, killed with a sword,
and who was eaten by worms; it is also he who seized and took away the kingdom of his
uncle Herod. His children were Agrippa, who succeeded him, and two girls: Berenice and
Drusilla. Drusilla married the procurator Felix of whom the Acts of the Apostles speak.
Now we go back to tell that, after the death of Herod, who was struck by the punishments
which we have described, his son Archelaus succeeded him in the 45th year of the reign of
Augustus Caesar, which is the 312th year of the Greeks. At the same time, Augustus named
also Herod, called Antipas, brother of Archelaus, tetrarch of the Jews; he named Felix
governor of Trachonitis and Lysanias governor of Abilene.

276 At that time, a census was made in the town of Rome; the inhabitants were counted and
four million hundred one thousand of them were found. It was then also that, for several
reasons and for his failures, Archelaus was sent in exile to Vienne, a town of Galatia (of
Gaul). After him Herod the tetrarch reigned over the Jews for twenty-eight years. Augustus
Caesar died in year 54 of his reign, at the age of 75 years. Tiberius Caesar was his
successor for 23 years and lived 78 years. At that time, there was a great panic and many
earthquakes, during which 13 cities were overturned. In year 7 of the reign of Tiberius,
Philip the tetrarch built a city, which he called Caesarea Philippi. Herod also built
Tiberias, to which he gave the name of Tiberius Caesar. In the year 14 of the reign of
Tiberius Caesar, which is the 357th year of the Greeks, Pilate who from the town of Pontus
(Bontos), in the country of Euxine was sent [to Judaea] and started to drive out the Jews
from the country of Tiberius Caesar.

277 The following year, which is the year 5,535 from Adam and the origins of the world,
year 75 of the Antiochians, at the end of the 201th Olympiad, in the 15th indiction, which
is year 15 of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Christ Our Lord, thirty years old, was
baptized by John the Baptist, son of Zachariah, in the river of the Jordan, on the 6th of
the month of Kanoun II (January), a Sunday. Christ was born on a Tuesday. Christ, Our Lord
and Master, starting from his baptism and after having fasted for forty days and forty
nights in the desert where He was tempted by the impostor, started to work wonders and
miracles, for three and a half years. The first miracle of Our Lord Christ took place at
the wedding at Cana in Galilee, when He changed water into an exquisite wine. Then He gave
the ten Beatitudes; He taught the prayer to His disciples; He purified the leper; He cures
the sick, delivered the possessed, opened the eyes of the blind, returned speech to the
dumb and revived the dead.

278 With the assistance and the help of Christ, the stories, the accounts and the tales of
the Old Testament are finished; finished is the first part of the book of the origins of
the world, which tells the stories, the tales and the accounts of the world for the first
centuries and the ages passed, age by age; [which tells] of the happy or unhappy events of
all the times, i.e. the news, facts and descriptions from the beginning of the world and
Adam to the end of the Old Testament, until the accomplishment by Christ of all the
figures which relate to Him in the Books of Prophets and finally until the time, the month
and the day, where Christ Our Lord went up to heaven: which took place on Thursday, 3rd
(2nd) of the month of Iyar (May), because the Passover had fallen, that year, on Saturday,
the 24th of the month of Adhar (March), and the day of Resurrection Sunday 25 of same
month.

279 From here we will begin the second part of the History of the New Testament, from the
time of the Rise of Christ Our Lord; we will recount and set forth all the accounts of the
New Testament; we will report the opposing opinions, the events and the facts which took
place in the whole world from this time until our own days. Then we will recount, point
out and describe certain things which exist and which must happen; we will continue our
account until the end of the world and until the consummation of the centuries, according
to what the Prophets and the revealed Books of God say on this subject, because that gives
satisfaction to the reason and allows it to follow the rules of the analogy, --- if God so
wills! Selected footnotes 1. This seems to mean the Venerable Bede, "Bedae cui tribuitur
septem miraculorum ordo". H. Schott, De septem orbis spectaculis quaestiones, Onoldi,
1891, p.5; see appendix, p. ii-iv.

280 1a. Compare this to a passage from Eusebius Ecclesiastical History concerning a statue
at Panneas / Caesarea Phillippi:"But since I have come to mention this city, I do not
think it right to omit a story that is worthy to be recorded also from those that come
after us. For they say that the woman who had a haemorrhage, and who, as we learn from the
sacred Gospels, found at the hands of our Saviour relief from her affliction, came to this
place, and that her house was pointed out in the city, and that marvelous memorials of the
good deed, which the Savior wrought upon her, still remained. For that there stood on a
lofty stone at the gates of her house a bronze figure of a woman, bending on her knee and
stretching forth her hands like a suppliant, while opposite to this there was another of
the same material, an upright figure of a man, clothed in comely fashion in a double cloak
and stretching out his hand to the woman; at his feet on the monument itself a strange
species of herb was growing, which climbed up to the double cloak of bronze, and acted as
an antidote to all kinds of diseases. This statue, they said, bore the likeness of the
Lord Jesus. And it was in existence even to our day, so that we saw it with out own eyes
when we stayed in the city." (Note contributed to the online text by David Blocker).

282 14. Instead of these two names ms. A gives Haleb and Salamiyah. 15. Here the Mss.
again add the country of Al-Djezîreh. 16. Cf. Georg. Sync., p. 98 et 170; also p. 100.
Michael the Syrian, I, 20: Panouphis. 17. Son of Haber. Genesis, X, 25 (= Yokthan). 18.
Cf. Mich. the Syr., I, 23-24. 19. I Macchab., i, 7-9. 20. Here the explanation of the
copyist is: (the author) understands what is not known to the majority of men, because it
was so long ago. 21. According to ms. A it was Helene who went to Jerusalem and asked for
the relics. Instead of the passage of ms. B. starting from the words "The Jews gave him",
we find in ms A: "The Jews gave to Helen all the books; among the books which were given
to her, there was the book of the mutilated Torah. The queen Helen carried them to king
Constantine, her son. Then a certain number of Jews were sent to the king to teach him all
that the Jews had mutilated in the Torah and the books of the Prophets."

285 57. The preceding fascicle (P. O., t. V, fasc. 4) ends with: "The Midianites
devastated all their country"; the manuscripts then continue: "with their many troops".
58. These are the terribly disfigured names of the Heliades: Merope, Helie, Aegle,
Lampetia, Phoebe, Aetheria, Dioxippa. Ex Perseide, Oceani filia, Circe, Pasiphaë. 59.
Perhaps is necessary to see here "at Thebes"? 60. Perhaps "Jonah"? 61. The author confuses
Hanon, son of Nahach (II Sam, X, 2), with Amnon, son of David (ibid., xiii). 62. For these
names cf. the passage of Maçoudi, Al-Masûdi, Kitâb at-Tanbîb, Bibl. geogr. arab. ed. de
Goeje, VIII, 1894, 11218-1132. Macoudi, Le livre de l'avertissement, trad. Carra de Vaux,
Paris, 1896, 159. P. Kokovzoff drew my attention to this passage of Maçoudi. Cf. P.O.,
VII, 599, the Jewish sects of the Achma`at and Anâïat (Caraïtes?). 63. Two words which I
do not understand. 64. Phoul = Poul (Pul) = Tiglathpileser IV = belos in the Greek
chronicles. See II Kings, xv, 19; I Chron., v, 26. Perhaps is necessary it to read "Phoul
father of Ninus"? Cf. Mich. the Syr., I, 77: Belus, father of Ninus.

288 97. The text of the end of this sentence is obscure. Perhaps is necessary to
translate: "because, in origin, he belonged to these two families" (= to the Medes and
Persians)? 98. G. Sync, I, 438: 16: dareios assouerou. See Mich. the Syr., I, 105: Darius,
i.e. Assuerus. 99. Dan., viii, 17-27; ix, 21-27. 100. John, ii, 20. 101. Mich. the Syr.,
I, 102. 102. Mich. the Syr., I, 101. 103. Daniel, xiv, 33-39 (according to the LXX and the
Latin Vulgate). This episode belongs to the deuterocanonical part of the book of Daniel.
104. Mich. the Syr., I, 105. 105. Cf. Mich. the Syr., I, 103-104. 106. G. Sync, I, 457:
14-15 (Eus. Chr., II, 98 IIi). Mich. the Syr., I, 102-103. 107. See Mich. the Syr., I,
103. 108. lbid., I, 105. 109. Ms. B: Qasmous? 110. G. Sync, I, 471: 44 (Eus. Ch., II, 100
Hi). Mich. the Syr., I, 106.

289 111. In the text, rather "Chosroes". 112. See Mich. the Syr., I, 105. 113. G. Sync, I,
470: 6 (Eus. Chr., II, 102 Hd). Mich. the Syr., I, 105. 114. Cf. Zachariah, i, 1:
Zachariah, son of Barachya. Isaiah, viii, 2. See above. 115. G. Sync, I, 4761C. Mich. the
Syr., I, 105. 116. Cf. Mich. the Syr., I, 107: Arovik. 117. G. Sync, I, 483 (Eus. Chr.,
II, 104 Hc). 118. See Jos. Flav. Antiq. Jud., XI, 226. 119. The text adds once again: "The
king saw this, when he came out". ** Note to the online edition. Here the page numbers in
the printed text suddenly go from 226 to 217 -- i.e 10 is subtracted. 120. For the history
of Esther and Mordecai cf. Jos. Flav. Ant. Jud., XI, 184-268. See also the Book of Esther.
121. We must read "two months". 122. I omit [ arabic phrase] that I do not understand

290 123. This is Nectanebo II. 124. On the legendary history of Alexander the Great see
Pseudo-Callisthenes, III, 1-4; ed. C. Mäller, p. 94-99 (Arriani Anabasis et Indica,
Parisiis, 1846. Scriptorum Graecorum Bibliotheca, t. XXVI). H. Meusel, Pseudo-
Callisthenes. Nach der Leidener Handschrift herausgegeben von H. M. Jahrbächer fur
classische Philologie. V. Supplementband. Leipzig, 1864-1872, p. 769-772 (the
correspondence of Alexander with Porus which differs from that of Agapius; the anecdote of
the elephants; the single combat; there is no mention of the help sent by the Chinese).
See also the texts of the Russian chronographers, Moscow, 1893, p. 194-198; 309-313.
Examples drawn from the Arab authors in T. Noeldeke, Beitrage zur Geschichte des
Alexanderromans. Denkschriften der K. Akademie der Wissenschaften in Wien, T. 38 (1890),
p. 38, 40 (episode with China). The Syriac version in W.Budge, The History of Alexander
the Great, Cambridge, 1889, p. 87-92; 109-112 (episode with China). The Ethiopian version
in W. Budge, The life and exploits of Alexander the Great, London, 1896, p. 107-125;
172-180 (relations with China); 367-371.

291 125. Mich. the Syr., I. 115. 126. In the text: "son of a hare" i.e. "son of Lagos".
127. See Theodoreti Explanatio ad Danielem, cap. xi, 6. Migne, Patr. Gr., t. LXXXI, coll.
1505-1508. 128. Mich. le. Syr. I, 129-130. 129. In the ms, probably the mutilated name of
"Alexander". See G. Sync., 1, 552.13. 130. Mich. the Syr., I, 127-128 and 132. 131. M. the
Syr., I, 128. 132. On this passage, cf. Jos. Flav., Ant., XIII, 366-369 (Eus. Chr., II,
132-133 Hl et 1920-1923). G. Sync., I, 553.18-19. Mich. le Syr., I, 134. 133. Mich. the
Syr., 1, 130 or rather 134. 134. I believe that it is necessary to read "by the
inhabitants of Alexandria". This is all about Ptolemy-Alexander II, who was killed by
them. See Bouché-Leclercq, Histoire des Lagides, II, p. 119-120. 135. On this legend see
J. Malalae Chronographia, 183-187 (ed. Bonn.). Georgii Monachi Chronicon, ed. de Boor,
1904, Lipsiae, I, 23-24. Cedr., I, 263-264. Mich. the Syr., I, 141-143.

292 136. Perhaps the coptic month "epiphi"? Cf. supra, p. 137. From here on the events are
also described in the beginning of the second part of Agapius; but the editing of the
Florence ms. is different. 138. Agapius, II (1), p. 3-4 (P. O., t. VII, p. 459-460); the
corresponding texts are indicated. [Note to the online edition; I have not troubled to
transcribe all these; the reader may find them easily enough in the PO edition] 139. In
the ms. "Antiochus". 140. See Agapius, II (1), p. 4-5 (P. O., t. VII, p. 460-461). 141.
The Ms A says: People say that Christ was two years old. As for the scholars, philosophers
and the author of this book, they say that at the time of the arrival of the Magi, Christ
was seven days old. It is the obvious truth, because we have found and seen in the images,
i.e. the icons, and the effigies which are in the holy churches, etc.

293 142. Agapius, II (1), p. 9 (P. O., t. VII, p. 465). 143. Here there begins a gap in
the ms. C. 144. A adds: "two years old". 145. Here the gap in ms. C finishes. 146.
Agapius, II (1), p. 11-12 (P. O., t. VII, p. 467-468). 147. The ms. says "Antigone" 148.
In the mss. "Antigone". 149. malthake,. See, for example, genealogy of Herod at Jos. Flav.
Ant. Jud., XVII, 19-22; De bello Judaico, I, 562. Mich. the Syr., I, 140. Chr. Min., 46.
150. It seems to me that the litteral translation of this passage is this: "Phasaël gave
him by Pallas three [grand]sons who were in truth Aristobulus," etc. 151. In the mss. is
the disfigured name "Qabdhâfrâ"? 152. See Agapius, II (1), p. 13 (P. O., t. VII, p. 469).
153. In the ms. the name is very mutilated. 154. Here the ms. A finishes; it is probably
missing some leaves.

294 155. Compare the calculation of Severus ibn al-Moqaffa`, P. O., t. III, p. 222-225.


UNIVERSAL HISTORY
=================

UNIVERSAL HISTORY continued

PART 2

THE SECOND PART OF THE HISTORY OF MAHBOUB, SON OF CONSTANTINE, OF MENBIDJ, BISHOP OF THE CITY OF MENBIDJ,

2 Copied for himself by Sa`id, son of Abu-l-Bedri John, son of `Abd al-Mesih - may God
have mercy on him, his parents, his ancestors and on all Christians. In the name of the
Father, Son and Holy Spirit, one God. Julius Caesar reigned for four years and four
months, and Caesar Augustus reigned for fifty-six years and six months. In the year 8 of
his reign the kingdom of the Jews was destroyed, which had belonged to them, and which
became a dependency of the Romans and their priesthood was abolished. Herod, son of
Antipater, who, as we reported, was of gentile race, ruled them for thirty-four years, he
imposed a poll tax on them and had Hyrcanus, the high priest, and Jonathan, his son
killed. All the high priests of the Jews, before Herod ruled them, were called Messiahs
(anointed ones), but from the time when Herod reigned over them, their prophecy and
kingship ceased at the same time. Then was fulfilled the word of Jacob, [the chief of the
Patriarchs], who said: "Kings and prophecy will not be removed from Judah, until he comes
to whom everything belongs and it is he who is expected by the people." And likewise was
fulfilled what Daniel said, when the Archangel Gabriel appeared to him, about the seven
weeks and the sixty-two weeks the total of which is four hundred and eighty-three years
and which were completed at that time, the first year of which was the sixth of Darius,
son of Hystaspes, in which the Temple of the Lord was completed.

3 Shortly afterwards, when Herod had received from the Romans sovereignty over [the Jews],
the Jews revolted against him and would not have him rule them. He completely destroyed
the two walls of Jerusalem and killed many of its inhabitants, he took the priestly
insignia and would not permit anyone to be high priest for more than one year. The same
measure was taken by those who ruled the Jews after him. Then he brought from Babylon and
set up Hananiel as high priest over them for a year; after one year he instituted
Aristobulus, son of Hyrcanus, the brother of his wife, for one year. Then he killed
Aristobulus, son of Hyrcan, and restored Hananiel over them. In the fourteenth year of
Augustus Caesar and the fourth year of Herod, Augustus marched against Antonius, his
lieutenant, who had revolted, had resisted, had refused obedience to him and had protested
against Caesar, because he was in love with Cleopatra, queen of Egypt. Augustus fought the
people of Egypt, seized the two sons of Cleopatra, who were called Sun and Moon, and
killed them and he captured (also) Cleopatra and Anthony, who killed themselves overnight.
From that day the kingdom of Egypt ceased to exist and it fell under the dominion of the
Romans.

4 In the eighteenth year of his reign, Augustus sent Tiberius his general in Armenia who
subjected it and captured it. It was on this day that the Romans instituted the leap
month, which was every four years, ie: idus pro ex kalandon martion. As for the Greeks,
they called it bisexton. The twenty-eighth year of Augustus, Herod built a city called
Caesarea, after Caesar. At that time the scholar Sextus, Pythagorean philosopher, and
Judah the Galilean were distinguished. In the thirty-second year of Herod and the three
hundred and ninth year of Alexander, was born our Lord the Messiah, may He be glorified on
Wednesday (Tuesday), the twenty-fifth day of Kanoun I; according to the calculation of
Greeks, today was the twelfth day of the month. From Adam until then there is a space of
5,506 years. 5 Prior to that year, the Romans had sent the judge (legate) Cyrinus to count
the population subject to tax. Everyone [went to register] in his hometown, and now
Joseph, husband of Mary, went up to register... then. After the birth of Our Lord the
Messiah, may He be glorified, the Magi came from the East with their presents, they
offered to Our Lord the Messiah, may He be glorified, --- gold, myrrh and incense. The
learned Greek Longinus introduces this event in the third part of his book, which [treats]
of the Roman wars against Antioch, a city of Syria, i.e. as-Schâm, when he said to Caesar:
"The Persians from the East have entered your empire and they have offered presents to a
child born in Palestine; who he is and whose son he is, we have not yet learned." He wrote
about this to Augustus and sent him a letter. And Augustus wrote to Longinus in response
to his letter: "I have read your letter and the information you have given about the child
born in Palestine among the Jews, and about the Mages, who have come from the East and
have given him presents; and you do not know who he is or whose son he is. I will learn
the truth and act according to justice: Herod, our governor in Judea, will let us know who
he is, his condition and history."

6 And Augustus wrote to Herod, his governor in Judea, the following letter: "From the king
of kings Augustus to Herod, the son of Antipater, governor of Judea, greeting. Longinus,
the scholar, has let me know that among you is born a child to whom the Persians made
gifts and presents; inform yourself carefully about him and about the Magi, who came to
him --- what is the cause of their coming, who sent them and what were the presents they
offered him? Hide nothing about this, so I may obtain knowledge, if great God wills it. "
Herod had an interview with the Magi and said to them: "What are you doing?" The Magi
said: "The giant (Nimrod) composed books for us in which he prophesies as follows: A child
will be born in Palestine in a few centuries, he will be great and the whole universe will
be subject to him, and as a sign of this, you will find, as we know, a star of such and
such aspect; you will look for it, and when you have seen, carry myrrh, gold and incense,
go and find the child, give him all this, love him and come back; if you do not do this, a
great misfortune will happen to you. And we have not ceased to keep this prophecy in our
memory, we and our forefathers, until this star appeared to us. When we found there the
signs that our great leader had given us, we obeyed him: we brought these things and have
come to see him and adore him."

7 And Herod said: "Your approach is correct. Go and find exactly where the child is, and
when you have found him, please let me know so that I may also worship him. " The Magi,
departing, saw a star that went before them and led them to the cave where the child was;
when it arrived with them at this place, it stopped and did not move. When the Magi had
seen this, they entered the cave, found the child and his mother, felt a great joy, opened
their travel bags, offered him the presents and worshipped and then they went another way
and did not return to Herod. Herod, having seen that the Magi did not pay attention to
him, went into a great rage and sent to kill all the children of Bethlehem two years old
and below, because the Messiah was at that time the age of two years.

8 But by inspiration of God, Joseph and Mary took the child and left Bethlehem. His mother
Mary was thirteen years old; the duration of her whole life was fifty-one years, she lived
six years after the Ascension of Our Lord Christ. It was the forty-fourth year of Augustus
Caesar. 9 Caesar wrote to Herod, king of the Romans, in response to the letter he had
received from him: "To Caesar, King of the Romans, from his servant Herod, greeting. The
King of Kings required me to inform myself about the child of whose birth in Judea he had
learned, and of the Magi who came to him with gifts. I stopped the Magi and forced them to
confess to their affair, and they made me know that in ancient times Nemrod (the giant,
the Great) gave them and left a will in which he said: After some time, in the land of
Judea, will be born a child, who will reign over all the earth, and the sign of this is
that you see in the sky a star, which differs from ordinary stars, and he indicated the
signs; he ordered them, when they saw this star with these signs, to take myrrh, gold and
incense, to go to the child, to worship him and to offer these presents; he also told them
that if they did not, they would fall into a great misfortune. And their ancestors have
not ceased, nor they themselves, to inquire into this matter, until the star appeared to
them today, and they did what Nemrod ordered them: they took gold, myrrh and frankincense
and went to him to adore him. I sent envoys with them to ascertain where the child was,
and to return the Magi to me, so that I could send them to the king of kings, Caesar. But
they gave my envoys money and escaped. So I have sent to Bethlehem to kill all the
children aged two and below, and with them I have killed the child. May the emperor be
informed. Greeting."

10 Augustus Caesar read the letter of Herod and was content and... of his thought.
Elizabeth, whom we have already discussed, became pregnant before this, and gave birth in
the month of Haziran. The Annunciation of Mary took place on 25th of the month of Adar,
six months after the conception of Elizabeth, and Mary gave birth on Wednesday (Tuesday),
25 of Kanoun I. After eight days, (Our Lord) was brought to the place of circumcision, and
forty days after his birth, was presented to the Temple and the old man Simeon carried Our
Lord Christ in his arms. Two years after his birth, he was transported to Egypt at night
when the Magi came to him, and he stayed in Egypt; He was then aged four; then he returned
to his hometown of Nazareth and lived there. Then Herod died, having lived in his city
seventy years, he reigned thirty-four, in the year 44 of Caesar. Before his death, he
killed his wife and children. His intestines were swollen and his feet were too; his
intestines swarmed with worms and his breathing was difficult. Prey to the disease and
tortured by pain, Herod, who had an apple in his hand and a knife with which he cut and
ate, tried to kill himself with the knife because of the sorrow and grief that tormented
him; then he lay down on his side, his stomach burst and he died. (Before that) he said to
Salome, his sister and to her husband: "I know that the Jews will be have a big party
because of my death and will rejoice at it greatly. So let us take those who are gathered
here and put them to death so that when the Jews come together, they will beat their hands
and shout laments at my death against their will. " Herod had nine wives and thirteen
children.

11 After the death of Herod, Archelaus succeeded him in the year 45 of Augustus Caesar in
the year 312 of Alexander; and Archelaus ruled for 9 years. Then Augustus handed their
affairs over to Herod, brother of Archelaus, and appointed Philippe governor of Filan,
Trakhuma and.... Augustus then banished Athroudis to exile in Alania, within Armenia, and
gave him Herod as successor who reigned twenty-eight years. Augustus lived seventy-five
years and died after having reigned for fifty-six years and six months. Tiberius Caesar
reigned for twenty-three years and lived seventy-eight years. The first year of his reign,
there was a great earthquake, and several cities were knocked down and many men and
animals killed. In the year 7 of his reign, Herod built a city and called it Tabariye
(Tiberias) in honor of the Emperor Tiberius. In the year 14 the procurator Pilate was sent
to the Jews (in Judaea).

12 In the year 15 (of Tiberius), Our Lord Christ, may He be glorified, was baptized by
John, son of Zechariah. He had returned... our Lord Christ, may He be glorified, was
thirty years old, and his baptism took place on [6 of Kanoun II].... [The first miracle
was that] of the water changed into wine at Cana; he healed the paralysed, opened the eyes
of the blind, expelled spirits... forgave sins and worked other (miracles) that the Holy
Gospel relates. In the year 19 of Tiberius Caesar, and in the year 342 of Alexander, Our
Lord Christ was crucified... On the same day that Adam had been driven out of Paradise,
Our Lord Christ died, may He be glorified, and he was buried, then rose from the dead and
ascended into heaven. That year the Passover took place on 21 Adar, on Thursday, and the
Passover of the Christians, the people of our Lord Christ, may He be glorified, took place
on Sunday, 24 of Adar; the Ascension on Thursday, 3 of Iyar, and Pentecost on the Sunday,
the 13 of Iyar.

13 From Adam until that time there were 5,539 years, according to what is H.r.l... s (?)
says. [But writers do not agree] on this subject, and each of them says whatever [does
not] exceed the limits of his knowledge. The first of them, Eusebius, says that from Adam
[to the Passion of Our Lord], may He be glorified, there are five... years... [2 lines
illegible]... 5,350 years. As for the Hebrews, they count only 4,000 years, the
Samaritans, 4,365. The philosophers in their books tell that the days of the Passion of
Christ, may He be glorified,... in the volume... [three lines illegible]... kings, that,
during the reign of Caesar, the sun was darkened, and it became night at the ninth hour
and the stars appeared: there was a strong earthquake at Nicaea and in all the surrounding
cities, and extraordinary things happened. The philosopher Ursinus says in the fifth
chapter of his book on the wars and expeditions of the kings: "We were in great grief and
long anguish. The sun was darkened and the earth shook, and we learned that extraordinary
and terrifying things were happening in the country of the Hebrews, and we know the cause
of this from the letters which the Governor Pilate wrote from Palestine to Tiberius
Caesar, when he said that from the death of a man whom the Jews had crucified, these
things happened." On learning this, Caesar sent orders to Pilate and dismissed the
government of Judea, because he had surrendered to the Jews, and he threatened and
intimidated the Jews who had crucified Christ.

14 Josephus the Hebrew spoke of this also in his books which he wrote about the wars of
the Jews: "At that time there was a wise man named Jesus, whose life was perfect, his
virtues were recognized, and many Jews and Gentiles became his disciples. And Pilate
condemned him to death on a cross, and those who had become his disciples, preached his
doctrine. They claimed that he appeared to them alive three days after his passion. Maybe
he was the Messiah, about whom the prophets had spoken of miracles." This is the story of
Josephus and his coreligionists concerning our Lord Christ, may He be glorified. It is
also said that the life of our Lord Christ, may He be glorified, and his preaching (or
pilgrimage) happened in the pontificate of Hannan and Caiaphas, because they were high
priests in those years i.e. from the pontificate of Hannan to the beginning of the
pontificate of Caiaphas; as for the time between them, there was no time for four years
because, when Herod was appointed governor, he burned the books of the tribes of the
Hebrews, because they knew only that he belonged to a race which was little valued by
them; and he took the priestly vestment, put it under seal and allowed each high priest to
serve only for a year. Because of this there were four priests from the pontificate of
Hannan to that of Caiaphas: Hannan was removed and Ishmael, son of Yachya, succeeded him;
a year later, Eleazar, son of Hannan, succeeded him as high priest; when his year was
over, Simeon, son of Qamihoud, succeeded him. He was succeeded by Caiaphas, at which time
and under whose pontificate Our Lord Christ, may He be glorified, was crucified. There
were between Hannan and Caiphas less than four years, according to Eusebius, bishop of
Caesarea.

15 In the year 17 of Tiberius Caesar, and in the year 341 of Alexander, one year before
the crucifixion of our Lord the Christ, may he be glorified, Abgar the Black, king of
Edessa, sent messengers to some towns on business. On the way back they entered Jerusalem
and there were eye-witnesses of certain actions of the Jews towards our Lord the Christ,
may he be glorified, and of their preparations to crucify him. They preserved an account
of the actions of our Lord the Christ and of that which they learned of his miracles and
the cures of incurable illnesses carried out by him. When they arrived at Edessa, they
told their master all that they had seen and that they had learned of the actions of our
Lord the Christ, may be he glorified, and of the injustice of the Jews towards him, and
how they were plotting against him. When Abgar learned this, he was filled with admiration
and wanted to go to Him and see himself His divine miracles; but he could not go outside
his kingdom for fear of enemies. So he sent Hannan the painters and charged him with a
letter, where he said:

16 "From Abgar the Black to Jesus the physician, who has appeared at Jerusalem. I have
heard of you, of your knowledge of medicine, of your spiritual knowledge and that you heal
pain and illnesses without drugs or remedies. My astonishment at this was great, and my
joy at it extreme. And I am telling myself that you must certainly be God, or the son of
God, since you do such things. I ask you and invite you to come to me. Perhaps you may
heal the painful illness from which I suffer. I have heard that the Jews want to kill you
and crucify you. I have a town, pleasant and pretty, which would be enough for me and for
you to live there. There you would be in tranquillity, good health and safety; and if you
pleased to grant my wish, do so, and you will fill me with joy because you have."

17 Our Lord the Christ, may he be glorified, received his letter, read it, and wrote to
him. "Be blessed, because you have believed in me before you have seen me. It is written
of me that those who see me will not believe in me. As for your request for me to come to
you, it is necessary that I complete the work for which I was sent; and when I have
completed it and ascended (to heaven), I will send one of my disciples who will heal your
pains and illnesses and will convert those with you to eternal life." Hannan, who was a
painter, after receiving the response of our Lord the Christ, may he be glorified, took a
square board and painted our Lord the Christ, may he be glorified, on it in bright and
attractive colours. He set himself to look at Him and to paint his image on this board.
Then he went with it to Edessa and gave it to his master, Abgar the Black. Abgar received
it with great honours and placed it in one of his treasuries, and it can be found there to
this day.

18 When our Lord the Christ had ascended to his Father, he sent the apostle thomas, one of
the Seventy (disciples) to Edessa. When he arrived there and Abgar the Black saw him, he
prostrated himself before him, because a divine light shone from his face. And the apostle
Thomas said to him, "If you believe in He that sent me, you will find what you need and
obtain what you ask." And Abgar the Black said to him, "I have already believed in Him.
And if it were not for the treaties that exist between the Romans and myself, and the
confidence they have in me which I cannot break, I, because of my admiration and my love
for Him, would leave with a great number of my men, make war against the Jews who
crucified Him, and destroy them." Then (Thomas) approached him and healed him of his
illness: and in this place he worked many miracles, so that Mousa, king of Athour heard
about him and wanted to see him.

19 Then Abgar wrote to Tiberius Caesar, emperor of the Romans, a letter where he said:
"From Abgar, sovereign of Edessa, to Tiberius Caesar, sovereign of the Romans. Know, o
king, that the Jews that are in your empire have crucified the messiah, although he did
not deserve this, and had done nothing that they could condemn. When they had crucified
him, the sun was darkened, the earth shook, many of the dead came back to life and rose up
(from their tombs) and extraordinary things happened which have never before been seen."
Tiberius Caesar wrote to him, in response to his letter, a letter where he says: "From
Tiberius, master of the Romans, to Abgar, master of Edessa. Know that I have already
learned all that the Jews have done to the man of whom you speak; and I want to punish
them; but I cannot, because of the wars that I was undertaking against the inhabitants of
Spain, who have risen up and revolted against me, and I was busy fighting against them;
but when I am a little more free, I will carry out my vengeance against them and will
inflict on them an exemplary chastisement. As for Pilate whom I named as their judge, I
have already deposed him with great humiliation and scorn, because he gave way to them and
did what they wanted; and I have sent another in his place."

20 After reading this letter, Abgar rejoiced at it and was content. A little time later,
he learned that Caesar had put to death the chiefs of the Jews: and he rejoiced greatly at
this. After the death of Thomas the apostle happened on the 14th May, (the apostles) sent
in his place Addai, the silk-maker. After the ascension of our Lord the Christ, may be he
glorified, the eleven apostles chose Matthias in the place of Judas Iscariot. Fifty days
after the resurrection and ten days after the ascension, they received the Holy Spirit in
the assembly: they laid hands on James, son of Joseph, who had fathered James by another
wife, and made him bishop of Jerusalem, where he ruled for thirty years. They established
the seven deacons. One of them was Stephen, whom the Jews stones; Philip, who preached to
the inhabitants of Samaria; Nicanor; Timon; Prochoros; Parmenas; and Nicholas of Antioch.

21 At this period the emir of Ethiopia, the eunuch, was baptised by the apostle Philip.
The apostle Paul was converted in the year that Stephen was stoned, at the end of the
reign of Tiberius and at the same time that Cornelius was converted in the town of
Caesarea by Simon Cephas (Peter). The names of the thirteen apostles, including Matthias,
the place (of their apostolate) and of the death. Simon Cephas (Peter), originally from
Bethsaida, of the tribe of Nephthli; he went first to Antioch, where he built a chapel in
the first year of the reign of Claudius. Then he passed to Rome, where he was bishop for
25 years, until the 13th year of Nero Caesar. Nero had him killed, and Paul with him.
Peter was crucified with his head at the bottom. Andrew, his brother, went to the land of
the anthrophages, and preached there. Then he went to Nicaea, to Nicomedia, and into
Achaia which he entirely converted. He was the first to be enthroned at Constantinople,
made proselytes there and baptised them.

22 James, son of Zebedee, of the tribe of Zabulon, of Bethsaida, whom Herod Agrippa had
killed. John, his brother, went to Ephesus and to the land of Asia. Domitian exiled him in
one of the islands of the sea in the year 9 of his reign, but at the end of his reign he
called him back to Ephesus, where he died and was buried. Philip, the apostle, of the
tribe of Aschir (Asher), of Bethsaida, went to Carthage and preached to its inhabitants.
Then he went to Phrygia where he died and was buried. Bartholemew, of the tribe of
Issachar, went to Armenia Major, where he was crucified and died. Thomas, of the tribe of
Judah, went to Sind and to India, where he died. His embalmed body was carried to Edessa.
Matthew the evangelist, of the tribe of Issachar, of Nazareth, went to the land of the
anthropophages and preached there. Then he returned to preach to the Hebrews and composed
the gospel for them. Then he went to India, where he died and was buried. This...

23 Simeon the Chananean, the Galilean, the Zealot of the tribe of Ephraim, died at Hemath.
Judas, son of James, called Thaddeus, of the tribe of Simeon. He was called Labbai,
because he was wise. He died at Beirut, where he was buried. James, son of Alphaeus, of
the tribe of Manasseh, was stoned at Jerusalem. Judas, son of Simeon, the Iscariot, of the
tribe of Dan. When he realised the price and horror of his perfidy, by which he sold our
Lord the Christ, may he be glorified, he strangled himself; all his intestines fell out.
Matthias was chosen in his place. Matthias was of the tribe of Reuben. The disciples chose
him in the place of Judas Iscariot. The names of the Seventy (disciples) and their origin.
Here is the list of the Seventy (disciples). 24 Addai of Phamas (Paneas); Severos son of
Abgar killed him. Ananias was killed at Damascus. Milia (Malea, amplias) was stoned at
Alexandria. Capha was stoned at Antioch. Barnabas died on the island of Cyprus. Sontanis
was thrown into the sea. Qeisqous died of hunger at Alexandria and was buried there.
Joseph of Arimathea, who was converted to Christ and died in the prison of Jerusalem.
Nicodemus the Welcome; this was he who was converted to Christ after he came to find Him
and spoke with Him. Nathaniel, chief of the scribes. Justus, whom Paul mentions. Judas,
brother of James, brother of Christ. Silas, of whom Paul also speaks. Judas, son of
Barsabas. Marcus, whome Luke mentions in the praxeis with the others. John, called the
Black (?). Jason, Manaël, Herod, Rufus, Alexander, Simon the Cyrenean, Cleophas, brother
of Joseph the husband of Mary, Simeon, his son, whom became bishop of Jerusalem and was
crucified. Joses, son of Joseph, James, son of Joseph, James the elder, Judah, called
Simeon. Those who were with Cleophas on his voyage: Tourmis and Fastourius [Termus and
Castorius?], the slaves whom the apostles ordained. Those of whom Paul speaks: Andronicus,
Titus, Hermas, Phlegon, Patroba, Asyneritus. Hermas called the Pastor. The six people with
Peter at Caesarea; Crescens, Milichas, Kiriton (Crito), Simeon, Gaius, Apollos. The two
who did not believe in the divinity of Christ; Cerinthus and Cleon (?), who were heretics.
They were replaced with Luke the evangelist and Urbanus. Istichaus, Aristobulus, Stephen,
Herodion, Mark, Rufus, Olympas, Maris (?), S.m..lu...s (?) M.rula. (?) Hymenaeus,
Alexander,... rus...laoun.

25 The false apostles: Simon r. k. r. bn d. la. Now the apostles gathered together and
established canon directed against those men who appeared in their times and did not agree
with them. The apostles were men who did not allow them to... nor to proclaim as the truth
what each of them had invented themselves. When they gathered, they baptised a great
number of men in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, taking them from
impiety and error to make them ready for the true worship of God. Matthew wrote the gospel
in Hebrew for the Hebrews; Mark wrote the gospel in Latin (Frankish) for the inhabitants
of mighty Rome. Like wrote (the gospel) in Greek for the inhabitants of Alexandria. John
wrote his gospel in Greek for the inhabitants of Ephesus. Then Luke wrote the praxeis,
that is the Acts of the Apostles. Paul wrote fourteen letters.

26 In the year 22 of Tiberius Caesar, Herod Agrippa went to Rome to intrigue against Herod
the tetrarch and he remained there until the reign of Caius. Tiberius died at 78, and
Caius reigned four years, from the year 347 of Alexander. In the first year of his reign,
Flaccus the Prefect of Egypt made an expedition against (the Jews) and oppressed them for
7 years. He filled their synagogues with statues and offerings to idols. Ambassadors were
sent to Caius to let him know. One of them was Philo, the Hebrew philosopher, who composed
many treatises on the calamities which were happening to the Jews in his time. He wrote a
satire against the emperor Caius where he criticised his ignorance and his folly. He wrote
a eulogy of the faithful who were living in Ehypt. He interpreted the first book of the
Torah. He records that... when he was waking up and surrounded. He composed 5 treatises on
the Exodus of the Israelites and 4 on the things which are told in the Law. His treatises
were read in the assemblies of the Romans in the time of Claudius and were borrowed; and
(his treatises) were placed in the library of the emperors at Rome.

27 In the first year of the reign of Caius, Herod Agrippa was made king of the Jews and
reigned for seven years. In that year Pilate committed suicide. This was Pontius Pilate,
mentioned in the Creed of the faith. In the 4th year of his reign, Caius ordered the
Prefect of Syria to erect idols in the synagogues of the Jews and in all their temples.
And he erected the statue of Zeus, which the Romans worshipped at Jerusalem. Then the word
of the prophet Daniel was fulfilled, who said, "the sign of the abomination is found where
it should not be." At this time the Jews were enduring great misfortunes. Petronius, who
was governor of Judaea, wanted to set up idols in the synagogues and their chiefs gathered
and asked him not to do this, saying that, if he did, all the Jews would perish. Petronius
wrote to the emperor Caius to tell him that all their tribes were prepared for death and
that they would not violate the laws of their ancestors. Caius sent a letter to the
governor Petronius in which he ordered him, with menaces, to carry out his order
concerning the Jews. Petronius informed them of this, and was using violence against them,
when the news arrived that the slaves of Caius had attacked him and put him to death. At
the same time the messengers bearing the menacing letters arrived. Then the Jews threw
themselves on the idols and removed them from their synagogues.

28 Claudius reigned for fourteen years, In the first year of his reign Agrippa, governor
of the Jews, put to death James, son of Zebedee, and put Simon Cephas in prison. But then
the angel delivered him from prison and he went to Antioch, where he laid the foundations
of the church which is named after Cassian and established a shrine there. In year 3 of
Claudius, Simon Cephas arrived at Rome. He became bishop there and governed this church
for 23 years. A woman of the imperial family named Protonice, a patrician lady, went up to
Jerusalem and discovered the cross of our Lord the Christ, may he be glorified, which was
found in the hands of the Jews, who would not let the Christians near it. Then Protonice
went to them and took the cross from them, and the position of the Christians to it was
reaffirmed. She left the cross in Jerusalem and departed.

29 The apostles revealed the wicked actions of Simon the magician, unmasked him, and made
his imposture known to the whole population of Samaria. He went to Rome, and Nicaea. He
presented himself to the Jews as being God the Father; to the Samaritans as being God the
Son; and to the gentiles as the spirit of God. When he had arrived at Rome, that city gave
him a good reception; and the inhabitants of Rome erected his statue, because he had led
them astray with his sorceries, and they wrote on it, "this is the statue of Simon the
holy god." Simon Cephas had arrived in Rome in year 3 of Claudius, and he went to the
house where Simon was living and found a dog lying at his door. News of the arrival of
Simon Cephas at Rome had already come to Simon. Simon Cephas ordered the dog to go in and
announce to Simon that Simon Cephas was at the door, and "that he was calling him." The
dog went in and said to Simon, in front of all the company that was with him, "Simon,
Cephas the Hebrew, who is at the door, is calling you." Seeing the dog speak, the
population of the town was seized with astonishment. Then Simon the magician said to them,
"Don't be astonished; I myself also ordered this dog to talk." He then commanded it in
these terms, "Go and say to Simon to come in." The dog went out and said to him, "The man
says 'enter'." And he went in.

30 Then Simon had a living bull brought, went up to its ear and said something; and the
bull burst. Everyone was seized with astonishment at this. While they were admiring this,
Peter approached the bull, prayed, pressed it with his foot; and the bull got up, alive
and well. Then Simon flew in the air, by the power of the demons that were with him. Peter
chased them away, and Simon fell to the ground and broke his limbs. Then Simon (Cephas)
brought dead men back to life before the whole population of Rome. Then he healed
illnesses and worked miracles publicly. When the population of Rome had seen this, they
doubted the work of Simon and moved away from him: and many of the inhabitants of Rome
were baptised and believed in Christ, the Son of God. The first of these was Cyprian,
father of the dead man brought back to life by Simon Cephas: he was baptised, became a
Christian, received Peter into his house, treated him as his guest, and honoured him.

31 The wife of Claudius, the lady patrician, of whom we have already spoken, was
converted, was baptised, went on pilgrimage to Jerusalem and enquired after the cross of
our Lord the Christ, may he be glorified. It is said that James, the brother of Christ,
was bishop of Jerusalem, and that the Jews were involved in these matters. She ordered the
chief Jews to come and see her; among them was the High Priest, Onias Gedaliah, son of
Caiaphas, and many others as well as those two. She said to them, "Deliver over to the
bishop James (the land of) Calvary, the tomb, and the crosses on which the Christ and the
two robbers were crucified." When she had given this order, she went to the tomb of
Christ; but when she went in, her daughter fell down before her and died. She was
profoundly sorrowful and afflicted at this. Then one of her slaves said to her, "This
matter is no accident, nor without importance; it will demonstrate the power of Christ,
God our Saviour." Listening to the slave speak thus, the woman was comforted a little,
accepted her words, and gave orders for the crosses to be brought to her. Then she placed
the first and the second crosses on her daughter, but she did not stir. But when she
placed the third cross on her, her daughter stirred, revived and got up. The woman
confided this cross to bishop James, built a church there, returned to Rome, and told this
story to her husband, and to the people there.

32 Then the emperor Claudius set himself to oppress and persecute the Jews, especially
after they stoned the martyr Stephen. Other apostles went to Antioch and there converted
many people. It is there that the supporters of Christ were called Christians. At that
time there was a famine. And the disciples bought a great quantity of food and distributed
it to the faithful, men and women. Agrippa, governor of the Jews, died, and his son
Agrippa succeeded him, and reigned fro 26 years. He had no successor in the government,
because Jerusalem was destroyed and its inhabitants were deported. At this time Herod
Agrippa took a census of the Jews whom he found in his realm. They were counted, and their
number was 6,944,000. At this time a man named Cerinthus appeared. He said that the
kingdom of God would appear on earth, and that there men would eat, drink, and cohabit
with women.

33 At this time the Egyptian mentioned in the praxeis also appeared; he led many people
astray and wanted to overrun Jerusalem by force. Then Felix, a Roman patrician, marched
against him and killed many of those who had accepted his teaching. This happened in year
8 of Claudius Caesar. In that time, the Jews were divided into seven sects. The 1st sect
was the scribes, who were called scribes and doctors of the Law. The 2nd was that of the
Levites, who followed the tradition of the ancient priests. The 3rd included those who
believed in the resurrection and said that there were angels and spirits; they took their
name from a priest named Sadoc, who was of their party. The 4th was that of the baptised,
who purified themselves daily and said that no-one would live unless they washed
themselves with water every day. The 5th was that of the Nazoreans, who ate no animal food
and did not accept the books of Moses nor of any of the prophets but invented strange
books for themselves. The 6th was that of the Jews who believed in God, observed the Law,
and received the books of Moses and the Prophets. The 7th was that of the Samaritans who,
out of the sacred books, only received the Torah of Moses and followed an allegorical
commentary of Holy Scripture.

34 One day the apostles gathered together at Rome and composed canons about divine things
which, thanks to Clement, are at the disposal of the faithful. And there they fixed the
number of the divine books that must be received and read in the churches, and they
prescribed that no others should be admitted. Among the ancient books which must be
received, they listed those which we call Torah, i.e. the 5 books of Moses; the book of
Joshua son of Nun; the book of Judges; the story of Ruth; the story of Judith; the 4 books
of Kings; the 2 books of Chronicles (Paralipomena); the 3 books of Maccabees; the book of
Esdras; the story of Esther; the book of Job, the truthful; the book of Psalms of the
prophet David; the 5 books of Solomon, son of David; the 16 books of the prophets: one
book of the son of Sirach. The new books were the gospel, composed of 4 books; the 2
letters of the apostle Peter; the 14 letters of Paul; 1 book of the Acts of the Apostles;
the 3 letters of John, son of Zebedee; 1 letter of James, son of Zebedee; the one of Juda;
the 2 letters of Clement; the 8 books of Clement. Then Clement also described in 8 books
all the story and the acts of the apostles, what they had allowed and what they had
forbidden. The apostles ordered that all his books should be received.

35 At this time the apostle Andrew died, who was bishop of Byzantium, after 2 years of
episcopate. Stychus was bishop there for 15 years. After him Onesimus for 13 years. Then
Claudius Caesar fell ill and died, after living for sixty-five years, of which he reigned
for fourteen. Nero, son of Claudius, reigned after him for fourteen years. In the year 2
of the reign of Nero, Felix, governor of Judaea, died. He had as successor Festus, under
whom Paul baptised and who brought him before his tribunal. At this time there was a great
earthquake at Rome and an eclipse of the sun. The Jews revolted at Jerusalem and Caesarea,
and the High Priest of the Jews, Jonathan, was killed. In the year 5 of Nero, Festus
governor of Judaea died; he had for successor Albinus. 36 In the year 8 of Nero, the Jews
at Jerusalem threw themselves on James, the brother of Christ, and killed him. He was a
pious man, living in poverty, obedient to God. The Jews took him, placed him at the
highest point of the temple, and said to him, "Speak to the people. Renounce the faith of
Christ." When he would not agree to their demand, they threw him down. He fell face down,
and said, "God, don't punish them for this sin, because they don't know what they are
doing." Then they stoned him. One of them, who was a fuller, took the stick with which he
beat the fabric, and struck him with it. He died, and was buried near the temple. Then
they destroyed the church, seized the cross of Christ and the two crosses of the robbers,
and hide them underground. Then they went back to the Torah and shortened the years of
Adam, Noah, Abraham and others, by two thousand years, cutting a hundred years from period
from the birth of each of them to the birth of their son, in such a way that they didn't
shorten the total life of each. In this way they sought to prove, against the Christians,
that the Messiah had not yet come. They likewise changed the names of towns and places
signalled, according to tradition, by each action of the Lord the Christ, as well as the
name of the place of crucifixion and other places.

37 At this time Nero violently persecuted the Christians. After the death of James, his
successor was Simon, son of Cleophas, who was his cousin, and he governed the people for
forty-two years; ten years before the destruction of Jerusalem and thirty-two years after
the destruction, from the ninth year of Tiberius Caesar until the second year after the
death of John the evangelist. It is recorded that John the evangelist did not die, but,
being pursued by the inhabitants of a certain town, he went up on the mountain, and hid
from their sight, and no-one knew what happened to him. Then Nero cut off the heads of
Simon Cephas and Paul. As for Simon, there are those who claim that his head was not cut
off, but that his beard was cut off, and that he was crucified head down. Paul had his
head cut off at the same time as Simon, who is the same as Peter, was crucified head down,
in the year 13 of his reign.

38 At the moment when the Jews killed James, brother of the Christ, may he be glorified,
Albinus, prefect of the Jews, was absent and at Rome. When on his arrival he heard what
the Jews had done to James, he deposed Anianus (Ananos), the High Priest, who belonged to
the Sadducees, and established Jesus son of Danai in his place. Peter Cephas sent Mark the
evangelist to Alexandria and made him bishop of that city. He lived there for 2 years and
died. He had as successor Anianus, whose episcopate lasted twenty-two years. In the time
of Nero the philosophers Musonius and Plutarchus flourished. Then madness struck Nero, and
his reason was disturbed. He had his mother killed, his aunt and many of his relatives. He
had Peter and Paul killed by crucifixion, head down, as we have related. This happened on
Thursday the 28th of Temouz, in the year 377 of Alexander.

39 At Rome, Peter had as his successor Linus, of whom Paul speaks in his second letter to
Timothy, and he governed the people for eleven years. Paul established Timothy as his
successor at Ephesus, and ordained Titus in Crete. Like, who was then a physician at
Antioch, was a companion of the apostles. In this year Nero Caesar sent Vespasian, chief
of his soldiers, with Titus his son, to make war on the Jews of Palestine, who were
revolting and had risen up. He went (to Jerusalem), stopped there, and besieged it for a
long time. When he was on the point of capturing it, he learned the news of the death of
Nero, who, in the course of his madness, had killed himself. The Jews wanted to fight
Vespasian, but he returned to Rome. Earlier he captured the town of Aeliya (Yotapata)
because he heard it said that Joseph son of the priest Matthai was there. Some scholars
claim that this Joseph was the same as Caiaphas, who had prophesied about the death of
Christ, may he be glorified, and in whose pontificate He was crucified. The town was taken
and he made Joseph prisoner, but did not kill him, because he was the general, and he had
predicted to him that he would be emperor after Nero.

40 At Antioch, Evodius was bishop for twenty-five years. After his death Ignatius
succeeded him and his episcopate lasted thirty-eight years, until the tenth year of
Trajan. The beasts devoured him at Rome. Vespasian reigned for nine and a half years in
the year 381 of Alexander. The 1st year of his reign, he invaded Egypt and captured it.
Then he returned by sea to Rome. He sent Titus his son with numerous soldiers to
Jerusalem, in year 3 of his reign. The latter besieged it, make 60,000 men perish, and
made prisoners of more than 100,000. A great number of people died of hunger. He destroyed
Jerusalem, set fire to its temple, burned the books of the Jews and dispersed them to the
four corners of the world. Thus all the Laws of Israel were abolished, and the prophecy of
Jacob was fulfilled, who said, "The sceptre shall never pass from the tribe of Judah, nor
the prophecy from its race, until he comes, to whom belongs the victory, and the peoples
will obey him." On the other hand see what Daniel says at Babylon, "After the death of
Christ, may he be glorified, Jerusalem will be destroyed and its laws abolished." Our Lord
the Christ, may he be glorified, says in the gospel, "The days will come when your enemies
will besiege you, and the children at your breast will be killed and die." He says also,
"There will be great anguish and a great calamity on the people".

41 All this was fulfilled thirty-nine years after His crucifixion and death. The people
were reduced to such misery that women ate their children. It is said that those who
perished in the battles in Jerusalem and died of hunger during the invasion of Vespasian
and the siege of that city for 3 years were counted; and the number of dead was about
1,200,000; 110,000 were made prisoners, according to what Josephus says. The cause of such
an agglomeration of people in Jerusalem was that, when Vespasian had sent his son Titus to
battle the Jews, the latter had arrived at Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover; and
people were gathered there from every city because of the feast. And what happened,
happened. From Adam to the year in which Jerusalem was destroyed there were 5,570 years.
From Adam to the year 50 of Abraham, when Jerusalem was built, 3,376 years. From its first
construction to its final destruction in the time of Vespasian Caesar, 1,191 years.

42 Josephus the Jew tells in his book on the destruction of Jerusalem that before the ruin
of this town, there appeared signs and prodigies, various and extraordinary, which
presaged the destruction. For example, there was seen above the town a long star,
resembling a sword of fire, which shone. -- While (the Jews) were celebrating the feast of
the Passover, a cow was brought for the sacrifice, and it gave birth to a lamb in the
middle of the temple. -- The doors of the Temple which were of solid iron and that 20 men
together could hardly close and open, opened of themselves at midnight. During the whole
year, in the temple various voices were heard, saying "Let's get out of here." -- There
happened many things like these, which announced the destruction of Jerusalem. Those who
want to know how many men perished have made a calculation according to various books. One
of them reports that at the festival of the Passover which fell on the 12th of Nisan
(April), the Jews offered 240,000 sheep; for each sheep there were 10 men purified,
ignoring unpurified men and the children among them.

43 When the Romans possessed themselves of Jerusalem, -- Josephus had warned his
countrymen before the destruction of Jerusalem and said to them, "Obey the Romans and
submit to their emperors and you will praise yourselves for the result of your conduct."
-- but they treated him with contempt and insulted him so much that they struck him
several times and stoned him. He came to the Romans who, having made him prisoner, obliged
him to remain at the court of the emperor. He composed 20 books on the organisation of the
Jews, their emigration, their High Priests, the wars against the Romans and the siege of
Jerusalem. Agrippa wrote 62 letters in which he praised the books of Josephus and the
understanding and depth of his knowledge. After his death, the Romans erected a statue of
him at Rome in his honour. At that time Vespasian persecuted the Jews and ordered that all
the descendants of David should be killed.

44 There was a great plague at Rome. Vespasian died after having lived seventy years, of
which he reigned ten. (After him) reigned Titus, son of Vespasian, for two years and three
months, in year 389 of Alexander. In year 2 of his reign, Anencletus (Anacletus) succeeded
Linus on the throne of Rome, and his episcopate lasted 12 years. In that year a mountain
split into two and a great flame came out of it, which set fire to several cities. At
Rome, there was a great fire. Titus fell ill and died at the age of forty. (After him)
reigned Domitian, son of Vespasian, for sixteen years, in year 391 of Alexander. In year 4
of his reign, at Alexandria, after Anianus, Aemilius sat for thirteen years. The emperor
Domitian built a temple, without any part of it of wood. He ordered that all the
philosophers and magicians should be expelled from the city, and he completely forbade
anyone to plant vines at Rome.

45 In year 9 of his reign, he carried out a great persecution against the Christians and
banished John the evangelist to an island of the sea, which is called Yafa (Patmos).
Irenaeus, Bouttius, and Hippolytus record that great prodigies happened, which John
attests in his book which he composed after the gospel. In that time, Dionysius the
Areopagite, who was the disciple of Paul, became bishop of Athens, the city of the
philosophers. He wrote a letter to John the evangelist in which he says, "May anguish and
sorrow not overcome you, because your stay there (at Patmos) will not be very long, and
Christ will hasten your deliverance. Learn patience in your heart, and praise Christ." In
that time a great number of Christians who believed in Christ were put to death. At that
time Apollonius, master of talismans, became celebrated. He opposed the disciples of
Christ by his works, which thwarted those of Christ, and he said, "What a misfortune for
me, that I was preceded by the son of Mary!"

46 At the same time, the philosopher Patrophilus said to his master Ursinus, "I have
intended to speak, master, of this man in whom all the peoples and the nations of
different languages believe. According to what is said of him, he was crucified, died;
then he came back to life and went up to heaven, according to the testimony of his
companions, who believe in him. And we see that Theodore, chief of the sages of Athens,
with Africanus of Alexandria, Martianus (Martinus) of drourousah (?) and Mark (?) gave up
their gods in order to worship Him and call upon Him. They were freed from the business of
this vile world, they have neither riches nor goods, and they are powerful in word and
work." Ursinus responded to his disciple, "All the people have become his disciples and
worship the Galilean of Nazareth. We quote the names of eminent scholars who after seeing
him renounced their gods and worshipped Him. As for me, I think that all the peoples and
their posterity will become his disciples. You say that his disciples live a good life;
what is also good, is that they do not abandon themselves to the evil hidden in the
flesh."

47 In year 12 of Domitian, at Rome Clement became (bishop) and his pontificate lasted 9
years. We have found that the apostle Paul says, "Clement and my helpers." He wrote many
books and letters, and he wrote a letter to the Corinthians, because of the enmities that
had broken out among them, and this letter is received among all the books (of the
church). In that time Domitian Caesar was killed on his carpet in his palace. Nero (Nerva)
the Little reigned for a year, in the year 407 of Alexander. He ordered the recall of all
those who had been exiled, and John the evangelist returned to Ephesus after sixteen years
of exile. In that time Justus of Tiberias, a Jewish scholar, was illustrious. 48 Then
Nerva died and in year 408 of Alexander Trajan Caesar began to reign, whose reign lasted
nineteen years. The first year of his reign, the episcopal seat of Alexandria fell to
Cerdon, who occupied it for eleven years. In year 4 of his reign, Rome had Evaristus as
bishop, who sat for eight years. At Byzantium, Als.midis (Polycarp?) having been bishop
for seventeen years, had at that time for successor Plutarchus, who sat for fifteen years;
and then Cedekion for eight years. In the sixth year of the emperor Trajan bishop Mar-
Diogenes was established whose episcopate lasted fourteen years. In that year John the
evangelist died at Ephesus. He had lived seventy-one years after the ascension of Our Lord
Christ, may he be glorified... He wrote the gospel after those of Matthewm Mark abd Luke.
When their copies were brought to him and he had them read, he said, "What they have
written is good; but they have shortened the account of the acts of our Lord Christ, may
he be glorified, before the imprisonment of John, son of Zachariah." This is why, the
people having asked him to write a gospel which told the acts which had taken place before
the imprisonment of John, he says that this was the first miracle worked by our Lord
Christ, may he be glorified, and that John had not yet been placed in prison.

49 In year 9 of Trajan, Simon, son of Cleophas, bishop of Jerusalem, suffered martyrdom at
the age of 120. He fulfilled the functions of bishop for forty-two years; ten years before
the destruction of Jerusalem and thirty-two years after the destruction. Then he had
Justus as successor for five years; after him Zachaeus for two years; after him Tobias for
three years; after him Benjamin for one year; after him John, for three years; after him
Matthew, for two years. In year 10 Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, suffered martyrdom at
Rome. He was devoured by the beasts. Then Heron (Eros) occupied the seat of Antioch for 18
years. In year 12 of Trajan, Alexander was bishop of Rome for 9 years, and at Alexandria,
Primus for 12 years. At this time there lived at Menbidj (Hierapolis) an eminent scholar
(Papias), author of several treatises. He composed 5 treatises on the gospel. He records
the following in a treatise which he composed on the gospel of John: In the book of John
the evangelist there is an issue about a woman who was an adultress. The Jews brought her
to our Lord Christ, may he be glorified, and he said to the Jews that had brought her,
"Whoever among you is certain of being innocent of the sin of which she is accused, bear
witness against her with the proofs that he has!" When he said that to them, no-one among
them answered him, and they went away.

50 In year 15 of his reign, Trajan expelled all the foreigners from Rome, because they
were the cause of an increase in prices (of food) for the inhabitants. He also expelled
the foreign Christians who were there, and these decided to leave and asked the emperor to
allow them to take the bones of Peter and Paul with them, as they too were foreigners in
Rome. He allowed them this, and they tried to carry them away. But the earth was rocked by
an earthquake, the whole city was shaken, and darkness covered it, until the foreigners
were called backed. And (the earth) calmed down. At that time Menander the magicians made
himself known. He was from a city in the land of Samaria, a disciple of Simon the
magician. He baptised people and said that those who received baptism at his hands would
be greater than the angels. Until that time the church of our Lord Christ, may he be
glorified, was free of impure knowledge and the stains, the weeds of the demons and the
follies of the heresies.

51 At that time a certain Saturninus appeared at Antioch and Basilides at Alexandria.
Saturninus said, "Seven angels gathered together and created the world; and it is to them
that God addressed his word, 'Let us make man with our resemblance and in our image'. It
is these which gave the Law." He said, "Marriage is the work of Satan; the demons ensnare
the bad men and lead them to evil, and the Saviour came to save the good." Basilides said,
"We must honour and venerate the serpent, because he commanded Eve to sleep with her
husband; if he had not existed, the world would no longer exist." He also said that there
are 360 heavens, so that every day a new heaven appears, and affirmed many other proposals
which he had invented. But an account of all this will not be given because of its hideous
character. Then another man of the name of Cerinthus appeared, of the city of Corinth. He
said that the world is the work of angels, and that the Messiah came from the union of the
flesh. The scholar Irenaeus said, "Two years before his death, John the evangelist went
into the bath; but on finding Cerinthus the heretic there, he went out without washing
himself and said that the building and himself were in danger because of Cerinthus the
heretic."

52 In the last year of the reign of Trajan, the Jews of Egypt, Syria, Palestine and
Mesopotamia (al-Djezireh) revolted and set up a king named Lucua. Trajan sent soldiers
against them, pursued them everywhere and killed several thousands of them. Then the
emperor Trajan died, aged sixty-six. In year 4 of Hadrian (?), in year 427 of Alexander,
Adrian reigned for twenty-one years. In year 3 of his reign, Xystus occupied the seat of
Rome for 10 years; at Alexandria Justus sat for 11 years; at Jerusalem Philip for 4 years;
Seneca succeeded him and sat for 2 years; Justus succeeded him for 1 year; then Ephraim
sat for 1 year. At Antioch Cornelius sat for 17 years. At Byzantium, Eleutherius sat for 6
years: he had Polycarp as successor whose episcopate lasted 6 years. Then at Rome,
Telesphorus sat for 11 years; at Alexandria Eumenius sat for 13 years. At Ephesus, after
Timothy, Onesimus sat; after him, Gaius; after him, Philologus; after him, Lucius; after
him, Apollonius; after him, Posidus.

53 In year 4 of Adrian, the kingdom of Edessa was abolished and Roman governors
administered the country. Adrian built a house called Bas.lul in the city of Athens. He
gathered there many scholars and gave them the laws of Solon and Draco. At that time,
Sophia and her 3 daughters underwent martyrdom. In year 18 of his reign, Adrian was
infected with elephantiasis. He sought throughout his empire for someone who could heal
him, but he was unable to find anyone; and he went to Egypt to find such a man there. He
took with him his companion Aquila the astrologer, magician, prognosticator, and diviner,
a pacific man. Adrian left Antioch, passed into Syria, and arrived at Jerusalem 47 years
after its destruction. After examining the location of the city, and how much of it had
been destroyed, he saw that nothing was inhabited except a church of the apostles, and he
commanded his companion to rebuild the city. When Aquila undertook this, he believed in
the miracles that the disciples (of Christ) had worked, wished to embrace the Christian
religion, was baptised and was made a Christian. But he did not renounce magic, astrology
and superstitious practices. His disciples prohibited him doing this several times, but he
did not obey. Then they excommunicated him and separated him from the church. Then anger,
fury and shame led him to copy the (sacred) books which Bartholomew and Judas had
composed; he wrote carefully some Syriac and Hebrew books and introduced errors into them
in order to show the futility of the advent of our Lord Christ, may he be glorified. These
books that he wrote are found in the hands of the Jews even today.

54 In that year the Jews of Jerusalem revolted. A man called Bar-Kuba came among them and
led them astray; he claimed to be descended from heaven, like a star, to deliver them.
Many among them followed him, and, as for those who did not, he made war on them and put
them to death. At this news, Adrian sent soldiers against him; they attacked Jerusalem,
destroyed all the Jews and demolished Jerusalem for the last time. Then another city was
built there, called Aelia, in honour of the emperor Adrian, and foreigners were
established there. Those of the Jews who remained and had not been killed in the battle
had their ears cut off; and were forbidden irrevocably to turn their eyes towards the
richness of their mother country. The bishop Mark sat at Jerusalem for four years. Then
Adrian fell ill of dropsy and died, aged sixty-five. (After his death) Titus Antoninus,
surnamed the Pious (?), reigned for twenty-two years and three months, in the year 448 of
Alexander.

55 In the first year of his reign, bishop Hyginus sat at Rome for four years; after him,
Pius for fourteen years. At Alexandria, Marcianus sat for ten years; after him, Celadion
for fourteen years. At Antioch, Orthus (Orus, Eros) occupied the episcopal seat for
sixteen years; after him Theophilus for fifteen years. At Byzantium Athenodorus sat for
thirteen years. At Jerusalem, after Marcus, sat Cassianus, first of the gentile bishops,
for three years; then Publius sat for four years; then he had for successor Maximus who
sat for five years; then Julianus, for six years; then Gaius had an episcopate of two
years, and his successor Matousous (? Symmachus) sat for four years. At Rome Anicetus also
sat for ten years. At that time, there appeared at Rome a man named Valentinus, and
another named Cerdon, who were the teachers of Marcion. Valentinus said that the Lord
Christ, may he be glorified, brought a body with him from heaven, and that it was found in
Mary the virgin like water in a river-bed, taking nothing from her.

56 Cerdon said that several divinities gathered together and created the world; and he
denied the resurrection. Then at Rome there appeared a man named Marcus who said that 360
gods existed from all eternity; they all gathered together and created the world, and each
of them governed it in turn; power belonged to each of them for one day a year during
which he was the sole master of it; among them, some loved good, the others evil. But
united they had the ability to do good and evil, and they could choose in this regard. The
chief of the gods sent the Lord Christ, may he be glorified, who was a part of his nature,
in order to get men to worship him alone and obey him. Learning of this, the gods stirred
up mankind against him, and these crucified him. The history of Marcion Then there
appeared a man named Marcion, who was the son of a certain bishop of the land of Pontus.
He found there a pious girl who stayed day and night at the church; she was a virgin.
Marcion seduced her and corrupted her. When his father learned this, he excommunicated him
and expelled him from the church. He went to Rome; but the faithful of that church would
not receive him and scorned him. Returning to Asia, he attached to himself a bishop of
that land named Aristinus. Marcion went out in public, proselytised, and discoursed on
religion. When the bishop died, Marcion was not there. When he arrived, he was given the
testament which bishop Aristinus had written, and where he was given (his last wishes).
Marcion took it and read it, but, seeing nothing favourable to himself, he left in anger
and corrupted all the people that he had captured for his purposes by his teaching.

57 The Lord Christ, may he be glorified, he said, was not the son of the Creator, as I
told you until now; on the contrary, he is a stranger to him. There are 3 divine beings;
one the Good, which is on high; the other the Evil, which is below; the third the Just,
which is in the middle. The just god formed the matter which was in the depths and called
the wicked being, there manifested his acts, and created the sky, the four elements,
paradise and the stars of heaven. Then he took from the mud of paradise, fashioned from it
[the body] of man, placed a soul of his own substance and nature in him and... like him.
Then he created from the dregs of matter Tartarus, the earth and its larger inanimate
objects; he created all the animals of the earth and placed in them a created soul. Then
he finished by creating Adam; and he married him off; they multiplied and their
descendants were numerous. While the earth was being filled with men, he gave them the
books of the Torah and all the ancient books which contained his commandments, his
prohibitions, his promises and his threats. Then, as the good God watched this, he stirred
from his inertia and was jealous of the Just Being, the creator, and was envious of him;

58 and he sent his son, who was of his nature and substance, to be with the creatures of
the Just to recall them to the worship of his Father and to redeem them by his blood. He
traversed his regions and passed, with the Just being knowing it, until he came down on to
the earth where the fundament of matter was found. He saw the corruption of the creatures
and their estrangement from religion and he led them to worship his Father. When the
Creator learned this, he stirred up his servitors against him, and the Son himself gave to
companions of the Creator the power to kill him and redeemed them by his power and his
blood; then he returned from death and converted them to the worship of his Father.
Embracing the worship of the good God, they reduced the Just being, the Creator, to
impotence. The Good God gave them new books which did not agree with those that the Just
Creator had given them with his commandments, his prohibitions, his promises and his
threats. He took paradise from the Creator; he established there those who were obedient
to his order; but those who disobeyed him. He threw them into hell and made them remain
there for ever. Of the evangelists he only accepted Luke.

59 Marcion published this impure teaching and the bishops exhorted him for a long time to
return to the truth; but as he persisted in his error, they excommunicated him and
expelled him from the church. All this took place in the time of Titus Antoninus, the
first year of his reign, which is the year 449 of Alexander. In year 470 of Alexander
Marcus began to reign, with his two sons Antoninus and Lucius, for 19 years. In year 8 of
his reign at Rome bishop Soter sat for 8 years; his successor Eleutherius sat for 30
years. At Alexandria Agrippinus sat for 12 years; after him, Julianus for 10 years. At
Antioch Maximus sat for 18 years. At Byzantium Protonicus (Pertinax) sat for 10 years;
after him Olympianus for 12 years. At Jerusalem Gaius sat for 3 years; after him another
Gaius for 4 years; then Symmachus for 3 years.

60 In year 12 of the reign of Marcus, Dionysius, bishop of Corinth, was illustrious, who
composed several books. In year 16 of Marcus, there was agitation against the Christians,
and they were persecuted extremely; many bishops underwent martyrdom and Justus the
philosopher was also crowned with martyrdom at Rome. At this time appeared a man named
Tatian, who was a disciple of Justus, the philosopher of whom we have spoken as being
crowned with martyrdom. After leaving his teacher he abandoned orthodoxy and was the
author of a great heresy. There exists, he said, several divine beings and several
invisible aeons; everything is a mixture of good and evil, because everything lives in
pairs (Syzygy). He altered and reversed the order of the tribes (genealogies) which had
been fixed; he said that the Lord Christ, may he be glorified, [is of the race of] David.
He composed a gospel which differed from that... He said that after death, eating... his
errors (produced) several difficulties.

61 Then there appeared [a man] named Montanus who claimed to be the Paraclete. The Lord
Christ, may he be glorified, [he said], sent him into the world; some disciples gathered
to follow him, and he set himself to teach a doctrine of impiety and error. Then he was
excommunicated and expelled; but he made some proselytes and had some followers who
remained attached to him until his death. Then at Rome appeared another heresiarch named
Florinus, who was a priest. He was the object of public indignation and was deposed from
the priesthood. Then he left the church, full of anger, and attracted some disciples. 62
He said that there were three divine beings who agreed among themselves: one of them was
established on high, the second below him, in the middle, and the third below the latter,
at the bottom. Each of the last two honours, respects and considers as superior to himself
those above him. The god which is in the middle calls the god who is above him the Father;
and the god at the bottom likewise gives the name of Father to him who is above him, so
that each of them is like the Son to him that is above him. Together they created the
world. (In the beginning) they formed and created a subtle substance; then they created
man and placed him in the region located between heaven and earth; they embellished this
location with fires and lights, making for him a paradise where they planted different
species of pleasant trees, and established him in the newly created world. A certain
angel, seeing this, envied the man; without the permission of the gods he came down and
established himself with a certain number of his companions. He set himself to oppose the
man and wanted to expel him from paradise; and he didn't stop opposing him and fighting
him until he was expelled from it; then he possessed himself of Paradise. The man
multiplied and his descendants were numerous; but they were unable to return to Paradise.

63 When the gods saw this, they sent to him someone to get him to return to his place, and
so that the man and his posterity might reenter Paradise; but (the angel) refused to do
it. Then the gods were annoyed with the angel and his companions. Then the bottom god was
himself entrusted with it. By a ruse he transformed himself into a man and appeared before
Satan who was disobedient and before his companions; he didn't stop fighting against them
until he expelled them from Paradise and had restored the first man to his place. Florinus
denied the resurrection of the dead. Apart from that, he advanced some impious
propositions which he had put forward. 64 At this time at Menbidj (Hierapolis) there lived
a wise man, Apollinarius, who was bishop of Menbidj. He battled against the sectaries of
this heresy, refuted their opinions and composed several books on this subject. History of
the damned Ibn-Daisan (Bardesanes) In year 15 of Souhouq son of Narses, king of Persia,
which is the year 465 of Alexander, a certain number of the inhabitants of his empire
conspired against Souhouq, king of Persia, and wanted to kill him. He was informed of
this, and had them arrested. There he found a man named Nouhama with his wife who was
called Nahsiram. Learning what the king had ordered in this matter — he lived in the
middle of the people — he and his wife left the city of the king and went to Edessa, where
they settled. His wife Nahsiram was then pregnant. Then Nouhama was afraid that one of the
Persian merchants who came from time to time to Edessa would notice him and have him
arrested with his wife.

65 So he left Edessa and travelled towards the Euphrates, while his wife was already on
the point of giving birth. When he had left Edessa and come to the river, just below the
town which is called Daisan, on the bank of the river his wife Nahsiram gave birth to a
son, to whom they gave the name of Ibn Daisan, from the name of this river where she gave
birth. They fled again, he and his wife, into a cave close to the road, where they settled
and stayed for 25 days. Then he left that place, crossed the Euphrates and came to Menbidj
(Hierapolis), where he settled. He found himself at Menbidj an old pagan priest, who had
no children at all. The priest... Nouhama and lived with him; his son became attached to
the priest and the latter adopted him. When the child began to walk and was larger, he set
himself to learn from the priest the teachings of the pagans and their mysteries, and he
so arrived at the age of puberty. Then the priest who was instructing him sent him one day
to Edessa so that he could bring back certain objects and certain things that he needed
for the cult of the gods whom he worshipped. In walking in the streets of Edessa, he
passed a church built by the apostle Addai; he heard the voice of thebishop of Edessa, who
was preaching to the people from the sacred books. Ibn Daisan reflected in his heart and
decided to learn the mysteries of Christianity. He went into the church, frequented it,
and made known to the Christians that which had struck him. Then (the bishop) explained to
him the truth of Christianity, baptised him, made him a deacon, and gave him a job at the
church.

66 The young man bowed, went out, abandoned his family and his mother and began to make
some treatises in which he refuted the false opinions that were current in that place; and
he didn't stop doing this until the pagans had had a particular conference with him. So
they corrupted him and sowed their weeds into his heart. He took up again the mysteries of
paganism that the priest of Menbidj had taught him, adopted the teaching of Anathousois
(or Scuthinus?) and became the author of a heresy in which he had no predecessor. There
are, he said, seven elements of which three are the principal ones, and the other four are
less important. The three principal elements are: Intellect, Force and Spirit; the other
four are Fire, Water, Light and Air. These seven elements are associated with one another,
and from this union come 360 worlds. Man is likewise created from these seven elements:
his soul is formed from the three principal and spiritual (elements); in another book, he
admits that the body of man is composed of the four inferior elements. He affirms also the
existence of seven and twelve (principles); he says: the brain of man comes from the sun;
his bones from Saturn; his veins from Mercury; his blood from Mars; his flesh from
Jupiter; his hair from Venus, his skin from the moon.

67 According to this teaching, man consists in these seven things. (Ibn Daisan) says: As
the moon increases and then diminishes through thirty days, so the Mother of life removes
her clothes each month and goes into the Father of life; he is united to her, and she
gives birth to seven children. So, each year, her children number 84. (Ibn Daisan) denied
the resurrection of the body. He said that carnal copulation with women is a purification
for them and a dimunition of the sin which is in them, and that in this way they may
become better. This happened in the time of Marcus and his two sons, Lucius and Antoninus.
Commodus, son of Antoninus, reigned for thirteen years, in the year 489 of Alexander. The
first year of his reign, at Alexandria the bishop Julianus sat for ten years; his
successor was Demetrius who sat for forty-two years.

68 In the year 10 of Commodus, at Rome sat the bishop Victor for ten years. At Antioch sat
the bishop Serapion for twenty-one years. At Byzantium sat the bishop Pertinax for
eighteen years. At Jerusalem sat the bishop Maximus for four years; after him, Antoninus
for three years; after him Valens for four years; after him Dolichianus for four years.
The emperor Commodus died and Pertinax succeeded him and reigned six months, and he was
killed in his palace. In the year 502 of Alexander, Severus reigned for eighteen years. In
the year 9 of his reign, at Rome sat the bishop Narcissus. In the year 10 of his reign
there appeared at Rome two men, one called Artemon and the other Theodotus. They said that
Christ was an ordinary created man and that he wasn't God at all; but that the Holy Spirit
was of the substance of God and of his naturtem and that he had created the Son from
nothing.

69 In the same year Severus stirred up a great persecution against the Christians and
forced them to embrace paganism and to sacrifice to idols. At this period the philosopher
Origen was famous, who was a learned man of Alexandria where he was a professor. He had
many disciples among whom were: Gregory Thaumaturgus, Theodore bishop of Tarsus, Heracleas
who became bishop of Alexandria and others. In the year 13 some difficulties arose between
the Jews and Samaritans: they went to war and a great number were killed on both sides. In
the year 520 of Alexander Antoninus Q.ntus began to reign (Caracalla); his reign lasted
seven years. In the first year of his reign at Antioch the bishop Asclepiades sat, whose
episcopate lasted 12 years. At Byzantium the bishop Marcus sat for 3 years. At Ephesus sat
Onesimus for 10 years; after him, Lucius; after him, Proclus. Narcissus occupied the
episcopal seat of Jerusalem. He left his seat and retired to the desert. His successor
Dius sat for 3 years; after him Germanus for 7 years; after him Gordius for 2 years. Then
after 12 years Narcissus reappeared. (The bishops) asked him to return to his see (seat)
and take up his ministry again, but he refused because he could not move because of his
great age and his very advanced years. So they established Alexander in his place.

70 Macrinus reigned for one year. At this period at Rome sat the bishop Calixtus for 5
years. In the year 528 of Alexander Antoninus (Heliogabalus) began to reign; he reigned
four years. In the first year of his reign the city of Nicopolis was constructed in the
land of Palestine, which the Holy Scripture calls Emmaus. In the year 532 of Alexander,
Alexander son of Mamma began to reign; his reign lasted 13 years. In the first year of his
reign, bishop Urbanus occupied the seat of Rome for 8 years; after him Pontianus for 6
years. In the year 8 of his reign, at Alexandria after Demtrius sat Heracles for 16 years.
At Antioch sat Philetus for 9 years; his successor Zebina (Zebennus) sat for 12 years. At
Byzantium Cyrillianus sat for 15 years. In the year 9 of the reign of Alexander Severus,
Ardashir, son of Babek, the first king of Persia of the line of the Sassanids, came to the
position of king and reigned for 14 years; this year was the 541st of Alexander.

71 Then reigned Maximianus (Maximinus) for 3 years. The inhabitants of his empire (the
soldiers) attacked and killed him. He stirred up a persecution against the Christians and
killed Sergius and Bacchus, the martyrs, and many other martyrs. In the year 548 of
Alexander Gordianus came to empire and reigned for 6 years. In the first year of his
reign, at Rome there sat the bishop Anterus for a month; after him, Fabius (Fabianus) for
14 years. At Byzantium sat Constantine (Castinus, Kistinus) for 6 years. At this period
appeared at Caesarea of Pontus (Neocaesarea) Gregory Thaumaturgus. At Antioch sat the
bishop Babylas. He opposed the governor of Antioch in his time, and forbade him to enter
the churches and mock them. So the governor killed him with three young folk, his
disciples. At this period Africanus was famous, author of chronicles who composed many
books on the eras and the dates of kings and others.

72 At that time Africanus was illustrious, author of the chronicles, who composed several
books on the times and the lives of the kings and others. In the year 554 of Alexander,
Philip became emperor and reigned for seven years; he professed the doctrines of
Christianity. When he wanted to go into the church, the bishop forbade him and said to
him: "You cannot go in there, so long as you will persist in your sins; you are a sinner;
you must confess your sins to God for a definite and given time; then you will go into
(the church) with the believers." And (the emperor) remained outside with the penitents.
In the first year of his reign, there reigned over the Persians Sabour, son of Ardashir,
for thirty one years In year 3 of his reign, there sat in Alexandria the bishop Dionysius
for eighteen years; he was one of the disciples of Origen.

73 In this year, a sect of heretics appeared which said: "He who apostasises with his
mouth, refuses to recognize God and hides his faith in his heart, is not an infidel,
because his faith is in the thoughts of his heart and his desire; it is the same for
incredulity." They put about on this subject a book where they tell that he who reads it
and listens to it, receives the forgiveness of his sins. They did not accept any of the
prophets and apostles. At this time, the convents and the communities of monks were
founded; they were established by Antonius, an Egyptian monk, and Paul the monk, the first
of whom instituted the use of woollen clothing (the cilice) and the solitary life in the
desert. In the year 561 of Alexander, Decius became emperor and reigned for one year and
three months. He conspired against the life of the emperor Philip, and he killed him
because of his inclination for Christianity. Decius was an enemy of the Christians and he
persecuted them cruelly; many of them suffered martyrdom, and Fabianus, bishop of Rome,
was put at death; his successor Cornelius, in Rome, had a pontificate of three years.

74 In Antioch, after Babylas, Flavianus (Fabius) sat for four years. Alexander, bishop of
Jerusalem, was also put to death; Mazabanus succeeded him and sat for fifteen years At
that time, there appeared in Rome a priest called Novatus the heretic. He said that there
is no forgiveness for those who sin after baptism, because those who are baptized must
resemble Christ, may he be glorified, and be pure like him. He was excommunicated and
driven out. Dionysius, bishop of Alexandria, wrote letters to him, where he informed him
and requested him to give up his personal opinion and to return to the catholic doctrines;
otherwise he would be in revolt and would leave the Church. But he did not accept his
remonstrances. Then sixty bishops met in council to deal with him and they excommunicated
him. At the time of Decius, the story of the young men happened, i.e. the sleepers of the
cave. Here is what happened to them: Decius made a search for them, and they fled and hid
in a cave. Having learned this, he ordered the entrance of the cave to be stopped up. It
was done. But God sent a sleep on them which lasted until the day of their awakening.

75 In the year 562 of Alexander, Gallus and Valusius (Valusianus) reigned for two years.
In the first year of their reign, Origen the philosopher died. In this year, in Rome, the
bishop Lucius sat for eight years; after him, Stephanus for two years. In Antioch,
Demetrianus sat for two years. In Byzantium, Titus the bishop sat for thirty years. At
that time, in Egypt, a man named Sabellius appeared. He said that the Father and the Son,
may he be praised, are the names of only one essence and of several qualities with which
it is provided; Our lord Christ, may he be glorified, appeared in the Old Testament with
the attributes of the Father; then he took (?) a body in which he appeared in the world;
he instituted the New Testament, where he was given as the Son, and he spoke to the
Apostles as the Holy Spirit; but nevertheless, he is only one essence, only one person,
only one God, who appeared under three aspects. Dionysius, bishop of Alexandria, refuted
him. The fathers excommunicated him and drove him out.

76 In the year 564 of Alexander, Valerian with Gallienus, his son, became emperor and
reigned for fifteen years. He acted against the Christians and excited a great persecution
against them; and holy Cyprian underwent martyrdom. In the year 9 of his reign, Sabour,
son of Ardashir, son of Babek, king of Persia, made war against Valerian. Sabour fought
him, put him to flight, took him captive and took him back to Babylon. His son succeeded
him as emperor. When Gallienus saw what had happened to Valerian, he put an end to the
persecution against the Christians, had confidence in them and asked them to help him in
matters of government. At that time, in Rome, Xystus (Sixtus) the bishop sat, who governed
for four years; (after him), Dionysius, disciple of Xystus, for nine years. In Antioch,
sat Paul of Samosata for fifteen years. In Jerusalem, Hymenaeus sat for twenty-four years.

77 Paul of Samosata said that God, alone and solitary, did not generate and was not born;
one speaks about the Father and the Son only as a parable; Christ, may he be glorified,
did not exist before Mary; he was an ordinary man, and not God. Several bishops met in
council about him and excommunicated him. In the year 2 of Gallienus, Gar...ous was
converted. In this year, in Alexandria, Maximus sat for eight years. At the same time, the
heretic Nepos the wicked made himself known, and this Nepos taught... In the year 579 of
Alexander, Claudius came to the empire and reigned for one year and nine months. In the
first year (of his reign), in the sky four stars appeared which formed a crown of fire. In
the year 580 of Alexander, Aurelian became emperor and had a reign of six years. At that
time, Paul of Samosata was excommunicated. A synod had been convened against him
previously. He had made a show of repentance and of conversion (to God). But when the
synod had broken up, he returned to his first opinion. Then in this year, (the bishops)
met (again) against him and excommunicated him; but he refused to leave the Church and had
recourse to the emperor. The Christians also sought the help of the emperor Aurelian, who
ordered him driven out of the Church. He was expelled in spite of himself and he remained
in exile until his death.

78 The history of Mani (Manes) the damned. The father of Mani was a man of Susa, named
Foutbaq, from Al-Ahwaz; his wife was called Yousit; she gave him a son whom he called
Qourbiqous. When he had grown and reached seven years of age, he was taken into captivity
and was led into Egypt. A woman of Africa, named Susannah, bought him. Her husband was
called Sakousi. The doctors of Egypt attended him, and he shared the ideas of Pythagoras
and of Empedocles and he had a disciple named B.rdourous, who was previously called
Terbintos. Sakousi the woman's husband having died, his disciple, of whom we spoke and
whose name was Bardourous, married her. He took along the woman and the young man whom she
had bought, and, after having travelled, he arrived at Babylon. He said to the Persians
that he had been born from a virgin and that he had been raised up in the mountains.

79 He composed four books; he called one the "Book of the Mysteries", another the
"Gospel", the third the "Book of the Treasury," and the fourth the "Book of the chapters".
He did not cease misleading people by his magic, insolence and perfidiousness, until he
had amassed much money and had died in a miserable way. Susannah, his wife, after burying
him, dealt with the young man; she was given to him; and she gave him the money of her
husband, about which I spoke above, and the books which her second husband had made; and
she was united to him, i.e. to the young man Qourbiqous, who was her third husband. The
young man informed himself from these books and applied himself for a long time to the
study of the letters. Then the woman died and left the money and the books to the young
man. He carried off the money and the books and arrived at Susa, his city and the place of
his birth. He gave himself the name Mani and claimed to be the author of these books.

80 As he professed Christianity, the bishop of al-Ahwaz made him a priest; he taught at
the church and explained the Scriptures and started to talk against the pagans, the Jews,
the Magi and all the followers of the heretical doctrines in contradiction with
Christianity. He chose disciples, of which one was called Addai, another Thomas, the third
Hermeas (M.radi). He sent his disciple Addai to Yemen to invite people to embrace his
doctrines; and he sent Thomas to India. Hermeas remained near him in Susa. The two
disciples returned and let him know that (the people) had not complied with their word and
had not received them. He was extremely irritated at this, abandoned the doctrines of the
Christians which he had seemingly professed, and became the author of an absurd heresy. He
represented himself as the Paraclete whom the Lord Christ, may he be glorified, promised
to send to his disciples. He gathered twelve disciples; and he blew on them, as the Lord
Christ, may he be glorified, did to his disciples. They separated, he and they, to lead
the world astray.

81 He said: "I did not speak seriously when I said that the one God subsists in three
person." Here in addition is what he wrote and did not cease inculcating: There were
always two Beings of which one is God, source of Good and source of the Light and
Kindness; the other is Matter, the substance of Evil and source of Ignorance, Darkness and
Corruption. God is sublime and without limit; as for the two substances of the middle,
they are limited, palpable and corporeal. One fine day, the Evil substance, having been
disturbed, stirred up its children against each other; its children are the devils,
demons, fire and water. They did not cease to make war against each other until they came
to the place of the Good, and they stole its Light. They came then and said: "Let us
attack it; if it is something edible, we will eat it; and if Good is a drink, we will
drink it." And they resolved to attack it. When God, who is the principle of Good, had
seen this, he took a piece of himself and threw it to them. The Evil Being absorbed this
piece of God, whodrank him, was involved in him and was merged with him. And from this
mixture the world was created. The most high God placed his two beloveds at the end (of
the reign) of the principle of the Evil. And God recover this piece, which passed to the
Evil principle, and will join it little by little to his substance; and he will be secure
against the principle of the Evil so much so that the latter will not be able to fight
against him a second time.

82 He denied the resurrection of the dead and he said that the Lord Christ is by essence
and by nature, the Son of God; God sent him to the pieces which had passed from his
substance to the principle of the Evil, to announce to them that they would be delivered
from the Evil Being and that they would return to him with those who were on the side of
Evil and did not know it. (Mani said:) All the substance of Christ is only a phantom. He
said that he had not been really crucified and had not died; but that his crucifixion and
death were only an appearance, because the Evil Being stirred up against him its demons,
which killed him and crucified him seemingly; but actually that did not take place. He was
saved and reunited with the divine whole. He said that souls are transmitted. He said that
he was the Apostle of Christ, that he is of the pure essence of God and that the body in
which he appeared, is only a phantom.

83 Sabour, son of Ardashir, king of the Persians, had him killed, skinned his body,
impaled him and thus crucified him. In the year 6 of Aurelian, Hormizd reigned in Persia
for one year. In this same year, was born the emperor Constantine. (At that time)
Eusebius, bishop of Laodicea, was known among the learned. Then Aurelian wanted to stir up
in all his empire a persecution against the Christians; but while he was thinking of it,
lightning fell..., and struck him. Tacitus reigned for six months and was killed.
Florianus reigned for six years and was killed in Tarsus. Probus reigned for seven years,
in the year 586 of Alexander. In the first year of his reign, Varahran, son of Varahran,
reigned in Persia and occupied the throne for three years; he had as a successor his son
Varahran who reigned for seventeen years. In the year 4 of his reign, sat in Rome, after
Felix who had governed for six years, Eutychianus for one year; Gaius succeeded him and
had a fifteen year pontificate.

84 In Alexandria, Theonas sat for nineteen years. In Antioch, Timaeus sat for fifteen
years. In Byzantium, Domitius (Domitianus) sat for twenty-three years. In Jerusalem,
Hermanus sat. Then the emperor Probus was killed in a war. After him, Carus, with his sons
Carinus and Numerian, reigned for three years, in year 593 of Alexander; they were killed,
all three, in a war. In the year 2 of his reign, the martyrs Cosmas and Damianus were put
to death. Diocletian reigned for twenty years, in the year 596 of Alexander; the era of
Diocletian starts from that year. In the first year of his reign, the bishop Marcellinus
occupied the see of Rome for fifteen years; after him, Eusebius for five years. In
Antioch, Cyrillus sat for eleven years; his successor (in Rome) Marthis (Maltiades) had a
five year pontificate In Alexandria, Peter sat for eleven years After him (in Antioch),
Tyrannus sat for ten years

85 In Byzantium, Probus sat. Peter (of Alexandria) was succeeded by Archelaus (Achillas),
according to what is in the diptych; it was a pontificate of eleven years. In Jerusalem,
after Hermanus who governed for twenty-four years, sat (Vitalius (?)) for eight years, and
his successor Heraclius for nine years. At that time there were four co-emperors:
Diocletian; Maximianus, son-in-law of Diocletian; Maxentius, son of Diocletian
(Maximianus), and Constantine. Diocletian and Maximianus governed the East, i.e. Armenia,
Egypt, Syria and Mesopotamia as far as Palestine; and their administration was separate.
As for Maxentius, son of Diocletian (Maximianus), he only reigned in Rome and over the
neighbouring countries and the regions. Constantine reigned over Constantinople, which is
Byzantium. At that time, the inhabitants of Egypt and Alexandria revolted; and Diocletian
sent against them many troops of soldiers who destroyed them. In the year 11 of
Diocletian, there reigned in Persia Narses for seven years; after him, Hormizd reigned for
five years.

86 In the year 19 of his reign, Diocletian ordered the churches of the Christians to be
destroyed, and they were ruined, totally, from floor to roof; and he started to persecute
the Christians violently; that lasted for eight years, and a great number of them were put
to death. In this same year, Peter, bishop of Alexandria, suffered martyrdom. He was the
first to uncover the heresy of Arius, and he anathematised him, because Arius disturbed
his time and claimed that the Lord Christ, may he be glorified, is only a man and is not
God. Peter died, without lifting (the anathema). After Peter had been put to death,
Archelaus (Achillas) succeeded to him for one year; after him, the patriarch Alexander
occupied the seat for twenty-three years. There was, that year, a terrible famine, so much
so that a modius of wheat was sold for 2500 dirhams. Then Diocletian abdicated power,
withdrew to his house and remained insane all the time until the moment of his death. His
son-in-law Maximianus did the same. They had as successors one Severus and the other
Maximianus, who persecuted the Christians and killed a great number of them.

87 After a reign of one year, Severus was killed. Constantine the Great reigned for
thirty-three years, in the year 627 of Alexander. He was the first of the sovereigns of
the Romans and the Greeks who accepted baptism and converted to Christianity. In the year
3 of his reign, he ordered the walls of Byzantium to be built, called it Constantinople
and made it the capital. (At that time), the bishop Mitrophanus occupied the see for
thirteen years; after him, Alexander for twenty-three years. In Antioch, Vitalius sat for
six years; after him, Philogonius for five years; after him, Eustathius for eight years;
after him, Paulinus for one year; after him, Eulalius for six years. In Jerusalem,
Macarius sat for twenty-four years; after him, Maximus for fifteen years At that time,
Father Pachomius, a monk of Egypt, started to found the communities and convents in Egypt.
In the year 5 of Constantine, Sabour, son of Hormizd, reigned in Persia for seventy years.

88 In the year 7 of his reign, Maximianus was killed. In this same year, Constantine
prepared to make war against Maxentius, son of Maximianus, son-in-law of Diocletian,
because he had revolted (against him), had seized Rome and the neighbouring countries and
had started to maltreat and persecute the inhabitants. Constantine reflected and thought
that, if God helped him in this combat, he would worship him. While he was thinking about
this, he raised his eyes to heaven in the middle of the day and saw there the image of a
luminous cross on which was written: "In this sign and this image you will conquer." All
those who were with him were also witnesses of this extraordinary vision. The following
night, he saw the Lord Christ, may he be glorified, who said to him: "Go to a goldsmith
and say to him to make you (an image) of gold in the resemblance of that which you saw in
the sky; and with this sign you will conquer and overcome your enemy and you will triumph
over all those who are opposed to you." When morning came, (he did what the vision
prescribed). It is because of this wonder that the emperors of the Romans were from now on
preceded by the cross in their armies and their wars.

89 Then Constantine marched against Rome. Maxentius, son of Maximianus, went out to meet
him; but he was put to flight, fell into the river and drowned... Rome for twelve years.
On this day the emperor Constantine captured Rome and entered there. The Christians who
were there, were fleeing in fear of him. Bishop Eusebius (Silvester) had also fled.
Constantine had married a daughter of Diocletian, who was called Maximi. 90 Constantine
being leprous in his body, certain pagans came near him and said to him: "If you want, O
emperor, to be purified of your leprosy, kill the children who are in this city and wash
yourself in their blood." He ordered that the children should be taken to kill them. Then
great clamours were heard in the city and its surroundings. When he had heard this, he had
pity on them and ordered them let go and returned them to their parents. During the night
he saw in a dream two men who said to him: "If you want to be purified of your leprosy,
send to seek out the bishop of Rome, Silvester, who, to hide from you, is in flight in the
mountains, and make him come here; it is he who will cure your leprosy." In the morning he
sent to seek out the bishop; he was found and brought back. When he came to the emperor,
the latter said to him: "Explain to me, O man of God, who are the two pious men whom I saw
this night in a dream." The bishop said to him: "O emperor! Those whom you saw, are not
gods, but men like you: it is Peter and Paul, disciples of the Lord Christ, may he be
glorified." And the bishop sent to seek out their image from the church. Seeing them, the
emperor said: "In truth, these are those that I saw in dream." Then the bishop preached to
the emperor and explained the principles of Christianity to him. The emperor believed and
accepted baptism. At the moment of his baptism his leprosy disappeared and fell like
scales from a fish.

91 Having received baptism, he ordered that the churches of the Christians destroyed
throughout the country should be rebuilt; and they were restored. He established for them
good and useful laws. At that time, approximately 12,000 pagans and Jews accepted baptism,
without counting women and children. They praised the Great God and prayed for the emperor
and the bishop. That took place in the year 11 of Constantine, which was the year 628 of
Alexander. When the Jews who did not accept baptism saw this, envy misled them, and they
said that it was not Christ who had cured the emperor of his leprosy, but the God alone
whom the Jews worshipped. Having heard this, the emperor was disturbed by it, because of
his desire to know the truth; he gathered twelve heads of the Jews and twelve bishops and
ordered to them to discuss in front of him; and he did not cease listening to them
greedily and acting as referee between them until they had finished their discussion. He
made them go home and stuck to Christianity.

92 Then his mother Helena converted to Christianity, accepted baptism and went to
Jerusalem on pilgrimage to beseech the protection of the Lord Christ, may he be glorified.
She built churches of Great God in Jerusalem and in all the country. That was done with
the assistance of Macarius, bishop of Jerusalem. She took the nails with which the hands
and the feet of the Lord Christ, may he be glorified, had been nailed, carried them to her
son Constantine, who made some into a bit for his horse. He also took half of the cross,
according to what certain people claim, and brought it to Constantinople. The other half
remained in Apamea. She covered with gold the half that she had brought, and placed it at
Constantinople in a church. There are some people who believe that she did not leave
anything of it at Apamea and that she brought the complete cross to Constantinople.

93 The history of the damned Arius. 94 In the time of the emperor Constantine, there was
in Alexandria a man named Arius. Peter, bishop of Alexandria, ordained him deacon; but
having learned that Arius moved away from the truth, he excommunicated him. Then Peter was
put to death and had as a successor Archelaous (Achillas) as bishop. Arius interceded with
the latter and had recourse to the intervention of people close to him. Then Achillas
lifted the excommunication that Peter the martyr, had pronounced against him, and made him
a priest. But after a little time, he showed his hypocrisy and expressed what had been
hidden in his heart. Arius envied Alexander because of his knowledge, his high culture and
his influence. Alexander ordered in another message: Alexander was mistaken, because
Achillas, who was after Peter... Achillas the year... (Alexander allowed? Arius one day to
preach at the time of a festival. When he had gone up into the pulpit, he began his sermon
by quoting the passage where Solomon, son of David, says in his Book: "The Lord created me
before his creatures. One of those present asked him to interpret this passage. Arius
answered him: "I understand only (by this passage) that the Lord Christ, the Son, was
created before all the creatures. Then, one day, Arius went up into the pulpit and
preached for the second time; he treated in his sermon the same idea and asserted that the
Son is created. After that day he was forbidden by the priests to preach in the pulpits of
Alexandria.

95 The people wanted to know his opinion, so he taught them his doctrines and taught that
the Lord Christ, may he be glorified, according to his opinion, is a created man, that the
Son has a beginning and that he created the Holy Spirit. When Alexander had been informed
about his doctrines, he assembled nearly one hundred bishops of Egypt, who anathematised
him and all those who shared his ideas. Then bishop Alexander bishop informed the
Patriarch of Constantinople about this. Arius also wrote to Eusebius, bishop of Nicomédie,
requesting his help, and he let him know that several bishops shared his doctrines; among
them: Eusebius, bishop of Caesarea in Palestine; Theodotus, bishop of Laodicea; Paulinus,
bishop of Tyre; A.m.s, bishop of Menbidj (Hierapolis); Athanasius, bishop of Anazarbe, and
others. Then Arius went to Rome, was presented to the emperor Constantine and complained
to him about the way in which Alexander, bishop of Alexandria, had treated him and his
followers; and he explained to him why his doctrines were the truth.

96 Then the emperor Constantine wrote to Alexander, requesting him to lift the anathema on
Arius. But Alexander refused to do it. Then the emperor, wanting to know the truth, to
inform himself and to understand, sent to all the bishops the following letter: "On behalf
of the emperor Constantine to the bishops and monks who receive our present message,
greeting! You know already what I expressed in an absolute way, that I have nothing more
at heart and that there is nothing better in my eyes than the fear of God and the
veneration which is due to him, with that brings us closer to God. The first synod had
already gathered in Ancyra, town of Galatia. Now we have judged it good to convene another
synod in the town of Nicaea for several reasons: the first is the convenient situation (of
this city) for the bishops of Antioch and other cities; the second, the stability and
softness of the climate; the third, that I will be in the vicinity of the Synod and that I
will attend the meetings which will take place there. This is why I let you know, my
brothers, and I order you to prepare yourselves and to arrange to travel to the said town
of Nicaea; — so that each one of you reflects on my order and regards it as his duty;
arrange to arrive quickly, without sloth or negligence. Let each one of you attend the
council of Nicaea as we have said. May God keep you and his grace be fulfilled in you.
Greeting!"

97 The meeting of the council required a long time. Constantine charged those around him
to organise the council and the bishops and the metropolitans who arrived successively at
Nicaea, so that each got the residence which was appropriate for his rank and dignity
until all the bishops of all the cities were brought together. And (those close to the
emperor) carried this out. When the council was assembled, they wrote to the emperor to
notify their meeting to him. The emperor entered, placed himself in the middle of the
company and assisted at the actions from beginning to end. Their first session took place
on the 9 of Haziran (June) in the year 636 of Alexander, which is the year 19 of
Constantine. Here are the names of the most famous prelates at this council: Viton and
Vicentius, two priests, representatives of the pope of Rome. Alexander, bishop of
Alexandria. Macarius, bishop of Jerusalem. Germanus, bishop of Samaria (Schamrin,
Neapolis). Eusebius, bishop of Damascus. Anatolius, bishop of Hims (Emesa). Eustathius,
bishop of Antioch. Zinabius, bishop of Seleucia. James, bishop of Nisibis and with him
holy Ephraim the doctor. Theodore, bishop of Tarsus, and others. They anathematised Arius
and formulated the symbol (of Nicaea) received by all (the members). They said:

98 "We believe in one God only, the Father, the almighty, maker of heaven and earth, (of
all things) visible and invisible; and in one Lord only, Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
alone, begotten of the Father before time, light of light, true God of true God; begotten,
not created, consubstantial with the Father, by whom all things were made; who for us men,
and for our salvation came down from heaven, became incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the
virgin Mary, was made man, was crucified for us in the time of Pontius Pilate, suffered,
died, was buried, rose again on the third day, as is written, went up to heaven, sat on
the right of the Father; and he will return in glory to judge the living and the dead; and
his reign will have no end. And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who
proceeds from the Father.

99 "As for those who say: He was and he died; he did not exist before being begotten; he
was made of nothing or another substance or essence or another ousia; he is changeable or
mutable; or that who represents the Son of God by one of these qualities, — that one is
anathematised, excommunicated and wicked." They also settled several questions about the
Easter calculation, which was changed, and they wrote 20 canons. Some of these bishops had
met before in Ancyra of Galatia, had written 24 canons, then they had gone to Nicaea. Then
they met in Caesarea, after their meeting at Ancyra and before that of Nicaea, and also
wrote 20 canons. Then 90 bishops gathered in Antioch and wrote 25 canons. Then (bishops)
met (in Gangres) and wrote 20 canons. Then they gathered in Laodicea and wrote 19 canons.
All these events took place in the time of the emperor Constantine and of his house.

100 When Arius was anathematised at the council of the 318 bishops, who wrote his
excommunication, there were there a certain number of bishops and other personnages who
shared the doctrines of Arius and who refused to sign the excommunication of Arius. As the
council inspired them with fear, some of them repented and returned (to God); as for those
who did not return, they were excommunicated, anathematised and banished. Among those who
were anathematised and banished, were Eusebius, bishop of Nicomedia; Theognis, bishop of
Nicaea; Mari, bishop of Chalcedon, and Secundus, bishop of Akka (Ptolemaïs). Then some of
the bishops rose and presented to the emperor a letter wherein there were recriminations
against other bishops. When the emperor had read it, he ordered that it should be burned
and said: "If I find a certain priest suspected and afflicted, I will cover him with my
clothing." Eusebius, bishop of Caesarea, was charged to formulate what had been halted by
these synods.

101 The emperor sent a letter to all the provinces wherein he said that all the questions
of this synod were finished and completed with the assistance of the Holy Spirit, his
inspiration and his power, and that the question of the Easter Festival was appropriately
settled. He ordered all the bishops to be zealous in the construction of churches; he
ordered Eusebius to write to him the titles of the books that were read, and he ordered
the books of Arius burned. He also sent another letter to all his governors in which he
said: "On behalf of the emperor Constantine to the bishops, the metropolitans, the
priests, the governors and all the people who will receive our letter, greeting! Arius the
liar resembles the devil, wicked and malicious, and he has separated himself from the
faith; this is why he contradicted the people and became the author of a heresy without
precedent. Thus misfortune has seized him and the testing happened to him. It is necessary
to burn his books, so that there remains no memory of him and nothing of his words; and I
order those who have something of his, to burn and destroy it all; if not, they will be
tainted with the misfortune which happened to Arius; and none of them will find for his
soul the way of salvation, God willing!"

102 Then, after these matters, the emperor made war with certain enemies who surrounded
him, overcame them and made captive a great number of them. Alexander, bishop of
Alexandria, died 5 months after the meeting of the council of Nicaea; and he had as
successor Athanasius, who sat for 46 years Eusebius, bishop of Nicomedia, Théognis and
those who shared their doctrines did not give up their opinions, their revolt and their
error and they persisted in their impiety; they went, convened a council at Antioch and
drove out Eustathius, bishop of Antioch; they stripped him of everything and defamed him.
They hid at his house a woman who was pregnant by a certain blacksmith; and she started to
shout and say: "I am pregnant by a man who is called Eustathius." They deposed Eustathius
and wanted to establish in his place Eusebius, bishop of Caesarea; but the latter did not
accept it from them. Then the people were divided into parties; discord reigned and the
see of Antioch remained vacant for eight years.

103 Then, after that, sat the bishop Eulalius for one year; Euphronius succeeded to him
and sat for six years. When the inhabitants of Antioch had driven out Eustathius, they
acclaimed Arius and declared in his favour. At the court of the emperor there was a
follower of Arius, like a secret agent; he was attached to their doctrines, helped them
and protected them. He requested the emperor to write to Arius and to enable him to come
to him. The emperor acceded to this and ordered Arius to come to him. When he received the
letter, he went to the emperor with a deacon, who had been anathematised with him. The
emperor ordered them to explain their faith in a report and to present it to him. When he
had examined it, he found there nothing which deviated from the truth. The emperor wrote
to Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria, and asked him to receive them and to restore them in
their rank. But Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria, refused to receive them. On this the
followers of Arius gathered and, in their deliberations, they resolved to calumniate
Athanasius to the emperor and to bring the most serious charges against him. And they
acted accordingly.

104 But at the court of the emperor, there was one of the disciples of Athanasius, who
apprised the emperor of the trickery of Arius and his followers, their jealousy for
Athanasius, the falseness of their calumnies and their charges. Then the emperor ordered
that Arius and his followers should be separated and he wrote to Athanasius to come and
find him. When he arrived, the emperor questioned him on several points that Arius and his
followers had taught, and he explained all that to him. Then the emperor restored him to
his place with great honor. These events took place in the year 30 of Constantine. And we
have judged it good to give here the order of the kings who reigned from Adam to this
time, according to what the authors of annals report, who wrote and laid out clearly the
times and the years. We will join together (information) on the kings of various peoples
and various nations as far as we are able, to show what difference exists between them
about the increase and of the reduction in the years (of the reign of such or such king),
if God the Almighty allows it.

105 Africanus says in the book that he composed on the times: Adam governed the world from
the beginning for 930 years. Seth, his son, governed the world for 128 years. After him,
Alak.r.dis.(Alasparus) for 920 years and 7 months; after him, Amelun for 128 years and 3
months; Alorus king of Medes (?) for 98 years, 9 months and 20 days; after him, Amenon for
168 years and 7 months and half; after him, Metalarus for 157 years and 6 months; after
him, Daonus for 98 years and 7 months and half; Evedorachus for 117 years and 6 months and
half; Amphis for 98 years and 7 months and half; after him, Otiartes for 28 years and 7
months and half; after him, Xisuthrus for 157 years and 6 months and half. The total
number of years from Adam to the flood is 2,242 years In the detailed calculation he
misses out 3 months and 10 days.

106 That agrees with the true Torah, according to the translation of the Seventy which was
translated under Ptolemy, king of Egypt, in an irreproachable manner. 107 After the flood:
Noah governed the world for 310 years; Sem, his son, for 130 years; Arphaxad, Khamite, for
33 ans;... hraus (Evechius) for 21 years; Akoumasthous (Chosmasbolus) for 35 years;
Kourous (Porus) for 30 years; Nachoubous (Nachoubes) for 33 years; Nabius for 40 years;
Osanous (Oniballus) for 35 years; Findirous (Zinzirus) for 41 years; Mardocentes for (44)
years; Mardafbus (Mardacus) for 40 years; M.r.d (Sisimordacus), his son, for 45 years;
thius (Nabius) for 37 years; Parannus for 40 years; Samouanbous (Nabonnabus) for 28 years;
Belus the Assyrian for 15 years; Nabius for 52 years; Semiramis for 42 years; Ninyas,
called Zames, for 38 years; Arius for 30 years; Aralius for 40 years; Xerxes for 30 years;
Armamithris for 30 years; Malaeus (Balaeus) for 52 years; Athadaus (Sehos) for 32 years;
Mamythus for 30 years; Machalaous (Aschalius) for 28 years; Sphaerus for 22 years; Mamylus
for 32 years; Asthatharas (Sparthaeus) for 28 years; Amyntes for 45 years; Ochsous
(Belochus) for 25 years; Balatoris for 30 years; Lamprides for 32 years; Sosares for 20
years; Saqadataous (Ascadates) for 40 years; Saphranous (Saqranous) for 40 years;.faris
(Lampraïs) for 30 years; Phanyas (Panyas) for 45 years; Sousarmous (Sosarmus) for 22
years; Snaraous (Mithraeus) for 27 years; Toutoumaous (Teutamus) for 32 years; Teutaeus
for 40 years; Arabilus for 42 years; Kalaous (Chalaus) for 45 years; Anabus for 38 years;
Babius for 37 years; Thinaeus for 30 years; Darqoulous (Dercylus) for 40 years; Eupacmis
for 38 years; Laosthanis (Laosthenes) for 45 years; Pertiades for 30 years; Arphiathous
(Ophrataeus) for 21 years;

108 Ephouthais (Ephecheres) for 50 years; Acraganis for 42 years; Kounthoulaous
(Concolerus) for 20 years; 2 Arbacus for 28 years; Mandaous (Mandauces) for 20 years;
Sousarmous for 30 years; A.tha.s (Artycas) for 30 years; Deioces for 54 years; Aphraartis
for 24 years; Cyaxares for 32 years; Astyages for 28 years; Cyrus Perse for 32 years;
Cambyses for 8 years; Darius for 36 years; Xerxes for 21 years; Artaxerxes for 41 years;
Darius II for 19 years; Artaxerxes for 46 years; Ochus for 21 years; Arses for two years;
Darius III for 6 years; Alexander the Great for 6 years; Ptolemy, son of Lagos, for 39
years; Ptolemy called Philadelphus for 38 years; Ptolemy Evergetes for 25 years; Ptolemy
Philopator for 29 years; Ptolemy (Epiphanes) for 24 years; Ptolemy Philometor for 35
years; Ptolemy (Evergetes II) Physcon for 16 years; (Ptolemy) Auletes for 9 years; Ptolemy
Alexander for 3 years; Ptolemy Philadelphus II for 8 years; Ptolemy Dionysius for 29
years; Cleopatra for 22 years; Augustus the Romain for 43 years; Tiberius for 22 years;
Gaius (Caligula) for 4 years; Claudius for 14 years; Nero for 14 years; Vespasian for 10
years; Titus for 3 years; Domitian for 15 years; Nerva for one year; Trajan for 20 years;
Hadrian for 21 years; Titus Antoninus for 23 years; Marcus for 19 years; Commodus for 13
years; Severus for 18 years; Antoninus (Caracalla) for 7 years; Antoninus II
(Heliogabalus) for 4 years; Alexander for 13 years; Maximianus (Maximinus) for 3 years;
Gordianus for 6 years; Philippus for 6 years; Decius for 2 years;

109 Gallienus for 3 years; Valerian, son of..., for 14 years; Claudius for 2 years;
Aurelian for 6 years; Probus for 9 years; Carus for 2 years; Diocletian for 19 years;
Constantine for 20 years: That made 5,816 years. 110 Chrysostom says in his treatise that
he wrote for Acacius, bishop of Melitene: "You have asked me to explain to you the
chronology of the kings who reigned from Adam to Constantine the Great, the pious emperor;
and I will explain it to you. "Adam, at the birth of Seth, was 230 years old; Seth, at the
birth of Enos, was 205 years old; Enos, at the birth of Kaïnan, 290 years; Kaïnan, at the
birth of Mahalalaïl, was 170 years old; Mahalalaïl lived, before the birth of Jared, 165
years; Jared, before the birth of Hénokh, 122 years; Hénokh, before the birth of
Mathusaleh, 165 years; Mathusaleh, before the birth of Lamec, 107 years; Lamec, before the
birth of Noah, 88 years; Noah, before the birth of Sem, 105 years; Sem, before the birth
of Arphaxad, 102 years; Arphaxad, before the birth of Sçaleh, 135 years; Sçaleh, before
the birth of Haber, 130 years; Haber, before the birth of Phaleg, 134 years; Phaleg,
before the birth of Ar`û (Rahu), 130 years; Ar`û, before the birth of Sarûg, 132 years;
Sarûg, before the birth of Nachor, 130 years; Nachor, before the birth of Tarih, 79 years;
Tarih, before the birth of Abraham, 70 years; Abraham, before the birth of Isaac, 100
years; Isaac, before the birth of Jacob, 60 years; Jacob, before the birth of Lévi, 86
years; Lévi, before the birth of Kahath, 46 years; Kahath, before the birth of Amran, 60
years; Amran, before the birth of Moïse the prophet, 73 years. The prophet Moses governed
the Israelites in the desert, for 40 years.

111 "Joshua son of Nun governed the people for 27 years. Othoniel and Eglon the Moabite,
for 40 years. The Moabites and Ahod, for 80 years. The Cananites, Debora and Baraq, for 40
years. The Madianites and Gideon, for 40 years. Thola, for 23 years. Abimelek, for 3
years. Jaïr, for 22 years. Jephthah (Jephte) and the Ammonites, for 6 years. Hesbon, for 7
years. Abdon, for 8 years. The Philistines and Samson, for 20 years. Heli, the high
priest, for 40 years. Samuel and Saul, for 40 years. David the prophet, for 40 years.
Solomon, for 40 years. Roboam, son of Solomon, for 17 years. Abia, for 3 years. Asa, for
41 years. Josaphat, for 25 years. Joram, for 8 years. Ochozia, for one year. Athalia, for
7 years. Joas, for 40 years. Amasia, for 29 years. Azaria, called Ozia, for 52 years.
Joatham, for 16 years. Achaz, for 16 years. Hezechiah, for 29 years. Manasseh, for 55
years. Amon, for 12 years. Josiah, for 31 years. Joachaz, for 3 months. Joachim, for 12
years. Jechoniah, for 3 months. Zedekiah, for 11 years. The Israelites remained in Babylon
for 70 years.

112 "Darius (reigned) for 36 years. Xerxes, son of Darius, for 20 years. Artabanus, for 7
months. Artaxerxes Longhand, for 41 years. Xerxes II, for two months. Sogdianus, for 7
months. Darius, son of his mother (?), for 19 years. Artaxerxes Mnemon, for 40 years.
Artaxerxes Ochus, for 27 years. Arses, son of Ochus, for 4 years. Darius, son of San
(Arsam), for 6 years. Alexander, son of Philip, for 6 years and 7 months. Alexander tells
in his book that he reigned for 16 years. "Ptolemy Lagos, for 40 years. Ptolemy
Philadelphus, for 38 years. Ptolemy Evergetes, for 26 years. Ptolemy Philopator, for 17
years. Ptolemy (Epiphanes), for 26 years. Ptolemy Philometor (mother-lover), for 35 years.
Ptolemy Physcon, for 27 years and two months. Ptolemy Alexander, for 10 years. Ptolemy,
who was driven out of the kingdom, for 8 years. Ptolemy, for 30 years. Cleopatra, for 22
years. 113 "Gaius Caesar, for 4 years and 4 months. Augustus Caesar, for 56 years and 6
months. Tiberius, for 22 years and 3 months. Gaius, for 3 years and 10 months. Claudius,
for 13 years and 3 months. Nero, for 13 years and 7 months. Vespasian, for 9 years and 11
months. Titus, for 2 years and 2 months. Domitian, for 15 years and 5 months. Nerva, for
one year and 4 months. Trajan, for 19 years and 6 months. Hadrian, for 20 years. Titus
Antoninus, for 22 years and 3 months. Marcus, for 19 years. Commodus, for 13 years.
Pertinax, for 6 months. Severus, for 18 years. Antoninus Caracalla, for 7 years. Marcianus
(Macrinus), for one year. Antoninus (Heliogabalus), for 4 years. Alexander, son of Mammea,
for 13 years. Maximinus, for 3 years. Gordianus, for 6 years. Philip, for 7 years. Decius,
for one year and 3 months. Aurelian, for 5 years and 3 months. Tacitus, for 6 months.
Probus, for 6 years and 4 months. Carus and Carinus, for 2 years. Diocletian and Maximian,
for 18 years. Constantine, for 20 years. All that made 5,460 years."

114 Jachya, son of Adiya, the grammarian, says in his chronicle which he made on... of
Constantius (?); he begins and says: Adam governed the world for 230 years; Seth governed
the world for 205 years. History of Oudhi and his work. In year 30 of the reign of the
emperor Constantine a man named Oudhi of Edessa appeared; he was a Syrian and archpriest
and had always aspired to the episcopal see. Seeing that he would not reach it, he
attacked the truth and fought it so as to obtain by this means the dignity (of bishop)
outside the Church; he was the author of a great heresy in contradiction to Christianity,
and he invented nonsense in which he had no predecessor. He affirmed that there were
several gods: the father of life, the mother of life, several different sons and several
Spirits. He said: Life is linked with the mother of life, and several gods were born from
it. The father of life created an angel; then he ordered him to create all the angels. He
believed that the father of life had an enemy; and the father of life created Eve. Then he
said to her: "Conceive by me before the god who is below me makes you pregnant." She
conceived by him, gave birth, and the race resulting from her multiplied. The body is made
from matter, the soul from the substance of the father of life.

115 When the malicious adversary had seen the father of life, he envied him and wanted to
usurp its rank. He detached a piece from him, called it Christ and created a body for him.
Having crossed the region of the gods, he went down without any of the gods or spirits
seeing him, to call men to the worship of his Master. While he preached to them, he
violated the order of his Master; and the father of life set himself in anger against his
Christ, killed him and crucified him. Oudhi told that the angels committed adultery with
the daughters of men, and some of them had children. Evil is natural to men. The father of
life will disappear and vanish, and the gods who are below him will also disappear; the
mother of life will be also destroyed with the whole world, and there will remain nothing
any more.

116 We cannot report many things about which he speaks, because our book would become too
long thereby. Many bishops united against him, anathematised him and drove him out of the
Church. Then the emperor Constantine concluded an agreement with his three sons and shared
his empire between them before his death; he made each of them Caesar and started with his
eldest son: he called him by his name Constantine and established him in Constantinople
and the neighbouring countries on the side of the Occident. He established the other, who
was called Constantine (Constantius), in the East, Syria, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Armenia and
the neighbouring countries. He established the third, who was called Constans, in Rome and
the neighbouring countries. This took place in the year 30 of his reign. When he was about
to die, none of his sons being present, he gave his will into the hands of the bishop
Eusebius, who was attached to the person of the emperor, and ordered him to give it to his
son Constantine.

117 The emperor Constantine died in the year 642 of Alexander, on Sunday, the 22nd of ab
(August); he lived 65 years of which he reigned 33 years. His three sons reigned after him
for 25 years. Then Constantius went to Nicomedia, took the body of his father, embalmed
it, put it in a coffin of gold and transported it to Constantinople. In this year, Sabour,
king of the Persians, rose up and moved against Nisibis, when he learned that Constantine
the Great had died; he besieged it for 30 days, but, not having managed to seize anything,
he returned to his empire. Then he persecuted harshly the Christians who were in his
empire, and he did not cease treating them this way until his death. In this year, James,
bishop of Nisibis died; Babou succeeded him and Vologeses succeeded him. In Rome, after
S.t.r.s (Silvester) who had governed it for 24 years, sat the bishop Marcus for 3 years;
Julius succeeded him for 15 years; and after him, Liberius for 8 years

118 Athanasius occupied the pulpit of Alexandria. In Antioch sat Mr.ris (Euphronius?) for
4 years; Stephanus succeeded him for 5 years; his successor Leontius sat for 6 years;
Lucius succeeded him for 3 years. They professed the doctrines of Arius. Then Meletius sat
for 2 years, his successor Dorotheus (?) sat for one year; Paul (Paulinus) succeeded him
and his episcopate lasted 6 years. Then, in Constantinople, Alexander had as a successor
Paul; then he was driven out, and Eusebius, bishop of Nicomedia, occupied the see for 5
years; the heretic Macedonius succeeded him and sat for 5 years. In Jerusalem, Cyril
succeeded Maximus, sat for 12 years and was driven out. At that time, several learned
Christians were illustrious: Athanasius, Mar Ephrem and Eusebius of Emesa (Homs). At that
time, in Mesopotamia, lived great men, virtuous, pure and strong: the old man Julian,
Abraham Qidounaya and others. At the same time, the Persian Sage was known who composed
several books and various histories.

119 At the beginning of his reign, Constantius sent to seek out the bishop Athanasius whom
his father had exiled, made him return and restored him in his dignity, having granted a
rescript to him that nobody had obtained. In the year 3 of the reign of these three
(brothers), Constantine the Younger was killed. When the followers of Arius saw that
Athanasius had been restored to his rank, they were disturbed and excited. A priest,
attached to the person of the emperor Constantius the Great, started to tell impure things
(?) and to say that the doctrine of he who says that the Son is the substance of his
Father, is the cause of misfortune, discord, the corruption of the people and their doubt;
that there is nothing in this respect in the Holy Scriptures and that none of this is
known according to the authentic sources; there is only Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria,
who affirms it.

120 Then Constantius, son of Constantine, emperor of the East, having a certain
inclination for the followers of Arius, allowed himself to be led astray by their words
and he sent some of his satellites to Egypt to drive out the bishop Athanasius from the
city and to depose him. When Athanasius learned this, he fled, went to Julius, bishop of
Rome, and let him know all these matters. Julius, bishop of Rome, ordered the followers of
Arius to come to him to discuss with them and to deliver their opinions. They did not do
so at all and did not reply; but they assembled in Antioch, to the number of 70 bishops,
and anathematised any who say that the Son is substance of the Father; they confirmed that
he had been created before the world and that God created the world. They wrote 25 canons.
At that time, at Antioch, sat the bishop Meletius.

121 This took place in the year 653 of Alexander. Then the Arians raised up in Alexandria,
in the place of Athanasius, Eusebius of Emesa, originally from Edessa. But the people
refused to receive him, because he shared the ideas of Sabellius; and he returned to
Emesa. Then the Arian Gregory was put in his place as bishop. Alexander, bishop of
Constantinople, died and had as a successor a man named Paul, who sat for 2 years.
Constantine the Younger having learned this, drove him out, because he had been instituted
without his permission, and put in his place Eusebius, bishop of Nicomedia. In the year 4
of Constantine the Younger, Eusebius, bishop of Caesarea, died and he had as successor
Acacius, his disciple. In the year 5 of his reign, Eusebius, his disciple, bishop of
Nicomedia, died, who had been put on the seat of Constantinople, and Paul returned to his
place.

122 Then the Arians met and established a bishop, in Constantinople, a man named
Macedonius. A violent dispute burst out between them and the opposite party, and many
people on both sides were killed. In the year 6 of Constantine the Younger, there was in
Antioch a violent earthquake; and the earth did not cease trembling and being agitated for
all the year; but this continued without causing damage. Then the Arians who were in
Alexandria attacked Gregory, bishop of Alexandria, drove him out and put another in his
place. They drove out (also) Paul of Constantinople and established another in his place.
Then Paul and Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria, went to Julius, bishop of Rome, and let
him know the misfortune which had happened to them, and the conduct of the Arians. He
wrote letters to them and restored them to their places. Having learned this, the emperor
sent to Paul and drove him out; and Macedonius was put into his place by violence and
constraint. Athanasius, having learned of their threats against him, fled and hid for two
years. The Orientals who supported the doctrines of Arius wrote to Julius, patriarch of
Rome, and deluged him with injuries and insults, because he had restored these two exiled
bishops — Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria, and Paul, bishop of Constantinople. Then
Julius, bishop of Rome, ordered (the Arians) to assemble in Rome, and 400 bishops
gathered.

123 But when they learned that Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria, and Paul, bishop of
Constantinople, were in Rome, they moved to another city, opposed the patriarch and
anathematised whoever said that the Son was of the same substance as the Father. In this
manner, the bishops of the East who supported the doctrines of Arius overrode the bishops
who supported the opposite doctrines, made themselves masters of the council and made
their thesis that the Son is created by the Father before all ages prevail. All the
Western bishops learned this and did not go to this council; they anathematised and
condemned the Eastern bishops, assembled in their turn, established that the Son was of
the substance and the nature of the Father, excommunicated those who said that the Son had
been created, and restored their rank to Paul and Athanasius. Then Constans, emperor of
Rome, sent a letter to his brother Constantine by the intermediary of one of his
patricians; he requested him to receive Athanasius and Paul and to restore them in their
places; if not he would declare war on him. Having read the letter of his brother,
Constantine convened a certain number of bishops and consulted them on what his brother
had written to him on either the re-establishment of the two bishops in their places or
the declaration of war. They advised to him to restore them in their places and declared
to him that their re-establishment was more expedient than war. This decision lessened the
calamities. Constantius accepted them and ordered that they be restored in their rank.

124 Then Constantius required Athanasius to concede a church to him in Alexandria.
Athanasius said to him: "I myself have something to ask of you." The emperor said to him:
"Ask!" Athanasius said: "Give me in each city where the Arians are in possession of the
churches, a church to belong to our followers." In the year 15 of the reign of the
children of Constantine, Constans, emperor of Rome was killed, in the year 663 of
Alexander. This was the cause of his death: He marched against an enemy who had revolted
against him, and was killed during the campaign. Then Constantine the Younger proclaimed
Gallicus (Gallus), brother of Julian, his brother-in-law, emperor of the East in the place
of his brother Constantius, and marched against the enemy who had killed his brother. The
emperor Constans, master of Rome, having been killed, the Arians gathered, accusing
Athanasius and Paul to the emperor Constantius after his return from the war and led him
into error on their subject. The emperor ordered Athanasius killed and Paul exiled.
Athanasius, having learned this news, fled and hid. Paul was taken and given to those
which were to accompany him in exile in Armenia interior. When he arrived at the border of
Armenia, the messenger sent with him to exile him, strangled him; he had sat in
Constantinople for two years. Macedonius II succeeded him. In Alexandria George (Gregory)
and in Antioch Leontius sat.

125 In the year 18 of Constantius and year 3 of Gallus, the Jews of Palestine revolted,
attacked various cities and there captured and killed many people. Then Constantius sent
Gallus against them, who destroyed them and demolished their cities and their residences.
When Gallus had seized these cities, pride, vanity and the pride seized him, and he became
arrogant. He seized two of the principal patricians among his companions, and killed them
without the permission of the emperor. Constantius learned this and sent troops against
him, killed him and established his brother in his place; the name of his brother who was
substituted for him, was Julian. At that time Julius, patriarch of Rome, died after having
sat for fifteen years; and Liberius succeeded him. In the year 20 of Constantius, at
Nicomedia a great earthquake took place, and the city was engulfed. In this same year, the
discords between the Arians and the other party burst out. Cyrillus, bishop of Jerusalem,
were deposed; it was the same for S.r.n.s (Ursinus), bishop of Rome. In their place M.ttis
was set up. But the people did not accept him, deposed him and put Eudoxius in his place
(in Constantinople), after he had sat at Antioch for three years. In Antioch, after
Eudoxius, sat Meletius of Sebaste, who had been bishop of Haleb. The Arians took him from
Haleb and set him up in Antioch. Going up (into the pulpit) to preach, Meletius showed
them, during his sermon, his three fingers; and he said to them: "All three are one."
Arians, seeing that he did not agree with them, deposed him, after he had governed (the
Church) for two years, and established in his place Euzoius, who was an Arian from Egypt.

126 Then the people of Antioch were divided: among them there was one party with the
priest Marina, the other with Euzoius. In Jerusalem Arranius sat for nine years; after him
Heraclius. Macedonius, who had been driven out of Constantinople, said that the Son is
different from his Father by his substance, and that he does not have any link (with him).
After teaching this, he was exiled to the country of Pontus, and he had Eudoxius as his
successor, who used hypocrisy near the emperor and gave himself a deceptive appearance. He
was driven out (?). It was he who had driven out of Cyzicus Eleusius, bishop (of that
place), and had established in his place Eunomius de Cilicia. Eudoxius ordered him not to
let his doctrines appear immediately. He began by seizing all the churches, because the
Orientals contradicted the doctrines that he preached to them. Then they sent someone to
Constantius to speak for them. The emperor ordered Eudoxius to punish him; but he agreed
with Eunomius and had sympathy with him, which was reciprocated, and they carried on the
business at length. But Eudoxius started to blame Eunomius for making their doctrines
known so quickly. Having learned that, the emperor ordered Eunomius to give up his seat.
He left after an obstinate resistance, went to Eudoxius (and said): "You've acted badly
towards me and my master Aetius."

127 Then he assembled a party, and they were called Eunomians. Eunomius and his followers
said: God, eternal, alone, is unbegotten and does not beget. He is the creator of the Son
and he created him like a spiritual soul; then he sent him into the world, and the Son
took a body without linking himself with it, this body remaining the location of the soul.
The Holy Spirit is created by the Son. Those who receive baptism are baptized only in the
death of Christ; they baptize only the head of the child to the chest, and they do not
baptize the lower parts of its body, saying that it is impure. In their baptism, they do
not soak the child in water; but when they want to baptize a man, they move towards him
and wrap the lower part of his body, from the feet to the chest; then they put him on a
table, take water and pour some on his hands, chest and his head.

128 This Eunomius believed that he had resolved all questions and that he had from the
substance of God the same knowledge as God himself. He was anathematised and exiled in the
time of Constantius, son of Constantine, in the year 20 of his reign, which is the year
668 of Alexander. The History of Apollinarius. Then a man named Apollinarius appeared from
Alexandria, where he had studied the knowledge of the pagans. From Egypt he came to Beirut
and was ordained priest there under Theodotus, bishop of the place. His son learned there
(Greek) literature, and the father astronomy; and they both went to see the philosopher
Epiphanes from time to time. When the bishop Theootus saw this, he prohibited them doing
this, so that they did not deviate from the truth or lean towards paganism. They obeyed
him and were obedient until the death of the bishop Theodotus. The latter had George as
successor. They then started again to visit the philosopher and made (pagan) sacrifices
with him. Bishop George endeavoured to lead them away from him, and discord burst out
between them and him (bishop George); but he could not succeed. As they refused to give up
their practices, he excommunicated them and drove them out. As for Apollinarius, he
invented, with his knowledge of philosophy, a new heresy and founded a sect. He went to
find excommunicated bishops, who ordained him bishop. He and his son agreed to create a
perverse doctrine and they imagined a trinity of degrees and ranks.

129 Apollinarius said that the Father is immense, that the Son is great and that the rank
of the Holy Ghost is less than either (of the Father and the Son). He reports that the Son
borrowed our animal soul and body, that he did not take the reasoning soul, but that the
Divinity takes its place. Apollinarius wrote several books: in one, he said that the body
of Christ comes from heaven; in another, that he took a false body for us; in the third
(book), he said, like Sabellius, that God is only one substance and only one hypostasis.
He only said: (the expressions should be understood) "the Father, the Son and the Holy
Ghost" according to the actions of God in creation. He made a great error, in saying that
in the future life one would eat, one would drink and one would join oneself with women;
that Christ is only a form made up of the divine elements and the animal body; and that
the substance of the Son is created. He said that his psalms, that he had composed
himself, were better than those of the prophet David. The bishops of Constantinople met
against him, excommunicated him and exiled him.

130 Then the emperor Constantius, who was at Antioch, learned that Caesar Julian, having
fought the Barbarians, had put them to flight and that his subjects had proclaimed him
emperor. Constantius was baptized by the bishop of Antioch, raised troops among the Romans
and went against the rebel. While he was on the way, he was seized by sorrow and concern
and died of apoplexy, after having reigned with his father for thirteen years and alone
for twenty-five years. Julian the Apostate succeeded him, and reigned for two years; he
was the cousin of Constantine. When he began to reign, he ordered that everyone should
make public profession of their doctrine and practise their religion. Then the pagans
attacked the Christians because of the hatred which was between them, and about which has
been spoken previously; this hostility caused a great misfortune. This took place in
Alexandria, and many people there were killed. They were thus punished for what they had
done, as we reported above. They seized Gregory the Theologian, struck him and dragged him
face down through all the city.

131 Then Julian prohibited the Christians from studying the knowledge (of the pagans) and
said: (Otherwise) they would fight us with our own weapons. He ordered that the sacred
vessels be taken from the churches, the convents and the oratories and his treasure stored
in them. Julian the Apostate had an uncle who was called Thouphili; the latter came to
Antioch to take the vessels of the churches which were there. He entered the church,
lifted his clothing and urinated on the altar. Euzoius sought to prevent him, but did not
succeed. Then the emperor ordered that food and drink should be sprinkled with magical and
impure water; and the Christians refused to do so. Then he made search for those who did
not obey him; and the Christians, in their turn, made use of stratagems. He laid out money
on a table, also filled with meats coming from the sacrifices of the pagans; then he
declared: "Here: whoever wants money, must throw incense on fire, enter and eat the pagan
offerings; after which he will receive that which he needs." Many Romans refused the
invitation and said: "We are Christian, and we will not obey you in what you want!" Then
he ordered a great number to undergo martyrdom.

132 John the Great addressed a command to the cantons of.... And he said to them that the
idols of the peoples were merely silver and gold, the work of human hands. That those who
make them and all who have confidence in them are no better. The emperor, having learned
this, ordered them to be beaten and imprisoned. But the lightning burst out and set fire
to their god Pythius, and his temple sank into the earth. The people attached to the
oracle of Apollo and the priests, guardians of the temple, said to the emperor: "We saw
our own eyes fire coming down from heaven and setting fire to the idol and the temple."
Then when Julian conceived the project to make the war against the Persians, he wanted to
know whether or not his expedition would succeed. So he went into the (temple) of the
oracle of Apollo with Valentinian the Christian; they found a priest who was sprinkling
the idols with impure water; and some of this impure water fell on the clothing of
Valentinian. Then he struck the priest with his whip and said to him: "You soiled me, O
impure one!" That day, the oracle answered him nothing; but it said to him: "The bones,
deposited in my vicinity, prevents me from saying anything to you. They are those of
Babylas the Martyr." Then the emperor ordered them removed from the place where they were;
and the people of Antioch went out, took the bones and, having put them in a coffin,
transported them into the city. Then the oracle declared in his favour and said to him:
"You will come down and overcome your enemy on the Tigris."

133 When the oracle had decided in his favour in this way, the emperor became arrogant,
entered an extreme fury and wanted to imitate Alexander the Macedonian; he reprised the
same plan and went against the Persians. Arriving at Harran, he visited the oracle which
was there and again asked him what he would say; and the oracle predicted victory for him.
At the time when he was prepared to leave Harran, his head was disturbed, and he
worshipped Sin, god of the Harranians; his crown fell from his head, and his horse, on
which he was mounted, fell on the ground and died. The oracle said to him: "It is the
Christians who are with you, who have attracted this misfortune to you." He then dismissed
20,000 men (of his troops). He did not raise the cross which was carried before him; he
hid it and said: "If we obtain victory, we will say that we overcame not by the cross, but
by our force; if we are overcome, we will say that we are overcome because of the cross
which was with us."

134 Before arriving at Harran, he remained a few days at Tarsus. The Jews which were
there, came to him and presented him with a crown of gold of seven mithqals for the idols
which they adored. Julian said to them: "Why do you not sacrifice according to your law?"
They answered him: "We cannot sacrifice outside Jerusalem." Then they threw in front of
him incense, spread perfume in front of the idols and offered sacrifices to them. The
emperor made them presents and sent them home; he ordered them to rebuild their temples
and to sacrifice according to their customs. When they had prepared materials for the
construction which they needed, Cyrillus, bishop of Jerusalem, said: It is the time of
which Our Lord Christ prophesied, saying: "The days will come, where there will not remain
one stone on another which is not overturned." During the night, a violent wind rose and
destroyed all that they had built; then a great earthquake occurred, and 22 cities were
engulfed.

135 In the same year, Julian was killed in the war, after a reign of two years and four
months; he had lived thirty-one years. Here is how he was killed: During the war which he
made against the Persians, at the moment when he was marching in the ranks of his soldiers
to stir them to combat, a Persian launched a spear at him and struck him in the side; and
the emperor fell from his horse. While he suffered, he filled the hollow of his hand with
his blood and threw it in the air towards heaven, saying: "You have overcome me, Son of
Mary!" and he died. He was transported to Tarsus and buried there. The Roman army remained
without an emperor; and (soldiers), according to the council of Sabour, elected Jovian who
was the head of Julian's vanguard. But Jovian refused, saying that he was a Christian.
They said to him that they were also Christians and that the fear of Julian had prevented
them from expressing their faith. Jovian drew the cross from the treasure and drew up it
in front of them in the camp; and everyone worshipped it, except the pagan priests. Peace
was restored between him and Sabour. Sabour conducted him back to Nisibis, and Jovian
ceded it to him, after having transplanted the Romans who lived there to Amida.

136 From his time, Basil the great, Julian the elder and Didymus were illustrious. Jovian
reigned for one year, in the year 675 of Alexander. It is said that, while he commanded
the vanguard of Julian, he went to Nisibis and left his troops to seek out the monks
there. Mar Eugenios appeared to him then and ordered him to return to his troops and told
him that his Master had been killed; that he would achieve empire; that king Sabour would
come, at a time that he would reveal to him, in the camp of Julian to get informed about
the situation; that he was to go there to find him at this time, and that after having
seized him, he should treat him with honour and respect and to let him leave. Jovian left,
as Mar Eugene had ordered him. Sabour came into (the camp) at the time that Mar Eugenios
had indicated to him; and Jovian found him during the night in the camp, though Sabour had
disguised himself and put on the clothing of a merchant. Jovian took him, brought him into
his tent and, finding himself alone with him, told him that he had already recognized him,
and that no trick threatened him neither personally nor on behalf of all his entourage. He
ordered that food be brought, and they both ate. Then they sailed on the river at night,
and Jovian did not leave him before he had led him to his camp; after which Jovian
withdrew. For this reason Sabour advised that he should be invested with the imperial
power.

137 Hardly had he started to reign than he sent a delegation to Sabour, king of the
Persians, made peace with him and gave him Nisibis. Since that time Nisibis, with the
surrounding area, has belonged to the Persians. In leaving the East, Jovian recalled all
the bishops from exile. Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria, reappeared and took again
possession of his see. Then the emperor wrote to the patriarch Athanasius, asking him to
write out for him the true creed of the faith in its real sense, to explain it to him in a
letter and to send this to him. Athanasius gathered some bishops, who wrote to the emperor
that he should follow the symbol of the law of the 318 bishops who had met in the town of
Nicaea. Then Jovian died at that time after having reigned for one year. After him,
Valentinian and Valens reigned for 15 years. It was this Valentinian who had struck the
priest and had said: "You soiled me with this water!" He fixed himself in Rome and made
his brother Valens emperor of the East. That took place in the year 676 of Alexander.

138 Valentinian adhered to the true faith and approved the symbol of the 318. As for
Valens, he leaned towards the doctrines of Arius, because he had been baptized by
Eudoxius, bishop of Constantinople, who was an Arian. It is told that Valens, having been
baptized by Eudoxius the Arian, wanted to take communion; but the latter refused him and
did not give him the Eucharist until he had sworn to him to communicate only according to
the doctrines of Arius and to be opposed to those which opposed these doctrines. When he
began to reign, he fulfilled his oath: he exiled all the bishops who did not agree with
the doctrines of Arius, acted against all the bishops who did not adhere to his ideas, and
persecuted them. Eusebius bishop of Samosata pretended that he was of the party of the
Romans; he occupied his see all his life and, dressed in a (bournous) for fear of the
Romans, he travelled and traversed the cities and ordained in secrecy priests and deacons
(of the Orthodox party).

139 In this same year, a rebel named Procopius revolted against Valens, in Constantinople;
and Valens put him to death because of his treason. The same year, hail as big as stones
fell: there were earthquakes in Constantinople, where several districts were engulfed; and
part of the town of Nicaea was also overthrown. Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria, hid in a
tomb, without seeing anything for four months, by fear of Valens. When this difficult
situation ended, he came out and remained in his rank until his death. At that time, in
Edessa, there appeared a man named Eusebius and surnamed Euchites (?), who had five
disciples. Here is his doctrine: God is alone, but he has manifested himself in the
Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. He said that the body of Christ was only an
appearance, because God had created it from a fine and spiritual substance, and that his
crucifixion was also only an appearance. He prohibited common prayer; he claimed that all
his visions came from the Holy Spirit: that communion is useless and unprofitable; that
the Holy Spirit lived in whoever was attached to his doctrine; that adultery is a
permissable thing; that after Christ there is neither sin nor error. He said that that
which is thrown to the ground in an epileptic fit is thrown by a movement of the Holy
Spirit. They were designated by the name of Messalians. They said: "Whoever has prayed and
fasted for 12 years can order the mountain to transport itself from the place where it is;
and it will be transported." Then all those who adhered to his doctrines after this time,
left and said to the mountain: "O mountain! I order you to be transported from the place
where you are." As it was not transported, they renounced his doctrine of which they thus
knew the corruption.

140 At that time, Diodorus (of Tarsus) and Theodore (of Mopsuestia) were known. Among the
doctors Athanasius and Mar Ephrem the Syrian and another (?) with Zenobius, priest of
Edessa; Basil the Great; Gregory, his brother; Malchus; and Arsisius were illustrious. In
same time, Macarius the Pious the Egyptian and Macarius of Alexandria who was transported
to paradise were known, as is reported. Valens exiled them to an island of the sea.
Likewise known were r.ou.s (Evagrius?) the monk, a disciple of Basil. In the year 7 of
Valens, Abraham, bishop of Nisibis died. In this year Julian the Old died at Tour-Sina
(Sinai). In this same year, Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria died, to whom succeeded
Peter... who had been his companion in all his tribulations. Then Euzoius, bishop of
Antioch, who belonged to the sect of Arius, asked Valens for permission to go to
Alexandria. He allowed him. Euzoius there went and took along with him a certain number of
Greeks. He seized Peter, imprisoned him and set up in his place Lucius de Samosata. A few
days later Peter escaped from the prison, went to Rome to Damasus, patriarch of Rome, and
advised him how Valens had treated the people.

141 Then Valens carried out a great persecution against the followers of Sabour (?); he
made many perish and exiled a certain number. Then a group of priests, 80 in number, and
other personnages met, went to Valens and asked him to grant them peace, the safety of
their lives and freedom from persecution. Valens ordered one of his chiefs to put them in
a boat at sea, like exiling them to an island; and they rejoiced. While they were in the
middle of the sea, the Patrician sent with them, with his companions, passed in another
separate boat; then he set fire to the boat where the priests were, and burned them with
the boat. Then Valens went to Edessa to see the church of the apostle Mar Thomas and found
that the population did not agree with him; then he ordered that the recalcitrant ones and
Barsê, bishop of Edessa, be sent to the island of Roudis (Aradus); and he banished eighty
inhabitants of Edessa, the chiefs and all the bishops who did not adhere to the doctrines
of Arius, except Basil and Gregory the Theologian whom he could not proscribe.

142 Then Valens sent for Basil and had him brought to Antioch to reprove him. His son
being sick, Valens said to him: "If your doctrine and belief are true, pray for this
child, so that he recovers from his disease." Basil said: "If the child is baptized by
those who adhere to the truth, it will heal and be in good health." When the emperor was
told what Basil required of him, Eudoxius, the Arian bishop, ordered the Arians to baptize
the boy. Hardly they had baptized him, than he died. The afflicted emperor entered the
church to pray; and he called Basil and said to him: "What proof do have you that the
truth is with you and your followers?" Basil explained the true faith to him and conversed
with him a long time. Then the emperor treated Basil well and dismissed him safe and
sound. A few days later, the emperor changed his mind and ordered Basil into exile; then
he again changed his mind on what he had ordered in his connection, and left him alone.

143 The emperor Valentinianus, having lived as emperor for 13 years, died. Valens reigned,
and his anger only became more violent against those who did not agree with him; and he
persecuted them. Then a philosopher came and said to him: "O emperor! you should not fret
to see several sects among the Christians. The pagans are divided into eighty beliefs. God
allows this to glorify him and likes to be praised and described (in his qualities). This
is why he is represented in various ways." On these entreaties Valens calmed himself a
little and renounced his cruel conduct. In the year 14 of Valens, Euzoius, Arian bishop of
Antioch, died, after having governed for 17 years; he was the seventh bishop of the
Arians. Then Peter, bishop of Alexandria, returned from Rome to his city; after 6 years of
episcopate, he died. His brother Timothy succeeded him and sat for 7 years

144 Then Valens prepared to make war against the Goths. When he was preparing to leave, a
monk who was a hermit, named James the monk, said to him: "O enemy of God! if you wish to
have success and to succeed, order that the bishops whom you exiled return to their seats;
if you do not do it, you will not overcome and will not succeed." Valens said: "I will
overcome, I will return and will kill you." James said to him: "If you return, does not
leave me alive." And all the monks who were there said him the same thing. But Valens paid
no attention to their words and left for his expedition. He met the enemy. While he was in
the battle against them, he entered a nearby village, where he hid with his companions.
His enemies learned that he was there under a disguise. One of his enemies also disguised
himself; he traversed the troops, entered the village where Valens was hidden, and set it
on fire. So Valens with his companions, was burned to death, after having reigned for 15
years; he was 50 years old.

145 Gratian reigned with his brother Valentinian for one year, in the year 690 of
Alexander. In this year died Sabour, king of the Persians, after having reigned for 70
years; and he had as a successor his brother Ardashir who reigned for 4 years. Gratian
ordered all the bishops and other people that Valens had exiled to return home. He ordered
that each man should stay in the religion that God let him profess, except Eunomians and
Manicheans. Then Gratian associated a man named Theodosius in the empire; and he was
baptized in Constantinople. Gratian died; and after him reigned Theodosius the Great for
17 years, — others say for 19 years, — in the year 691 of Alexander. He ordered that
everyone might practise his own religion, and allowed all the exiles to return home. **
When the bishops, (the followers) of Macedonius, saw this, they gave up their business,
wrote several letters to Damasus, bishop of Rome, and stuck to their religion.

146 This is why Meletius, after his return to Antioch, said to Paulinus, bishop of that
town: "All the people are favourably disposed to neither you or me: one is for you,
another for me. Here is how we could arrange things: reunite my followers with yours: if
the (episcopal) power stirs up hate between us, we will place the Gospel in the centre of
the room; you would put yourself on one side, me on the other, and whichever of us two
survives, will occupy the see." But Paulinus refused. At this period Meletius took notice
of Diodorus and learned that he well understood how to oppose heretics and refute them
solidly; and he made him bishop of Tarsus. Then Meletius and several bishops undertook to
transfer Gregory the Theologian from his place at Constantinople, because of his great
spirit and abundance of learning, and they did that. Many people began to assemble near
him, in the poor and small house that he was living in, with a man named Anastasius; and
he instructed them. Two years later they abandoned him, disliking him for his merits, and
he left the place.

147 Timothy, bishop of Alexandria, ordained in his place Maximus the cynic, who was a man
who was conceited in his heart and proud and one who shared the ideas of Apollinarius.
Then Theodosius started to persecute the Arians, who had been masters of the country and
the churches for forty years; and he stirred up a violent persecution. Then he convened a
council at Constantinople, and 150 bishops met there. This took place in the second year
of his reign, which is the year 692 of Alexander, on the third of the month of Ab
(=August). At this period Damasus was patriarch of Rome, Timothy of Alexandria, Meletius
of Antioch, Cyril of Jerusalem. With these were united Basil, Gregory the Theologian,
(Diodorus) bishop of Tarsus, who said that the Holy Spirit had been created, Maximus,
bishop of Constantinople, and Nectarius. They supplemented and confirmed the creed (of
Nicaea) and added that the Son is of the substance of the Father and that the Holy Spirit
is God and Lord, the giver of life, proceeding from the substance of the Father and the
Son. They anathematised Eustathius, who shared the ideas of Macedonius.

148 They drew up four canons. In the first they pronounced an anathema against the
Eunomians, Arians, Sabellians, Apollinarians (?), Photinians and Macedonians. In the other
three canons they defined that bishops should not pass from one place to another and that
each should occupy his see until his death or until he was exiled after committing some
misdeed. They ordained that the see of Constantinople was first after that of Rome, and
that an accusation of a heretical bishop against an orthodox bishop would not be received.
In the fifth year of Theodosius, Vahran (Fahran), son of Sabour, mounted the throne of
Persia and reigned eleven years. In that year a rebel named Maximus revolted at Rome.
Theodosius sent his troops against him and he was killed. In the sixth year of his reign,
a son was born to Theodosius, who named him Honorius. In the same year, Timothy, bishop of
Alexandria, died. Theophilus succeeded him, for twenty-eight years.

149 Cyril, bishop of Jerusalem, died and John succeeded him, for twenty-two years. John,
priest of Antioch, was one of the famous scholars of this time. In this year, Theodosius
ordered that the wise people should define and profess their religious ideas in writing
and present that to him. When they had done so and had presented it to him, he arose and
prayed. Then he ordered that these (written) opinions be put on the altar; and God
inspired him that only one was true, the statement of those which said that the Son is of
the substance and essence of the Father. Then he ordered all these opinions to be burned,
and exiled their followers from the city; he expelled from holding command in his army,
his council and his entourage all those who shared the ideas of Arius. He ordered that the
churches of the Arians and the temples of the idols throughout the country be destroyed;
and he had many pagans killed in Alexandria.

150 In that year, a column of fire appeared in the sky and remained for thirty days. In
the same year, a terrible darkness took place at midday. Then Theodosius fell sick and
sent for Honorius, his son. When he arrived, Theodosius had him proclaimed (emperor) and
sent him into the west; he had Arcadius, his other son, proclaimed and sent him into the
east. Theodosius died in these circumstances, after reigning seventeen years and living
sixty years Arcadius, son of Theodosius, reigned thirteen years, in the year 708 of
Alexander. In his time, among the scholars, Epiphanius, bishop of Cyprus, Theophilus,
bishop of Alexandria, and Acacius, bishop of Aleppo were illustrious. At Rome, after
Damasus, who occupied his see for eighteen years, came Siricius. In that year, after
Nectarius, John Chrysostom became bishop of Constantinople. He was originally from Antioch
and, at the age of twenty-eight, he had composed the Commentary on the Gospel as well as
the Commentary on the Epistles of Paul.

151 When he became bishop of Constantinople, he prohibited the priests from many acts of
corruption. They envied him and set out to find some fault against him with which to
accuse him. At that time, he read the books of Origen. Theophilus, patriarch of
Alexandria, sent to Epiphanius, bishop of Cyprus, and to all his bishops, and they
anathematised the books of Origen. John paid no attention to this. Then everyone became
hostile to him; among his enemies was Epiphanius, bishop of Cyprus, and Antiochus, bishop
of Acre. The empress, wife of the emperor Arcadius, also was resentful against him,
because he took down her statue, which was close to the church, and because he had
insulted her, one day, in a sermon and had compared her to Jezebel, the wife of Ahab, who
had taken the vineyard of Naboth the Israelite. This is why she departed one day with
twenty-nine bishops, to which were joined seven other bishops who were stirred up against
John, and they came to where Theophilus was. Being in agreement about John, they sent an
order to him to come to them; but he did not come. Then they excommunicated him and
deposed him.

152 After the excommunication of John Chrysostom, the population of the city was disturbed
and divided. The emperor, witnessing their division, sent for John and restored him in his
dignity. After his return, he composed some sermons on his exile. In one of his speeches,
he designated, one day, the empress under the name of "Herodias." Outraged, she sent for
Theophilus, Epiphanius and other bishops, whom she gathered in Constantinople; they
excommunicated John and exiled him. This took place in the year 8 of Arcadius, which is
the year 716 of Alexander. He was exiled in an island of the Euxine Sea, where he died, at
the age of forty-six years; he had been a bishop for four years. A little time after him,
the empress died. Arsacius, brother of Nectarius, succeeded John, for fourteen months;
after him, Atticus, originating in Sebastia in Armenia came. Flavianus, bishop of Antioch,
died, and Porphyrius succeeded him.

153 Then disorders broke out among the Greeks, in Egypt and the East concerning the
remains of John Chrysostom; they were brought back thirty-three years after his death;
they were buried in Constantinople, and his name was consigned for always in the book of
life (in the diptychs). In the year 5 of Arcadius, Yezdegerd, son of Sabour, started to
reign in Persia and reigned for twenty one years Epiphanius, bishop of Cyprus, died.
Jewish by origin, he had become a Christian and received baptism. It was he who baptized
Arcadius and Honorius, both the sons of Theodosius. Then Arcadius died, at the age of
thirty. He left the throne to his son Theodosius, eight years old, who reigned for forty-
two years, as from the year 721 of Alexander. In the year 3 of his reign, Theophilus,
bishop of Alexandria, died; and Cyril, his nephew, succeeded him for thirty-three years.
In Rome, Anastasius was bishop for four years; after him, Bonifacius for three years, and
after him, Celestinus for nine years.

154 At Antioch, after Porphyrius, who occupied the see for five years, Alexander was
bishop for ten years. He restored the peace between the Easterners and Westerners, which
had been disturbed in consequence of their discord about Paulinus, who had been bishop of
Antioch at the time of Novatius(?) the impious. After a ten year episcopate, he had
Theodotus as successor for thirteen years, and the latter had John as successor for
thirteen years At that time, the Christians were multiplying in the empire of Persia and
Christianity became very strong, thanks to Maroutha, bishop of Mayafariqin, who, by the
order of Theodosius, went among the Persians. Then Yezdegerd reigned; he was unjust and an
oppressor; and his subjects revolted against him, feared him and reviled him. But on a
certain day, a nimble horse (ran), of beautiful colour and so beautiful to see that the
like had never been seen; it started to run and stopped close to the door of the palace of
Yezdegerd. All those who saw it, were amazed at it. The servants entered and told
Yezdegerd, their Master. He went out in haste to see the horse, found it beautiful and
halted to stroke it with his hand. When he walked behind the horse to stroke its back, the
horse struck him with its two (back) feet and killed him; then it started to run and
disappeared; and no-one knew from where the horse had come. Thus the people were delivered
from his persecutions.

155 Then Varahran (Bahram), his son, who succeeded him, persecuted and oppressed the
Christians. In that year, there was an eclipse of the sun. In the same year there was a
battle between the Greeks and Persians, and many were killed on both sides; the Persians
were put to rout, and the persecution against the Christians ceased. In that time, among
the scholars there flourished Mar Isaac, disciple of Mar Ephrem; he lived in Antioch and
composed several sermons on the festivals, the martyrs, the wars and the invasions which
took place at that time; he was originally from Edessa. In the same time, there were many
Jews living in Alexandria. One fine day, several of them were baptized; so they took a
statue, crucified it and said: "This is the Messiah!" A great discord broke out between
them and the Christians and many people were killed. In the year 6 of Theodosius the
Younger, there were found, in Jerusalem, the bones of Stephen the martyr, and a church
under his name was built there.

156 In the year 10 of Theodosius, in Antioch, Simeon Stylites was illustrious, who did
miracles and wonders. Among the scholars were Cyril, patriarch of Alexandria, Theodoret of
Cyr, and Acacius of Aleppo. Having sat for twenty-two years, John, bishop of Jerusalem,
died, and Praylius succeeded him for five years; the latter had as successor Juvenal for
forty years In the East there was a man called Nestorius; he was educated and studied the
books of Theodore (of Mopsuestia) and Theodoret. Then he came to Antioch in the time of
Theodotus, bishop of the city, and settled in a convent. As he was assiduous in reading of
the Sacred Books, Theodotus ordained him priest. Then Theodosius made him come to him and
made him patriarch in Constantinople. He made many sermons to the people. Once, while he
was giving a sermon, instead of saying that Saint Mary is the Mother of God, he said that
she was the mother of a man. (The people) did not hear any mention of his divinity.
Anastasius, his disciple, who had come with him from Antioch, said also the same thing.
When the people were disturbed and agitated by this, he went up in pulpit and said the
same still more. The people listened, were irritated and disturbed.

157 This business spread, and news of it came to the bishop of Rome. He sent letters to
Nestorius in which he exhorted him and told him not to give more sermons like this. Cyril,
bishop of Alexandria, also sent letters to him in which he prohibited him from repeating
what he had done. John, bishop of Antioch, wrote the same thing to him. Three years passed
in the hope that he would recant and would return to the truth. When they saw him
persevering in his business, they submitted a report on this to the patriarch of Rome.
Then the patriarch wrote to Cyril, patriarch of Alexandria, asking him to be his
representative and to gather an assembly of bishops who would excommunicate Nestorius, if
he did not retract his opinions. He wrote this (also) to the emperor. Theodosius the
Younger convened at Ephesus a council of 200 bishops, who excommunicated Nestorius,
patriarch of Constantinople. In this synod were Cyril, bishop of Alexandria, John, bishop
of Antioch, Juvenal, bishop of Jerusalem, Memnon, bishop of Ephesus, and Acacius, bishop
of Meitene. After studying his books and epistles carefully, they excommunicated him and
found that he had moved away from the faith of God and deviated from the way of truth.

158 After his excommunication, Nestorius said to them: "Myself, I will not call that God
which was two or three months old, and I will not adore it as God." Then Nestorius
gathered the bishops who were of his opinion, and these excommunicated Cyril, patriarch of
Alexandria, and Memnon, bishop of Ephesus. None of the bishops of the East had attended
the council. When John, bishop of Antioch, and, with him, the bishops of the East arrived,
they found Nestorius already excommunicated, and they waited. Cyril several times sent his
companions to them; but they did not come to him. Then Cyril excommunicated them, and
they, they excommunicated him (likewise). When Nestorius saw that, he understood that the
business would lead them into serious dissension; and he started to proclaim and to say:
"No! Let it be said that Mary is the Mother of God!" The disorder calmed, and Nestorius
returned to his convent to Antioch.

159 Then eight bishops from the followers of Cyril and eight bishops from the followers of
John went, because of this business, to the emperor Theodosius. When they arrived there,
he ordered them to say nothing of the business of Nestorius before him. Then each of them
returned to his country. The hostilities between the Easterners and the population of
Egypt did not stop. Theodoret, bishop of Cyr, and Andrew, bishop of Samosata, were sent
the decisions established by Cyril, bishop of Alexandria, defined in his third epistle to
Nestorius. In Constantinople, a priest of good conduct called Maximianus succeeded
Nestorius. Theodosius the Younger wrote to the patriarch Cyril about the hostility which
reigned between the population of Egypt and the population of the East. When the letter
reached Cyril, he wrote to the bishop of Aleppo and requested him to restore peace and
security. Acacius, bishop of Aleppo, had gathered a council of many bishops, who sent a
letter to Cyril in which they expounded the true faith; they sent this letter via Paul,
bishop of Emesa, after saying to each other that "peace between us and him had already
existed before this".

160 Coming to Cyril, they gave the letter to him. He read it and approved their proposal.
Then he ordered Paul, bishop of Emesa, to deliver a sermon to the people in the church;
and the people listened to his speech. Then Cyril sent a letter to the Easterners in which
he recognized the truth of the faith about which they had written to him; he thanked them
and excused past errors to them. He gave the letter to Paul and dismissed him. Thus, peace
was made between them From the convocation of the council of Nicaea to the day of the
council of the 150 bishops in Constantinople, there were fifty-six years; from this
council to that of the 200 bishops at Ephesus -- fifty years; from the council of Ephesus
to the council of Chalcedon - twenty one years. In the year 763 of Alexander, James the
Mutilated underwent martyrdom.

161 Maximianus, patriarch of Constantinople, died, and Proclus was instituted in his
place. When this peace was restored between the peoples, they started to dispute about the
bones of John Chrysostom; and Proclus brought back his bones, which were deposed in the
great church of Constantinople. In that time, among the Jews, a man appeared who was
called Moses and who said to them: "I am come down from heaven to deliver you like Moses,
son of Amran". This took place in an island of the sea which is called Crete. One fine day
those who went with him, as well as their wives and their children in great number, at the
sea-side, arrived in a place which overhung the sea; then he said to them: "I will make
you able to cross the sea, and I will go first." Several of them threw themselves into the
sea and drowned. When the others had watched the spectacle given by their companions who
had drowned, they did not throw themselves in and wanted to seize Moses; but he fled (far)
away from them, and certain impure spirits (devils) accepted him. (Because of this) many
of them became Christians.

162 In that time, in Edessa, Rabboulâ was bishop. After his death, Hiba succeeded him. In
the year 29 of his reign, the emperor Theodosius the Younger remembered Nestorius and
ordered that he be exiled in Egypt where he remained until his death. Then the emperor
sent to Antioch to seize all those which would not excommunicate Nestorius, and to exile
them. Then eighteen metropolitans with many of the bishops, priests, monks and laymen were
sent into exile. The emperor ordered that the corpse of Odris (Diodorus? Theodore?) should
be burned. There were in the East many people who were resigned to die, but none of them
were burned; the population was unhappy and said: "It is not necessary to burn a man who
is already dead." In that year, the companions of the cave awoke from the sleep which had
overcome them in the reign of the emperor Decius, 182 years ago. The emperor Theodosius
went out with bishops, priests, metropolitans and the leaders of the city; they saw them,
and (the confessors) spoke to them. Then they died in their own countries.

163 In this year, there was a great earthquake at Constantinople. Many people fled out of
the city, and several places were levelled. Celestinus, patriarch of Rome, sat for nine
years and died; Xystus succeeded him for eight years and had Leo for successor. Cyril of
Alexandria sat for thirty-three years and died; Dioscorus succeeded him. In Antioch, after
John who sat there for thirteen years, came Domnus. In the year 33 of the emperor
Theodosius, Varahran (Bahrâm), king of Persians, died, after having reigned for twenty
(twenty one) years; after him Yezdegerd reigned for eight years That year, some people of
Edessa arrived at Constantinople with their bishop (Hiba) and said that on a certain day
he had given a sermon in which he had said: "I am not envious of what the Messiah did,
because in all that happened to him, I am like him." In the same year, some people went to
Alexandria and said in front of Dioscorus about their bishop that, when he gave sermons,
he did not say that Mary had given birth to God, but that she was the mother of a man and
that she had given birth to a perfect man, which resembled God, according to the doctrines
of Nestorius.

164 At the same time, a man appeared who was called Eutyches. He said that the eternal Son
did not take anything from Mary, but that he was changed, transformed, became flesh and
blood and passed through Mary without having taken anything from her. A council was
gathered against him, and (the bishops) excommunicated him and sent him into exile. 130
bishops met because of him at Ephesus, Dioscorus, bishop of Alexandria, was head of the
council; he drove out several bishops from their sees at the same time as him (Eutyches).
In the year 41 of the emperor Theodosius, the head of John the Baptist was found at Emesa.
Theodosius died at the age of fifty. (After him) Marcian reigned for seven years, in the
year 762 of Alexander. He married Pulcheria (Qloudhiqiyah), sister of Theodosius the
Younger, who felt resentment towards Dioscorus because he had exiled the bishop of
Constantinople along with all the bishops and others whom he had excommunicated at this
council; she started to press the emperor to be avenged for them.

165 Then the emperor and the empress wrote a letter to Leo, bishop of Rome, and to all the
bishops, where they ordered them to meet to examine the theological questions and the
conduct of Dioscorus at the second council of Ephesus. They expressed the desire that the
council should take place at Nicaea, so the emperor ordered that the council met at
Chalcedon because of the distance to Nicaea and in the vicinity of Chalcedon. It was in
the year 2 of the emperor Marcian, the 25th of the month of Tichrin I (October), in the
year 763 of Alexander, that the council met there. There were 630 bishops there. They
excommunicated Dioscorus and wrote many canons. They declared that the Son took a nature
without hypostasis, because nature differs from the hypostases; that there was one
hypostasis and two natures; that he is endowed with two substances, two actions and two
wills; but that the hypostasis is single and that the substance of God does not have three
hypostases.

166 After having reigned for seven years, Marcian died at the age of sixty five and named
Leo emperor, who reigned for sixteen years, in the year 769 of Alexander. In this first
year, Peroz, son of Yezdegerd, started to reign over the Persians and he reigned for
twenty-seven years. In the same year, in Antioch, a town of Syria, there was an
earthquake, and several places there were levelled. After having governed for twenty-two
years, Leo, (bishop) of Rome, died. Hilarius (Ilarous) succeeded him for seven years;
after him was Simplicius (Simblous) for sixteen years In Antioch, after Paulinus (? Basil)
who sat for three years, there was Acacius for five years; after him Martyrius came. At
Constantinople, Anatolius which sat for twenty and one years, Gennadius succeeded him for
fifteen years. At Jerusalem, to Juvenal who sat for forty years, Anastasius succeeded. In
the year 9 of the reign of Leo, there was an eclipse of the sun and the stars appeared (in
broad daylight). In the year 10, in the East, a great food shortage happened and there
were many locusts.

167 In the year 12 of his reign, the Persians moved against Amida, besieged it and
devastated it. In this same year, Balas started to reign over the Persians and reigned for
four years. In the year 16 of the reign of Leo, Qabad, son of Peroz, started to reign over
the Persians and reigned for twenty one years Martyrius, bishop of Antioch, sat for
thirteen years and had Julianus as successor for four years; Peter the Fuller succeeded
him, who was later excommunicated and exiled. In the days of Leo, Simeon the Stylite died;
he was the first who went up on a column. Zeno reigned for seventeen years, in the year
785 of Alexander. We will tell the history of Peter the Fuller. This Peter had retired
from Chalcedon into a convent, and he was the superior of it. Zeno made war against the
emperor Leo; he attached Peter to his person, made him his companion and went with him to
Tarsus, a town of Cilicia. When Peter had entered there, he said to the bishops of the
country: "Leo sent to me to you with Zeno so that you can make me bishop of Antioch; if
you want to attract his favour, make me bishop before Leo orders you to." The population
approved his words and made him bishop without the knowledge of the emperor. On this news,
Leo excommunicated him and sent him into exile.

168 Then, in Antioch a rebel appeared who was called Basiliscus. He restored Peter to his
rank by force, without asking the assent of the bishops who were in the country; he wrote
a letter in which he confirmed him in his episcopal dignity, ordered the bishops to
receive it and to countersign the letter with their hands. As the bishops did not agree to
this, he ordered them put to death. Then part of the bishops and many of the monks fled
and hid in the church of Mar Thomas which was in Antioch. Peter sought for them; he found
them and killed them all. After the rebel had been killed and Zeno had become emperor, he
wrote to the bishop of Rome and to all the bishops and informed them of the business of
Peter and his crime. Learning this, the bishop of Rome excommunicated him, he and all the
bishops who shared his ideas.

169 Then Zeno sent him into exile to Euchaita. This Peter altered the Sacred Books by
interpolations; he rejected the word of John the Evangelist, where he said: "Everything is
in his power and without him there is nothing." he also rejected the word of he that said:
"He was crucified for us." After the excommunication of Peter, at Antioch, John succeeded
him for six years; then Calandion was (bishop) in Antioch for three years. Then the
emperor Zeno wrote to all the bishops to consult them: "Is it permissible to restore Peter
to his rank; if you believe it possible, do it." When Peter had learned that the emperor
had written about this business, he returned, without any permission, to his see and
occupied it again for five years. At Jerusalem, Anastasius, who occupied the episcopate
for eighteen years, had Martyrius as successor for eighteen years. After him Sallustius
governed for eight years.

170 Zeno died at the age of sixty one, and Anastasius reigned for twenty-seven years, in
the year 806 of Alexander. In the year 6 of his reign, the sixth millenium since Adam came
to an end. After nine years of episcopate, Felix, (bishop) of Rome, died, and Gelasius
succeeded him for five years; after him came Anastasius for one year, then Symmachus for
fourteen years. At Alexandria, to Peter Mongus who occupied the seat for nine years,
Athanasius succeeded for four years; after him, came John the monk for six years; after
him, John the hermit for seven years; after him, Dioscorus the younger for two years;
after him Timothy for fourteen years After the sixteen years of the episcopate of Acacius,
Euphemius was bishop of Constantinople for seven years. The emperor exiled him into an
island of Pontus. Macedonius succeeded him for fourteen years, and the emperor Anastasius
sent him into exile, because he had criticised him and had said to him: "You are a
Manichaean and you share the ideas of the Manichaeans." Timothy succeeded him for six
years; and after him John was (bishop) for two years.

171 At Jerusalem, to Saul (Sallustius) who occupied the seat for eight years, succeeded
Elias for twenty years; after him John governed for fourteen years. In the first year of
his reign, Anastasius killed the children of several women as well as some boys, who were
studying reading and the writing. In year 3 of his reign, the town of Dara was built,
which was above Nisibis, at the place where Darius, (king) of Persians, had been killed.
Then the emperor Anastasius wanted to remove from the creed and the church the phrase:
"You were crucified for us." All the population of the city rose up and took up rocks to
stone him. This business frightened him; and, being afraid of them, he removed the crown
from his head and said to them: "I will act according to your order in all that you wish."
Then the people left him alone.

172 In year 11 of the reign of Anastasius, in the country of the Greeks there was a cruel
famine and it came from many locusts which devastated all their harvests. The same year,
there was a violent earthquake. In this year, James, bishop of Batnan was famous, who
composed some treatises on the famine, which happened in the country of the Greeks at that
time. Then Marinus the monk, who came from Apamea also flourished, who composed many works
at Emesa. In the year 22 of Anastasius, in the month of Hazirân (June), at midday, there
was an eclipse of the sun. At that time, Severus, bishop of Antioch appeared who wrote
several books against his adversaries; and he shared the ideas of Dioscorus, patriarch of
Alexandria. Then Justinus reigned for nine years, in year 829 of Alexander; he was
originally from Rome. He reconciled all the churches, drove out the gentiles and freed the
bishops of the East.

173 In the year 7 of his reign, the Greeks and Persians fought a battle on the bank of the
Euphrates, and many Greeks drowned. In this year, there was heavy snow and a hard frost,
which destroyed the trees and the vines. In year 8 of this reign, the rains become rare,
the harvest was small, and water lacking in the brooks. Then many locusts came and a
terrible plague which lasted for six years. The same year, the emperor sent a delegation
to Mondhar, king of the Arabs, to make peace with him, because he had raided the Greeks,
destroyed their houses and taken the population into captivity. In this year, the Persian,
i.e. Chosroes the Persian, made an expedition against Edessa where he killed many people.
A comet appeared in the sky and remained for forty one nights. The emperor Justinianus
(Justinus) associated with himself in the empire a man who was also called Justinianus; he
was the son of his brother and he reigned for thirty nine years.

174 There was a violent earthquake, and several places were levelled. A disagreement broke
out between the followers of Severus and the followers of Julian, (bishop of
Halicarnassus). Julian said that the body of Christ is corruptible. The followers of
Severus said that this is impossible and can never be. In year 3 of the reign of
Justinianus (Justin) and his associate, the Arabs attacked the Greeks. At this same time,
some causes of great misfortunes occurred between the Greeks and Persians; many Greeks
perished and a great number of them drowned in the Euphrates. The war between them lasted
for four years. The head of the Greek forces was called Basilides (Belisarius). The Jews
of Palestine revolted and rose against the Greeks, and chose a king for themselves. The
Greeks marched against them and killed both them and their leader. Then the emperor
Justinianus ordered that pagans should no longer be allowed in the Greek empire; they
should be made to be baptized and convert to Christianity; if they refused, they would be
killed and their goods confiscated. Many of them converted.

175 In the fifth year of his reign, he ordered that the bishops in favour of Severus and
of Dioscorus should hold a council in Constantinople. When they were gathered, he exhorted
them with authority and requested them to accept the doctrines of Leo, bishop of Rome, and
the council of Chalcedon, namely that the Lord Christ has one person and two natures. But
they did not accept his proposal. Severus, patriarch of Antioch, who was present, and all
the Eastern bishops shared the same doctrines, said that the Divinity is identical with
the hypostases and that the Lord Christ is only one person and only one nature of formed
two persons and two natures, --- one divine, the other human. So the bishops of Severus
did not accept the proposal of the emperor, who returned them to their sees laden with
honours. In year 6 (of his reign), the Persians attacked (the Greeks) and conquered (their
country). The same year, Qawad (Qabad), king of the Persians, died, and the Greeks made
peace with the Persians.

176 The same year, the Samaritans revolted. Justinianus sent against them soldiers who
fought against them and killed a very great number of them. In year 8 of his reign, there
was an eclipse of the sun, the 29 of Nisân (April), at two o'clock in the afternoon. In
this year the barbarians captured Rome. John, patriarch of Rome, died, after having
governed the Church for three years, and Agapetus succeeded him. At that time, Epiphanius,
patriarch of Constantinople, died, after having occupied the see for seven years; Anthimus
succeeded him for ten years In Alexandria, Timothy who had sat for seventeen years, was
succeeded by Gaianus for three months, to whom Theodosius succeeded. In this year, there
was an eclipse of the sun which lasted for one year and two months, in all fourteen
months. This was in the year 846 of Alexander. The sun only gave a weak light; the
astronomers and all the people said that an accident had happened to it which would never
cease, and that the sun would never return to its first state.

177 In this year, locusts appeared throughout the country. In the same year, the winter
was rigorous and with much snow, and many people died in it. In the year 10 of
Justinianus, an extraordinary sign appeared in the sky; the heat of the sun was cooled,
and the fruits did not mature that year. In this year, Sergius of Ras`ayn was celebrated,
who was a philosopher, translator and interpreter of books, author of many works, and
moreover a doctor. He came to Ephrem, patriarch of Antioch, and remained (some time) with
him. Then Ephrem sent him to Agapetus, bishop of Rome, about the matters which had
happened to him over there. Sergius died in Constantinople. The same year, on the order
(of the emperor), 72 bishops met in Constantinople and condemned Petrus and Origen and
their books. The same year, a sign, similar to a lance of double size, appeared in the sky
and remained for forty days.

178 In this year, Chosroes, son of Qawad (Qabad), marched against Antioch, took it and
took its inhabitants into captivity whom he led to Babylon, for them built a city that he
named Antioch, known today under the name of Al-Makhuz Al-Djedid, and settled them there.
Thereafter he treated them with benevolence and protected them. They paid him tax so that
he would leave them alone. After that he marched on Rakkah and captured it. However the
Greeks had business with the Barbarians (Berbers) and the Slavs (Saqalibah), located on
the borders of the empire. When they had finished fighting with them, they turned against
the Persians, and this war lasted without stopping for four years. In the year 16 (of his
reign), a great plague occurred throughout the earth, which lasted three years. Ulcers
appeared on people in the armpits, buttocks and kidneys, and a very great number of them
died suddenly.

179 In this same year, Belisarius, commander of Justinianus, made an expedition against
the Persians. The same year, an Arab, Harith-ibn-Gabala, marched against the Persians.
While Chosroes was struck with these ulcers, Harith attacked the Persians with his forces
and put them to rout, destroyed several of their cities and took many prisoners. But one
of the satraps of Chosroes then went out against the Arabs, defeated them and recaptured
all the prisoners. At that time, a sign of fire, the shape of a sword, appeared in the sky
and was transported from the East towards the West; it remained (visible) for all the
winter. In the year 17 of Justinianus, Chosroes, son of Qawad, went up against Kafartoutha
and Ras`ayn. But Basilius (Belisarius) went out with some Greek forces against the
Persians and pushed back Chosroes before he had captured these cities. In year 18 of
Justinianus, Chosroes went up against Edessa, besieged it for two months and, unable to
take it, returned home.

180 In the year 20 of Justinianus, a great famine prevailed in the East, so much so that
the bushel (modius) was sold for 13 dirhams. In the year 26 of Justinianus, a great plague
occurred which killed many people. The oxen were also affected, so that men plowed with
asses or horses. War was declared between men, who did not cease to kill one another, and
many left their native land. In this year Justinianus ordered Theodore and his books to be
condemned; also the chapters composed by Theodoret and that the chapters composed by
Cyril, patriarch of Alexandria, should be accepted. 164 bishops met and condemned
Theodore, Theodoret, their books and their doctrines, and Hiba, bishop of Edessa, and his
doctrines. But Vigilius, bishop of Rome, refused to affix his signature to this judgment
and said: "Anyone who died without being excommunicated cannot properly be excommunicated
after their death." But Justinianus insisted; then Vigilius excommunicated them and signed
their condemnation with all the other bishops.

181 In the same year, there was a violent earthquake, which destroyed several localities.
In the year 28 of Justinianus, the Greeks made peace with the Persians, and peace between
them lasted until the sixth year of Justinus the Younger. The same year, there was an
earthquake in Constantinople, in the month of Kanun I (December), and a great plague
occurred in Rome and in the surrounding countries. In the year 35 of his reign, Justinian
wrote to all the bishops ordering them to celebrate Christmas on the 24th of Kanun I
(December) and Epiphany on the 6th of Kanun II (January), because many people had
celebrated Christmas and the Epiphany together, on the same day, i.e. on the day of
Epiphany, 6th of Kanun II. In the year 39 of Justinianus, a sign, like a lance of fire,
appeared in the sky and remained for four months and started to move from one place to
another.

182 At that time John the grammarian was illustrious in Alexandria. He was a philosopher
and wrote many books on grammar, philosophy, logic, religion, etc. He shared the ideas of
James and Severus; he then abandoned them and claimed that the Father, the Son and the
Holy Ghost are three hypostases and three natures but only one substance. In that time,
the followers of Julian of Halicarnassus announced themselves. Some said that the body of
Christ had not been created, but that it was descended from heaven with him; others said:
"On the contrary, the body was created, but it is subtle and spiritual. Christ could not
undergo sufferings unless he was associated with sin; but Christ was never involved with
sin; he was thus not really crucified, he did not suffer, he did not die; all that was
only seemingly." Then the emperor Justinianus died, after reigning alone for nine years
and with Justinus, his associate, for thirty-nine years. After these thirty-nine years,
Justinus, his associate, reigned alone, in the year 788 of Alexander.

183 In the first year of his reign, there was an eclipse of the sun, on Sunday the first
Ab (August). In year 8 of his reign, a sign of fire was seen in the sky, which began in
the north and remained in all the sky. A darkness occurred which wrapped the whole world
for nine hours of the day until the night, so that nothing could be seen; and it fell from
the air like wisps of straw and ash. In this year, the emperor sent one of his lieutenants
to Apamea to take from there the cross of Our Lord Christ that Helena had placed there.
The population rose and refused to let him take it. The lieutenant wrote to the emperor to
inform him of the events; then the emperor ordered the cross divided into two, to bring
half to him and to leave the other in the city; the lieutenant did so.

184 In year 3 of Justinus the Younger, the rains became rare, and the winter was similar
to the summer. There was a violent earthquake and a great plague. In the year 6 of his
reign, a column of fire appeared in the sky, in the area of the West, and remained for the
whole year. In the year 7 of his reign, the king of Persians marched against (the
fortress) of Abaran, plundered it, set fire to Apamea, captured the wood of the Cross
which was there, and sent it to Persia. The same year, a sedition broke out in
Constantinople, and there was discord between the Armenian patricians. They wrote to the
emperor Justinus to request him to send somebody to them who would put them in agreement.
The emperor sent (somebody) who reconciled them. In year 8 (of the reign of Justinus),
Chosroes, king of Persians, made a expedition against Dara, besieged it for a few months,
but could not take it. Then he sent (one of his generals) to Antioch, who invaded its
neighbourhood and returned to Apamea. The population of Apamea, relying on the peace which
reigned between the Greeks and Persians, opened the gates of the city. The Persians
entered and spread out. Then their leader ordered them to put the inhabitants to the
sword; and they plundered the city and killed a very great number of its inhabitants. It
was while he besieged Dara that Chosroes sent one of his marzbans (satraps) to capture
these places; the latter returned to him with many prisoners, riches and horses. Chosroes
besieged Dara for six months and captured it on the 11 of Tichrin (II) (November).

185 Then Justinus prepared to make the war on the Persians, but he became dangerously
sick, fell into insanity, and the campaign did not take place. In this year, there was a
violent and great plague in all the country and particularly in Constantinople. A strong
disease struck the people, and many of them became blind. Justinus recovered from his
illness; he was cured, and his reason returned to him. He gathered his patricians and the
leaders of his forces and proclaimed as Caesar to reign after him a man named Tiberius,
who belonged to the notables of the empire and was always close to the emperor. In year 11
of Justinus, the Samaritans revolted. The emperor sent (an army) against them which fought
them, plundered their country and killed a very great number of them. Tiberius reigned for
four years, (from) year 889 of Alexander; he was heir apparent to the empire for six
years.

186 During his reign, the truce which had been concluded between the Greeks and Persians
expired, and a violent war broke out between them. Tiberius, emperor of the Greeks, wrote
to the king of Persians to ask for peace or tell him to declare war. The king of Persians
refused to make peace with the Greeks and promised Tiberius to come to fight him in a
place that he indicated to him. The Greeks gathered for the battle and arrived in this
place, where they awaited the Persians. But Chosroes tricked them and did not come to the
agreed place. The Persians attacked Ras`ayn, Al-Khanurin (?) and Kitharizon (?). Then
Tiberius sent against them forces under the command of one of his patricians named
Maurice, who met Persians and put them to rout. Then Tiberius rejoined Maurice and his
troops, made 40,000 prisoners whom he deported and settled in the island of Cyprus.

187 In this year, there was a violent earthquake in Antioch which overthrew two towers on
the walls. In the same year, the summer was very rainy and very cold. The atmosphere
tarnished and was darkened; many locusts appeared which devoured the harvest of grain,
grasses and vegetables. There was a great plague. At that time there were found some
people who worshipped idols; and they were killed. The 4th year of his reign, Tiberius
gave his daughter in marriage to Maurice, the most remarkable of his generals, and
proclaimed him (Caesar) to succeed in future. Tiberius died and Maurice reigned for twenty
years, (from) year 894 of Alexander. Maurice was a good man, with a gracious manner, and
very charitable; he gave food sixty times a year to the indigent and poor; ignoring their
status, he and his wife served them food and drink and gave them abundant alms. 188 In
year 4 of Maurice, a great plague prevailed at Constantinople and carried off 400,000 of
its inhabitants. In year 11 of his reign, Maurice ordered the banishment of the Jews who
were in Antioch, and they were driven out of the city. This is why: a Christian had rented
a house to live there. When he left it, an image of Mary was left behind there; after him,
a Jew rented this house, and when he entered there, he found this image and urinated on
it. This matter came to the emperor, who ordered the expulsion of the Jews of Antioch and
made them shave the middle of their heads so that they could be recognized by this mark.
In year 6 of Maurice on the 29th of Tichrin I (October), there was an earthquake at
Antioch which devastated the whole city; the great temples, most of the walls and markets
and all the houses were toppled.

189 It is said that it was there a merchant originating in Apamea, who, for all its life,
had helped the indigent and the poor and was very charitable. The night of the earthquake,
he went out to seek in the streets and the markets of the city someone to help; but he did
not find anybody. He then went out to look outside of the city and saw two angels. When he
saw them, they told him that they would overturn the city, and warned him to leave there,
he and his family. He did so in all haste and escaped safe and sound with his fortune. In
this year, the Persians attacked Mayafariqin and captured it. The same year, the Greeks of
Syria revolted and put at their head one of their own. Maurice then wrote to Gregory,
patriarch of Antioch, to request him to pacify the Greeks. The patriarch succeeded in
this, and all the Greeks accepted the governor whom the emperor had sent to them, and
departed for Mayafariqin; but they found that the Persians had already captured it; being
unable to retake the city, they built a village close to it which they called Maurice, and
camped there, while waiting to capture the other, and killed the Persians who were there.

190 At that time Qourya (Qoura) the philosopher, author of many works, was illustrious. In
the year 8 of Maurice, the Persians attacked Hormizd (Hormiz), their king, put out his
eyes and then killed him. They divided into two parties: one was for his son Chosroes, the
other for a marzban (satrap) named Bahram. The party which was for Chosroes, son of
Hormizd, took the initiative and proclaimed him king. But Bahram the marzban was
conducting a war with the Deilemites and was absent when Chrosroes was proclaimed. The war
with the Deilemites finished, and he wrote to Chosroes: "I do not know you. Give up power
or take this as a declaration of war!" Bahram had many soldiers. Chosroes, son of Hormizd,
was young; he was afraid to enter into combat with Bahram and thought of asking help from
the emperor of the Greeks. Then he called one of his private servants and announced his
resolution to him. When the latter heard the words of the king, he left in secrecy and set
out for the camp of the Greeks; he entered, met an Arab chief named Djafnah, who had asked
protection of the Greeks, and informed him. Djafnah went along to Constantinople and acted
so that he came to the emperor.

191 The emperor exclaimed and said to him: "What do you want?" Djafnah answered: "I want
to communicate to the emperor a secret that I possess, and I will thus share with him
something extraordinary." The emperor feared that Djafnah might wish to do him harm, and
ordered his clothing removed. Djafnah was thus presented in front of the emperor in
trousers only and said: "O emperor! I want to be sent to the king of the Persians so that
he submits and obeys you." The emperor said: "I believe that you are insane." Then Djafnah
brought out the letter that Chosroes had written. The emperor read it, understood it and
was delighted at it. Then the emperor ordered him to make Chosroes come to him so that he
could give him all he needed, and help him against his enemies. (At the same time) Maurice
wrote a reply to the letter of Chosroes. Djafnah took it and returned with the servant to
Chosroes; he gave the letter to him and told him of the good disposition of the emperor
towards him.

192 When Chosroes read the letter, he left his kingdom, disguised as a beggar and so
traversed the empire of the Persians; he passed by Nisibis and arrived at Edessa, where he
entered. He presented himself before the governor and told him who he was. The governor
embraced him, treated him with distinction, provided him all the necessaries and wrote to
the emperor about him. Then the emperor wrote to Chosroes to tell him to go to Menbidj and
to await there the arrival of the troops with all the necessaries. There, he would be
close to his empire and could strike at his enemy, before he had captured his kingdom.
Chosroes felt great joy on reading this letter by Maurice. 193 Then he sent a letter to
him thus: "To the blessed father, Master of the victorious sword, Maurice, son of the
Master, on behalf of Chosroes, son of Hormizd, his son, greeting. I inform the emperor
that Bahram and his followers, slaves of my father, did not recognize my authority, united
against me, their Master, forgot the benefits from my father, revolted against me their
lord, and wanted to kill me. Then I decided to have recourse to you, to seek protection
near your grace and to submit myself to you, because to submit oneself to a king like
myself, although he is an enemy, is better for me than to fall into the hands of
rebellious slaves; to die at the hand of kings is nobler for me than to die by the hand of
another; I regard that as less ignominious. I take refuge with you, trustful in your
kindness, in the generosity that God has inspired in you, and in your clemency. I ask you
to have pity on me, to show me mercy, to treat me with kindness, since I have recourse to
you and humbly I beseech your help. I am come into your empire to place my fate between
your hands. Hasten to help me and to help me; be not insensitive to the fate of a king
like yourself, whom slaves overcame and drove out of his kingdom. If you have acted thus
in my connection, I will be to you a docile and obedient son, with all my family, my
entourage and the subjects of my kingdom, if this pleases God Almighty."

194 Having read this letter, Maurice gathered the commanders of the Greeks, the
patricians, the warriors and the leaders of the city and had it read to them. The reading
finished, each one required his opinion of his neighbour. The emperor took note of their
answers, and he found himself alone in his opinion. He decided to answer favourably him
that had taken refuge with him, and to help him who had beseeched his help. He ordered the
troops to prepare to go on campaign and to take with them the money necessary (to
Chosroes). The army, to the number of 40,000 soldiers, departed to Chosroes with the
materials of war and much money. 195 Maurice wrote the following answer to him: "From
Maurice, servant of Jesus Christ, may he be glorified! to Chosroes, king of the Persians,
my son and my brother, greeting. I have read your letter and I learned from it the conduct
of the slaves who raised themselves against you, their disobedience, the contempt which
they made of the benefits of your fathers and your ancestors, and their rebellion against
you whom they have driven out of your kingdom. I have felt more sorrow at this than I can
express, and sympathy leads me to feel sorry for your fate and to help you, as you ask.
Since you say that it is preferable to hide under the wings of an enemy king and to be put
in the shade of his protection, than to fall into the hands of rebellious slaves; that to
die at the hand of the kings is better than to die at the hand of the slaves; but that you
prefer a very noble friendship and that you beseech it from us, we believe your words and
approve your language; we will strengthen your power, will achieve your desire and will
satisfy your needs; we support and approve your finer feelings. We thus send troops and
money to you, because you are thrown down and dispossessed of your rank and your dignity.
I make you my son and I will be your father. I will not be niggardly of my money nor my
troops and I will not refuse to send them to your help. Take the money, may it profit you,
and go with the blessing and the help of God. Also take the troops, and feel neither
distress nor fear! Quickly run to your enemy, without negligence or slowness! Hope that
God will give you the victory over your enemy, will throw him at your feet, will make his
tricks useless and will restore you in your rank, if God so wishes."

196 When the troops and the letter of the emperor had reached Chosroes, son of Hormizd,
and he had accepted the money, he marched against the enemy. Bahram, learning of Chosroes'
flight to the Greeks, had allied to Al-Makhuzah, had seized the riches contained in the
treasury, the weapons and effects, had burned the whole city, destroyed the palaces of
Chosroes and had prepared for war. Chosroes, son of Hormizd, went to their encounter with
the Greek troops and met him between Al-Madain and Wasit. Bahram was put to flight; all
his men were killed and his riches and his camp delivered over to plunder. Chosroes
returned to his kingdom where he went up (on the throne), and all the people gave oath to
him. After a short rest, he called the Greeks, loaded them with presents, returned them to
their Master and turned over to the emperor Maurice twice the money and gifts that he had
received. He started then by restoring Dara to the Greeks, taken seventeen years before by
the Persians, and similarly Mayafariqin from which he transported all the Persians
elsewhere. Chosroes kept with him a troop of Greeks and charged them with keeping his
treasures, built two churches for the Christians, one, at Al-Madain, dedicated to St.
Mary, and the other to St. Sergius the martyr; then he arranged for Anastasius, patriarch
of Antioch, to come who dedicated them and established priests and deacons there. Chosroes
rewarded him largely, and he (Anastasius) returned from there. That occurred at the end of
the 902 year of Alexander.

197 In this year, there was a great plague among men; then a powerful disease struck them.
The following year, which was the 903rd year of Alexander, in the month of Adhar (March),
in the middle of the day, there was an eclipse of the sun, and the same day an earthquake
occurred. In the year 14 of Maurice, excessive heat burned the trees, grapes, vines and
all the greenery. In the year 16 of his reign, the rains were so abundant that many cities
with their population and their cattle were drowned in water. Then there was a swarm of
locusts such as had never been seen and which remained all year to devour and to destroy
(the harvest). In year 17 of his reign, there was a strong earthquake and much snow fell.
At the end of the 20th year of Maurice, the magnates and patricians of the Greeks were
assembled in the town of Heraclea. Among them was a patrician named Phocas whom they
wanted to proclaim emperor. But they had previously intended to proclaim Petrus, brother
of Maurice, when Maurice, after concluding peace with the Persians, had removed them from
leading the troops and had removed their (names) from the role. They let Petrus, brother
of Maurice, know that they wanted to make him king, but he fled from them and left for
Constantinople.

198 Then Maurice fled to Chalcedon. The Greeks caught up with him, as he was dressed in
rags like a beggar, and killed both him, his sons and his followers, and proclaimed Phocas
emperor. Phocas reigned for eight years, from the year 914 of Alexander; he did not belong
in any way to the imperial family. Chosroes, on the news of the murder of Maurice,
cancelled the treaty concluded between him and the Greeks, broke the peace which linked
them, marched on Dara and captured it. In year 8 of Phocas, a sign appeared in the sky
similar to a large resplendent star of which the rays looked like blood which was coloured
the major part of the sky and the air; and this sign remained (visible) from the month of
Tichrin I (October) to the month of Nisan (April). In the same year, a great misfortune
occurred in Syria. Here is the cause: the Jews which were there and in Mesopotamia,
intended to kill the Christians in all the cities and to ruin their churches. While they
were preoccupied with this, they were denounced to the authorities. Then the Christians
threw themselves on them and killed a great number of them. Learning this, Phocas was
annoyed with the Christians and laid heavy taxes on them at Antioch, Laodicea and in all
of Syria and Mesopotamia.

199 The same year, the Persians went up against Amid and captured it; then they turned
against Qinnesrin and returned to Edessa. In this same year, two rebels rose against
Phocas, emperor of the Greeks: one of them was Heraclius, other Gregory in Africa; they
sent troops with two of their followers and ordered them, i.e. Heraclius, son of
Heraclius, and Nicetas, son of Gregory, their followers, to kill Phocas. They agreed
between them that the empire would belong to the first to arrive in Constantinople and
kill Phocas. Heraclius, son of Heraclius, went by sea and found it favorable and calm, and
Nicetas went by land. Heraclius preceded Nicetas, entered the city and killed Phocas.
Heraclius reigned thirty and one years and five months, from the 922nd year of Alexander.
In the first year of his reign, Heraclius sent ambassadors to the king of the Persians to
make peace with him; but he refused completely. When the Persians learned that Heraclius
had ascended the throne, they attacked Antioch, killed its patriarch and took along his
population into captivity. Then Nicetas, son of Gregory, left for Alexandria and captured
it. The Persians went up against the Greeks and took Antioch; then they turned against
Apamea and captured it; then they went to Emesa (Hims) and captured it. All this took
place in the month of Tichrin I (October). The Greeks assembled and fought the Persians
close to (the river) of Halys; but the Greeks were put to flight and many of them drowned
in the river. Then the Persians captured Caesarea.

200 In this year, among the Greeks, there was a great famine, so that men ate corpses and
the skins of animals. Then Nicetas, son of Gregory, went out against the satrap (marzban)
called Kesrou`an, who had captured these cities, fought him and put him to flight; and on
the two sides there were 20,000 dead. In this year, many locusts appeared. In year 4 of
Heraclius, the Arabs began their conquests, i.e. in year 935 of Alexander. In year 5 of
Heraclius, the Persians left Caesarea, set out to march on Jerusalem and captured it. In
year 8 of Heraclius, the Persians took Alexandria and the surrounding countries, striking
as far as Nubia, attacked Chalcedon and captured it. In year 10 of Heraclius, the Arabs
set out to move on Jathrib, in year 931 of Alexander. In year 15 (of Heraclius), the
Persians made a raid against Rhodes and captured it. In this year, Chosroes, son of
Hormizd, ordered the marble of the churches in all the cities which it had captured to be
taken, and carried to al-Madain and al-Makhuzah; and this caused great suffering to men
and animals.

201 In this year, Heraclius made war on the Persians, captured the town of Kisri, took
many prisoners and departed. Three years afterwards, he made peace with the Persians, i.e.
in year 17 of Heraclius. At that time, there was an eclipse of the sun, and this eclipse
lasted from Tichrin I (October) until Haziran (June), i.e. for nine months; half of the
disc was eclipsed and the other was not; and only a little of its light was visible. In
the year 18 of the emperor Heraclius, Chosroes, son of Hormizd, king of Persians, was
killed, after reigning thirty-eight years; then Qawad (Qabad), his son, succeeded him; he
made peace with the Greeks and restored the cities to them which his father had taken. In
year 19 of Heraclius, Qawad, sons of Chosroes, died, after having reigned one year, and
Ardechir, his son, succeeded him. Then the satrap Chahrabaz who had made all these
conquests, killed him, made peace with the Greeks and restored to them the cities that he
and the others had taken, as far as Dara, which was located beyond Nisibis.

202 In this year in the sky a comet appeared, in the area of the west. Then Heraclius
ordered the Greeks to leave the country (of the Persians) and to come into the country of
the Greeks, because the Greeks and Persians had made peace. Chahrabaz ordered all Persians
to return to their countries, each one to his city and family, and not to sow disorder in
the country. But they did not accept his words. At the end of year 20 of Heraclius, the
Persians made a raid on the banks of the Euphrates, and Chahrabaz made captive many troops
of Greeks; a great number of the leaders of the Persians (of the Greeks?) and their
followers were killed. In the year 21 of Heraclius, Chahrabaz, who had usurped power over
the Persians, died, and Bouran, his daughter, began to reign and made peace with the
Greeks; then she died, and her sister succeeded her.

203 In this year, the fame of the Arabs spread and terrified many among the Greeks and
Persians. In the year 22 of Heraclius, the Greeks met with the Arabs on the banks of the
Yarmuk; and the Arabs killed such a quantity of Greeks that (their bodies) formed a bridge
on which to pass. That took place in year 943 of Alexander. (In that time), Abou-
Bekr-`Atiq, son of Abou-Qouhafah, was recognized as their leader; he remained in Yathrib
in the country of Farous (Qarous?) and he sent troops in all directions under the command
of four generals: one (was sent) into the country of the Persians, another to Aleppo and
Damascus. A Greek patrician, whose name was Sergius, resided at Caesarea and was governor
for the Greeks. He met the Arabs who put him to flight and killed his men. In this same
year, there was a violent earthquake and a sign appeared in the sky, in the shape of a
column of fire, which started to move from the East to the West and from North to South
and then disappeared.

204 Heraclius sent his brother, who was at Edessa, against the Arabs; but he did not dare
to oppose them; then Heraclius went to Constantinople, left Syria and sent against the
Arabs some troops which put them to flight and plundered their camp. In this same year,
Omar, son of Khattab, moved towards Syria and arrived at Jerusalem. The patriarch went out
before him and admitted him into the city. Omar looked at the city and the temple which
was there, and prayed there. After remaining there for forty days, he arose and went to
Damascus where he remained a long time; then he returned to Yathrib. Heraclius, emperor of
the Greeks, died, after reigning thirty one years and five months. In this same year, the
Arabs captured the town of Caesarea, and Palestine. Then Constantine, son of Heraclius
reigned for four months, in the year 953 of Alexander, and was killed. (After him)
Heraclius, son of Heraclius, and his son reigned together for eight month; then they were
dethroned. Then Constans reigned for twenty-seven years from the year 954 of Alexander.

205 In year 6 of his reign, the Arabs took Cyprus and conquered it. In year 7 of his
reign, the Arabs and the Greeks divided the island of Cyprus into two halves. At the end
of the twenty-seventh year of his reign, the Greeks killed him, i.e. Constans, in the
bath, in Sicily. From Adam to the flood there were 2,242 years; from the flood to the
construction of the tower, the confusion of languages in Babel and the time of Ar`u, 650
years; from the confusion of languages until the birth of Abraham, 413 years; from the
birth of Abraham to the exodus of the Israelites out of Egypt, 506 years; from the exodus
of the Israelites out of Egypt until the first king, Saul, reigned over them, 696 years;
from the reign of Saul until Nabuchodonosor took them into captivity, set fire to the
Temple and destroyed the city, 505 years; from Zahab (Zedekiah), king of the Israelites,
lieutenant of king Nabuchodonosor, and the kings of the Persians to Alexander, 2,239
years; from Alexander until the kings of the Greeks started to reign, 280 years and five
months; from (the beginning) of the empire of the Arabs until now, i.e. until the 1,273
year of Alexander, there are 330 years and eight months.

206 We will report the years of the Arabs and their kings, king by king, and how long each
of them reigned, as far as possible, if Great God wills. History of the Arabs. In the year
933 of Alexander and year 11 of Heraclius, king of the Greeks, and at the end of the 30th
year of Chosroes, son of Hormizd, the Arabs were stirred up in Yathrib and established as
their leader a man who was called Mohammed, son of `Abdallah. He became their leader and
their king and governed them for ten years. His family, his parents and his tribe gathered
around him, and he made them believe in only one God who has no associate; he made them
reject the worship of the idols and to worship only one God. He ordered to them to
practise circumcision, not to drink wine, not to eat pig, nor animals that have been
strangled, nor blood; to pray and to pay the tax (zakat). He who accepted this was safe
and sound; and if somebody refused and made opposition, he made war on him. He killed
several Arab chiefs of his tribe and others and captured many cities of the neighbouring
peoples.

207 The Arab Christians and the others came to him, and he protected them and gave them
safe conduct. All the people who did not agree with him, i.e. the Jews, the Magi, the
Sabaeans and the others, did the same thing; they gave oath to him and accepted his
protection, with responsibility to pay a poll-tax and a tax on land. He ordered his people
to accept the prophets and the apostles and what God had revealed to them; to believe in
Christ, son of Mary, and to say that he is the messenger of God and his Word, his servant
and his spirit; (to believe) in the Gospel, paradise, hell and the day of the last
judgement. He said that in paradise there is food and drink, marriage and rivers of wine,
milk and honey, and black-eyed girls (houris), untouched by men or genii. He prescribed
the fast and the five prayers and other things of which I will say nothing for fear of
being too long.

208 In the first year of his reign, Chahrabaz, satrap of the Persians, went against the
Greeks, besieged Ancyra, and captured, killed or made captive all the inhabitants. He also
captured, at the end of this year, the island of Rhodes and took its inhabitants into
captivity. In year 2 of his reign, Chosroes, son of Hormizd, tyrannized the populations of
his kingdom who did not share his religion, because he was seized by pride and vanity
because of the many conquests which he had made, and because of the extension of his
power. He imposed heavy taxes on them, doubled their contributions and ordered the
demolition of the churches of Syria and Mesopotamia and the marble from them to be carried
off into his kingdom, as we already mentioned above, with all the vessels of gold, money
and wood. In year 3 of Mohammed, son of `Abdallah, in the year 14 of Heraclius and year 35
of Chosroes, son of Hormizd, Chahrabaz directed a expedition against Constantinople with a
numerous army of Persians and besieged it; then he made an assault on the city, but could
not take it and withdrew, after a long siege.

209 This same year, Chosroes persecuted those of the inhabitants of Edessa who held to the
doctrines of the Melkites, and ordered them to follow the doctrines of the Jacobites. This
is why: There was a Jacobite man called Younan, who was a doctor for Chosroes, son of
Hormizd. He was a relative of an inhabitant of Edessa named Qourrah, who was a Jacobite.
Chosroes, son of Hormizd, had charged Qourrah of levy the land tax in Edessa. The
inhabitants of Edessa hated him, denounced him to Chosroes and calumniated him to him, so
that he was relieved. When Chosroes' doctor had seen the conduct of the inhabitants of
Edessa towards Qourrah his relative, he felt anger at it. One day when he was alone with
the king, he said to him: "O king! The inhabitants of Edessa should not be allowed to keep
their religion, because they are bad people. But oppress them, as long as they remain in
your empire, because their faith is that of Heraclius and of his followers and their
doctrine on God is similar to his doctrine. They are in correspondence with him and they
are sent messages. Order them to embrace the doctrines of the Jacobites or Nestorians: if
they embrace one of the two doctrines, enmity will ignite between them and the Greeks; but
if they believe as the Greeks, they will be always in favour of the Greeks."

210 Chosroes approved his words and wrote to the satrap, the governor of Mesopotamia, and
ordered him to go to Edessa with his troops, to force the population to embrace the
doctrines of the Jacobites or Nestorians and to put to death whoever refused. When the
letter of Chosroes reached the satrap, he set out to march and arrived at Edessa; he
assembled the inhabitants in a church and said to them: "You are the enemies of God and
enemies of Chosroes. You are spies who keep his enemies informed of his business. Now
choose one of these two things: make yourselves Jacobites or Nestorians. If you embrace
one of the two doctrines, (you will remain) in your native land with your manner of
living; if you refuse, I will put to you to death and I will send you to the court of the
king with your families, your goods and all your fortune. I grant to you for this a delay
of a few days: reflect on this subject, before misfortune comes to assail you."

211 Then they said among themselves: "Let us choose one of these two things: to either eat
the strangled ox or the swollen ass." They meant by the strangled ox Nestorianism and by
the swollen ass Jacobitism. The people chose Jacobitism and did not leave their homes and
native land. All the inhabitants of Edessa became Jacobites and took for leader a man
called Isaiah. A few months afterwards, Chosroes ordered the inhabitants of Edessa
transported into Persia and wrote on this subject to the governor of the city. The
governor, who was a merciful man, gentle and benevolent, delayed in carrying out (this
order) and did not deport them all in one go; but he sent them little by little; he hoped
that the heart of the king would in the end have pity on them, and he hid their
wrongdoings. On these events the emperor of the Greeks attacked the Persians and invaded
Iraq. Chosroes forgot the inhabitants of Edessa, and the remainder of the inhabitants
escaped captivity. Nobody appeared to resist Heraclius; he killed, took into captivity and
returned to Syria.

212 In year 7 of Mohammed, son of `Abdallah, there was an eclipse of the sun, and the
stars appeared in full daylight. Chahrabaz camped before Constantinople up to that moment;
then he recognized emperor Heraclius of the Greeks, and made obeissance to him. The cause
of this was that certain people had denounced Chahrabaz to Chosroes and had said to him
that he was little by little decreasing the royal power and said: "It is I who made all
these conquests;"; (it was said) that he attacked the king, scorned him, he and all his
men, and that he affirmed that, without him, the empire of Chosroes would not exist.
Chosroes was irritated and wrote to the satrap — there was a man called Mardif which was
with Chahrabaz — and ordered him to seek to cut the head of Chahrabaz and to send it to
him; and he charged him to take command of the troops and to continue the war.

213 When the envoy of Chosroes was travelling to the army of Chahrabaz, the Greeks
captured him, when he arrived at their borders, and presented him to the emperor
Heraclius. That took place after the return of Heraclius from Persia. The emperor took the
letter and imprisoned the envoy. When he had read the letter, he sent a message to
Chahrabaz and requested him to come to him; he said to him to fear nothing for his person,
goods and family and let him know that he wished him well. Chahrabaz entered
Constantinople and presented himself at the court of the emperor Heraclius. The latter had
the letter of Chosroes read to the satrap and brought the envoy to him, whom was put
before him. Chahrabaz recognized him, spoke to him and questioned him about this business,
and the envoy told him. When he understood the business clearly, he immediately took an
oath to Heraclius. Then he composed a letter on behalf of the emperor, gave it to Mardif
and ordered him to read it to all his chiefs and satraps; and he wrote to the satrap: "Do
you believe it possible to do this?" Then the satraps and the nobles were full of
irritation and anger against Chosroes; they thus came to Heraclius, took an oath to him
and made obeisance to him. Heraclius ordered that those who were in their troops should be
allowed to depart freely into Persia, without causing them any nuisance. And they left
with their Master.

214 Then Heraclius prepared for war against Persia and sent to Khagan, king of the
Khazars, a letter where he asked him to send auxiliary troops to him to the number of
40,000 riders, and that he would take him as his son-in-law and would give him his
daughter. Heraclius left for Syria, and started to take, one after the other, the cities
which belonged to the Persians, and established governors in them. When Chosroes learned
of the conduct of Chahrabaz and his companions, their submission to Heraclius and the
preparations for an expedition that Heraclius made against him; when his situation and the
conquests of Heraclius were confirmed to him, he was frightened and disturbed and repented
of what he had done. All the troops of the Persians were dispersed in Syria and
Mesopotamia, and Heraclius, in his triumph, destroyed them, one after the other. Syria,
Egypt, Mesopotamia and Armenia belonged to the Persians. Then Chosroes ordered one of his
satraps, called Rouzbahan, to take some Persian troops and to go against Heraclius,
emperor of the Greeks. Rouzbahan left and arrived in the area of Mosul. Heraclius had
already conquered Armenia, Mesopotamia, Egypt and Syria; he had beaten all the Persian
troops which were in these countries, and the majority of the inhabitants and majority of
the Armenians had given oath to him.

215 Heraclius set out on the march with 300,000 soldiers, and 40,000 men arrived from the
Khazars. When they had advanced as far as Azerbaidjan, Heraclius sent a letter to them in
which he ordered them to remain there until he came to join them. After capturing Armenia,
Heraclius continued his march, arrived at Nineveh and halted on the great Zab. Rouzbahan
went before him; the two armies met and fought a tough battle in which Persians were put
to flight; they lost there more than 50,000 men, and Rouzbahan their leader was numbered
among the dead. Heraclius delivered their camp to plunder. Chosroes, at the news of the
disaster to Rouzbahan and his troops, fled to al-Makhuzah and al-Madain. Heraclius arrived
there, captured him, seized the treasures of the king and carried off everything there.
Then he set fire to al-Madain, destroyed the surrounding villages and took the inhabitants
into captivity.

216 Chirouyah, son of Chosroes, had been imprisoned by his father. He came out of the
prison, sought his father and, when he found him, put him to death and reigned after him.
Chosroes had reigned thirty-eight years. His son Chirouyah started to reign in year 7 of
Mohammed, son of `Abdallah, year 18 of Heraclius and the 940th year of Alexander. Then
Heraclius retraced his steps and camped at a village which was called Thamanin. This is
the village where the ark stopped at the time of the flood, in the time of Noah. He
climbed the mountain which is called al-Djoudi, examined the place of the ark, looked at
the world, while turning to the four cardinal points, and went then over to Amid where he
remained for all the winter. Chirouyah, son of Chosroes, sent messengers to Heraclius to
ask for peace. Heraclius accepted his proposals, provided that he restored all the cities
to him and all the villages his father (Chosroes) had captured and which had belonged to
the Greeks; and Heraclius would return to Persia all the Persians who were in his empire.

217 In that time, among the philosophers Stephanus was illustrious, a sage of Egypt and of
Alexandria, who was the disciple of the philosopher Olympiodorus and of Theodore, a
philosopher of Constantinople. Then Heraclius resolved to leave for Mesopotamia and Syria;
he ordered his brother Theodore to come to him and ordered him to allow the Persians who
were anywhere in Mesopotamia and Syria, to leave his empire and go to Persia. Theodore
left with the vanguard, and Heraclius visited successively each city, established his
governors there, omitting none and returned then into his kingdom to Constantinople.
Concerning Theodore, brother of Heraclius, he arrived at Edessa and ordered the Persians
who were there, to leave there and go into Persia. But they refused to obey this order and
said: "We do not know Chirouyah, son of Chosroes, and will not leave our fatherland." Then
he drew up against them machines of war, put stones in them and launched them on them; he
launched thus on them more than 40 stones and killed many of the inhabitants. Seeing
themselves too weak to resist, they made submission; he granted mercy to them, and they
left the city and went away into Persia.

218 Theodore ordered that the Jews who were in Edessa should be killed, because they had
helped the Persians to persecute the Christians. When he started to massacre them, one of
them left, came to Heraclius, told him what occurred, and requested him to forgive them
and to be benevolent towards them. Heraclius agreed to this request and sent to Theodore a
letter where he ordered him to save the Jews and to close his eyes to their faults. When
the letter came to him, he did not trouble them any more. Then, Heraclius arrived at
Edessa and ordered the Christians who were there, to embrace the Melkite doctrines again.
Then they abjured Jacobitism, except for some families, who have remained faithful to the
Jacobite doctrines to this day. Heraclius passed a whole year at Edessa and exiled
Qourrah, bishop of Edessa, to the island of Cyprus, because he realized that Qourrah could
not read the Gospel very well. Then he said to him: "O man, how did you become a bishop,
if you cannot read the Gospel very well! Go now to this island, fix yourself over there
and learn to read and the other questions of the church."

219 Chirouyah, son of Chosroes, died, and Ardashir succeeded him. But Chahrabaz killed
him. Here is how: After the death of Chosroes, Chahrabaz and several satraps employed a
ruse, escaped from the camp of Heraclius and arrived in Persia because of the letter that
Chirouyah, son of Chosroes, had sent to them. Then Chirouyah died, and his son Ardechir
succeeded him. But Chahrabaz killed him and gathered troops of the Persians. Mardigan
(Mardif) also gathered many troops, and the Persians were divided in two parties. We have
already reported that after the conversion of the emperor Constantine with his mother
Helena to Christianity, the latter marched on pilgrimage to seek out the tree of the Cross
in Jerusalem. She gathered the Jews and oppressed them until they produced the Cross; and
she found it broken into two halves. She took one half which she placed at Apamea, and
brought the other to Constantinople. The Greek emperors wanted to take the other half
which was in Apamea. But the inhabitants opposed this and only gave them part of their
part... At the time of Justinianus, the Persians made war against the Greeks, plundered...
to Apamea, took [the remainder] of the tree of the Cross and carried it [into Persia].
Heraclius requested Chahrabaz to return it, and [Chahrabaz] agreed to his request and sent
the Cross to him. Heraclius took it and carried it to Constantinople, [added it] to the
remainder of the Cross and covered it with gold. The Cross has been there until the
present day.

220 In this year there was a violent earthquake, and the sun was darkened... [Mohammed
being dead, Abu-Bekr] succeeded [him and reigned for two years... He sent] four
generals... with troops: [one in Palestine, another] in Egypt, the third in Persia and the
fourth against the Christian Arabs. As for the one that Abu-Bekr sent to Palestine, he met
a Greek patrician named Sergius, killed him with all his companions and plundered their
camp. The other three (generals) were victorious and returned to Yathrib. In year 3 of
Abu-Bekr, there was a violent earthquake in Palestine; for thirty days the ground
trembled. In the same year, there was a strong epidemic in various places. Abu-Bekr died;
and after him reigned Omar, son of Khattab, for twelve years, from the 946 year of
Alexander and the thirteenth year of the Arabs. In the first year of his reign, he sent
troops against al-Balqa, captured Basra, many cities and large fortresses and then
returned to Yathrib.

221 In year 2 [of his reign], Khalid, son of al-Walid, [went] with many troops on al-Balqa
and... in Persia. Khalid encountered... troops of the Greeks and destroyed them....
(Heraclius) went out from Menbidj and sent... against Khalid and he killed... Arabs...
Damascus. Then Heraclius left Menbidj.... Souriyah, which is Syria (ach-Cham), and learned
with certainty that the Arabs had conquered it. In the year... of Omar, the Arabs left
Damascus with Khalid, son of al-Walid. The Greek patrician, who was at Antioch, learned of
the sortie of Khalid with the Arab troops. Fear and disquiet seized him, and he gathered
many troops and marched on Damascus with 70,000 warriors. Then Khalid moved towards
Damascus and captured it by granting quarter to the inhabitants, and he went against all
the cities of Syria which he took and to which he showed mercy. 222 Sa`d-ibn-Abu-Waqqas
left Yathrib, marched into the desert of Qadas and arrived [at Qadisiyah (Kadisiyah)…]
Koufah at the distance of five parasangs and remained there. When [Yezdegerd learned] of
the invasion of the Arabs, he gathered many troops and sent.... (The Persians) camped on
the Euphrates opposite Koufah. Then they met and [engaged in combat to] Qadisiyah
(Kâdisîyah); and the Arabs put the Persians to rout and pursued them [to al-Madain], the
town of Chosroes, which is on the Tigris. Then Yezdegerd left with his satraps and his
warriors, took position on the Eastern bank of the Tigris and engaged in combat with the
Arabs there. The Arabs threw themselves in the water, passed through with their horses,
charged the Persians and put them to flight; then they captured al-Madain, [the town of
Chosroes], and its surroundings and they removed the treasures of the king and other
things.... Yezdegerd [fled to] Holwan where he gathered many troops. The Arabs [pursued
him, caught up with him] at Holwan, put him to rout and killed all his soldiers.
[Yezdegerd] fled and arrived at Nihavend; but the Arabs pursued him and put him to flight.
(After that) Yezdegerd fled to Khorasan.

223 When Heraclius, who was [at Antioch], saw the rout of the Greeks and learned what the
Arabs had done to the Persians, he was seized with anger and indignation and was very
upset. He wrote to Egypt, Syria, Mesopotamia and Armenia, ordering them not to engage in
more combat with the Arabs or to oppose more the will of God; he informed them that Great
God had sent this misfortune on men, that he was not opposing himself to the will of God,
[who had promised] Ishmael, son of Ibrahim (Abraham), that several kings would come from
him. Sa`id and Amrou, son of al-`Asi, marched on Egypt and entered there. Cyrus (Qourrah),
bishop of Alexandria, [went out to meet them] and made peace with them on condition that
he paid [each year] 200,000 dinars; their troops would not enter [Egypt and] would not
pass its borders; he was preparing the money and would send it to them... (Sa`id and
Amrou) made a pact with him on these conditions. And Cyrus, bishop [of Alexandria], did
not cease to govern firmly for three years, and none of the Arabs entered there.

224 [Then], a certain number of inhabitants of Egypt [went] to the emperor Heraclius and
accused Cyrus [of taking] the money of Egypt and giving it to the Arabs... and giving them
the tax on land from Egypt that he [should give to the emperor]. Heraclius [was irritated]
at this and sent to Egypt a patrician [named Manuel], ordered him to relieve Cyrus of the
administration of Egypt, to invest himself (Manuel) with the administration and to defend
its inhabitants. The following year, when the Arabs, according to custom, [came] to Egypt
to ask for gold, they found Manuel encamped in Egypt with Greek troops. They were captured
and brought before him. Manuel asked them for the purpose of their mission, and they made
it known to him. When he heard that they were asking for gold, he drove out them with
great anger and sent them back with scorn, saying: "I am not the bishop Cyrus who gave you
gold from fear of you, because he is a monk dedicated to the worship of God, but I am a
man of arms and war and courage; you must understand that by seeing me. I have only
contempt and scorn for you. Leave the country and do not return here any more; if you do,
I will kill you. What has happened previously is considered excused."

225 The envoys returned to their Master, and told him this. Then Amrou-ibn-al-`Asi arose,
advanced and arrived in Egypt where he met Manuel. Amrou put him to rout and killed almost
all his soldiers; (after that), Manuel arrived at Alexandria with the remainder of his
troops. Then the Arabs captured Egypt. At this news, Heraclius wrote Cyrus, bishop of
Alexandria: "Some people calumniated and wrongfully accused you to me. Hurry to agree to
the request of these Arabs and grant to them what they ask. You know already that they are
sent like a plague on men; that God promised Abraham concerning Ishmael that several kings
would come from him; that the promises of God are true and that one cannot be opposed to
them nor to evade them. If you can pacify the Arabs and get them away from Egypt by any
possible means, do so; if you can make them accept the first conditions that you dictated
to them, and make them accept, do so. I put you at the head of Egypt and confide to you
its government. Do as well as possible for its interests!"

226 The letter of the emperor Heraclius came to Cyrus, and he said: "How can I move the
Arabs away? I already pass for a liar among them; and above all, they have already
captured Egypt. However I will do all that I can and then I will await events." Cyrus went
out from Alexandria and went to the camp of the Arabs. He was presented to Amrou-ibn-
al-`Asi and, after having made excuses before him, made known him that he was not the
cause of the transgression of the treaty which existed between them, but that the emperor
Heraclius had treated him with violence and had made him change direction on this subject;
he thus requested him to make peace again on the terms of the first treaty. Amrou-ibn-
al-`Asi answered him that under no circumstances would he accede to his request. "I do not
have confidence in you," he added, "because you have misled me once; moreover, you request
an impossible thing, because we conquered Egypt by our weapons and we will never give up
it." Cyrus thus returned to Alexandria, without having obtained anything.

227 Then Omar-ibn-al-Khattab removed the command of Syria from Khalid-ibn-al-Walid and
named in his place Abu-`Obeidah-ibn-al-Djarrah. This was in year 15 of the Arabs and 26 of
Heraclius. Omar started from Yathrib, arrived in Palestine and camped there. Sophronius,
patriarch of Jerusalem, went out to meet him and obtained from him safety for Jerusalem
and all the towns of Palestine. Omar gave him safety and passed an act for him, and in
this act it was specified: every Jew that we find in Jerusalem will be deprived of the
protection of the laws, as from this day; the Jew that we find there will be punished for
it in his hair, his appearance and his money. Then Omar entered Jerusalem and prayed
there; then he entered the very large temple that Solomon, son of David, had built, and
ordered a mosque built there where the Moslems would make their prayers. Then the
patriarch, having seen that the woollen clothing of Omar was dirty, requested him to
accept of him (other) clothing. But Omar refused. The patriarch persisted. Then Omar said
to him: "Do me the honour, please, to take these clothes, give them to the launderer and
lend me these clothes that you brought to me, so that I can wear them until my clothes are
washed; then I will return them to you." The patriarch did so, took Omar's clothes and
gave them to the launderer; after washing, he brought them back to him. Omar put them on
and returned his clothing to the patriarch.

228 Then Omar left Jerusalem, went to Yathrib, and invested Abu-`Obeidah with the command
of Egypt and Syria. Abu-`Obeidah sent `Abbad-ibn-`Asim with many troops to go through all
the towns of Syria; and he gave them safety and occupied them all. Then he returned to
Mesopotamia, captured all the cities and gave them safety, after they had treated with
him, stipulating that they would pay him each year 100,000 dinars, and that no Arab would
pass the Euphrates, for whatever reason, so long as the treaty was closely adhered to.
Then the inhabitants of Mesopotamia brought to `Abbad-ibn-`Asim the annual tribute. This
(treaty) was concluded by the patrician Paul who was the governor of Heraclius, emperor of
the Greeks, over Mesopotamia. On this news, Heraclius, emperor of the Greeks, relieved
Paul, sent him into exile in Africa and named (in his place) in Mesopotamia a man named
Ptolemy, one of the patricians.

229 Then the Arabs captured Antioch and took the inhabitants of its suburbs and fields
into captivity. Then Omar removed the command in Syria from Abu-`Obeidah and named
Mo`awia-ibn-Abu-Sofyan in his place. That took place in the year 6 of Omar, year 18 of the
Arabs and year 29 of Heraclius. `Abbad crossed the Euphrates and marched on Edessa,
because the Edessans had not brought in the second year what they had promised to him.
When he arrived there, the inhabitants went out to meet him and asked him for mercy for
them and for Ptolemy, their governor and patrician. `Abbad entered Edessa, made Ptolemy
leave and returned him to Greece; in a few days, he then made them pay 100,000 dinars.
`Abbad then left Edessa and arrived at Mawzan, because this city had not capitulated yet
like all the other towns of Mesopotamia. When he arrived there, the Greeks who were there,
resisted him. He was irritated at this, drew up balistas against the city and remained at
this city with the (besieged) Greeks, until he had captured it; and he killed the Greeks
who were there. `Abbad made the towns of Mesopotamia capitulate, to which he gave the
aman, except for Dara; he took it by storm and killed the Greeks who were there, named
governors over all the towns of Mesopotamia and returned Mo`awia-ibn-Abu-Sofyan who was in
Syria.

230 Then Omar ordered his governor to hit all the regions of his empire with a tribute.
The rolls were drawn up and the tribute was imposed on each area, each province, each city
and each village; this tribute consisted of corn and money. Heraclius, emperor of the
Greeks, died, after reigning thirty one years. He died Sunday, February 7, year 952 of
Alexander, 19 of the Arabs and the 7 of Omar. Constantine, son of Heraclius, reigned after
him for four months. One of the women of his father killed him, and Heraclius, son of
Heraclius, reigned for eight months. In this year, Mo`awia captured Caesarea, a town of
Palestine, and massacred 7,000 Greeks there. The Greeks augured ill for the reign of
Heraclius, son of Heraclius; they deposed him. Then Constans, son of Constantine, grandson
of Heraclius, reigned twenty-seven years, from the year 954 of Alexander. In year 10 of
Omar-ibn-al-Khattab, the Arabs attacked a town of Cilicia, captured it and took many
prisoners from there into captivity.

231 In year 11 of Omar, the sun was darkened, on Friday 1, Tichrin II (November). In year
12 of Omar-ibn-al-Khattab, a man named Abu-Loulouah went to Omar and did not cease
observing him with attention, while he prayed; and when Omar bowed deeply, he struck him
several times with a knife and killed him. Omar died after reigning twelve years. Othman-
ibn-`Affan reigned (after him) eleven years, from the 958 year of Alexander and the fifth
year of Constans. In this year Gregory, the Greek patrician who was in Africa, revolted.
The Arabs attacked Alexandria where Manuel, the Greek patrician, was. He fled with his
soldiers; they left by sea and arrived in Greece. The Arabs captured Alexandria and
destroyed its walls; they occupied this city and the coast between Alexandria and al-
Farama (Pelusium). Then, the same year, they invaded Africa and fought a battle there with
Gregory, the Greek patrician; they put him to flight and massacred his troops. Gregory
arrived in Greece and made peace with the emperor.

232 In this year there was a violent wind: large trees were uprooted; harvests and vines
were destroyed, and many towers (of the stylites) collapsed. In year 3 of Othman, Mo`awia
took to sea, arrived at Cyprus and captured it. He was accompanied by 1,700 ships full of
weapons and riches. He took a great number of people from this island and neighbouring
islands into captivity. Then when he learned that Greek troops had been sent against him,
he returned to Syria and besieged Aroud (Aradus), employed all his efforts there, but
could not take it. He then sent a bishop called Thomas who asked the inhabitants of the
town to leave the island and to go away to Greece, so that the Arabs could settle there.
When the bishop arrived there, they imprisoned him, did not let him return to Mo`awia and
did not pay any attention to his message. Then Mo`awia returned to Damascus, because
winter was arriving and that it was to the sea.

233 After the winter and at the beginning of spring, Mo`awia returned to the island of
Aroud with troops stronger and more numerous than the first. He besieged it and treated
the inhabitants with harshness. When the inhabitants of Aroud saw the difficult situation
in which they were, and the troops that were pressing them, they asked for mercy on
condition of leaving for Syria and of establishing themselves where they liked. Mo`awia-
ibn-Abu-Sofyan agreed to their request, and they left the city. After they left, Mo`awia
ordered the destruction of its walls. They were destroyed, set on fire, and burned. In
this year, Othman-ibn-`Affan sent his son Sa`id with many troops to the pursuit of
Yezdegerd, king of the Persians, who was in that time in Sedjestan. Having learned that
Sa`id was coming to seek him, Yezdegerd fled from Sedjestan to Merv where he remained for
two years. Sa`id took all the towns of Khorasan, and giving the aman, established there
his governors and arrived at Merv where Yezdegerd was. When Yezdegerd learned of his
arrival, he feared that the population, i.e. the population of the city, might hand him
over; he thus left in the night and hid in a mill which was on the river, to the gate of
the city. The owner of the mill recognized him, cut off his head and carried it to Sa`id.
Sa`id captured Merv; he took the crown and the head of Chosroes, who was called Yezdegerd,
and carried them to his father. Othman-ibn-`Affan put (the head) on a pillar and placed
the crown in the Kaabah where it is to this day.

234 Constans, king of the Greeks, sent ambassadors to Mo`awia to ask peace of him. Mo`awia
was in Damascus and the envoy Manuel, who was in Egypt, was sent with a certain number of
Greeks. Mo`awia agreed to his request provided that a certain number of the members of his
house would be left with him as hostages. In year 4 of Othman, the inhabitants of Armenia
revolted against Constans, emperor of the Greeks, and submitted themselves to the Moslems.
Their governor, one of the Greek patricians named Pasagnathes, wrote to Mo`awia and sent
his son as a hostage to him. Learning that the Armenians had revolted and risen up,
Constans left with Greek troops and went to Caesarea in Cappadocia to go into Armenia.
While he was on the way, this news came to him and saddened him; he had intended to
recover Armenia, but then he returned from there, despairing of recovering it.

235 Then Mo`awia sent troops to the island of Rhodes, who captured it, reorganized the
administration there and made it an observation post for the Arabs. In this island, there
was a statue which had been standing for approximately three hundred and sixty years. Its
height was fifty cubits. The Arabs removed it and threw it into the sea. That took place
in year 8 of Othman. In this year, the (Arab) leader entered Armenia with many troops,
captured it and killed all the Greeks who were there. In this year, Othman-ibn-`Affan
directed the pilgrimage. It is necessary that you know, for the reading of our book, that
the years of the Arabs do not agree with the non-Arab years, because there is a difference
between them: thirty-two non-Arab years make thrity-three Arab years; but I will not omit
to make the agreement; I will give this (33rd) additional year, as the Arabs count it; I
will add it to the Arab years to keep their calendar in line with that which was already
in use before their reign.

236 Then, in year 9 of Othman, 34 of the Arabs and 13 of Constans, emperor of the Greeks,
Mo`awia-ibn-Abu-Sofyan prepared a expedition by sea against Constantinople. Mo`awia
equipped many ships in the town of Trabulus (Tripoli) located at the seaside and embarked
a great quantity of weapons there. When the ships were ready and that he was thinking of
going on campaign, there were two brothers in Tripoli, (sons) of a man named Boukinator,
who were in the service of the Arabs. Having seen the preparations of Mo`awia, they were
seized with irritation and anger; they came to the prison, opened it and released all the
Greeks who were there; they threw themselves on the governor of the city and killed him;
then they set fire to the ships and to the military equipment, went on a vessel and
arrived in the country of the Greeks. Learning this, Mo`awia equipped many troops against
the Greeks, who captured the country of Bazantiyah and of Malatia, pushed to Hisn-al-
Mourrah near the gate of Malatia and made 100,000 of its population prisoners. (At the
same time Mo`awia) sent a man named Abu'l-`Oud with many troops; he entered Phoenix which
is on the coast of Lycia, and entirely devastated it.

237 Then Constans marched against him with Greek troops and sent his brother Yaqout
(Theodosius?) by sea with many ships. (The Greeks and Arabs) met and came to battle. In
the first shock the Greeks were put to rout, and Constans was about to drown; he was saved
because so many people died that the sea was turned bloody. Then the Arabs returned
victorious and Constans returned to Sicily. In that year, the inhabitants of Egypt and
Iraq went to Othman-ibn-`Affan, surrounded him on all sides and killed him on Friday 19th
of the month of Zou'l-qa`dah. The same year, `Abdallah-ibn-al-Abbas directed the
pilgrimage. In that year, Talhah and az-Zobair went out from Mecca in the month of Rab'i
II and agreed to march against Basra. Then `Ali-ibn-Abu-Talib went out from Medina to
fight them, moved towards Feid and left Sahl-ibn-Hanifah in Medina as his lieutenant. He
wrote to him then ordering him to rejoin him and conferred the administration of Medina on
Abu-Hasan-al-Mazani. (The two forces) met and engaged in combat, and, near Basra, `Ali
gained the victory. He prevented his troops from massacring the fleeing or maltreating the
casualties; even he who had closed his gates, would be in safety. After remaining at Basra
for fifteen days, `Ali went to Koufah and left `Abdallah-ibn-al-Abbas in Basra as
lieutenant.

238 `Ali conferred the administration of Egypt on Qais-ibn-Sa`id (Sa`d) who resided there
and governed it, but Mo`awia intrigued against him and had him relieved. Then Mo`awia and
Amrou-ibn-al-`Asi went to Mohammed-ibn-Hazifah (Houzeifah) who was in Egypt and whom `Ali
had made governor. They deceived him and made him go out to `Arich. Then `Ali named Hakam-
ibn-as-Salt in Egypt. Mo`awia and Amrou went against him and drew up balistas against him;
then he went out against them with thirty of his companions, and they killed him. After
that `Ali sent Qais-ibn-Sa`id to Egypt (as governor) (for the second time). Hasan-ibn-`Ali
took the oath in the year 41 of the Arabs. Then Mo`awia went to Iraq, and Hasan-ibn-`Ali
[followed him there]. They met at Meskin in Sawad, a province [of Koufah], and made peace
in writing, on certain conditions and in front of eyewitnesses. Mo`awia went into [the
mosque and] preached there, and the population took oath to him. Then, he left as
lieutenant at Koufah [Mogair-ibn-Chou'bah and left for] Syria where he established
Fadalah-ibn-`Abd as judge. Hasan-ibn-`Ali went to Medina. It was said to him: "What have
you done?" He answered: "I have... taken in hate the inhabitants of Koufah, in which
nobody can have confidence: my father had met... but he had not been able to get any
profit at all from them, and they are good for nothing… `Atabah-ibn-Abu-Sofyan."

239 The power of Mo`awia was reaffirmed; he dominated from Yathrib to Damascus and
captured the whole world, after being sole ruler for twenty years. That took place in year
972 of Alexander, 41 of the Arabs and 19 of Constans, emperor of the Greeks. (In that
time) was born the sect of the Harourites...; (they claimed that they were the best) of
all the Moslems, that their adversaries were in error and that they were entitled more to
the empire than anybody. The master of the power, Mo`awia preferred the inhabitants of the
West to those of the East because of the submission which the inhabitants of the west
showed and because of the antagonism of these... In year 8 (of his reign), a raid of Alans
came out of Armenia, where the Greeks had suffered a terrible defeat. The leader of this
campaign was Bechr-ibn-Artat who killed a great number of patricians. The Moslems made
captive and plundered.... They were the first prisoners that they took....

240 Mo`awia gave the government of the sea to... - ibn-Marwan.... ibn.... and he invested
him with power over all... and was called Bechr-ibn-Artat. In this year, he named... and
conferred the role of judge on `Abdallah-ibn... In this year, Bechr-ibn-Artat went...
Rahman and Qathim, sons of `Abdallah-ibn-al-Abbas-ibn-`Abd-al-Mouttalib... Abu-Laila the
rebel in the... suburb of Koufah. In that year, `Outbah-ibn-Sofyan directed the
pilgrimage. In year 3 of Mo`awia, Bechr-ibn-Artat made for the second time a raid against
the Greeks and took many prisoners. The Greeks fled to Constantinople. In this year,
Mo`awia ordered Marwan-ibn-al-Hakam to take the direction of the pilgrimage. The festival
arrived, and he directed it. In this year, [Amrou-ibn-]al-`Asi died in Egypt the day of
the ending of the Fast, after ruling Egypt [under the caliphate of Omar-ibn]-al-Khattab
for four years, under the caliphate of Othman for three... years and ten months... two and
a half years. (After his death) Mo`awia named (in... Egypt) his son `Abdallah-ibn-Amrou-
ibn-fal-`Asi]... God... to Mo`awia... `Abdarrahman-ibn[- Khalid-ibn-al-Walid... he pushed
as far as] Aklouniyah... (Koloneia) in the country of the Greeks and returned.... Marwan-
ibn-al-Hakam...

241 The eunuch (Andreas) cut off the testicles of (Sergius) and ordered them attached to
the end of a lance with this inscription: "This is the revenge of Andreas, the eunuch of
the emperor, on the envoy of Sabour the rebel." Learning how the eunuch had treated the
rebel envoy and that the troops of Mo`awia went to his help, Constans sent a patrician
named Nicephorus with Greek troops to make war on Sabour, who was at Awdina. Sabour
learned of the approach of these troops and each day went out to practise for the combat.
One day he went out as usual and arrived at the door of the city, and he gave a blow of
the whip to his horse which bucked and was carried off. Sabour ran his head against the
gate of the city and fell down unconscious; he remained ill for a few days and died.
Mo`awia had sent many numerous forces to him. When they arrived at Malatia and they
learned of his death, (their leader Fadalah) stopped in Malatia and told Mo`awia,
requesting him to send reinforcements to him so that he could attack the Greeks. Mo`awia
ordered his son Yazid to take the Arab cavalry and to join the army. Yazid hurried there;
thus increased, the Arab troops arrived at Chalcedon which they plundered and from where
they took many prisoners and much spoil.

242 In this year, there was a strong rising of the waters of the Tiger, the Nile and
Euphrates; all these rivers overflowed and ruined several places; the rising of the river
of Edessa especially was such as to flood the city, demolish its walls and drown many
people and innumerable animals. In year 9 of Mo`awia, Constans, emperor of the Greeks, was
killed after his return from the expedition against the Slavs. He had gone to the bath in
Sicily where he had his residence. This is why he had fixed himself in Sicily: he had
transferred the seat of the empire from Constantinople to Rome, after the murder of his
brother, because he feared the fury of people indignant against him because of this crime.
So he had transported himself to Rome and from there to Antakiyah (?); then he had
established himself in Sicily, an island of the sea, and resided there with his generals
and soldiers. He then sent to bring his family to him. But the inhabitants of
Constantinople did not allow them to go to join him and said: "They are our emperors; and
we will not allow our emperors to leave us." When Constans entered the bath, one of his
servants took a vase with a handle in which he mixed mush with soap, and then poured it
over his head. The emperor had the eyes full of mush and soap and he could not open them.
Then the servant took the vase, struck him on the head and killed him; he left the bath in
all haste and fled, without anybody seeing him.

243 However the servants waited for the emperor to come out; they waited a long time; time
passed and (the emperor) did not leave; then they entered to the bath, found him
unconscious and carried him out; he was still alive that day and died, after reigning
twenty-seven years. Then the Greeks met and made Mizizi(us), emperor an Armenian by
origin. He was wise, robust and courageous. When the son of Constans learned at
Constantinople of the death of his father, he embarked and left for Sicily. He arrived,
captured Mizizius and slaughtered him; then he seized those who had taken part in the
murder of his father and had proclaimed another emperor; he killed the first, imprisoned
the others and sent others of them into exile. Then he returned to Constantinople.
Constantine and his brothers reigned for sixteen years, from the year 981 of Alexander and
year 50 of the Arabs.

244 In that year, the Arabs made an expedition against the Greeks in Africa and took
100,000 prisoners. In that year, much snow fell and there was a rigorous frost; and many
people and animals perished. In year 12 of Mo`awia, Bechr-ibn-Artat made a campaign
against the Greeks; he killed (many) of them and took a great number of them into
captivity. In year 13 of Mo`awia, there appeared in the clouds a complete rainbow. Fear
and credulity overcame the people, and many (of them) said that the hour of the end of the
world had come. Mo`awia took several ships, attacked the Greeks, and killed them and took
prisoners. In this year, the plague prevailed among the populations of Egypt and Palestine
In the year 14 of Mo`awia, the Arabs made a campaign by sea against the Greeks and arrived
in Lycia. Three patricians went to meet them and caught up with them, and the Greeks
killed 30,000 Arabs; the survivors embarked there. When they were on the open sea, a Greek
found them with his ship, threw fire on their fleet which was completely burned. That year
the Greeks were favoured with victory. They were the first to make use of (Greek) fire,
and they usually made use of it.

245 In this same year, rats were numerous in Syria, and a great famine resulted from this.
In year 17 of Mo`awia, the Greeks equipped a fleet, took to the sea, arrived at the shore
of Tyre and Sidon and unloaded there; then they captured the mountain of Lebanon where
they established themselves. The people called them al-Kharaniqah. The Greeks, masters of
the mountain of Lebanon, stretched from the holy mountain to the black mountain.
Constantine had stationed them there to divert the Arabs from their raids. In this same
year, there was an earthquake in Beisan, and Qatnan, one of the villages of Seroudj,
subsided and its walls and all the houses collapsed. A similar thing occurred in Edessa
where several localities were damaged. Mo`awia ordered that they should be restored and
the churches of Edessa which had fallen rebuilt. He acted thus because he had remained in
Edessa while going to fight `Ali-ibn-Abu-Talib.

246 Then Mo`awia died, after reigning for twenty years and being before that emir for
twenty more years. He died Sunday 6th of the month of Iyar (May) (the year) 991 of
Alexander and was buried in Damascus. After him Yazid-ibn-Mo`awia reigned three years and
five months. In the first year of his reign, a council of bishops, 189 in number, met by
order of Constantine, in Constantinople. This is what is called the sixth council.
Agathon, bishop of Rome, wrote to expound the agreement of his doctrines with that of 120
bishops who did not attend the council. Canons were written which the Melkites alone
accepted, to the exclusion of all the other Christian communities. Then Constantine
dispossessed his brothers of the empire and reigned alone. The Greek patricians gave him
their approval, because he had satisfied them. However a patrician named Leo did not
approve of him, showed dissatisfaction and said: "It is wrong that the people who reigned
over us for so long have been dispossessed." Then Constantine ordered that his tongue,
hands and feet be cut off, and exiled his brothers to an island of the sea.

247 Then Yazid-ibn-Mo`awia died. Already before the death of Yazid, Mouhtar the deceiver
had appeared in Koufah; he claimed that he was a prophet, and he gathered (around him)
many people. Yazid died without having an adult son to succeed him, and disorders broke
out and the Arabs divided themselves into many parties. Those who were in Yathrib, in Iraq
and in Mesopotamia proclaimed `Abdallah-ibn-az-Zobeir; those of Syria and Palestine
remained faithful, by spirit of party, to the family of Mo`awia and spoke for them. Then
Dhahhak-ibn-Qais gathered many troops, arrived at Damascus and declared that he would make
war on `Abdallah-ibn-az-Zobeir. However the Arabs of Mesopotamia had already spoken for
`Abdallah-ibn-az-Zobeir; each one thus started to have a province which he was defending
and for which he made war. Mouhtar was victorious at Koufah. 248 Then Marwan-ibn-al-Hakam
left Yathrib, took his children with him and marched on Damascus. On the news of his
arrival, the children of Yazid-ibn-Mo`awia were assembled, with their followers and those
of the Arabs and the freed (maoulah) who wanted to subject themselves to his rule. Marwan
said to them: "O people! I am an old man; my body is weak and shrivelled; my bones are
broken; but when I learned your discord, my heart engaged me to expose my life and to use
my credit to make peace between you. I thought that it would be neither worthy nor right
before me, nor before God to abandon my people, when I see them divided, not to pacify
him, not to calm their discords, not to engage to recognize as leader one of them, to obey
him and to subject ourselves to him. If you approve of me, do what I say to you: Go and
seek three arrows, write the names of three men among you; then give them to a foreign man
at this assembly and order to him to scramble them well. Then draw one of them and give it
to the assembly; he whose name comes out, will reign over us."

249 The people, hearing these words, approved them; they accepted his counsel and
consented to his judgement. Thus Hasan-ibn-Malik was chosen, of the family of Mo`awia, one
of their leaders, who was a governor of Palestine and the Jordan. He agreed to this and
accepted. Then Marwan-ibn-al-Hakam, Amrou-ibn-Sa`id-ibn-al-`Asi and other Qoreichites met
and wrote their names on three arrows which were given to Hasan-ibn-Malik. He took them in
his hand and stirred them up much; then he took one of them and launched it into the
middle of the assembly. On inspection it bore the name of Marwan-ibn-al-Malik. Then the
empire was given to him When Dhahhak-ibn-Qais had learned that Marwan-ibn-al-Hakam was
king, he went in disguise with a troop of his tribe and his followers and entered the army
of Marwan to inform himself about him. When he was in the middle of the troops, one of the
companions of Hasan-ibn-Malik recognized him and made him come to Marwan, to whom he gave
oath unwillingly. When night fell, he fled and rejoined his troops. In the morning he was
pursued, but it was impossible to catch him. Then Marwan left with his troops against
Dhahhak and met him in a meadow (mardj) called Mardj-Rahit. The combat began, and Marwan
killed Dhahhak with a very great number of his companions; the remainder took an oath to
Marwan.

250 Then he returned to Damascus where he was based; he married a wife of Yazid-ibn-
Mo`awia and lived in his room. Then Marwan resolved to go to Egypt to the inhabitants take
an oath to him. But a disease seized him, and he died, after reigning nine months. His son
`Abd-al-Malik-ibn-Marwan reigned after him for twenty-two years, from the year 65 of the
Arabs, year 996 of Alexander. In this year, the people were struck by a great famine and
plague. The same year, `Abd-al-Malik made peace with the Greeks. The same year still,
Constantine, emperor of the Greeks, died, and Justinianus reigned after him for ten years.
Then `Abd-al-Malik wrote a letter to ask peace. Justinianus agreed to make a ten years
truce: he engaged to recall the Greeks who were in the mountains of Lebanon and make them
return to the Greek country; on his side, `Abd-al-Malik would pay every day to Justinianus
a thousand dinars, a horse and a slave in exchange for the recall of the Greeks who were
in the mountains of Lebanon; the island of Cyprus would be divided in half between the
Greeks and the Arabs...

251 ... to Khagan, king of Khazars, and all were drowned. Khagan, on this news, sent to
Justinianus a letter where he said: "O dimwit! If you had sent a person in your confidence
to me, I would have sent your wife to you and the son that she gave you. That would have
been better than to make all these people who drowned perish. Or could you have believed
that I send them only after a war or a battle, that I would be miserly towards you and
would deprive to you of her? If you want your wife and your son, sends a messenger, and we
will give them to him." Justinianus read the letter and sent a servant who brought back
his wife and his son for him. He called his son Tiberius and made him reign with him. This
was in the year 22 of `Abd-al-Malik-ibn-Marwan. Tiberius reigned for seven years.

252 In this same year, `Abd-al-Malik-ibn-Marwan died, and Walid his son reigned after him
for nine years and six months, from the year 1018 of Alexander. The first year of his
reign, he started to destroy the churches of Damascus, and especially the great church; he
demolished it and built in its place a great mosque. He ordered that Greek should no
longer be used in correspondence in his offices, but Arabic, because all the Arabs who
were in Syria (ach-Cham and Souriyah) were writing in Greek. In the second year of Walid,
Maslamah-ibn-`Abd-al-Malik made a raid against the Greeks and entered the town of Tyana
where he remained nine months. A Greek patrician went out against him and fought him. The
Greeks were put to rout and lost 40,000 dead. The Arabs ruined the town of Tyana, took the
inhabitants captive and burned them. This same year, Abbas-ibn-al-Walid made a expedition
and brought back many prisoners from there. The same year, Othman-ibn-Hayan made a raid
into Cilicia, forced many fortresses there to capitulate and took the inhabitants into
captivity in Syria.

253 This same year, a Greek patrician named Philippicus, who was on an island of the sea,
revolted. Justinianus then sent a certain of his patricians to fight him; but when he had
arrived there, the latter took an oath to him and joined with him. The emperor, learning
the news, went towards the coast of the sea of Pontus. The rebel Philippicus and his
followers arrived at Constantinople where the Greeks accepted him and proclaimed him
emperor. Tiberius, son of Justinianus, and his patricians were killed. Then Philippicus
made the troops march to pursue Justinianus; they caught up with him. Justinianus was
killed and his head was brought to Philippicus. That took place in year 93 of the Arabs,
year 7 of Walid. In this same year, Maslamah-ibn-`Abd-al-Malik made a raid against the
Greeks and captured the town of Amasea and many other fortresses. In this same year,
Philippicus, emperor of the Greeks, ordered that all the Armenians be driven out of his
empire into Armenia. They left and ventured themselves among the Arabs. Walid installed
them in Malatia and Samosata.

254 In this same year, Abbas-ibn-al-Walid made a raid against the Greeks, captured Antioch
(of Pisidia) and took the inhabitants into captivity. In that year, there was a violent
earthquake, during which many dwellings were destroyed in Antioch. Then the Greeks threw
themselves on Philippicus their emperor, put out his eyes, dethroned him and proclaimed
Anastasius emperor. Philippicus had reigned for three years. In year 7 of Walid, Maslamah
made a raid against the Greeks and took many prisoners. Walid died and Soleiman reigned
after him for two years and four months. In the first year of his reign, Maslamah made a
raid against the Greeks, penetrated into Galatia, captured many fortresses and took the
population into captivity. In this same year, Anastasius, emperor of the Greeks, sent
troops against the enemies who surrounded him. The Greeks threw themselves on his
patrician, killed him, and proclaimed another emperor. Anastasius, on this news, feared
that he would be attacked by the population of Constantinople and went away to Nicaea.
Then he sent messengers to Maslamah, requesting him to ask Soleiman to help him with Arab
troops. The rebel learned that the emperor Anastasius was in Nicaea, and marched against
him. On his arrival, Anastasius left in his place a patrician to bar the way to him. But
the rebel entered Constantinople where the inhabitants accepted him and proclaimed him
king.... Then the emperor ordered him sent into exile on an island of the sea, after one
year and seven months of his reign.

255 In year 2 of Soleiman, Maslamah directed a expedition against Constantinople; he
established Soleiman-ibn-Ma`adh and Bakhtari-ibn-al-Hasan as commanders of its vanguard
with many troops, which went by land. He (also) sent `Amr-ibn-Houbairah with many ships;
he himself came then and took many prisoners at Nicaea. Then a patrician, named Leo, went
to Soleiman-ibn-Ma`adh and promised him to help him to enter Constantinople. Soleiman
introduced him to Maslamah, who made many promises to him. Leo went out and went to
Nicomedia. Theodosius, emperor of the Greeks, sent troops against him; Leo put them to
rout and killed the son of the emperor Theodosius. Then the Greeks consulted to make the
rebel Leo ascend the throne and proclaimed him king. He gathered troops, attacked
Constantinople and captured the empire, after Theodosius had reigned for one year and
seven months. Leo began to reign over the Greeks, and Maslamah awaited the accomplishment
of his promises throughout the summer. Learning that Leo had already become emperor of the
Greeks and that he had tricked him, he moved towards Constantinople and besieged it for a
whole year. When he learned of the death of Soleiman, he ceased making war and remained in
his place.

256 On the death of Soleiman, Omar-ibn-`Abd-al-`Aziz succeeded him and reigned for one
year, four months and six days. He wrote... to Maslamah-ibn-Mohammed... In this same year,
there was a violent earthquake, and many places were damaged. Omar-ibn-`Abd-al-`Aziz
showed his devotion and fear of God; he drove out of his empire corrupt people, forbade
the Moslems... (wine?) and fermented drinks and showed exemplary conduct. He wrote to the
emperor Leo in order to get him to become a Moslem; and in his letter he attacked the
Christian religion. Leo answered him by refuting his arguments; he proved to him the
perversity of his doctrines and showed to him the light of Christianity by the evidence
drawn from the revealed Books, of the laws of reason and the testimonies of the Koran. 257
Then a certain Greek patrician sent to the exiled emperor Anastasius a letter where he
disparaged the emperor Leo and said that the empire should not belong to him; "the empire
should belong to you more." He said that this letter expressed the unanimous feeling of
the inhabitants of the empire on the advent of Leo and the exile of his rival; that
Anastasius should act accordingly and look for ways to return. Anastasius read this letter
and was seduced. Then (the patrician) wrote to him in the name of other patricians,
requesting him to come back. Then Anastasius fled during the night, arrived at the king of
the Bulgarians, claimed his protection and asked his help. The Bulgarian (Nubian) helped
him with many troops. (Then Anastasius) left and arrived at Constantinople. But the Greeks
would not accept him at all. When the Negros (= the Bulgarians) saw that the Greeks did
not accept him, they delivered him to the Greeks and to Leo their emperor, who put him in
irons and imprisoned him in perpetuity. After that, the Nubian (= Bulgarian) troops
returned to their king. Then Leo killed Anastasius and the patricians.

258 Omar-ibn-al-`Aziz died in the seventh month of the second year. Yazid-ibn-`Abd-al-
Malik started to reign, in the year 1025 of Alexander. In the first year of his reign, a
man named Yazid-ibn-al-Mohallab, revolted in Iraq, and the Eastern Arabs gathered around
him; Maslamah-ibn-`Abd-al-Malik then went out against him, put him to rout and killed him
with his followers. In this same year, there appeared a man from the inhabitants of
Mardin. He said to the Jews that he was the Messiah. (This man) had been a Christian and
then had converted to Judaism. He claimed to have come to deliver them and he collected
much money. He had learned many juggleries and magic tricks; and he arranged for them to
see them and to fascinate them. Yazid-ibn-`Abd-al-Malik learned this and killed him. In
this same year, Leo, emperor of the Greeks, started to convert to Christianity the tribes
of his empire which were of a different religion and opposed to Christianity. He made the
Jews embrace the Christian religion and the... and they were called new Christians.

259 In this same year, Abbas-ibn-al-Walid made a raid against the Greeks; he entered
Paphlagonia, devastated it, took into captivity 20,000 inhabitants and captured there a
fortress which is called... Then Yazid-ibn-`Abd-al-Malik died, after reigning four years.
After him, Hicham, his brother, reigned for nineteen years, from the year 105 of the
Arabs. He inventoried the great revenues of the majority of the towns of his empire,
caravanserais, cabarets, small houses, villages and hamlets. He was the first to
appropriate the goods of the Arabs. He diverted the water from many abundant rivers into
canals and diverted the course of the river which was above al-Raqqah. He made plantations
of every kind in Mesopotamia and Syria. And his revenues exceeded the land tax in his
empire. In this year, Kethir-ibn-Rabi`ah made a raid against the Greeks. But the Greeks
massacred his soldiers, and Kethir was only able to save himself together with a few
people.

260 In this same year, Leo ordered the images of the martyrs to be removed from the
churches, houses and convents. Gregory, patriarch of Rome, learning this, was irritated
and forbade the inhabitants of Rome and Italy to to pay tax to him. In year 3 of Hicham,
Maslamah made a raid against the Greeks; he captured the town of Neocaesarea and took its
inhabitants into captivity. At that time there was a violent plague in Syria, and people
were struck with various buboes and ulcers. In this same year, Mo`awia-ibn-Hicham made a
raid against the Greeks, but he did not succeed. In year 4 of Hicham, Mo`awia-ibn-Hicham
made a raid against the Greeks; he captured many fortresses and took many prisoners. In
this same year, the son of Kagan, king of Khazars, went out against Azerbaijan and invaded
many provinces. Djarrah, governor of Armenia, met him. (The son of Khagan) fought him, put
the Arabs to rout, killed approximately 20,000 souls and made twice that prisoners.

261 In year 5 of Hicham, Maslamah made a raid against the Khazars. But they put him to
rout, killed a very great number of his soldiers, and Maslamah sought safety in flight.
Then Mo`awia-ibn-Hicham went against the Greeks, captured many fortresses and took many
prisoners. In year 8 of Hicham-ibn-`Abd-al-Malik, Maslamah went against the Turks and
arrived at the Gate (= defile of Derbend), which was between them and the Arabs; being
unable to cross it, he agreed a peace and moved away. In this same year, Leo, emperor of
the Greeks, made alliance with the king of Khazars of whom he asked the daughter for his
son, and the marriage was concluded the same year. In this year, Mo`awia went against the
Greeks; he entered Paphlagonia, captured the city of... took its inhabitants into
captivity and... set fire to it. In this year, Hicham-ibn-`Abd-al-Malik sent Marwan-ibn-
Mohammed as governor of Armenia.

262 In year 10 (of Hicham), Mo`awia made a raid against the Greeks and captured a great
number of fortresses. In this same year, there was a violent plague in Palestine and
Egypt. In this same year, at the month of Tichrin I (October), in the sky there appeared
the figure of a sword on fire. In year 11 of Hicham, Mo`awia made a raid into Asia (Minor)
where he took many prisoners. Then he made a second expedition and took more prisoners;
but he went out one day, fell from his horse and killed himself. In this same year,
Marwan-ibn-Mohammed went against the Khazars and in their lands took many prisoners. In
year 12 of Hicham, Soleiman-ibn-Hicham went against the Greeks; he arrived in Asia,
captured a fortress called Soudour and took the inhabitants into captivity. In year 13 of
his reign, Maslamah-ibn-`Abd-al-Malik made a raid against the Greeks. When he besieged
Ancyra, Hicham went to Malatia and, after remaining there for a few days, returned to
Damascus. Maslamah captured Ancyra and took many prisoners there.

263 In this same year, Zeid-ibn-`Ali-ibn-al-Housein-ibn-`Ali-ibn-Abu-Talib revolted in
Koufah; he attacked people, killed them and took prisoners in many places. In this same
year, the inhabitants of Africa revolted and massacred their governor and all the Moslems
who were there. The same year, Soleiman-ibn-Hicham went against the Greeks. The Greeks put
him to rout, massacred his troops and took more than 20,000 Arabs into captivity. In this
same year, in Constantinople, there was a violent earthquake; most of its houses
collapsed, and water started to run off the mountains. In this same year, Leo, emperor of
the Greeks, died, after reigning twenty-three years and three months and half. Constantine
his son reigned after him for thirty-four years, from the year 1042 of Alexander. In year
12 of Hicham, Soleiman-ibn-Hicham made a raid and besieged one of the fortresses of Asia.
The plague broke out in his ranks, and many soldiers died; the famine prevailed; the
Greeks massacred a great number of them; most of their horses perished; a very great
number of them took refuge with the Greeks and became Christians because of the misfortune
which had happened to them. (After that) Soleiman returned, fleeing.

264 In this same year, the Greeks marched against Malatia, plundered and devastated all
the surrounding country. The Greeks took those who were there, and brought them into the
country of the Greeks. In this same year, a rebel named Artabaz (Artavasde) revolted
against Constantine, emperor of the Greeks, entered Constantinople and assumed the
imperial power. Constantine was absent. Constantine, on this news, returned to punish him;
and they came to blows. While they fought, Soleiman made a raid against the Greeks and
entered Paphlagonia. Nobody resisted him, because the Greeks were occupied with making war
on each other; and Soleiman massacred 50,000 men. Then Hicham-ibn-`Abd-al-Malik died and
Walid-ibn-Yazid succeeded him and reigned for one year and two months. In the first year
of his reign, he greatly maltreated the people of the family of Hicham. Then Constantine,
emperor of the Greeks, dispatched an envoy to Walid with many presents. Artabaz the rebel
also dispatched (an envoy) to him.

265 Then, in that year, the rains failed and the springs and rivers were lowered. There
was a great famine and many and frequent earthquakes. In that year, in Yemen, the monkeys
attacked men, who were leaving their houses; and they killed several of them. In this same
year, the rebel Artabaz left Constantinople to find the emperor Constantine. They met, and
the rebel was put to rout, and all his followers perished. In this same year, Omar-
ibn-`Abd-al-`Aziz made a raid against the Greeks; he killed and took prisoners. In the
month of Haziran (June), a large sign appeared in the sky, under the aspect of columns of
fire which burned and remained motionless. This was a first sign. Then, in the month of
Eloul (September), another appeared, similar to a tongue of fire, and it extended from the
East to the west. Walid-ibn-Yazid deported the Cypriots from their hearths and their
country in order to install them at al-Mahour (?) which is located at the seaside, between
Tyr and Sidon.

266 The same year, in the month of Kanoun II (January), there appeared another sign in the
shape of the moon; and the atmosphere was dull and dark. Walid-ibn-Yazid was killed at
Tadmor. The cause of his murder was this: Yazid, nicknamed the Simple, from the tribe of
Bedr, went in secrecy to Damascus. He gathered his followers of the tribe of Bedr, and
they captured the city and plundered the royal treasures. Then he sent many troops against
Walid under the command of `Abd-al-`Aziz-ibn-al-Hadjadj, and the latter killed Walid, who
made war on an Arab tribe and had arrived at Tadmor. After the murder of Walid-ibn-Yazid,
Yazid the Simple captured Othman and Yazid, son of Walid-ibn-Yazid, and imprisoned them.
When `Abd-al-`Aziz-ibn-al-Hadjadj returned, carrying the head of Walid, Yazid ordered it
put on a lance, sprinkled with wine and paraded in the city with this inscription: "Here
is a head which likes wine!" The Arabs, on the news of the murder of Walid, were thrown
into great disorder; their opinions divided them and they split into groups; discord and
division broke out among them; the roads were cut, consternation dominated everywhere and
misfortune took up residence among men. Soleiman-ibn-Hicham, who was in prison, went out
and arrived at Damascus, where his soldiers took an oath to Yazid-ibn-al-Walid.

267 Marwan-ibn-Mohammed, who, as we said, was in Armenia, did not recognize Yazid. He left
Armenia to go into Mesopotamia; he moved towards the Arabs of this country who took an
oath to him. Then he resolved to pass the Euphrates and to go against Yazid the Simple, to
fight him and avenge on him the blood of Walid. Then Yazid the Simple returned home the
Cypriotes that Walid had deported from their country. There appeared in the sky a fire
which flamed. Yazid died, after reigning five months, and his brother Ibrahim succeeded
him. The people took an oath to him, except Marwan-ibn-Mohammed and the inhabitants of
Emesa who were in favour of Marwan. Then Marwan passed the Euphrates with many troops and
made people believe that he was going to deliver the two sons of Walid who were imprisoned
at Damascus, and to make them reign in the place of their father. When `Ibrahim learned of
the arrival of Marwan, he sent `Abd-al-`Aziz-ibn-al-Hadjadj with many troops against the
inhabitants of Emesa, because they had not given oath to him; and (at the same time) he
sent Masrour his brother with many troops to Haleb (Aleppo) to Bichr, who lived there.
`Abd-al-`Aziz arrived at Emesa, besieged it and engaged in combat against its inhabitants
who awaited their rescue in the arrival of Marwan. However Marwan had marched on Damascus
and, capturing Haleb, had made captive Bichr and Masrour, sons of Hadjadj. `Abd-al-`Aziz,
learning that Marwan had captured Haleb and had made captive his two sons, started from
Emesa during the night and returned to Damascus.

268 Then Marwan went to Emesa, and the inhabitants of this city went out to meet him and
took an oath to him. Then he marched on Damascus against Ibrahim. Ibrahim, learning that
he was approaching, sent Soleiman-ibn-Hicham with an army to the encounter. Soleiman left
Damascus and arrived in a village between Loubnan and Tell-Gara. Marwan marched against
him and met him; but he pretended then to move towards the Jordan and prepared for his
enemy a ambush on his rear. He thus pretended to move away and Soleiman with his soldiers
went in pursuit. When his army was divided and its order broken, the ambush came out
behind and massacred them. (The soldiers of Marwan) threw themselves on the troops and the
riches which they plundered, and they killed all they could. Soleiman and his troops,
having learned the news, were discouraged and took flight. Marwan and his soldiers threw
themselves on them and killed them. That day about 12,000 men perished. Soleiman-ibn-
Hicham escaped with a small number of his followers. Ibrahim took the riches of Damascus
and fled from this city with Soleiman-ibn-Hicham. `Abd-al-`Aziz-ibn-al-Hadjadj entered the
prison and killed the two sons of Walid-ibn-Yazid; then he returned home, but the
inhabitants of the city attacked him and set fire to its house which was burned.

269 Then Marwan marched on Damascus; its inhabitants opened the gates to him, and he
entered there. The Arabs were assembled and took an oath to him. Then he camped at the
distance of three miles of Damascus, (in a village) called `Aliyah. He removed Yazid the
Simple from his tomb and hanged him. Then he made the Arabs of the tribe of Bedr appear
and inflicted on them an exemplary punishment: he cut off the hands and feet of some,
hanged others; he massacred some and sent others into exile. Marwan ordered the royal
treasures brought into his treasury, which was carried out. Ibrahim presented himself to
him and obtained pardon of him. As for Soleiman, he went into the desert of Phoenicia and
hid there for some time. In this same year, Constantine, emperor of the Greeks, entered
Constantinople, captured the rebel who had revolted against him and put him to death;
after that he occupied the throne. That occurred in the year 1040 (?) of Alexander, 127 of
the Arabs.

270 The Arabs of the desert, who are called Kelbites, gathered around Soleiman and marched
on Tadmor which is in the desert, to the East of Rousafah. In that year, a comet appeared.
The same year, a rebel named Thabit revolted in Palestine; he gathered many troops and
captured Syria. The same year still, in Koufah and Deir-al-`Aqoul, Dhahhak-al-Harouri
revolted; he captured most of Iraq, marched against Marwan and, when he was in his
vicinity, he sent a delegation to him, took an oath to him and accepted safety from him.
When Dhahhak had given oath and Marwan-ibn-Mohammed had ordered him to return to his
country, Marwan passed the Euphrates and went against Thabit the rebel of Palestine.
Thabit, learning of the arrival of Marwan, went to Tabariyah (Tiberias). When Marwan
passed by Emesa, a man of its inhabitants revolted: he gathered the Kelbites and was
master of Emesa. Marwan attacked him, captured him and killed him with all his followers
whom he hanged, and he exiled all the Kelbites from Emesa; he then made a large breach in
the wall of Emesa.

271 However Thabit had marched on Tabariyah. The inhabitants of the city, informed of his
arrival, made sorties every day to fight him; they killed approximately 10,000 of his men
and plundered his riches. Thabit then with his sons and a certain number of his followers
moved towards Moultan (?), where he remained wandering and fugitive. Marwan arrived in
Palestine and learned how the inhabitants of Tabariyah had treated Thabit, and he showed
himself very satisfied at this; he treated the inhabitants of Palestine well and
appreciated their help. He halted and sent troops to the pursuit of the rebel Thabit who
was... rejoined in the mountains of...; the troops captured him and the followers who
accompanied him, and brought them to Marwan who ordered Thabit's right hand and left foot
cut off. Marwan then left Palestine and went to Damascus where he had Thabit killed. 272
Then Marwan went from Damascus to Raqqah, with the intention to go down into Iraq.
Soleiman-ibn-Hicham sent a delegation to him to ask for peace; Marwan granted it to him,
and (Soleiman) presented himself to him. Marwan left for Raqqah, and Soleiman asked him
for permission to go to Rousafah and to remain there for a few days. Marwan allowed him
to, and Soleiman departed. When Marwan was at Qirqisiyah, Soleiman-ibn-Hicham revolted and
gathered the Arabs of Syria; most of the Arabs who were with Marwan took the part of
Soleiman who resolved to march on Harran. Marwan, informed of these events and knowing
that Soleiman had made many recruits, gave up the intention which he had formed, went to
Raqqah and transported himself from one place to the other, in making war. Soleiman met
him, and they came to blows. Soleiman was overcome, and 7,000 men of his followers were
killed. Soleiman escaped, got to the desert of Phoenicia and went to Tadmor. Marwan
ordered that the fields of Hicham which were on the Euphrates and in other places should
be devastated. Then a certain number of the followers of Hicham fortified themselves in a
fort which was located on the Euphrates, opposite Rahbah, and put themselves to insult and
to injure Marwan. He sent troops against them and reduced them. Their heads were cut off.
They were approximately 400 men.

273 The inhabitants of Emesa then revolted against Marwan; they killed `Abdallah, his
governor at Emesa, and repaired the breach that Marwan had made in the fortress. The
Kelbite Arabs took the part of Yazid-ibn-Hicham, arrived at Damascus and besieged it. In
Palestine, the sons of Thabit rose, made themselves masters of the region and made war on
those who remained faithful to Marwan. Dhahhak-al-Harouri acted at the same time in Iraq
and gathered many troops against Marwan. Surrounded on all sides with misfortunes and
encircled with enemies, Marwan sent his son `Abdallah with troops to Nisibis, because he
had learned that Dhahhak was going there; and (at the same time) he sent troops with
Yazid-ibn-Houbeirah to Qirqisiyah. Marwan gave them, both of them, his recommendations and
said to them: "Dhahhak has risen; one of you fight him; the second will thus have free
movement, he will go down into Iraq, will occupy the country and will capture it!" Marwan
moved towards Emesa. The inhabitants, informed of his march, sent against him a man named
Mo`awia with troops to make resistance; they then chose Sa`id-ibn-Hicham and put him at
their head. Soleiman-ibn-Hicham was complicit with them. Having arrived at Qinnesrin,
Marwan learned that Mo`awia was moving against him; he went to meet him, found him, put
him to rout and killed him and most of his men; he then went against Emesa and besieged it
in the spring; he sent messengers to the city, promised safety to the inhabitants,
addressed them and promised forgiveness to them. But they refused to submit themselves.
Seeing that, Marwan drew up the balistas and waited with patience.

274 However Dhahhak-al-Harouri marched on Mosul, killed Marwan's governor who was there,
then arrived at Nisibis and besieged it. On this news, Yazid went down to Iraq, killed all
the followers of Dhahhak and the members of his family which he found and maintained order
throughout the East. Marwan sent Abu'l-Ward with many troops into Palestine. He found
there a son of Thabit which he put to rout, made captive and brought him to Marwan who was
at Emesa. The siege of Emesa continued and the inhabitants refused to open the gates to
Marwan; he then ordered his troops to traverse the province and the villages of Emesa and
to devastate them. The inhabitants of Emesa, at this sight, wrote (to Marwan) and asked
for the aman. Marwan granted this to them, except for Sa`id-ibn-Hicham. (The inhabitants
of Emesa) then opened the gates. While the people underwent this misfortune, the emperor
of the Greeks made a raid into Syria and arrived at Delouk. Learning that Marwan had
captured Emesa, he feared attack and returned to Constantinople with many prisoners.

275 In this same year, there was thick darkness which was prolonged for five days in the
month of Ab (August); the atmosphere was dull and obscure; the sun resembled blood and its
light was weak. It was not an eclipse of the sun, but a great darkness in the sky. Marwan
destroyed the walls of Emesa and Ba`lbek; then he returned to Harran and camped there;
then he arose to go to Nisibis to the encounter with Dhahhak-al-Harouri. Dhahhak, informed
of the arrival of Marwan, left the city and went to meet him. Soleiman-ibn-Hicham had
already taken the part of Dhahhak. Dhahhak arrived at Kafartoutha and besieged it. Marwan
arrived at Ras-`Ayn and left there against Dhahhak, which he met between Ras'ayn and
Kafartoutha. The battle began between them and many people succumbed on both sides.
Dhahhak and his followers took flight; Marwan pursued them, caught up with them and killed
them all with Dhahhak.

276 After the death of Dhahhak, the Harourites took as leader a man named Khaibari. This
Khaibari disguised himself and penetrated the camp of Marwan; he traversed it and arrived
at the tent of Marwan. Then he suddenly attacked Marwan and his followers. Marwan and his
followers were overcome. Marwan himself would have perished, except that his son `Abdallah
and a group of Arabs of his companions who returned after their rout, attacked the
Harourites and drove them out of their camp. Then the Harourites met again and elected as
leader a man named Cheiban, who raised an army and marched to Niniveh. Marwan went against
him and halted in the vicinity. The war between them continued little by little and was
prolonged for two months. Then the troops of Marwan attacked the Harourites, put them to
rout and pursued them as far as Azerbaijan. (Marwan) then sent Amrou-ibn-Sanarah with many
troops to the pursuit of the Harourites. Then Marwan in flight returned to Harran and
remained there.

277 At that time, Constantine, emperor of the Greeks, made a raid into Syria (ach-Chamat
and Souriyah), attacked several places and returned from there. In the month of Kanoun II
(January), there was a violent earthquake on the coast of the sea of Palestine. Many
places were devastated, and many people perished, especially in Tiberias, where more than
100,000 men succumbed. The people were swamped with these misfortunes and these wars, when
a man named Abu-Muslim revolted in Koufah and Deir-al-`Aqoul; he conferred confidentially
with the population and made them share his ideas; the people answered his call, and he
and his followers put on black clothing. There were with him 14 men of the Shiites. They
made professions of abstinence, mortification and attachment to the family of Mohammed-
ibn-`Abdallah who had been the origin of the empire of the Arabs, and they let their hair
grow. Many people of Khorasan joined them and formed a great party. When they were a very
significant party, they took an oath to Ibrahim-ibn-Mohammed... he arrived in the
fortified camp of Harran and massacred the principal leaders of the Arabs and
Khorasanians.

278 Then this news came to Marwan, who was overcome with sadness. He wrote to Amrou-ibn-
Sanarah who was at that time in Iraq, and ordered him to go against Ibrahim and to fight
him. Abu-Muslim had captured Djordjan, Ray, Qirmisin (Qirmanchah) and most of the cities
of Khorasan and had constrained the inhabitants to take an oath to Ibrahim-ibn-Mohammed.
Amrou-ibn-Sanarah marched against him and met him at Ispahan. The inhabitants of Khorasan
put him to rout and killed him and his followers. Yazid-ibn-Houbeirah was a governor on
behalf of Marwan-ibn-Mohammed over all the East. After the death of Amrou-ibn-Sanarah,
Yazid-ibn-Houbeirah gathered troops from Iraq and camped near Madain. When Abu-Muslim saw
this, he attacked him there and Yazid fled before Abu-Muslim and made a halt between the
two rivers, i.e. between the Euphrates and the Tigris. Then Abu-Muslim the Khorasanian
went against him, and (Yazid) fled (again), entered Wasit and fortified himself there.
Abu-Muslim delivered his camp and his riches over to plundering. Yazid-ibn-Houbeirah had
already collected at Wasit the riches and the goods which he needed.

279 Then Abu-Muslim went to Deir-al-`Aqoul, met there a man of his party and asked his
advice on what must be done. The family of Ibrahim-ibn-Mohammed was worried in that time
at Koufah. Marwan had sent (troops) against Ibrahim, had captured him, had put him in
prison at Harran; and all his brothers had taken flight. Ibrahim died in prison, after
having designated as successor his brother `Abdallah called Abu'l-Abbas. Then Abu-Muslim
went to find `Abdallah in his retirement, made him come out and proclaimed him king with
all Khorasanians who were with him. When `Abdallah-ibn-Mohammed had become king, he sent a
man called Abu-`Aoun, with the troops of Khorasan, against Mosul; he sent Hasan-ibn-
Qahtabah with troops against Yazid-ibn-Houbeirah who was in Wasit. At this news, Marwan
sent his son `Abdallah with many troops to Mosul; he also sent his other son `Oubeidallah
to Qirqisiyah. Abu'l-Abbas sent his elder brother to Wasit against Ibn-Qahtabah, charged
him with command of these troops and ordered him to make them take an oath. He (also) sent
his uncle `Abd-allah-ibn-`Ali to Mosul against Ibn-Abu-`Aoun, conferred the administration
of this city on him and ordered him to administer an oath to the western troops and
others. `Abdallah-al-Mansour, when he arrived at Wasit, found that Hasan-ibn-Qahtabah was
besieging it and avoided the battle. Then he ordered his troops to prepare for combat. The
two parties met, and engaged in combat and the battle lasted a few days.

280 Then Marwan-ibn-Mohammed assembled the troops of Syria, Egypt and Mesopotamia and
marched on Mosul. `Abdallah-ibn-`Ali, who had arrived with troops from Khorasan, made a
halt on the Great Euphrates at Mosul. `Abdallah-ibn-Marwan also arrived there and halted
on the western side, opposite `AbdalIah-ibn-`Ali; but they did not start the battle,
waiting for the arrival of Marwan. When the letters (of Marwan) reached his son where he
was enjoining to him to pass (the river) of Zab, to camp on its Eastern bank and to
surround his camp with a ditch, `Abdallah carried out these orders; he built over the Zab
a bridge, prepared his soldiers for battle and equipped the cavalry and the infantry. At
the first meeting, Marwan found that the Khorasanians were brave, that they did not yield
in the battle (and were) like blocks of stones unaffected by either iron nor fire; that
they were courageous and valiant. The war between the two parties was prolonged, and every
day they sustained losses that God alone knows; soon the soldiers of Marwan lacked ardour
and lost courage, while the Khorasanians remained firm and quickly decided the victory.
The Syrians felt weakness; (the Khorasanians) attacked them with so much force that they
put them to rout; (the Syrians) fled and piled up on the bridge, one on another; the
greatest part fell into the Euphrates and drowned; others died trodden underfoot and
crushed; the remainder perished in the battle or were made prisoner.

281 And Theophilus the astrologer, from whom we drew this information, tells us: "Myself,
I was all the time an eyewitness of these engagements, I noted many things and nothing of
what relates to them has escaped me." Theophilus composed on this subject several books
from which we extracted this summary, and we have included what we believe should not be
overlooked, but we have avoided being so long, as far as we could. Let us return to our
account. When `Abdallah-ibn-`Ali had gained the victory and Marwan and his soldiers had
been completely demolished, Marwan and his son `Abdallah ran away to Harran. Marwan
rejoined his family and his clients, gathered as much wealth and weapons as he could,
crossed the Euphrates and went towards Ascalon to await there what the Khorasanians would
do. Then `Abdallah-ibn-`Ali, at the head of his troops, went against the troops of Marwan,
captured the wealth, weapons and other things which were there, and brought back the whole
to `Abdallah-ibn-Mohammed, who was at Koufah. After the flight of Marwan-ibn-Mohammed, the
Arabs of Syria and Mesopotamia, as well as the non-Arab inhabitants of Mesopotamia, took
an oath to `Abdallah-ibn-`Ali. The battle between `Abdallah-ibn-`Ali and Marwan-ibn-
Mohammed took place on the Euphrates on Saturday, the 21 of Kanoun II (January), in year
133 of the Arabs.

282 On that day, the empire passed from the Omayyads to the Hashemites.
Abu'l-Abbas-`Abdallah-ibn-Mohammed began to reign and his brother Mansour succeeded him.
`Abdallah-ibn-`Ali went to Harran with troops of Khorasan and ordered the castles of
Marwan which were there to be ruined. He made all trace of him disappear and entrusted the
government of Mesopotamia to Mousa-ibn-Ka`b of Khorasan; then he went to pursue Marwan.
When Walid, who was at Damascus, learned of the arrival of `Abdallah-ibn `Ali, he
fortified himself and prepared for battle; Marwan had ordered him to do this. `Abdallah-
ibn-`Ali arrived and besieged Damascus. He prepared scaling ladders and set them against
the wall, in complicity with some inhabitants of Damascus; but those who were for Walid
fought the troops of `Abdallah and did not let them go up, so that battle began between
them. Then one of the enemies of Walid ran and opened the gates of the city. The soldiers
of `Abdallah-ibn-`Ali there entered and gave (the inhabitants) to the edge of the sword;
for three hours, they did not cease cutting off heads in the markets, in the streets and
in the houses and seizing riches. At midday, `Abdallah-ibn-`Ali ordered an end to the
massacre. Walid was among the dead; a great number of Christians and Jews had perished.
`Abdallah-ibn-Mohammed sent his uncle Salih-ibn-`Ali with many troops to pursue Marwan and
ordered him to go by the way of Qadisiyah and to move towards Egypt to rejoin his brother
`Abdallah; then to join with him to set out together to pursue Marwan.

283 `Abdallah-ibn-Mohammed-al-Mansour remained still near Wasit, to fight Yazid-ibn-
Houbeirah. The situation of Wasit had become very difficult, and the inhabitants asked
Yazid to leave; they said to him: "If you refuse (to depart), we will help your enemies."
Then Yazid entered into talks with Mansour about safety; and Mansour promised safety to
him and its soldiers. On these conditions they went over to him; but he ordered his head
cut off and to demolish the wall of Wasit; after which, he returned with this news to his
brother Abu'l-Abbas. Then Abu'l-Abbas built for himself a city where he would settle. The
city was built for him on the Euphrates; he called it al-Anbar and he settled there. When
Marwan learned what `Abdallah-ibn-`Ali had done with the body of Walid and that the
inhabitants of Damascus had taken an oath to Abu'l-Abbas, he lost hope and fled with haste
with a small number of his clients and members of his family, who moved towards Egypt;
then he took the route of the Nile and arrived at the borders of Nubia. But he dealt with
Salih-ibn-`Ali who had preceded his brother `Abdallah. This last had been delayed under
the walls of Damascus, then had entered the city and had halted there.

284 When he arrived in Egypt, Salih-ibn-`Ali sent one of his followers, named `Amir-ibn-
Isma`il, with troops to seek Marwan-ibn-Mohammed, who he found camped on the Nile. Then he
attacked by night; the followers of Marwan abandoned him, and he remained alone. He took
refuge on a hill which was there, and ceased fighting only when it fell; he was killed,
and his two sons, `Abdallah and `Obeidallah, fled under a disguise with all the people...
who were on the Nile. Then `Abdallah left `Obeidallah... in Mecca. `Obeidallah marched
to... on the way; and he died. `Amir-[ibn-Isma`il] gathered... the riches which were with
him, and returned to Salih-ibn-`Ali who was in Egypt. He put the corpse of Marwan on a
cross and embalmed his head, which he brought to Abu'l-Abbas, the son of his brother.
Salih-ibn-`Ali was his lieutenant in Palestine; approximately 70 men of Omayyads gathered
to come to him and approached reading the Koran and reciting the words, and thinking that
this would dispose him to pardon them. He had already promised safety for their life and
property, when one day he ordered them to present themselves at his castle. He placed next
to each of them two men of Khorasan who held in their hands a pointed bludgeon. While they
were addressing him, he made a sign with his eyes to the Khorasanians who massacred these
Omayyads with the bludgeons. Salih took their heads and sent them to Abu'l-Abbas; then he
seized their property, set to pursue the remainder, and he persecuted them in Palestine
with so much eagerness that he destroyed them.

285 The Arabs of Syria repented what they had done, when Abu'l-Abbas exposed them to shame
and the domination of strangers who lived their houses and seized their property; they
were disturbed and agitated by this and refused to take an oath. [Habib-ibn-]Mourrah, of
the tribe of Qais... who lived in Ramlah and his province and Abu'l-Ward... its
surroundings and Mansour-ibn-Mohammed... they were thrown into disorder and there was a
sedition.... Hashem... Then. the Arabs... and they captured it. Abu'l-Ward gathered a
great number of Arabs and marched against `Abdallah-ibn-`Ali. `Abdallah left Palestine for
Emesa; he camped in Merdj, to the east of Emesa, and ordered his troops to prepare for
battle. Abu'l-Ward arrived. `Abdallah seeing the many troops of Abu'l-Ward, was frightened
a little. The battle began and many fell on both sides; finally Abu'l-Ward and his troops
fled. `Abdallah took the inhabitants of Syria and returned to Damascus, where he met
Habib-ibn-Mourrah and killed him and his followers. After that he made the inhabitants of
Damascus and all the cities of Syria take an oath.

286 Then Ishaq-ibn-Muslim revolted in Samosata, and the leaders of the tribe of Qais took
his part. He had already put an Arab at the head of most of the towns of Mesopotamia, at
Qirqisiyah, Ras'ayn, Tell-Maouzen (Maouzala), in Kafartoutha, Thamanin, Amid, Mayafariqin
and other towns. Harran recognized the power of Mousa-ibn-Ka`b who was there. Then the
Arabs of Mesopotamia gathered, marched on Harran and fought Mousa-ibn-Ka`b. When the Arabs
learned that Abu'l-Ward had been killed, they were divided and took flight to the last
man. At this news, `Abdallah-ibn-Mohammed sent `Abdallah-al-Mansour with many troops into
Mesopotamia to make peace with the population of their cities and to fight those who would
not take an oath. When he arrived at Qirqisiyah, he named one of his followers as governor
there and went to Harran. As for `Abdallah-ibn-`Ali, he made the inhabitants of Syria
(Chamat and Souriyah) take an oath and for the winter marched on Samosata. Then he
returned, marched against Ishaq-ibn-Muslim and Mansour-ibn-Dja'ounah, promised safety to
them, and they came to him. Then he captured Samosata and made its inhabitants take an
oath. Also `Abdallah-al-Mansour captured all the cities of Mesopotamia and made the
population take an oath. The misfortunes did not stop for nine months.

287 While the people were in these wars, the emperor of the Greeks attacked Malatia,
captured it, made captive the inhabitants and returned home. In this same year, Kousan
(Kouchan), the leader of the Armenians, took most of the inhabitants of Armenia and
deported them into the country of the Greeks. Then `Abdallah-ibn-Mohammed went to Harran
and transported to Anbar the royal treasures of the Omayyads. Then he named Salih-ibn-`Ali
as governor of Egypt and the neighbouring countries; `Abdallah-ibn-al-Mansour as governor
of Mesopotamia and Armenia; Yahya-ibn-Mohammed as governor of Mosul and his province. When
he arrived at Mosul, Yahya-ibn-Mohammed ordered that the Arabs of Mosul and their heads
meet in the Great Mosque, and he massacred them all at the same time; their children and
their wives perished (also). The Arabs were then seized with grief and covered with shame
and humiliation. The Hashemites multiplied their exactions against everyone, whom they
crushed with taxes, and they seized the wealth of all the Arabs.

288 Then a man of the Qoreichites named Habib revolted in Africa; he captured and killed
the governor. Then `Abdallah-al-Mansour entered Armenia, imposed the capitation on the
nobles, confiscated their wealth and made them undergo all kinds of vexations. Then
`Abdallah-ibn-Mohammed wrote to Abu-Muslim who was then in Khorasan to order to him to
come to find him; (he also ordered) `Abdallah-al-Mansour to return to him in haste. When
they had arrived, he ordered `Abdallah to go to Mecca and to direct the pilgrimage, and he
ordered Abu-Muslim to accompany him. (At the same time) he secretly ordered his brother to
take the head of Abu-Muslim if he could. They thus both left together, at the head of many
troops of Arabs and Persians. Then (`Abdallah-ibn-Mohammed) wrote to `Abdallah-ibn-`Ali to
order to him to make a expedition; he thus attacked the Greeks, but did not gain any
success and returned. 289 `Abdallah-al-Mansour entered Mecca, attended the festival and
returned; however Abu'l-Abbas-`Abdallah-ibn-Mohammed died. His death took place on Sunday
7th of Haziran (June), year 136 of the Arabs; his reign had lasted four years and ten
months. He bequeathed the caliphate to Abu-Dja`far-`Abdallah-al-Mansour and then to his
cousin `Isa-ibn-Mousa. In this same year, Constantine, emperor of the Greeks, gathered a
council of approximately 300 bishops at Constantinople concerning the images which were in
the churches. They examined and considered whether they should be venerated or not. Then
they agreed with the emperor that they should not be venerated and could not be allowed
for any other purpose; they brought testimonies of the Sacred Books of the Old and New
Testaments and treatises of the Fathers. They anathematised Jyannis (Jean), son of
Mansour, of Damascus, and Gregorius (Georgius) of Cyprus and wrote many canons. This is
what is called the seventh council.

290 `Abdallah-ibn-`Ali learning of the death of `Abdallah-ibn-Mohammed and seeing that
`Abdallah-al-Mansour and Abu-Muslim were far away, avidly wanted the empire and ordered
the Arabs and Khorasanians which were with him to take an oath to him. They took an oath
to him, except for his brother Salih-ibn-`Ali, who refused. (`Abdallah-ibn-`Ali) had
projected a raid (against the Greeks); but when he aspired to the empire, he renounced the
idea and threw himself on Mesopotamia. There was then, in Harran, a man called Mouqatil
and called al'akki, with many troops that `Abdallah-al-Mansour had established to keep his
place until his return from the pilgrimage. Harran remained firm and did not take an oath
to `Abdallah-ibn-`Ali. The latter arrived there, drew up balistas against the city with
which he fought the inhabitants for forty days. Then they asked him for the aman, which he
granted to them; and the gate of the city was opened to him. Harran taken, `Abdallah-
ibn-`Ali arose to go into Iraq. He preferred the Arabs to the Khorasanians, chose them for
high dignities, and he started to kill Persians and to confiscate their wealth to give to
the Arabs.

291 Then `Abdallah-al-Mansour returned from Mecca with Abu-Muslim and entered Koufah. He
spoke in the pulpit and asked the caliphate for himself; and the people took an oath to
him. Before his arrival, `Isa-ibn-Mousa had already gathered the Arabs of the East and the
Khorasanians, had read the will of Abu'l-Abbas to them, declared to them that `Abdallah-
al-Mansour succeeded him, and by exhortations and promises had led them to take an oath to
`Abdallah-al-Mansour. On his arrival, Mansour found troops which were subjected to him;
the empire was assured to him and his power was consolidated. He then ordered Abu-Muslim
to go with many troops from Mosul to the meeting of `Abdallah-ibn-`Ali who was in this
moment with Qirqisiyah. `Abdallah-ibn-`Ali learned that Abu-Muslim had already left Anbar
and had taken the road to Mosul. `Abdallah-ibn-`Ali, who was camping on the Euphrates,
took the (river) road of Khabour, moved towards the confluence of the Hirmas and Khabour,
then skirted the course of Hirmas and arrived at Nisibis, which he besieged. But Abu-
Muslim pretended to move towards Ras'ayn; then `Abdallah-ibn-`Ali went to pursue. Abu-
Muslim, learning that, left the road of Ras'ayn, detoured, returned by another way and
arrived at Nisibis where he camped and put himself thus between `Abdallah-ibn-`Ali and the
city. Having learned that Abu-Muslim had captured Nisibis, `Abdallah was frightened by
this somewhat and, each time that he was transported from one place to the other, he
started by surrounding his camp with ditches and guards and spiky hedges. Then the two
forces approached; each day was marked by some combat, and on both sides the losses were
considerable.

292 In the sky there appeared a sign like a lance of fire which extended from the east to
the west and sometimes grew, sometimes decreased. During all this time, the war of
`Abdallah-ibn-`Ali dragged on. Then Abu-Muslim, in one of his attacks, beat `Abdallah-
ibn-`Ali, who took flight before him with its followers. (The soldiers of Abu-Muslim)
massacred the followers of `Abdallah-ibn-`Ali and plundered their camp. `Abdallah fled,
hid in an unknown retreat and remained thus unknown until he arrived at Basrah, to his
brother Soleiman-ibn-`Ali. Then Salih-ibn-`Ali sent Abu-`Aoun from Egypt to Palestine with
many troops; he pursued the tribes of the Arabs, massacred them and killed them to the
last man. Their goods and their herds were plundered. Then `Abdallah-al-Mansour sent to
Qirqisiyah a man named Djaouher, at the head of troops of Khorasanians; he entered the
city and killed there 20,000 Arabs. He (also) sent with him Houmeid-ibn-Qahtabah to Mosul.
He had learned that `Abdallah-ibn-`Ali had in fact arrived at Harran and in other towns of
Mesopotamia. He (al-Mansour?) was thus the head of all the Arabs of Mesopotamia and Syria,
after they had despaired and lost hope of preserving life.

293 Then Abu-Muslim returned from Harran while passing by Mosul; then he left the way to
Koufah and Anbar, took the road to Helwan, between Azerbaijan and Iraq, and decided not to
return to Abu-Dja`far. Abu-Dja`far, learning that Abu-Muslim had left for Khorasan,
knowing his intentions, sent against him `Isa-ibn-Mousa. This latter rejoined him and did
not cease showing him benevolence and softness, making him promises, softening him by
flattering and crafty words. He did enough to divert him from his intentions and renounce
them. Then `Isa-ibn-Mousa came with Abu-Muslim to Abu-Dja`far-al-Mansour, who ordered him
killed as soon as he arrived, as he was coming in. 294 There was one of Abu-Muslim's
leaders named Cheibah, who was also a Magus, whom Abu-Muslim had approached in person and
who was in Azerbaijan, where he was awaiting the arrival of Abu-Muslim. When he learned of
his death, he revolted and decided to avenge his blood. Then it came to Ray and perverted
the ideas of the Magi, the Deilemites, the Indians and others, who took his part. This
news came to Abu-Dja`far, who sent against Cheibah a man called Djaouher. The latter
arrived at Ray and attacked Cheibah the Magus who took flight. Djaouher put to death all
those of the Magi who had taken his part, to the number of approximately 50,000; he
captured their families and their goods and forced the inhabitants of Ray to take an oath
to Abu-Dja`far-al-Mansour. Having done that, he remained there and did not return to
Mansour. Then Mansour sent against him Ibn-al-Ach`ath who overcame him and killed him with
all his men. Then Mansour ordered his cousin Salih-ibn-`Ali to establish Abu-`Aoun as
governor of Egypt and to send Cheibah to Syria and to the coastal country. Mansour then
sent Mousa-ibn-Ka`b to Sind and its district where he met a rebel named Asbagh-ibn-Davoud;
he overcame him, killed him with his followers, forced the Arabs and the other inhabitants
to take an oath, established a governor on the country and returned. That took place in
year 137 of the Arabs.

295 Then Constantine, emperor of the Greeks, attacked Qaliqala (Theodosiopolis), captured
and took into captivity its population. Salih-ibn-`Ali made a raid against the Greeks with
troops of Arabs and Persians; then he returned without success; but he took the Armenians
and Alans which the Greeks had brought from Armenia with Kouchan their patrician, and
settled them in Syria. Since that day, the kings of the Greeks have prohibited any of the
Armenians from settling in their empire, and especially in places near the border. At that
time, `Abdallah-al-Mansour rebuilt Malatia, ruined by the kings of the Greeks and
established hostels to be used as dwellings for the soldiers. In Mesopotamia Harouri
called Moulabbid revolted. A great number of Khorasanians took his part. That frightened
`Abdallah-al-Mansour and this matter impressed him a lot. When (the rebel) arrived in
Mosul, `Abdallah-al-Mansour sent Hazim-ibn-Houzeimah against him who overcame him, killed
him with his followers and returned. `Abdallah-al-Mansour named as governor of Khorasan a
man called `Abd-al-Djabbar, who revolted against him. That took place in year 140 of the
Arabs.

296 In this same year, a son of `Ali-ibn-Abu-Talib revolted and was called Mahdi. Part of
the Arabs took his part. `Abdallah-al-Mansour sent against him someone who killed him and
killed his followers. In this same year, Ach' ath made a expedition against Africa; he
conquered it and made its inhabitants take an oath. In this same year, `Abdallah-al-
Mansour ordered the rebuilding of Qaliqala (Theodosiopolis), ruined by the kings of the
Greeks, to establish a garrison and to open the roads. In this same year, (`Abdallah-al-
Mansour) named his son Mohammed governor of Khorasan and sent with him leaders and troops.
`Abd-al-Djabbar the rebel was in Merv. Then a rebel called Hasan-ibn-Harran also revolted
in Djordjan. This country is surrounded by seas and mountains; the Deilemites are to the
west of it; Azerbaijan to the south. The defiles are difficult and the roads narrow, which
makes access difficult. Its length, following the shore of the sea from the east to the
west, is forty parasangs, and its width, from north to south, is twenty parasangs. There
are there vast, large and broad meadows, abundant springs, thick trees and many fruits.
Five cities are met with there; each city has two or three walls; a great number of
fortresses are placed on the top of the high mountains. Its people have delicate bodies,
of a very beautiful hue; they are very skilful in the various trades; they are a numerous
people. Isbehbedh, which was in that time, was called Kourchib.

297 Mohammed-ibn-`Abdallah-al-Mansour sent messengers to him; he overpowered him with
taxes and increased the tribute on him; he ordered him to pay them to him or to come out
against him and declare war. The ambassador that he had sent to him was Abu-`Aoun with
some companions. When the ambassador had presented and read the letter, Isbehbedh treated
him well and sent to Mansour a letter thus designed: "I am a man who compares matters one
with another; and my land is small and narrow. When I think of war, the misfortunes,
testing times, calamities, sorrows and affliction which are involved with it, I become
wise again and I restrain myself. For what I have said, I am ready to give my wealth. With
this I will preserve my honour and my life and will deliver it to him that can come and
get it. What I have paid to others who preceded you, all that will be given likewise to
you.... Take it!"

298 When the ambassador had accepted the answer [of Isbehbedh and] had left, Isbehbedh
hastened to put in safety, in his fortresses, his wealth, weapons and carpets and
fortified himself. His letter came to Mohammed-ibn-`Abdallah. The reading filled him with
anger and fury, and he sent against him Abu-`Aoun with all the troops of Khorasan. They
entered Tabaristan, dispersed among its villages and fields and lived there; they attacked
the inhabitants and caused great devastations. Isbehbedh with his family were safe in the
fortresses which they had fortified. Seeing the many troops which arrived in his country,
he understood that he could not resist them. The troops attacked one fortress, captured it
and there found great wealth, effects, carpets, precious stones and other objects. When
Isbehbedh saw that, he decided to go out to fight the troops. He thus went out against
them with his soldiers; but the troops overcame him; he fled and went to the Deilemites.
Then he gathered on their premises troops of men and returned against his enemies; but
they inflicted a new defeat on him; then he passed to the Deilemites for the second time
and remained there until his death. Then the enemies attacked these fortresses, captured
the wealth, the weapons and the carpets and made captive the inhabitants; then they
conquered the whole country, took everything and withdrew. Then Mohammed-ibn-`Abdallah
departed from Ray and arrived at Nisabour (Nichapour) which is located at the distance
of... parasangs from Djordjan and at a distance from 70 parasangs from...

299 In this same year, a comet [appeared]. It was in Aries, in front of the sun, when the
sun was in Taurus. It went on until it came beneath the rays of the sun; then it went
behind and remained for forty days. Towards the end of that year, Mohammed-ibn-`Abdallah
returned from Khorasan and directed the pilgrimage with `Abdallah-al-Mansour. Then
`Abdallah-al-Mansour built a city on the Tigris above Madain, and called it "city of
peace" (Baghdad). He settled there and set up his court. Then he sent his Mohammed son
into Khorasan and ordered him to settle at Ray. He departed and, having arrived there, he
built beside it another city which he called Mohammediyah. In year 9 of `Abdallah-al-
Mansour, in Medina, a rebel of the family of Fatimah called Mohammed revolted; he was
descended from Hasan-ibn-`Ali-ibn-Abu-Talib. The people took an oath to him. Then
`Abdallah-al-Mansour sent against him his cousin Isa-ibn-Mousa and Houmeid-al-Tousa with
many troops. (`Isa) killed him with his followers, took his head and brought it to Abu-
Dja`far. `Abdallah had already left his city and marched on `Aqoul where he had camped,
when he learned of the death of the rebel and received his head. He had only acted so
because he feared a revolt of the inhabitants of Roufah who had already like those of
Basra and the neighbouring cities taken an oath to the rebel called Ibrahim. The latter,
when he arrived at Basra, made the inhabitants take an oath and decided to make war on
`Abdallah-al-Mansour.

300 When he learned that his brother had been killed, he rose with many troops, marched
against Abu-Dja`far and approached `Aqoul. He was separated from Abu-Dja`far only by a
distance of fifteen parasangs approximately. Then `Isa-ibn-Mousa went out against him with
many troops. (`Isa) overcame him and killed most of his followers. Ibrahim fled and was
not killed in the battle. Then `Isa-ibn-Mousa pursued him, caught up with him and, after
having killed him, brought his head to Abu-Dja`far. After the death of Ibrahim the wars
calmed down and the misfortunes stopped. Then the Khazars made a raid against Haroun (?),
Laziqah and all the Gates of the Alans and made captive 50,000 Arabs with great wealth and
herds. Mousa-ibn-Ka`b went to battle them. But the... Khazars overcame him and killed most
of his soldiers. In this same year, `Abdallah-ibn-Mohammed-al-Mansour violated the oath to
his cousin `Isa-ibn-Mousa that the people had taken to him and according to which they had
agreed to make him king after `Abdallah-al-Mansour. Then the people took an oath to
Mohammed-ibn-`Abdallah and proclaimed him heir to the empire of the Moslems.

301 Constantine took an oath to his son Leo and made him heir to the Greek empire. In this
same year, Constantine, emperor of the Greeks, built several cities and settled there
Armenians and other populations. In year 10 of `Abdallah-al-Mansour, the Arabs captured a
city, in the country of India, which is called Kabul. In this same year, in Khorasan,
there was a violent earthquake, which moved mountains and left untouched neither trees nor
stones. When the ground trembled below, the trees and the stones shattered and
disappeared. In the year 14 of `Abdallah, the Magi revolted in Khorasan and shook the
authority of `Abdallah-al-Mansour for this reason: 302 In a city of Khorasan which is
called Far`is (?), there was a mountain from where much silver was taken. 30,000 workmen
dealt specifically with the exploitation of this mine and the purification. The workmen
were Magi to whom the mountain had been ceded. A very rich mine was discovered there. The
Sultan wanted to take the mountain from them and give it to others. They were opposed to
the implementation of this project, and the Sultan struck a Magus. Then they threw
themselves on him and killed a great number of his soldiers. After that, the Sultan wrote
with Mohammed-ibn-`Abdallah-al-Mansour who was in Ray, to tell him what had occurred. The
latter sent to him 34,000 soldiers who formed his vanguard; then he went out, himself,
against the Magi, at the head of 30,000 soldiers. The people who formed the vanguard
arrived at the mountain where the mines and the Magi were; they started the battle, but
the Magi overcame them and made a very great number perish. Mohammed-ibn-`Abdallah,
learning of the defeat of his soldiers, remained at the place where he was and sent a
letter to `Abdallah-al-Mansour in which he made known to him the fate of his troops and
the business of the mine. He was then at the place which is called Arfasir(?), and he
spent the winter there.

303 After winter had passed, he sent against the rebels a man called Hazim at the head of
40,000 soldiers. When he arrived near the rebels, (his soldiers) attacked them, overcame
them, killed more than 20,000, made captive the survivors whom they sent to Mohammed-
ibn-`Abdallah who was on the Tigris, opposite Baghdad. In year 15 of Mansour, the
inhabitants of Africa rose and killed Amrou-ibn-al-Mouhallab and his troops. Then Yazid-
ibn-al-Mouhallab went against them with many troops, made 30,000 men perish and returned.
Then Mansour left with all his troops and went to Mesopotamia where he remained some time;
he then crossed the Euphrates and arrived in Palestine. He oppressed everyone, caused them
more sorrows and misfortunes that any of the kings his predecessors; he treated them with
such harshness that there was nobody, not a worker, or a servant, or a camel driver, or a
grave-digger, or a farmer, or a charitable man, or any other class of people whom he did
not subject to the tax and whose goods he did not confiscate. People were reduced to such
a degree of misery that some dug up tombs, dragged out the corpses, cooked and ate them;
others killed dogs, roasted them and sold them in the markets. Money disappeared from the
hands of people. An unimaginable distress seized them, and to fill up their misfortune,
the plague started to break out among them.

304 While they were thus in misfortune, Mansour died, after reigning twenty and one years
and three and a half months. In this same year, Constantine, emperor of the Greeks, died,
after reigning thirty-four years and three months. Mohammed-ibn-`Abdallah-al-Mahdi, son of
Mansour, started to reign in year 158 of the Arabs. He ordered the prisons opened and that
all those whom his father had shut up there freed. Leo, son of Constantine, reigned over
the Greeks for five years, from the year 1084 of Alexander. He freed all those which were
in his father's prison, and recalled all those whom he had exiled. In year 2 of Mohammed-
ibn-`Abdallah-al-Mahdi, Abbas-ibn-Mohammed made a raid against the Greeks and arrived at
Ancyra, a town of Galatia; he entered it, but did nothing there. In this same year, four
rebels revolted in the East: one in the country of Sa`id, another in Sedjestan, the third
in Bahrain and the fourth beyond the river.

307 29. Cf. Georgii Elmacini Historia Saracenica, ed. Thomae Erpenii, Leide, 1625, p. 2-3.
Elmacinus abridged the account of Agapius. Michael the Syrian, II, 403-405. 30. Folios
89v-90 are very deteriorated. 31. This relates to the war with Chrosroes in AD 540, and
the capture of Apamea in the same year. 32. The following four lines are illegible. A few
words can be read, suggesting that they concern the death of Mohammed and the transmission
of power to Abu Bekr. Cf. Elmacinus, 9-10, 15. 33. The following six lines are illegible.
A translation is given of whatever can be read. 34. The start of each of the next eight
lines is illegible. 35. The text of this passage is damaged and illegible. 36. Some words
here have been damaged. 37. The remainder of folio 97v is almost illegible. 38. The
remainder of fol. 98 is illegible. The next four pages, consisting of folios 98v, 99, 99v
and 100 cannot be read. These leaves are stuck to each other because of damp and so cannot
be read.

308 39. Apart from the first two words, folios 104v, 105, 105b and 106 are stuck together
and illegible. 40. A damaged line here. 41. Two damaged lines follow. 42. A number of
words are probably missing here. 43. This interesting source used by Agapius is Theophilus
of Edessa, son of Thomas, a distinguished astronomer, who lived under the Caliph al-Madhi
and died in 785 AD. He was the author of works, today lost, which included a history and a
Syriac translation of the Iliad and the Odyssey. Bar Hebraeus mentions and praises him
(Historia dynastiarum, 98 (63), 40 (26), 228, (147-148), ed. Salhani 98. 40, 219-220;
Chronicum Syriacum 134). His name is also found in Michael the Syrian, II, 358: "
Theophilus of Edessa, who was a Chalcedonian and considered hatred of the orthodox as his
heritage, left fraudulently to one side all the histories in which he found record of
us... We borrowed from his Chronicle some of things which are not found in better
sources." See W. Wright, A Short History of Syriac Literature, London, 1894, pp.163-4.

309 44. Five lines are damaged here. 45. Three damaged lines here.


THE BOOK OF GOVERNORS
=====================

THE BOOK OF GOVERNORS Thomas of Marga

fl. c. AD 840

A history of the monastery of Beth ʿAbhe in the mountains of northern Mesopotamia and of
the monks of the Church of the East, written about AD 840 by Thomas, bishop of Marga. It
has six books, with a chapter for each holy man or event. Budge’s many footnotes and his
introduction are left out

BOOK I — CHAPTER 1. THE AUTHOR['S APOLOGY] TO HIM WHO ASKED HIM TO SET [THE HISTORIES] DOWN IN WRITING

1 In accordance with the causes which summoned us to converse with each other from time to
time, and the histories of the holy men, praises of whom were stirred up in us, and the
glorious stories and rehearsings of whose histories I was shewing forth before thee, O our
brother 'Abhd-Īshō', thy mind was filled with truth, and thy tongue with the praise of the
power Who made them victorious, and Who moved His saints. And thy wisdom offered to me
earnest supplications, and helpful persuasions and directions, to set down [my] stories of
holy men in writing, in order that their unwritten histories might neither be forgotten
nor sink into oblivion. And [thou didst ask] me to give to thee written accounts of them
as a rich inheritance, and as an excellent loan, that thy holiness might meditate upon
them, and that thy divine understanding might be sanctified thereby. And although for some
years past this wish hath never been absent from thee, and thou wast diligently urging me
to do [this], sometimes with the living voice, and sometimes by many-lined epistles which
thou wast sending to me to the place where I was, in times past I did not yield to this
thy entreaty.

2 But at one time I took refuge in the inexperience of my speech, and at another [in the
excuse] that there was no necessity for these histories [to be written], inasmuch as the
Catholic Church aboundeth in histories of holy men, even as gardens are filled to
overflowing with all kinds of fruits,—for what are these feeble repetitions of mine in
comparison with [other] books which speak of holy men?—Yet thy desire was not diminished,
nor thy ardour quenched, for by the intercession of others with thy praiseworthy self,
thou didst specially and promptly come to the monastery in which I lived, together with
the sage and philosopher, the wise, and enlightened, and excellent Rabban Paul, [who] very
willingly joined with thee on his own behalf in this exhortation. Thou hast softened the
clay of my understanding with the gentle water of thy persuasion, and therefore since I
attribute all this thy earnestness to the Divine Will I accept thy love's command with all
willingness. And behold, by the help of our Lord, I will make ready to satisfy this thy
desire with all the joyful care of which thy honour is worthy, and I will expand my speech
to praise and glorify the ascetics and holy men who have lived in thy holy Monastery of
Bèth 'Abhè; for to write down the things concerning them thou hast persuaded me enough.

3 And although I shall turn aside from [the writings] of others, yet wherever it is
necessary, I shall add the record and narrative of others, in order to piece together and
to harmonize the histories,—which in this respect require methodical arrangement, and
consecutiveness of completing portions,—and also such repetitions as shew forth the style
and manner of the lives of the holy men concerning whom thy holiness hath persuaded me to
speak. Pray then, with love, and readiness of mind, and good will, and charity, that our
Lord, in His grace, may grant a completion to the praise of His Godhead!

CHAPTER 2. THE CAUSE OF THE HISTORIES

1 When I directed my thoughts to travel along the difficult path of the strict way of life
of holy men, and to bring to light the things concerning them with my mouth, and my
tongue, and my right hand, by the hand of Christ, and by my beloved brethren, and also by
His living word which saith, "All things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye
shall receive", and, "All things are possible to him that believeth", I was commanded to
make Christ my leader and director. And since His treasury is open to faith, "Ask, and ye
shall receive; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you," I will
become a stranger unto all doubt, and I will believe that His graciousness will not
repulse me, and that He will not shut the door of His gift in my face, and that He will
shew forth in my ignorance a free and full gift beyond my merit—even as in times past His
all-sufficient power made manifest speech in the she-ass of the soothsayer, out of the
course of her nature,—and that through me He will display the glory of His saints, in the
one case by His working, in the other by the praise of His majesty, for the glorification
of excellent men is the glorification of God Who made them victorious. For without Him
they are nothing, and are even like unto the tools of a craft without the craftsman, and
without Him they are incapable of anything, and are like unto the clay which can neither
contend with him that mouldeth it, nor can of its own self choose that it may be fashioned
according to its own will.

2 Now, I am commanded by the holy brethren of the holy Monastery of Bêth 'Abhê, in which I
have ministered for many years, that of the written and unwritten histories, and excellent
stories of the holy men who have lived therein, and have been victorious, I should spin a
thread of the stories concerning them, formed of the matters omitted by the compilers of
written and unwritten histories, and of a small selection of stories which I have heard
from approved and venerable men, with whom I have become acquainted there, and that I
should set forth in writing, with much brevity, such accounts as I should find scattered
here and there in the narratives of others, and in the ecclesiastical histories of ancient
authors. And since in the stories which are my own I do not repeat untrue things, I shew
forth the trustworthiness of theirs. And behold I will go into the gardens of their
victorious deeds as into a field, and, as it were, I will glean and gather up together the
choice and well-filled ears of corn, and I will pile up into one sheaf the heap of their
bundles, that from thence they may go into the threshing-floors of hearing, and be ground
in the mill of discernment, and be kneaded in the kneading-trough of belief, and be baked
in the oven of love, and laid as a glorious offering upon the altar of the mind of the
Holy of Holies.

3 For it is said, "The mind which journeyeth to and fro in its state of nature is able to
perceive, and to see, and to believe the glorious things of glorious men, and the accounts
of the contests of mighty warriors, at the same time adding to its knowledge belief", even
as spake he that saith, "and to belief also, confidence; and to confidence, excellence;
and to excellence, righteousness; and to righteousness also, holiness; and to holiness
also, constancy; and to constancy, hope; and to hope, stability; and to stability,
strength; and to strength, love; which is the crown of the completion of the excellent
things, in which standeth our profession, and upon which is laid the foundation of our
doctrine. And all things which have been, and which are, and which shall be, inasmuch as
we have not been spectators of them, we must accept the saying concerning them in faith,
for without it no single one of the things which are related, without seeing could we
accept.

4 Now those who only in a small degree have themselves laboured in the virtues of holy
men, and have participated in the smallest degree in the great joy which is bestowed upon
prosperous toilers in the ascetic life and upon discreet penitents, possess from within a
firm conviction concerning these things which is not an external matter produced by misery
and rumour, inasmuch as experience has taught them that these things which are stated are
true. Let the reader, then, perceive clearly, and let the listener understand, that the
things concerning holy men which my narrative recounts are not vain imaginations of my
own, for I have collected the materials for them from the things which have been said
concerning them in the living speech, and from the written statements which I have found
concerning them in the histories and traditions of others. And I shall finish the contest
which I have undertaken at the wish of my brethren, and shall add according to the
inclination of my opinion, those things which are accepted by discreet

5 able to understand nothing that is not visible, while for the things which are visible
faith is unnecessary, for the sight of the eye seeth them." Philoxenus on Faith (Brit.
Mus. MS. Add. 12,163, fol. 12a, col. 1). 6 and prudent men, provided that they are not
prejudicial to the truth in any particular, not the wonderful signs and miracles, and
mighty deeds which these holy men have wrought, but to speak as [each] occasion shall
require, and to add a word concerning each, one after another, on the things which have
been wrought by them, and to arrange all these things, one after another, in one
consecutive order, a matter which belongeth to the care of writers, and which the order of
historical works requireth. I shall not confound story with story, or history with
history, in such a manner that the mind of the reader will become confused by the mixture
of matters, but I shall, with much brevity, set down each narrative by, and to itself,
that from here universal history may arise, and I shall add story after story, in the form
of chapters [each having] a distinct number. I shall begin my history with Mâr Abraham the
Great, the father of the fathers of the holy men whom I have made ready my words to
praise, as the cause of the effects and as the origin of the orders of ascetics which have
sprung up after him, even as the blessed Abraham is considered to be the father of all
nations, and Israel the father of the Israelites, and Aaron the father of the priests.

7 And I ask our Lord, through the prayers of Mâr Abraham and of the children of his
holiness, and I beg and entreat Him to give me of His spirit, even as [He gave] of the
spirit of Moses to the elders of Israel, that I may hear and relate glorious things of
Him; that I may speak of the glorious things of Him in His saints; that the hearing of the
listeners may be sanctified by the speech of my mouth; that His holy name may be glorified
by my polluted tongue; and that by author and scribe, reader and listener, confessor and
believer, may be woven the rope of glorious things for His holy name for ever and ever.

CHAPTER 3. THE INTRODUCTION TO THE HISTORY

1 In the everlasting knowledge of the wise Creator, the elect are set apart, and the
predestined are written down for the kingdom of heaven. And the types of the Divine
government which were written by the hand of Moses, testify that they indicated aforetime
the things which should happen and should be given at the end, for the confirmation of the
fore-knowledge of the election of holiness. For every matter of Christ our Lord was
plainly brought about thereby, and inasmuch as it was given from heaven, it was inscribed
on a rock in the face of heaven, for there, on mount Sinai, being overshadowed by a cloud
for forty days, Moses wrote down the histories of the worlds which had been, and the
commandments which had been given to the seed of Abraham. And there, by the glory with
which his face was clothed, was it indicated that virginity and holiness should spread
abroad in later times and be exalted.

2 And that thou mayest know that such is the case, follow after the footsteps of the life
and conversation of Christ, and thou shalt find that He expounded and taught this plainly
to His Apostles in taking them up to Mount Tâbhôr (Tabor), where He was changed to glory
(i.e., transfigured) in their sight. And He commanded the earth and it brought up Moses,
and He beckoned to the heavens and they brought down Elijah, and He shewed that the
virginity and holiness which were with Moses were counterparts of the virginity and
holiness which were with Shêm'ôn (Simon) in the heights of His kingdom. And He made
virginity and holiness perfect for them at the time of His Ascension from the earthly
Shâlim (Salem) to Jerusalem, the great city which is in heaven, when He lifted up His holy
hands and blessed them, and commanded them, saying, "Go ye forth and teach all nations,
and baptize them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and teach
them to keep everything which I have commanded you; and behold I am with you all the days
in which the world maintaineth the course of its generations".

3 Virginity and holiness then descended from hand to hand among all nations, but
especially among the pious armies of monks that exist in all quarters of the earth. And
inasmuch as virginity and holiness were established in the mountains, and handed down from
them,—by Moses in Mount Sinai, by Elijah in Mount Carmel, by the blessed Elisha, by the
sons of the Prophets, and by Saint John in the wilderness, by those who were with Simon on
Mount Tabor, by the Lord of the Prophets at the time of His fasting in the wilderness, and
also at the time of His going up into the Mount of Olives,—the ascetic fathers also went
forth into the wilderness and the mountains to preserve the virginity and holiness which
had been handed down to them by the Apostles, and to do battle against "principalities and
powers, and with the evil spirits which are under heaven". And that the Spirits and Will
of God, which completed in the one case and maketh perfect in the other, is one, one of
the saints testifieth, and saith, "The power which I have seen abiding in baptism, which
giveth adoption as sons, and freedom, to those who are baptized, I have also seen in the
dress of a brother on the day in which he received the garb of the solitary life, and it
sanctified him for his work."

4 And that the venerable army of monks may not be despised in thine eyes by reason of the
[superior] manner of life of the Prophets and Apostles, enter, in thy mind, into the
garden of their noble deeds and triumphs, and there, as thou readest, thou shalt be able
to understand the greatness and excellence of this pure and venerable habit of life. There
shalt thou see Abbâ Pâwlê (Paul), who for seventy years, more or less, was ministered unto
by a bird like Elijah the Great; and Abbâ Anțônis (Antonius) with a company of devils
standing before him in perfect subjection; and Abbâ Pambô, who like Moses received the
glory of the image of Adam, and his face shone and became like unto lightning, and he was
like unto a king sitting upon his throne; and Abbâ Silvanus; and Abbâ Sûsâis (Sisoes); and
Abbâ Nastîr who [served] in the monastery; and Abbâ Arsânîs (Arsenius) who was clothed
with heavenly light; and another (?) [monk] whose cell was light by night as by day. May
we be sustained by their prayers in the toilsome strife of their ascetic lives!

Paul the Simple.

6 Paul the Simple was one of the most celebrated disciples of Antony, and was considered
to be the first disciple of that saint. He was alive in 338. For his life see Tillemont,
Mémoires, vii. pp. 66—99; and Sozomen, Hist. Eccles. i. 13. The Syriac version of the
account of his life by Palladius is as follows (fol. 68b): —…

CHAPTER 4. OF THE BLESSED RABBAN MÂR ABRAHAM THE GREAT, THE HEAD OF THE MONASTERY IN MOUNT ÎZLÂ

1 Now as God of old brought out the blessed Abraham from Ör (Ur) of the Chaldees, and made
him, by faith, the father of a multitude of nations, so also He spread abroad and made to
increase this holy habit of the solitary life in all the country of the East, by the hand
of [this] spiritual man, worthy of Abraham in name, and country, and deed, whom He
established to be the father of the army of virgins and men of abstinence. For thus the
ancients write concerning him, more particularly Abbâ John, the writer of the 'History of
Rabban Bar-Idtâ', and Rabban Rôstâm, of the Monastery of Bêth Kôkâ, in the History of
Rabban Mâr Abraham, the head of the monastery of Rabban Zêkhâ Îshô', of the Monastery of
Bêth 'Abhê. Now these writers say that he went to the desert of Êskîtê (Scete), where he
received and took upon himself the order of the ascetic life. Afterwards, by the Divine
command, he came and dwelt in a secret cave in Mount Îzlâ, in the neighbourhood of the
city of Nêşibhîn (Nisibis). And he speedily became known unto men, inasmuch as he was
ordained to be the cause of spiritual benefits unto many, through the everlasting fore-
knowledge of Him who set him apart aforetime, that at his hands, and by his means, the
holy fathers who were to become the founders of famous monasteries of the lands of the
Persians, and Assyrians, and Babylonians, might become disciples.

2 And the fame of his glorious deeds spread abroad into every quarter, like the smell of
choice spices, and a multitude of ascetics were gathered together unto him. He invented
this distinguishing mark of ours, and commanded that the disciples of this holy habit of
life should have their heads shaved like a crown; now before the days and time of his
coming, the mark of the true Christians could not be distinguished from the tonsure of the
Sêwaryânê (i. e., followers of Severus). And as formerly everyone who wished 3 next cuts
off the hair from the top of his head, leaving a space like a "wheel and a crown," which
he sprinkles with water, saying, "Christ will wash away the impurity of thy sins." This
form of tonsure has been associated with St. Peter, and is often called the Roman tonsure;
the shaving of the whole head is called the Greek tonsure, and is associated with St.
Paul. For the service of three years and three months in the monastery before receiving
the tonsure see Hoffmann, Auszüge, p. 101, note 907. In the Jacobite office "the priest
takes some of the hair from the front, and back, and each side of his head in the form of
a cross" to learn and to become master of the heathen philosophy of the Greeks went to
Athens, the famous city of philosophers, so in this case, every one who desired to be
instructed in spiritual philosophy went to the holy Monastery of Rabban Mâr Abraham, and
inscribed himself in sonship to him. Thus after many years, when the pursuit of the
monastic life and voluntary abstinence had greatly increased, and when, during the
lifetime of that holy man, fathers had gone forth from his congregation, and had, like
him, built monasteries, he was gathered [to his fathers] in honour, and went to
incorruptible life.

CHAPTER 5. OF MÂR DÂDH-ÎSHÔ

Now this blessed man Dâdh-Îshô, who, according to what we have learned from history
concerning him, became governor after Rabban Mâr Abraham, formerly lived in Dairâ dhê
Rishâ (i. e., Monastery of the Head), in this country of Margâ, with Rabban Êstaphnôs
(Stephen) the Great, who was famous and renowned in all the East. When he had continued
with him for a period of seven years, he departed to Rabban Mâr Abraham, and was, it is
said, the first to come to him. And he ministered unto him a long time, and after Mār
Abraham had departed from this mortal life to that of peace, Mār Dādh-Īshō' became the
head and governor of the monastery after him. And the historians magnify him and say that
in respect of the humility which he possessed, and his despising of self, and his
abstinence and asceticism, he surpassed all others of his time. And the name and glory of
his godly habits of life was, like that of his master, carried into all places, and by his
means that holy convent flourished, and increased in holy men who became his disciples.

CHAPTER 6. OF OUR RABBAN MĀR JACOB OF BĒTH-'ĀBHĒ

1 Now this holy man Rabban Jacob sprang from the town of Lāshōm of Bēth-Garmai. And having
dwelt Marāgah a city of Adhōrbāijān, with which it is sometimes confounded by Assemānī,
(B. O., iii. 2, p. 752). See Hoffmann, Auszüge, pp. 222—227 and the authorities quoted by
him; Rich, Narrative of a Residence in Koordistan, vol. 2, pp. 72, 80; and Felix Jones,
Notes on the Topography of Nineveh, p. 405 ff. (in Selections from the Records of the
Bombay Government, No. xlii. New Series. Bombay 1857). in divers places for many years,
sometimes in teaching and exercising himself and others in the Scriptures, and sometimes
in leading the life of a solitary in quiet places, he went up to the monastery [of Mount
Îzlâ], and became a disciple of Rabban Mâr Dâdh-Îshô; and he lived as an anchorite in the
cell of Mâr Jacob, Bishop of Nisibis. And this blessed man, our Jacob, dwelt in that cell
for a certain time, according to what Sâhdônâ saith concerning him, for seven years. Now
when the holy Mâr Dâdh-Îshô had also departed to the life of blessedness, the holy Mâr
Bâbhai the Great became the head of that holy monastery. But inasmuch as our holy father
Mâr Jacob chose great humility, and to be thought of no account at all, according to what
his disciples write concerning him, he made himself a stranger to all positions of worldly
honour, and he made himself a servant of all that holy brotherhood. And although before
God, the Lord of all, he was a great and honourable man, yet by reason of his nakedness
and poverty he was despised and held to be of no account by those void of understanding.
And he set

2 the W., by the Ḥemrîn mountains on the S., and the Diyâlâ and Shirwân rivers on the E.
The identification of the towns, rivers, etc., in this diocese has been excellently worked
out by Hoffmann, Auszüge, pp. 253ff., 'Umfang der Diöcese Bèth Garmai.' For towns in Bèth
Garmai, see pp. 267—277. aside many conflicts and afflictions [caused] by the rebellious
devils there, to whom he appeared as one not to be conquered by any means whatever; but
they made a goad for him as we are shortly about to say.

CHAPTER 7. OF THE BLESSED MÂR BÂBHAI

Now this blessed man Mâr Bâbhai came from Bêth 'Ainâthâ, a city of Bêth Zabhdai, and
according to what is written concerning him, he also was, like Jacob our father, a
disciple of Mār Abraham. [And although he was] a learned and a wise man, he was by nature
somewhat hasty of speech and harsh in command. He wrote a lucid commentary on the works of
the Fathers. Now when Mār Dādh-Īshōʿ had departed this life, and Mār Bābhai had become the
head of the community, being the third head in the order of succession, Satan began to sow
the accursed tares of the doctrine of abominable things in that blessed field of choice
wheat sown by excellent husbandmen.

CHAPTER 8. OF THE CORRUPT MEN WHO ROSE UP IN HIS DAYS IN THE HOLY MONASTERY [OF MOUNT ĪZLĀ]

1 Now Satan, the enemy of the race of man, who from the beginning fought with our parents
in Eden; who wickedly Bēth Zabhdai was a district on the western or right bank of the
Tigris, adjacent to Gazīret ibn ʿOmar. 2 sowed the name of polytheism in the world; who
drew on Cain to his own will; who made the sons of God to sin, and brought them down from
their membership in the divine household; who made the licentious Ham rejoice in the shame
of his father; who taught those senseless builders to build a tower in Shinar to fight
against God; who alienated Esau from a right course of action; who made the sons of the
prophet Moses to cast off the yoke that they might not walk in the glorious manner of life
of their father; who made the sons of Eli and the sons of Samuel to take bribes and to
sport with the women in the tabernacle; who made Gehazi a stranger to the calling and
manner of life which the service of the blessed Elijah required;—when that enemy saw that
that holy assembly, by a course of life exalted above the body and out of the common
order, was shining with the rays of the light of purity, he set apart for himself in that
flock certain solitaries, and filled them with the spirit of whoredom, and he confounded
their imaginations with the lust of the flesh, the mother of lasciviousness.

3 Now if these men had at the first growth of their imaginations resisted the wiles of
Satan, and [had not made themselves] a place of refuge for the wicked thoughts which he
was sowing in them even for a moment, they could at once have cast them out of their
minds, and he would neither have been able to do harm to their upright understanding, nor
to make them the ready vessels of his will. And it happened to them according to what Abbâ
Pôman (Poemen) spake, saying, "The Evil One has three powers which go before all sin.
First of all he lays down error, and after error, negligence, and after negligence, lust.
Now when error hath obtained the mastery over a solitary brother, it taketh away the
remembrance of divine things from his heart, and delivereth him over to negligence, that
he may not be aroused and put away from him the slumber of his remissness; and after
negligence cometh the madness of lascivious desire, by reason of which the whole man
becometh a vessel perfected for destruction. What then? Those wretched and contemptible
men, by the evil counsel of the Calumniator, went down secretly, and took unto themselves
women, whom, according to what history handeth down, they brought to the outside cells in
which they lived; and they continued in this corrupt and abominable course of life some
short time.

4 But our God, that good and gracious Being, Who is longsuffering towards sinners, and
desireth the improvement and the saving of their lives, when He saw that penitence for the
wickedness which they were committing had not entered into them, and that they being
themselves impure and defiled, were living in a holy place, and among holy men, and were
not ashamed, He exposed them and put them to shame in this manner.

CHAPTER 9. OF THE HOLY MAN RABBAN MÂR ÊLÎYÂ

1 Now there lived in that holy monastery the truly blessed man Mâr Êlîyâ, who in earthly
descent came "Abbâ Pœmen says, 'Satan hath three powers which go before all sin: the first
is error, the second is negligence, and the third is lust. When error entereth in it
giveth birth to negligence, and from negligence ariseth lust, and through lust man
falleth. Now if [a man] be watchful of error, negligence cannot come; and if he be not
negligent lust cannot arise; and if he work not lust, by the help of Christ he will never
fall'." (fol. 228b). from Ḥirthā, the great city of the Ṭayyāyē (Arabs). He was instructed
in doctrine in the city of Nisibis, and he also became a disciple of the ascetic life in
the holy monastery [there]. He followed the path of monastic life blamelessly, and being
remote and free from the gratification of the senses of the body, he excelled in self-
denial, and in zeal against the devils and passions of the body like his namesake [Elijah
the Tishbite], even as the holy man Abbā Māḵāris (Macarius) saith to the wise Mâr
Evagrius, "So long as we make the devils rage we abide without injury." And although this
blessed man naturally kept the strength of his wrath [to fight] against obstacles to a
life of excellence,

2 the death of Antony the Great. Macarius the Younger, or Alexandrian, retired to the
desert about A. D. 335. Before 349 he went to the Monastery of Saint Pachomius, where he
died A. D. 394. Like his namesake Macarius the Egyptian he visited Antony, and also
suffered banishment with his namesake. See Sozomen, Hist. Eccles., iv. 23; Socrates, Hist.
Eccles., iii. 14; Rufinus, Hist. Eccles., ii. 4; Tillemont, Mémoires, vii. pp. 57 and 102.
At the end of the notice of the Macarii by Palladius the Syriac version has the following:
— he abode without offence and without injury in [his] love for man, and in the love of
the exact image of the excellence which [cometh from] the God of our frail nature. Now by
the hand of this man, who was admirable in his manner of life, God, the Lord of all,
exposed the secret crime which had taken place in that holy congregation in his days. And
as God, the Lord of all, destroyed and slew the prophets of Baal by the hand of the
blessed Mār Elijah, so it pleased the Lord of all to root out and destroy those evil
thorns, which were fit and ready for the fiery furnace, that is, the unclean work and
manner of life of those men, by the hand of this namesake and fellow-soldier of Elijah the
prophet.

3 Now some say that he received a revelation from God, and that in an angelic vision he
was commanded to go down from his own cell in the night season to the cells of those men;
others say that it happened accidentally, and that he heard the noise of the rods which
the women were using in weaving garments; and others that he found little boys and girls,
the children of those men, playing round about the cells of their fathers, and that when
he asked them who they were, and whence they came, they answered him saying, "We belong to
this place, and our fathers are such an one, and such an one; but by whatever way it
happened, we must know that Elijah did not leave his cell without the divine
command,—especially at eventide when a solitary should be diligent in casting choice
aromas into the censer of his heart, to make from them a sweet-smelling savour for the
whole night,—merely to go down [to walk] among the cells of the solitaries. Now when he
saw and knew [what had happened], he marvelled with an exceeding great wonder.

4 And since by nature heat of temper and exciteable and fiery zeal cleave to the race of
Ishmaelites, he burned with fervour and became hot with wrath, and like Elijah the prophet
he complained to God, saying, "The children of Israel have forsaken Thy covenant, they
have trodden Thy law under foot, they have forgotten Thy commandments, and instead of the
fatherhood of Abraham their father, they have chosen for their father Satan the enemy of
the race of man."

CHAPTER 10. OF THOSE THINGS WHICH THE BLESSED MAN DID ON THE MORNING OF THAT DAY

1 It was a custom in that holy monastery that the board by which the congregation was
summoned should not be struck, for any cause whatever, without the command of the head of
the convent; and whenever this was done without the governor's command it was a sign and
an indication that they were removing the head of the convent from his governorship. 2 Now
when it was morning, the blessed Mâr Elijah went down to the monastery, and commanded the
sacristan to go up and strike the board to summon the congregation. And when the sacristan
heard [this], on account of the greatness and honourable position of him that gave the
command, he did not excuse himself and say, "I cannot do this without the command of
Rabban, the head of the convent," but at the command he did what the blessed man told him;
and all [the monks] were gathered together and came to the church. Now the holy man Mâr
Bâbhai, who was head of the convent in those days, marvelled that contrary to his command,
and for some cause unknown to him, the board to summon the congregation had been struck.
And he called the sacristan and asked him, "By whose command hast thou struck the board?
and the sacristan answered and said, "Mâr Elijah the Zealous commanded me; and Mâr Bâbhai
called Mâr Elijah and told him to reveal to him the cause of this unaccustomed gathering
together. Then Mâr Elijah answered and said, "How is it, O our father and head, that the
things which are done afar off, and at a distance, are revealed to thee, while the
manifest wickedness which is [wrought] near at hand in thy monastery is hidden from thee?

3 How is it that those who are not under the subjection of thy headship tremble and hide
themselves at the report of thy being near or afar off, while in this divine inheritance
Sodom is being raised to life again, und Geba rebuilt? How hath the gangrene and stinking
sore taken root and spread in the members of the holy body of the sons of thy holiness?
What availeth the blessing of our father Abraham, or the bringing up of Mâr Dâdh-Îshô, or
the teaching of the Gihôn river of thy doctrine if thy instruction hath [only] been
fruitful in bringing forth a brood of cursed snakes, which are the children of the
Serpent, the murderer, that is to say these men of our congregation who are sitting before
thee, for behold their eyes see and their ears hear? They have conceived iniquity, and
brought forth falsehood, they have drunk troubled waters, they have eaten husks, they have
whored with the daughters of Moab by the counsel of a spiritual Balaam, and they have
forgotten the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. To thee it belongeth, O our father, like
Phinehas the zealous, to drive the spear of thy zeal into these unclean men, and to rip
open those who have laid a blot on the congregation of the fathers of all the children of
the East. To thee, I say, it belongeth to drive out and to destroy from Bethel, the house
of the Lord God of thy fathers, those men who appeared to me in a vision.

4 Now when these and other such like words had been spoken by the holy mouth, and
trembling and terror had fallen upon every man, the holy Mâr Bâbhai said to him, "Thou
must indeed shew me the proof of these thy words, and that which is proper, and that which
is incumbent upon me to do, I will do. And Elijah making a sign with his hand, pointed out
and discovered those wretched men, and said, "These are they who have erred and gone forth
from the fold of life to feed among the thorns; these are they who have forsaken
Jerusalem, and wished to walk among the serpents of the waste places of Jericho; these are
they who have made a calf in Horeb, and worshipped a molten image, and have changed their
object of honour into filth and unclean stinkingness! Behold there are women in their
cells, and children with them! These are they whose wickedness hath driven me to give a
command and to do a deed without the command of thy holiness."

CHAPTER 11. OF THOSE THINGS WHICH MÂR BÂBHAI AND ALL THE FATHERS DID

Now when these things had been thus zealously said and made manifest by the hand of this
second Elijah, the hearts of those holy men were cast down; and they removed from [the
offenders] the garb of the ascetic life, and cut off the tonsure of their heads, and drove
them forth and expelled them from thence, together with their wives and their children,
and they kindled a flame and burned their cells with fire. Thus they rooted out that evil
from among them, even as the children of Israel, when they were zealous with the zeal of
the will of the Lord, destroyed the children of Benjamin with the mouth of the sword,
because they had corrupted the ways and paths of purity, and had renewed among themselves
the customs of the Sodomites; and as Ishmael and the children of Kentōrâ (Keturah), were
driven forth from the house of Abraham, and made aliens, that they might not inherit the
paternal inheritance together with the son of the free woman; and as Manasseh also was
rejected, who corrupted the holy generations of the Lord, and established in the holy
temple an idol with four faces, [so also were they driven forth and rejected]. Now
although these men went forth in the disgrace of which their actions were worthy, yet,
they finally offered penitence, and remembered Christ their Lord, and they did not bring
their lives to an end with acts of wickedness. Now, by the hand of God, we will speak
concerning these men in the place which requireth it.

CHAPTER 12. OF THE UNLAWFUL ACCUSATION WITH WHICH OUR HOLY MÂR JACOB OF BÊTH 'ÂBHÊ WAS ACCUSED, AND OF THE JUDGMENT, REMOTE FROM JUSTICE, WITH WHICH HE WAS JUDGED

Now when those guilty men had been cast forth into exile, and had been justly driven away
to a great distance, and Satan saw that his labour had been made of none effect, and that
his disciples had been condemned, he wished also to cast out and to drive away from that
[monastery] those chosen and excellent men who would not enter into his snares, and who
could not be caught in his nets. And he stirred up an accusation against the holy Rabban
Mâr Jacob, as being one whose cell was near to the habitations of those men, and as one
who had known of their whole course of life, and who had, during the whole time past,
sheltered instead of discovering them. And the holy Mâr Elijah according to his customary
vehemence made an attack upon him saying, "All this folly is thine, and thou art guilty of
all this sin; for if thou hadst revealed the matter and shown it to me at the beginning,
these men would either have been admonished or expelled." And by this tumult which had
risen up against him, this most meek and humble of all men, who knew not that any sin
besides his own existed in creation, whose eye was pure, and who never perceived
wickedness in his neighbour, who never injured a man all the days of his life, who never
chid and who was never angry, without making any answer whatever to those who blamed him,
with his looks bent to the ground, and with his eyes full of tears, and with sorrowful
penitence in his heart, was he driven forth, and he went out from that monastery by the
order and decree of the word of Mār Bābhai. And he departed with a venerable and holy
disciple called Bar-Nôn who had been his companion for a long time past, and thus they two
went forth to the mountains of Kardô to lead the life of anchorites.

CHAPTER 13. OF THE THINGS WHICH HAPPENED IN THAT HOLY MONASTERY AFTER THE GOING FORTH OF MĀR JACOB

1 It is evident that meekness and humility are the most excellent of all the virtues which
are cultivated and perfected by the body and the soul, and we may learn this from many
things; and that there is nothing worse than pride and arrogance we may also learn from
hearing and reading and seeing. If then, according to the command of the Lord Jesus
Christ, thou art meek and gracious, and art of no account in thine own eyes and thy heart
is filled with penitence and self-condemnation, then thou shalt find that all men [are
thy] friends, and thou shalt turn the harshness of foes to kindness, and our Lord God
shall make thee beloved in the sight of all men. And thou shalt also live uninjured with
destructive beasts and harmful reptiles, like this holy father, who when he was unjustly
condemned, and unlawfully accused, neither judged, nor thought himself to be like unto one
of those men who condemned him, but commended the whole matter to God, to Whom belongeth
the earth, and Who judgeth the round world with righteousness.

2 Now therefore, when the blessed Jacob had thus gone forth therefrom and the honourable
head of the monastery had laid a ban of many lines, [full] of denunciations and
accusations upon him, (let him that desireth to know what manner of ban it was read the
epistle which the holy Mār Īshō'-yahbh, Bishop of Bālādh, who afterwards became
Catholicus, wrote to Mâr Jacob, from which he will learn the exact contents. I do not set
it down here out of respect for Mâr Bâbhai, nor is it right to make an accusation against
holy men who in common with other people, suffer from shortcomings or defects, especially
when the divine Will, which maketh upright men to act according as it pleaseth is hidden
from our understanding) the holy fathers who lived there at that time saw what had been
done, and that that praiseworthy man had without fault been driven forth unjustly, and
they all put on indignation, and rebuked and chid the head of the monastery and strove
with him, saying, "Thou administerest the things of God unjustly and after the manner of
men, and according to a natural disposition which cannot be praised. Thou hast condemned
the blessed and meek Jacob without our knowledge, and thou hast driven him away without
our [consent]. Send then after him, wherever he is, and know that if thou dost not do so
we all shall leave the convent. It is our opinion that he has performed the work of God in
a twofold manner, and that he has acted rightly in sheltering the sinners, and leaving
them to the Divine examination, even though, according to what thou hast decreed
concerning him, he had seen the wickedness. He was not constituted a ruler and a corrector
for thee, but for himself alone was he judge, and it was

3 Hoffmann, Auszüge, pp. 97, 211; and the authorities quoted by Payne Smith (Thesaurus,
col. 530). sufficient for him, and he purified his heart from seeing the wickedness of
others. In which of the Scriptures canst thou shew us that we are commanded to neglect the
care of our own souls, to judge the sins of others, after the manner of outside judges who
pursue gnats with care, and swallow camels? On the contrary we are commanded to pray for
our enemies, and to love him that hateth us, and that to him who would strive with us and
who would take away from us our tunic, we should also give our cloak. Moreover also, it
was thy bounden duty to correct those sinful men mercifully, and the women with whom they
were united would have gone forth, and the men would have been sanctified by fasting and
prayer, according to what we learn in the Holy Scriptures was done in various places to
sinners and transgressors, even as the man in the [Epistle to the] Corinthians who lived
with his father's wife, was corrected and afterwards accepted; and as is written in the
elders, what Abbâ Pôman (Poemen) did to him to whom his wife gave birth, how he afflicted
his heart and returned to his former manner of life; and as in the case of that elder by
whose hands God turned back the young Alexandrian who went to him, saying, "He desireth
not the death of a sinner, but rather that he may turn from his wickedness and live.' Now
when Mâr Bâbhai saw that the holy fathers of his congregation strove with him, and that he
was unable to make an apology for this act, especially as he knew not whither the blessed
Mâr Jacob had gone, he fell into great doubt.

4 because it was torn?' The toiler replied, 'No, I would sew it up and use it again.' The
old man said, 'If thou hast pity upon thy garment which is without feeling, shall not God
have compassion upon the work which He hath fashioned?' 'A certain brother asked Father
Sisoes, saying, What shall I do, father, for I have fallen?' The old man said to him,
'Rise up again.' The brother saith, 'I did rise up, and again I fell.' The old man said to
him, 'Rise up again.' The brother said to him, 'I did rise up again many times, and I
fell.' The old man said to him, 'Rise up again.' The brother said to him, 'Until when?'
The old man said to him, 'Until thou advancest either to good deeds or to ruin, for in
that thing in which a man advanceth he will go on, whether it be to death, or whether it
be to life.'

5 'Abbâ Poemen said, I prefer the man who hath sinned and done wickedly and become good
again to the man who hath never sinned and hath never shown repentance; for the former
hath a humble opinion [of himself], but the latter considereth himself to be a righteous
man.'

CHAPTER 14.

1 Of the dispersion of the holy fathers into all countries, which although it was
considered to have been wrought by evil temper and human passion, was nevertheless the
divine will and work. Now therefore, as the loadstone' collecteth particles of iron, and
attracteth them, and bindeth them to itself, and imparteth to them some of its own force,
so also were those holy fathers, who were gathered together and formed a part of that holy
congregation, [drawn] like particles of iron to the afore-mentioned stone, into that
matter of contention, which beginning with small matters ended with great results, and
they went forth from that monastery because the bond of agreement between them was broken.
Now Mâr Bar-'Idtâ, an ascetic, who possessed the powers of a seer, with the eye of the
spirit foresaw this dispersion, and one day he cried out to the old men of his
congregation, and said to them, "My brethren, many matters come to pass and are wrought in
this world, which from the trials [to which they give rise], or from their outward
appearance, are thought by men either to arise from the opposition of devils, or to have
been performed

3 e., the Black'), and Sabûkht to Bêth-Zabhdai; and Abbâ Sahrowai to Arzôn, where he built
a monastery; Rabban Sabhr-Îshô to the Monastery of 'Abbâ Shappîrâ; Abbâ John of Adharmâh
to Dâsen; and Abbâ Zêkhâ-Îshô and Rabban Abraham to Dâsen,. And they, and many others,
built holy monasteries in various places, and thus by the Divine Power which aided them,
the departure and the dispersion which outwardly carried suffering and strife into their
hearts, at the last became a peace-making and friendly gathering together. And they filled
the country of the East with monasteries, and convents, and habitations of monks, and
Satan who had rejoiced at their discomfiture was put to shame; and they raised up to God
everywhere holy worshippers of His commandments. May we be sustained by our Lord through
their prayers, and according to His Will may we live before him in grace, Amen.

CHAPTER 15. OF RABBAN BAR-HADH-BHÊ-SHABBÂ, [AND OF THE MONASTERY WHICH HE BUILT]

Now this old man Rabban Bar-Hadh-bhê-Shabbâ came from the village of Hadhôdh, and
according to what is written in the history of him, he also was a disciple in the Great
Monastery; and he also came down therefrom in this dispersion and was one of that holy
body of monks who came to Bêth 'Abhê. And he dwelt in the valley which was above his
village Hadhôdh, and built there a large monastery and lived in it. And there were
gathered unto him a few brethren, and he remained with them and excelled in the deeds of a
life of virtue all his days; and he gave large gifts to his monastery and bequeathed to it
all his inheritance of the house of his fathers. And when Rabban Jacob came to him on his
way to Béth Abhê, he also came with him to this holy monastery, and tarried with him until
Mâr Jacob was established in the governorship thereof; then he returned to his own
monastery and dwelt in it all the days of his life. His convent continued for a great many
years, and flourished and increased through the healings and mighty deeds which were
wrought at the place where his bones were laid. Before our time, however, it was entirely
ruined and deserted, and his holy body was removed and laid in the martyrium of this
monastery together with those of the holy fathers; may our assembly be preserved from harm
by their prayers, Amen.

CHAPTER 16. OF THOSE MEN WHO WERE DRIVEN FORTH FROM THE GREAT MONASTERY, AND OF WHITHER THEY WENT AND DWELT, AND OF HOW THEY PLEASED GOD

Neither iniquity, nor sin, nor any kind of folly or shortcoming, hath power or place
before the great might of repentance. It was this power which turned back the prodigal son
to his father's house and enriched him with the paternal inheritance; it sanctified Mary
the sinner; it absolved the thief upon the Cross; it exalted the publican in the temple
above him that fasted; it delivered the inhabitants of Nineveh from destruction; and it
also had mercy upon those sinful monks, and raised up their feebleness to the sonship of a
good name. Now when they had gone forth from that monastery, they sent away the women to
whom the devils had united them, and they went to… to a quiet place where they dwelt for a
long time. And with tears, and penitence, and spiritual suffering, and the burning pains
of conscience, and the contrition of the understanding of their hearts, they purified
themselves from the filthy pollution with which they had been defiled. And from being
lost, they were found; from being cast down, they stood upright; and from being lame, they
walked firmly; from being aliens, they became members of the household [of God]; and from
being outcasts and abominations, they became saints and crowned ones; for they had put
away from them all the riotous living with which they were contaminated. And their minds
shone; and the broken faculties of their understandings were brought to life again; and
they remained like a new man in all the united power which is established by the body and
the soul, that is to say by practice and spiritual contemplation, the two powers by which,
when united we please God, the Lord of all, and honour our neighbour.

CHAPTER 17. OF THE COMING TO THESE MEN OF THE HOLY ABBÂ JONAH THE ASCETIC FROM THE GREAT MONASTERY

1 Now just as when God, the Lord of all, wished to forgive the sins of king David, He sent
Nathan the prophet to him, and by means of the allegory which he composed, made him
perceive his sin, and David confessed that he was guilty of death, and said, 'I have
sinned', and the answer was returned to him, 'Also the Lord hath put away thy folly, thou
shalt not die'; and as when He sent Jonah the prophet, the herald of life, to Nineveh, and
he preached to them, and by his hands the inhabitants thereof were turned back to what was
seemly; so also did He send to those brethren who had sinned, and they were made a
mockery, even as they deserved, and they were made outcasts from the household and
inheritance of their fathers. 2 But when they repented and turned to God with all their
hearts,—just as did the children of Israel when they sent away the remnant of the children
of Benjamin which had escaped from the sword of their brethren to the rock of Rimmon, and
gave them the right hand, and took oaths to them in the name of the Lord that they might
return to their villages, and to their inheritance, and that they might take unto
themselves wives from Israel, and might live and not die—inasmuch as His whole
graciousness and mercy overfloweth the measure of our sins, and the sea of His loving-
kindness bursts forth to help and redeem us on the smallest pretence of repentance which
we show forth,—so by the Divine revelation of His all-powerful Will, He made the blessed
man, the holy Rabban Jonah, come to them from that monastery, and he forgave them their
sin and sanctified them, and he armed them with the spiritual armour of the keeping of the
commandments, and so by a course of life which was pleasing to the Will of God, they were
all made perfect, and they departed from this world with a fair name which bore praise to
the justifier of their lives, and the expiator of their offences, Christ our Lord, to Whom
be glory for ever and ever!

CHAPTER 18. OF SOLOMON BAR-GÂRÂPH THE SOLITARY, FROM THE MONASTERY OF BAR TÛRÂ, AND OF THE HISTORIES WHICH HE WROTE

There was a solitary brother whose name was Solomon bar-Gârâph, from the Monastery of Bar-
Tûrâ, and the period in which he lived is found to have been in the days of the holy Mâr
Hênân-Îshô the Catholicus. Now this man, from careful investigations and from the reports
of trustworthy men who lived in his days, and from the traditions of those who lived
before his time, compiled histories, graceful of speech and elegant of diction, concerning
the anchorites and recluses who lived before his time in various places, and in these he
also speaks concerning our Mâr Jacob of Bêth 'Abhê. And it is from this history, [in]
which he speaketh concerning him, that we know from those who knew [him], that after he
went forth from the Great Monastery, he departed to the Mountains of Kardô; and we are
certain concerning [the time of] his expulsion and his return thither afterwards. But
before I set down in writing that history of our Rabban [Jacob], I will write in this book
another history which Solomon bar-Gârâph composed concerning the blessed Mâr-yahbh and a
virgin, from which is made known how he returned to his cell in the Great Monastery.

CHAPTER 19. OF THE BLESSED MÂR-YAHBH AND OF THE VIRGIN NUN AND RECLUSE

1 One of the holy men narrated what he had heard from the blessed Mâr-yahbh, that glorious
and wonderful man among righteous men, the memorial of whom Rabban Mâr Aphni-Mâran
composed in elegant language, and he said that the blessed Mâr-yahbh repeated [the
following]:—"When I went up into the mountain that I might find God, Who is everywhere,
and is not limited to [any one] place, I found there a holy woman, whose garment, such as
it was, was made of dried grass, and her food consisted of the roots and wild fruits of
the wilderness. And it happened that I found a female child with her to whom she gave
suck. Now [the cause of] the fall of our vile race was also with her who, after having led
the life of [holy and pious] men, I should more truthfully say of holy angels, for forty
years, fell through the working of Satan. Why should I keep silence [concerning this]? Now
the girl whom the Guardian of all mankind raised up from her was, like Mary, in the stead
of Eve, heaven instead of earth, and a life-bearer instead of a death-bearer. And it came
to pass not long after this that the holy woman, her mother, died having led a life of
good deeds which were pleasing to God, and she left the divine woman, her daughter, in her
place.

2 Now this holy man Mâr-yahbh was, at rare times, accustomed to visit this blessed woman,
as he did her mother, and when he felt the help which came from her, he used to say that,
"Although she was in the world, she was not of the world. And I know not at all if she
ever lifted her eyes and looked in my face, for her mind was led captive by the vision of
God. Now when I asked her, 'Art thou content that I should visit thee as I used to visit
thy mother?' she answered me softly in this one word, 'As it pleaseth thee'. Now this
history teaches us that we should not rely upon ourselves, even though we be occupied with
labours, but that we should take heed to men, and be silent, according to the word of the
Fathers.

CHAPTER 20. OF MÂR JACOB OF BÊTH 'ÂBHÊ]

1 Now they say concerning Rabban Jacob, him of Bêth 'Abhê, that when he went forth to that
mountain [Kardô], it was the season of autumn. And a certain holy man dwelt near the hut
of this blessed man without knowing who he was, for he lived in the rock above him, and he
watched the manner of his life. And it came to pass one day that when the blessed Jacob
went forth from his hut, the holy man went down and placed some of the herbs upon which he
lived in the hut. And when [the blessed Jacob] went in and found them, he thought that
they had been placed there for him by an angel of God, and he began to bow his head and
his body down to the ground, and to return praise to God. Now when he took the Book of the
Gospels [in his hands] and began to read, Satan, in the form of a serpent, straightway
flew out between him and the Book, and because of his fear the Book of the Gospels fell
out of his hands. And immediately he heard a voice which said, “Oh!”. Now the voice was
that of the holy man who lived in the rock above him, for he was looking on when the
blessed Jacob was overcome by the Enemy. And he straightway rose up and went down to him,
and said to him, "Art thou thus so speedily thrown down in the fight?

2 And he continued, saying, "Go thou from mountain to mountain, until a woman meeteth
thee; whatsoever she shall say to thee, that do, doubting nothing. Now when he found her,
the girl was in a pear tree, and immediately she saw him, she came down and fled away. And
the elder woman cried out to him at the top of her voice, saying, "If now because of this
snake which thou hast seen thou art altogether terrified, how canst thou bear the severe
onsets of devils? Rise up, and go back to thy cell, for by thy hands God is about to make
a monastery, which shall be great and famous throughout all the East; and take thou this
my Book of the Gospels, which is somewhat defaced, and give me thine. Now inasmuch as that
excellent man had no doubt whatever, the word of the woman was fulfilled [to him] in
unutterable wonder; may we obtain mercy in the Day of Judgment by the prayers of him, and
of her, and of all God-fearing people! Amen.

CHAPTER 21. OF THE RETURN OF MÂR JACOB TO THE MONASTERY OF MOUNT ÎZLÂ

1 Now when the blessed Mâr Jacob had heard these things from the Lord by the hand of that
holy woman, although he would rather that his life had been passed like that of a hermit,
far away from human habitation, and that his dwelling and place of sojourning had been
with the animals, that his mind by the rest and quietness of the desert might have been
united to God, and that he might have been remote from all human feelings and affairs, yet
when he learnt from that holy woman that it was the Will of God that he should return to
dwell with men, and that he should become a father and a bringer up of ascetics and holy
men, and should cause to increase hosts of holy men, who were to become the children and
inheritors of light, he conformed to the Will of God which governeth all things, and
together with his meek and lowly disciple, he returned to that holy monastery [of Mount
Îzlâ]. And [when] he had lived in his cell a little while, the heavenly power urged him,
and he was by it selected to depart without delay; and it moved Mâr Bâbhai, and by means
of it Mâr Jacob went forth therefrom and came to Bêth 'Abhê; but as to how [he left] we
are silent, because we do not wish to appear to bring [the charge of] strife against holy
men by the hands of fools.

2 Now when he went forth nine brethren departed from that monastery with him, and they
clave to him and wished to dwell with him. And when he came to Rabban Bâr-Hadh-bhê-shabbâ,
according to what is written in his history, he received him lovingly, and rejoiced in him
greatly, and went with him to Bêth 'Abhê. And he prophesied to him concerning the growth
of his monastery, and of the greatness of the honour which Christ our Lord would allot to
his congregation, and he tarried with him a short time; and the blessed Bar-Hadh-be-shabbâ
returned to his cell and his monastery.

CHAPTER 22. OF THE JOY AND HAPPINESS, AND THE FESTIVAL FULL OF GLADNESS WHICH THE MONKS MADE BEFORE HIM WHEN THEY CAME TO THIS PLACE

Now as there is joy and gladness to the children, whose father having departed from them
and gone to trade in a far country, and having tarried there a long while, afterwards
returneth to his house in great prosperity because his business hath doubled many times,
and appeareth among his children in perfect health and safety, with his face full of joy
at the sight of them, as he findeth them occupying themselves in those matters which will
give him pleasure, so also Abbâ Benjamin and his companions had joy and gladness in the
coming of the holy Rabban Jacob to them. And they kissed his holy person, and he kissed
them, even like Jacob when Joseph his son appeared, and they wept on each other's necks,
with a weeping which was begotten of gladness of spirit. And he dwelt with them all his
days, in all the humility which our Lord taught the children of His house, saying, "Learn
of Me; for I am meek and lowly in My heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls."

CHAPTER 23. OF THE TIME WHEN RABBAN JACOB CAME TO THIS COUNTRY, AND OF KING KHUSRAU (CHOSROES) [THE SON OF HÔRMÎZD]

1 Now King Khusrau (Chosroes) the son of Hôrmîzd reigned in the nine hundred and first
year, according to the reckoning of the Greeks, and he lived in his kingdom thirty-eight
years. In the fifth year, then, of Khusrau according to what is written by the holy Rabban
Îshô'-zêkhâ, who lived in the days of the last Mâr Îshô'-yahbh, who built the new temple,
the coming of Rabban Jacob to this Monastery took place. And I, myself, having carefully
investigated the matter of the date, have found from the history of Rabban Bar 'Idtâ that
the time of his coming was exactly according to the word of the holy Rabban İshô'-zêkhâ.
Now when King Khusrau wished to build a convent to Shîrin his wife, in the country of
Bêlèshphâr, he sent to the city of Edessa, to the good man of worthy memory, Shamṭâ, the
son of the blessed Mâr Yazdîn, telling him to bring from there copies of the

2 that he was a heathen at heart is evident from his unseemly conduct in the Church at
Dârâ. See Theophylactus 5. caps. 13.14, Evagrius vi. 21. (For an account of Sergius, who
is said to have suffered persecution in the reign of Maximian, see Tillemont, Mémoires,
tom. v. pp. 73,282, and Butler, Lives of the Saints, October 7.) Khusrau ascribed the
pregnancy of his best-loved wife Shirîn to the power of Saint Sergius, but his professions
of Christianity appear rather to have been due to the influence of the woman whose wit and
beauty and gift of singing are famous in the romances of the East, than to conviction.
Holy Scriptures, and Prayer Books, and Lectionaries, which were to belong to that convent.
And after he had gone there, and finished his business, he brought with him for Rabban a
large Service book, and he asked for Rabban's prayers and set out for his own country. And
all the books which Rabban wrote with his own hands, were [copied] from the service book
which the honourable Shamṭâ brought to him, and in the greater number of them may be found
written thus, "Mâr Shamṭâ, the son of Yazdîn, the prince of believers, gave this service
book."

CHAPTER 24. OF THE HONOURABLE BASTÔHMAGH, THE FATHER OF MÂR ÎSHÔ'-YAHBH, THE CATHOLICUS

1 Now Sâhdônâ, the writer of the "History of Rabban Jacob," has omitted from his work many
important matters which he has made extraneous, as for example, asteries everywhere....
And he was beloved by Khusrau even as was Joseph in the sight of Pharaoh, and it is said
that on the morning of each day he used to send one thousand to the King." Yazdîn also
sent money to rebuild the churches at Jerusalem. See Guidi, Un nuovo testo Siriaco, pp.
17,22. the coming of Rabban Mâr Îshô'-zêkhâ to this holy man; the account concerning the
fire which broke out in the monastery and to which he set limits, and it was extinguished;
and the account of the flood which took place in the two valleys, against which he went
forth, and set bounds to it, and little by little he made it go down until it subsided,
that it might not tear up the monastery and the temple in the first place in which it was
built. And concerning these things Mâr Gabriel wrote [also] in the metrical discourse
which he composed on Rabban Jacob, saying, "He straightway extinguished the fire which
broke out in the house of the monastery, and he made to subside the flood which rushed
down to tear up its dwelling." And now, according to [the omissions made] in those things
which Rabban Aphni-Mâran wrote concerning him in his small history of his triumphs, and
according to what we have set down in a preceding chapter [from the history] which
Shêlêmôn bar-Gârâph wrote,—from which the greatness of this man Mâr Jacob is well made
known—so also will I omit what [I wish to omit] and will make ready to write down the
following story concerning the man, worthy of remembrance and of fair renown among the
righteous, Bastôhmagh the nobleman, from the country of Hê-

2 Smith, Thesaurus, coll. 577,2783, and Nöldeke in Z. D. M. G. xxv, p. 672. Hoffmann
thinks that perhaps in Philoxenus = Gr. parelthe ten exo. 3 dhaiyabh. Now he possessed in
this country some small estates, among which was one called Bêth Zîwâ, and whether it was
to visit his estates, or to be blessed by Rabban, he was continually coming to him. And he
always passed over the King's Bridge, which was below his village, the ruins of which are
known to this day, and came by Esṭwân, a village on the Zâbhâ (Zâb). And it came to pass
that once when he was passing over the bridge, he saw some sorceresses washing clothes by
the Zâb, and they were singing to each other the songs of devils, and everything which was
round about them danced as they sang. Now as he drew near to them on his way a small
fragment of one of the refrains which they were singing became fixed in his mind, and when
he had gone a short distance from them, he began to meditate upon what he had heard. And
straightway devils joined themselves to him openly, and required of him, saying, "Command
us to do something which thou wishest us to do. Now when Basṭôhmagh saw this, he feared
greatly, and he acted craftily with them and said to them, "Gather together these stones,
and pile them in a heap,"—now these stones are known to this day—"and follow me whither I
am going.

4 And he drove the mule upon which he was riding quickly along until he came to the cell
of the holy old man, and he said to the devils, "Take this mule, and watch him until I
come out; and he went in trembling, and revealed to Mār Jacob what had happened to him.
And Rabban answered and said to him, "Repeat before me what thou hast heard," and while
Bastôhmagh was repeating, Rabban wrote down upon the ground with his finger what he heard.
And when he had finished it all Rabban made the sign of the cross over the writing, and
said to Bastôhmagh, "Repeat once more what thou hast already repeated; and he said to him,
"I know nothing of it whatever; and Rabban answered, and said as he laughed, "Rise up, and
look after thy mule, for the devils have loosed him and gone away."

CHAPTER 25. OF GREGORY OF TELL-BESME [AND OF THE OFFICE OF CATHOLICUS WHICH HE RECEIVED]

1 In my first apology I made known to thy wisdom beforehand, O our brother, [ʿAbhd-Īshō],
that when I had written down the memorials of the saints which thou hadst entreated me to
write, I should be obliged to insert also the memorials of others who were governors of
the Church in their times, where it was necessary, in order that their period might be
known, and that [this] history might possess a consecutive, historical narrative. Now
therefore at this period the blessed Mâr Sabhr-Îshô was known to be the head of the
Catholic Church, and he served the office of head of the Patriarchate for eight years,
more or less, and he departed from this world in the fourteenth year of king Khusrau in
the city of Nisibis, Mâr Îshô-zêkhâ, the head of the monastery, having departed this
temporary life in the thirteenth year [of this king]. Now when the valiant Khusrau had
captured the city of Dârâ on the borders [of the Greek and Persian territory], in the
fifteenth year of his reign, the Christians demanded from him a Catholicus; and the king
commanded that the blessed Gregory, Metropolitan of the city of Nisibis, whom Mār Sabhr-
Īshō improperly had cast forth into exile,—which act is spoken of in terms of condemnation
in the Church until this day—should be appointed Catholicus. But certain of the teachers
and believing men by whom this matter was to have been carried out, acted with deceit
against the blessed Gregory, because they were afraid of the immeasurable zeal which that
blessed man possessed. Now there was in Māhōzē a certain expositor called

2 founders, and to provoke the jealousy of the Persians, who incessantly complained, that
this impregnable fortress had been constructed in manifest violation of the treaty of
peace between the two empires." Gibbon, Decline, chap. 40. Concerning the first
fortification of Dārā by the Greeks see Wright, Joshua the Stylite, p. 70. Ibn Baṭūṭah
describes it as "very old, white in appearance, with a lofty fortress which is now ruined"
(ed. Defrémery et Sanguinetti, ii, p. 142). The ruins have been well described by Sachau
in his Reise in Mesopotamien, pp. 394, 395. Gregory, and in respect of him they acted
subtilly, and made him Catholicus without the Will of the Holy Spirit, Who [alone]
perfecteth the holy things connected with the Holy Church according to His Will. And
certain other men, [who] had not acted justly in the matter of Gregory [of Nisibis], but
who felt it right to acquiesce in what had been done until the Lord had worked out His
Will, or until Gregory had ended his life, and had passed out of the world, wrote letters
of accusation, and painted pictures [in which they represented] Gregory feeling a hen [to
see] if it was fat [enough] for his food. And the other bishops [acted] in various ways,
which it is not seemly to describe, and they brought these painted drawings and the
letters of accusation before King Khusrau.

CHAPTER 26. OF THE STAGNATION OF THE CHURCH AFTER THE DEATH OF MĀR SABHR-ĪSHŌ THE CATHOLICUS

Now when the king heard and saw these things, and had learned that the Christians had not
enthroned as Catholicus the Gregory whom he had commanded, but had craftily set up
another, he forgot all his love and friendship for the Christians, especially that which
he had for Sabhr-Īshō, and he cursed them angrily, [saying,] 'Gregory shall not minister
as head'; and he swore by the Sun, his god, saying, "As long as I live I will never have
another patriarch in the country of the East," which [threat] he actually carried out, for
the disciple of Satan contrived carefully that the holy priesthood should be removed from
the Christians of the country of his rule. And since there was no father to beget, the
children who had been born came to an end little by little and ceased; and so, until
Khusrau died by the sword of the Christian children of the Church, the holy Church
remained without a Patriarchate. And no Bishops and no Metropolitans were consecrated, and
the holy Church endured grief through the absence of the head and governor, and father of
fathers, the Patriarch.

CHAPTER 27. OF MÂR BÂBHAI, AND OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL VISITATION WHICH HE UNDERTOOK

1 At this time, among the company of the monks, there flourished in doctrine and in a life
of excellence, the blessed Mâr Bâbhai the Great. Now these Metropolitans who were allied
to one another, Mâr Cyriacus of Nisibis, Mar Yônâdhâbh of Adiabene, and Mâr Gabriel of
Karkhâ dhê Bêth Slôkh wrote—now by that time holy monasteries had been built, and they
feared the wicked doctrine of the Mêşallêyânê, and the blackness of the religion of the
heretics lest these regions round about should be sown by the husbandmen of the Evil One,
and it was not easy for them to visit the churches through fear of the government, lest
Khusrau by whom the Patriarch had been established should act deceitfully with them, and
they be delivered over to dangers—to persuade the holy man and teacher of the Church, Már
Bábhai, that as it was evident to every one that he was a solitary and not a bishop, as
long as our Lord was ordering a change in His grace towards the Church, he should visit
the monasteries, and convents, and monks, and repair the breaches and drive out and expel
from the Church him that was sick and broken in wickedness. And these three Metropolitans
did this, and they all wrote letters and entreaties to him, and he, like a prosperous
labourer and a vigorous soldier of the faith, ministered unto the Church, and guarded it,
and glorified it until the murder of the wicked King Khusrau. And after a Catholicus was
ordained he dwelt in quietness in his cell.

2 fection be found. Of them Epiphanius (Haer. 80) says "toti in orationes intenti cetera
negligebant, et, abjectis propter falsam Evangelii interpretationem, bonis fortunae,
otiosi errabant per vicos ac plateas, viris promiscue cum mulieribus dormientibus." They
refused to work, and wandered from city to city begging their daily bread; their
profession and occupation in life was "prayer." Bar-Hebraeus (Chron. Eccles., i. 573)
calls them. See B. O., i, p. 128, col. 2, (where they are mentioned by Ephraem Syrus
together with a number of other heretical sects); Assemâni, Dissertatio de Syris
Nestorianis (B. O., iii. 2, p. CLXXIIff.; iii. 1, p. 101, col. 2, at the top); and
Cotelerius, Eccles. Graec. Monumenta, t. 1, p. 302ff. A good account of the Meṣalléyânê is
given by Tillemont, Mémoires Ecclésiastiques, t. viii, pp. 222—226; and see especially
Guidi, Ostsyrische Bischöfe, in Z. D. M. G., Bd. xliii, p. 391.

CHAPTER 28. THE APOLOGY OF THE AUTHOR TO HIM WHO WOULD ASK A QUESTION

1 If now any contentious man, or anyone peaceably disposed should ask, "Had not these
great Metropolitans power to put an end to the wickedness which was springing up in their
dominions without [the help of] Mār Bābhai? [I answer] Yes, but every Metropolitan is not
necessarily a doctor, neither can every doctor know [how to decide] all questions in
dispute, nor can every doctor successfully contend against all the various false
religions; one doctor hath one quality, and another doctor has another. In the holy Mār
Bābhai, however, all these various qualities were found: [the power of] arguing against
heresies; [the power of] interpreting the Scriptures; [the power of] commenting upon the
writings of the Fathers, and of investigating the matters in them which required searching
out. And thou mayest learn concerning all his varied learning if thou wilt read the books
which he composed; now eighty and four of his works on various subjects are preserved, and
are held in honour by the holy Church. And also, the foul heresy of the Mēṣallēyānē began
with monks, and it was even right that by monks it should be detected, as being those to
whom the visitations of grace are [especially] manifest and the crafty workings of the
devils which come upon monks who keep in the quietness of the cell.

2 And also when the heresy of the Melchisedekians broke out at Scete in the land of Egypt
through the contemptible monks who said that Melchisedek was the son of God, although
there were doctors and famous bishops in their days, yet Theophilus, Bishop of Alexandria,
allowed the blessed Abbâ Macarius, a monk, to make a refutation of this error; and that
holy man actually did so, and made manifest the foolishness of their opinion. So also in
the following affair which happened in the holy Monastery of Rabban Şêlibhâ, which is
situated by the side of Hêghlâ Omêd, a village on the river Tigris, to the brethren Abhâ
and Thomas and Bar-'Idtâ, the solitary brethren and ascetics, who lived in that monastery.
They were by craft falsely accused of being Mêşallêyânê, although they were in no wise
allied to them, and they were ascribed to their sect by certain men who, being envious of
their strict and ascetic manner of life, wrote letters concerning them to the holy Mâr
Hênân-Îshô, the Catholicus, when he was in the Monastery of Mâr Jonah the Prophet at
Nineveh. Now he knowing that he was by all manner of means bound to enquire into this
matter, wrote for them, and they came to him.

3 And he answered and said to them, "My brethren, I have never mixed myself up in those
matters which concern the manner of life of monks, and inasmuch as I have no knowledge
whatever of these things of which ye are held to be guilty, let these matters of which ye
are accused be searched into by the hands of men like unto yourselves. And he wrote
letters and sent them by their hands to this our convent of Bêth 'Abhê, when the holy Mâr
George bar-Şayyâdâ was the head, and the old men of the congregation were Abbâ Nathaniel,
Abbâ Sêlibhâ, and Abhrôî, and Gabriel who was surnamed Şephrônâ and many others. And when
they had been lovingly examined by their brethren, and had manifested before them
visitations of grace remote from all error, [the brethren of Bêth Abhê] wrote letters by
their hands to Mâr Catholicus [informing him of this]; and thus in justification remote
from all falsehood of mind, those blessed men returned to their cells by the command of
Mâr Catholicus. This then is the reason why the fathers who lived in the time of Mâr
Bâbhai required of him to rule the Church, especially the congregations of solitaries.

CHAPTER 29. OF THE COMING OF MÂR BÂBHAI TO THIS MONASTERY [OF BÊTH 'ÂBHÊ], AND OF THE MIRACLE WHICH WAS WROUGHT BEFORE HIM IN THE TEMPLE

1 Now when the blessed Mâr Bâbhai was going round from village to village, and from
monastery to monastery, visiting, and asking questions, and making enquiries concerning
the orthodoxy of belief, and the soundness of the opinions in the minds of all the monks
and heads of monasteries to whom he came, he was pleased also to enter into this our
monastery. Now he did not ask questions here on matters of belief, nor did he require from
Rabban Jacob the results of his deliberations, for he was thoroughly well convinced
concerning his doctrine and of the correctness of the actions of his holiness; for he
looked with his discerning eye, and he saw the manner of the life which he led, and he
smelled from him the savour of grace which entereth into the chambers of the soul, and
maketh glad all its powers. And he required from Rabban "that he would abolish the
glorious order of the service of readings which were read on the holy first days of the
week in honour of the atoning Mysteries, inasmuch as it was not a thing appropriate for
monks, but only for the clergy and the laity. For the solitaries are teachers, and are all
occupied continually with the Scriptures, and courses of readings are therefore
superfluous for them. They have no need of commandments, nor of the dispensation of God
which is especially intended for the laity, which they were originally.

2 And moreover in this work there are questions and answers and speaking, and not every
monk is able to guard his mind and his tongue equally well outside his cell as before he
came out; but I would wish and desire that the monks should go forth to the congregation
from their cells keeping silence, and that they should return to their cells in silence,
as a guard for the tongue which is the storehouse of words. The holy Mâr Jacob said to
him, "To-day let us perform the Holy Mysteries in the customary manner, and let us rejoice
in the participation in the body of Christ our Lord, [before] thou departest from us, and
let us read the readings and not change the order of our service; and whatsoever pleaseth
the Lord let us do whilst thou art here. And this speech was pleasing in the sight of Mâr
Bâbhai. Now there was in the martyrium a certain man smitten with the palsy who had never
walked, but he used to crawl along supporting himself upon his hands, and [when] he raised
up his body, he supported all his weight upon his hands. And when the service of the
Mysteries had begun, Rabban sent the man sick of the palsy to crawl into the temple, and
he also selected for reading the passage from that part of the Gospels where our Lord
commanded the paralytic to walk; and he gave it to one of his disciples and commanded him
to read it.

3 And the paralytic crawled along and went into the temple, and the holy Mār Bābhai saw
him. And it came to pass that as the reader was reading, when he came to that passage in
which Jesus Christ says to the man sick of the palsy, "I say unto thee, O paralytic,
arise, and take up thy bed, and go to thy house," the man sick of the palsy leaped up in
the midst of the temple, and stood upon his feet; and wonder and astonishment seized all
the brethren, and they all turned to the glorifying of God the Lord of all. And Mār Bābhai
especially fell into wonder and amazement, and he knew and understood that this miracle
had, for a long time past, been reserved for the holy Mār Jacob to work on the day when
necessity required it, that it might be a bridle and a thing wherewith to silence those
who wished to abolish the order of service which his holiness had established in the
congregation under his rule. And Mār Bābhai, and those who were with him, rejoiced and
were glad and confirmed his order of service, and praised the ordinances of Rabban; and
the blessed Mâr Bâbhai went forth from this monastery, full of joy and praise, to visit
the other monasteries which yet remained to be visited.

CHAPTER 30. OF THOSE TRIED AND APPROVED MEN WHO BECAME DISCIPLES OF RABBAN MÂR JACOB IN THIS MONASTERY

Now wishing to write concerning the upright children of an upright father, and the noble
heirs to the inheritance of a noble man, and the glorious disciples of a glorious father,
it falleth to me first of all to give utterance to the sayings of the wise man, "The
righteous man who walketh in integrity, blessed are his children after him;" "for the joy
of the righteous man worketh judgment," "and his noble deeds are spoken of by his seed".
And again, "The father of the righteous man shall rejoice, and if a father begets a wise
man he will rejoice in him." And seeing that his own goodness was handed down as a goodly
heritage to his children, the righteous man Mâr Jacob died; but perhaps he did not die,
for he left many behind him like unto himself, concerning whom, by the hand of the Lord I
make ready to write. And the departure of their father was not grievous unto them, because
during his lifetime, they rejoiced him by the beauty of their manner of life, and they
promised him that they would keep his commandments for ever. And on his departure he also
blessed them, and laid his holy hands upon their heads, and they bowed down at the top of
his staff at the time of his going away out of their midst. Now, according to what is
written in the history of him, a large congregation became disciples of Rabban, eighty men
in number, whose names are written in the Book of Life.

CHAPTER 31. OF ABBÂ JOHN THE ELDER

1 Now firstly it is known to us that the holy Abbâ John was an Elder and ascetic from the
country of Bêth Garmai. He was a fellow-labourer and companion of Abbâ Jacob his father,
and in carrying out completely all the glorious actions of an ascetic life, he was a pure
mirror of all beautiful things, for all his contemporaries. Now concerning this man the
holy Mâr Jacob commanded that he should become head of the monastery after him; and when
he resisted, and would not consent to this, he was compelled by absolute necessity to
become the head of this congregation. Concerning him the holy Mâr Îshô'yahbh, when he was
Bishop of Nineveh, wrote to this monastery, because on account of Abbâ John's obstinate
refusal the monks [of Bêth 'Abhê] wished to appoint another head of the monastery in his
stead. And concerning Abbâ John Sâhdônâ made a second funeral oration upon him which
begins "A little time before, when we were following our father to the grave."

2 Now when the blessed man had been head of the monastery for half a year, according to
what I have learned from the aged Elders of whom I was a contemporary here, he forsook the
monastery and departed secretly to the country of Bêth Garmai, to a mountain to the south
east of the village of Dâkôk, to a place convenient for a life of contemplation, where,
finally, the Monastery called 'Bêth Hazkîel' was built. Now this Hazkîel (Ezekiel) was the
disciple of Khodhâhwai of Bêth Hâlê gently chides the monks of Bêth 'Abhê because they had
not consulted him in the matter of the election of a successor to Mâr Jacob, and he
advises them to appoint Abbâ John whom Mâr Jacob had nominated as his successor before he
died. Îshô'-yahbh recommends the monks to appoint Abbâ John on account of his having been
a monk for seventy years.

3 and a contemporary of Abbâ John, and he was greatly strengthened and enlightened in his
knowledge and manner of life by the conversation and sight of that holy man; thus by the
work of Rabban Ezekiel and the prayers of Abbâ John that holy monastery was built, and in
it Abbâ John ended his days and was buried in peace. And Rabban Ezekiel wrote to this
monastery to encourage and cherish our love and good will towards them, saying, "May
mutual love and fellowship between these two monasteries be preserved to the end of days."
And I affirm and bear witness, as before God, that I learned this from Narsai the Elder,
who was surnamed Dâdh Îshô, from the village of 'Ain Barkê, and also from an Elder who
belonged to the monastery of Bêth Hazkîel, when in the days of my youth I was copying
letters before the Patriarchal throne of the holy Mâr Abraham, the Catholicus and
Patriarch. And this love was preserved so entirely, that of everything in that monastery,
of fruits and any good things which were not to be found here, the brethren of that
monastery used to send some here, and the brethren of this monastery used to send there,
for the sake of Abbâ John, and for the sake of the holy Mâr Jacob, for they both came from
there.

Mâr Îshô'-Yahbh to the Monks of Bêth 'Âbhê on the Election of a Head.

4 Letter from Mâr Îshô'-yahbh to Simon, John, Kâm-Îshô', Bar-Denhâ, Daniel and the other
brethren of the Monastery of Bêth 'Abhê concerning the appointment of John the Elder as
head of the monastery… four miles. From their youth up they were disciples in this
monastery of the divine man Mâr Jacob, and everything which philosophy required and
demanded, they received from the teaching of that blessed man. Now the holy Abbâ Joseph,
on his departure from the [service of] the monastery, came forth to this laura, and lived
the life of a solitary in it, and never came to the temple even on the day of the
assembly. But at eventide, when it was quite dark, and no one could see him, he used to
come and go into the refectory, and through a large opening that was built there,—which I
also remember in that old refectory,—the blessed man used to take,—and very old men have
also related this to me,—as much as he needed of the hard, burnt crusts, and of the pieces
of bread which had dropped from the oven, and had been cast out, and depart to his cave.
And when the blessed Mâr Jacob departed this temporary life, Abbâ Joseph took his brother
with him, and the two of them departed to Mount Zinai, where they led an ascetic life, and
performed unnatural austerities. And inasmuch as Rabban Aphni-Mâran and Rabban Sabhr-Îshô,
who was surnamed Rôstâm, have written histories concerning these holy men, it seemeth to
me superfluous that I also should speak about them; and in asking a prayer of those who
read the accounts of their noble deeds and contest, I pass on from them.

CHAPTER 33. OF RABBAN SARGÎS (SERGIUS) WHO WAS SURNAMED "DESTROYER OF THE MIGHTY"

1 Now this Sergius, worthy of all blessedness, came from the country of Bêth Garmai; he
was instructed in doctrine in various schools, but more especially in that of Bêth
Râsthâk, a village in the country of Margâ, at the time when Rabban Kâm-Îshô, a native of
Bêth Garmai, from the village of Hâshâ, was an expositor there. Now when the blessed Mâr
Kâm-Îshô went down to Mâhôzê, he died there. And this Sergius was a disciple of the holy
Mâr Jacob, and he departed while Rabban was alive, [and went] and dwelt in Nêrbhâ dhê Bêth
Gazzâ, in the cells which to the lives of Joseph and Abraham he wrote those of Abbâ
Abraham of Bêth 'Abhê, Abbâ Kâm-Îshô' of Bêth 'Abhê, Abraham of Nethpar, and some others.
See Wright, Syr. Lit., p. 843; B. O., iii. 1, p. 455. 2 were called Bēth ʿAināthā. And at
the entreaty of Rabban Jacob, the blessed Sergius composed a history of the noble deeds
and praiseworthy acts of the holy men who had lived in the country of Bēth Garmai, and
this book which he composed is to be found everywhere, and the histories contained in it
make the reader marvel, and excite praises of God in him. And he called his book the
"Destroyer of the Mighty"—now he called it thus because he did not write about the great
men who were in the Church, but rather concerning those who triumphed in the houses of
their fathers, and in the church of their native villages, in simplicity of mien and
despising of self,—and from the name of his book he himself was called, "Destroyer of the
Mighty". The holy Mār Īshōʿ-yahbh, and Rabban Kām-Īshōʿ were also disciples of his, but I
shall not speak here concerning them because they have histories which are set down in
their proper places, together with those of their brethren, further on, and because the
record of them, together with the necessary particulars [of their lives], would require
that I should be able to speak without stint.

CHAPTER 34. OF SĀHDŌNĀ, AND OF THE WORKS WHICH HE COMPOSED

1 Now this Sāhdōnā, according to what we learn from the history of him by Rabban Bar-
ʿIdtā, came from Halmôn a village of Bêth Nûhâdhrâ. And after having been fully trained at
Nisibis in the teaching of Divine Books, and being wise and learned in them, he took upon
himself the garb of the ascetic life at the hands of Rabban Jacob in this monastery. And
he zealously attached himself to the things which conduce to a divine manner of life, that
is to say, to abstinence, and fasting, and watching, and prayer, under the guidance of
Rabban [Jacob]. And it is well known also that he felt the sweetness of the holy life,
which is grafted on to spiritual conviction, from the reflections which he made in his
works upon the venerable ascetic life. Now he wrote two volumes on the various exercises
of the monastic life, and a book of "Consolations" is also attributed to him, and other
works on various

2 He was one of the members of the Mission sent to Heraclius A. D. 628, and on his way
back became a convert to Jacobite views, a fact which caused great scandal in the
Nestorian Church. The text of the letters which İshô'-yahbh wrote concerning this matter
are given at the end of Bk. ii, chap. 6, in which Thomas of Margâ relates the story. See
B. O., iii. 1, pp. 81, 107, 115, 142, 453, 457, 462; Wright, Syr. Lit., p. 842. matters.
He also composed a history of Rabban [Jacob], and of the triumphs of the ascetics who
lived in the country of the East. He wrote the funeral oration for the burial of Rabban
Jacob which begins, "My brethren, a mighty chief has fallen amongst us this day by the
hand of death", from which, every one who readeth it will perceive the high character of
his intellect, and the power of his language, and he will find that he was a mighty man
among those who compose books. He did not continue to write to the end, for he went out of
his mind; but how his understanding was destroyed I will relate afterwards in the place
where his history requireth it to be written.


THE BOOK OF GOVERNORS (CHAPTERS 35. OF THE MURDER OF KING KHUSRAU–31. OF MÂR DÎNDOWAI BISHOP OF MÂ'ALLTHÂ)
============================================================

THE BOOK OF GOVERNORS continued

CHAPTER 35. OF THE MURDER OF KING KHUSRAU

1 Now when Khusrau, the son of Hormizd, having exceeded all bounds in his mad greediness
for acquiring money, had grown grey in all wickedness and became old, the blessed Mār
Yazdīn, the head of the believers, died, who had crowned himself with earthly greatness
and heavenly glory, and it was for him to inherit and enjoy the paradise of heavenly joy.
And Khusrau forgot all the good deeds of Mār Yazdīn, and seized all his wealth and
possessions, and he dismissed Shamṭā and Kūrṭā, his truly believing sons, worthy of
blessing, and from being rich, they became poor, and from being men of rank, they became
of no account. Now when the blessed Shamṭā saw that the wickedness of Khusrau the foolish
king increased and was added unto as he became older, he rose up secretly, and went down
to Māḥōzē, the royal cities, and he slew with the sword the twenty-four sons of Khusrau

2 there were already stored up 48,000,000 Mithqāl of money coined by Pērōz, son of
Yazdegerd, and by Kawādh, son of Pērōz. "Dazu kam noch eine Menge von Juwelen, Kleidern,
u.s.w., deren Betrag nur Gott zählen kann." Nöldeke, Geschichte der Perser, pp. 353ff. who
were being educated there. And he took Shêrôê, that is Kêwâdh, Khusrau's son from among
them, and he came to their palace, and opened the prison, and brought out all that were
therein, and he mounted them upon horses, and he armed them with implements of war, and he
made Shêrôê king without the wish and command of his father. Now because of his avarice
and greediness, Khusrau had disbanded his troops and sent them away, and the blessed
Shamṭâ went in to the palace of Khusrau with his servants, and slew him with the sword;
and there was rest for the churches in all quarters, and by the command of Shamṭā the
troops of Shêrôē proclaimed a good hope for men.

3 And Shêrôē commanded the Christians to appoint a Catholicus, and Mâr Îshô'-yahbh, Bishop
of Bâlâdh, who was called the man of Gêdhâlâ, from Gêdhâlâ a village of Bêth 'Arbhâyê, was
appointed. Now when a synod had been assembled, all the fathers entreated the holy Mār
Bābhai to be Catholicus; but he would not accept the office at all, for he preferred to
end his days in his cell in the monastery to becoming head of the monastery by strife. And
the Catholicus and some of the Bishops accompanied him in honour to his monastery, and
when they had parted in peace, and had gone away to a distance, suddenly the holy angel of
God appeared to Mār Bābhai in the form of a horseman holding a fiery sword, mounted on a
white horse. And he stood in the space before his cell and spake with him, and said,
"Since now thou hast excused thyself from the office of Patriarch, and another standeth
therein, grant me permission to follow him. Mār Bābhai said to him, "Who art thou, master?
The angel said to him, "I am an angel commanded by God, the Lord of all, to minister unto
the patriarchal throne of the East. As long as thou wast the vicar of the Catholicus, from
the first day even until now, I never departed from thy side; but now it is necessary for
me to cleave to him that hath received this office.

4 Rabban said to him, "If I had known that thou wast with me, I would, with all care, have
accepted this great work; but now depart in peace, and pray for me; and the holy angel was
hidden from Rabban's sight. May the prayers of Mār Bābhai, and of all his companions be a
high wall to the holy Church, and to her children, Amen! And here I bring this book to a
close in order that its end may be sanctified by the memory of the holy Mār Bābhai. 5 Here
endeth the First Book.

BOOK II — CHAPTER 1. THE BEGINNING OF THE BOOK]

1 Now as the beginning of everything which existeth is poor and weak in comparison with
the end thereof, which is built up little by little,—even as a child is first of all
trained in simple things, and little by little he acquireth growth and increase of power
and stature, and as when the command was given to Adam, that he should not eat of the
fruit, the world continued for a long time in a state of childhood without progress to
manhood, for the gift of the Law by the hands of the blessed Moses was more excellent than
that which was given to Adam, for the latter was written upon the tables of the heart with
the knowledge of nature, but the former was added with ink, after the manner of books, and
also the perfection which is according to the wisdom which is in Christ, the Lord of our
life, and which surpasseth all ancient laws and commandments, was given in after times
according to the measure of the perfect Man—so also was it in respect of the [ascetic life
of the] divine man Mār Jacob; in the beginning it acquired through him beauty, through the
perfect sons and glorious heirs of his manner of life, but at the end it was crowned with
glorious increase and growth.

2 So also in the matter of the kingdom of the wise man Solomon, although it gained more
might and glory than the kingdom of the blessed David, yet the kingdom of David received
no disparagement, inasmuch as that of Solomon was established by the prayers of David, and
by the promises made to him; so also although the congregation increased, and the
Monastery of Rabban Jacob became more glorious under the dispensation of his children than
it was during his own life time, this fact did not induce any diminution of his holiness
which had existed before, but made it rather the more glorious, for the growth and
prosperity of disciples give joy to diligent teachers. So also the double portion of the
spirit which the blessed Elisha received more than his master, did not bring upon the
marvellous Elijah any loss of greatness, but rather made manifest his glory, when he said,
"Thou hast asked a great deal, nevertheless what thou hast asked shall be to thee. Thus
the glory which came upon this holy monastery under the holy Mār Īshō-yahbh, and the
blessed Rabban Kām-Īshō increased the glory of their spiritual father. Now in their days
the number of the monks in this holy assembly amounted to three hundred men. When the
blessed John the Elder—now Rabban Jacob had commanded that he should be the head of the
monastery after him—went forth and fled, Abbâ Paul received the office of head; and after
him Rabban Kâm-Îshô was the head for many years.

CHAPTER 2. OF RABBAN JACOB OF BÊTH NÛHÂDHRÂ

1 Rabban Jacob who became head of the Monastery of Bêth Rabban Îshô'-yahbh, was a disciple
of Rabban Kâm-Îshô', and he came from Rêshâ, a province in the country of Bêth Garmai. He
laboured in the schools of Ḥarbath Gelâl, where he was thoroughly trained, and from his
youth up he was a disciple in this Monastery [of Bêth 'Abhê], while Rabban Kâm-Îshô' was
head. He was a spiritual man and a teacher, and he excelled in the ascetic life more than
all his contemporaries. He was a seer of things which were remote, and of things which
were about to happen, and he was called by his contemporaries, "Jacob the Seer." 2 Now
when the blessed Mâr Îshô'-yahbh had built the temple in this Monastery of [Bêth Abhê], he
gathered together Metropolitans and Bishops to the consecration thereof by the office of
the Holy Mysteries, wishing with pride to show forth the greatness of his monastery in the
sight of all those who were assembled. And it came to pass that at that moment the blessed
Jacob was in the refectory, and [Mâr Îshô'-yahbh] sent and called him, and commanded him
to go up to the pulpit and read the psalms. Now there was present with Mâr Catholicus a
great doctor who had gone out to the porch of the temple to meditate upon the heads of the
subject which he wished to treat in a learned manner in [his] exposition of the Gospel.
And when the divine man Jacob had begun to sing the psalm, the sweetness of his voice so
greatly attracted the attention and mind of every one, that the eyes of all were fixed
upon him and were looking at him. And when he had finished his psalm and had come down
[from the pulpit], the doctor cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Fie upon thee, young
man, for the sweetness of thy voice and the beautiful manner of thy singing have driven
out of my mind all the thoughts which I wished to gather together"; and as the time had
come Rabban Jacob went out to his cell.

3 Now God, who foreseeth what is for the benefit of the community, in that the blessed
Rabban Mâr Îshô'-yahbh, the monk, and head of the monastery was dead, and the brethren of
his monastery being troubled by reason of the absence of a man at their head,—now Rabban
Îshô'-yahbh at the hour of his death had himself said to them, "Be not afflicted, my sons
and brethren, at my separation from you, for behold our Lord will move the blessed Jacob,
a monk of Bēth 'Ābhē, and he will come to you, and will be a head to you"—stirred up
against him foolish jealousy by the hand of certain men, such as was stirred up against
the blessed Jacob his [spiritual] father in the Great Monastery [of Īzlā], and he went
forth secretly and departed to that holy monastery. And the sons of this monastery were
greatly vexed and afflicted on his account, and wished to make him come back here. And
they went down to Mār Ḥenān-Īshō several times, and they brought against him letters
[threatening] excommunication, but he would not at all be persuaded to return. Let every
one who wishes to learn of his greatness and of the great freedom of speech which he
possessed with God, take his history and read it; and from its perusal he will be moved to
the praise of God, Who so greatly exalteth and magnifieth His saints, and to Whom be glory
for ever and ever!

CHAPTER 3. OF RABBAN APHNI-MĀRAN

1 This Aphni-Māran was a disciple of Rabban Kām-Īshō, and also of Rabban Aphni-Māran of
holy memory, and he came from Karkhâ dhê Bêth Sêlôkh which is in the country of Bêth
Garmai. From his youth up he was a son and heir of the holy fathers in this monastery,
serving perfectly the life of excellence, and being guided to the kingdom of heaven and
its happiness by the hands and mediation of Rabban Kâm-Îshô, whose own peculiar disciple
he was. And God gave him wisdom and understanding in the Scriptures, and like a spiritual
philosopher, he composed many works and "Responses", and treatises on doctrine in a
perfect manner, and rivers of living water flowed from his belly according to the word of
our Lord. And against this man, because he was also like unto the pillar of light which
led the Hebrews, and because God wished him to be the founder of a monastery with a large
brotherhood, like his [spiritual] father, envious people were stirred up, and they placed
him on a bier for the dead, and [ascribing to him] the name of Meşâllêyânâ, with psalms
and prayers for the dead they brought him out to the place where they make asses run.
Nevertheless by his hands also the Lord

2 of the monks mentioned by name in the letter which Îshô'-yahbh sent to Bêth 'Abhê
concerning the election of a head. See p. 104, l. 11. built and finished the holy
monastery which is to this day called by his name and memorial; may his prayers be with us
for good, Amen!

CHAPTER 4. OF THE DEPARTURE OF MÂR ÎSHÔ'-YAHBH, [THE CATHOLICUS] AND OF THE BISHOPS WHO WERE WITH HIM TO BÊTH RHÔMÂYÊ (ASIA MINOR)

1 Now when Îshô'-yahbh of Gêdhâlâ had become Catholicus, after the death of their Bishop,
the believing men who were in Nineveh chose as governor and head of the pasture of their
city and of all their country, the blessed Mâr Îshô'-yahbh, the disciple of Rabban, and
the son of the good and honourable man of worthy memory, Bastôhmagh, the nobleman from
Kûphlânâ, a city of Adiabene. And the people of Mâhôzê dhê Arîwân (or Ariavân), a city of
Bêth Garmai, chose Sâhdônâ, the disciple of Rabban [Jacob], concerning whom we have
written a short time ago. And when Shêrôê rose in the kingdom, he desired and wished to
live in his kingdom in peace, and to be remote from the disturbances, and strifes, and
raids, and evil things which Khusrau his father had committed; and by the command and
permission of his pacific majesty there was rest to all the churches that were under the
dominion of the Persians. And [when] Mâr Îshô'-yahbh from Bêth 'Arbhâyê was appointed
Patriarch, King Shêrôê persuaded the Catholicus to select from

2 principal writings of Îshô'-yahbh were a commentary on the Psalms, and sundry epistles,
histories, and homilies. According to Guidi, (Nuovo testo, p. 24) he was a married man.
the dominion of the East certain Metropolitans and Bishops, that they might go up to the
territory of the Byzantine Greeks, at the cost and expense of the [Persian] king, bearing
his letters and greetings, saying, "Let them make to pass away and to be blotted out all
the discord and enmity which have existed between the Persians and the Greeks, and by
their wisdom let them sow peace in the two countries." Then Mâr Îshô'-yahbh being obedient
to the command of the good King Shêrôë, gathered together Mâr Cyriacus, the Metropolitan
Bishop of Nisibis, and Mâr Paul, Metropolitan of Adiabene, and Mâr Gabriel of Karkhâ dhê
Bêth Sêlokh (Kerkûk) and certain other Bishops, who were wise, instructed and
understanding 3 chap. xlvi), for that had been restored by Ardashîr III in 628—629, and
the festival to celebrate its restoration took place at Jerusalem in 629. (One writer says
that the general of Ardashîr, sent the Cross back to Heraclius; see Guidi, Nuovo testo, p.
25.) See the discussion on this point in Nôldeke, op. cit., p. 392, note 1. In the account
of this mission given by Bar-Hebræus (Chron. Eccles., ii. 113) Îshô'-yahbh is said to have
given the Greeks to understand that his religion was the same as theirs. Îshô'-yahbh was
far-sighted enough to make an alliance with Muḥammad the Prophet (or, as Wright thought,
with Abû Bakr) through the intervention of a Christian governor at Najrân called Sayyed,
and Îshô', the Bishop of the believers at that place. Certain of the conditions of the
agreement, which was ratified by 'Omar ibn al-Khaṭṭâb, are given by Bar-Hebræus Chron.
Eccles., ii, col. 117; see also B. O., ii, p. 418; iii. 1, p. 108, col. 1. Îshô'-yahbh
stipulated that the Christians should be protected from the attacks of their foes; that
the Arabs should not compel them to go out to war with them; that they should not compel
them to change their manners and laws; that they should help them to repair their old
churches; that the tax on the poor should not exceed four zûzê, and that the tax on
merchants and the wealthy should be ten zûzê per man; that a Christian woman in Arab
service should neither be compelled to give up her faith, nor to neglect fasting and
prayer; etc.

4 men, and with them were also our holy Ishō-yahbh of Nineveh, and Sāhdōnā. And thus
through Christ our Lord, the Lord of the worlds and the Governor and Guardian of the two
countries and of the whole world gave these shepherds mercy in the sight of the Greeks,
and they received their assembly and their petition as if they had been the angels of God.
Thus those holy men were rewarded for all the care and heavy toil of that long journey,
and they returned in peace to this country, each man to his episcopal throne.

CHAPTER 5. OF THE CASKET OF THE BONES OF THE APOSTLES WHICH MĀR ISHŌ-YAHBH BROUGHT WITH HIM [FROM ANTIOCH], AND PLACED IN THIS MONASTERY

Now while these holy men who have been mentioned above were passing through the city of
Antioch, and while they were resting in one of the churches of this city in which they
tarried many days, Mār Ishō-yahbh of Bēth 'Ābhē saw a white marble casket upon which was
the sign of the adorable Cross, and to this, united to the chariot of its honour, were two
figures of cherubs. And he saw the mighty deeds which were wrought there by means of it,
and he learned that there were inside it some of the bones and portions of the bodies of
the blessed Apostles, and being hot with all the desire of his love for that casket in
which these were laid, he offered up prayers to God, the Lord of all, and frequent
entreaties, that by means of himself it might be brought to this country. And having vexed
and tortured himself [by scheming] all manner of devices, and not knowing what to do, he
gave this matter to God, [asking] that while he, that is Mâr Îshô'-yahbh, used all human
efforts, Christ would protect and defend him in a Divine manner. And this actually
happened, for he stole it and brought it with him here with all the honour due to the holy
pearls which were therein. And we are certain in our opinion and judgment that this matter
was wrought thus, for it is spoken of to this day in the city of Antioch, even as also it
came down by tradition, and was handed on to us by those men who were before us in this
monastery.

CHAPTER 6. OF HOW SÂHDÔNÂ [FOOLISHLY] TURNED ASIDE FROM THE TRUE AND ORTHODOX BELIEF

1 Now when those holy men who went to the territory of the Greeks (Asia Minor) were in the
land of Apamea, they tarried there a few days to rest themselves; and there was there a
certain monastery of heretics who had made themselves strangers to the religion of truth.
And the holy and blessed Mār John, Bishop of the Scattered of the country of Damascus, a
great and godlike man who worked signs and wonders like the Apostles in those countries,
and whose acts of abstinence and ascetic manner of life and exalted holiness are reported
unto this day, and Mār Īshō-yahbh of our convent, and Sāhdōnā with him, wished to go to
these men to hold a discussion with them. And when the sons of that monastery went forth
to them, they marvelled and were astonished at the arguments which these three brilliant
stars brought against them, and they perceived that the stubble of their doctrine was not
able [to resist] in the very smallest degree, the fire of the true wisdom and the powerful
demonstrations of the men from the East. Now the men of that monastery had a head, a grey-
headed old man, and his disciples went into his presence and said to him, "Three Eastern
Bishops from among the ambassadors of the King of the Persians, who have come to us, have
destroyed and made of none effect all the labour and care [which we have spent] in weaving
compositions of words on the dogma which we hold.

2 Now that wicked old man who, according to what I have learned from others by the
tradition which hath come down, was a sorcerer, commanded his disciples to entreat them to
come in to see him, for [he wished] more particularly to hear from them concerning the
petition which they had moved. And when the blessed men Mār Īshō'-yahbh and Mār John
excused themselves, for they accounted the sight of that wicked old man as the sight of
the Devil himself, Sāhdōnā, as it were relying upon his own enlightened understanding was
so bold as to go in; and when his companions entreated him not to cross [the threshold] he
would not be persuaded by them. And they say that when he had gone in to the monastery to
the old man, and had seen his grey hairs and age, he bowed his head under his right hand;
and thus, they say, the understanding of Sāhdōnā became corrupted from the true faith
which he held. And little by little, with the progress of time and changes, Sāhdōnā wrote
books for those who denied the correctness of the opinion that there are two natures and
two persons in one created form. And when the holy Mār Īshō'-yahbh of Adiabene arose as
Catholicus, he expelled Sāhdōnā from the Church, according to the prophecy which had been
[made] concerning him by the holy Rabban Bar-Idtā the ascetic in very truth.

CHAPTER 7. OF MÂR ÎSHÔ'-YAHBH [III], THE CATHOLICUS, AND OF HOW HE WISHED TO ESTABLISH A SCHOOL IN THIS MONASTERY

1 Now as soon as Mâr Îshô'-yahbh had become Catholicus and Patriarch, and had received all
the fulness of the holy things, and the sacerdotal garments which are given for the glory
and advancement and perfection of the holy Church, by the election of the Holy Spirit, the
cause, and giver, and perfector of all her sublimity, he showed forth diligent zeal and
care with all the solicitude which it is right should be manifested by sons for the
paternal inheritance of the house in which they were reared. And he built in this
monastery a splendid temple, at great expense, and with the participation of the holy and
blessed in all things, the blessed Mâr Sabhr-Îshô', Metropolitan Bishop of Bêth Garmai,
and of Mâr George, his disciple, the Metropolitan of Adiabene, concerning whom we will
afterwards speak, and of all the Bishops of this diocese of Âthôr and Adiabene, the temple
was consecrated and beautified with all holy things.

2 of Margâ, it has been thought proper to give the full texts of these at the end of this
chapter. They are edited from two copies which I caused to be made from an old MS. at
Môsul while on a mission to Mesopotamia for the Trustees of the British Museum. They
afford an interesting insight into the history of Sâhdônâ, and into the character of
Îshô'-yahbh, and give an idea of the internal troubles which beset the Nestorian Church at
that period. And a short time after these things Mâr Îshô'-yahbh wished to build a school
near his cell, and to provide it with all that was necessary, and to bring to it teachers
and masters and expositors, and to gather together many scholars and to provide for them
in all things. And he had made ready in his mind, and had resolved and decided to carry
out this work in such a way that for every child who was trained and instructed therein
the monastery might be near at hand for the purpose of [his] becoming a disciple, so that
the school and the monastery might become one; the school to give birth to and rear
scholars, and the monastery to teach and sanctify them for the labours of the ascetic
life. And he brought workmen and builders to build what he wished.

5 of his own opinion and manner of life saw what the Catholicus was doing, that he was
preparing to bring uproar and noise upon them, and that henceforth they must abandon the
happiness and enjoyment of retirement, and all the course of the ascetic life, the glory
and beauty of which seclusion, whether it be on the tongue, or sight, or hearing, bringeth
to a man, they were all gathered together in the presence of Mâr Catholicus, and with
gentle entreaties, and humble supplication, they begged Mâr Catholicus exceedingly to
desist from this work which would injure them in several particulars, saying, "It is not
good for [us] monks, while dwelling in our cells, to be disturbed by the sound of the
chanting of the psalms and the singing of the hymns and the offices, and by the noise of
the voices of the school boys and of those who keep watch [by night]. We have neither
found it in writing, nor have we received it by report that such a thing as this ever took
place in any of the monasteries of the fathers. We are destined for weeping and mourning
while we dwell in our cells, according to the doctrine which we have learned from [our]
books, and we have also received [this] from our father Mâr Jacob, for during his lifetime
and on his departure from us he did not command us that one should teach the other to
sing, and to read the offices from books.

6 Cease then from the effort of making us to become school boys again, and instead let
each man dwell in his cell, and let each man read by himself. If, however, thou wishest to
build a school, behold all the towns, and villages and the lands round about them; the
whole land of Persia is thy dominion, build then wheresoever thou wishest; but in this
monastery a school shall not be built, for if thou dost build a school here, we shall all
depart. And Mâr Catholicus said to them, "It is not necessary for you to be angry at a
matter which would bring you honour, and which would expand and increase the glory of this
monastery. For since two excellent things, as it were two effectual powers, viz., the one
being practice, which is the learning of the Divine Scriptures, and the other being
spiritual contemplation, which is established by the working of the mind and
understanding, would be perfected in this place, this monastery, the house of our fathers,
would become a mirror of deeds to be emulated by the wise and diligent, and the
congregation of monks would increase by reason of those who would be instructed in
doctrine in the school. And, moreover, I have the power [to build] for two reasons which
must overcome all obstacles; first, because I have adorned and endowed this monastery with
property and earthly possessions, and secondly, because, spiritually, I am master of all
monasteries and convents;

7 and it is meet for me to honour and adorn my own monastery especially rather than to
glorify the monasteries [of others]. Therefore, by the word of our Lord, cease ye to be
obstacles to the work, for the good pleasure of God, the Lord of all, is therein."

CHAPTER 9. OF THE DEPARTURE OF RABBAN KÂM-ÎSHÔ AND THE BRETHREN [WHO WERE WITH HIM] FROM [THIS] MONASTERY TO HERPÂ, A VILLAGE OF SAPHSÂPHÂ

Now when Rabban Kâm-Îshô, and Bērâz Sûrîn the head of the congregation, who after Rabban
KâmÎshô' obtained the headship of the monastery, saw that they were irresistibly compelled
to depart from the monastery, because they were not able to withstand Mâr Îshô'-yahbh,
they together with seventy solitaries belonging to this congregation, made ready with one
accord and at night, unperceived by Mâr Catholicus, they went into the martyrium, and took
away the coffin of the holy Mâr Jacob their spiritual father. And thus weeping, and
crying, and murmuring, that they should never again see this monastery, and that their
departure was for ever, they all went forth up above Herpâ, a village of Saphsâphâ,
prepared to build a monastery in which they might lay Rabban Jacob, and where they might
continue the course of their ascetic life and end their days. And they had made ready to
bring stones and had prepared materials for the construction of a temple and cells, and
those blessed men did not perceive that God would shortly bring them back to the
inheritance of their father Jacob.

CHAPTER 10. OF THE VISION WHICH MÂR ÎSHÔ'-YAHBH SAW ON THE NIGHT IN WHICH THE BRETHREN TOOK RABBAN JACOB AND DEPARTED

1 Now although the over-zealousness of the will of Mâr Îshô'-yahbh was not praiseworthy in
the sight of these holy men, and appeared to them to be a hindrance,—as indeed it was,—to
their ascetic manner of life, nevertheless it appeared that the zealousness of will of the
holy man might at the end result in a beautiful ending, and he, therefore, determined to
make it a good thing, however much it might be displeasing to the monks. And the Lord
Christ Himself, who saw the thoughts of both parties, on the one side Mâr Îshô'-yahbh
wishing to build a school for the increase of divine doctrine and spiritual growth, and on
the other, the monks fleeing away from this for the sake of love for Him, that in
quietness, and without any disturbance, they might take pains to please His Lordship, even
as the Ashimonian desert in which they lived taught them to do, showed Mâr Catholicus on
the night in which the holy men went forth, when he was lying on the bed of his holiness,
half asleep and half awake, a vision in which a large eagle, strong of body and long of
pinions, and having many eaglets upon his back, went forth from the martyrium where Rabban
Jacob was buried, and flew away from the monastery towards the north; and he heard the
noise of the twittering and the chattering of the eaglets which were upon his back as if
their food had been taken away from them.

2 And he woke up with a start and the dream and the vision which he had seen made him
marvel and wonder. And he called for the sacristan by the hand of his disciple, and he
came to him, and before he could question him the sacristan said to him, A short time ago
the head of the monastery and Bērāz Sūrên came with seventy men, and they took the body of
Rabban Jacob and departed; and behold the whole congregation is making ready to depart
from this monastery after them. And when the blessed Mâr Îshô'-yahbh heard these things,
he knew that what he wished to do was not the Will of God, and he rose up on that day and
wrote to the holy men to come back to their monastery. And he departed to Kuphlânâ his
village, and he built there the school which he had prepared to build in this monastery;
and those blessed men turned and came back to their cells.

CHAPTER 11. OF RABBAN 'ĀNĀN-ĪSHŌ' THE DOCTOR, AND MONK, AND COMPILER OF THE "BOOK OF PARADISE."

1 It is not right that the glorious memory of the holy Abbâ 'Ānân-Īshô' should drop out
from our mind, or that we should suppress the mention of his indefatigable zeal, on the
contrary, let us place his noble acts among [those of] his companions, for happiness at
the right hand of our Lord Christ is [also] laid up for him with them. Now this blessed
man 'Ānân-Īshô' and Īshô'-yahbh his brother came from the country of Adiabene; they were
both trained in doctrine in the city of Nisibis, being children of the school and love and
household of the blessed Mâr Īshô'-yahbh [of Adiabene]. They became disciples in the Great
Monastery [of Īzlâ], as the books which belong to them in the library of this monastery
testify, for they shew that they were written by their hands there. Now Abbā Ānān-Īshō
having lived the life of an ascetic with all excellence, and having his mind constantly
fixed upon the works of the ascetic fathers, determined to go and worship in Jerusalem.
And from there he went to the desert of Scete, where he learned concerning all the manner
of the lives of the ascetic fathers, whose histories and questions are written in books,
and concerning their dwellings, and the places in which they lived.

2 And when he turned to come back he made his journey by way of the [monastery of the]
holy Mār John, Bishop of the Scattered, of whom I have made mention a little way back,
that he might be blessed by his holiness, and enjoy his conversation. And after he had
come to his own monastery, he took his brother, and they came to this monastery [of Bēth
'Ābhē] by reason of the annoyance and contention which had taken place there, for certain
men who were slanderers, and who set themselves against holy men, had risen up there, and
they drove out the holy Rabban Narsai, the disciple of Mār Bābhai, who finally became head
of the monastery and was renowned for a life of excellence. And concerning Mār Narsai the
holy Mār Īshō-yahbh, when he was Bishop of Nineveh, wrote a letter to the Great Monastery,
blaming them, and saying, "Ye have not acted rightly towards that [holy] man in making him
a stranger to your congregation. Now when they came to this monastery, and dwelt in
silence according to the rule of ascetics, Rabban 'Ānān-Īshō' the wise of understanding
laboured so hard in the study of books, that he surpassed all who were before and after
him in his knowledge.

3 And when Mār Īshō'-yahbh was Metropolitan of Arbēl (Arbela), and wished to draw up in
order a book of the Canons that he might send copies of it to all the countries of his
patriarchate, he made the wise Abbâ 'Ānān-Īshō', the love of whom is very dear and sweet
to me, to sit with him during the drawing up of the canons, because of the institutes and
rules which he had composed, and because he found that he alone possessed in a sufficient
measure a clear mind, and a natural talent for the art of music, and a knowledge how to
arrange words. 4 Now the excellent man, and elect of God, Īshō-yahbh, the brother of
'Ānān-Īshō', was appointed Bishop of Kārdālīābhādh, that is Shennā a city of Bēth Rāmmān.
And the noble 'Ānān-Īshō' composed definitions and divisions of various things, which were
written upon the walls of his cell. And when his brother Mâr Îshô'-yahbh came to pray in
this monastery, and saw the divisions of the science of philosophy of his brother 'Ânân-
Îshô', he begged him to write a commentary on them for him, and to send it to him, which
'Ânân-Îshô' actually did. And he wrote to him a clear exposition in many lines, from which
will be apparent to every one who readeth therein the greatness of his wisdom; now the
title of this work is, "A letter which a brother wrote to his brother; to the excellent
and holy Mâr Îshô'-yahbh the Bishop, 'Ânân-Îshô' in the Lord, greeting." He also wrote a
work on the correct pronunciation of the words and of the difficult words which are used
with different significations in the writings of the Fathers, which exists among the books
in the library of this convent, and which surpasses all other collations in its accuracy;
and according to what I have learned concerning these his [books] from the aged Elders,
they were completed and given to us by him. Now when the blessed Mâr Îshô'-yahbh the
Catholicus departed this temporary life, the holy Mâr George became Patriarch after him.

CHAPTER 12. OF THE BLESSED MÂR GEORGE, THE CATHOLICUS

1 This holy man Mâr George came from Kaphrâ in the province of Bêth Gâwâyâ, which is in
the country of Bêth Garmai; he was the son of rich and noble parents, and his father
possessed in this country [of Margâ] two estates, Tellâ dhê Zâllê, that is Tell-zallah,
and Bêth Ḥabbâ, and he was sent by his parents to watch and govern the affairs and
business of these estates. And when he went into the monastery to pray and to be blessed
by the ascetics and those who dwelt therein, their manner of life was pleasing in the
sight of the blessed man, and he also wished to inscribe himself with the seal of their
divine service. Now according to what I have learned from his kinsfolk, who possess
written records of him, he became a disciple after the death of Rabban [Jacob], and the
time itself shews us that it must have been subsequent to this event, for at that period
he had not yet arrived at the age for being a disciple. It is probable that he received
the tonsure before Rabban Kâm-Îshôʿ received the office of head of the convent. And when
his father departed from this world, George entreated his brethren that the village of
Bêth Ḥabbâ might be given to him as his share in the division of the inheritance, and he
gave it to this monastery [of Bêth ʿAbhê].

2 Now when the blessed Mâr Îshôʿ-yahbh was Bishop of Nineveh he saw the intelligence and
good disposition and humility of the young man George, and was drawn to love him as the
blessed Nectarius loved Evagrius, and brought him to be his disciple. And when Mār
Īshō'-yahbh became Metropolitan of Adiabene he took the excellent and humble George with
him; and when Mār Īshō'-yahbh became Catholicus he made him Metropolitan of this country
(Margā) in his place. So also when he became Patriarch this same Mār Īshō'-yahbh was
appointed general governor of the dominion of the countries which were far away. And he
had many disciple and intimate friends, and one of them, George, he made Metropolitan of
Pērāth dhē Maishān, and another George, to be distinguished from our George, he made
Metropolitan of Nisibis, by whom was composed the hymn of praise for the consecration of a
church which begins: —

3 "Glory to Thy mercy, Christ, our King, Son of God, adored by all." and Sozomen relates
(Hist. Eccles., vi. 30) that when Gregory occupied the see of Constantinople, he made
Evagrius his archdeacon. See also B. O., iii. 1, pp. 45, 151. Now both [these] Georges
were Persians by birth. Now when our Lord wished to gather [to Himself] the holy Mâr
Îshô'-yahbh, the fathers who were [standing] near him entreated him, saying, "Whom dost
thou appoint, O Mâr Catholicus, to become governor of the Church after thee?" And he
answered humbly, and said, "The choice doth not rest with me, but with the fathers [who
are] Bishops; but it appeareth to me that of all our contemporaries it is most fitting
that George should be Catholicus;" and it came to pass that George was appointed
Catholicus. And when he was appointed, according to the command of his holy master, George
of Nisibis, the Persian, was absent on a mission to the land of Persia, on which he had
been sent by Mâr Îshô'-yahbh while he was alive. And when he came back and heard that the
Catholicus had commanded, "George shall succeed me," and that he had not distinctly stated
which George, certain fair-speaking, and malignant men disquieted him saying, It is meet
that thou shouldst have the Patriarchate, and there is no doubt that the Patriarch thy
predecessor made his testamentary deposition with reference to thee." And having returned
from Persia and having arrived at Mědhínáthá dhē Bēth Aramāyē, he did not go in [to visit]
George the Catholicus, but he despised him and held him in contempt, and in his pride he
left him and went to Nisibis.

CHAPTER 13. OF THE HUMILITY AND GENTLENESS OF THE HOLY GEORGE, THE CATHOLICUS, [AND OF GEORGE THE METROPOLITAN OF NISIBIS]

1 Now since this holy man had, from his youth up, placed himself under the yoke of the
humility of Christ, and had held himself to be of no account in comparison with what was
excellent, and in his own opinion had set himself below every [other] man, he did not
meditate within himself and consider, saying, "I am a [distinguished man], the Catholicus,
and I myself have power to despise him that despised me, and I can make a mock of him that
held me in contempt," even although he had the power to prevent and put an end to his
ministration, until he should come and apologize, and manifest penitence for his
haughtiness. 2 And moreover, that humble head [of the Church] was not moved to wrath by
any of these things, neither did his exalted position overcome him, who while standing as
the head of the Church, and as a mighty fountain from which holiness flowed down to all
ranks, nevertheless made use of that justice which alone is fitting [before] God: on the
contrary he meditated wisely and he judged mercifully, in that he listened to our Lord,
Who said, "Whosoever among you wisheth to be great, let him be last of all men, and a
servant of all men. And he rose up lovingly and he went to the city of Nisibis to
reconcile to him George the Metropolitan, who was angry and wrathful with him. Now the
entry of Mâr Catholicus into the church of Nisibis was arranged to take place when George
and all the city were gathered together in the temple at the time of the Mysteries on the
first day of the week. And when the Metropolitan who was in the pulpit, saw the Catholicus
coming in at the door, he came down from the pulpit, and went out of the temple, and
departed to his cell. Now when he had done this thing, the people of Nisibis were ashamed,
and they were exceedingly grieved and angry with their Metropolitan, and they went up to
him forthwith, and said to him, "How is it that thou art not ashamed to do this thing?

3 How can we esteem thee a shepherd and a head whilst thou despisest all the toil, and
trouble, and humility which Mâr Catholicus hath shewn thee? Thou must know, however, that
unless thou yieldest thyself to be reconciled to him and art penitent for thy two acts of
folly, namely in treating him lightly in Māḥōzē, and also at this present in our city, we
will neither be thy people, nor shalt thou stand at our head; and being compelled he came
down, and they each expressed their contrition by bowing to each other to the ground. And
Mār Catholicus said, "Why hast thou raged and cut asunder the bonds of fatherly
subjugation? and why hast thou turned aside the shoulder of humility from the yoke, and
hast disturbed the order which is incumbent upon the paternal throne? The Metropolitan
said to him, "Our Master, Mār Īshō-yahbh, of holy memory made a testamentary deposition
that I should be Patriarch after him, for I was a very servant working before him, and I
have trodden all Persia on his missions. The Catholicus saith to him, "It is true that
thou hast travelled in obedience to him, but I was reared upon his holy knees. He it was
who made me wise in holy doctrine, and he it was also who made me Metropolitan of the
country of his fathers, and I have laid my hands upon his eyes, as Joseph laid his hands
upon those of his father Jacob.

4 If thou hast worked before him he hath rewarded thee by making thee Metropolitan of the
high place of the world, Ṣōbhā; this should be sufficient for thee and it is twice as much
as thou hast deserved. For what merits which thou possessest could he have given thee the
patriarchate? Or was it, peradventure that when thou didst find that we were humble, even
as we are commanded to be, thou didst wish to magnify thyself against us, like the company
of Ḳūrāḥ (Korah) and Dâthan against Moses? Know, however, that whilst we have acted
according to the command of our Lord and of the fathers, thou by this pride which thy
piety has shown, hast proved thyself to be in opposition to it. May God the Lord forgive
us all, Amen. Thus by his humility Mâr George reconciled George the Metropolitan, and he
bound on the crown of victory, and the happiness which is reserved for the humble is
reserved for him in heaven. All these things, O beloved Mâr 'Abhd-Îshô, I have learned
from the ecclesiastical histories of the saintly Mâr Athken, who was called "Plucker out
of his beard," of the Great Monastery [of Mount Îzlâ].

CHAPTER 14. OF ANOTHER GEORGE [METROPOLITAN] OF PERÂTH DHÊ MAISHÂN, WHO WAS ALSO ANGRY AND WISHED TO LIFT UP THE HEEL AGAINST MÂR CATHOLICUS

1 That holy men should live in afflictions, and that Satan would never let them have
peace, but would, at every moment, be working all manner of grievous troubles for them,
and disquieting the meek, and stirring up temptations for them, the adorable mouth of our
Vivifier foretold, saying, "In the world ye shall have tribulation," and again, "If they
have persecuted me, you also will they persecute." What then? As soon as George of Nisibis
had been reconciled, and Satan saw the profound humility which the Catholicus had
manifested in respect of him, and the long road of trouble and afflictions which he had
borne, he could not endure to leave that blessed man without other pain and anxiety even
for a short time. Now when the Catholicus went down to Mědhináthá dhé Běth Armáyě, he
heard and learned also concerning George of Pěráth dhé Maishán, how he was bringing
accusations against him before the heathen, and also that he was making ready to offer
resistance to him. And although this also made trouble for him, he went down to make
peace, and to make of none effect the crafts of the Calumniator. Now when he arrived at
[Pěráth dhé Maishán], George left that place and departed to 'Ákólé. And since that holy
man [George] was armed with humility against all Satanic assaults, he went to take refuge
with the spiritual man, Rabban Khodhâhwai, the head of the Monastery of Bêth Ḥâlê, a man
who strove to live the life of Antony [the Great] and of Macarius, a holy man in truth,
and a praiseworthy. And that holy man served the will of Mâr Catholicus with ready mind
and with all the obedience with which it was seemly to act before the head of the Church;
and thus through the instrumentality of Rabban Khodhâhwai, and through the humility of Mâr
Catholicus, that George also was reconciled.

2 And after these things Mâr Catholicus went down to Bêth Ḳeṭrâyê that he might reconcile
the inhabitants thereof, for they had cut themselves off from obedience to the episcopal
throne of Rêw-Ardashîr, which is Persia; and he went to the island of Dîrên, and the
people thereof were also reconciled. And he went up from there, and came to this holy
monastery, and he brought with him cloths for the altar which had been woven for him in
the island of Dîrên, of Bêth Ḳeṭrâyê. And he entreated the wise and holy father 'Ānān-
Īshō' that he would collect the chapters and questions which were scattered about in a
confused manner and were sown mixedly through the various sections of the [Book] of the
histories, and narratives, and triumphs, and the questions and answers of the ascetic
fathers,—now this book was called the "Conversations of the Elders"—and that he would make
each question follow that to which it belonged in consecutive order.

CHAPTER 15. OF THE COMPILATION OF THE BOOK WHICH WAS CALLED "PARADISE."

1 Now this Abbā 'Ānān-Īshō', (may his memory be for all blessings), who was mentioned a
little way back, was a contemporary of both these Patriarchs who were anointed with oil,
and to both he showed his obedience; to Mār Īshō'-yahbh in arranging the Canons of the
Ḥūdhrā, and to Mār George in arranging the Book of the Fathers, which work he undertook to
do. And having asked for the prayers of Mār Catholicus, and of the holy old men of his
congregation, he began and finished this command [with] which he had been commanded. And
with an enlightened mind, and a wise understanding—especially as the Spirit had manifested
in him the efficacy of His gift,—he arranged and fitted together in smooth order, six
hundred chapters, [divided] into fifteen Canons, each containing forty sections. Each
chapter was [followed by a] question having direct reference to the contents of the
chapter which it followed, (so that if a brother was labouring in any spiritual warfare
whatsoever, and wished to pluck consolation or to take counsel on the matter which vexed
him, he might find it ready close at hand; and the counsels were placed in consecutive
order so that he might be very quickly consoled in his affliction and relieved, and also
that he might lay soothing plaster on his suffering wound), and four hundred and thirty
other chapters, which treat generally of all kinds of excellence, and many others to which
he did not affix numbers nor did he arrange them in order.

2 And he took from the Commentary on the blessed Matthew the Evangelist, the Discourse
which was composed by Mâr John Chrysostom on the praises of the Egyptian ascetics, and the
Questions of the blessed Mār Abraham of Nephthar, and other examples and narratives which
he himself had collected from the writings of the Fathers. And he arranged the whole work
in two volumes; in the first part were the histories of the holy Fathers composed by
Palladius and Jerome, and in the second part were the questions and the narratives of the
fathers which he himself had brought together. And he called this book "Paradise", and
thus it is handed down and received in all the monasteries of the East, and the fathers
everywhere praise his ability and applaud his work. And being inflamed by love for him I
have written down his honourable memorial among the histories of the holy men who were his
fellow workers and associates.

The Syriac Version of the Paradise of Palladius.

3 During the winter of 1888 the Vicar of the Chaldean Patriarch was so kind as to show me
some of the Syriac Manuscripts in his possession, and among them was a thick 'Abhd-Îshô'
(B. O., iii. 1, p. 49) Palladius and Jerome. See B. O., 1, pp. 568,608. Lôṣâ (Lausus) the
chamberlain [of the Emperor Theodosius]; to God be glory and honour and praise and worship
and exaltation, for ever and ever; Yea and Amen." The book was finished on the sixth day
of the latter Teshrîn, in the year of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ 1890, in the
blessed village of Alḳôsh, the village of Nahum the Prophet which is laid and built by the
side of the Monastery of Rabban Hôrmizd the Persian, in the days of the Catholicus and
Patriarch of Babylon of the East, Mâr Elîyâ XIII, and was written by 'Îsâ bar-Esha'yâ, the
son of the deacon Cyriacus from the village of Eḳrôr.

4 11 Of the blessed Ammonius, the disciple of Pambo See fol. 56b 12 Of Benjamin of Mount
Nēṭirā (Nitria) See fol. 57b 13 Of Apollonius the Merchant. See fol. 58b 14 Of the
brethren Paesius and Isaiah. See fol. 58b 15 Of Macarius the child of the Cross. See fol.
59b… 16 The triumphs of Isaiah, and Paul, and Noph the confessors with Abbâ Ôr. See fol.
191 a 17 The triumphs of Evagrius. See fol. 191 b 18 The triumphs of Abbâ. See fol. 192 a
19 The triumphs of the blessed fathers who worked miracles. See fol. 192 b 20 The general
triumph of the brethren in the Nitrian desert. See fol. 193 b 21 The triumphs of Ammon of
Nitria. See fol. 194 a 22 The triumphs of another Ammon. 5 See fol. 194 b 23 The triumphs
of Didymus, of and of three brethren. See fol. 195 a 24 The triumphs of Philemon, of John,
and of Serapion. See fol. 195 b 25 The triumphs of Apollo the Martyr. See fol. 196 a IV.
Foll. 197 b—350 b. The Counsels of the holy old men, and the questions and answers of the
brethren. 1 Questions 1—62. On fleeing from men, on the solitary life, and on dwelling in
the cell continually, compiled by Palladius. See foll. 197 b—205 a. This section contains
questions, etc., by Arsenius, Ammon, Sisoes Sarmâta Antony, Theodore, Bēṭîmîôn Joseph,
Nestor, Poemen, Bishop of Oxyrhynchus, Macarius, Alonius, Pambo, Abbâ John, Abbâ Agathon,
Abbâ Moses, and many others whose names are not mentioned. 2 Questions 63—103. On fasting
and abstinence. See foll. 205 a—209 b. Sayings, etc., of Paphnutius, Macarius, Isaac,
John, Sisoes, Abraham, Agathon, Theodotus, Paphnutius, Serenus, Poemen, Sylvanus, Daniel,
Benjamin, and others whose names are not mentioned.

6 3 Questions 104—134. On reading the Scriptures, night vigils, the singing of the Psalms
and continual prayer. Sayings, etc., chiefly by the above mentioned writers. 11 Questions
548—586. On fornication. See foll. 269a—275a. Sayings, etc., by Isidore, Daniel, Isaac,
Poemen, John, Zeno, Theodore, and other writers. 12 Questions 587—722 (fol. 295a);
101—400. See foll. 275a—333b. Of the acceptance of repentance. Sayings, etc., chiefly by
the above mentioned writers. Some leaves appear to have been wanting at fol. 295a in the
manuscript from which this copy was made. 13 Homilies against the idle and sluggish. See
fol. 333b. 14 Homilies against those who love vain-glory. See fol. 333b. 15 Questions and
answers of the holy fathers for teacher and pupil. See fol. 334b. 16 Admonition concerning
the questions and answers, etc. See fol. 339a. 17 Sayings of the fathers which I have
found in other books. See fol. 341b. (Numbered from 1—1).

7 18 Questions and answers of the fathers. See fol. 345b. 19 Of humility and how a man
should hold himself to be of none account before all men. See fol. 346b. 20 Admonition of
the holy fathers. See fol. 348b. 21 A second admonition. See fol. 349b. 22 Admonition of
Abbâ Mâr John Chrysostom. See fol. 350b.

CHAPTER 16. OF THE DEATH OF THE HOLY MÂR GEORGE THE CATHOLICUS

1 According to what I have learned from the histories of the Church, all of which I have
written down in this book,—now some are taken from written documents, and some from oral
tradition,—and according to what I have also found written in the Ecclesiastical History
of the excellent Mâr Athkên concerning Mâr George the Catholicus, the king who reigned in
his time was named Ḥasan bar-ʿAli and that writer saith, "Ḥasan began to reign in the same
year in which George was appointed [Catholicus]; and when George had ministered in the
patriarchate and Hasan had reigned twenty-two years, both died in the same year, that is
to say when each had ruled twenty-two years. Now Mâr George died in Hêrthâ, the city of
the Arabs, and was buried with Mâr Abhâ, the Catholicus and Martyr, with all the honour
which befitteth the labours and afflictions with which he wearied himself by sea and land
for the sake of the holy Church and the flocks which had been entrusted to his hands by
our Lord. And we may learn concerning the depth of his doctrine and the height of his
wisdom, from the address of prayer which he composed, and which begins:—

2 "O God, the Eternal, Who art from everlasting, Thou Who art everlastingly the Good
Being, Whose goodness never changeth...." And he composed for it mournful tunes which were
to be accompanied by beautifully arranged instrumental music.

CHAPTER 17. OF RABBAN SABHR-ÎSHÔ WHO WAS SURNAMED RÔSTÂM

1 This Rabban Sabhr-Îshô who was called Rôstâm, the beloved friend of the holy fathers who
lived in this holy monastery, and the composer of histories of them, came from Hêrem, a
village of Adiabene. He was a venerable and holy man, and from his youth up had been a
disciple in the Great Monastery of the holy Rabban Mâr Narsai, the head of the monastery.
And when he had been there a short time, the fathers who were there asked him, and he
wrote [a tract] on the occasion of the celebration of the Golden Sabbath Eve; he also
wrote a lengthy work, in elegant language and with a clear mind, which consisted partly of
disputations against heretics, and partly of arguments against obscure opinions of various
kinds. And he departed from thence and came to our monastery, and when he had tarried here
also a short time, the monks from the holy Monastery of Bêth Kôkâ came after him, and

2 Assemânî, considering to be no part of the metrical composition, translates, "Quot in ea
suavium Cantuum mutationes cernere est, et quot pulcherrimo ordine succedentes sibi
strophas et modos!" through their entreaties, and the counsel of the Elders of this
congregation [who gave it] for the benefit of that holy monastery, he sorrowfully departed
from here. He wrote also another book in eight discourses on the dispensation of our Lord,
on the conversion of the various countries by the hands of the blessed Apostles, and on
chastity and ascetic life. He also composed at the request of the holy Elders who were
here, but especially of Abbâ Kardâgh, who occupied the same cell as Mâr Îshô'-yahbh [of
Adiabene], the history of Rabban Mâr Îshô'-zêkhâ, of the Monastery of Gaṣṣâ; the history
of Mâr Îshô'-yahbh; the history of Rabban Mâr Abraham, the head of this monastery, who
came here from the monastery of Rabban Zêkhâ-Îshô'; and of Rabban Kâm-Îshô'. He also
composed the history of Mâr Abraham of Nephthar, of Rabban Mâr Job the Persian, and the
history of Rabban Sabhr-Îshô' [the founder of the Monastery] of Bêth Kôḳâ. Thus with the
sweat of his toil in the vineyard of Christ dropping from his brow, he departed from this
world, and his soul had rest. And to me when I saw in his writings the love with which he
burned for this holy house, it seemed good to make pleasant this history with the
venerable memorial of his uprightness.

CHAPTER 18. OF RABBAN GABRIEL, [THE HEAD OF THE MONASTERY], WHO WAS SURNAMED THE "COW"

1 Among the chapters of this our history, O our friend and master, Mār Abhd-Īshō, we will
also recount the history of the venerable Gabriel, who was rapid in thought and zealous
for glorious deeds. This man sprang up, according to the body, in the country of Siārzōr,
but it did not please him to remain in that place like a savage deprived of the
instruction of doctrine, and he set out from thence and came to the city of Nisibis, where
he laboured and acquired the knowledge of the Holy Scriptures. Now this man also was a
disciple in the Great Monastery of Mār Abraham [on Mount Īzlā], and he toiled in the
learning of many books, and his mind was diligently trained in controversy and in
disputation against heresies. Especially, however, did he take up arms against the "shorn"
followers of Severus of Antioch who lived in the Monastery of Karṭēmin, and he had much
controversy with them, and [he composed] answers to them which burned up the evil stubble
of their hateful doctrine.

2 And when Sâhdônâ was driven out of the Church, he went after him to Edessa,—as he
himself testifies, saying, "At that time, when the wretched Sâhdônâ was expelled from the
Church, I, Gabriel, blazed with the burning zeal of my soul, and I went to Edessa to
him,"—and there he held a controversy with him, and defeated him. And when the holy Mâr
Narsai, the head of that holy monastery, departed from this temporary life to the life
which endureth for everlasting, this Gabriel composed the history of his noble deeds, at
the end of which he wrote, "It is sufficient for me to say in praise of Rabban Mâr Abraham
and his congregation, that the holy Rabban Jacob, the founder of the monastery of Bêth
'Abhê, went forth from it, for the Lord hath built by his hands the king of monasteries;"
and from then until now this passage hath been handed down in all places, and Bêth 'Abhê
is called the "king of monasteries." Now he was head of the monastery there for a short
time, but he departed from thence and came to this monastery. And when Rabban Kâm-Îshô
departed to his dwelling place, the blessed Bêrâz Sûrîn rose in his place; and when he
also departed, the blessed Mâr Bar-Sâumâ—to whom Mâr Hênân-Îshô wrote a letter at the
beginning of his holding the office of Patriarch—rose in his place; and when he also had
completed his days, Rabban Gabriel became the head of this holy monastery. And he

3 Socin, Zur Geographie des Tûr 'Abhdîn, in Z.D.M.G. Band xxxv, p. 259. For the word i.
e., kourdoum see Löw, Aram. Pflanzennamen, p. 218, no. 162. composed a discourse on
washing the feet, which was read on the day of the Passover of our Lord, and he wrote a
history of the noble acts of the holy martyrs of Tûr Bērâin, and narratives of various
kinds. Now that discourse which was referred to in the commemoration of Rabban Jacob does
not, strictly speaking, belong to this Gabriel, but it was composed by Mâr Gabriel,
Metropolitan of Karkhâ dhê Bêth Sêlôkh, who was called "Gabriel the Dancer," and
concerning whom we shall write when we come to his place.

CHAPTER 19. OF RABBAN MÂR ABRAHAM THE HEAD OF THE MONASTERY OF RABBAN ZÊKHÂ-ÎSHÔ

1 Now although [the order of] the narratives of our work is destroyed and they do not
possess the chronological sequence which it was expected they should possess, nevertheless
according to my own opinion and according to the historical tradition which I have
received from my fathers, I have preserved the order of the times, and of those [who
lived] in them. And even if one person should be placed a little too late, and another a
little too early, this is not a matter for blame and reproach, inasmuch as thy wisdom, O
'Abhd-Îshô', man of enlightened mind, lover of holy histories, did entreat me to go round
the whole circle of the ascetics who have lived in this monastery and through all the mass
of their histories, and to bring them to light before thee. Now it appears that the
following account of Rabban Mâr Abraham of Bêth Rabban Zekhâ-Îshô, which we have omitted,
belongs to the period of those histories which have been related by us, although we place
it a little too late. And when Rabban Abraham was an old man he came to this holy
monastery on account of the cold of the country of Dâsen, and on his entrance here, by
reason of his fame and the exalted rigour of his ascetic life, this brotherhood entrusted
to him the headship of the monastery.

2 And he led those diligent sons in all the ways of a holy life, and they made their
perfection reach to heaven, and he wrought here mighty and exalted miracles, which are
made known by his history composed by the excellent man [Sabhr-Îshô] Rôstâm. And it came
to pass that when he was here, he was the head of this congregation and also of the
congregation of [the Monastery of] Rabban Zêkhâ-Îshô from which he went forth. And one
steward and governor and guardian ordered the affairs of both monasteries, and the monks
of that monastery did not act in any way without the command of the steward who was
elected from this congregation, nor did the monks here oppose in any way the commands of
the steward elected from that congregation, for it was a matter which excited the praise
of God with all men. And this thing was rumoured among all the monasteries of this
country. And although both Rabban Jacob and Rabban Zêkhâ-Îshô came forth from that holy
monastery in Mount Îzlâ there was neither division nor severance of love on account of
this. So also when the blessed Mâr Abraham had been borne to the rest of the grave, like a
shock of corn in its season, and the standing corn at its time [of harvest], this
arrangement, that one steward and governor should minister unto both these holy
monasteries, continued for a long time after him.

CHAPTER 20. OF THE OTHER HEADS WHO LIVED IN THIS MONASTERY

Now, to the lives of these [men] which have already been written, our discourse should add
also some account of the noble deeds and pious lives of the holy fathers who lived in this
holy monastery after them, I mean of Rabban George of Adiabene, who was called 'Bar-
Şayyâdhê,' of Sâmâ his brother, of Abbâ Nathaniel, of Abbâ Şelîbhâ, and of Rabban Gabriel,
who was called 'Şephrônâ', whose holy bodies were laid in the place in the chapel where
the monks say the third service of the day; but inasmuch as Mâr David the Bishop, of
[this] monastery, hath before our time written upon them, as well as upon others, at the
request of Khûzn[a]hîr, the believing man from the village of Bâshôsh, I pass on to
recount the history of those, the narratives of whom are not written down.

CHAPTER 21. OF ABBÂ SIMON [WHO WAS SURNAMED] THE "BEARDLESS."

I entreat the wisdom of wise and understanding readers, that as they advance in the study
of this book, they may hold me entirely free from blame should it appear [to them] that
one narrative is in advance of its correct position, and another is after. For not all
narratives will admit of being written down in chronological order, lest peradventure the
root of history being severed, the narrative should lean to one side, and become like an
animal which tries to walk upon two of its four legs, a thing which it is not in any way
possible to do. What then? Now in the time of Mâr George, the Catholicus and Patriarch, of
holy memory, there lived in this our monastery an old holy man who was called Simon, on
whose face, according to what is written by his fellow monks, by reason of the austerity
of his ascetic life, and the severity of his abstinence, no hair remained in his beard,
and for this reason he was surnamed the "Beardless." He was a great and glorious man in
his days, for by the word of his mouth every affair of the monastery was governed by the
ordering of his wisdom. And his old age shone like a broad and splendid beam of light
through his lofty understanding, and his exalted philosophy. And like a wise merchant he
gathered together and filled his soul with all manner of riches of the treasures of the
Spirit, so that the word which our Lord spake, "Every scribe that becometh a disciple of
the kingdom of heaven, is like unto a wise man, who bringeth forth from his treasures
things new and old," was fulfilled in him; but all the glorious things of this man are
drowned in the sea of oblivion because of the length of the time in which they happened
before us.

CHAPTER 22. OF THE GOING DOWN OF RABBAN SIMON TO GEORGE THE CATHOLICUS, [AND OF THE BARRENNESS WHICH HE MADE TO FLOWER IN THE CITY OF ḤADHATTĀ]

Now when the blessed Mār George the Patriarch went up from the countries of Persia and
Bēth Ḳaṭrāyē, because he had been absent there a long time, and because everything
concerning him was a joy or a sorrow to this holy congregation, when all the holy Elders
heard of his coming to the paternal throne of Bēth Aramāyē, they decided to send suitable
men to meet him and to salute the father of fathers. And they all entreated this
honourable head of the monastery, Abbā Simon, to be the agent by whose means the homage
due to his holy fatherhood might be conveyed to him; and this holy old man undertook to do
so gladly, and he and others went down to the gate of the Patriarch. And when they had
gone in to the city of Hadhattā, a certain God-fearing man received them into his house,
and he and his wife were childless, like the God-fearing Shunammite woman and her husband,
to whom, from the time that the prophet Elisha entered into their house, God gave a son
through the prayers of the prophet. And when Abbā Simon asked those aged people how they
did, they revealed to him that they had no child at all to be the heir of their old age;
and the holy man gave them some water in which he had washed the cross which was upon him,
and said to them, "Behold, God will give you a male child, and his name shall be called
John;" and he went down to the door of the father of fathers.

CHAPTER 23. OF MÂR JOHN OF DÊLÛM

1 And it came to pass that that Divine power which cleaveth to those who fear it, and
which has worked, and [still] worketh in a marvellous manner in all generations through
them, even as it worked with Sarâ (Sarah) and Rephkâ (Rebekah) and Hannah and the
Shunammite woman, worked also with those believing people, and made perfect; and according
to the prayer and prophecy of the holy old man, when the season of the year came round, a
child of their old age was born unto them, and according to the command of Rabban Simon
they called him John. And as God hath sanctified to His household the fruit which hath
been born from barrenness, and by His care for them hath made them exalted and glorious in
their generations, (as for example, Isaac and Jacob and Samuel and others), that same
Power which governeth all things, and which manifesteth extraordinary things through His
saints, and which makes them, from being fruits of the body, fruits of the Spirit, also
established as a witness of His effectual might, which is above all things, that man of
whom we now write. And the Holy One set him apart, like Samuel, from his childhood, and
accounted him to be His own, and made him a member of His household.

2 And when this child had been born to his truly believing parents, whose lives rejoiced
in him as in the air which they breathed, (for he was the light of their consolation),
with great watchfulness and care for him they placed him in a school; and because the Lord
knoweth His own, and worketh effectually that He may be known of them, he learned in a
short time the Psalms and the other subjects which it is the duty of boys to learn. And
when he was some few years old, when as yet he had experienced neither the motions of the
body nor the importunities of the passions, he forsook those old people, worthy of blessed
memory, and everything, and came to this holy monastery. Now although many have written
histories about this blessed man, especially Abhú Nôh, who resteth among the righteous, I
will relate briefly a few matters concerning him. It would seem that his coming [to this
monastery] took place in the days of the holy Mâr Abraham, him of Bêth Rabban Zêkhâ-Îshô,
as I will shew at the end. Now that same Divine grace which brought the child into
existence through the prayers of the holy Abbâ Simon, placed him at the door of his cell,
so that just as he had been the cause of his birth, so he should also be the guide and
leader of his early manhood in each sublime step of the ascetic life.

3 And when Abbâ Simon knew who he was, and whence he came, and the cause of his coming to
the monastery, for the young man informed him concerning these things little by little,
his affection went forth to him, and he loved him much, even as Jacob loved his beloved
Joseph when he saw him. And when the [other] holy Elders had learned how he had been born,
because of the majesty of that holy old man and the honour in which he was held in this
congregation, they offered no opposition on account of his youth to his receiving the
tonsure. Now when he had become a disciple he was set to do the work of the monastery, and
to be the keeper of the vineyard of the monastery which was situated in Dûrê, a village of
Naḥlâ dhê Malkâ; and he continued in this service a long time living nobly a life of
excellence, after the manner of the Elders who had led a monastic life from their youth
up. And he made for himself of the vine branches in the vineyard a little hut, in which he
tended the vines and watched and laboured the whole time that he was there, and in which,
to this day, mighty deeds and healings of sicknesses are wrought by the prayers of that
holy man.

4 And the believing and God-loving people of that village testify that they had recourse
to him in every affliction, and having asked for the prayers of that holy man, rest and
deliverance were afforded unto them. And the venerable old man Elisha relates:—"When I was
sent there by the monastery to be the keeper of the vineyard, the marks of the fingers of
the blessed man still remained in the plaster of mud with which he had plastered that
cave. And when I was in the vineyard by myself, and there was no man with me, the
Kartêwâyê came against me to carry away the iron tools and the provisions which were with
me; and when I perceived that they were breaking down the hedge and coming through into
the garden, I cried out to Mâr John [to come] and help me. And I saw an old man of lofty
stature who appeared to me standing at the door of the cave, clothed in glorious and
shining apparel, and when I saw him gladness came over me. And he deceived those thieves
with apparitions and he hid the cave from them, and having sought much for it, and finding
it not, they departed and went away. Thus the Lord protected me and all that was with me
by the prayers of that holy man.

5 Now that blessed man planted a nut tree there, and nuts like unto those which it
produced were not seen upon any other tree there, and although they took many [cuttings]
from it, and planted them, they never produced any tree. And, as it is written concerning
the prophet Samuel, "It was heard from Dan even to Beer-sheba that Samuel was to be a
prophet of God," so also was this word spoken concerning this man by reason of the
miracles which he wrought from his youth up.

CHAPTER 24. OF THE FAMINE WHICH TOOK PLACE IN THEIR DAYS IN THIS COUNTRY, [AND OF THE DEPARTURE OF JOHN AND HIS MASTER TO NĚRĚBHÁ OF BĚTH-GAZZÁ

1 In the book which was composed by David, the pious Bishop of the Kartěwáyě, which is
called the "Little Paradise," which begins with the history of Rabban George bar-Ṣayyádhé,
the head of the monastery, in the history of Abbá Ṣělibhá the Aramean it is made known
that a great famine took place in this country. Now from this passage it would seem that
the blessed Mâr John [did not] receive the tonsure at the hands of Mâr Abraham, because at
the time of this famine the blessed Abraham was dead. And when the famine had become very
severe, and there was no help to alleviate it from anywhere, Abbá Simon, who had three
disciples, one of whom was our blessed John, gathered them together, and said to them,
"Come, my children, let us depart from this place and go to the country of the mountains,
and let us eat the leaves of the trees and not die;" and he took them and they departed to
Něřebhá dhě Běth Gazzá, but some say that they went to the country of Salakh.

2 "the word concerning Samuel of old was fulfilled also in this man by the signs which he
was accustomed to work from his youth up." And while they were thus living upon the
berries of the trees, and were being directed by the blessed old man to the saving of
their lives, the time of the departure of Rabban Simon drew near and arrived. And as Jacob
called his sons, so he called his disciples, and said to them, "Come, my children, my
doctrine is to me, and I will tell you what things will happen unto you after my departure
from this world." And when the first had drawn near him, he answered and said, "Thou shalt
take to thyself a wolf;" and to the second he said, "No man shall follow thee, my son, or
know the way in which thou shalt depart from the world;" [and to the third he said], "As
for thee, my son John, behold, our Lord will magnify thee with miracles and signs, and He
will make thee a head and a chief in the congregation of the brotherhood of ascetics, and
thou shalt teach the heathen barbarians;" and these prophecies of the holy man came to
pass to the three of them, according to what is written in his history.

CHAPTER 25. OF HOW RABBAN JOHN WAS TAKEN CAPTIVE BY THE BARBARIANS

Now when that holy old man had departed this life, and his three disciples remained behind
in his cave, one of them took the books which their blessed master in the present
territory of the Bàlik-Kurds near Rawandiz. See Hoffmann, Auszüge, p. 245. had written and
went down to the villages to sell [them], and to bring back food for them [all]. And when
he had seen the world and the fairness thereof he took unto himself a wife; this is the
man who took unto himself a wolf. Now when the two other disciples who remained behind had
waited for some days, and their companion did not return, the second one went down to see
what had become of him that had gone first, and he likewise did not come back, and it is
not known what became of him; it is said of him, however, that he became an anchorite in
the inner mountains. And when the excellent John saw that he was forsaken by his two
companions, and that they were not, he also went down to see what had become of his two
brethren. And according as the event happened and [by the working of] the Divine
Providence that brought the holy man in the way to be the means of fulfilling the prophecy
concerning himself, the men of Délûm went forth to spoil and to make a raid upon the
country where the blessed man was, and thus they also carried him off into captivity, and
brought him to their country. Concerning this holy man these [facts] must suffice, for
very many and great things are written concerning him.

CHAPTER 26. OF RABBAN JOSEPH THE HEAD OF THE MONASTERY

Now according to what we have learned from the history of this holy Rabban Joseph, he came
from the country of Shâhrâzûr, and was a kinsman of the blessed Rabban Gabriel, who was
called the "Dancer", and during the lifetime of that blessed old man he came here, and
became his disciple. He was a humble, happy, painstaking and abstinent man, who, according
to what is said, accounted all earthly things as ashes and dung compared with the ascetic
life. And having excelled in the glorious works of asceticism, the mother of life, after
the heads of the monastery who followed one after the other, the choice of the whole
congregation fell upon this holy man, and he was ordained chief and governor over them;
and when he had ministered in the office four years, he left it in the manner in which we
are about to bring to light.

CHAPTER 27. OF ŞELİBHÂ-ZEKHÂ THE CATHOLICUS, [AND OF HIS COMING TO THIS MONASTERY]

1 After the death of Mâr Hênân-Îshô, the Catholicus and Patriarch of holy memory, the
prince of fathers, the storehouse of grace, the mighty and spiritual man, Şelîbhâ-Zêkhâ
became the head of the Church. Now this man, according to what ecclesiastical histories
write concerning him, was an avaricious and a haughty man. 2 And when he heard of the
golden Book of the Gospels which our Mār Īshō'-yahbh, the blessed in everything, had
bequeathed to this our monastery, he came with all his insolent pride to take it and to
carry it away with him to Mědhínáthá dhě Běth Armáye. And when he had come unto the
monastery and this assembly had received him joyfully, even as they were wont to receive
the other Patriarchs who had come for the worship and honour of the place, he demanded of
Rabban Joseph, the head of the monastery, that he should bring him that Book that he might
rejoice in the sight of it. Now when he had done so, for he had no power to withhold it,
and moreover, he did not comprehend what was in the heart of the Catholicus, he brought
the Book from the Library and gave it into his hands. And when the Catholicus saw the
splendour and beauty of the Book, which was ornamented with pure gold, and precious
stones, he was devoured by desire for it, and he took it and laid it in his wallet. Then
the head of the monastery answered and said to him, "Thou art not acting rightly in taking
our Book in this iniquitous manner. And the Catholicus said, "Ye solitaries have no need
of this Book, therefore let the believers enjoy it; and straightway he commanded those
that were with him to set out on their way quickly.

3 Now when this had taken place, the board for summoning the congregation was struck, and
those among the ascetics who were young and strong ran after the Catholicus and stopped
him, even as David did Gûlyâdh (Goliath), and they prevailed against him with stones and
sticks. And when they had come up with him they threw him off his mule, and they buffeted
him with outspread hands and closed fists in an unseemly manner although they had it in
their power to take the Book [from him] without striking a blow. Now the abandonment [to
this treatment] was wrought upon him by God because he coveted that which was not his own.
And when the aged Elders heard what had been done to him by the novices, they gathered
themselves together and went forth to appease the Catholicus, and they began to apologize
for what had taken place without their knowledge and consent; and in this manner they
pacified Şêlibhâ-Zêkhâ, and he departed from them.

CHAPTER 28. OF THE DEPARTURE OF RABBAN JOSEPH TO THE MONASTERY OF RABBAN BAR-'IDTÂ

Now when the blessed Joseph, the head of the monastery, saw what had been done to Şêlibhâ-
Zêkhâ the Catholicus by the brethren, he abandoned the headship of the monastery, and
dwelt quietly in his cell. And when the brethren of the Monastery of Rabban bar-'Idtā
heard [of this], inasmuch as they had neither head nor guardian, they came after the
blessed man, and thus at their entreaty, and by the advice of the Elders of this
monastery, he went and became the head and governor of the monastery, and ministered in
that office with all the ability which the headship required.

CHAPTER 29. OF AYĀS SHAIBNĀYĀ WHO WISHED TO SLAY RABBAN JOSEPH, AND OF THE FLIGHT OF RABBAN FROM BEFORE HIM

1 Now there lived in the neighbourhood of that monastery a man whose name was Ayās, and he
was a man of the tribe of Dhūhl, and belonged to the family surnamed Shaibānāyē, and he
was the store-keeper of the grain of that monastery, and of all its property. The day of
his commemoration was the same as that of Jacob of Bēth 'Ābhē. See Hoffmann, Auszüge, p.
181. Cf. also Tabarī ii, p. 707. And he craftily asked the brethren of that monastery to
give him a place in which he might build a house to shelter his cattle, and they in their
simplicity commanded him to build a house wherever he chose. He therefore built a khân by
the side of the King's highway, in the fields belonging to the monastery, and by those who
passed along the road, as well as by the inhabitants the building was called the "Khân of
Ayâs;" and little by little as he obtained power, he seized upon all the fields round
about it. And he slew the steward who lived in the monastery, and thinking to act like
[Herod] Agrippa, who having slain the blessed James, the brother of John, laid hands on
Simon Peter also, this daring man, having slain that blessed man and cast his venerable
body into a well of water in one of the cultivated fields of the monastery—which is to-day
called Muḥarraḳiyyā—sent watchmen by night to the blessed Joseph to spy out the place
where he was and to slay him. Now the blessed man learned this from the believing
neighbours of the monastery, [who said], "Behold, this evil man has threatened to destroy
thee also." And he left [the monastery] and went to the neighbourhood of the city of
Bālādh, to the region of Āwānā,

2 stalls or chambers, usually open in the front, where the beasts are fed and sheltered.
In the centre of the courtyard the camels are unloaded and their burdens piled up for the
night. Such khāns usually have a supply of water either in a well in the courtyard, or
close at hand outside. They are more expensive to stay at than the large public khāns,
many of which have been built for the poor by rich men, and endowed with funds to pay for
keeping them clean. a village of Bêth Nûhdêrân, and there by his hands the Lord laid the
foundations of and established that holy monastery, which has been called after his name
in memory of him, and has obtained renown. Now I have learned all these things from the
history of this holy man which was composed by the venerable Mâr Athken, the monk, of the
holy monastery of Rabban Aphni-Mâran.

CHAPTER 30. OF RABBAN MÂR JOHN, METROPOLITAN BISHOP OF ADIABENE

1 I should be an enemy of the truth and of the living Word of Christ, if in these writings
I attempted to manifest flattery of [any] man, or if for the sake of polluted gain I dared
to approach matters which are beyond my strength. Moreover, I should appear silly biete
des Euphrat und Tigris, (in Ergänzungsheft No. 45 zu Petermann's "Geographischen
Mittheilungen", Gotha, 1876); and Hoffmann, Auszüge, p. 212. and ignorant if while writing
and completing and showing forth [these histories], through my love of God, and at the
entreaty of His holy men, I should add any matters of my own to that order which has come
down to me by the tradition of those who recount histories, or should introduce any thing
of my own into the accounts of the holy men, even though their beauty would not be
tarnished by the defect of my speech, nor [their sweetness] polluted by the evil smell of
my manner of treatment. Now we gather the rose from among thorns, and when we inhale its
beautiful smell with our breath, the memory of the thorns is not present in our mind. And
those who understand the culture of flowers and plants say that they sow garlic and onions
and other vegetables which have an unpleasantly strong smell round about the rose, in
order that through their nearness it may [appear to] acquire a more beautiful smell, and
to have a more splendid colour. Let then this history which we are writing [take the place
of] the rose, and let our own evil odour take the place of the leeks and onions and
garlic, so that these holy men may, [appear to] be the more glorious, and so that their
glory may increase!

2 Now Abbâ 'Anân-Îshô', of whom I have written above, had a nephew whose name was John,
and he was a disciple in this monastery during the lifetime of his uncle. And after the
death of Abbâ 'Anân-Îshô', together with the inheritance of his manner of life and his
doctrine, he inherited his cell and every thing that he had. Now all the books which
'Anân-Îshô' and Îshô'-yahbh his brother wrote and left behind them, this John made to pass
into the library [of this monastery]. And having formed within himself all those glorious
qualities by which a man is sanctified for living the divine monastic life, for he had
been born of parents who sprang from a blessed stock, in body and in spirit, he at length
became the head and governor of this holy monastery. And the fame of his piety was carried
into all places, and he was ordained Bishop of the country of Bêth Bêghôsh. And when the
blessed Mâr Simon the Metropolitan departed this temporary life, the choice of the Bishops
and of the government, and of the believing men of Adiabene fell upon him, and he was
ordained Metropolitan by Mâr Şelîbhâ-Zêkhâ, the Catholicus, concerning whom we have
written a little way back. And while he adorned the office of head with all steadfastness,
he made his body to abstain from everything which was pleasant, and he neither consented
to drink wine, nor submitted to eat unclean things.

3 And all transient glory was a polluted thing in his sight, because he had been nourished
in a life above all reproach by the overflowing abundance of the doctrine of the holy and
pious 'Ânân-Îshô', and he nobly preserved to the end the teaching of his uncle and master.
And because of his love for this holy house, every day, so it is said, he used to sit in
his cell and quietly meditate. And in the days of this holy man the inhabitants of Bêth
Bôrê, a village in [the district of] Nineveh, built a fine and beautiful temple at great
expense; now they had [over them] a pious Bishop [called] Ephraim who came from this holy
monastery. And when they wished to consecrate that temple, Ephraim came to this monastery
to Mâr John the Metropolitan, and at the request of the Bishop and of the believing people
of Bêth Bôrê who were with him, he (Mâr John) went and consecrated that holy temple. And
so after he had continued to be the head of the monastery for a long time he died in this
holy monastery, where he had been born of the Spirit and instructed in everything, and
where he had been

4 schichte des Mâr 'Abhd-Îshô', Kiel, 1890, p. 10, no. 10, (text p. 26, l. 14, translation
p. 25, at the foot). Cf. Yakût, vol. 1, p. 446. honoured by being elected the head of the
Monastery. May he rise from the grave with the holy fathers who begat him, and with them
may he receive from his Lord the reward of his actions! And behold, according to what I
have learned from the old men, his grave is by the door of the screen of the martyrium.
Now although the martyrium in which he was buried with the fathers, was demolished for the
sake of this new temple which was built, nevertheless he and the other holy Metropolitans
and Bishops were left in their places undisturbed. And if it be true, as I have heard from
the Elders that it is, five Metropolitans and eighteen Bishops are buried in that holy
chapel.

CHAPTER 31. OF MÂR DÎNDOWAI BISHOP OF MÂ'ALLTHÂ

Now Mâr John had a companion in his cell whose name was Dindowai, and he appointed him
Bishop of Maʿallthā and Ḥēnāithā; he was a venerable and holy man, and was also a disciple
in this monastery. And there are in the library of this monastery many books belonging to
him which bear witness to the love and affection which he bore to this holy house. He also
was buried in this monastery with Mār Sergius, the bishop who came after him, of whom we
shall give some account.


THE BOOK OF GOVERNORS (CHAPTERS 32. OF MĀR ĪSHŌ-ZĒKHĀ, THE SYRIAN, BISHOP OF SALAKH–8.)
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THE BOOK OF GOVERNORS continued

CHAPTER 32. OF MĀR ĪSHŌ-ZĒKHĀ, THE SYRIAN, BISHOP OF SALAKH

1 Now although the story of the holy Mār Īshō-zēkhā, Bishop of our native country of
Sēlōkh has been briefly told by me in another place, namely, in the history of Rabban
Gabriel, inasmuch as that history demanded See Hoffmann, Auszüge, p. 208; B. O., iii. 11,
p. dcclx; and Le Quien, Oriens Christianus, ii. 1584f. According to Badger, (Nestorians,
vol. 1, p. 174) Maʿallthā contained twenty families and one church in 1842—44. Yākūt (iv,
p. 578, l. 4) makes near Geziret ibn-ʿOmar. 2 it, it nevertheless appeareth to me that I
ought to speak of his noble deeds and triumphs among the righteous phalanx of his
companions. This blessed man came from the country of Bèth Armâyê, and according to what I
have learned from the ancients, he was a monk in this holy monastery. It is said of him
that his food daily throughout the entire year consisted of seven mouthfuls which he
passed into his stomach. And he made his soul a bird which was accustomed to fly upwards
always, the object of the vision and meditation of which was beyond its body, and in his
renunciation he was free from every distracting influence. And his cell was situated in
Gâr Kâhnê, according to what I have learned from Rabban Matthew the Elder, who heard it
from his master Abbâ Mâran-Zêkhâ. Now when Mâr John became Metropolitan of this church
province, and the Bishop of the country of Salakh had departed from this world, they
appointed Mâr John to be bishop there. And when he had gone into this Outer Salakh which
is called Salakh of Narses,— now it is also called Banānes,—[he found] there a family of
nobles who were chiefs of Salakh, and lords thereof.

3 And one day one of them whose name was Pharrōkh-bandādh made a commemoration service in
honour of Mār Phransē in his convent, to all the scholars who were there,—now there was a
school there before that time, and at that time, and afterwards,—and when they had mixed
the wine, and had given the first cup to Mār Bishop, he tasted it, and behold it was acid.
And he answered and said to Pharrōkh-bandādh, "Pharrōkh-bandādh", and he answered and
said, "Bless, master. The Bishop said to him, "From what vine cometh this wine? and
Pharrōkh-bandādh said, "From such and such a vine", and the Bishop spake to him this one
word only, saying, "Let that vine wither; and with the curse of the righteous man wrath
clothed that vine. And when it was the morning of the next day, after the commemoration of
the holy Mār Phransē was ended, that man went home to his house, and he learned that the
vine had withered to its very roots in the hour in which the Bishop cursed it, and behold
the place where it withered is as if it had been burnt with fire, and is well known to
this day. And fear fell upon all that country.

4 And Jacob, my father according to the body, related to me, and he had heard it from his
fathers, that in the district called Bèth Shárónáye in which our village was situated
there was a great, old oak (?), which was called the "king of the forest;" and in the
villages round about it there were heathen who used to burn incense to it, and who
worshipped before it, and we wished to cut it down, but we were afraid of the heathen who
worshipped it, and also of the devil which appeared therein. Now when we heard of the
coming of the pious Màr Íshó-zekhá into our country, and concerning the vine which he
withered by his coming, when he had drawn near to the villages round about us, our priests
went to bring him to us. And we commanded them that in coming back to us with the Bishop
their way should be by the side of that tree, and they took that way. Now when the Bishop
came near to the tree and saw its beauty, which was caused by the exceeding care [shèwn]
to it, and learned that it was the god of the heathen who dwelt in these villages, without
coming down from the animal upon which he rode, or the matter causing him any
astonishment, he lifted up his eyes and hands to heaven, and cried to the Lord, saying, "O
Lord of heaven and earth, uproot this god who receiveth together with thee worship and
tithes;" and at his word the branches of that tree turned downwards, and its roots [grew]
upwards, and thus was brought to nought the falsehood of the error of the devil which
dwelt therein.

5 And there was a village in Inner Salakh which was called Gōlāi, the inhabitants of which
were formerly Magians, and having become disciples of the doctrine of Christ they built a
church in their village, and set apart certain nut trees and a small plantation that there
might be [always] a sum of money for the maintenance and expenses of the church. Now when
those old men died, their children seized the nut trees and defrauded the church of what
assistance they afforded. And when the holy man went to that village, the priests of the
church there complained of being defrauded by their fellow villagers. And while the two
parties were disputing with each other, the priests saying, "These trees belong to the
church," and the laity contradicting [them], and saying, "This has never been so," the
Bishop said to the [priests], "Dispute ye not one with another, for I believe that the
Will of the command of Christ, the Lord of the Church, will, if those nut trees truly
belong to this church, bring them to the court yard of the church, without damage and
without injury, in order that your dispute concerning their misappropriation may be
rebuked. [And to the villagers he said,] "If those nut trees are yours, they shall remain
just as they are without injury, in the place where they are.

6 And that Will which maintaineth creation by its might, and to which are easy the things
which are difficult to us and appear to be impossible, heard the voice of the son of its
house, and brought all those nut trees near to the church. And there was there a poor old
woman to whom the men of the village had given as long as she should live the half of the
produce of a large nut tree which was among those trees to provide her with food. And when
the sacristan rose up to beat the board to summon the congregation for the office of the
night, behold, he saw that all the nut trees had come round about the church, and in his
joy he went to where the Bishop was sleeping to announce to him the departure of the
trees; and the Bishop said to him, "I know it [already], my son, be silent. And when it
was morning, and the people had heard this report, the whole village was gathered together
to that place, and they rose up with wonder and praise, and they marvelled and wondered,
and glorified God. They saw, moreover, that the tree upon the half of the produce of which
the old woman used to live, was divided into two halves, and that one half had come to the
church with the other trees, and the other had remained in its place.

7 Now many other things were wrought by the holy Bishop Mâr Îshô'-Zêkhâ, but because of
their number I have [only] written these three, which will make known concerning their
greatness.

CHAPTER 33. OF GABRIEL THE METROPOLITAN BISHOP OF KARKHÂ DHÊ BÊTH SÊLÔKH, WHO WAS CALLED THE "DANCER" [AND OF THE DISCOURSE WHICH HE MADE]

1 Now this Gabriel, of the city of Nisibis, having come to this monastery after he had
been trained in the holy school there, laboured in the monastic life, as well as in the
holy study of the Divine Books. And, as I have learned, having triumphed in the greatest
self-abnegation,—now by reason of his abstinence and the asceticism of his nature his
passions were [neither] stirred up, nor did there remain with him any of the inclinations
of an impure mind,—it happened to him, because of the severity and the frequency of the
fasts and labours, which he endured beyond his strength, that the people of the Karkhâ dhê
Sêlôkhâyê of Bêth Garmai, at the report of his ability and self-abnegation were moved to
make him their head; and he was set apart for them, and was ordained Metropolitan by
Sêlôkhâ-Zêkhâ the Catholicus, together with Mâr John of Adiabene of holy memory. And when
he was an old man he came here to pray, and to receive blessings at the tombs of his
spiritual fathers. And it came to pass that one day during the commemoration of Rabban he
heard certain scholars complaining, and saying, "Would it not be more meet for this wholly
famous congregation that one of them should compose a special service for the holy Mâr
Jacob, rather than borrow this one which was composed by Micha the Doctor for some one
else, and recite it for Mâr Jacob as if he were a pauper?

2 And Mâr Gabriel, who on account of his mincing gait was called the "Dancer", went
straightway into the place where the deacons were, during the first session of the Psalms,
and he took tablets and wrote down the discourse which is now read for Rabban [Jacob]. And
if thou dost examine the sequence of its composition, and the style of its language, thou
wilt not find therein one example of the elegance of diction which the art of speaking
requireth. And beginning first of all with prayer, the discourse continueth with the
words, "Let us place in the midst one of the ranks of those who love their Lord," and so
forth. Then attacking the holy Mâr Bâbhai, and all that congregation from which Jacob went
forth, it saith, "Mad men who were exceedingly furious envied him with the evil
imagination of their hearts," and so forth. Now we do not think that Mâr Bâbhai was
stirred up to become the cause of the going forth of many from that monastery without the
will of God, for if it had been so, not one of the holy men would willingly have taken
upon himself the labour of founding a monastery. Moreover, Sâhdônâ, who lived at a time
nearer to that dispute, in his history of Rabban [Jacob], praises and magnifies and
glorifies that holy monastery.

3 And behold, this also we would make known, that although the blessed Rabban Kâm-Îshô,
and the holy Mâr Jacob, and Rabban Aphni-Mâran, and Emmâ Leontius Zînâyâ, and Rabban
Joseph went forth from the monastery in like manner by reason of a dispute, and became
heads and governors in other monasteries, they neither called nor named this monastery a
"monastery of madmen. And again Gabriel wishing to magnify this monastery, abuses its
inhabitants and in his passion saith concerning the person of Mâr Jacob, "He left to them,
that is to say to the monks, no possession in the land, and of everything which they
possessed, that is to say the estates which their fathers Mâr Îshô'-yahbh the Catholicus,
and Mâr George the Catholicus, bequeathed to them, behold they are entirely destitute. And
again he saith, "No person is so utterly destitute of everything as they are, and although
they labour, that is to say, although they gather in and carry out, in seed time and in
harvest, there is no profit to him that toileth therein. Now he did not correct this
discourse, and it continueth in its corrupt state. And this blessed man also died in this
monastery.

CHAPTER 34. OF THE BLESSED MÂR AHÂ, METROPOLITAN OF ARBELA, [AND HEAD OF THE MONASTERY OF BÊTH 'ÂBHÊ]

1 If now it be that the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, righteous
men who are dead, is the God of the living and not of the dead, according to the testimony
of the Divine Book, inasmuch as the righteous live with Him and are not dead, and for
their sakes He keepeth the covenant, and performeth grace, and sheweth care for the
thousands of generations, according to the word of the Lord, the righteous men of old, and
the just men who came after them, and the holy men who come last, are the children of His
kingdom, even as the living and life-giving mouth of Jesus our God maketh known, saying,
"Many shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the south, and from the north,
and shall sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of God.'

2 Now in respect of the fatherhood of the holy Mâr Jacob, we may see that the promise of
the word of the Lord was fulfilled. For although he worked and laboured and strove in all
the various works of the ascetic life, and loaded to the full the ship of his own person
[with] all manner of riches and sent it forth to heaven that it might enjoy its good
things in the times of need, he nevertheless raised up governors of all those who have
been and who will be imitators of him in the place of his dwelling, and of his manner of
life, namely, these holy men whose histories up to the present we have been shewing forth.
Now among these was this marvellous and holy Mâr Aḥâ, this glory of ascetics, and object
of praise of [spiritual] shepherds, this canon of all beauty of those who hold the five
talents, this wise and faithful steward of the kingdom of heaven, this holder of the keys
of the height and the depth by the bestowal from on high of the Spirit of God, concerning
whom I will relate a few things.

3 Now although his birth in respect of the body took place in the village of Awâkh, in the
district of Ṭalânâ, in the country of Margâ, yet, like the prophet Jeremiah, whom the Lord
set apart to know the marvellous acts which were about to be made manifest by Him, in his
bodily presence, and in the physical form of his limbs, God honoured him, and made him
glorious and to be admired. Hail to the beauty of the beautiful who are made exceedingly
beautiful by the Lord! Seth became beautiful by the glory of his creation and renewed the
glory of Adam his father; Joseph was beautiful, and all the hateful things [which he
endured] did not mar his beauty; the beauty of Moses made him great, and with it the Lord
smote and made a mock of the Egyptians; the beauty of David used to drive away the wicked
spirit from Saul, and the beauty of Daniel and his companions quenched the flame and
stopped the mouth of the lions: not only with the beauty of the body, but with two-fold
and double beauty, for to the visible and apparent beauty which nature had given them, and
which grace had bestowed upon them, they united also that of the soul and mind which is
prepared for the will of God.

4 Thus also was it in the case of this governor [Mâr Aḥâ] concerning whom my feeble
discourse is about to speak. And thus have I heard from those who recount his glorious
deeds, that together with the splendour of his acts and the glorious brilliance of his
doctrine, he shone with the radiant beauty of a fine stature and a noble presence, and he
was also born of believing and God-loving parents. Now this village of Awâkh was very
famous for its fear of God, and concerning its church it is said that there were seventy
priests in it at one time. And it came to pass that the blessed Mâr Aḥâ and another
brother called Shûbhhâl-Mâran were left orphans, for their father died when they were
little children, and the believing woman their mother brought them up until they arrived
at years of discretion; and they went forth from their village and came with their mother
to Shalmath, a village of Saphsâphâ, and entered the school there. And they were
maintained [there] by the labour and care of the venerable woman their mother, who is
worthy of remembrance for good, and they studied Divine doctrine; and that power which
protected the beauty of Joseph and Moses in Egypt and of Daniel in Babylon, protected the
beauty of the blessed Mār Aḥā from temptations. And when they had come to the estate of
manhood they two came and made themselves disciples in this monastery.

5 Now the time in which nature had brought them into existence, was, according to what is
said, a time of scarcity of food. And when they had laboured in the monastery and had gone
forth into cells, they brought to themselves the venerable old woman their mother, who had
toiled during her widowhood and who had worked with her hands and reared them, by whose
counsels their youth had been guarded from wantonness, and through whose care they had
become learned in the Holy Scriptures, and they rewarded her with natural love in the
manner which was her due, and until the day of her death she was never separated from
them, neither were they neglectful in ministering unto her. Now while Rabban Mār Aḥā wrote
books, his brother Shubhhal-Māran was a book-binder. And Rabban Mār Aḥā grew and increased
and became exalted in the deeds of a pious life, which are perfected in the body and the
soul by those who are ascetics in very truth. And he subdued the passions, and purified
the senses, and enlightened the movements of the mind, and that word which one of the holy
men wrote was in very truth fulfilled in him, "Now in the time of youth doctrine groweth
up together with the soul and is mingled with it. And it dwelleth in silence for a long
time working in the two parts, [that is] in the spirit and in the body, according to the
ordinance of the fathers.

6 By its labour in the body it giveth to the needy, and receiveth strangers, and by the
things of the spirit it shineth and enlighteneth. And he was directed and was guided
[until] necessity drove him to the headship of the monastery and he drew near to subdue
it.

CHAPTER 35. OF THE ELECTION OF THE BLESSED MAN MÂR AḤÂ TO THE HEADSHIP OF THIS HOLY CONGREGATION

1 Now when the blessed Mâr John, the head of the monastery who preceded him, was elected
to the episcopacy of the Apostolic throne of Bêth Bêghâsh, and this congregation remained
without his fatherly care, and without a man to succeed him and to stand at its head, Mâr
Aḥâ knew that the election to the headship by all the brethren was ready to fall upon him;
and he left his cell, and hid himself secretly in the monastery for many days. And when
[the consecration of] the blessed John was completed by Ṣêlibhâ-Zêkhâ the Patriarch, he
came here; and when he asked concerning Mâr Ahâ, and they said, "He has fled", he adjured
his brother Shûbhhâl-Mâran to find him wherever he was. And the brethren went to seek him,
and they brought him out of the secret place in which he had hidden himself, and thus by
the ordinance of Mâr John, and at the entreaty of the whole brotherhood, the blessed Mâr
Ahâ, who was beautiful in appearance and beautiful in mind, stood at the head of the
planets, the children of the angel of light, Mâr Jacob. And he walked in all the modest
manner of life which befits the humble, without ever thinking within his pious and lowly
soul that he was the head and governor of the monastery.

2 And while he entrusted to others the business of the management of the internal affairs
of the monastery, and of going to the gate of princes, he himself, according to the custom
of the other governors who were before him, sat quietly in the patriarchal chamber. And
according to the tradition of his uncle, there used to be sent to him each evening from
the refectory, one single kind of food, without much water in it, and it was not even
prepared specially for him, for it consisted of ordinary bread and a little onion with
some water. And thus the ship of his humility travelled on, with a guiding wind blowing
and with its swift sails bellied out, and it flew on and passed through all the storms
which sink ships and destroy wealth without regard. And the venerable old men, who
received it from their masters, have told us that when he came into the congregation, and
stood at the head of the rows [of monks], from the beginning of the service until it was
ended, he neither lifted up his eyes nor looked upon any man, but that from the beginning
until the last 'Amen' he kept his eyes continually bent down to the ground in front of his
feet, and upon the top of the sandals in which they were. And he made his passions
submissive slaves, and he brought them under the yoke of order from the time that he was a
novice;

3 and he made his soul to possess good habits, so that not even between himself and his
soul, did he make free with his body, even as his master Abbâ Isaias commanded him. And
thus all the time in which he ministered in the office of head, the sons of his
congregation were in need of no teaching, for the holy sight of his person sufficed, as in
the case of that brother who, together with many others, used to go to Abbâ Antonius each
year to see him. And when Abbā Antonius asked him, while all the other brethren were
asking questions and gaining instruction, saying, "My son, how long hast thou been coming
to me thus? and why dost thou depart in silence? that brother said to him, "It is
sufficient for me, O father, to see thee, that is to say the sight of thee maketh me wise,
and [teacheth me] to emulate thy manner of life. Even so did this our holy father become a
mirror of divine beauties to all those round about him, and while the eyes of all his
children in this congregation were looking upon him, heavenly splendour filled his person
like that of an angel. And they too became benefited, and their minds were quieted, and
they became wise by [following] his holy example.

CHAPTER 36. OF THE ELECTION OF THE HOLY MĀR AḤĀ, THE HEAD OF THIS MONASTERY, TO THE OFFICE OF METROPOLITAN

1 Now when our all blessed father Rabban Mār Aḥā had excelled in these and such like
things, and had led this holy congregation towards heaven for many years, the blessed Mār
John our Metropolitan, forsook the habitation with creatures of dust, and was united with
and rested among the companies of spiritual beings; and in a good old age, and [after] a
life of Apostolic deeds he was gathered to his fathers. Now certain people who were chief
among the believers of Adiabene, namely, the dahkānē and noblemen, having had experience
of the piety of the life of the divine man Mâr John the Metropolitan, and having also
received by tradition from their fathers concerning the holy Mâr Îshô'-yahbh, and the
blessed Mâr George, and the excellent Simon, men who had become Metropolitans over them
from this holy monastery, were compelled with all the force of necessity to consider that
steadfast shepherds had in all generations and in all times been appointed to them from
[this] paternal congregation. And because they had elected Mâr John from this monastery,
they decided with one accord, saying, "So far as it is possible for us we will not have a
head over

2 'the governor of a province.' In the Kâmûs (ed. Bûlâk A. H. 1303, t. IV. p. 221) is
explained by Plur. and. The dihkân, then, were a class of noble landed proprietors. See
Hoffmann, Auszüge, note 1900, p. 239; Nöldeke, Geschichte der Perser, p. 446f.;
Bedrossian, New English and Armenian Dict., Venice, 1875—79, p. 138, col. 1; and Lagarde,
Armenische Studien, p. 43, no. 603 (in Abhandlungen der Historisch-Philologischen Classe
der Königlichen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaft zu Göttingen, Band XXII.). According to
Mas'ûdî, Wahkert was the first man who bore the title of dihkân, and the were divided into
five classes, each of which wore its own distinctive garments. See Les Prairies d'Or, ed.
Barbier de Meynard, tom. ii. p. 241. From Thomas of Margâ we learn that they paid tribute
to the Shahrighân their superiors Book iii, chap. 3 (Syriac text), p. 152. us except from
among the congregation of the children of Rabban Jacob." And they went down to the holy
father of fathers, Mâr Abhâ the Catholicus, and brought a letter of prohibition of the
blessed Rabban Mâr Ahâ, and thus he was of sheer necessity obliged to go down and receive
the consecration to the great work of the Metropolitanship of the countries of Âthôr and
Adiabene. And when he came up to his country the believing men of his diocese received him
as an angel of light, and as the Apostle Simon Peter. And they found the head whom they
had chosen for themselves exceeded by far all the expectation which they had formed of him
in their minds, both in great and in glorious things, and in learning and in the sanctity
of his life.

CHAPTER 37. OF THE HOLY MÂR ÎSHÔ'-YAHBH THE HEAD OF THE MONASTERY

And when the blessed Mâr Ahâ left the headship of the monastery, and was exalted from
glory to glory, and passed from strength to strength, according to the [words of the] Book
[of Psalms], he ordained that the blessed Rabban Îshô'-yahbh should be his successor, and
that he should be the guardian of this holy congregation in his stead. And finally, after
many years, after the death of the holy and pious man, the good servant of Jesus Christ
our Lord, Mâr Abraham, Bishop of Nineveh, Îshô'-yahbh, the head of our monastery, was made
Bishop of the city of Nineveh by the hands of Mâr Ahâ; and concerning this Mâr Îshô'-yahbh
I will relate many things at the end [of this history].

CHAPTER 38. OF THE MIRACLE WHICH THE BLESSED MÂR AIJÂ WROUGHT

1 Now if we who are under the yoke of government judge ourselves, we shall not be judged
by those who hold the reins of government; and if we are obedient to their good counsels,
and to their wise commands, Justice will not sharpen the sword of its vengeance against
us. If, however, we tread these under foot we prepare ourselves for severe punishment. And
how does this apply here? Now there was in Adiabene a man who had transgressed by a
notorious sin which it is not necessary for me to set down here; and the eye witnesses and
those who had been injured in the matter having come, they brought their accusation
against him to that wise head while he was sitting in the temple. And according to the
express canon, "A man is innocent in his own judgment, but when his companion cometh he
trieth him," he sent after the offender, and rebuked him gently, saying, "If thou hast
committed this offence, confess it, and thou wilt be

2 Stuttgart, 1857; Sachau, Reise in Syrien und Mesopotamien, p. 341 ff.; Černik,
Technische Studien-Expedition durch die Gebiete des Euphrat und Tigris, [forming nos. 44,
45 of Petermann's Geographischen Mittheilungen, (Ergänzungsheften)], Gotha, 1875; Layard,
Nineveh and Babylon, and Fletcher, Notes from Nineveh, London, 1850. accepted by God in
repentance, if thou desirest;" now as he disputed the matter his accusers reproached him,
but neither at their testimony nor at the admonition of the holy man was he ashamed. And
the Metropolitan answered and said to him, "Inasmuch as thou wilt persist in remaining
unpersuaded, and art no more put to shame by us than thou art by other men, let the Lord
take vengeance upon thee for thy sin." And he cursed him, saying, "I trust in our Lord who
hath made us servants of this pasture, and hath given us power that every thing that we
bind or loose in heaven and in earth shall be bound or loosed, that if thou art guilty,
thou shalt receive the penalty which thou deservest; but that if, on the contrary, thou
art innocent, thou shalt be preserved free from harm." And hardly were the words from the
mouth of the holy man ended, when the plastering of the ceiling of the temple fell down
cubit by cubit upon the head of that wretched man; and thus being exposed and made a
mockery of he fell down in the temple in the presence of the holy man and of a large
congregation, and his soul left him and departed. And fear fell upon every man at the
words of the blessed man Mār Aḥā.

CHAPTER 39. OF THE REVELATION AND INDICATION OF WHAT SHOULD HAPPEN TO THE BLESSED AND HOLY MÂR AḤÂ, AND OF HOW HE SHOULD END HIS LIFE, AND [WHERE] HE SHOULD BE BURIED

1 Now, according to the word of Mâr Xystus, "God loveth the soul of the righteous man, and
showeth plainly in his mind what is, and what is about to be;" and again, "The soul of the
righteous man is betrothed to God, and the soul of the righteous man seeth God, in that it
bears itself before Him, according to His will." Even thus to the soul of the holy Mâr
Aḥâ, the vigorous worker of His will, did He reveal the measure of his life, and the place
of his death, and the place where he should rest; and he constrained his soul and added to
the acts of his ascetic life. So then, by the might of his prayers, I will write down the
rest of this history which is to follow, and I will show forth to my supine companions
those pillars of light [who] went forth from this holy congregation, the histories of whom
have been allowed to fall into oblivion by the slothful, (of whom I myself am one), and
have not been written down, and behold it is many many years ago since thou, O beloved of
his Lord, and friend of His saints, Mār ʿAbd-Īshō, didst with all manner of wrestlings and
supplications require of me to set before thee in writing those things which I had been
accustomed to sow in thine ears. But I was not persuaded to do this, for two reasons,
firstly because [the writing of] histories brings upon those who compose them severe
labour, and secondly because of the cessation from daily work, and the constant urging of
the mind [which is necessary] to produce and bring forth into remembrance the deeds and
glorious acts [of holy men], which have been laid up in its store house for a long time.

2 Now when [this Mār Aḥā] was a child and was in the school of the village of Shalmath, he
saw a dream in which he was clothed in the garments of the priesthood, like a bishop, and
was attired with the mitre, and held the episcopal staff. And he was coming into the
village as if he had journeyed thither from a place some distance off, and because of his
weariness he sat down in the temple there. And a man, exceedingly glorious, stood up above
him, and answered and said to him, "Behold, since thou art weary and fatigued, rest
thyself from thy labour and trouble in this temple;" and taking the dress of ministration
off from him, he said to him, "Sleep now until I call thee." Now in his youth he did not
understand this vision, but when he had received the office of chief priest, he remembered
the dream and meditated upon it. And when Rabban Simon, the holy teacher who finally
became Bishop of Béth Béghâsh, was building the temple of the village of Shalmath of
stones and lime, the holy Mâr Ahâ came according to his custom to visit that village like
the others. And he passed the night in the temple there, while it was yet unfinished, and
a vision was shewn unto him twice, the first time dimly, but the second time exceedingly
clearly; but what manner of vision it was I have never learned. And on the morrow, when
that holy teacher went to him he asked, "How much hast thou spent upon this temple?" and
Mâr Simon said, "I have spent so much and so much." Mâr Ahâ said to him, "How much more
then, according to what the builders say,

3 have the same explanation with the addition of head-cloth, veil, (= = soudarion), and
reference is made to the passage in Genesis xxxviii. 19, where =. In the Book of Paradise
= a napkin "which Roman ladies wound round their heads." See the quotation in Payne Smith,
Thes., col. 2442. 4 will be required to finish it?" and he said to him, "So much." And Mār
Aḥā brought out the money from his purse, and gave to him, and answered and said, "It hath
been pointed out to me by the Lord that I shall end my transitory life in this temple, and
that it shall be to me a place of rest until the revelation of our Lord." And the teacher
answered joyfully and said to him, "Thou hast announced exceedingly joyful tidings to me,
that in this temple which is built by us both, we shall [both] be buried until the day of
the revelation of the Raiser of the dead." The Metropolitan said to him, "Not so, for thou
buildest, but I shall inherit." Rabban Simon said to him, "How?" The Metropolitan said,
"There is another temple in which thou shalt be buried, viz., in the Monastery of Bāi,
which is in the country of Bēth Bēghāsh, for thou shalt be appointed bishop by the
governor who shall come after me, and there shalt thou finish the allotted course of thy
life." And thus did it come to pass according to the word of the holy Mār Aḥā, for after
his death the blessed Māran-ʿammeh, Bishop of Salākh, succeeded him, and he made Mār Simon
Bishop of Bēth Bēghāsh; and after three years he ended his life, and was laid in the
church of Bāi, the seat of the Bishops of Bēth Bēghāsh. Now I learned these things from
Rāmā, an old and venerable deacon of the church of the village of Shalmath, and from Mār
Īshō-zēkhā, him of whom we have written previously, who was consecrated Metropolitan of
the church of Salâkh by Mâr John, who died in peace, and in whose room Mâr Ahâ appointed
another, Mâr Mâran-'ammeh.

CHAPTER 40. OF ABBÂ ḤANANYÂ, WHO ATE VEGETABLES AND PASTURED WITH ANIMALS, AND WHO LIVED IN THIS MONASTERY IN THE TIME OF THE HOLY MÂR AḤÂ

1 Now I came to this holy monastery when I was a young man, in the two hundred and
seventeenth year of the era of the dominion of the Arabs, [before any] of these histories
had been written by me. And I used to listen to the histories of certain of the holy men,
and by reason of the fervour which burned in me I used to make enquiries concerning them,
and to learn about each one of them from the old men who were to be found here. Now
therefore the venerable elder Rabban Matthew, who had had as master a very old and
venerable man whose name was Abbâ Mâran-zêkhâ, and whose cell was, as I learned from him,
in the days of his youth near Gâr Kâhnê, used to say to me from time to time, "Come with
me and I will shew you the cave of Abbâ Mâran-zêkhâ; and this same Rabban Matthew informed
me concerning Rabban Mâr Îshô'-zêkhâ, who became bishop of our native country. And when I
was rehearsing before him the wonderful things which had happened to us in Salâkh through
him, not knowing that he had lived in this monastery, he said to me, "This Bishop whose
glorious acts thou art relating, came from this monastery, and his cell is in Gâr Kâhnê.

2 And he had near him in Gâr Kâhnê, in a little cave, a certain companion who was surnamed
'Abbâ Ḥananyâ of the wild goats.' And according to what I learned from my venerable master
Mâran-zêkhâ, the life of his master was extended until he reached a very, very old age,
and once a week or fortnight he used to carry him [on his back] as if he had been a bundle
and bring him to partake of the sacrament. And the manner of life of this old man was,
according to what I have learned, that he had neither fence nor door [to his cell], nor a
place for retreat, nor anything, except that vegetable food upon which, with a little
bread, of which he ate in small portions and very sparingly, he lived. But like the
ostrich which hath neither nest, nor cover, and which leaveth her eggs on the warm sand
without care, according to the natural instinct which the Creator of the universe hath
implanted in her, so also was the life of that old man, worthy of all good things. And at
night while wandering in the wilderness, and passing the night with wild animals on the
tops of the hills, by reason of his weariness and watching and labour, he used to prepare
a little place and to lie down with them.

3 Now the animals had had experience of him and they did not flee away from him, as in the
case of that blessed man of whom it is written in the [Book of] Paradise, He prayed to God
that the beasts might be at peace with him, and it was so. And again, "He prayed that the
fire might also be at peace with him, and it was to him even as [he had prayed]. And he
used to gather sticks of wood, and set fire to them, and go up and sit upon them. For when
the heart of a holy man is cleansed from these five kinds of sin, namely, the love of
money, and gluttony, and the lust of the body, and anger, and pride, these five brethren
who were with that rich man who was suffering tortures in hell, even as one of the saints
made the comparison, all creation will be found to be friendly to him, both irrational
animals and noxious reptiles; even as we may learn from the histories of holy men, as for
example, that of the blessed old man Simon who was ministered unto by a lion; and that
anchorite in the history of the triumphant Mār Milles with whom a serpent lived, and whom
it did not hurt, who made the angels his companions and helpers. But why should I speak of
angels since he was the abode of the Trinity, the Lord of the worlds?

4 Now this blessed man, according to what we have learned, they sustained in this
monastery, so that for the sake of his love for God, he loved the food of animals and
their companionship and their habitations. And he was also accustomed, according to what
is said of him, each morning, which was the season of the day in which he took his food,
to light a fire, and to boil water and to pour it upon the roots and over the dry crusts
of bread with which he used to sustain his life. Now this was his food, and this was the
season of the day in which he partook of it; but whether this was actually the case or
whether he did this wishing either to conceal his manner of life or to be held of no
account, I have neither been able to understand, nor have those who related this to me
been able to decide. And his neighbours being stirred up with anger and burning with
wrath, said, "How can this most aged man lengthen out his life in prodigality? Now from
the mere sight of the fire did they come to this conclusion, but of what his food
consisted, and of what he had within his cave they knew nothing. And every time they came
to the monastery they repeated their reproaches against that old man and complained of
him, saying, "The proximity of this old man leadeth us down and bringeth us to the depth
of a lax and dissolute manner of life.

5 And once, the holy Mār Aḥā the Metropolitan having consented, they brought before him an
accusation against that holy old man, and he answered and said to them, "Go ye after him
and bring him [here], but take heed that he doth not flee from you. And when they heard
this they leapt up [the mountain] with light footsteps, and they came up with him and laid
their hands upon him, and one of them took his turban, and threw it over his neck, while
the others pulled it down from behind, saying in a scoffing manner, "O foolish old man,
how long shall we bear reproaches for thy sake? Didst thou not know that justice would at
length rise up in judgment against thee? Hasten thy steps, for the judge awaiteth thee.
And without answering them a single word he drew near and came to the spring which we call
'Rabban's Spring', and he saw round about it a flock of wild goats, and he said to them,
"Peace [be] with you, O dwellers in the wilderness, children and companions of my
habitation! While we were living together in peace ye did not deny my fellowship with you,
neither did ye set yourselves afar off from my company. Behold, I am justly taken captive
by the righteous, because like you, I eat my meal in the morning;

6 now since your [manner of] life and food is the same as mine, come and let us go
together to the judgment chamber, so that when the judge seeth that we are many, he may
spare us because of our number, for it might happen that he would not shew mercy upon one
despised creature; come then in the name of the Lord. Now while the brethren marvelled at
these words which were not those of a demoniac, and [saw] the animals, which came running
towards him, lifting up their feet and wagging their tails on all sides round about him
like dogs when they see their masters afar off, surround that holy man, they let go their
hands from him, and entreated his pardon for what they had thought; and when they had
knelt down and prostrated themselves before him and had risen up they could not see him at
all, and thus he passed out of their hands, and where he went and where he died until this
day no man knoweth.

7 And when the brethren came to the Metropolitan in grief and sorrow and shame-facedness
of conscience which rebuked them, and made known to him what had happened, he was
exceedingly angry with them, and he answered and said to them, "While the other monks who
were your predecessors in the place in which ye live, made that holy old man the type and
pattern of all correctness of life, and took refuge from all their trials and temptations
in his prayers, and were delivered, you who come after them, and who dwell in the caves
and desert of holy men, hath Satan stirred up with a foolish and empty zeal, that he may
not allow you to look upon the correct lives of holy men in a proper manner. It is rather
to the injury of your own souls and to the shame of your understanding, that ye have
bespattered pious and blessed men with blemishes. But God our Lord will require of you the
priceless pearl which ye have destroyed out of this monastery by your error. Moreover ye
ought to be ashamed of all this wickedness which ye have wrought, in going to the place of
the little hut where he lived, and prying into the manner in which he prepared his food.
I, however, warned you away from there, saying, Take heed that he doth not escape out of
your hands;

8 and I urged him to work many great and divine things before you to put you to shame, the
like of which no man has ever wrought in our time."

CHAPTER 41. OF THE BLESSED MÂRAN-ZĚKHÂ, BISHOP OF ḤADHATTÂ AND OF THE BISHOP WHO PASTURED CAMELS [WHOM HE FOUND]

1 Now when the holy Metropolitan Mâr Aḥâ was sitting on the holy throne of the church of
the city of Ḥadhattâ, the pious and glorious and blessed Bishop Mâran-zêkhâ, the disciple
and fellow-worker of Rabban Aphni-Mâran, was accustomed on the holy days of the fast of
our Lord to go out and pass them in silence in the mountain of the village of Zinai. And
once when he was journeying along the road to that mountain, he saw the figure of a man
standing on the top of a hill with his face turned towards the east; and as he drew near
to it,—now he was to the west of that person,—he heard him raising [his voice] in the hymn
of the Resurrection from the Communion Service of the First day of the week, which
beginneth, "Come all ye peoples, let us move our lips," and little by little he went up
and came close to him. And Mâran-zêkhâ, before he perceived that man, wondered how this
pasturer of camels was able to sing this hymn which was so difficult that not every man
was capable of singing it, and where he had learned it. And when the holy Mâran-zêkhâ saw
him he marvelled, and cried out in the customary way, "Peace"; but that blessed man
answered him in Arabic, speaking in barbarous language, wishing to disguise himself. And
Bishop Mâran-zêkhâ fell down before him and affirming with oaths, said, "I will not rise
up until thou dost promise me that thou wilt not hide from me who thou art;

2 and straightway the pasturer of camels said angrily to him in Arabic, "Rise up, master,
what hast thou to do with me? depart in peace from my place. And Mâr Mâran-zêkhâ protested
to him with an oath, saying, "If thou shouldst kill me I will not rise up until thou
tellest me thy history. If thou art an Arab as thou sayest [by thy speech], where didst
thou learn this hymn of the Resurrection of our Lord which very few men are found to have
ability enough to sing? and why were thy arms and face turned towards the east? And when
that holy man heard these things, and saw that he had been snared by his singing the hymn
and the oath which that holy man had laid upon himself, he answered and said to him,
"Swear to me, yea or nay, that if I do this I shall not be honoured in thine eyes, and
that thou wilt not come to me continually, and that thou wilt send nothing to me. Now this
he said knowing that he should speedily depart from this world as soon as any man
perceived him. And he answered, saying, "Behold, Master, forty years ago I was appointed
Bishop of the Scattered who were in the land of Egypt. And when I had ministered in this
office a short time, a scarcity of rain took place there, and I gathered together the
believers, and I went forth [with them] to the desert to make supplication and entreaty to
God.

3 And those Arabs who dwell in tents came and surrounded me, and while every one else
escaped, I remained because I thought that they would do me no harm; and they took me
captive and brought me to their tents, and appointed me to be the shepherd of these camels
which thou seest. And since I have determined that this [work] is the will of our Lord,
and also that it does not in anything separate me from a life of purity, and I am not
brought in contact with them [i. e., the Arabs], but am alone by myself in the desert, I
praise God continually, and I remember that many of the saints were shepherds, and I am
comforted. And as for this hymn which thou didst hear to-day, behold I am accustomed each
day to perform the service of one festival of the Lord, and to watch, and to-day I
performed the service of the Resurrection of our Lord, and I lifted up my voice in the
hymn as if I had been standing in the temple before the altar of our Lord. And now,
behold, for forty years I have been as thou

4 for we know that the Nestorians who were scattered about there had a bishop. See B. O.,
iii. 1, p. 107, col. 1; and iii. ii. p. CCCCXXXI. Or may be a corruption of five farsah
south-west of Aleppo, to the west of Kinneshrîn and north of Idlib. See Wright, Catalogue
of Syriac MSS., fol. 126b; and Nöldeke, Zur Topographie und Geschichte des Damascenischen
Gebietes und der Haurängegend, (in Z.D.M.G., Bd. XXIX, p. 420ff.) where the list of places
mentioned in Add. 14,602 is discussed. 5 seest me, and our Lord hath protected me from all
evil, and [the Arabs] have accounted me as one of their elders and as one of their
brethren, because they found me upright and obedient. And I have received from them no
compulsion to sin in any way; and I wait for the end of my life, which shall be completed
according to the will of the Lord. Now when the holy Māran-zēkhā heard these things, he
wondered greatly and marvelled, and he was moved to tears, and that [other] holy man wept
in company with him. And he answered and said to him. "Master, I will go back and bring
money (zūzē) and will give it [to thee] for thy deliverance, for I cannot leave thee in
this ignominious and lowly condition. And that blessed man said to him, "Depart in peace
to thy manner of life and to thy quietness, Mār Bishop, and disturb not thyself with any
of these things; for if during the whole period of the time which has gone by, I had
wished either to escape or to sell myself, I could have done it. And moreover, this [work]
in which I am [occupied] is the will of God. And he urged the Bishop, saying, "Go in
peace; and on Palm Sunday when thou goest down from the mountain to thy city, thou shalt
come to me and shalt see me.

6 And when the Bishop went again at dawn on the Sunday aforesaid, he saw a man in the
place of that man, and thinking that it was he, he went up to him. And when he had seen
him and saluted him, he asked him, "Where is the old man who pastured these camels a short
time ago? And he said to him, "He is dead. And the Bishop was grieved with a great and
bitter grief, and said to him, "When? and he said to him, "During these [last] days. And
the Bishop took a turban cloth from his body and gave to the man, saying, "Take this, and
go and shew me his grave, for I am his friend. And when he had gone with him and saw the
grave afar off, the Bishop made the Arab leave him, saying, "Go now to thy camels," so
that he might have the opportunity to weep. And he sat down upon the grave, and wept
bitterly, like the widow who had buried her only son, and he said, "Alas, my brother;
alas, my brother! Why didst thou hide thy departure from me, and why didst thou not permit
me to enjoy the sight of thee, but didst send me away from thee as the blessed Paul sent
away Abbâ Antonius? And the blessed Mâran-zêkhâ rose up and went to Hadhattâ, and kept the
festival of Palm Sunday according to custom.

7 And on the second day of the week he invited the assembly of the priests, and many
believers, and said unto them, "Come, let us go to the desert and bring from there Elijah;
come with me to the wilderness that ye may see John the Baptist; come with me and I will
give you a holy body more excellent than [those of] the prophets. Now when they had gone
forth in fear with that holy man their Bishop, and had arrived at the place where the
grave was, they began to say the prayers and the service for any dead person. And when
they had performed the service of the dead for a whole day and the night which followed
it, they began to dig up and uncover the grave, but they did not find that holy body. Now
they found two woollen cloths, one which formed the clothing which he put on, and the
other the covering with which he covered himself [at night], but he himself hath
disappeared unto this day; and in all sorrow they took these garments and went away having
put the earth of the grave back in its place. Hail to this pair of holy men, for behold
[this] our history is sanctified by the account of them, and our simple speech by their
glory! [Hail to] this venerable yoke of holy men which beareth upon its two shoulders the
history of the holy Mâr Ahâ their fellow labourer;

8 one of whom pastured and made his habitation with the wild goats, and the other pastured
the camels and lived his life with them! The children of men were unworthy to have near
them the bodies of these men who possessed neither bed, nor pillow, nor seat, nor
candlestick, nor table; the earth was their bed, their knees were their tables, and herbs
were their food. The belly did not overcome them by its greediness; lust did not set them
on fire with its ticklings; the blanket of sickness never weighed them down; they never
needed the medicines of the children of Galen because of the weight of their luxurious and
dainty food. No Eve ever visited them and used her blandishments upon them; they never
tasted the [fruit of the] forbidden fig tree which is sweet to the palate of the children
of Adam; they never sweated behind the plough in the toilsome labour which bringeth forth
thorns; they never offered their offerings in the neighbourhood of a Cain to be envied and
slain; they never drank wine and exposed their shame and became a mockery unto a Canaan
which was [only to be] perceived by the mind, for their drink was water; they never
brought burnt brick to the building of the Tower of Pride which was formed by the
agreement of senseless builders; they never saw the scourge of confusion; and they who
pastured with the gazelles upon the mountain top instead of upon the top of that haughty
tower fled from before the punishment.

9 All these things [did they not do] by reason of the hope which is to come, in which
although they saw it not yet they believed, and although it was afar off yet they
accounted it to be near. They have a righteous One Who will reward them, and Who will
recompense them in His world, not according to their [merits], but according to Himself,
and to Whose reward all sufferings and all pains are not to be [accounted] equal; may He
make us to be partakers with them in His joy through their prayers, Amen.

CHAPTER 42. OF THE BLESSED MÂR SERGIUS, BISHOP OF HĪNĀITHÂ

Now when the holy Mâr Dindowai, Bishop of Ma'allthâ, who had been ordained Metropolitan by
the holy Mâr John, departed this trouble-bearing life, the blessed Mār Aḥā appointed as
his successor the venerable Sergius, a monk and ascetic from this congregation, who was
trained in the Scriptures, and who was enlightened in the understanding of them. And he
pastured his flock piously with all the humility which befits the governors of the flocks
of Christ; and during some small disturbance which took place in his country through a
raid of the inhabitants of Dēlom who came to Salākh and Hēnāithā, he took all his books
and came here, hoping for the repose of peace and of refreshing of spirit; and thus being
insufficient for that which was expected [from him], he ended his life, and was also laid
in this monastery of the house of his fathers.

CHAPTER 43. OF HŪGAIR THE BELIEVING NOBLEMAN, AND OF THE MONASTERY WHICH HE BUILT

There was a believing man, whose name was Hūgair who belonged to a noble family. And he
built a monastery between the village of Bāshōsh and Shalmath, not with a godly will and
intention, but rather for boasting and pride. And wishing to emulate good and prosperous
men, he named the monastery by the Persian name of "Hūgair-Ābād," after the manner of the
Magians from whose race he had sprung. Now when he had made it ready with all things, he
wished it to be consecrated by the holy Mâr Aḥâ, and he waited for the time of his coming
to this country; and when he had come Ḥûgair entreated him to take the trouble to go up
with the teachers and scholars, and to sanctify the monastery which he had built. But the
holy Metropolitan Mâr Aḥâ saw with the eye of the spirit that the Lord desired not this
any more than the sacrifices to idols, and he answered and said to all those who were
near, "This Monastery of Ḥûgair-Âbâd is ruined while it is yet new;" and he left it in its
unconsecrated condition, and departed. And it was not consecrated afterwards, neither did
the praise of the glorious Trinity ascend in it, and the remains of its building are well
known and stand to this day.

CHAPTER 44. OF THE DEPARTURE OF THE BLESSED METROPOLITAN MÂR AḤÂ FROM [THIS] TEMPORARY LIFE

1 Now I was preparing to add [to the history of] the noble deeds of the holy Mâr Aḥâ [some
account] of the excellent work which he did in the Church of God in respect of the two
Patriarchs who lived in his days, I mean the Catholicus Sûrîn, and the Catholicus Jacob,
and of how he went down with his Bishops, and of how, by his firmness and the fair fame of
his life, he abolished the blameworthy Sûrîn from being Catholicus, and confirmed Jacob,
and of how he shewed his tact and skill in such a way that no man could stand before him.
But inasmuch as these things concerning him are set down in the writings of others, and
as, moreover, Chron. Eccles., ii. col. 155, and see B. O., iii. 1, p. 616. According to
'Abhd-Îshô' (B. O., iii. 1, p. 168) he wrote: The Catholics who were deposed were
Mâr(î)-bôkht, Narsai, Elîsha, Joseph and Sûrîn or Sôrên; see Budge, Book of the Bee, p.
120.

2 we had formerly the intention to speak briefly about him as about his companions, I have
passed over all these [as] extraneous matters, and come therefore to speak of the mournful
end of his days. Now when he had arrived at the village of Shalmath on his visitation, he
knew and felt also that he had arrived at the limit of the silence of his life, and
through a short illness to which corporeal beings are subject, he like the [other]
children of Adam lay down and slept the sleep of death. And according to the revelation
and visions which had been upon him in his youth and old age, his venerable body was laid
in that holy temple which is in this village. And he was a haven of help to all those who
took refuge therein, and may God the Lord of all, through his prayers order that we also
like him may depart from this world with fair renown, while lifting up praise to the
Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost, now and always and for ever! Amen.

3 Here endeth the Second Book.

The Author's Apology to the Believing and Honourable Hasan.

4 Now the blessed brethren of the monastery of Béth 'Abhê have completely set aside and
made to slip from out of the fingers of our history the account of the holy Mâr Mâran-
ammeh, the Metropolitan Bishop of Adiabene, and it hath not been embodied in our feeble
lines because they exhorted me to crown with my discourse only such holy men as have lived
in that holy monastery, and to omit [all] others. But this is not pleasing in thy sight,
and by thy divine command thou hast required of me that I should also compose a history of
that blessed man, and set down in writing an account of him based upon that which is
handed down by word of mouth, that it may be joined to the equipage of the histories of
the governors who lived before and after him, O most noble Mār Ḥasān, beloved member of
Christ, ready adorer of His glorious cross, chosen freeman, son and heir of the mighty one
of God, worthy of all praise, beautiful in his majesty and in his various acts, Mār Sabhr-
Īshō, Governor of Adiabene and Athōr, who, behold, exchanged his [earthly] wealth and
possessions, for heavenly riches, that he might go and inherit the life of happiness in
the kingdom above with the true believers, and who measured the steps of his course of
life that he might tread in their footprints.

5 I have already praised you, and I will praise you again, O wise and understanding men,
in that being completely involved with things of this world, and with wealth which is a
stumbling-block to others and the cause and substance of all wickedness, ye made [your
wealth] subject to none of these things, but ye humbled it and made it subject unto you,
that it might not be a god to you as it is to the foolish and wicked, but that ye might be
its master. It is to be marvelled at, I repeat, that being as thou art in the prime of
early manhood, yet behold 6 =. In addition to the native explanations of the word given in
Payne Smith, Thes., coll. 1140, 1141 Duval gives Lexicon Bar-Bahlule, col. 694. 7 thou art
standing on the highest point of the ladder of knowledge of the wise like an old man, and
art inciting me to collect the stories, and pieces of information, and the triumphs of
holy men, that thy soul may pleasantly meditate upon them, and that thou mayest make it to
possess a pattern and an example of spiritual things, and mayest enrich it with the
understanding which is above this world. Now the abundant virtues and the good and
glorious qualities which are stored up and which flourish in thy noble self compel me,
with great regard to thy distinguished command, to paint for thee in writing a picture of
the glorious acts and deeds of that man worthy of all good things, the Metropolitan Bishop
Mâr Mâran-ʿammêh. At the same time also, according to thy wish I will write briefly
concerning the coming of the blessed and enlightened teacher, Mâr Bâbhai, to this country,
and of the schools which he founded. And I will set down in consecutive order what I have
learned from the Elders whom I have met, and from these things which are already written
down, and I entreat and supplicate God the Lord of all to manifest His working in me the
ignorant and unlearned, and may the praise of His Godhead increase in the mouth of the
reader, and in the ears of the listeners, through those things which are about to be
written!

8 And may the help and blessings of His grace cling to thee, as the cause of, and as the
one who encouraged the writing of the histories of those who loved Him, and who did His
will. First of all, however, as thy wisdom requireth, we will speak concerning the blessed
Rabban Bābhai, and of the schools which he founded, and of his restoration of those which
had fallen into decay for want of teachers and of people to care for them. And afterwards
I will rehearse in plain language my history of the noble acts of his disciple, the chief
priest, Mār Māran-'ammeh, and though omitting to introduce the proofs which the chapters
require, so that I may not make the history too heavy, I will glorify them by brief
accounts, even as I have praised their companions in short narratives.

BOOK III — CHAPTER 1. OF THE BLESSED TEACHER RABBAN BĀBHAI

1 The holy teacher Rabban Bābhai was a very enlightened man, and through the healthy
constitution of his body, and the knitting together of his limbs, he was a powerful man,
and according to what is said of him, had a high, sweet voice like a trumpet. And there
clave to him chastity, purity, love, graciousness, humility and exceeding lowliness, and
he excelled in [these] last times by reason of these his glorious qualities like the
teachers who lived in the former generations. And the multitude of his virtues magnified
his name, and all the rules and arrangements of the schools which through laxity and
neglect had been destroyed, were restored by him, and through him [the schools] regained
their former glory. He came from a family in the town of Gēbhiltâ in the country of
Tîrhân, where first of all he laboured in spiritual work, and he begat prosperous children
who followed in the footsteps of their parent, and who showed themselves noble heirs of a
wise father. It is found that the period in which he lived was in the days of Şelîbhâ-
zêkhâ, Catholicus and Patriarch, and the "Questions" of Rabban Bâbhai testify that he made
enquiries of Şelîbhâ-zêkhâ concerning various matters. And just as among the people of
Israel who were in Babylon the Divine praises had fallen into oblivion and were forgotten,
because according to what is written, they did not know how to perform the praises of the
Lord in a strange land, even so in the days of the holy Rabban Bâbhai were confounded all
the tunes, and melodies, and airs, and the signs and accents(?) and all the songs which
are sung [with the psalm which begins], "Lord, I have called upon Thee," and the final
clauses of the prayers, and the psalms which are dispersed throughout the services, and
the "stations", and the antiphonal

2 and is rendered by Assemânî Cantus. Brit. Mus. MS. Orient. 2441, fol 330a, col. 2,
explains it by "song" responses and the anthems, and everything which is recited by the
voice. Each country, and town, and monastery, and school had its own hymns and songs of
praise and tunes, and sang them in its own way, and if a teacher or a scholar happened to
be away from his own school he was obliged to stand [silent] like an ignorant man. And as
when the Hebrews had gone up to Jerusalem all their hymns and songs of praise which had
become corrupt acquired [new] glory and splendour, or if thou wishest, as before the time
of Mâr Îshô'-yahbh of Adiabene the Catholicus, the orders of the services were performed
in a confused manner in every place, and by means of this man the services of all the
churches acquired connected order, so also the Holy Spirit made wise this blessed man, and
taught him beautiful airs, and sweet blendings of melody, and filled him with His gift,
and enriched him with His treasures, and made him a musical instru-

4 And the blessed Rabban Bâbhai tarried in this school for many years during the lifetime
of the honourable Zadhnaphrôkh, the father of the noble Prôkhzâdh, the father of the
gentle-natured Lûhrâsâph and Maslêmah, and by his encouragement, while the holy Mâr John
was Metropolitan Bishop, he afterwards passed over to the country of Margâ. And he founded
there twenty-four schools, some of them being founded for the first time, and others being
decayed schools which he restored. And since, perchance, there may be some who coming
across these lines will consider us to be boasters and liars. I will mention these schools
by their names, even though our discourse should assume at this point an exceedingly vain
and foolish character.

CHAPTER 2. OF THE SCHOOLS WHICH RABBAN [BÂBHAI] FOUNDED, AND THEIR NAMES

When [this] blessed man had come to the country of Margâ, he first of all gathered
together the scholars and founded the Ḥudhrâ, and revised and corrected the codices. [He
next built a school] in Bâshôsh, a village of Saphsâphâ, and after this [another] in the
Monastery of Barṣîl(?) in the province of Gârîn, another in the Monastery of Shâmîrâ,
another in the Monastery of Ḳorî, another in Eḳrâ, another in Ḥardes, another in Shalmath,
another in Bêth-Edrê, another in Ḥetârâ, another in Maḳḳabtâ, another in Ṣawrâ dhê Nîram
dhê Râʾawâthâ, another in Ḳôph, another in Nêrabh Barzî, another in Gûbê, another in the
Monastery of Mâr Ephraim, another in the Monastery of Mâr Aḥâ, another in Mayâ Ḳarîrê,
another in Bêth Âsâ, another in Bêth Sâṭî, another in Bêth Ḳardagh, another in Ḥennes,
another in Bêth Râstak, another in Bêth Narkôs, and another in Bêth Tarshêmâyê; these are
the schools which this wise gardener planted and restored in the country of Margâ. Now
some say that he had sixty disciples [who were] teachers, and that he founded sixty
schools, and appointed a master to each one of them, and that through the zeal of
believing and God-loving men, who made the instruction [of children] in divine things
their care, he set apart for them property and funds for their maintenance. And he came
back to Kêphar 'Uzzêl, and twice a year he visited all the schools, in order that laxity
of discipline might not enter [into them], and that the musical training and canons and
orders of services which he had made his disciples acquire might not be destroyed; and
thus this manner of singing was called the "musical system of Rabban Bâbhai."

CHAPTER 3. OF THE BOOKS WHICH THIS RABBAN BÂBHAI COMPOSED, AND OF THE END OF HIS LIFE

1 Let no man think that because [Rabban Bâbhai] was exceedingly learned in the training
and culture of the voice he was ignorant of the knowledge which is in books, or that
because he was thoroughly instructed in the Holy Scriptures he was remote from other
knowledge, for he has left us works on various subjects; and he wrote many discourses and
treatises on doctrine into which if any man shall enter he will find that he was much
skilled and fertile in philosophic reasoning. And he wrote twenty-two funeral orations
arranged alphabetically, which are recited by boys on the festival of Palm Sunday; and
"Consolations" and "Blessings", according to the letters [of the alphabet]; and many
"Epistles" to divers persons; and lengthy "Blessings upon brides and bridegrooms. And
because he was accustomed to go to the Commemoration of the holy Mār Jacob of Bēth 'Ābhē,
he composed on that person twenty-two hymns in the "great mystery", in the order of the
letters [of the alphabet]. And he wrote the composition, "Behold, my days have flown,
behold, to the dead", consisting of twelve different parts, and the hymn on Mār Nestorius
[beginning], "In the path of the just"; and the other works on sundry and divers matters
written by that blessed teacher which, if any man wisheth, he may find in our holy
monastery of Bēth 'Ābhē.

2 And after all these his excellent deeds, his planting and watering, and begetting, and
rearing, and making to bud, and to wax strong and to grow old, he left this country and
went to his own city, and was there crowned with all the excellent virtues of a divine
life which pleased his Master, and at a great old age he rested from his labours and
troubles, and slept in the dust of his fathers. And his venerable and holy body was laid
in the church in which he had learned and taught, and a glorious recompense is laid up for
John, and Abraham by whose doctrine he was himself enlightened, and enlightened [others],
and from the manner of whose lives he was inflamed with the desire to emulate them in the
holy life. 3 Now they say concerning him that when he was a teacher in Kêphâr 'Uzzêl the
mother of Mâr Abraham Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, twelve volumes of metrical discourses
(360 in number), a liturgy, expositions of the Eucharist and of Baptism, consolatory
epistles and funeral orations, hymns and sermons and exhortations, and a book entitled On
the Corruption of Morals,. See B. O., iii. 1, p. 65f.; Wright, Syr. Lit., p. 830; and Bar-
Hebraeus, Chron. Eccles., ii. col. 77. the Lame of Bêth Ṣayyâdhê, carried and brought her
son to him, and weeping before him, said, "Master, pray for this half of a man to whom I
have given birth." And when he had examined and felt him he answered and said, "This is no
half of a man, and he shall become a father of fathers and a chief of teachers, and his
name and his doctrine shall be proclaimed in all the East;" and this actually happened as
is manifest to every man. And in the time of his old age, when he had gone to his own
city, he asked the numerous disciples that were before him a question unknown to us, and
to which none of them were able to give him an answer. And he began to weep and to beat
his face, and to pluck out the hair of his head and to cry out and say, "O woe is me, the
blinded of sin, for while thinking that I should leave behind me in the Church wise and
understanding heirs, it hath befallen me, the wretched and stupid man, to be like unto a
man who hath sown but hath not reaped, and who hath not been made glad in his labour." Now
there was there before the holy man, a much enlightened

4 the school of Bâshôsh in Saphsâphâ. According to 'Abhd-İshô' he wrote a book of
admonition, a commentary on the discourse of Mark the monk (see Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p.
482, col. 1), a disputation with the Jews, the Book of the king's way, discourses on
repentance, and letters upon various subjects. See B. O., iii. 1, p. 194; and Wright, Syr.
Lit., p. 844. For the writings of İshô' bar-Nôn and Abû Nûh al-Anbârî see B. O., iii. 1,
pp. 165, 212. young man whose name was Gûryâ, and because the Divine grace is accustomed
to set apart aforetime those who belong to it, and to set apart those who seek after
spiritual wisdom, this young man was stirred up by grace and said to Rabban, "Peradventure
the question which thou hast asked, Master, is thus." And the old man being stirred up
with joy, answered and said, "Who is this then?" and they said to him "Gûryâ". And he
commanded that he should be brought near to him, and he laid his hands and his mouth upon
the young man's head, and answered joyfully and said, "Pray for this Gûryâ, for he shall
become a mighty hound;" and this actually came to pass to this young man according to the
word of the blessed old man. For after the death of Rabban, Gûryâ became a teacher after
him, and he emulated his master in his teaching and manner of life, and behold both of
them are laid in that holy church; may their memories be for blessing, and may we be aided
by their prayers, Amen.

5 Here endeth the History of Rabban Bâbhai the teacher.

CHAPTER 4. THE APOLOGY

The triumphs of holy men are the boast of the Holy Church, and the beloved rehearsings of
them are a lifting up of the head to her children. Abundant helps for us descend from
them, and they confirm in us the love of their Lord. The glorious festivals which we make
to them, with whom we expect to receive participation in the kingdom above, and their
yearly commemorations, proclaim the praise of that power Who aided them here, Who led them
far into His mysteries, and Who entrusted to them the pasturing of His flocks, and with
Whom they are there [in heaven] enjoying happiness in the glory which He prepared for
them. And, moreover, to those men who here [upon earth] became an altar of prayer, which
continually breathed forth the incense of Life, who rejoiced all who were round about
them, and who were angels clothed with bodies here [upon earth] it belongeth to speak to
God. "And as for me, thou upholdest me in mine integrity, and settest me before thy face
for ever." And because I, the wretched sinner, have in my lack of wisdom made ready to
rehearse the triumphs and histories of one of these holy men, I entreat their prayers that
I may be near to be helped by them, and that our Lord may grant that I may speak according
to the power of my poverty, although it be not that which befitteth the occasion. And
moreover He willeth that, according to his power, each one of us should cast his offering
before Him, like the two mites of the widow. And by the prayers of the friend of His love,
the chosen and holy man concerning whom my discourse dareth to recount the history, may my
drawing near to the rehearsal of matters concerning him be a propitiation and not a
condemnation for me.

CHAPTER 5. OF THE ORIGIN OF MÂR MÂRAN-ʿAMMEH, AND OF HOW, AND BY WHOM, HE WAS DIRECTED IN INSTRUCTION IN DIVINE THINGS

1 Now the blessed Mâr Mâran-ʿammeh sprang from a family in the country of Tîrhân, and his
city, which is now in ruins, was called Hêtârâ; here he was born and brought up by
believing parents. And he was named by them 'Mâran-ʿammeh', a name which was full of
prayer and supplication for him that Christ our Lord might be with him and might dwell in
him. Now in his youth he learned doctrine in the church of his native city. And because at
that time Rabban Bâbhai excelled above all others in teaching in the city of Gèbhìltâ,
Mâran-'ammeh left his parents and their possessions and departed to that teacher. And he
was trained and directed in all the knowledge of divine things before him, and he became
learned and wise. And when the blessed Rabban Bâbhai went up to this country, the blessed
Mâran-ammeh was the one man out of all his sixty famous disciples and teachers who went up
with him; and when he had built schools in the village of Képhar'Uzzèl, he established
Mâran-ammeh as the teacher of this village. And the fame of his glorious acts went forth
in all this country, because his learning shone with the purity of his manner of life, and
he made his body to abstain from every kind of delicate food; now he used to feed himself
on bread and a few onions, just sufficient to maintain life.

2 And he lived in this manner from his youth up so that he might not become an object of
reproach in his old age, for he had learned that "he who liveth delicately in his youth
shall be a servant, and in his latter end shall groan. When he was a young man the monks
his contemporaries held his manner of life to be marvellous, because that in addition to
that great labour of the weight of the toil of teaching which was laid upon him, he was
able to embrace the laborious life of voluntary abstinence coupled with great strictness
of life. And he was a teacher for many years, while the blessed Mār Aḥā was Metropolitan,
and the ship of his soul travelled on in a divine and noble manner by reason of the
abundance of the beautiful things which were therein.

CHAPTER 6. OF THE EPISCOPATE OF THE COUNTRY OF SALĀKH WHICH THE BLESSED MĀR MĀRAN-ʿAMMEH RECEIVED, AND OF THE MIRACLES WHICH TOOK PLACE THERE BY HIS HANDS

1 Now there was in the country of Salākh a holy and venerable Bishop called Mār Īshō-
zēkhā, the history concerning whom I have already written, by whose hands mighty deeds and
miracles were wrought in that country, and when he departed this life of troubles and
trials for the rest of those who sleep in Christ,—inasmuch as that country abounded in
Magianism, and not only in the worship of the sun, moon and stars, but [the people] in
their stupidity offered worship also to trees of beautiful foliage, and this worship of
trees existed even in the days of the old man from whom I learned [this],—the blessed
Metropolitan Mār Aḥā was obliged to appoint and send the holy Māran-ʿammeh to that place,
for he was a teacher and a righteous man, that by his knowledge and manner of life he
might root up the tares from that country. Thus he was appointed, and he set out for that
country, having received from the Holy Spirit with [his] consecration [the power] to work
mighty deeds and to show forth miracles, while the Divine love which was in his soul, and
the great purity of life which he had cultivated from his youth, exalted him in the chief-
priesthood and in spiritual workings. Now when he had gone forth to visit [his] districts,
he came to a village called Bèth Nèwà, and there was in it a man who had brought into [his
house] another wife besides his lawful wife.

2 And he called for him to come before him, but he came not, and he required of him to
expel the whore from his house, but he did it not. And Màr Màran-ʿammèh cursed him,
saying, "I trust in our Lord that the Divine wrath may come upon thee, and that both thy
wives may be widows; and it came to pass on the morrow that the man lifted up a large
butcher's knife to cut meat, and by the agency of God he smote his left hand, and it fell
from him, and all his blood ran out from him and he died, according to the word of the
holy man to him; and fear fell upon all those who heard [of it]. 3 And from this village
he set out for another called Bêth Wark, which is in the province of Hithr, and in it
there was a widow who had a little only son; and it fell out that he died as the blessed
man entered the village, and many people were gathered together, and were weeping. And
when he learned concerning the lonely condition of that old woman, he was exceedingly
sorry, and he commanded that they should bring the body to the church; and he put every
one outside, and began to entreat God for the life of the boy. And God, to Whose power all
things are easy, Who by the hands of Elijah and Elisha brought the dead back to life,
granted to the blessed man his petition for the resuscitation of the boy, and he came to
life, and Mâran-âmmeh gave him to his mother; and all the people were stirred up to
gladness and to praise.

4 And there were in the country certain Shahrighân, who although they were nominally
Christians, made confession that Christ was an ordinary man, and said that "He was as one
of the Prophets," and the Bishops who lived in the country laboured among them, but they
did not accept the true and orthodox doctrine. Now when Mâran-'ammeh had learned
concerning them, he went to them on a Sabbath day, that he might keep the first day of the
week with them, and pray for them; and he lifted them up with him in the service, while he
prayed in his heart to our Lord on their behalf, that He would make His light to shine
into their hearts. Now when all the people of the village were in that church, and they
had begun [to say], "Light hath dawned for the righteous, and joy for the upright of
heart," the church and its court were filled with light which surpassed the light of the
sun, and all men wondered and were amazed. And the holy man answered and said to them,
"Now that Christ our Lord hath shewed you His light, and hath kindled His truth in your
hearts, confess ye with us that He is the Lord and God, Jesus Christ; or do ye,
peradventure, need to see other things [before ye will believe]? They answered and said to
him, "We believe, O our father, we believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that
He is God;

5 and at the time of the Holy Mysteries he absolved them, and they became beloved sons of
the Church their mother, through the wonderful thing which Christ had wrought before them
by the hand of His saint Mâran-'ammeh. And one of the congregation had a mule for riding
upon, which had never been subservient to him, and this was very grievous to her owner,
for she was a fine and beautiful animal; and he spake concerning her to the blessed man
who commanded him to bring her to the church together with her bridle. And the holy man
took the bridle, and signed it with the sign of the Cross, and he spake to the mule as to
a rational being, and said, "For the sake of our Lord open thy mouth, and take the bit;
and she opened her mouth and took it in all quietness; and every man was moved to the
praise of God.

6 Now there was in the church of our native village Neḥshôn, a large ant's nest built in
the wall, and it was not easy for the believers to root it out, because it occupied the
whole wall up to the roof; and, because that church was roofed over and made strong with
painted boards and beams, this thing was very grievous unto them, and when the holy man
came to them they spake to him concerning this matter. And he washed the cross which he
wore upon him in water, and he told them to sprinkle the water on the nest, and on the
morrow not a single [ant] was to be found. Now in those days the Shahrighân used to take
from the Dahkânê one half of the corn, and wine, and nuts, and poll-tax, and their
oppression was very severe, and their exactions were unlimited, and the Dahkânê made
complaints to their pious Bishop concerning their taxes and their tribute. And he
answered, and said to them, "My children, the time is at hand when all these villages and
towns will be taken by the Arabs, and all these Shahrighân shall go up out of the country,
and a man whose name is Hîtm bar-Şâlâh shall persecute them and root them up, and ye all
shall be subservient to him, because, as it is said, the iniquitous man shall take
vengeance on the iniquitous man, and the Lord upon them both." And this actually came to
pass to that country after many years. Now it appears that at that time Hîtm bar-Şâlâh was
not yet born, but because the spirit of the prophets is submissive to the prophets,
Mâran-'ammeh, by the eye of the Spirit, made known aforetime what was about to happen.

CHAPTER 7. WHICH SHOWETH HOW THE HOLY MÂR MÂRAN-'AMMEH WAS APPOINTED METROPOLITAN BISHOP OF ADIABENE, AND [DESCRIBETH] THE FIRST MIRACLE WHICH HE WROUGHT IN THAT COUNTRY

1 Now the blessed and truly venerable and holy Metropolitan Mâr Ahâ, being crowned with a
diadem of light, ended his life in the country of Margâ, and his chaste body was laid in
the village of Shalmath; and the choice of the whole country, but particularly of
Lôharsaph (Lohrâsp) and Maslémah, and of the rest of their brethren, fell upon the holy
Bishop Mâr Mâran-ʿammeh, and he was appointed [Bishop of Arbela] by the blessed Catholicus
and Patriarch Mâr Jacob. And when he had come and had been received with much pomp and
with the honour which befitted his holiness, he went up and sat on the throne of the
fathers. Now certain insolent and thievish Arabs who were in that country had seized upon
a mill called Bêth Wardâ, which formed part of the possessions of the house of the
Patriarch, and because the holy Mâr Aḥâ died some way off, those Arabs rose up quickly,
and with little resistance called it their own property. And when the holy Mâran-ʿammeh
had been appointed, he and all the honourable nobles with him worked with every possible
means to take it back from those wrongful possessors, but were unable to do so; and when
he said, "The mill belongs to the house of the Metropolitan, and is [therefore] my right,"
they disputed the matter with him, saying that they would not give it up at all.

2 Then Mâr Mâran-'ammeh answered and said to them, "Since ye thus dispute the matter, and
will not put yourselves away from this iniquity, come, let us go to the mill, that we may
learn from it to whom it belongs. And those Arabs, although they made a mock at the
difficulty of these words, and neither trusted nor believed in the power which was united
to the blessed man, agreed to this condition, and went forth with him; and with them there
were many Shah-righân and Dahkânê [who went] to see what would come of his ordering. And
[when] they had gone into [the mill], Mâr Mâran-'ammeh answered and said to his opponents,
"Since the mill is yours, command it to shew us that it is yours, and then we will leave
it in your hands and go away. And they answered and said to him, "Thou must order it to
shew us to whom it belongs". He said to them, "If I command it, and it doeth what I have
commanded, will ye leave it, and take yourselves away? And they said to him, "If we see
this stone obedient to thy command, then we have no portion in it, and we will depart
immediately, and the mill shall be thine.

3 Then Mâr Mâran-'ammeh having knelt down and prayed to God, turned towards the mill, and
said, "O stone without feeling, by the great and Divine power of the word of the Lord
which is mighty in the height and in the depth, if thou belongest to these Arabs, then
according to thy custom, grind flour; but if, on the other hand, thou art not the property
of these men, but art the inheritance of the Metropolitan of this country, let what thou
grindest be changed to ashes. And when he had said this, ashes began to come forth from
under the mill, and the flour disappeared; and every man was made afraid and brought to
the confession of God. And Mâr Mâran-'ammeh answered and said to those Arabs, "Now
although [it hath happened] thus, if the mill be yours, command it to change the ashes
into flour; but they marvelled and were put to shame, and they emptied their hands of the
mill in great disgrace. And Mâr Mâran-'ammeh having given permission the mill changed its
grinding of ashes into its usual grinding of flour, and this report flew throughout all
countries.

4 Praise be to that merciful God Who worketh for His Church at all times, and among all
peoples, and Who hath never left, nor will leave, Himself without a witness, but Who
establisheth in His churches the chosen doers of mighty deeds, and maketh them fathers
from being His sons, and Who restoreth by their hands the miracles, and wonderful acts and
mighty deeds of the Apostles their fathers!

CHAPTER 8.

Of those provinces which mâr mâran-'ammeh took over to the jurisdiction of the throne of
adiabene from the [other] thrones of the diocese, and of those which he gave in their
stead. Now from the country of Salâkh he took the province of Dèbhûr, and he wrote an
order and placed it in his episcopal house to the end that from now and henceforth the
Bishop of Salâkh should have no power over it, and also that his name should not be
proclaimed in any one of the churches thereof. From Âdhôrbâighân he took Inner Salâkh, and
gave it to the Bishop of Salâkh in the place of the province of Dèbhûr. To Stephen, Bishop
of Dâsen, he gave the Great Monastery, and all the province of Nahlâ and Talânâ, which
belonged to the diocese of Margâ; and he wrote for him an order that any Metropolitan who
should succeed him should have no power to dispute [the matter] or to take it away from
the throne of the country of Dâsen. From the pious and holy Mâr Shlêmôn (Solomon), Bishop
of Hadhattâ, he took the Monastery of Bârḳâ, and he gave him two districts from the
dominion of Adiabene, Gamlâwlôḥê and Merdê; and because of the holiness and the excellence
of the manner of life of Mâr Mâran-ʿammeh, no man disputed or murmured against these
[arrangements], but everything which he commanded and did was received with gladness as
from an angel of the Lord, and behold the divisions which he made stand to this day.


THE BOOK OF GOVERNORS (CHAPTERS 9.–8. OF THE REPENTANCE OF THE PEOPLE OF ADIABENE, AND OF THE MOST HUMBLE ENTREATY WHICH THEY OFFERED TO MĀR ĪSHŌ-YAHBH THAT HE WOULD OCCUPY HIS EPISCOPAL THRONE)
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THE BOOK OF GOVERNORS continued

CHAPTER 9.

1 Of the revelation which mâr mâran-ʿammeh received in a vision of the angel of the lord,
to destroy with his hands the seed that worked evil and the corrupt children who were in
the country of margâ. Among the sins which are committed by man there is none more
abominable and filthy than that of the lust of the body, for it draweth him that indulgeth
in it into all error, and driveth him out in disgrace from every thing which is seemly;
and the lawful gratification of the desire of the body which is full of shamefacedness and
modesty testifieth to this, for it is performed in the night season and in the darkness. 2
And thus the working of impurity cast to destruction the whole generation that lived in
the days of Noah; it burned the Sodomites with fire; it threw Judah into disgrace; it
drove Samson forth from the Divine care which accompanied him; and it laid a blemish upon
David. And from this [thing] the blessed and divine Paul hath commanded us to keep at a
distance, saying, "Flee fornication", and "Whosoever destroyeth the temple of God, him
will God destroy, for the temple of God is holy, which [temple] ye are. Now certain men
who were members of religious houses in various places in the country of Margâ, through
this gratification of corrupt and destructive lust, and by toiling in other habits of life
which provoke our Lord, put themselves away from what is seemly through the counsel of the
Evil One, and others who were not deserving of the penalty of evil were made participators
with them, just as in the case of the famines which took place in the days of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob, those holy men also were participators with the wicked men on whose
account the famines arose. What then? Now it came to pass one night that when the holy man
was engaged in prayer in the cell in which he lived, that the Angel of the Lord appeared
to him face to face, in a glorious and exceedingly sublime vision, and the temple of the
blessed man was filled with a beautiful odour.

3 And he was greatly moved, and answered and said to the spiritual being, "Who art thou,
Master? And the angel answered and said to him, "I am the Angel of the Lord who
ministereth to this apostolic throne of Arbél. And the holy man answered and said to him,
"What doth my lord command his servant [to do]? And the angel answered and said to him, "A
command hath gone forth from before the Lord to waste and destroy by thy hands a sinful
people and a people mighty in iniquity, which is in the country of Margâ, for their
iniquity, like that of the people of Sodom, hath gone up before the Lord, and like them
they shall receive punishment in divers ways according to thy command. The blessed man
answered and said, "The Lord God is able to destroy them in a moment as He destroyed the
hosts of the Assyrians, how then can my feeble intervention be required by Him by Whose
nod the worlds stand, to whom if He appeareth they shriek violently, and at the sight of
Whom the mountains reel, and the earth trembleth? The spiritual being said to him, "I am
the angel who hath accompanied thee in all thy administration, and all those who have been
before thee, and I shall accompany all those who shall come after thee until the end, and
until time shall cease and be annihilated; I will be a participator with thee in their
destruction.

4 The blessed man answered and said to him, "It is neither just nor seemly that I should
be the executioner of my own children, and the slayer of those who have been sanctified by
me with baptism and the laying on of hands, and whom I have made to drink of the living
water of the doctrine of Christ; spare me, a sinful man from doing this. The destruction
of the Assyrians, and the destruction of the people of Israel which took place in the days
of David, the many cities which were overthrown, and the great and mighty deeds which God
hath worked from generation to generation, were not wrought by the hands of men but by
angels; go thou thyself then and do that which thou commandest me to do. The angel said to
him, "Dispute not with the Divine command, lest thou appear pertinacious and obstinate; if
vengeance is not taken upon them by means of thee, it will not be known that they have
justly been destroyed and have perished, and also they will [not] be a warning to others
not to be like unto them; and when the angel had spoken these things with him, he
disappeared from him, and Mâr Mâran-'ammeh saw him no more.

CHAPTER 10. OF HOW THE BLESSED MAN LEFT HIS EPISCOPAL HOUSE AND FLED, AND OF THE ANGELIC AGENCY WHICH PREVENTED HIS FLIGHT

1 Now when it appeared to the holy man thus, and he knew that the word had gone forth from
before the Lord, with tears and great grief he secretly left his cell, and went out by
night to go forth into solitude remote from all mankind, that he might not be the means by
which the matter which the angel required of him [should be accomplished]; and he turned
the impetuosity of his course with very rapid steps to a mountain eastwards, having his
eyes filled with tears, and prayer and supplication in his mouth. But just as the Lord
turned back the fugitive prophet in the belly of the whale unto the preaching of Nineveh,
and completed by him that which was required of him, so also did He turn back this
fugitive priest, not by means of a fish, but by means of the element of fire did He make
him afraid; and he returned to His service. Now when he had gone on the whole day, without
food and without water, he came to a valley in which was a pool of water, and there were
reeds round about it, and he went into the place where the reeds were dense that he might
satisfy his hunger with the plants and herbs which were round about him. Then that
guardian angel stood above him as before, and answered and said to him, "Whither canst
thou flee from before the Lord? Behold the heavens and the earth are filled with Him;

2 thou appearest to be acting like a stupid and ignorant man. Mâr Mâran-ʿammeh said to
him, "Even if I perish like a child of perdition I will neither become a wicked shepherd,
and break the ankles of my sheep, nor the slayer of innocent lambs over whom the Holy
Spirit has set me in a place of trust. The angel said to him, "I could take thee now and
place thee, like Habakkuk, in thy cell, O simple old man, I do not, however, wish thy
service to be forced but voluntary. And while he was yet disputing, by means of the
spiritual being fire came round about him, and the thicket began to burn, and the angel
said to him, "Wilt thou go now, or shall I consume thee with these reeds? And when the
body of the old man began to wax hot, he promised with tears to go according to his
command, and the angel took him, and in one moment placed him in the cell where he lived.

CHAPTER 11. OF THE DEPARTURE OF THE BLESSED MÂR MÂRAN-ʿAMMEH TO THE COUNTRY OF MARGÂ, AND OF THE MIRACLES WHICH TOOK PLACE THERE BY HIS HANDS

1 Now when the holy man had returned from his flight, and had tarried a little he prepared
himself to go forth to the mournful and sorrowful work which had been sent to him; and he
crossed the Zâb, and made his way direct to the province beyond the Zâb which lay to the
east of Margâ, and went up to a great village, situated in the mountain, the name of which
was Birtâ. And he passed the night in the church [there] according to [his] custom, and it
appeared to him in a dream that [one said to him], "This village is one of those which
have provoked thy Lord, cast into it one of the arrows of thy curses, and get thee forth
from it early." And with the falling of the sun upon the earth, he mounted his ass and
went forth from it, and he turned his face towards it, and said, "O village full of
iniquity, nevermore shall the cock, the harbinger of peace, crow in thee, nevermore shall
his voice be heard in thee; thy inhabitants shall go forth from thee, and be scattered,
and moreover thou shalt nevermore be inhabited." And with the word of the righteous man
there went forth fire from the four ends of the village, and burnt up all the houses in a
moment, and behold to this day no man dwelleth therein.

2 From this [village] he came to Bêth Têhûnâi in which dwelt certain Shahrighân who
possessed many estates in the country. And one of these men whose name was Armenâzwâi, had
a wife, who was from the village Kêphar 'Uzzêl, and she was well acquainted with the holy
man; now she was a lady of noble birth. And there was in the village of Bēth Tēhūnāi a
convent of holy women, and the husband of this woman used to commit fornication with one
of those nuns. And when the blessed man went into the church, the wife came to him as to
her father and as to the one who had reared her, and began to make an accusation against
her husband concerning the secret unchastity which he wrought, and that he had forsaken
her and was working fornication. And he called the man before him, and began to rebuke and
to reprove him; saying, "Thou art not acting rightly, for instead of [the] lawful union,
thou makest Satan to rejoice through [thy] corrupt union with strangers; moreover thou
hast condemned thine own soul, and wilt be cast forth from being a member of His
household. Now Armēnāzwāi, instead of receiving the rebuke, and confessing his sin, and
asking [pardon] with prayers, and promising repentance, abused the holy man with foul
names, and also lifted up his hand to strike him.

3 And the holy man answered and said to him, "I trust in our Lord that thou and all thy
village shall go down alive into Sheol, like Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. And when the wife
saw the cursing of the holy old man, and it fell upon her ears, she knew that straightway
his command would be carried out, and she answered and said to him, "Father, what shall I
and these my two sons do? He said to her, "Get thee forth quickly, and flee to the
Monastery of Kûrâi, and tarry not here for an instant, that ye perish not. And it came to
pass in the morning season, when the reapers were in the fields, that a sound like unto
mighty peals of thunder was heard, and like that of the earth being rent asunder under the
village, and the mountain which was above it gave forth a sound as of falling upon it; and
while the reapers of millet were looking on at a distance, they saw two horsemen mounted
on horses of fire holding swords of fire in their hands; and they stood, one above the
mountain, and one below it. And the horseman that was above answered and said to him that
was below, "Do thou destroy from below, and I will destroy from above; and thus the
village of Bêth Têhûnâi sank into the earth with its inhabitants unto this day.

4 Now those who remember these things told us that for quite two months before this
happened, smoke and stinking vapours were ascending from the village; and [its
destruction] became a proverb and a saying for ever. 5 And from this [village] he departed
and came to Bêth ʿAināthâ, a village in the neighbourhood of the village of Bâshôsh, and
Mâr Mâran-ʿammeh had a vision concerning it. And as he was riding along he stood upon a
hill above the village, and lifting up his hand against it, he cursed it, saying, "The
Lord shall make mighty winds to blow upon thee, and all thy houses shall be swept away,
all thine inhabitants shall perish, and thou shalt never [again] be inhabited to the end
of time, and all thy lands shall the village Bâshôsh inherit." And it came to pass in the
night which followed that day that a mighty south wind came upon it, and destroyed it and
wasted it, and it became an inheritance for the people of Bâshôsh to this day. And he was
also commanded by the spiritual being to destroy another village in the neighbourhood of
Bâshôsh, which was called Ḥabbûṣhtâ, and this he did with words of wrath and destruction.

6 And he left this village also, and it appeared to him in a vision that he should go to
the village of Bêth Edrê. Now this was the [native] village of the father of the holy Mār
Abraham, the Catholicus in our days, and the name of his father was Shābhōr, and that of
his brother was Ḳenārgh. And concerning this man, a certain priest whose name was
Emmanuel, from the village of Bāshōsh, told me that, "during the whole course of his life
he worshipped the sun, and that he bowed down to the east, in the morning when it rose, to
the south at mid-day, and to the west in the evening; finally he became a heathen and
[afterwards] a preacher. And the blessed Māran-ʿammeh came to the village of these men.
Now there was in it a small school, and twelve scholars and their teacher, and he went
into it when the teacher was making ready to have a passage read from the Bible, and the
passage was from Isaiah. And the blessed man asked him what passage he was going to read,
and [when he had told him] Mār Māran-ʿammeh said, "Leave this passage to-day, and begin
from where I will shew thee. And he opened out the Book and shewed him [the passage],
"Howl, O village; cry out and complain, O village; all Philistia is troubled; for smoke
cometh forth from the north, and there is in thee no one person of his who striveth," and
he added the passage which cometh after it.

7 And when he had finished, he answered and said to the teacher and to the scholars, "Get
ye forth from this village, and go to Shalmath which is above you, for the ruin of the
lords of the village is nigh. And on the following day men came from the north as they had
read, and slew Shâbhôr, the lord of the village, and it became a ruin, and to this day no
man dwelleth therein. 8 And from this village he came to Mayâ Karîre, the village of the
honourable Zâdhâi, and there was in it a famous school, and he possessed seventy and two
estates in Margâ, Gôghmal and Nineveh; now for what sin Mâr Mâran-ammeh cursed this man is
hidden from us. And he answered and said to him, "Thou shalt fall from all this glory in
which thou art, thy estates shall be taken from thee, and finally thou shalt perish of
hunger;" which [thing] actually took place, to the great astonishment [of all], for his
riches and glory departed, and all his estates became the property of strangers, and that
during his lifetime and while his eyes could see it. And Shâbhôrân, the Shahrîgh, from the
village of Kôph, related to me concerning this man, that in his old age he came to such
absolute poverty that he must have brought in the beginning of the fast without bread, if
a certain man of his household had not brought him a handful of wheat, which he roasted on
hot coals, and thus brought in the fast of forty days.

9 Now there was in the village which was called Bêth Kârdâgh, a certain heretic who dwelt
upon a pillar of limestone; now this man had dwelt for many years on this pillar, but from
the swift punishment which came upon him by the hands of the holy man it was known that he
performed all his labour and his dwelling thereon by the wish of devils. And when he saw
the blessed man, and the multitudes that were with him, from afar off—now they followed
close after him by reason of the wonderful deeds which he wrought, and it is said that
seventy nobles of the Shahrighān and of the Dihkān accompanied him,—he understood that it
was the Metropolitan. And he called quickly to his disciple and said to him, "Run fast and
quickly before the Metropolitan of the Nestorians (for behold he cometh from Mayā Ḳarīrē),
and salute him for me, saying, 'Thou knowest, my lord, the obligation by which I am bound
and that it is not easy for me to come to salute thee; but I entreat thee by the love of
our Lord, to draw near to me that I may see thee and be blessed by thee.'" Now when his
disciple met Mār Māran-ʿammeh at some distance away, he bowed down before him, and
repeated to him everything which his master had said. And the holy old man answered and
said, "He who withholds a salutation from his companion forsaketh the fear of the Highest.

10 Then the man in the pillar-shaped tower, seeing that the Metropolitan had turned aside
into the road which went to his village, and being confident that he was coming to visit
him, thrust his head through the window and said to the people of his village. "Behold how
excellent is my manner of life before God! for behold the head of the wicked Nestorians
cometh to be blessed by me while ye despise me, and make a mock of my wishes. Now
Shârzâdh, who was afterwards, when he became a monk, called George, and who became
Catholicus, with his servants had gone out to the chase; and when he saw the Metropolitan
he alighted from his horse, and was blessed by him. And Mâr Mâran-'ammeh asked him, "Whose
son art thou, my son? and he said, "I am the son of Mihrói, from the village of Hennes;
and Mâr Mâran-'ammeh said, "Mount thy horse, and come with us, for we are going to thy
village. And when he had come and stood beneath the man in the tower he answered and said
to the dweller [therein], "Why didst thou send after me? and the man said to him, "That I
might salute thee and ask for thy prayers, O Mâr Metropolitan.

11 The blessed man said to him, "I have confidence in the mercy of our Lord, that if, as
thou sayest, thou didst call me for the sake of greeting and love, our Lord will cleanse
thy heart from [thy] blasphemy concerning His manhood, so that thou mayest understand Him
[as] God and Man in one person of holy sonship; that He will make thee a member of the
household of the true faith which we hold; that for all thy labour up to this day
propitiation may be made, and that it may be acceptable before Him; and that He may hold
thee worthy of the enjoyment of His kingdom with His saints. But if, on the other hand,
thou hast, in the scorn of thy boasting, acted in a scoffing manner, may the Lord smite
with hail-stones this tower upon which thou dwellest outside the doctrine of orthodoxy,
and may it fall and be destroyed; and may fire go forth from the hail and consume thy
body, and mayest thou be a reproach and a byword for all generations which shall come
after. And those who were spectators tell me that with the word of the blessed old man,
there appeared a little black cloud rising up and coming from Mount Matthew, and mighty
thunders roared, and blazing lightnings played round about it, and it came on and rested
over that pillar.

12 And the stones of which it was built were rent asunder and scattered abroad by mighty
and violent hail-stones, and fire went forth from the hail, and set fire to the body of
that wretched man and consumed it; and thus he became a mockery and a byword according to
the curse [laid] upon him by the old man. Then Shârzâdh, that is [to say] George, when he
saw the storm, and the things which had taken place, answered and said to the
Metropolitan, "Is the power which cleaveth to the saints so mighty as this? and the
Metropolitan said, "My son, what hast thou seen yet of the deeds of the Apostles? And
George said to him, "If it be thus, as the Lord liveth, I will become a monk, and I will
renounce the world, and everything that I have. The holy man said to him, "If now thou
wilt do as thou sayest, and wilt make thyself a monk, our Lord will make thee the head of
all His church; and the prophecy of the holy man actually happened to the blessed
Shârzâdh. For he went and became a disciple in the monastery of Bêth 'Abhê, and when he
had become the head of the monastery he said to the monks who were in his monastery, "My
foot hath begun to tread the ladder of preferment according to the word of the blessed
Mâran-ammeh;

13 and when he had been Metropolitan of Elam for twenty-five years, he sent to the sons of
his monastery, saying, "Another step is reserved for me, according to the word of the holy
man. And when Rabban Îshô bar-Nôn died, this George became Patriarch after him, 14
marvellous acts of strength, who spake and burned up him that dwelt insolently in a tower,
avenged the blood of the righteous Mâr Nestorius." and he sent to his monastery, saying,
"See, my brethren, the prophecy of Mâr Mâran-ʿammeh concerning me has, in very deed, been
fulfilled." Now therefore the blessed Mâr Mâran-ʿammeh went forth from Hennes, and he went
up in anger to the province of Birtâ, against the village of Heṭrê, and against it he also
cast the arrow of his curses, saying, "There shall never be bread in thee, and the life of
everyone who shall dare to dwell in thee shall perish by famine and sickness;" and this
village also was clothed with the curse, and it became a ruin for ever. And from these
[deeds] the blessed man returned to his habitation like a valiant soldier, who had
destroyed the enemies of his lord, and who had overthrown their lands for ever, and who
had scattered to every wind those that were left.

CHAPTER 12. OF THE DROUGHT AND FAMINE WHICH TOOK PLACE IN THE DAYS OF THE HOLY MÂR MÂRAN-ʿAMMEH, AND OF THE WONDER WHICH HE SHEWED BY HIS STAFF

1 Now in the time of the extreme old age of the holy man there took place in the countries
of his against the Catholicus Timothy whom, playing upon his name, he called Tâlcmathêôs
or "God-reviler," and when Timothy died he was elected Catholicus A. D. 820. He sat four
years, and died aged eighty-four years; he was buried in the Monastery of Kelîl-Îshô' (See
B. O., ii. pp. 434, 435; Bar-Hebraeus, Chron. Eccles., ii. col. 181). For 'Abhd-Îshô's
list of his works see B. O., iii. 1, p. 165. dominion the great drought which is called by
the Elders the "first drought", since this took place following the two hundred and fourth
year of the Arabs; and the famine waxed very great during the drought, and slew many by
its severity. And when the blessed man saw the orphans and widows that were dying of
hunger, he rose up and went to Ḥesnâ 'Ebhrâyâ, and he began to go round and to ask alms of
the believers, wherewith he might feed the orphans and poor people

2 which none remembered ever to have blown before,"; see Gottwaldt, Hamzae Ispahanensis
Annalium, Leipzig, 1844, vol. 1, p. 188; Abû-'l-Maḥâsm, ed. Juynboll, vol. 1, p. 801; and
Bar-Hebraeus, Historia Dynastiarum, Oxford 1663, pp. 92, 93, 94, 98. of his country. And
because they were well acquainted with his greatness, and with the Apostolic wonders and
mighty deeds which he wrought, the believing lovers of God gave to him abundantly. And
when he had collected much money, and went forth to come [to his own country], certain
thieves who had watched him from Môṣul to Bèth Tartar of the Ninevites, went before him on
the road, and lay hidden in a mountain hollow and watched for him to pass by. And when he
passed by singing a psalm, they knew that he had none of his property with him; but when
his disciples entered that hollow, the thieves rose up and laid hold upon the possessions
which were under them. And his disciples cried out to him, and he turned back and saw the
thieves making ready to carry off everything that he had with him. And he said to his
disciples, "Give me my staff;" and when they had given it to him, he tied his turban cloth
around the top of it, and threw it towards heaven in anger. And he began to weep, saying,
"My soul abhorreth that which troubleth it;" how many are they increased who trouble me;
how many are my days in which thou dost not depart from me, and in which I do not see evil
days?

3 Dynastiarum, pp. 404, 441; and Tuch, De Nino Urbe, p. 49. In Bk. iv. chap. 5 is said to
be in "Nineveh" and in Bk. v. chap. 2 it is said to be a "town". for behold now thou hast
delivered the alms which I have begged for the poor into the hands of the spoilers." Now
the rod stood between earth and heaven, and a gentle wind was blowing towards the holy
man, but sparks of fire came forth from the knotted fringes of the turban cloth, and smote
the thieves in their faces. And when they saw this wonder they were in great fear, and
they let go their hands from the mules, and asked for alms from him like wretched beggars,
saying, "Consider us also, O blessed man, like those poor people to whom thou art carrying
this money, and give us alms from it, for it is through hunger that we have done this."
And he commanded his disciples, and they gave money to them, and thus those thieves turned
back, and travelled on their way rejoicing; and when they came to their habitation they
proclaimed continually throughout the whole country the wonderful thing which the blessed
man had wrought. These are [some of] the glorious things of the holy Mâr Mâran-ʿammeh, and
these are the miracles which he wrought; it is evident that we have only written down some
few of them, for the complete accounts have been blotted out through the lapse of time,
and through the remissness of scribes who have neglected to set down in writing for us
[all] the noble acts of the blessed man.

CHAPTER 13. OF THE SICKNESS WHICH SMOTE THE HOLY MAN, AND OF HIS DEPARTURE FROM THIS LIFE OF TIME TO THAT OF ETERNITY

1 Now when the blessed man had arrived at infirm old age, after he had laboured
prosperously in the vineyard of his Lord from the breasts and from tender childhood to the
evening of advanced old age, the glorious end of his contests drew near and arrived. And
he perceived the beginning of his fatal sickness, and commanded and they prepared an
animal for him to ride upon, and he went to the Monastery of Bârka with the hope that he
would gain benefit from drinking the waters of the Tigris. Now when he had tarried there
ten days, and saw that every day he was going backwards, he rose up to come to his
country, and when he arrived at the village of Bēth Rēwāi, he went in to lie there for the
night. And when the inhabitants of Rēwāi saw that his departure from [this] life was at
hand, they would not allow him to depart from them; and with all manner of reasons and
deeds they worked that he might finish his course with them, and that his holy body might
be laid in their church. And Mār Māran-ʿammeh sent secretly to Lōhrāsāph, and he came to
him;

2 and while Lōhrāsāph was weeping in his presence, because he saw that he was already laid
in the chamber of the tomb, the holy man quieted him, and whispered to him, saying, "I
desire and very much wish to lie in thy church, and it is also the will of our Lord that I
should be laid there, for thy village is about to become a very rich and much inhabited
place; but these villagers are scheming and planning all manner of devices so as not to
allow me to depart from here. Do thou then ask for thy ten thousand zūzē from me, and
demand from them either that they shall give thee ten thousand zūzē, and that thou shalt
leave me here to them, or that they shall allow thee to carry me with thee to thy village.
And Lōhrāsāph began to speak to the Metropolitan in an audible voice, saying, "Master,
give me that money, ten thousand zūzē, which thou didst borrow from me before thy
departure, give it to me, for it is my children's means of subsistence; and the
Metropolitan promised, saying, "I am in debt to thee, carry me away that I may go and give
thee the money. And when the inhabitants of Rêwâi began to prevent him, the holy man said
to them, "If ye wish to keep me back give this nobleman the ten thousand zûzê which I owe
him, or depart from me that I may go and give them to him while I am alive.

3 Now the inhabitants of Rêwâi were poor and were wholly unable to do this, and he
commanded that they should prepare an animal for him to ride on, and when he had come half
way on the road, the soul of the blessed man departed, and went by the hands of holy
angels with spiritual hymns of praise to Paradise, and rested with the spirits and souls
of the righteous who have been made perfect. And the nobles and the dahkânê of the
village, together with the multitudes who came from the estates round about, paid honour
to his holy body, and bore it with the ceremony which befitted the greatness of his
person, and laid it in the church close by the of the, on the right hand side, that it
might be in this 4 altar of sacrifice, stood. (Compare soleas, Pars templi quae Bemati
observatur, quae uno aut altero gradu aedis sacrae pavimento eductior est. bema Sacrarium,
Locus in templo ubi consistant sacerdotes, et quem nulli Laico ingredi fas erat. Du Cange,
Glossarium, coll. 195, 1513). The also included the and its pavement was three steps above
the pavement of the rest of the church. (See B. O., iii. ii. p. 802, note 1). seems to
mean primarily a "tiled pavement" (compare Bekker, Anedota Graeca, Tom. 1. p. 269, l. 27,
where kalamidas is explained by e tous thelukous kalamous tous pros sundesmon ton
plinthinon katastromaton tes oikodomias), and cannot be older than the edaphos plinthois
katastromenon which was laid on the ground before the temple where the altar of burnt
sacrifice was placed. is also the "deck of a vessel; compare katastromata, tes neos meros,
en o estotes naumachousin, Hesychius, Lexicon, ed. Schmidt, Jena, 1857, p. 435. On men-of-
war the katastroma must have been the uppermost deck of all, as the combatants were posted
on it when the ship went into action: see Thucydides, i. 49. 1,3; Polybios, i. 44. 3;
Plutarch, Themistocles, 14, Antonius, 67. On merchant-men the katastroma must also have
been the uppermost deck, for the depth of the ship was reckoned from the katastroma to the
bottom of the hold: see Lucian, navigium, V. See also Kraus, Real-Encyklopädie der
Christlichen Alterthümer, Freiburg in Breisgau, 1880, articles ambon, bema (vol. 1, pp.
43—46), and Basilica (vol. 1, pp. 109—143); De Vogüé, Syrie Centrale, Planches 119, 126,
138;

5 L'Eglise de Saint-Férémie à Abou-Gosch (Emmaus), with plans, by C. Mauss in Revue
Archéologique, 3ième Série, Tom. xix. p. 223 ff. and Assemânî, B. O., iii. 1, p. 537,
capp. 3 and 5; iii. ii. pp. 795, 821, 835. In Assemânî, Codex Liturgicus, tom. ix.
Appendix, p. 281, note 2, we have explained by Cancellos "qui Ecclesiae Sanctuariam a
Navi, seu loco fidelium separant. From comes the Arabic balustrade en bois ou en bronze
autour du cénotaphe d'un saint. Dozy, Supplément, tom. ii. p. 358, col. 2. 6 world before
the face of the Lord in His holy temple as long as the world endureth, even as he will be
on the right hand of the King of Kings, Jesus Christ, for everlasting, in that world where
there is no space of time to be divided into seasons and years; and his holy body is a
fountain of help for the afflicted and diseased, and a strong wall to the whole village.
Let us praise God, the Lord of all, Who made the holy man victorious, and the honourable
Ḥasān who zealously encouraged setting down his history in writing, that his glorious acts
and deeds might not flee into oblivion, but that they might all be brought to light. May
we be preserved from every harmful thing in this world by his prayers, and in the next may
we be neighbours in the happiness which God hath prepared for the holy man; and may we all
together praise and glorify our Lord Jesus Christ, and may His grace and mercy be with us
all, now and always, for ever and ever! Amen.

7 Here endeth the history of the similitude of the manner of life of the holy and pious
Mār Māran-ʿammeh, Metropolitan Bishop of Adiabene; to God be glory, and upon us His mercy,
Amen! ing, meant the beginning of the; compare Payne Smith, Thes., col. 2727; and "limina
Cancellorum," B. O., iii. ii. p. 821, l. 28. In Brit. Mus. Or. 2441, fol. 342b, col. 2, we
have A METRICAL HOMILY ALSO UPON THE HOLY MĀRAN-ʿAMMEH WHICH WAS COMPOSED BY MĀR THOMAS,
BISHOP OF MARGĀ. Response. May We FIND MERCY THROUGH THE PRAYERS OF THE PRIEST WHOSE
COMMEMORATION IS CELEBRATED WITH GREAT HONOUR IN OUR CONGREGATION.

My Brethren, Bless Ye the Lord!

8 O lovers of truth, bring near to my wretchedness the entreaty of truth, That I may weave
with my words a crown of the praises of the pious man. The children of the nobility of
this world, and of that of Christ, Have asked from me a petition wholly full of the love
of the righteous man. 5 The guests of light, and those who enjoy the Living Mystery Have
made me the means [of recounting] the glorious praises of the noble labourer. The children
of the right hand have urged my uninstructed right hand To paint a picture of his
perfection full of beauty. The chief of pastors, and the father of priests, Māran-ʿammeh,
10 The man who was pre-eminent in the Holy Church, they wish to praise. The watchful
shepherd, and steward of the treasures of the Spirit, Their command seeketh to crown by
means of our speech.

9 To the angel of light, to the pure and entirely holy man, May they and I devote our
words on the day of his commemoration. 15 And with the offering and sacrifice of truth,
which his vigil requireth, We will compose a discourse in which [his] contests shall be
sung. And while with my mouth and understanding I take refuge in his prayer, May my tongue
well up with a pleasing discourse on his glorious deeds. May my feeble speech travel on
with his history, 20 And may it repeat the stories concerning him, in order, even as they
were performed. The holy man sprang from Ḥaṭre a city in Ṭirhân, From a family and holy
race of righteous men. Mâran-ʿammeh was he named by his parents, And as in prophecy [he
was named] with a noble name [so also] his person was distinguished. 25 Our Lord Jesus was
with him, and chose him for Himself,

10 And from his youth up He set him aside and sanctified him for His household. To be a
member of His heavenly household was the holy man worthy, And as he grew in bodily stature
he increased in the doctrine of Life. And when the beloved youth had arrived at early
manhood, 30 He forsook his parents, and friends, and relations, and kinsmen. He despised
and contemned the love of the world which passeth away, And he fastened his love upon Him
that had chosen him, as upon an anchor. The love of his Lord inflamed the mind of the
noble labourer, And he began to walk on the way of life as to heaven. 35 Now at that time
the much enlightened Rabban Bābhai Was praised by many on account of his teaching. In his
city Gēbhiltā the teacher of truth founded a school, And like the Tigris a fountain of
learning flowed from his belly.

11 By the theory and practice of his teaching 40 He made the truth of his enlightenment
shine upon many. Towards this man did [Mār Māran-ʿammeh] direct the impetus of his steps
at the beginning of his way, That he might be his disciple as was Joshua of Moses the
Great, Before this [man] he was instructed in the writings of the Spirit, And in the
expositions of Theodore, the scribe of truth. 45 By the vigilance of his mind was he
directed in a straight line, And he received fully the doctrine of the Holy Church. Now
when the Lord stirred up the heart of Rabban Bâbhai, To go up to our country, and to sow
in it the teaching of Life, He associated Mâran-ʿammeh with him in that going up, 50 Like
Jesus, the son of Jozadak and Zerubbabel. They two arrived with many [people] at the
country of Arbela,

12 And first of all planted a great school in Kêphar ʿUzzêl. Peter; on Titus, and
Philemon, and Hebrews for Cyrinus; and five volumes on the works of the other apostles. He
wrote a book on the "Sacraments;" another on "Faith;" two volumes on the "Priesthood;" two
volumes on the "Holy Spirit;" one volume on the "Incarnation;" two volumes against
"Eunomius;" two volumes against those who would say, "Sin is ingrained in [our] nature;"
two volumes "against Magianism;" one volume "to Monks;" one on "obscure speech"; one
volume on "Perfection of manner of life;" five volumes against "Allegorists,"; one volume
"on behalf of Basil;" one volume on "the taker and that which is taken,"; "the Book of the
Pearl," in which his letters are collected; and a "discourse on the laying down of the
Law",. See Asse-manî, B. O., iii. 1, pp. 30—35; iii. ii. pp. 190, 203, 227, 228; Bar-
Hebraeus, Chron. Eccles., i. col. 124; ii. coll. 58, 64, 74; Fabricius, Bibl. Graec., vol.
x. p. 346ff.; Tillemont, Mémoires, tom. vi. p. 219 (ed. Brussels 1732); and Wright,
Catalogue of Syriac MSS., p. 1329, col. 1.

13 And when it flourished with scholars and doctors, He left it in the hands of Mâran-
ʿammeh and went away from it, That he might go and plant other schools like unto it, And
place in them teachers from among his disciples. The holy Rabban Bâbhai planted sixty
schools, And established sixty men, teachers of the truth, in them. He ordained that
Mâran-ʿammeh should be established in this our [school], And he departed to Gêbhîltâ, and
there he died. Mâran-ʿammeh became a teacher in this church, In which his venerable body
was laid at the end of his life. By the glorious rays of his teaching and manner of life
Every one round about him shone by the power of the grace which clave to him. He became a
teacher and a preacher of the Spirit, And he preached and taught the doctrine of his Lord
like Paul. He planted spiritual cuttings in the courtyards of the Church, And he reared
them upon the rain and dew which [fell] from his lips.

14 He weaned his body from the dainty things of all manner of pleasant foods, 70 And by
voluntary abstinence from a life of softness he emaciated his body. The mind which is
devoted to the flesh is wont to beget a thick belly, When it remaineth barren of the mind
devoted to spiritual things. He sanctified himself to be an offering to the name of the
Creator, And he cleansed his heart from all the passions of the body and soul. 75 His
thoughts shone like incorporeal light, He made his feelings to possess a chaste demeanour,
and a pure report. At every moment he made his eyes to be occupied with the writings of
the Spirit, He also sanctified his hands by means of almsgiving. His feet had for a firm
standing-place truth and rectitude, 80 As it is written concerning his fellows in the
writings of the Spirit.

15 He became a temple and a pure shrine according to the command, And was a dwellingplace
for the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, As our Lord Jesus promised to the friends of His
love, That they should be a dwelling for His Godhood in the manner of their lives. 85
Moreover his Lord gave him the [power] of healing all sicknesses, And He blessed by his
hand also the signs of the Cross which he made. From his right hand sicknesses of all
kinds fled, And by his blessings he made the sterile fruitful, and dried up wombs he made
fertile. And although he excelled in all divine beauties, 90 Praise to his Lord was
attributed by all mouths. And from the labour of teaching the Spirit raised him up, To the
great glory of the headship of the Holy Church, To the throne of Salâkh, the country of
Yânes (Jannes) mentioned by the Apostles.

16 His Lord distinguished him [as] a good servant to lead His sheep. 95 The good shepherd
received five talents from the Spirit, And like that wise steward he made use of them with
skill and care. The provisions of time he made use of in an excellent manner, [being]
truly wise, And there accrued to him the blessing of our Lord [which is] in the Gospel. He
went to his country and began to visit the flocks of his Lord, 100 And to rear them, and
to make them increase according to the command. He set out for a village which was called
Bêth Nâwâ, and he heard and learned That one tare had taken root and begun to grow among
the wheat. He tore up this tare by its root, and gave it to the fire, And it became its
own murderer, like Saul. 105 He passed over to another [village], and there was a young
man, the son of a widow,

17 Being carried out to the grave of the dead, with great sorrow. He saw the poor [mother]
tearing out her hair unsparingly, And crying out upon her only son with tears of
suffering. "Woe is me, woe is me, my beloved son," she cried out, 110 "For after thee I
have no other to open or to shut for me. "Let the old woman thy mother die with thee, and
not survive thee, "That her life may not be days full of death." The tears streamed from
the eyes of the watchful shepherd for the sake of his ewe, And he commanded them to take
the body back to the church that he might pray over it. 115 He put out all men and
remained alone with the dead, And began [to pray] with tears and fervent prostrations. His
Lord Who saw the prayer and the tears which were offered to Him,

18 Restored the soul of the young man to its body, and rejoiced His servant. With sorrow
the earnest master prayed for him that was lying there, And our Lord made His glorious
light to shine [on them] as on Paul, When he went forth to persecute the apostles who were
in Damascus. They also returned to what was seemly, like Paul, 130 And they confessed
Jesus [to be] the God of all, and the Son of God. He subdued the untamed mule, and it
received the bridle With quietness and tranquillity, according to his command. He drove
away from the wall of the holy temple a nest of ants, And in a moment they all departed
through his prayers. 135 And while the tried priest was excelling in such-like things, The
Spirit lifted him up another step higher than this. Metropolitan of all Adiabene, and
Margâ, and Ḥephtôn, The Spirit entrusted to him to hold the oars of the elect Church.

19 And with the advancement from grade to grade of the pious man, our father 140 Was also
exalted by miracles which were exceedingly sublime. Before the coming of the mighty man to
this country Certain men dared to seize the mill belonging to the episcopal house. And
when he saw their avariciousness and obstinate strife [concerning it] He carried them to
the mill that he might shew them the truth of what he said. 145 "Let us all go to the
mill, and it shall teach us To whom it belongeth and who hath a right to it, whether you
or I". The believing nobles and also the assembly of the priests went with him That they
might see how and what would come to pass from that which should be wrought. He adjured
the mill, and instead of wheat it ground out ashes, 150 He commanded it again, and it
changed the ashes to pure flour.

20 The large assembly of spectators who were with him marvelled, And the avaricious men
were put to shame, and left the mill in the hands of the righteous man. As unto Moses dumb
things of nature were submissive unto him, And he brought forth from them the power of
wonder and marvel. 155 In the country of Margâ there were men of evil life, The Lord was
stirred up to reward them twofold into their bosom. He sent one of the Watchers to the
soldier of the Spirit, That he might arm himself, and make an end of them by his curses.
The spiritual being came, and manifested himself to the noble labourer, 160 When he was
standing in prayer and vigil according to his custom. The holy man saw the spiritual
Watcher and marvelled and was astonished, And he asked for what cause he had come to him.
"I am," said he, "the guardian angel

21 Who ministereth to the throne of this country by the command of my Lord. 165 And the
Nod which ruleth creation and maketh times to pass away hath sent me, That thou mayest go
and destroy the blind people who have trodden His laws under foot, A foolishly wicked and
godless people in the country of Margâ Who by thy hands shall suffer death and
destruction. Take hold of the sword of the Word of our Lord without pity, 170 And cast
down and destroy good and evil men without sparing." He made answer to the Watcher, "I
cannot do this deed, Because the Creator needeth not for power the help of man. By the
hand of angels He overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, And now by the hand of the Watchers on
high let Him do this." 175 The Watcher answered, "Do not dispute my words, For whether
thou wilt, or whether thou wilt not, perforce thou must go".

22 And when the Watcher had disappeared from him, he departed and fled, That he might live
the life of an anchorite in the wilderness far away from men, Like Jonah when he fled by
sea to Tarshish, 180 That he might not go at his Lord's command to the city of Nineveh.
The Watcher overtook the blessed old man, and surrounded him with fire, Threatening him
that if he would not return he would consume him. The Lord brought Jonah in the belly of
the fish back to land, And He terrified our father with fire and he turned back. 185 The
mighty man arose, the charioteer mounted, the athlete made ready, And he took in his
quiver eight arrows breathing death, That he might make them devour the flesh and blood of
evil men, And perform by them the vengeance of wrath according to what they deserved. Like
Joshua, holding the spear after the manner of a warrior, 190 And being wrathful and full
of fighting zeal against the iniquitous, He went up to the village, the name of which was
Birtâ, and the Watcher showed him, [Saying,] "Curse this village and its inhabitants by
the wrath of thy words." He stood upon a hill and waved his hand like David, He took one
arrow from his quiver, and cursed the village, and passed on, 195 And at once from every
side fire went forth, And licked it up like stubble, and it came to an end and perished
suddenly. He came to the village of Bêth Ṭêḥûnâi, which is situated on the bank of a
river, In this village was a whoremonger who was exceedingly cruel.

23 The holy man called him and began to rebuke him, as he would his sons, 200 "What I hear
thou art doing is not right, Cease from the way that leadeth to Gehenna, and return To
that which is proper, and the hatefulness of thy [past] life shall be forgiven thee." The
wretched man who was worthy of the death of the Sodomites, turned, And as Shimei cast dirt
at the just man David, 205 He sent forth his hand like Shimei(?) against the holy man, And
answered the master and good shepherd with words of mocking scorn. [Mâran-ʿammeh] rose up,
and went forth and took a spiritual arrow, And shot it into him, and cursed him and his
village in great anger, "Be thou swallowed up in the earth like Abiram and the wicked men
his companions; 210 Thy village shall be overthrown, and the earth shall cover it and its
inhabitants."

24 Suddenly there appeared Watchers of fire like horsemen, One on the plain, one on the
mountain, each facing each. The Watcher above answered, "Thou below, and I above, Let us
make the village sink into the earth, and consume its inhabitants within it." 215 The
earth reeled, and gave forth a sound like the sea. The mountain which was above the
village thundered with violent thunders. And the earth was opened below it, and it was
swallowed up, And the smoke of it began to go up like that of Sodom. Darkness remained
above it for sixty days, 220 The report flew abroad, like a bird, into all countries.
[Māran-ʿammeh] came and arrived at BēthʿAināthā and Ḥabūshtā, And he sent two arrows
flying into them and destroyed them. A violent wind like that of Job blew suddenly, And
they fell and were destroyed [and remained] without inhabitants for ever. 225 He passed on
from these villages to the little village of Bēth Edhrē,

25 And with a sharp arrow he rent it asunder, saying, "Howl, O village, complain, O
village, for thine inhabitants, For thou shalt put on mourning by the reason of the
nearness of complete desolation". Like Bêlṭeshâṣar by Darius on the last night, 230 Was
slain Shâbhôr, the Lord of the village, and all who were therein fled. He went forth from
these villages and in his quiver [were] three arrows, Five had been emptied on the
villages which he had passed and they had destroyed them. He came to the village of Zâdhôi
the nobleman, He took an arrow and drew it out from himself for his bitterness, 235 He
shot it at Zâdhôi, and prophesied to him what was about to come to pass, "All the glory
with which thou art clothed thou shalt be made to put away, And thou shalt live a life of
hunger and misery."

26 And this happened to the old man Zâdhôi even as [Mâran-'ammeh] had said to him. In
Kârdhâghîâ there was a man who lived on a pillar, 240 Like a vulture and an unclean
carrion crow seated on a hill. He distinguished from afar the star of dawn by his clear
light, And the son of darkness thought and decided that he would make a mock of him. He
cried out to his disciple to go out quickly to meet him, And to ask him to turn aside to
him that he might be blessed [by him]. 245 He saw that the blessed old man had turned
aside to pass by his way, And he put on boasting, and he laid out his tongue for
blaspheming. He answered and said to the dwellers in the village below him, "Behold, even
the head of the Nestorians hath need of my salutation, While in your opinion, I am of
little worth, and despicable, and of small account,

27 250 And ye do not confess the hidden power in which I dwell." The strenuous soldier
turned aside to the son of destruction, And he came to the crafty one, and asked him in
love for what reason he had called him. That man answered him falsely, "That I might be
blessed [by thee] Did I send that thou shouldst come to me, and that I might see thy
face." 255 "I have confidence in that God Whom I serve," The holy man with righteous mouth
made answer to the wicked one, "If, according to this thy word, thou hast called me to be
blessed [by me], May our Lord draw off the veil of darkness from thy understanding, May He
make the light of His belief to shine in thy mind, 260 That thou mayest confess Him and
know Him [to be] God [and] Man, in one Sonship." He took from his quiver a poisoned and
fire-scattering arrow, And he added to it that which was meet from that of Zâdhô, He
placed it in the bow, and directed its aim towards the pillar, He stretched the string and
shot the arrow, and it smote him and passed on. 265 [Saying], "If, O servant of devils,
thou hast called me to disgrace and mock me, May the Lord smite this thy tower with
hailstones, And mayest thou fall among the stones thereof into an evil death,

28 May fire go forth from within the hail and devour thy bones, Mayest thou be a mocking
and a byword to all generations. 270 And all those who pass by the way shall make a mock
of thee for ever!" At the words of the mighty old man, which were filled with death, A
cloud of darkness filled with hail, and [having] fire inside it, Suddenly surrounded the
whole tower like a garment, To take vengeance upon the despicable scoffer who had acted
insolently. 275 And the coming down of the [hail-]stones upon the pillar was [a sight] to
see! [They were] like the [hail-]stones which the Lord brought down by Joshua the son of
Nun. Every man stood at a distance looking at that which was done, And fear and wonder
filled the hearts of the multitudes that were with him. The wretched man was beaten to
pieces, and fire went forth and consumed his body,

29 280 And the old man avenged our father Mâr Nestorius. The despicable offspring of bats,
the lover of darkness, Threatened to make war, forsooth, with an eagle of mighty wings.
His claw smote him on the head, and ripped him open, and cast him into the darkness of his
nest, The stone crushed him, the fire devoured him, and he remained for perdition. 285 He
became a reproach for the wayfarers, and a proverb for generations, According to what the
sanctified mouth of our pious father said. The head of the Holy Church was exalted by
reason of that which was wrought, And the heretics, the followers of Severus were made a
mockery. The report flew like a bird into all countries, 290 And the hidden power which is
in holy men was glorified. And to George, by the spirit of revelation, he prophesied,
[saying], "Our Lord Jesus will exalt thee to be the head of all His Church",

30 And also to this man was this thing wrought in a sublime manner, And he was appointed
Catholicus and Patriarch of the Church. 295 He went forth from these [villages], being led
by the hand of the angel, To the village of Ḥeṭrē which is situated at the ends of the
earth. And the arrow which was left he threw and cast at it, and it remained a ruin, Its
inhabitants forsook it, and they were scattered about to all countries. The Lord made to
disappear and scattered from village to village 300 Those who went forth, like brands from
the fire. Their mighty villages he left in ruin, And the stones of their buildings he
piled up in heaps like hills. The strenuous soldier passed on and came to his throne, His
garments were red with the blood of men like a treader of grapes, 305 Like a treader of
grapes in the winepress had he trodden their bodies,

31 And he had pierced them with sharp arrows and had destroyed them. May our Lord Jesus
have mercy upon them through his prayers, And may He hold to be sufficient for them the
judgment with which they were judged in this world. His Nod beareth all sinners
graciously, 310 And by means of them He spreadeth out His righteousness without sparing.
His dispensation is hidden from us, namely, why He made an end of the good and evil
together. A mighty famine took place in the days of the good shepherd, Want, in which
there was no solace, spread over every thing. 315 Starving men and languishing beggars and
orphans increased, The blessed man saw their afflictions and was pained and was grieved.
He went to the city of the Athôrâyê on their behalf, To collect from them a sack full of
alms and oblations for them. Every man gave to him with a full and ever flowing hand,

32 320 For they held him to be like unto a prophet and an Apostle. The things which he
wrought shone brightly in their sight, For he was established as a mighty man in their
opinion. He took the money which had been given to him with diligent zeal, And he went
forth from thence like Abraham from Egypt. 325 There met him on the way six wicked men who
were thieves, And they dared to plunder him, and likewise to take the money which he had
with him. He took his rod, and tied his turban cloth upon the top of it, and threw it up
into the air. And what had been done was bitter, and painful and grievous to him. He cried
out with mournful sighs to our Redeemer concerning his injury, 330 And he called his days
a life full of every affliction. "Behold from the time that I came into the world I have
lived an evil life,

33 And a little rest hath never appeared to me in the habitation of time". His rod stood
[in the air], and that spiritual being who accompanied him, Surrounded it on all sides
with arrows of fire. 335 He emitted and shot out sparks from the fringes of the turban
cloth, And they came down and lighted upon the faces of those evil men. They were overcome
and brought low by the fiery darts of the burning, They sought to escape and were no
longer wishful to do harm to his holiness. "Restrain from thy servants, O blessed old man,
the sparks of fire, 340 Let us depart as we have come in this matter. Famine compelled us
and through necessity have we done this thing, Spare our lives which are come to an end
and are extinguished by the suffering of hunger". The holy man took a handful of his
blessings (alms),

34 And made the men participators in his provisions, and went on his way, 345 The blessed
man being by what he had done like unto The mercy of the God of the universe in respect of
our wickednesses. He distributed the silver and gold which he had brought to the mouths of
the starving, And he wisely fed the orphans and the needy. And while the glorious priest
was excelling in such things, 350 He was advancing in years, and becoming old and grey. He
drew near, and had already come to the end of his days And the end of his course began to
appear, and the conclusion of his life. Sickness came upon him, and the powers of his body
began to be enfeebled, And little by little his body melted away, and came to an end, and
perished. 355 His ship came to rest in the harbour of peace away from storms,

35 And his rich cargo went forth uninjured from among the waves. He forsook the dwelling
of mortality, reserved for corruption, And in the pure path of all the righteous he ended
his journey. His soul departed in the hands of the Watchers, borne with great honour, 360
And with the songs and hymns of praise of the spiritual beings, His pious soul entered
into Paradise, and rested. And the triumph of its labours and their rewards are preserved
in silence, Until the day in which our Lord shall be revealed in great glory, And it shall
return and put on glory in its temple. 365 The multitudes and all ranks [of people] bore
with honour his venerable body, With hymns and songs of praise of the Holy Spirit. They
laid him in the temple to the right of the holy altar, A mystery [is] that position which
is prepared for him in heaven above.

36 May our Lord guard our feebleness by his prayers, 370 And surround with the wall of Thy
care the sheep of Thy flocks. At his entreaty rain down Thy showers upon our fields, And
drive away from them granary worms, and locusts, and hail, and the scorching wind. May our
crop become [increased] an hundredfold, like that of Isaac, That the offering of the
humble as well as of the great man may come to Thy home. 375 Bless, O our Lord, the herds
of our cattle, and the flocks of our sheep, That orphans and the needy may be clothed from
them like those of Job. Prosper and bless the rich like Jacob; That the needy may feed at
their table [as at that of] Abraham. Enrich the poor with riches sufficient for sustaining
their lives, 380 That by reason of their abundance they may confess Thy goodness at all
times.

37 Support the old men with the strength of Thy power, and make them young men, That they
may teach early manhood chastity of life. choir, (text. p. 171, l. 6), so he will one day
stand at the right hand of the presence of God. Bless all young people, nourish the
children, and cherish the ailing, Satisfy the hungry, and feed the orphans that they may
praise Thee. 385 Fill the garment of the widow with Thy food, That she may not be left
without the means of sustaining her life. Magnify and honour the reverend priests who
minister in Thy holy things, And clothe with glory the deacons who bear Thy altar.
Preserve, O our Lord, this our monastery from the spoilers, 390 And establish every thing
belonging to it in Thy mercy and by Thy grace. Hide our lives from all our affliction in
the shadow of Thy wings,

38 And put away from us every sickness and every injury. Drive away from Thy servants the
evil oppression of those who hate us, And may Thy compassion abound towards us at every
moment to preserve our lives. 395 May faith spring up within us like a root, And true
righteousness like the fruit thereof. Sustain our feebleness at every moment to stand
before Thee, As it is meet for good servants who love their lord. May this church, in
which is placed the body of the righteous man Thy servant, 400 Pour out the truth of the
doctrine of life for ever. Protect our Father the Metropolitan, and increase by his hands
The flocks of Thy sheep and of Thy pasture like unto Paul. Bless the priests and the
Levites who are round about him, And according to Thy pleasure may they increase the
talents which they have taken from Thee.

39 405 [Bless] believing men and women also, and all ranks [of people] Who go in before
Thee to pray in this temple. Make them worthy, that in the church which is in Heaven
above, They may praise Thy name together with the hosts of the righteous who have been
made perfect. Also upon the hands and mouth which wrote down the triumph of Thy servant
410 Let Thy tribunal shew compassion, according to the wont of Thy graciousness. And him
that was, by his entreaty, the cause of our history, Protect in this world, and in the
next make worthy of the festal chamber of Thy light. Pardon the offences of all the
children of the Holy Church, And let those who are written down by Thee, live through
Thee, according to Thy will. 415 From the mouth of us all, may there be praise to Thee,
and to Thy Father glory, And to the Holy Spirit exaltation, for ever and ever, Amen.

40 By the help of our Lord [here] endeth the discourse which was composed and written by
the command of the wise and learned nobleman Mār Ḥasān, the son of Sabhr-Īshōʿ, the
teacher of truth, upon the holy and blessed Mār Māranʿammeh, the Metropolitan Bishop.
[Here] endeth the Third Book.

BOOK IV — CHAPTER 1. THE INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOK

1 Now as among the ancient people the priest, in that law which foreshadowed these things
which we now have, seasoned the offerings of the Lord with salt which could be perceived
by the senses, even as it is said, "Upon all thy offerings thou shalt sprinkle salt, and
thou shalt not neglect the salt of the covenant of the Lord thy God", so also let us come
and season these things which we have with the salt which can be perceived by the mind,
and let us join to our histories, in every place where it is necessary, the words of the
Holy Scriptures. And as the offerings of old received an additional sweetness from the
salt, so also will these our histories acquire an additional flavour through the salt of
the words from the writings of the Spirit. And first of all let the blessed Evagrius cast
his contribution with us into this discourse which we are about to write upon his fellow-
workers, and let us hearken unto his counsel and take heed unto his command, for he
speaketh unto us, saying, "Look into thine own self, lest for the sake of profit, or
transient glory, or that it may be well with thee, thou darest to speak about that which
is not seemly, and art cast forth from divine circles (assemblies), like that man who sold
young doves in the Temple".

2 It is necessary then, that above all things we should cleave to the truth, and that we
should carefully preserve the order of truth, so that we may not err from what is seemly,
but that we may write and may make manifest those things which stir up in the hearts of
the prudent glory to God, Who in the early, middle and latter [generations] shewed forth
and still sheweth forth His power, and Who honoured and held to be worthy of the same
reward of one dînâr those who had laboured in the vineyard of His commandments the whole
day, and those who had laboured for some hours, and those who had laboured for one hour
[only].

CHAPTER 2. OF THE BLESSED RABBAN ÎSHÔ-YAHBH, THE HEAD OF THE MONASTERY, WHENCE HE CAME, OF WHAT PARENTS HE WAS BORN, AND OF HOW HE WAS BROUGHT UP

1 In the three books which precede this, which is the fourth, the matter of our discourse
hath undertaken to relate the histories of holy men, some of which have been written down
by skilled writers, and some of which have not been put on record. Of those histories
which exist in writing we have written such things as [their writers] omitted, and which
we either found in the histories of others, or which were handed down to us by hearsay;
but those histories which do not exist in writing, and which are inscribed neither in
works specially devoted to them, nor in other places, I have learned from the very old men
who were to be found in this monastery, and according as Christ our Lord hath aided me I
have made them to possess consecutive order, and have laid them before thee [O 'Abd-
Îshô']. And behold now, by the help of our Lord and by thy prayers, I will proceed with my
rehearsing of them, and with my feeble ability will relate the histories of these holy men
who a short time ago served our Lord in this holy monastery, and all the things concerning
them which were luminously pointed out to me by the holy men who lived in their days, and
who became also their disciples. At the beginning of their histories we will place the
account of the triumphs of the holy Rabban Îshô'-yahbh. Now this Îshô'-yahbh of holy
memory was by race from this country of Margâ;

2 he sprang from an honourable and noble family, and was a kinsman of the Patriarch
Îshô'-yahbh the Great. The village in which he was born and brought up was Tellâ, a
village in the province of Birtâ, and he became a disciple in this monastery from his
youth at the hands of the Metropolitan Bishop Mār John, when he was head of the monastery.
And when the holy Mār Aḥā, the head of the monastery, was consecrated Metropolitan after
Mār John, this holy man was elected head of this monastery; and when the Bishop of
Nineveh, Mār Abraham, of blessed life, died, the people of Nineveh begged and entreated
that he might be their bishop, and the blessed Mār Aḥā ordained Mār Īshō-yahbh bishop, and
sent him to Nineveh; and he performed the episcopal office until he was crowned with old
age. And when the pious Hēnān-Īshō, this other Catholicus, died, and a synod was assembled
to appoint a Catholicus, the election to the patriarchate was ordered and prepared for the
blessed Mār Īshō-yahbh by all the Bishops and Metropolitans and heads of believers so that
he became the Patriarch.

CHAPTER 3. OF MÂR TIMOTHY, BISHOP OF BÊTH BÊGHÂSH, AND OF THE PROPHECY WHICH WAS MADE CONCERNING HIM BY ONE OF THE OLD MEN [IN THE MONASTERY]

1 Now there was in this monastery a certain solitary, who was an exceedingly old man, with
whose name I am unacquainted. Now Timothy had an uncle whose name was George, who was
Bishop of the country of Bêth Bêghâsh, and he sent the boy Timothy from him to Rabban Mâr
Abraham the Expositor, when he was in Bâshôsh, a village of Saphsâphâ, and the boy made
his passage [thither by way of] this monastery. And when that holy old man came to this
community, and saw the youth who was standing up, it was revealed to him that he was to be
exalted above all who were there by Christ our Lord, and he knew that he was to be a chief
in the Church of God. And when [the service in] the church was ended, he took him with him
to his cell, and made him sit down, and asked him, saying, "Whence comest thou, my son,
and whither goest thou? And the youth said to him, "I am a nephew of George, Bishop of
Bêth Bêghâsh, and he has sent me that I might go to school to Rabban Abraham, in the
village of Bâshôsh".

2 Now at that time, according to what is said, a gerîbhâ of wheat was sold for one zûzâ,
and [the old man] took out one zûzâ and gave him, and admonished him, saying, "Go now and
buy wheat, and eat, and work fully in the study of the Scriptures, and guard thyself from
all ignoble things, for thou shalt become Patriarch of all the country of the East. And
behold, our Lord will make thee triumphant so that like unto thee no one hath ever been,
and before and after thee no one shall ever be. Forty and two years shalt thou stand at
the head of all the pastures of Christ, and when by the hand of God thou hast been exalted
to these things, let thy heart be disposed to honour this holy house, in which it was
[made] known to thee that thou wert neither of no account nor despised before God; go now
in peace, and keep those things which I have commanded thee". And when the youth had been
sufficiently trained and had returned to his uncle,—now George was using every means he
could to adjudge his throne to his brother's son—[Divine] grace, I say, wrought that which
was beyond his intention, and he excused himself to Mâr Mâran-ammeh the Metropolitan on
the ground of his old age, and resigned the priesthood. And the young man Timothy was
appointed Bishop of the country of Bêth Bêghâsh.

CHAPTER 4. OF HOW TIMOTHY OBTAINED POSSESSION OF THE PATRIARCHATE BY FRAUD, LIKE JACOB WHO OBTAINED BY FRAUD THE BLESSINGS OF ISAAC HIS FATHER

1 There are times when matters concerning heaven and things above [this] world require
human means and help, and we may learn and prove from many instances that such means and
help are allowed by the Will of God, even though they progress by cunning. When God the
Lord of all made the blessed Isaac to bless his sons, He moved him with the desire for
food of the chase in the desert, to such a degree that when Esau was away, there should be
the opportunity for Jacob to carry away the blessing. And if it were not so would not that
great and rich man have said to his son, "My son, slay me a kid of the goats, that I may
eat, and that my soul may bless thee before I die"? but no, he sent him off upon the
troublesome labour of hunting after fleeing and inaccessible prey. Thus also was it when
Samuel was commanded by the Lord to anoint David, and he feared the sword of Saul, he was
commanded to take a heifer and to say, "I am come to sacrifice to the Lord". Thus also was
it when the blessed Paul received a revelation from God that not one of them should
perish, but only the ship, and he said beforehand to all those who were with him, "Eat
bread, and be not distressed, for our Lord hath revealed it to me that no soul of us shall
perish, but only the ship"; and [when] he knew that the sailors were making ready to flee,
he said to the Romans who were with him, "If these flee we shall all perish." And [there
are] many [other] instances which it is not necessary for us to collect.

2 And in this case also, since the Patriarchate was set apart for Timothy, truth acted
with subtlety and performed its work. And when Timothy saw the face of every man fixed
upon our Mār Īshō'-yahbh, he advised him secretly when they were alone together, and said
to him, "Thou art an old man, and thou art notable to stand up and meet the attacks of the
envious, Ephraim of Elam, Joseph the son of Mari, and other opponents; but do thou excuse
thyself, and become one of my supporters, and I will make thee Metropolitan of Adiabene";
and to speak briefly, Timothy was appointed Catholicus and Patriarch, and was proclaimed
among the heads of the fathers. And after a few days, because the holy Mār Māran-'ammeh,
Metropolitan of Arbela, was dead, he appointed and proclaimed Mār Īshō'-yahbh Bishop of
the church of Adiabene, and Metropolitan of all his countries.

CHAPTER 5. OF RÔSTÂM BISHOP OF HĚNÁITHÂ

Now when the Shahrighân of Kêphar 'Uzzêl, and the inhabitants of the province of Bêth
Ârô'ê saw that a Metropolitan Bishop who had not been elected by them had been appointed
over them, and that the Catholicus had considered them as if they did not exist, they
decreed with oaths, saying, "We will never be obedient to Íshó-yahbh who hath been set
over us without being elected by us". And they went down to Hédhattá to Mâr Solomon,
bishop of that place, and there happened to be there also Joseph the son of Marî, the
wicked Metropolitan of Merv, who had come thither because the holy Mâr Solomon, on account
of his old age, was not able to go down to the synod. And Joseph the son of Marî thought
that he (i. e., Solomon) would stir up a commotion against Timothy when he should speak to
Solomon, saying, "Behold, Ephraim of Elam wisheth also to gather together the Bishops and
Metropolitans who are not of the laying on of hands of Timothy, that he may cause Timothy
to be deposed"; and when to this wish that of the Shahrîghân was added Joseph found the
material for his wickedness. And he led astray the holy Mâr Solomon, as Şaibâ [Ziba] led
David astray, and as the lying prophet [deceived] the prophet of God who came from Judah
to Bethel. And they took Rôstâm, Bishop of Hênâithâ, and appointed him Metropolitan of
Arbela in the Mud Convent, which is on the Tigris, below the Hesnâ 'Ebhrâyâ in Nineveh,
and the Shahrîghân took him and seated him on the Metropolitan throne of Bêth Mâr Kardâgh.
And he seized the Bishop's throne and all his income, and the wretched man began to eat
and to make merry, not knowing that his stroke was at hand, and that there was none to
deliver him.

CHAPTER 6. OF THE GOING UP OF OUR HOLY MÂR ÎSHŌ'-YAHBH TO ADIABENE

1 And when Mâr Îshō'-yahbh had arrived at the village of Haighâlâ, and at Estreniyâ, and
had heard and learned also concerning the things which had taken place in the matter of
Rôstâm, he wrote to Mâr Timothy, saying, "This is thy love for thy friend! Thou hast
deceived me, and hast made a laughing-stock of me. Thou hast brought me out from the
throne of Nineveh upon which I sat, and I am deprived even of this throne which thou hast
been pleased to give me; take then this priesthood which thou hast given to me, and I will
go to my own monastery and will end my life [there]". And Mâr Timothy wrote to him, "Faint
not, neither be disturbed by these two tails of burning brands who have appointed a
Metropolitan without the [consent of] the Patriarch; go to Adiabene, and abide in every
village which will receive thee, and the village which desireth thee not, dispute not with
it; for the day of the destruction of the enemy is near, and that which shall happen to
them hasteneth, for the Lord judgeth His people, and consoleth His servants". And when the
blessed Mâr Îshô'-yahbh had read these things, he took courage and went up and came to his
country.

2 And when, according to the agreement which existed between them, neither the Shahrîghân
nor the Ârô'âyê went out to meet him, he went up to the Bânîkâyê, and these people, and
those of all their province, and all the people of the mountains of Adiabene, and the
people of Hefthôn received him with great joy, and with the honour of which his holiness
was worthy; and he passed over to Margâ, and he remained thus visiting these believing
people, and they rejoiced in him. And Rôstâm and the nobles of Kêphâr 'Uzzêl lived
luxuriously upon all manner of dainty foods when he first came from his throne to them,
and they enjoyed themselves with riotous living while they threatened and made ready to
drive away the blessed Mâr Îshô'-yahbh from the part of the country which he held; but
they did not know that they would be put to shame through what they were preparing and
making ready.

CHAPTER 7. OF THE SWIFT JUDGMENT WHICH OVERTOOK RÔSTÂM, AND OF HOW THOSE WHO HAD APPOINTED HIM WERE PUT TO SHAME AND DISGRACED

1 Now while the Spirit of God was longsuffering towards Rôstâm, he hardened his heart and
the wretched man never brought the matter into his mind or thought, "How can I continue in
the office of Metropolitan since I have neither been appointed by the Catholicus nor fully
installed, or how can I dare to remain in what I have"? But like Absalom, he wished to act
insolently towards the fatherhood of the Head of the East, and according to the seed which
Joseph the son of Marî had sown in his ears, he awaited with hope the disturbance [which
was made] concerning the Catholicus, even as Absalom waited eagerly for the counsel of
Ahithophel in [the matter of] the destruction of David. And while he was in the midst of
these deliberations the Lord roused Himself like a sleeping man, and smote His enemies
behind Him, and He chose Îshô'-yahbh His servant, and established him [to be] the faithful
steward over all His house.

2 And it came to pass one day when Rôstâm was riding upon a large, richly caparisoned mule
[which he had chosen] in his pride, that as he was coming to his house from his luxurious,
riotous and licentious orgies, he arrived near the habitation of Bèth Màr Ḳardàgh, and the
dogs of that place surrounded him until at last he [was obliged] to dismount, and as soon
as he put his feet upon the ground they leaped upon him in a body, and they worried him
and bit him, and brought him unto death, like that wicked woman Jezebel who persecuted the
prophets. And this was a marvellous and fearful thing to all those who heard it. And
Rōstām's boon companions were disgraced; and their faces put to shame; and their counsels
brought to nought; and their fellowship and the bond of love and their breathings of death
against the righteous man [Mār Īshō-yahbh] which they had murmured over their wine cups
when brimming over with mixed wine were dissolved. Then too the pious Mār Solomon wrote a
letter of excuses and resigned [his] episcopal office, and went and dwelt in the Monastery
of Rabban Aaron until the end of his life, and Joseph, the son of Mari forsook
Christianity and became a heathen. Thus was fulfilled upon them that which the pious Mār
Timothy spake, saying, "The day of their destruction is near at hand, and that which shall
happen to them hasteneth."

CHAPTER 8. OF THE REPENTANCE OF THE PEOPLE OF ADIABENE, AND OF THE MOST HUMBLE ENTREATY WHICH THEY OFFERED TO MĀR ĪSHŌ-YAHBH THAT HE WOULD OCCUPY HIS EPISCOPAL THRONE

1 Now if not every man is to be trusted to guard the treasures of an earthly kingdom, but
only those of whom the kingdom hath learned by experience for a long time that they are
fit to have its riches entrusted to their care, how much less in respect of the treasures
of the kingdom of heaven is not every man worthy to be an intermediary of their glory, but
only that man who is stamped with the signs of the members of the household, who hath
shown forth all the days of his life proofs of his strenuousness, who hath drunk like
water medicines which cannot be perceived by the mind, who hath driven away all [signs of]
growing old, who hath expelled from himself all crassness, who hath been in the hospital
and hath learned all things which are needful for healing, who hath been made perfect in
all the art of the healing of souls, and who hath become a friend of wise physicians. And
because also the Divine selection, observing beforehand the excellent qualities of many,
of its administration maketh intermediaries of those who possess such qualities, and
setteth apart physicians for the sickness of the world, in such wise that when they come
to act as intermediaries with mankind they shall not be found wanting, and shall not
suffer, together with the scattering of the collection of their good qualities, the ruin
and destruction of those who are under their hands.

2 Now this Rōstām, the evil liver, took refuge with men, and forgot the word of the divine
man David, "It is better to trust in the Lord than to trust in man", for "his spirit goeth
forth, and he returneth to his earth", etc. And when the Eye which governeth all things
saw beforehand all the defects which he had already gathered to himself, and all those
others which he was about to gather, He put him out of life in silence by a punishment of
the bites of dogs, and by the bitings of his own tongue with which he had bitten the
bodies of the holy Mâr Îshô'-yahbh and Mâr Timothy; here was he rewarded with the
destruction of all his body, and thus he left this life and went to Sheol. Now when the
Shahrîghân and the believers saw what had taken place, they came to the pious Mâr
Îshô'-yahbh their Metropolitan, and they offered him repentance, and asked him to rise up
and to come with them to his episcopal throne. And he said to them, "I shall remain here
until Mâr Catholicus sendeth me [his] command to go in, and then I shall go in." And Mâr
Timothy wrote to him an open letter, and thus they celebrated his entry with honour like
the day of Hosannas, and all the people of the country were subject to his fatherhood.


THE BOOK OF GOVERNORS (CHAPTERS 9.–24.)
=======================================

THE BOOK OF GOVERNORS continued

CHAPTER 9.

1 Of How The HOLY METROPOLITAN MÂR ÎSHÔ'-YAHBH WAS MOVED TO PULL DOWN THE MUD TEMPLE WHICH
THE HOLY MÂR ÎSHÔ'-YAHBH [THE CATHOLICUS] HAD BUILT, AND TO BUILD ANOTHER OF LIME, AND OF
HOW THE MONKS WHO LIVED IN HIS DAYS COUNSELLED HIM NOT TO DO SO BECAUSE OF THE DIFFICULTY
OF THE UNDERTAKING. 2 We may see by those things which have happened from old time, in
every kind of different way, through the administration of God which is beyond scrutiny,
that these things which are easy for the might of the wise Creator break out suddenly,
beyond all expectation and human thought, and they make the minds of the prudent to stand
up in wonder, and they stir up praise of the excellence of His dispensation on every
tongue and in every mind. And moreover, we must write down some of these our matters
concerning our own monastery that we may shew that it is easy for His power to do every
thing, and that when it appeareth fit to him, He maketh use of the riches and money of
strangers as if they were His own, even as He spake by the hand of Haggai the prophet,
"The gold is mine, and the silver is mine", and, "From between the teeth, and from the
depths of the sea He turneth back, and bringeth forth, and saveth", as He spake by the
hand of David. And He compelleth forcibly foreign nations who are remote from the
knowledge of Him and His worship, to be servants of those whom He pleaseth, and He maketh
them to carry their wealth and their glory and to place them in the hands of those who are
members of His household.

3 For when the coming forth of the people from Egypt by the hand of Moses was ordained and
predestined in His everlasting knowledge, and the gold and the silver which the
construction of the Tabernacle in the wilderness would require from them [was determined],
He commanded the children of Israel, by the hand of Moses, to borrow vessels of gold, and
vessels of silver, and fine raiment of all kinds from the Egyptians, and He gave the
Israelites favour in the eyes of the Egyptians, and they spoiled them. And again when king
Solomon was making ready to build a house to the Lord, he, so to speak, moved every thing
under heaven, and he made the Tyrians, and the Sidonians, and Saba, and Ophir, and
Havilah, and the remote islands to be participators with him in the building of the holy
temple in Jerusalem. So also in the case of the temple which was restored by Zerubbabel
after the return from the captivity, when the children of Judah were prevented [in their
work] by the envious nations that were round about them, and were in despair because they
thought that this return from the captivity was not that which the prophets proclaimed,
and also because of the insufficiency [of money] for the expenses of its mighty and
glorious buildings, the Lord encouraged them by the hand of the prophet and said, "Yet
once, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the dry land;

4 and I will shake all nations, and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord, the
mighty One, and I will shake the house of Magog". And they went up, being prepared, with
great riches, and the Lord destroyed them all, and the children of Judah inherited their
riches and built the house of the Lord, and had money to spare. 5 And [several] such-like
things which were in no wise of less magnitude than these did the Lord work in this place
for His chosen servant Mâr Îshô'-yahbh. For when he meditated pulling down that temple
which the blessed Mâr Îshô'-yahbh the Catholicus had built, and which had become old
through the lapse of time and years, and his friends were advising him not to do this,
saying, "Thou wilt never be able to finish thy building"; and the men who were envious of
him, and those who took no pleasure in such divine matters, but were turning them back
through human considerations, even as [saith] the great and blessed Pachomius, were
hindering him, saying, "We do not wish thee to pull down the temple which the holy fathers
have built. Thou wilt begin to build another, and wilt never finish it, or thou wilt leave
it half built, and wilt go away", yet Îshô'-yahbh prevailed over both sides by the
firmness of his hope in God, and he brought many workmen and hewers of stone, and he went
with them to the mountain of Dêbhar Hewtôn and he shewed them round about the river Zâbhâ
(Zâb) limestone which they were to quarry. And he made rafts and brought

6 to the north of Panopolis (Ahmîm) and built monasteries at Smine, or Tesmine (see
Champollion, L'Égypte sous les Pharaons, tom. I, p. 265), and at Phenoum, near the
mountains of Esneh. Thus in founding monasteries, in confirming the brethren, in healing
the sick, and in working miracles Pachomius passed his life; and died about A. D. 351,
aged sixty years. The above facts are drawn from the Coptic life of Pachomius published by
Amélineau, entitled Histoire de Saint Pakhôme et de ses Communautés, (in Annales du Musée
Guimet) Paris, 1889; and from Étude Historique sur Saint Pachome (in Bulletin de
l'Institut Égyptien de l'année 1886, Cairo 1887) by the same author. For the Latin and
Greek lives of Pachomius see Acta Sanctorum, May 14; for an Arabic life see B. O., iii. 1,
p. 286; for his Regulae Monasticae see Cave, Hist. Litt., ad ann. 340, vol. I, p. 208;
Palladius, Hist. Laus., cap. 38 (for the Ethiopic text see Dillmann, Chrestomathia
Aethiopica, pp. XII. No. 6, and pp. 57–69; and Wright, Catalogue of the Ethiopic MSS. in
the British Museum, p. 171; and for the Syriac text see Wright, Catalogue of Syriac MSS.,
p. 1312); and for an account of the estimation in which he was held see Tillemont,
Mémoires, tom. vii. p. 56.

7 the limestone for the buttress of the monastery, and it was brought from there to the
monastery by donkeys 8 kalak, pronounced vulgarly tcheletch) is a raft made of skins of
sheep blown out and tied in rows to poles. The poles are fastened together by other poles
and ropes and thus a square or oblong structure is made. Upon it are laid planks of wood,
and upon those is placed the merchandise to be carried. A small raft to carry four or five
passengers and a fair amount of baggage requires about one hundred and fifty skins, and
measures about 15×20 feet; but in the large wheat and alabaster carrying rafts several
hundreds are required; such rafts are from thirty to forty feet square, and will carry
from twenty-five to forty tons of wheat packed in sacks, each of which weighs about two
hundredweight. The kalak floats down the stream, and is guided by very long oars, at the
ends of which are tied pieces of reeds to form blades. The kalakje, or raftsman, every now
and then pours water upon the skins to prevent the escape of the air inside, but it is
often necessary to untie the neck of each skin, and to blow air into it with his mouth
through a reed, which he carries for this purpose. When a raft arrives at its destination
the poles are untied, and sold either for building purposes or firewood, and the skins are
untied, emptied of air, dried thoroughly, and having been tied in bundles, are packed upon
the backs of animals and sent up the river to be used again.

9 The speed of a raft depends upon the current and upon the exertions of the raftsman. I
made the journey by raft from Môṣul to Bagdad in February 1889 in a little over four days;
but in December 1890 the journey required nearly seven days, while the huge rafts about
forty feet square which I passed at the junction of the Lower Zâb with the Tigris did not
arrive for some days after I had landed at Bagdad. Rafts which carry alabaster slabs for
building purposes or for burning into lime are much smaller than wheat rafts, and the
skins are often totally submerged. For other descriptions of the raft see Buckingham,
Travels, vol. ii. p. 87; and Ker Porter, Travels, vol. ii. p. 259. 10 and mules; and he
burned the limestone and pounded it into lime, and he collected stones for building and
stands for either 𐍃 𐌉𐌉𐌉 "the tooth of a river bed," or 𐍃 𐌉𐌉𐌉 "the head of a river bed." It
seems that Thomas of Margâ means that he brought blocks of limestone to build a pier in
the peak of the mountain upon which the monastery stood, where two streams joined, to form
a firm foundation for the walls of the church. The rafts would bring the stone immediately
under the monastery, and mules and donkeys would bring it up the hill.

11 burned bricks. And having removed the altar to the library of the monastery, and the
bodies and the coffins (or sarcophagi) of the holy men from the martyrium, he began with
great labour to pull down the wide and massive old walls which his fathers had built, and
a heap of earth was thrown up, which filled the whole space round about the temple. And
when the holy Īshō-yahbh saw that, the temple having been pulled down, the size of the
[heap of] earth required three times more space than the building itself, and was crushed
with grief on account of this, for he had not taken [the matter of the mud] into
consideration in the estimate which he made in his plan for the whole [re]building, he
made use of an artifice which should benefit himself and others. On the day of the
congregation he said to the solitaries, "Ye know, O blessed men,—and also the tradition of
those who [were] before us hath come down to us from hand to hand, for the holy Mār Īshō-
yahbh was able and sufficient to do all things, especially since the rank in which he
stood and opportunity answered to [his call]—that the greater part of this earth came from
Hēdhattā while that of the other [buildings] came from Adiabene. Now there is no mud like
unto this, and it is better and harder than lime:

12 let therefore no one of you take away any of it, for when, by the hand of God, we have
built this temple, we will pull down all the dwellings of the community, and build them up
again with this earth". Now when the solitaries, some of whom were friends and some of
whom were adversaries, heard these things they wished to steal from that earth, and to
plaster their cells with it; and since Îshô'-yahbh wished to be relieved from the expense
and trouble of having the earth carried away himself he remained the whole of that Sabbath
in the patriarchal cell, and he proclaimed concerning himself, "I am suffering from
sickness". Now when [the monks] discovered this opportunity, with laughing and rejoicing
they stole away that earth, even sweeping the place where it had stood with a broom, and
carried it to their cells. And when Îshô'-yahbh heard concerning this thing he rejoiced
with an exceeding great joy, and when he came and saw that the place where the earth had
been was swept and sprinkled, with a chaste and holy smile he answered and said to them,
"Ye have not so much as left behind even a little of that earth; may the Lord pardon and
forgive us all!"

CHAPTER 10. OF HOW GOD, THE LORD OF ALL, MOVED MEN TO PUT FORTH THEIR HANDS TO OPPOSE THIS GREAT WORK

1 Now when the holy Mâr Îshô'-yahbh had begun to lay the foundations of this temple, the
materials [required] and the wages which had to be given to the labourers and the builders
became more and more day by day. And because, according to the report which I have
received by tradition, he had taken upon himself to build [the temple] in difficult times,
there rose up a certain governor and ruler of the dominion of Môṣul, a greedy and
avaricious man, who afflicted this monastery by the workings of envious devils, and who
mulcted this congregation of fifteen thousand silver [pieces]. And moreover the believing
men of Adiabene were smitten with envy against [Mâr Îshô'-yahbh], and said, "Why, while
the Metropolitan throne of Adiabene is going to ruin, dost thou build a temple in Bêth'
Âbhê"? All these things [happened] by the counsel of Satan. Also in this assembly when
[Mâr Îshô'-yahbh] was sitting at table on one of the feast days with the brethren, in the
common room, some of them, being incited thereto by certain mischief-makers, rebelled
against him, saying, "Thou hast pulled down our temple, and we no longer want thee to
build a temple for us; get thee out and depart from our monastery. We are under [the
authority of] the Patriarch, pass on to thine own dominion, and tarry no longer amongst
us". And when the humble and gentle man perceived secretly the working of Satan the Evil
One, he said to them, "May God forgive you.

2 It is not you [who] are speaking these things but that being who hath never tasted
peace, and who delighteth not in peace. I shall not depart, unless ye drag me out on my
feet, until I shall have built this holy temple". And he spake this also unto them, "When
I began to pull down the first temple, our Lord knoweth that I was master of one hundred
and fifty zūzē; but for all these expenses which ye see, for behold [only] one half of the
building has been completed, I do not know where our Lord hath made ready: but quiet
yourselves, and fret not with care and anxiety, for our Lord will build for Himself
without taking anything either from you or from your common funds.

CHAPTER 11. OF THE SATANIC VISION WHICH [ABBĀ] ĪSHŌ-DĀDH, ONE OF THE OLD MEN OF THIS CONGREGATION SAW, AND OF THE MONEY WHICH HE FOUND

1 Now the holy Mār Īshō-yahbh was in trouble and anxiety concerning the expenses, for the
first day of the week was near in which the builder would ask him for seven thousand zūzē,
being the wages of himself and of his workmen, according to the contract for the work
which he had taken upon himself [to do] for him. And the brethren saw him during the
after-supper service of the first day of the week with a gloomy face, and his colour was
green by reason of weariness, and care and anxiety, because the morrow after the first day
of the week was the time fixed for weighing to the builders seven thousand zûzê, although
as has already been said, he had not a single zûzâ in his possession. Now what did He Who
hath the power, and to Whom nothing is difficult, do? He uncovered before him hidden and
buried and hoarded up treasures, and placed them in his hand without labour and without
toil.

2 Now there was in the monastery Abbâ Îshô'-dâdh, an old man, the master of Mâr George the
Catholicus, and the master of Mâr Abraham the Catholicus our Father, and his cell was
[situated] on the top of the ridge [of the mountain] which is between two valleys, to the
right as thou goest up to the head of the spring, and opposite to the fortress which is
called the 'Little'. And when the service of the night was ended, he went up at the
conclusion of the psalms for the morning to his cell, and as he was going along the path
God's goodness moved him, and he looked to his right hand, towards the east, and he saw in
an uninhabited and ruined cell a fire burning in its little oven; and just as the blessed
Moses said, "I will go and see this great sight, why the bush burneth not", so also the
blessed man thought, "What can be the cause of this fire which now burneth in the ruined
cell? I will go there and see". And when he had come near, he saw Satan in the form of a
black old man eating bread which he baked on the oven, and because, according to what I
have learned about this whole matter from the holy Mār Abraham the Catholicus, he was a
mighty and a holy man, he adjured Satan by the word of our Lord to depart.

3 And straightway that oven was rent in twain, and an earthen jar full of zūzē was cast
forth at the feet of Abbā Īshō-dādh; and it broke immediately, and the zūzē poured out
with a chinking sound, and he bowed low to the ground before God lest peradventure it was
a phantasm. And when the zūzē had been felt by his hands, and he knew of a certainty that
it was money in very truth, he took the cross which was upon his neck, and buried it among
them; and the blessed old man girded up his feet, and ran swiftly from the one valley to
the other valley until he arrived at the cell of Rabban. And he knocked at the door, and
the monk who guarded the door answered him, and he said to him, "Go in and tell Mâr
Îshô'-yahbh that Îshô'-dâdh is at the door". And the Metropolitan answered and said, "What
can the old man want of us at this time [of night]"? And the old man having gone in, said,
"Rise up, for thy prayer hath been heard. I saw thy face of despair in the evening and
during the after-supper service, and I knew that thou wast in need, and I offered prayer
on thy behalf to Christ that He would not allow thy face to be put to the blush". And when
he had learned concerning that which had happened, Mâr Îshô'-yahbh answered and said,
"Perhaps it is a phantasm of devils".

4 And [Mâr Îshô'-dâdh] said to him, "Master, I went down on my knees before God, and I
also felt the zûzê, and I placed the cross which was upon me among them; rise up and let
us go [to the ruined cell] before it dawns [when] we should be seen". 5 which were
scattered about in the neighbouring mountains, although they belonged to the congregation
of the monastery. The anchorites or solitaries, who lived in these cells, were accustomed
to go to the church of the monastery on certain occasions and on Sundays to partake of the
Eucharist. The were the monks who lived in cells, which were separate from each other, but
which were grouped round about the church, the whole cluster of buildings comprising the
or residence in common. The with its outlying cells, was a later development of monastic
dwelling; compare what is said of Job the Monk (he flourished about A. D. 550), "and he
founded coenobia and cells, which formerly were like unto places where monks dwelt in
common." See B. O., iii. i. p. 431, col. 1, at the foot; Hoffmann, Auszüge, Notes 1330,
1332, pp. 171, 172; Du Cange, Glossarium, col. 677.

6 And they took the monk, and the three of them ran and took the zûzê, and Rabban came
back to his cell. And the old man said to the Metropolitan, "By the living grave of Rabban
how many thousand zûzê hast thou?" And he said to him, "Seven"; and when they had weighed
the money, the weight came out exactly seven thousand [zûzê]. Thus are the saints who are
consumed with the love of God, and who desire to please Him in every kind of manner,
perfected by His munificent gift.

CHAPTER 12. OF ANOTHER TREASURE WHICH CHRIST OUR LORD GAVE TO HIM

1 Now when the builder had received this specified sum [of money], seven thousand zûzê,
the holy man, [trusting] in [his] heavenly Hope (on Whom those who trust are never put to
shame), made an agreement with him as to the price to be paid for another specified piece
of work, viz., thirteen thousand [zûzê]. And the days and months having passed during the
interval [of the course of the work], behold the temple had already come to the upper
rafter corbels, and the first day of the appointed week, on the fourth day of which the
builder was to come to ask for thirteen thousand zûzê, arrived. And the [bones of] the
back of the pious Mâr Îshô'-yahbh were broken by reason of his fear, and he brought to the
God of the universe a cry that He would not be unmindful of His temple, and that he
himself might not become an object of derision like that foolish builder who began to
build and was not able to finish. And when the first day of the week had passed by, the
builder began to say to the Metropolitan, "Make ready the zûzê, and do not forget"; now by
reason of this [speech] also, the trouble of the Metropolitan was increased, because the
builder, who was a heretic, wished to make him a laughing-stock. And [the Metropolitan]
answered and said, "Be not avaricious, behold, the zûzê are weighed out, and are set aside
for thee;

2 but although he uttered courageous words with his mouth, he bore grief and sorrow in his
heart. Now there was a very old man [who lived] opposite the monastery from Gâr Kâhnê, and
he also was moved by grace to give what he had by him for the building of the temple. And
on the morning of the third day of the week he rose up, leaning upon his staff,—now he was
a man who was [only] able to come to the temple to receive the Holy Mysteries once a
week—and with the morning he knocked at the door of the 3 p. 218, col. 1. Hoffmann thinks
that m, = geisa, the projecting part of the roof, the eaves, parapet, coping. 4
Patriarchal cell; and the keeper of the door answered him, and made known [to the
Metropolitan] concerning him. And the Metropolitan being moved at the report of his coming
went out to meet him, and answered and said to him, "Rabban, why hast thou taken all this
great trouble to come to me? If thou hadst any reason thou shouldst have sent to me that I
might come to thee". The old man said, "However great may be the love and ready
disposition which we have to bestow upon each other, the treasury of the Giver is rich
enough to recompense us all for our love; but I entreat thee this day to take the trouble
to go down to [my] cell which thou seest". The Metropolitan saith to him, "During all this
long time which I have been with thee thou hast never asked me to go down to thy cell,
until this day in which destruction taketh away my life"; [the old man] saith to him,
"Rise up, and be not distressed, for the deliverance of thy Lord is at hand". And when the
Metropolitan heard this, [it was] as if peace came upon his soul; now he was accustomed to
receive such-like [consolation] from [the conversation] of Abba Īshō-dādh. And he rose up
and went down with the old man, [who] said to him, "Take this monk with thee, for we shall
have need of him"; and he went down [with them] according to his word.

5 And when the breaking of bread drew nigh and he was urging him to take some refreshment,
it was not easy for him to make the Metropolitan take any. And the old man answered and
said to him, "For how much money wilt thou sell me the keeping of thy fast this day? Know
also that we monks are under thy control, and that we know the time for keeping [the
fast], and the time and season for the loosing of love". And when they had eaten and drunk
the old man said to him, "Mâr Metropolitan, I saw thee in the spirit standing in a dark
house, and thou wast calling us all to thy help, and I knew that thou wast in sore need of
money for the expenses of the building of the temple. And I swear by the prayer of Rabban
that I possessed neither gold nor silver, for by the labour of my hands have I ministered
unto my life day by day as thou knowest. But I have a small sum of money deposited with
me, and if thou wilt promise to pay it back I will give it to thee". The Metropolitan said
to him, "How much is that which is deposited with thee, father"? and he said to him, "I
swear by [our] love, that I know not. Two old women who were going to Jerusalem from my
own country of Bêth Bêghâsh came to me some twenty years ago, and placed in my hands this
napkin;

6 but how much is that something which they placed [in my hands] I know not, only I know
that it is much. And they went and never came back. And they commanded me, saying, 'If we
return, this something be-longeth to us, but if we are smitten by death on the journey,
then give it to this monastery'. Take then this something, and if they return,—but they
will never return—thou must pay it back; and if on the other hand they do not return,
there will be none to ask it from thee, and thou wilt not need to pay it back'. And when
the Metropolitan heard [these things] he received it all with joy, and he weighed the
money, which amounted to thirteen thousand zūzē, and gave it to the builders in all
gladness. Now I have heard these things from many, and as I have learned [them] so have I
set [them] down in the writing of the history of the holy Mār Īshō-yahbh.

CHAPTER 13. OF THE MIRACLE WHICH CHRIST WROUGHT BY THE HANDS OF THE HOLY MĀR ĪSHŌ-YAHBH

1 Now when the blessed man Īshō-yahbh was building this holy temple, every man was
extending help to him by his labour, and by gifts from what he possessed, the rich man
according to his large means, and the poor man according to his small means. And there was
a certain gardener in the village of Hadhūdh, and this man, as I have learned concerning
him, was deaf, and this [affliction] had happened to him from the days of his youth; and
having expended much money upon physicians that he might be cured, he was disappointed in
this expectation. Now this man also, together with the other people who were contributing
from their wares, brought to the monastery a load of onions. And when they received his
gift there was here a monk who was acquainted with him, and he took him and carried him to
the Patriarchal cell, to the Metropolitan, that he might be blessed by him; and he made
known to the holy man concerning the gift which he had brought, and that he could not hear
at all. And the Metropolitan was very sorry for him, and he made for him a washing from
the cross of Rabban, and dismissed him, saying, "We trust in our Lord that He will give
thee [the power of] hearing".

2 And when he had mounted his ass and had gone forth, he arrived at the ascent where the
young asses run about, and he heard the noise of the wild goats which fled frightened, and
again he marvelled and was astonished, for he heard also the sound of the footsteps of the
ass. And when he had drawn nigh to the village, and he, being filled with wonder and
amazement, heard the crowing of the cocks and the barking of the dogs, because of his joy
he could not believe that which had happened to him. But when he went into the door of his
courtyard, one of his children saw him, and he heard the child say to his mother, "Father
hath come; and he made known to his wife all these things; thus was he healed by the
prayers of that holy man, and he was whole until his death. Now this [story] I heard from
the old and venerable Rabban Elisha; may his memory be blessed! It is well known that
wonders and miracles were wrought also by all the holy men whose histories I have written,
but time in its course hath covered them up because they were not written down at the time
by those who were acquainted with them.

CHAPTER 14. OF THE COMPLETION OF THE TEMPLE, AND OF THE DEATH OF MÂR ÎSHÔ'-YAHBH

Now when the temple was entirely built except the roof, he left off for that year, and
waited so that the building might settle down, and in the following year he finished both
it and the martyrium, and consecrated it. And he removed [the bodies of] Rabban Jacob, and
Mâr Catholicus and the fathers who were with them, and laid them in the martyrium. And he
had made up his mind, if life had been granted to him, to [re]build the monastery
generally and the porter's lodge with stones and lime. But after the fast of our Lord, on
the Friday which cometh after the Sunday of renewal, the hymn for which [begins], "In the
Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ", he put off the garment of the body and the weight of its
afflictions, and he departed to the land of light and gladness; and he was laid with the
fathers his companions in the dwelling of the Metropolitan of Adiabene, that is to say, in
Bèth Mâr Kardagh. May his prayers be a strong wall [to protect] this monastery against all
injuries, Amen!

CHAPTER 15. THE HISTORY OF THE HOLY MÂR CYRIACUS, THE HEAD OF THE MONASTERY OF BÊTH 'ÂBHÊ AND BISHOP OF THE CITY OF BÂLÂDH

1 The composition of man testifieth that the constitution of [his] mortal nature hath
received from Him Who alone is, two opposing parts, between which there is [always]
contention, because each endeavoureth always to attract its fellow to itself, and
according to its twofold character He hath prepared two habitations for it. This
[dwelling], viz., that in which we now are, He hath set for the training and exercise of
our rational nature, so that by severe strivings we may gain possession of some of the
treasure of contest, and become rich in those things which befit our rational nature, and
the honour with which we are honoured; but that [dwelling] for which we look, hath He
prepared for [our] delight and for [our] happiness which shall be beyond all change, that
we may live a life, without the least [inclination] to turn aside from it, in a dwelling
which is meet to endure for ever. And He hath given [us] power and might to possess both
these [dwellings] unless our own personal matters should hinder our freewill choice, and
therefore the choice of good things and of the inheritance of the happiness which is
expected [to come] belongeth to us.

2 Now the blessed Rabban Mâr Cyriacus, the glorious things concerning whom we have now
come to relate, having understood this, laboured abundantly, in this world full of strife,
and abounding in contests, and through this behaviour he followed after, and acquired, and
traded in all those things which are convenient for and befit that rest which, according
to the word of the divine Paul, is preserved for us in heaven, whence we expect our
Vivifier, our Lord Jesus Christ, Who shall change the body of our humility, that it may
become like unto His glorious body.

CHAPTER 16. OF THE ORIGIN OF THE BLESSED MÂR CYRIACUS, AND OF HIS COMING TO THIS MONASTERY [OF BÊTH ʿÂBHÊ]

1 This blessed man Cyriacus was descended from a family of Gebhiltâ, an orthodox city in
the country of Târihân, and he was the son of wealthy people who were diligent worshippers
in the fear of God. Through the care of his parents he was trained in doctrine in the
church of their native city, before the famous and much enlightened teacher Rabban Gûryâ,
a disciple of the master of masters, Rabban Bâbhai, the teacher and founder of schools.
And wishing to lead the life of an ascetic, and to inscribe himself for spiritual labour
among the hosts of those who do battle against the body and the lusts thereof, he heard
concerning this holy monastery from his teacher Rabban Gûryâ, who had heard and learned
from Rabban Bâbhai concerning its famous and holy men, and how their course of life shone
with splendour, for Rabban Bâbhai drew every man to the sight of the glorious light of
their excellent virtues. And Mâr Cyriacus went forth, and made straight the path of his
journey, and arrived at this monastery when Rabban Mâr Ahâ, the glorious acts of whose
life we have written a little way back, was its head. And when he had finished his period
of serving in the monastery, the holy Mâr Ahâ permitted him to go forth to a [separate]
cell, and he was endowed with prayers and blessings, and he dwelt in silence. Now if I
came to write down all that I have heard concerning him, and concerning the chastity and
abstinence of his life, and his labours, and his toils difficult to bear and to carry out,
it would be great and heavy work both for me to write, and for thee to read, [O 'Abhd-
Îshô']; but I will pass over them briefly, giving examples of them as it were in short
hand, and I will make selections from them referring to different matters, and will lay
them [before thee] to please thee.

2 Now the old man Henân-Îshô, the head of the congregation, whom I met in this place, and
who was his neighbour, related to me that from the day in which he went forth to his cell,
until the end of his life, wine never entered therein, and that he only took it at table
with the brethren when he felt that it was necessary for him to hide his manner of life.
And he made his cell a judgment hall for himself, and he set Christ as Judge over the
throne of his understanding, and of all the thoughts which rose up in him he extinguished
the evil and watered the pure; and he was making them appear before the Judge at all
seasons. And when, according to what I have heard concerning him, he had passed through
[his] period of novitiate, and had [served in the monastery] a few years, as is commanded
by the fathers, "A novice shall not serve overmuch in the service of the monastery, that
he be not injured by devils," he found excellent means for extinguishing the emotions and
impulses of the body. He made two thick, leather straps;

3 one of them [was] for binding round his two knees, and when he was sitting down and
reading, or eating, or sleeping, he used to put his bent knees inside it, so that [his
legs] might neither be stretched out, nor the sinews of the body be extended, and the
spirit be filled, and the passion of the body stirred up, according to what the holy man
Basil wrote to the blessed man Gregory his brother, saying, "When thou sleepest stretch
not out thy legs, and behold thou wilt be at peace from this passion; and the other strap
[was] for binding round one knee when he was standing in the vigil of prayer. And he used
to bend one knee like a camel, and bind it round with the smaller strap, and with the sole
of the foot bent, and holding a rod, [he stood] in that painful [position] on one leg like
a crane, that is a kělákesá, until he was worn out by exhaustion and fell down; then he
rose up and changed the [leather] ligature to the other leg until he was wearied, and thus
he kept his vigil until dawn. And the old man Henán-Íshó told me, saying, "Inasmuch as the
situation of my own cell was higher than that of Mâr Cyriacus I could see him becoming
worn out and exhausted by his vigil. And he used to remain [in this position] for a long
space of time, and by reason of his fatigue he was insensible of his fervour.

4 Now for his food he took every evening a dry crust of bread, which he dipped in water
and salt and lived upon; and this was the manner of his life during the whole time of his
early manhood, and as long as strength was preserved in his body. This was the pure heart
in which, according to what the holy man saith, God dwelleth, and it was meet that God
should hear his prayer; this was the sincere mind in which the Trinity abideth. "Be thou
mindful of God and thy mind shall become a heaven," saith the holy Nilôs. Hail to the new
discoveries by which the holy men have become wise! Each one of them hath found out some
new thing by which he was able to subdue the body which giveth birth to passions and
afflictions, viz., fasting, prayer, bowings to the ground, vigils, standing on one foot,
together with all the severe war against the thoughts of the mind, anxious care and
weeping for their souls, meditation upon the hour of death, meditation upon the hour of
judgment, and meditation upon the hour of Gehenna; three [subjects for] anxious thought,
and three [subjects for] meditation, spiritual and mental, for which monks in very truth
should have a care, for by them is a monk preserved and exalted, and by them he mounteth
to the grade of perfection. Now in this world perfection is given as a pledge, not by
insensibility to passions, God forbid, but by not being subject unto them.

5 Now when the mind of this our holy father had been trained and exercised in these things
for a long time, the covering of the passions was lifted off from his mind, and his mind
shone, and his understanding became bright, and he became wise to guard the treasures of
his success by the watchfulness of his soul. "For a man to labour in the virtues," saith
one of the Saints, "is an easy thing [to do], but to preserve them from spoliation
belongeth to the perfect." Wherefore also when God the Lord of all saw that [Mâr Cyriacus]
with all his heart and with all his soul had committed himself to keep His commandments,
and to fulfil His will, he honoured and glorified him by the miracles which he wrought,
and by the revelations which he received, and by the other mighty things which took place
by his hands; now this [honour] was not given to [any] other person in his time, and
little by little, by the might of his prayer, I shall demonstrate this fact.

CHAPTER 17. OF THE CALL OF OUR FATHER RABBAN CYRIACUS TO THE HEADSHIP OF THE MONASTERY

1 Now since for the sake of the truth the holy Mâr Cyriacus chose labours such as these,
and afflictions which humble the body, and bore, according to the word of Mark the Monk,
the suffering of the bending of the legs and back, that he might follow after his Master
along the Apostolic road, being bound with chains and carrying [his] cross;—that is to
say, having driven out from himself all passions, and having endured the afflictions which
[arose] from this patience in the knowledge of the truth, in the hope of the good things
which [were to come] afterwards,—he made his mind like a swift eagle, which mounteth up
with gladness in the upper heights, and he bowed the eyes of his body beneath the yoke of
the burden of Christ, that they might not stray to lying sights. 2 Now when there was a
seeking for a head to stand up in this congregation, the choice and agreement of the whole
brotherhood [fell] upon him to hold the office of head over them, and with much labour
they established him, and entrusted to him the direction of the manner of their lives. And
he established overseers to superintend non-spiritual matters, and he himself sat in the
Abbot's cell according to the custom of asceticism, there being brought to him every
evening, according to tradition, a piece of bread and an onion from the common [table].
And it came to pass that when want afflicted and distressed the monastery, and [the monks]
did not know where they were to find means of subsistence, because in that year the
locusts had devoured all the seed crops, and they were obliged to sow summer grass, he
went into the town [hoping] to borrow money at interest from the merchants, and this he
succeeded in doing; and while all the monks were wondering anxiously about this matter,
and where they would be able to find money to pay it back, God performed an act by means
of the holy man, the son of His house.

CHAPTER 18. OF THE FIRST MIRACLE WHICH CHRIST WROUGHT BY HIS HANDS AND OF THE REST OF HIS MIRACLES

1 Now there was in the city of Môsul a certain Arab whose belief was akin to ours, and his
offerings and gifts to the congregations of the monks were well known. Now this man had an
only beloved son, besides whom he had no other [child], and this son fell into a mortal
sickness, from which the physicians despaired of [all] hope of recovery for him. And when
his father had promised to give everything which he possessed to save his son's life,—now
he was very rich, but he accounted all his riches of no value, since the heir was doomed
to inherit the grave—that power which worked upon the disciples who were in Joppa to send
to Simon Peter on behalf of the life of Tabitha, and also the angel [that told] Cornelius
to send to Simon Peter that the light of the doctrine of Christ might come to him,
appeared to that Ishmaelite in a vision, and said to him, "There is a monk, in the
Monastery of Bêth 'Abhê, send and bring him, and he shall heal thy son; and when he heard
this he went for help to Mâr Mâran-zêkhâ, Bishop of Nineveh, and entreated him to send and
bring the monk to him. And when he asked him, "What is the name of the monk who appeared
to thee? he told him, saying, "His name is not known to me.

2 And the pious Mâr Mâran-zêkhâ, holy in all things, wrote a letter to the holy Mâr
Cyriacus that he would send "a means of grace" to that man, and he wrote also how he had
appeared to him in a vision; and the blessed Cyriacus sent a washing from the cross of
Rabban by the hands of two brethren, and he gave himself to prayer on behalf [of the
Arab's son]. Now when those two brethren had departed and had given the "means of grace"
and God's mercy which they had with them to the man, and he had made his son drink it, the
boy straightway stood up, and asked for food; and his parents marvelled, and they praised
and glorified God. And this [matter] was proclaimed in all the city, and the holy man
Cyriacus became famous and well known.

CHAPTER 19.

1 Of how that man came to this monastery, and of how he rewarded it with a noble
recompense, as was meet, [and of the rest of the miracles of the holy mâr cyriacus]. 2 Now
just as by reason of the glorious crown of sublime things with which the nation of the
Jews was crowned after their going up from Babylon, it is written in the prophet
Zechariah, "The nations which dwell in many towns shall come, and the inhabitants of one
[city] shall go to another, and shall say, 'Come, let us go and pray before the Lord;' and
many peoples and mighty nations shall come to entreat the Lord, the mighty One, in
Jerusalem. And ten men, from all the tongues of the nations, shall take hold of the skirt
of a man who is a Jew, and shall say to him 'Let us go with thee to Jerusalem, for we have
heard that the Lord is with thee'," even thus was it wrought in this case. For when that
man saw that he had gotten back his son safe and sound from the mouth of the grave, and
from the maw of hell by means of God's "mercy" which had been sent to him, he decided
rightly, saying, "I will go and reward with [gifts of] love and kindness him who hath done
this act of grace for me, and who hath delivered and given to me out of the teeth of death
the only branch which I possess, and the staff of my old age, because of this thing; and
he took his son and a number of his servants, and others joining themselves to them they
became a great company, and he came to this monastery.

3 Now when the brethren took the old man to Rabban in the Abbot's cell, as soon as he had
gone in and seen him, he answered and said in the Arabic tongue, "This is the old man whom
I saw proclaiming to me 'peace', and saying, 'Send to Bèth Abhè, and bring from there a
monk and he shall heal thy son'; and wonder took hold upon every man. And he took out ten
thousand zûzê, and gave to Rabban, but Rabban thought wisely, If I take all this money the
gift will become a loss. And he answered and said to him, "Blessed art thou before God, O
old man, and blessed shalt thou be; but we do not require this [money], for it is not good
that the healing which our Lord hath given us should be [sold] for money. And the old man
with entreaties and tears spake, saying, "If thou dost not take them, I will throw them
away, for one nail of my son which through thy prayers hath been restored to me, is better
to me than all the money and riches which I possess. Rabban said to him, "Since it must be
thus, give the money to such and such a merchant who hath [a debt] against us, and thy act
of grace will be acceptable unto God the Lord of all, and to us. The Arab saith to him,
"How much hath he against you? and he said, "Eight thousand [zûzê]";

4 and he left here two thousand [zûzê], and [with] the remainder he went and paid the
debt, anxiety concerning the payment of which troubled the monks greatly; and thus were
those men dismissed, and they went away rejoicing. 5 The very old man Rabban Îshô'-yahbh,
[surnamed] the Long, who had received the tonsure at the hands of Rabban Cyriacus related
to me the following:—"One day at the time of the after-supper service on the first day of
the week I was selected by the potter to go to the spring, and to bring water to the tank
of the monastery. And there was a certain old man who was called Bakhôs (Bacchus) bar-
Kusṭōi, and he had near his cell a large olive tree from which he pressed out thirty
measures of oil every year, and the tree was therefore precious to him, and he took care
of it, and never missed watering it. Now this man was spying upon me, and watching my
footsteps; and when I had gone some distance from his cell, he went out secretly, and
opened the channel and drew off water and brought it into his cell to water the olive
tree. And when I had come and had made the water to flow in the channel towards the
monastery, and was going away to follow along with the water, through [my] fear of the
others, [this old man] went out, being moved so to do by his greediness, and made an
opening in the channel to let in the water to his cell. And when I saw this piece of
folly, the fear lest the potter should beat me being vividly depicted before my eyes, it
was exceedingly grievous unto me.

6 And behold the blessed Cyriacus was in the place of the after-supper service, and he
heard my voice complaining, and he asked me, 'What aileth thee, my son?' And I said to
him, 'The monks will not allow the water to come to the monastery.' Now Rabban Cyriacus
was, as every one hath told me, of a hot-tempered disposition, and was [easily] made
furious with anger, and when he was moved to wrath he was not to be controlled. And he
straightway came down in haste from the place of the after-supper service, and went along
by the side of the water, and found that it ran into the place where Bacchus was. And he
cried out, saying, 'Bacchus, Bacchus;' now Bacchus was silent, and was dried up through
his terror. And Cyriacus answered and said, 'Because I see that this olive tree hindereth
thee from pleasing God, even as that fig tree which was in the monastery of the blessed
Pachomius became a stumbling-block to the simple youths [there], and because, moreover,
while every one [else] is occupied in the after-supper service, thou art corrupting the
Calumniator by [thy] solicitude for thy olive tree, the life which maketh thy olive tree
to grow shall be taken from it, and the earth in which are its roots shall become salt and
dried up, and God shall make it wither during this night, and thou shalt have no
gratification from it except wood for burning and [for making] a roof;

7 and so, with the morning of the [next] day, he found that olive tree dried up from its
roots, and black as pitch." 8 And again, a very old man whose name was Tûmânâ related to
me that there was a certain monk employed in the monastery whose name was Khusrau, and
that it was customary every week for a monk employed in the monastery to be set apart for
the purpose of waiting upon that holy old man in Rabban's cell. Now it happened that one
week this Khusrau was set apart [for this duty]. And when he had stood at the door two or
three days, and he could not endure [the service], he came to the monastery to his
companions without the knowledge of the old man. And when the evening was come, and the
blessed old man was waiting for him to bring him [his] food, Khusrau neglected him and
treated him with contempt. And behold, the old man holding his staff came himself to the
monastery—now Khusrau by reason of his fear had laid himself down upon a bed, and feigned
himself to be sick—and Rabban called him, "Khusrau, Khusrau," and he answered him saying,
"Master, a fever hath seized me," And Rabban replied, saying, "I trust in our Lord that if
the fever hath seized thee in very truth, He will visit thee and heal thee by the prayers
of Rabban Jacob; but if thou hast spoken contrary [to the truth], may a mighty fever come
upon thee;" and he left him and departed. And the old man who told me this thing
asseverated with oaths that Khusrau began at once to cry out and to shriek and to beat
upon his head with his hands like a man who was [actually] afflicted, and his life was
near to be destroyed if we had not run and besought forgiveness for him from the holy man,
who sent him a "mercy", and straightway he was relieved.

9 And after this there was set apart for his service Jacob bar-Bâbhânôsh, who was surnamed
"the sacristan's son," with whom I was also contemporary for many years, and [Rabban] knew
beforehand that he would not be an upright man, and every time that he saw him he was
pointing him out with his finger to those round about him, and saying, "This Jacob bar-
Bâbhânôsh hath broken the yoke and cut the ropes which tied it upon his neck," and thus
also did we know him. I have also heard concerning him from the aged men, that he neither
drew near to the laborious life of asceticism, nor embraced it. And in the time of his old
age when the "sacristan's son" was forced to celebrate the sacrament standing by the
priest in the capacity of a deacon—now he used to sit [basking] in the portico of the nave
of the church the whole day—and when he went in to celebrate, and the wafers were laid in
the paten upon the altar, he used to steal some of them and place [them] in his bosom; and
thus he did many times until at last we perceived him. And from every cell into which he
entered—for every man used to invite [him] in to rest himself, taking pity on his old
age—if its master went away a short distance from before him he took something, and placed
it in his bosom; and in this manner of life he died.

10 Rabban Íshó'-yahbh, who was surnamed the 'Long', also related to me that there lived in
this monastery a certain solitary named Rabban Sergius, an old man and the head of the
ministration, with whom also I was contemporary. And it came to pass one day that this old
man met Rabban Cyriacus as he was going into the colonnade from the temple, and as he
himself was going into the temple from the colonnade, and that they met one another in the
place of the watchers. And although Sergius was a holy man, yet through the working of
Satan he said to Rabban Cyriacus, "I would rather that Satan had met me than thou." Rabban
said to him, "Now I hope in our Lord that Satan will stand "portico" or prostoon (for a
description of such a portico see Badger, Nestorians, vol. 1, p. 94). It is not probable
that =.

11 enter into thee, and that thou wilt never be rid of him until the grave." And Rabban
Īshō'-yahbh swore to me that straightway Satan smote him in the place of the watchers, and
tore off his skin from him by jerking him along upon the walls, until the monks went in to
him by reason of the noise of his cries. And it was thus until the end of his life, and
even when he stood up in the service in the temple leaning upon his staff, fifty years
after Rabban had cursed him, he was afflicted as he stood, and he foamed, and his spittle
came out [of his mouth] and ran down upon his beard; and although he was an upright man
until his death, according to the word of the holy man concerning him, he found no rest.
And a certain evil and ill-natured Arab who was passing from the mountains to the city
came to this monastery with a large company of followers, and he had with him a hunting
dog which he had brought with him as a gift for one of the chiefs who were his superiors;
and having tied him up in the

13 outer martyrium by some chance or other the dog died. And when it was morning, and [the
Arab] saw that his dog was dead, he was greatly grieved, and he began to abuse and to
threaten the monks, and also to demand from them the price of the dog, saying, "Ye have
killed him." And when the monks had gone in for necessary purposes, and the Arab was still
threatening them, and his striving was becoming more violent, they went to the cell of
Rabban, and informed him of the matter. And he took the abbot's staff and came, and when
he went in and saw the Arab he said to him, "Why art thou thus enraged, and why dost thou
threaten us?" And the Arab said, "Because ye have killed the dog which I brought [with me]
with such great trouble." Rabban said to him, "Now if thy dog be not dead thou wilt ask
nothing from us?" And the Arab said, "God forbid that I should importune you in anything."
And the blessed old man asked for the dog, and they shewed him to him lying outside; and
he said to the Arab, "Thy dog is not dead; rise up, and do thou and thy companions mount
your animals, and I will wake up thy dog and he shall go with thee." And when the Arab had
mounted Rabban went and pricked the dog with the top of his staff, saying, "Rise up, dead
dog, and die outside of our territory;" and straightway the dog stood up. And all those
Arabs saw and marvelled, and they threw a bark-rope over him, and took him away and when
he came to the Edhrê dhê Bâlâs the dog died. Thus those men went away having harmed [us]
in nothing.

14 One year when the wheat [which was] the property of the monastery was being brought
from Bêth Zîwâ, and by reason of the heat [of the day] the overseers were urging the
labourers to get up to work in the morning while it was yet dark, they complained, saying,
"There is a lion in the reedy swamp, and we are afraid to go forth by night because of
him." And when the blessed man learned [this], he took his staff and went on foot before
them, and behold they came to the head of the reedy swamp, and the lion himself was there.
And the holy man answered and said to him, "In the name of our Lord Jesus, to Whom all
things are subject, mayest thou never be found here [again]; if I see thee here another
day I will smote thee with hard blows." And he answered and said to the labourers, "From
henceforth fear not, and walk hither by day and by night freely;" and it came to pass
according to the word of the holy man, and during all that time that lion was never seen
there. Now these things were related to me by the old man Hênân-Îshô who was surnamed the
"Red".

15 This man also related to me that there was a certain widow from the village of Tîdôr,
and that [one day] she was collecting the scattered ears after the reapers with her young
son; now this lad was her only son. 16 And it came to pass that the boy fell down suddenly
in the field by reason of an evil spirit which had seized him in his heart, and he died,
and [his sad case] moved every one to weep for him. And the monks who were reaping
counselled her, saying, "If thou wilt take him to the monastery, to the head of the
monastery, he will make thy son to live again. And she lifted up her son upon an ass
before her, and she went along quickly and laid him at the door of the abbot's cell, in
which the blessed man was at that moment, and she began to weep dolefully, and to call him
by his name, and to adjure [him], saying, "O Father Cyriacus, have mercy upon [me] a
wretched woman, have mercy on the stranger, for the root from which life was extended for
me has been cut off from me like a dried up tree. O spare the woman who looketh [for help]
to the hope of thy prayer, and turn not away thy face from me, that He also may not turn
His face away from thy petition in the hour when thou knockest at His door. Be thou
sorrowful for the wretched old widow, for there is no life for me now that the light of my
eyes, and the breath of my life, and the touching of my hands, and the steps of my feet,
and the maintenance and protector of my life [hath departed].

17 By that power which cleaveth to thee, if thou entreatest Him for the life of my son He
will give it back to thee. Let thy mercy be revealed, and listen to my voice, even as thy
Lord, Who hearkened to the Canaanitish woman, and to Whom the sin of the harlot was not an
abominable thing. Now while the woman was at the door and was making use of such [words]
as these, and was at the same time crying and weeping with plaintive lamentation, he had
no monk from the monastery with him at that time, and he himself opened the door and saw
the dead body of her son, and she herself was sitting crying before it. And he answered
and said to her, "What have I to do with thee, O woman, and what have I in my hands
wherewith to help thee? And he took her son and brought him unto his cell, and when he had
remained a long time in prayer and supplication, the Lord gave to the holy man the soul of
that child; and he gave him back to his mother alive, and she took him with great joy and
praise, and returned to the field. And this [miracle] was proclaimed throughout all the
country.

18 And it also happened to that blessed man by the hand of God that it was not necessary
for him to work his miracles openly, and [therefore] he hid himself being afraid of
vainglory, and he plucked out this foul affection from the dross of his thoughts, and cast
it far, far away. Now although a short way back I said that the Lord honoured this holy
man, so that before and after him there was none like unto him, there are nevertheless
other [saints], and I did not make this decision in respect of all men, nor did I by any
means intend it to include all the saints; I only intended to say that by reason of the
miracles which took place at his hands he was superior to all who lived in his time in
this monastery. And if thy mind, [O 'Abhd-Îshô'] will hearken unto my argument it shall be
convinced [of this fact].

19 And there was in this monastery one of the elders who was surnamed Solomon bar-
Sabhêthâ, who was a spectator of the miracle which we are about to relate; now the account
of [this miracle] was handed down from his mouth to us, for we never knew this man in this
life. And he used to relate [it] to all those from whom I have heard it, saying, "When
Rabban Cyriacus was the head of the monastery, I was the steward. And when the
commemoration of Rabban Jacob came, he gathered together the twenty-two schools of Margâ,
[concerning] which also Mâr Abraham the Catholicus, of holy memory, and blessed in all
things, said to me, 'There existed in Margâ at that time, and flourished a great
congregation, without number.' And I, Solomon, say that when I saw that the multitudes
were very great I was afraid to give out wine in abundance in the butler's closet
according to custom; now Rabban himself was sitting with the butlers and those who laid
the tables. And when the monks in the monastery came to me to the wine cellar, and I had
given them wine to carry away once, and again a second time.

20 they came yet a third time by the command of Rabban. And I sent him [a message],
saying, 'Spare the wine a little, for if thou givest it out thus abundantly to-day thou
wilt be without wine for the vigil of to-morrow.' And when the blessed man heard this,
behold he blazed like a furnace, and he came to me to the wine cellar, and said, 'My son,
why hast thou not sent wine?' And I said to him, 'Master, I was afraid lest it would not
hold out even for the table of the Mysteries to-morrow. Be sparing then, for we have [to
celebrate] another vigil for the dead, and behold, there is gathered together to us an
assembly the like of which [for magnitude] we have never seen in this monastery.' And he
answered and said to me, 'While I go and give permission for the multitudes to begin [to
sing] psalms, do thou make ready eight mules and skin bottles and bags, for I have heard
that there is a caravan of Ḥirthāyē at the place of the crossing, at Esṭwân, that we may
go and obtain wine from them. And when, by the hand of God, we have celebrated the
festival which standeth [at hand], we will bring wine and pay them back'; and he left me
and went to the temple, as I was wondering and amazed at his words.

21 And because we had experience of him in all things, I accounted this [thing] likewise
as one of his many glorious acts, and I did according to his word which never failed. And
I took two soldiers with me, and [Rabban] went before us along the road which goeth to the
Zâbhâ [Zâb], and although he was on foot in front of us and we were riding we did not
overtake him. And when we arrived at the appointed place by the Zâb he asked me, 'Have ye
brought with you any earthenware vessel?' and I said to him, 'Why do we want such a
thing?' He said to me, 'That we might borrow the wine through it, and pay it back through
it.' Now the vessel which he asked for [was that] with which we used to fill the skin
bottles from the Zâb. And when we came to the water he said to me, 'Tarry here with thy
companions, for I am going to see if that caravan is still there;' and when we had been
sitting by the Zâb some time, behold the blessed man came to us, and there breathed forth
from him

22 likely that a caravan going from Kûfa and Bagdad to Âdhôrbâî-gân by way of Arbela would
cross the Zâb and make a circuit by Môsul. On the other hand a local caravan from Hêdhattâ
would cross the Zâb pretty soon and make its way into Margâ. For then, we should probably
read to which the readings of BC point. 23 an odour which surpassed all scents, and fear
and wonder fell upon us. And he answered, like one in distress and said to me, 'My son,
according to what I have learned, those men passed by last evening and have gone away; but
that our journey may not be in vain, fill the bottles from the Zâb and let us go [home];'
and we did according to his word. Now the villagers who were with me began to laugh
secretly, saying, 'Instead of wine we shall take water, which is much cooler than that of
the monastery, for the blessed men.' And while he was walking on before us we were
laughing over the water which we were carrying with so much care, and when we came to the
monastery he said to me, 'Take the loads into the wine cellar, and take heed unto them.'
And we left [him], and he went to the temple, and I dismissed the villagers also from my
presence. And I pondered that it could not be by accident and for nothing that so great a
man as this, a man who knew the secrets of [all] hearts, who brought the dead to life, and
who had done and still doeth other marvellous deeds, was moved to bring water from the
Zâb;

24 and I rose up and lit a lamp, and I opened the ear of one of the bottles, and behold
there breathed forth the smell of wine, the like of which he used to say, "before our
Lord, I never smelt from any other wine. And I praised and glorified the might of Christ,
Who had given the power and the promise to His disciples that they should work miracles
even as He did; and I also determined that I would not reveal the matter to any man, and
that I would not give out this wine to be drunk, either to-day or to-morrow, until this
old wine which we had brought from the mountain should be finished. Now when the service
of the Mysteries was ended, and every one had gone into the common-room of the brethren,
Rabban sent to me, saying, 'Bring into the common-room some of that good wine which thou
hast, and give up the intention which thou didst decide upon during the night'. And at
this [speech] also I was the more moved to the praise of God the Lord of all, in that
Rabban could see beforehand and know by the eye of the Spirit even the motions of the
thoughts of my mind."

25 Now it came to pass one year that Rabban himself was obliged to carry the imperial tax
which was due from this monastery to Yazdinbadh, a village of Margâ, and taking with him
one of the monks in the monastery they both departed. And while the blessed old man, by
reason of his age and feebleness, was riding upon an ass, and the monk was marching
behind, the monk meditated the following thought:—"The head of the monastery hath not done
well in carrying with him all this money to the government without five other men coming
with us; alas for the evilness of the times, and alas for thieves! Peradventure we shall
meet with some opposition which we shall not be able to stand against." And that holy man
turned, and looked at the monk, and said to him, "Why art thou doubtful about the hidden
protector who is with us, my son, just as if the providence of God cometh by accident?
March on in confidence in God the Lord of all, and fear not;" thus pure and clear was the
hidden eye of the understanding of that holy man.

CHAPTER 20. OF THE REVELATIONS WHICH THAT HOLY MAN RECEIVED WHEN HE WAS WITH THE WHOLE CONGREGATION IN THE REFECTORY

1 Since now [this] ascetic had become like unto an altar of prayer, and with his secret,
inner man his mind had burned [upon it] ceaselessly the incense of psalms and hymns of
praise to the exalted Godhead,—like the Watchers (i. e., Angels) on high whose chain of
praises before the throne of Godhead is never severed,—like the spiritual powers he became
wise and understanding, by the revelations which were hovering round about him abundantly,
and he saw things which were afar off, and prophesied concerning things which were about
to happen, even as the blessed Evagrius, [who] comparing the sight of the understanding
with the Cherubim spake, saying, "He that hath many eyes, perceiveth spiritually much, and
is enlightened on all sides, and abideth without shadow." 2 Now on the day before the
commemoration of the holy Mâr Jacob, in which all the brethren were accustomed to bake
bread in the refectory, and to celebrate this night with psalms and spiritual praises,
when they came [to the verse] "I will sing of the goodness of the Lord for ever, and His
belief shall be in my mouth from generation to generation," the mind of the holy man was
carried away as though by some spiritual vision. And it appeared to him in the spirit as
though he were not in the refectory, but in this holy temple, and he saw that of the
monks, old and young, who were there with him, two and forty persons were chosen, and in
his hearing the words, "The Grace of the Lord," which are usually sung on the Festivals of
the Lord, were changed into those which are sung to a different tune at the consecration
of Bishops at the moment when the hands are laid upon them; and he saw that there were
given to them from the sanctuary white turbans and staves of the laying on of hands. Now
while he was being led away by such a vision and was carried away by this divine sight,
the ascetics saw that his face was clothed at that moment with the light of glory, and
they knew that a Divine visitation had united itself to his understanding.

3 And when he had returned to himself and had come down from that sublimity, he sighed a
deep sigh while he was yet shining with the glory of the Divine nature; and although they
wished to ask him a question or to draw nigh to him, yet because of this they feared, and
refrained from him. And when they had proceeded with the service of the parts of the
Psalms called Hullâlê, and with the different hymns which were sung between the Psalms,
they went on with the Psalter, and came to [the verse], "Lord, remember David and all his
humility," again another revelation shone upon the blessed man; and when he came to
himself again from the vision, and knew where he was, he was sorrowful, and shed tears,
and sighed very bitterly. And 5 when the service of the refectory was over, and each man
had gone to his cell, at mid-day, according to custom, the brethren went in to the
refectory, and that holy old man was at their head like the moon surrounded by stars. And
he answered and said to them, "Did ye then, beloved, see me last night while these things
happened to me? They said to him, "Yes, master, we have seen that two visitations happened
to thee, but what these visitations which happened to thee [portended] we know not; and
now we ask thee to shew us. And again he answered and said to them, "In the first vision I
saw that two and forty men belonging to this congregation here present, old men, middle-
aged, and young men, were set apart [to be] governors of the Holy Church; some of them
Patriarchs, some of them Metropolitans, and some of them Bishops. And also in the second
vision it was shewn to me that from the glorious position in which this monastery now
standeth, flourishing with teachers, and expositors, and sages, and wise and understanding
men, it shall be brought low, and abased, and humbled in everything in which it excelleth,
more particularly in respect of teachers, until the time cometh in which [the monks] shall
be obliged to hire directors for the vigils, and [men] to carry out for them the musical
parts of the service, and to correct and set in order the tunes having refrains which are
sung to the psalms and hymns.

6 These are the things which were foretold by that blessed man, and I was a spectator, and
was in the midst of the whole matter, being a neighbour, and one who gave encouraging
advice. And it came to pass at one time that [this monastery] was obliged to hire the much
enlightened man, Solomon of Bèth Garmai (Garmèkâyâ), who was surnamed Mâhdî, to teach all
the brethren who needed it [firstly,] how to read the service-books, and how to sing the
hymns and responses, and secondly, how to sing the book of hymns of consolation which they
were wont to sing at the vigil of the dead; and also to bring the much enlightened Bāʾuth
to our monastery for the same purpose. 7 And as regards the Bishops of whom the old man
said that there should be two and forty, I will write down without delay the names both of
those whom I myself saw, and of those which I learned from others, who were among that
blessed congregation and who also were selected for consecration one after the other.
Firstly we will honour the holy person, the prophet and seer concerning whom is our
discourse, Rabban Cyriacus who was elected Bishop of the city of Bālâdh, as we shall shew
at the end [of the book]; Rabban George the Metropolitan was elected Bishop of Elam, and
afterwards Patriarch; Mâr Abraham was elected Bishop of Ḥadhattâ and afterwards Patriarch;
Mâr Ḳardagh, Mâr Shûbhhâl-Îshô, and Mâr Yahbh-lâhâ were elected Metropolitans of Gilân and
of Dailôm; and Thomas from Ḥedhôdh, Zacchaeus from Bêth Mûlê, and Shêm bar-Arlâyê, and
Ephraim, and Simon, and Ananias and David who went with them from this monastery were
elected and consecrated Bishops of those countries. Mâr Eliyâ, whose history we are about
to write, was elected Bishop of Mûkân, David was elected to be Metropolitan of Bêth
Şinâyê—now I have learned concerning this man from the Epistles of Mâr Timothy—together
with Peter his disciple, who was alive and held the office of Bishop of the country of
Yâmân and of Şanâ when I was secretary to Mâr Abraham; Îshô'-zêkhâ was elected
Metropolitan Bishop of Karkhâ-dhê-Bêth-Slôkh; Bûrd-Îshô', and Cyriacus, and Bâbhai, and
this Îshô' who came to Margâ, all these were elected Bishops of Bêth Garmai;

8 Îshô', who was surnamed Mâran-zêkhâ, was elected Bishop of Shôshan, the city that is in
Elam; Rabban Diodorus and 'Abd-Îshô' were elected Bishops of Bêth Bêghâsh, one after the
other; Lazarus, Gabriel, and Jacob, these three were elected Bishops of Mârgâ; Cyriacus of
Awâkh was elected Bishop of Nineveh; Mâr Narsai, concerning whom also our discourse is
prepared to praise, was elected Bishop of Shennâ; and Elisha and George were elected
Bishops of Khânishâbhôr, that is Bêth Wâzik. Now [the names of] the others by reason of
the remoteness of the time have not been handed down to me by tradition, and inasmuch as I
did not know that I should become the historian of the glorious deeds of the holy man I
did not enquire beforehand concerning them from the old men who related to me the accounts
of his actions.

CHAPTER 21.

1 Of the coming in of 'amran bar-muḥammad to this country [of margâ], and of how having
seized many estates and slain their owners, he wished also to kill the holy man [cyriacus]
and to inherit this monastery. 2 And there was a certain troublesome Ishmaelite whose name
was 'Amran bar-Muḥammad, concerning whom I have also written in the history of Rabban
Gabriel, and he was a harsh, violent, and pitiless man, and a murderer. Now upon [his]
coming into this country from Bēth Bōzāi, he began to slay its inhabitants, and to take
possession of the province of Birtā, and of Ḥēlaphtā, and Ḥeṭrā, and Bāshōsh, and Ḥerpā,
villages of Saphsāphā, and little by little of many others. And he determined to take
possession of the estates of this holy monastery, [and he would have done so] if this holy
father [Mār Cyriacus] had not stood in our breaches and fenced up our paths against his
harmful acts, as did the blessed Moses, and Joshua and David in their times. And when he
made his coming to this monastery and would have compelled all the brethren to sign a deed
selling the monastery and its estates to him, the blessed old man stood up valiantly
before him, and reproached him, and made him despicable through the rebukes of his words,
and by the abundance of his demonstrations, saying, "I affirm and I swear by the hope of
the Christians, O Amran bar-Muḥammad, that this monastery shall never belong to thee, nor
to thy sons, nor to thy grandsons. Behold all the land is before thee, get thee away from
this holy house, for as the Lord liveth, if thou departest [from it], it will be much the
better for thee, and thou wilt do great good unto thyself;

3 but if thou darest to seek to enter the monastery by the might of thy threats, thou
shalt very soon eat the bitterness of the reward of thy evil deeds. Behold I have warned
thee, and behold I have advised thee for good; get thee forth from our monastery and it
shall be well with thee, lest thou go quickly to the house of the dead. And know this
also: because of all the blood of the believers which thou hast poured out, and the
wretched people whom thou hast slain and whose houses thou hast seized, it is written with
an iron style on a shâmir stone in the record chamber of the justice of God. And this
shall be to thee the sign; when thou diest, the earth from which thou wast taken and to
which thou shouldst return shall not receive thee, but thy body shall be cast forth, and
the Evil One will not accept thy body. Now when by all this might of trust in divine
providence, and by the fervidness of his temperament, and by the sharpness of his tongue
he had put Amran to shame, 'Amran rose up wrathfully and went to Hélaphtâ having the evil
[intention] in his heart to send secretly and slay the holy man.

4 And when Amran had gone, and [the blessed man] saw that the monks were terrified and
afraid of his threats, he said to them, "Fear not, O blessed brethren, his words, nor any
stumbling-block which he can put in our way, for this monastery shall be for ever and ever
preserved from this man and from all his posterity; let no man be afraid that Amran will
send here to slay any one, for, on the contrary, he hath made up his mind to flatter you.
And behold he will shortly send for some of you, therefore go with him readily and be not
afraid, for I will go forth with you, and I will pour into his ears things mightier than
those which ye have [already] heard." 5 Now when a few days had passed by 'Amran sent ten
horsemen for certain of the old men of the congregation. And when they beat the board for
assembling the monks and they were all gathered together, all the brethren were afflicted
through fear, because [the horsemen] would not allow the holy old man to go with the
[other] old men his companions, saying, "We are not commanded to bring Rabban Cyriacus
with us. Now when [the holy man] saw that the brethren were in despair and undone, he drew
them aside, and said to them, "Be not afraid to go, for when ye shall enter into the
presence of 'Amran ye shall find me sitting before him on his seat"; and relying upon his
hope they quickened their steps, and set out immediately, the horsemen leaving that
blessed man in the porch before the temple. Now until they (i. e., the horsemen) had
passed the village of Rishá he and the brethren remained in the place of the after-supper
service, but when every man had returned to his cell, that same Divine power which carried
the Prophet Habakkuk to Babylon, and by which the ship of the disciples came suddenly to
the land whither they were going, and which lifted up the blessed Paul to heaven and to
Paradise, worked on behalf of this poor monastery at that time when there was no king, and
when this Arab was wishing to compel those blessed men to transfer to him the monastery
and its estates.

6 And, by the might of the Holy Spirit, it took him like his companion [Paul] and made him
come into the presence of 'Amran before those old men and the horsemen who were with them
had come in; and it hid him from his sight, as he stood above his head until they had
knocked at the door, and suddenly he revealed himself and appeared among them. And when
Amran saw him, he looked in savage anger upon those whom he had sent and upon the old men,
saying, "Since I commanded that Cyriacus should not come why have ye brought him with you?
And they all swore [saying], "We have not seen him since we left him in the monastery,
except at this present. The blessed man said to him, "I am come hither to thee before thou
couldst look in the mirror and comb thy head and beard; be not angry with these venerable
men, for thou shalt never inherit our monastery. Cease from this [thy] wish and let thy
hard heart be softened, and let thy avarice be satisfied, for behold, thou hast inherited
much; and by these things hast thou made thyself such that no one of thy contemporaries
will go before thee into hell.

7 And 'Amran, while wondering and marvelling at the words of the old man, recognised that
all this boldness of speech which his words had acquired, was of no ordinary origin, and
also that his swift coming and his entrance into his presence, which had had no need of
the opening of a door, and his being hidden from his view until the entrance of his
companions also testified to this, and he feared and trembled before him, and he answered
and said to them, "Rise up and go in peace to your monastery, for I have no dispute with
you; so the blessed men went forth and came to their cells.

CHAPTER 22. OF HOW 'AMRAN AFTERWARDS SENT FIVE ARABS TO LIE IN WAIT ROUND ABOUT THE CELL OF RABBAN CYRIACUS AND TO KILL HIM AND TO BRING HIS HEAD TO HIM

1 Then the Calumniator, the wicked enemy of the Christians, and especially of holy men,
gave 'Amran counsel, and he hardened his heart, and he attributed that which had been done
to sorcery, and he judged that Cyriacus had performed that piece of work which had been
wrought before him by means of his enchantments. And he called secretly those five men of
violence whom he was accustomed to employ to shed blood, and to do all manner of
wickedness, and he commanded them, saying, "Go to Bêth Abhê, and when it hath become night
go down secretly to the cell of Cyriacus and take his head and bring it to me. And when
those men had come without any man knowing [of their arrival], and in the thick darkness
of the evening had come down by the descent which is called "Way to Shikôn, and little by
little had drawn nigh unto the little hill which lay to the north of his cell, they saw
him walking up and down in the open space before his cell, and they lay in wait until he
slept to fall upon him. Now inasmuch as the holy man turned his nights into days, and like
the blessed Arsenius, passed the whole night in watching, he went up to the place where he
used to say the after-supper service in his cell, and he began to sing the psalms from the
beginning of the Psalter.

2 And that Divine power which the blessed Elisha possessed, by which there appeared to the
young man his servant spiritual hosts, with their chariots and horses of fire, surrounding
all the place where Elisha was, according to the custom of the might of His power, which
strengtheneth all things, likewise surrounded with fire the whole place where this holy
old man sang the after-supper service, and those [men] saw the fire and marvelled. And it
appeared to them, moreover, that not only fire which could not be approached surrounded
him and shot out flames, but also that the whole of his body was like light, and that
every [time] that he bowed himself to the earth and stood up [again], and spread out his
fingers to heaven, there went forth from them ten lamps of light which were ascending unto
heaven. And after these things they saw another like unto him standing at his right hand,
and those men were stupefied and terror-stricken, and they thought with anxiety that the
fire would suddenly come forth from him and consume them. And when they wished to depart
their bellies clave to the ground upon which they were lying until it dawned; and when
they had been perceived by certain of the brethren, they went forth to them, and asked
them what was the cause of their [being there], and the men revealed to them truthfully
what the reason was. Now the old man Hênân-Îshô, the neighbour of Cyriacus swore, saying,
I was one of those brethren who went to the men.

3 And when the men had gone to him that sent them, and had repeated to him all [these]
things, he desisted from all the evil which he was ready to do to us, and at the end of
his life he commanded his sons, saying, "The monastery of Bêth 'Abhê can never be yours.
And when 'Amran died the earth would not receive him, but three times was he buried, and
three times was he cast forth from it, according to the word spoken concerning him
beforehand by the blessed Cyriacus.

CHAPTER 23. OF ANOTHER REVELATION WHICH [MÂR CYRIACUS] RECEIVED, AND OF HOW HE NEEDS MUST BE NAMED AND ACCOUNTED BISHOP FOR A LITTLE WHILE, AND THEN DEPART FROM [THIS] WORLD

1 Now when the holy man our holy father Mâr Cyriacus had laboured in all kinds of
asceticism, the mother of all uprightness, in voluntary poverty, and abstinence, and
fasting, and prayer, and philosophic reading in the cell, and holy meditation upon the
Scriptures, and contemplation [which] pierceth into things of the future, and the
acquiring of things which endure, and watching which purifieth the thoughts, and bendings
in double, and stretchings out at full length in making bowings of adoration, and
prostrations which make the sweat to flow, like a watchful guardian he kept a strict watch
on all sides that for no reason whatever a single duty of the ascetic life should be
neglected on his part or on that of his fellow-monks, and he was like unto a wall to this
godly flock. And when he was waiting and wishing that the ship of the treasures of his
riches had already drawn nigh unto rest, an angel spake with him, face to face [saying],
"Thou shalt be a Bishop, and then thou shalt rest from thy troubles. According to the
number of the fifty years in which thou hast led an ascetic life in this monastery, for
fifty days shalt thou be called Bishop; and then thou shalt by a peaceful death rest in
peace. Behold I am with thee in all thy labours;

2 let thy old age then be strong, and thy time of life be renewed, and a month of days
hence believing men, from the city of Báládh, over whom the Spirit hath appointed thee
governor, shall come for thee; go with them disputing nothing, for the matter is from the
Lord, Who ordereth all thy [acts] as His will pleaseth, He hath helped thee that thou
shouldst be saved. And when the angel had disappeared from before him, he took a reed and
wrote upon the wall of his cell concerning this vision which had appeared to him, and the
brethren found this writing after his departure and read it. And the old man Rabban
Elisha, may his memory be blessed! used to say, "I also read these lines when I was
serving in the monastery, for his handwriting was still preserved in that cell."

CHAPTER 24.

1 Of The Coming OF THE PEOPLE OF BÂLÂDH TO THIS MONASTERY FOR THE BLESSED MAN [MÂR
CYRIACUS], AND OF HOW THEY HAD WITH THEM A LETTER OF THE PIOUS MÂR TIMOTHY PROHIBITING HIM
TO REMAIN IN THE MONASTERY AFTER HE HAD BEEN CALLED. 2 Now therefore, when the report,
which was filled with the glory of Christ, of the wonderful deeds which He was working
through the son of His house, Mâr Cyriacus, in this monastery, had flown like a bird with
swift pinions, and had been carried to every quarter of the world, and to all peoples, and
his glorious deeds were being repeated in the streets and among the assemblies for the
glorifying of the Holy Church, the Bishop of the city of Bâlâdh, who had arranged these
holy matters, departed this temporary life. And because of the glorious things of Rabban
Cyriacus, which were in the mouths of all men, the people of Bâlâdh sent letters to the
holy Mâr Timothy, praying and entreating him, saying, "We have elected that thou shouldst
set over us as head, and shepherd, and guardian, and governor, Rabban Cyriacus the
ascetic, the head of the monastery of Bêth 'Abhê," (now this took place, in very truth),
and they took the letter and came for him here. Now a very old monk whose name was Bar-
Henânâ told me that the people of Bâlâdh made the expedition to us for the sake of Mâr
Cyriacus, with horses of long pedigree, and baggage horses, and mules for burdens,
together with eagles, and panthers, and leopards, and hunting dogs, an exceeding mighty
host, for the inhabitants of this city were at that time exceedingly prosperous, and their
city was very beautiful and much to be admired.

3 And when they had gone in before the temple, and had made known the cause of their
coming, they were received by the community with great honour. And when they gave Mâr
Cyriacus the letter which commanded him to go down to the Catholicus, his eyes overflowed
with tears, and weeping he lifted up his face to God like aged Simeon, and said, "Lord,
dismiss Thy servant, according to Thy word, in peace; for behold, mine eyes have seen, and
my lips have proclaimed Thy great mercy, in that Thou hast set the limit to the close of
my life and to the end of my years. And he answered and said to the believing men who came
after him, "Beloved, ye have wearied yourselves for nothing, and your expectation is in
vain; ye cannot rejoice at my being appointed to be your head, neither can I rejoice at
the glory of rearing you, for I shall [only] live fifty days in your city, and it
sufficeth. It is a mere bundle of bones which shall be brought in to dwell in your city;
may its protection and generation be prolonged among all the generations of the world! And
our Lord shall raise up for you

4 the Arab. plur. See Dozy, Supplément, tom. 1. p. 69, col. 1. after my death a good
guardian, and to him will He grant an extension of life for a long time." And when they
took him away to go [to Bâlâdh], a cry from all this congregation went up to heaven, and
they ascribed woe to themselves and to their monastery, because they were deprived of such
a head and governor of their lives; thus he went down to Mâr Timothy the Catholicus and
was consecrated, and he went up that he might come to his city. Now Rabban Elisha told me
that when the boat in which he was travelling arrived at the Ḥesnâ 'Ebhrâya, and was
passing along on this side of it, which faceth the east, the believers of Môṣul sent and
stopped it in its course, and crowds upon crowds of Christians and Arabs came forth to see
that blessed man and to be blessed by him (now they gave the owner of the boat much money
that it might stop for this purpose), and so on the following day his boat passed on
accompanied by crowds, and went up to his city. Now his entrance into the city of Bâlâdh
took place on the Friday evening before Pentecost.


THE BOOK OF GOVERNORS (CHAPTERS 25. OF THE WONDERFUL DEED WHICH THE BLESSED MÂR CYRIACUS WROUGHT IN THE CITY OF BÂLÂDH, AND OF THE END OF HIS LIFE–12. THE HISTORY OF THE BLESSED MÂR NARSAI (NARSES), BISHOP OF THE CITY OF SHENNÂ)
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THE BOOK OF GOVERNORS continued

CHAPTER 25. OF THE WONDERFUL DEED WHICH THE BLESSED MÂR CYRIACUS WROUGHT IN THE CITY OF BÂLÂDH, AND OF THE END OF HIS LIFE

1 Now since I have been in the habit of making enquiries concerning every thing which
relates to this blessed man with great eagerness and desire, for stories about him are
sweet and pleasant to me, one year when I went on certain business which called me to the
city of Bâlâdh, I asked about his holy grave, and I was blessed by it. And I went out to
the porch before the great temple of the church, and I found there a very old priest,
whose name was Nekhwâr, and with whom I was acquainted when I was the secretary of the
holy Mâr Abraham the Catholicus in the royal city, and I asked that old man to relate to
me any miracles or mighty deeds which the blessed Mâr Cyriacus had wrought. And having
told me of the many cures [which he had made] and of the devils which he had driven out
from multitudes of men, he also told me the following:—"In the days of Mâr Cyriacus there
was in this City a Bishop of the followers of Severus [of Antioch], and much friendship
existed between him and our Bishop Cyriacus; and after the death of Mâr Cyriacus that
Bishop related to me as follows:—'One day I had risen up early in the morning, and I had
come from my cell to this your church to go in and to enjoy myself with the sight and
conversation of the holy man your Bishop Cyriacus.

2 And while I was speaking in the porch and was not yet inside the church, behold the
blessed man himself came down, and when he saw me he answered and said to me, Why art thou
standing here, master? And I said to him, I have come to see thee, and to be blessed by
thy holiness. He said to me, Blessed be thy coming! If thou hadst come to me before I came
out, I would have gone nowhere; but since we two have met outside, come with me, and let
us go together to pray in the Monastery of Rabban Pithion; and,' he continued, 'he took
hold of my right hand with his left, and thus he and I singing a psalm went outside the
city, and entered into that monastery. And when we had prayed, and he was still holding me
by my hand, the two of us went down to the Tigris, and he answered joyfully, and said to
me, Come now, let us cross over and pray in the Monastery of the holy Rabban Joseph,
because his shrine is very dear to me and because he is from my own monastery and because
I have not yet seen his monastery. I said to him, If thou hadst this intention in thy mind
why did we not cross over at the ferry instead of troubling ourselves to come down to this
[place]?

3 And he looked at me smiling, and said, Hast thou any doubt that, by the power of God, we
can cross over on a wooden boat only? Now shalt thou see the power of Christ our Lord. And
he made the sign of the Cross upon the face of the water, and another upon his own face,
and another upon mine, and we turned to cross over. And while I was afraid lest
peradventure the waters would let us drop through them, I perceived that they were
becoming solid under my feet as if they were ice-bound, and thus we crossed over the
Tigris and went into that monastery. And when we had come forth from there and he had
dismissed the brethren who had come forth in honour of us, and they had returned to their
cells, we remained for a little time on the bank of the river; now he did this that the
monks might go away to a distance and not be able to see him. And again he answered and
said to me, Let us cross over the river [to the place] exactly opposite to us, and let us
go and pray in the monas-

4 (i. e., puthion), on the left bank of the river, about a farsah below Eski-Môṣul. See
Hoffmann, Auszüge, p. 211. 5 tery of Rabban Aaron, and afterwards we will go into the
city. And I said to him, Do as it pleaseth thy holiness. And he made the sign of the Cross
upon the waters in front of us, and holding me by the hand he led me over the river, and
we went into the monastery and prayed, and we went forth from there and came to the cell
of the holy man. Now these things which that holy old man related to me, 'Uthmân, a
believer of the confession of Jacob, who was surnamed Bar-Khusrau, confirmed to us. And
Rabban George, the head of our monastery told me, saying, "One year I went into the city
of Môşul about the taxes, and I went to the house of this believing man Uthmân bar-
Khusrau, that I might obtain some assistance from him by his speaking for me a good word
to the government, and I found him reading in the book Huppâkh Hushshâbhê, of our holy Mâr
Îshô'-yahbh of Adiabene. And when I had sat down he said to me, 'I love your monastery of
Bêth Abhê for two reasons; firstly, because of this teacher Îshô'-yahbh the Catholicus,
who is in very truth a great teacher and debater, and [who] standeth firmly in the
strength of his demonstrations against the confession of the duality of the Natures in one
Person, which those who follow the Council of Chalcedon wickedly declare, and I meditate
upon his composition continually;

6 and secondly, because of this story which our Bishop who was in Bâlâdh in the days of
Cyriacus, Bishop of that city, who came from your monastery, and was surnamed
'Gêbhîltâyâ,' related to me.' Now he told me this history which I heard from our priests
in the city of Bâlâdh, and we must be well aware that the testimony of adversaries is more
exact and more to be believed [than our own], inasmuch as in such matters they have a
habit of concealing certain facts, and concerning some certain and well attested deeds,
which have been wrought by our holy men, they deliberately lie. Now when the celebration
of the Fast of the Apostles drew near, the holy Bishop Mâr Cyriacus died on the Friday
evening of the commemoration of the [twelve] Apostles, with a name filled with glory, and
a remembrance for good, and was buried in honour with the holy Bishops who had died before
him in that city; may his prayers be for the whole world, and for the Catholic Church, and
may mercy be shewn to us in the Hall of Judgment, Amen.

7 Here endeth the Fourth Book.

BOOK V — CHAPTER 1. OF RABBAN MÂR SHŪBHĪL-ĪSHŌ

1 O our brother [ʿAbhd-Īshō], let also this discourse, which is the fifth of the books of
this our history, be received upon the table of the hearing of thy understanding, for by
the glorious entreaty of thy electness my feeble tongue hath run, and will further run,
upon the excellent matters of the histories of holy men, those athletes of might and
warriors of strength, who did battle with the body and the passions thereof and with
rebellious devils, and who bound on the crown of victory and overcame, and were crowned in
the spiritual contest of their lives which pleased God. And we will place at the beginning
of all those histories which our speech is about to unfold the account of the victorious
deeds of the ascetic priest, and victorious martyr, the blessed Rabban Mâr Shûbhhâl-Īshō,
the Metropolitan Bishop; and to it we will add that of the pious and holy men who followed
in his footsteps throughout the land in which he taught, Mâr Yahbh-lâhâ and Kardagh his
brother, as well as that of the blessed Bishop Mâr Elijah, the men who were ordained by
the pious Mâr Timothy, the Catholicus and Patriarch, for the countries of the barbarians
who were remote from all understanding and a decent manner of life, and to whose part of
the world no preacher and planter of the truth had ever gone, and where the doctrine of
the glad tidings of our Redeemer had never been proclaimed. But why should I speak of the
[knowledge] of Christ our Lord [only]?

2 for they had not even received the knowledge of God, the Creator of the worlds and their
Governor, like the Jews and other nations, but they offered, and behold they [still]
offer, worship to trees, graven images of wood, four-footed beasts, fishes, reptiles,
birds of prey, and [other] birds, and such like things, and they bow down to worship fire
and the stars and planets. [Mâr Yahbh Allâhâ, and Kardagh and Mâr Elijah were] the men who
preached the doctrine of Christ in those countries of Dailômâyê and of Gilâyê, and of the
other barbarians who live beyond them, and they planted in them the light of the truth of
the glad tidings of our Lord, and plucked out from the simple souls that were there all
the abominable thorns and tares of evil deeds which Satan had sown in their hearts. And
they taught and baptized, and wrought mighty deeds, and shewed forth wonderful works, and
the fame of their acts was carried to all the ends of the East. And thou mayest learn
clearly concerning all these things from the letter which certain merchants and king's
scribes, who were going in and coming out from those countries for the purposes of trade
and the business of the government, wrote to Mâr Timothy.

CHAPTER 2. OF THE ORIGIN OF THE BLESSED SHŪBHĪ-ÂL-ĪSHŌ AND OF HIS COMING TO THIS MONASTERY

1 The family of the blessed Shûbhhâl-Īshô was descended from the race of the children of
Ishmael, and his city was Hêrâ-dhê-Na'mân, but his parents departed from there, and took
up their habitation in Hesnâ Ebhrâyâ, and according to what I have learned, the blessed
man was born and brought up in that city. And when he had become a young man, having, by
the exceeding care of his parents, been trained in the Holy Scriptures and instructed in
the literature of the Arabic [language], which was their own tongue, his parents departed
this temporary life, and he and one sister, who was younger than he, were left behind. Now
their parents had left them much riches, and this he divided between the two of them, and
to his sister he left the estate and everything that was in the house, and he took his
portion and came to this monastery. And having served in the monastery and performed the
exercises of the monks in a perfect manner according to the command of the fathers, he
persuaded the community to give him Bêth Ḥabbâ that he might sow it and give food to the
brethren, according to what they should receive from the head of the monastery, from the
produce of Bêth Ziwâ; and according to his wish it was given unto him. And he built a
house for the ploughmen, (i.

2 e., a farm) to the south of this one of to-day, the site of which is well known, and he
bought yokes of oxen, and he hired ploughmen, and he began to sow and to reap, and to be
kind to and to give gifts to the monks of his congregation, and to strangers, and to the
poor, like that merchant who traded with Spain with two ships, and [like] the blessed
Apollonius who [lived] in Mount Nêṭirâ, and like that believing man, the account of whom
is written in the history of the blessed Paphnutius, and like one of those two [brethren]
Pēsis (Paesius) and Isaiah, the sons of one merchant, who did not scatter his portion, but
placed it as an offering to God for the relief of the needy. And when the blessed man
Shûbhhâl-Ishô had laboured in this course of life for many years, and was pleasing Christ
by means of His Saints, certain wicked men in this congregation, through the working of
Satan, the father of lies, and the hater of the love Christ left to His disciples, rose up
craftily against him, like Judas among the twelve [disciples], and like the seven tares
who were among the three hundred and eighteen Bishops, and besides these, like the
disciples who were from among the people who were jealous of Paul, and of his teaching,
and others who were among the companies of the saints, and they were envious of that love
of love which filled his holy and believing soul.

3 First of all they began to make measures which were greater and fuller than 4 , those
which were in current use everywhere among the merchants, now this he endured cheerfully,
but finally they began to make him hear cruel words, saying, "Let our corn lands alone,
and depart. And having sown much seed in the past year, and the harvest being near,
certain sinful men and evil livers, when no one perceived, devised an artful plot to slay
that holy man, having forgotten all the good deeds which he had done unto them; and [the
words], "They rewarded me evil for good, and hatred instead of love," and again, "The
eater of my bread upon whom I trusted greatly, hath acted craftily against me," were
fulfilled in very deed in the matter of that holy man. But since our Lord God willed that
those evil men should not be partakers in that innocent blood, His graciousness did not in
any wise allow that man to be alienated from His household. And moreover, he that feareth
the Lord, even though it be but a little, and would dare to commit some evil act, the holy
angel which cleaveth to him alloweth not that evil act to be wrought successfully as he
would wish, but he extinguisheth and hindereth and confoundeth the manner of his work,
even as he wrought in the case of that blessed man who saw in the country [of Egypt] the
daughter of a priest of idols, and by the agency of the Evil One he lusted after her.

5 And when he asked her from her father, he promised to give him to her, but after he had
denied God, and the garb with which he was clothed, and baptism, the holy angel which
clave to him compelled the Satan who dwelt in the idol, and he returned answer to the
priest, saying, "Thou shalt not give him thy daughter, for God is with him, and He aideth
him. Now therefore in this manner did that merciful Lord act, Who beareth with all our
obstinacy, Who endureth our wickednesses, and Who doeth good unto us, until in the
righteous judgment which is to come He will reward us according to our deeds with a
measure pressed down and running over. 6 Now Rabban Īshō'-yahbh the Long, from whom I have
received much material for these histories, told me, saying:—"When I was serving in the
monastery, I was sent secretly by the monks who held the affairs of the community in their
hands, saying, 'Go to Rabban Shûbhhâl-Īshô' at Bêth Ḥabbâ, and inform him, saying, If thou
dost not save thyself by flight this night thou wilt certainly be slain by the assiduity
of such and such persons, who have taken themselves out of everything which is seemly for
the sake of thy destruction.' And that truthful old man swore to me, saying, When I had
told him those things, he began to weep bitterly; and he answered and said, 'Am I worthy
of the reward of being a participator in the sufferings of Christ? This day hath it been
pointed out to me that the labours of my loving-kindness have reached unto heaven before
God for an everlasting memorial. I entered Bêth Abhê with earthly riches, and I have spent
them at the word of the mouth of Christ, according to His command, and this day I shall go
forth from it without even a wallet.'' And Īshô'-yahbh the old man said, When I saw that I
was obliged to make him set out on the road to flee to the city without bread, and without
a wallet, inasmuch as he had nothing with him except his tunic and his cloak, I gave him
my own wallet, and I put inside it three loaves of bread, and he departed; and he went
down to the pious Mâr Timothy the Catholicus, and informed him what had been done to him."

CHAPTER 3. OF THE PUNISHMENT WHICH THIS MONASTERY JUSTLY RECEIVED FOR THE PERSECUTION OF THE HOLY SHÛBHĪL-ÎSHÔ

1 If now earthly judges should do unto those who work wickedness according to what the
sword of justice which they hold demandeth, and should award good things to good men, this
would be according to the testimony of the scribe of the Spirit, the blessed Paul, [who
saith] "How just then and righteous is our good God! for He chastiseth and punisheth, and
judgeth, and correcteth in such wise that we may not become altogether without perception
[of sin], having trodden down conscience and cast out from our minds the [retribution of]
justice which is to come". 2 Now when [those men] thought that behold they had slain the
righteous man, and they would inherit his labour, and were making ready to go out and reap
the fields which they had not sown, and to gather in that which they had not scattered,
the Lord brought up against them only, a huge cloud of locusts, which devoured all the
crops of Bêth Ḥabbâ, and which did not leave them a remnant; and year after year God sent
this punishment upon them because it was as if the innocent blood of that innocent man had
been shed by them by murder. And if God would judge a man for his readiness of intention,
and would take vengeance upon him for what he wished to do, and would punish him according
to His word, "He that looketh upon a woman to desire her, hath straightway committed
adultery with her in his heart, and is already accounted an adulterer"—although [as in the
case of the blessed man who lusted for the daughter of the priest], it is natural that the
man who had subjected himself to that which was unnatural should be moved with desire for
the beauty of a woman—[how much more would He do so in this case]? And although murder is
an abominable thing, and ten thousand evil punishments are reserved for those who commit
it, yet those men were prepared to slay him if an opportunity for doing so had come into
their hands, and they were therefore strictly speaking murderers and men guilty of the
blood of that holy man.

3 Now when, according to their custom, the monks of this monastery were going down to the
blessed Timothy the Catholicus that he might give them help—for he loved this monastery
greatly, and honoured it with many gifts, because it was here pointed out to him that he
should become Catholicus—he asked how they and their crops did. And they made answer to
him, saying, "They are going on poorly and badly, for behold, for some years [past] the
locusts have eaten up our crops in particular [and those of no one else]". The blessed man
said to them, "My sons, the locusts which devour the fields, and those which eat up the
hidden fruits of your souls, shall not be scraped away from you, because ye were the cause
of the persecution and driving away of the holy Mâr Shûbhhâl-Îshô from among you. For our
Lord and His holy angels have testified to me [concerning] these things which I have
learned from old monks in this monastery, and which I have not imagined out of my own
mind, but have judged according to that which is said by the holy man, 'If an act of sin
which happeneth accidentally is deserving of seventy and sevenfold punishment, how many
times seventy and seven shall an act of wilful sin be punished?' Assume [if ye will] that
for a man to look upon a woman is an act of accidental sin, but the going out of those
wretched men to commit murder is certainly an act of wilful sin; even so are these things.

CHAPTER 4. OF THE LAYING ON OF HANDS WHICH THE BLESSED MÂR SHÛBHHÂL-ÎSHÔ RECEIVED TO BE THE METROPOLITAN OF GÎLÂN AND DAILÔM

1 If now according to the goodness of his master, and according as he is able, a servant
shall endeavour to measure the steps of his course of life along the smooth paths of his
commandments, and shall arrange every thing concerning himself for the good will and
pleasure of his master, he will be glorified with the glory of his master, and will be
made ruler over all his treasures, for the treasure shall be added unto and increased by
his industrious trafficking, like the man who received five talents and made them ten, and
him that [received] two and made them into four, and both heard [the words], "Well done,
good and faithful servants, ye have been faithful in little, and much shall be entrusted
into your hands". According to the might of every man it is required of him: from him that
hath received much that he should labour much [is required], and from him unto whom little
hath been given little [is required]; every man according to his might, saith our Lord, to
Whom be glory. And a certain holy man testifieth [to this], saying, "One man converteth a
mighty people, and another a small district, and another hath acquired his own soul only;
yet in excellence [all three] are equal."

2 Now in respect of this man of whom we speak, inasmuch as he was exceedingly able, very
much was entrusted into his hand. And when he went down to the holy Mâr Timothy, who
having learned concerning all his affairs, and seen that he was instructed in the Syriac
language and learning, and also in the Arabic and Persian tongues, determined to anoint
him with holy oil, and to make him hold the pastoral staff, and to send him as a shepherd
and teacher to the barbarian nations who had never received the bridle of the teaching
concerning God, and into whose country none of the preachers and evangelists of the
kingdom of heaven had gone since the time of the Apostles until the present. And when he
advised him to undertake this thing, relying upon the Lord and upon the Divine help which
would cleave to him and which would convert those erring nations by his hand, inasmuch as
this work to which he was called was from the Lord, he undertook [it] with fear and joy.
And the day of the consecration of the blessed man was celebrated with the great ceremony
which belongeth to a festival full of all joyous things, and all the chief men, among the
believers who heard that he had undertaken the conversion of those countries, provided him
with much money, and with the necessary clothing, and together with the Divine power and
the venerable disciples who accompanied him, he set out for those countries. Now Mâr
Abraham, the Catholicus, a holy man in very truth, related to me fully concerning all this
matter [of Mâr Shûbhhâl-Îshô], and he told me that he made his entrance there with
exceeding great splendour, for barbarian nations need to see a little worldly pomp and
show to attract them and to make them draw nigh willingly to Christianity.

3 And when he had entered those countries he began to teach and to shew them the true
knowledge of his doctrine, and while he was teaching with these words, Christ our Lord was
confirming them by the miracles which he worked, by cleansing the lepers, by healing the
sick, by opening the eyes of the blind, by making the lame to walk, by raising the dead,
and by making barren women fruitful, for the Divine dispensation is accustomed to shew
forth mighty works at the beginning of Divine operations, more particularly in the case of
those barbarians who from their earliest times and throughout all their generations had
been led captive by evil devils to the worship and service of their corrupt things. And by
the sight of the miracles which our Lord worked by the hands of the blessed man, he taught
many cities and thickly peopled districts, and baptized [their inhabitants], and brought
them near to the doctrine of Divine life. And he built churches, and established priests
and deacons in them, and he set apart some of the brethren who were with him to teach them
psalms and spiritual praises, and he himself went further and further into the country,
until [he arrived at] the ends of the East in the great teaching which he made among the
heathen, and Marcionites, and Manichees, [against] every object of worship and every
impure thing; and he sowed among them the glorious light of the doctrine of the Gospel,
the mother of life and peace.

CHAPTER 5. OF THE MURDER OF THE HOLY MÂR SHŪBHĪL-ĪSHŌ AND OF THE GLORIOUS TESTIMONY OF HIS CORONATION

1 If the covenant of our freedom from death, and sin, and Satan was written with blood on
the top of the mount of Golgotha in the body of Jesus, Who collated it, and signed it and
gave it to His disciples, and if they also sealed their dispensation among all nations—for
Stephen was stoned, the head of James was cut off, the brains of James the brother of our
Lord were crushed by a blow, Simon [Peter] was crucified, Paul doctrines and belief of
this sect resembled those of the Magians in many particulars. The Arabic text of the
history of Bâbak and his parentage, etc., is given by Flügel, Kitâb al-Fihrist, Leipzig,
1871, p. 343; see also Bâbek seine Abstammung und erstes Auftreten, by Flügel in Z. D. M.
G., Bd. xxiii. p. 531 ff. was slain, Bartholomew was flayed, the side of Thomas was torn
open, and Mār Simon, Shāhādōst and Barba'shēmīn, the heads of the throne of the Eastern
Church were slain, and others in all countries—it is then a glorious thing for disciples
to be like unto their masters, and to be shepherds slain for the sake of their flocks, and
keepers of treasure stoned for the sake of the sacred things [under their charge]; and
this is what happened also to this person worthy of all good things, our holy father Mār
Shūbhhāl-Īshō.

2 Now when he had remained in those countries for many years, while God planted and
watered and nourished by his hands, like the blessed Paul, he was wishing to come [back]
to the Bethel of his fathers, namely, to this monastery, and to pay back the gifts of
honour due [from him] to the monastery from which he had gone forth, and was esteeming
that which had happened [to be] a benefit [to him]—as was the selling of Joseph by his
brethren—and he forsook the fields of the doctrine of life which he had sown, and the
churches which he had founded, and the temples which he had established to the Lord, until
he could come and worship and return there. But when the Enemy, the hater of all truth,
saw that his own doctrine was made a mockery, and that the fire-temples and the fire-
altars of his cakes were pulled down, he plotted death against the blessed man by the
hands of certain workers of evil, a remnant that remained. And when they saw that he was
provided with every thing which befitted the honour of his monastery, and that he began to
go forth from thence, they went before him craftily, and sat down in ambush waiting for
him, and at a terrible spot on that road they surrounded him, and crowned him with swords.
Thus the blessed man departed from [this] laborious life, flowing with the blood of the
reproach and disgrace of the Cross, to the greatly desired chambers of Paradise.

3 And certain Christians who had become his disciples, when they had learned [these
things], went out to search for him and took his holy body, and according to their power
and knowledge, they buried him hastily in a church, and mourned for him greatly; and they
gathered together from the men who had murdered him the things which had been made for
him, vails, curtains, and stoles in which the priest administers the sacrament, which they
had taken from him, and sent them to Mār Timothy, and some of them were handed on to this
monastery. To Christ our Lord, Who made that noble athlete to be victorious, be glory and
honour, and praise, and worship, and may His mercy be upon the assembly of His worshippers
and friends for ever and ever, Amen, and Amen.

CHAPTER 6. OF MÂR YABHLÂHÂ, AND OF MÂR KARDAGH HIS BROTHER

1 From the whole circle of the Holy Scriptures we may learn that the piety of the acts of
[men's] lives which are wrought secretly, and of all the good qualities of the soul which
are perfected spiritually in the hidden man, is not by any means hidden [on the contrary,
for] God, for the gratification of Whose will [these things] have been wrought by
righteous and holy men, maketh [them] manifest straightway; and [this we know] especially
from the living mouth of our Redeemer, [Who] saith, "When thou prayest, enter into thy
chamber and shut thy door, and pray to thy Father Who is in secret, and thy Father Who
seeth in secret will reward thee openly. And He will increase and make to rejoice those of
His household in this world, and He will shew that they are His glorious [subjects] and
men united in concord by the signs and powers of healing which are wrought by them and by
their hands in every kind of way, and will reward them in the kingdom of heaven by making
them to live before His face with everlasting happiness. And this was what was wrought
upon that holy union in blessed brotherhood of body and of spirit, Rabban Yabhlāhā and
Abbā Ḳardagh his brother, the Metropolitans of the countries which have before been
mentioned in writing. Now these two blessed men [came] from Rēsh Ainā, a village of
Saphsāphā, in this country of Margā, and both became disciples together in this holy
monastery.

2 And they excelled in chastity and in all the various kinds of observances which the
sublime monastic life demandeth, the keeping of the tongue and of the passions, the
evening fast, the watching all night, the prayer for collecting the thoughts, and the
[keeping] pure the dwelling-place of Godhead, even according to the words of the blessed
Mark the monk who in these three virtues included the whole ascetic life, namely, "Let a
man cleanse his thoughts, let him pray without ceasing, and let him endure those things
which shall come [upon him]; with these three virtues were these brethren adorned. Now the
old man Ḳardagh was younger than his brother, and he was a beautiful writer; and Yabhlāhā
was a book-binder, like the blessed Mār Aḥā and his brother. And they were praised by the
tongues of all men, according to what the holy Mār Abraham told me, saying, "In the
beginning when I came [here] to be a solitary, I worked in the monastery for the whole of
the specified space of three years, and I did not know if Kṛḍagh had ever lifted his eyes
or opened them to look upon me; and I thought, concerning him," he was saying to me,
"perhaps he is blind. The labours and humility of Rabban Yahbh Allāḥā were," he was saying
to me, "more excellent than [those of] his brother, but in each one of them there was some
one thing in which the one was superior to the other."

3 Now inasmuch as the holy Mār Shūbhhāl-Īshō had finished the course of his testimony, it
was necessary that another man should be chosen to succeed him, to go and rear the flocks
which had been brought into the fold of life by the care of that holy man. And when Mār
Timothy, of pious memory, had urged this [service] upon every man who was able to do this,
and there was no one who would undertake the work for God's sake like unto that man, the
blessed Mār Catholicus was obliged to send to this monastery for these two blessed
brethren, that he might consecrate them bishops, and send them to those countries.

CHAPTER 7. OF THE CHOICE OF THE HOLY MEN TO BE SENT TO THOSE COUNTRIES (I. E. GĪLĀN AND DAILŌM)

1 We must learn and recount that many shepherds have been chosen for all parts of the
world from this holy monastery, who, through their splendid triumphs, have appeared in
their generations like unto lamps set upon the candlestick the of Church, [and we must
also learn and recount that this monastery] hath been named by the ancients the "house of
the priesthood," and the "father of the pillars of the holy Church" by reason of the men
who have in all generations gone forth [from it], and who have become shepherds set over
the flocks of Christ. And they did not only accept established and princely thrones, which
were [situated] in flourishing towns and civilized countries, but also [those of] the
countries which were destitute of all knowledge of Divine things and holy doctrine, and
which abounded in sorcery and idolatry and all corrupt and abominable practices, that they
might uproot the evil and sow the good, and drive out the darkness of error and make to
shine upon them the glorious light of their doctrine, and cast forth the devils [who were]
teachers of all uncleanness. And that this was so we may learn from the blessed Mār
Shubhhal-Īshō, and from these blessed men who succeeded him, and who because of their
labour in other matters of the ascetic life, did not wish to depart.

2 And [Mār Timothy] wrote here that the blessed Yahbhlāhā and Kardagh should go down to
him, saying that it was meet for them to preserve and rear the [fruits of the] teaching of
Mār Shubhhal-Īshō, like a goodly inheritance handed on from one brother to another,
according to what is said, "If the brother of a man die and leave a widow without
children, let his brother take his wife and raise up seed to him; in this latter case
according to the body, and in the former according to the spirit. So the two went down
according to the rule of the Church, and [Mâr Timothy] anointed them both Metropolitans,
Kardagh of Gilân and Yahbhlâhâ of the people of Dailôm. And when they came up to this
monastery to put their affairs in order, there went with them according to what I have
learned, fifteen monks [who were] holy and enlightened men, that they also might be
companions with them in the spiritual labour of the Gospel of Christ, and among those men
were those who were appointed to be Bishops of the countries beyond Gilân and Dailôm. For
I have read the letter of Mâr Timothy the Catholicus to Mâr Yahbhlâhâ and the letter which
was sent by him in answer to the Catholicus, saying, "Through thy prayers, O our father,
by the grace of Christ, many nations have been converted to the belief of the truth, and
we want to appoint Bishops over them from among the ascetics who have come with us.

3 And Mâr Catholicus wrote to them this, "Inasmuch as the ordination of a Bishop doth not
absolutely require [the presence of] three persons, and ye in your country are free from
this [regulation], ye have permission [to do so] by the power of the word of our Lord, in
which every thing standeth and is directed. Appoint as Bishops whomsoever ye and the pious
Kardagh shall choose, and in the place of the third [person who should be present], let
the Book of the Gospels be laid on the [episcopal] throne on the right hand; thus by the
hand of God perform the ordination of the first Bishop, and let others be appointed by
means of [this] third [person]. May the Divine Spirit direct and govern His
sanctifications by your means even as He did with the blessed Apostles. And when the
blessed men had received this permission from the Patriarch, they ordained and made
Thomas, Zacchaeus, Shem, Ephraim, Simon, Ananias and David, bishops of the countries which
had been taught by their hands, through the signs and mighty deeds which had been
manifested by them, no one of which, on account of their number and the remoteness of the
countries in which they were wrought and completed, have we been able to distinguish
clearly how it was worked, or in what village or city, or in whom a healing was performed,
or from whom devils and sicknesses were expelled.

4 And I think, if we were to make false or incorrect statements, and to attempt to paint a
picture of miracles which were never manifested to us, that this presumption would bring
great danger upon him that should write down something with which he was not acquainted.
Now the names of those persons among them who were elected and anointed for the episcopacy
were handed down to me by venerable old men—but more especially by the holy old man
Elisha—for they heard concerning them from the mouth of Mār Yahbhlāhā, who twice came to
this holy monastery from Dailōm, and paid to the holy monastery of his fathers the honour
which he was bound [to give]. Mār Kardagh, however, because he had penetrated far into the
countries which were beyond those where his brother was, never came back here. But now if
thou wishest to learn in part concerning the wonderful deeds which took place at their
hands, consider in thy mind, that not without cause and simply through words divorced from
deeds did those barbarian nations of daring thieves, and plunderers, and worshippers of
devils turn from their polluted religions, which were established without the labour of
fasting and prayer, and despise the customary acts of the service of hateful things, and
bow their necks to the submission of the yoke of fasting and of prayer, of vigil by
nights, and of abstinence from every [kind of] food on the stated fasts and holy
festivals.

5 How fitting is it to quote here the words of the holy monk Ammonius, the chosen Bishop
in the Church of God, who wrote in one of his letters to his disciples, saying, "For this
reason the fathers lived apart in the desert, whether it be Elijah the Tishbite or John.
Do not imagine that these men who were righteous among men were able to cultivate
righteousness while they lived among men, for they first of all dwelt in great solitude,
and thus received the power of God that it might dwell in them, and then, possessing all
virtues, God sent them among men to be His stewards, and to heal the sicknesses of men. It
was, then, only when all their own sicknesses had been healed, that they were sent, for it
is not possible that a soul possessing any defect whatever should be sent among mankind
for edification. And I, your father, also say, because I have written these things to you,
that I endured a great fight in the desert and in the mountain, and then [only] did I
arrive at this condition [of perfection]. Thus far according to the words of the blessed
Ammonius.

6 Now this pair of holy men having been first of all healed [of their own sicknesses], and
having gathered together treasure of the good things of heaven by tranquil solitude and by
labours of asceticism in this holy monastery, were then sent forth as apostles by God to
the countries of the heathen to make their souls to live. And they became like rays of
light from the height of the eminence of their course of life, and the pure lamps of their
doctrine were shining brightly, being set not under the bushel and measure of
sluggishness, but upon a candlestick, and they lightened all the ends of the East. And
like the blessed Apostles in their days, they also taught the erring nations by the piety
of their daily life, and by abstinence from every [kind of] food, as the canon of the
doctrine of our Lord requireth, Who when His disciples asked Him, "Why were we not able to
heal him?" said distinctly, "This kind goeth not out except by fasting and by prayer."

7 And, moreover, the bread which is in those countries is made of rice, for the blessed
family of wheat and barley is not found there, and there is nothing except rice and other
kinds of dry grain, and this we have learned from the mouth of Mâr Yahbhlâhâ, of holy
memory, for the old men Hênân-Îshô' and Elisha told me that he said, "As I began my
journey to come here I arrived at [the dwelling of] the pious Mâr Ḥabbibhâ, the
Metropolitan of the city of Râi, and when I had partaken of food and bread made of wheat I
became exceedingly sick, because I was accustomed in those countries to a diet of rice-
bread." And when [these men] had laboured in that uncultivated country for many years, and
had spread abroad the Gospel of our Lord in those rational countries, and had taught, and
converted, and baptized and sanctified many, they all of them ended their days there, and
[their names] were written down with the first-born, [whose names] are written down in
heaven, in the Book of the Kingdom, and happiness is laid up for them with the Prophets,
and Apostles, and teachers, and martyrs, by whose prayers may our Lord make priesthood to
be at peace with royalty; and may wars be abolished from the ends of the earth, and may
our Lord give to the whole world, and especially to His Holy Church, of His hope, and rest
and peace from all conflicts, and may we all lift up praise to the Father, and the Son,
and the Holy Spirit, for ever, Amen.

CHAPTER 8. OF THE BLESSED MĀR ELIJAH, BISHOP OF MŪKĀN [AND OF THE COUNTRIES OF THE BARBARIANS]

1 Now having walked along the path of words in the histories of holy men, step by step, as
along a ladder, and having revealed according to the sufficiency of my feeble knowledge,
certain of their triumphs and noble deeds, I have now arrived at, and drawn near to enter
into the Paradise, full of the blossoms and the beautiful odours of the glorious acts of
our holy father Mār Elijah, the simple but wise man, the untutored but full of
understanding, the ignorant in speech but enlightened in mind, for he lacked nothing in
his humility [to prevent my] speech from exalting him above teachers. And, moreover, when
the scribes and priests [of old] considered that the simple fishermen, the Apostles his
fathers, were unlettered and ignorant men, the Apostles rejoiced that they were worthy to
be spoken evil of for the sake of their Lord. Now this blessed twig was the produce of the
gardening of the divine Mār Jacob, and his village was 'Ain Bakrē in the country of Margā;
and having forsaken it and all the things of earth, his city to-day is heaven, and his
companions are the Prophets and Apostles and Martyrs and all the ascetic Fathers, the
glorious manner of whose lives he emulated. Now when he had elected to devote himself to
the labours of the ascetic life, he himself invented a distinct manner of life, and held
fast to it from the beginning of his discipleship;

2 for he possessed neither cell, nor place for storing his things, nor [any house] built
with mud walls, and having a roof with thick beams and a framework with strong rafters,
nor any place which needed repairs, or expenses, or watching [against] falling down
suddenly, or shocks, but [he built a hut] of reeds and grass and of bands [made] of the
thin, pliant branches of trees similar to that which watchers of vineyards, and husbandmen
and gardeners make for themselves, of sufficient [width] to cover his body, and of
sufficient [height for him] to stand up and pray, and to perform those things which must
needs be done by all those who are fettered by the flesh and its needs. And he surrounded
his booth with a hedge made of reeds and narrow [strips] of wood, and [he made] a door of
reeds similar to that which they make for sheep-folds, and whether he was inside or out,
it was always fastened by a fastening and shut. Now he possessed no utensils, for having
reduced himself to the lowest depth of voluntary poverty, such things, which were held to
be of great value by others, appeared to him superfluous; but he had a broken vessel, in
which he used to put the dry crust of bread upon which he lived, and an earthenware jar
into which he cast salt seasoned with wild thyme.

3 In [the court-yard of] his cell he had a well without a rope and without a bucket, and
he made use of a long reed to supply the place of a rope, and on the top of this he tied a
small jar, and each evening he used to take his crust of bread, and sit by the well, and
draw up water and pour over it, and he ate and it was sufficient for him; but as for
[other] foods or wine they never entered his cell, neither did he make use of them. The
garments which were on his body were alike his clothing and his bed, though his ascetic
mode of life did not need a bed; but a seat against the wall—according to what I have
learned from the pious and holy Mâr Abraham—served as a sleeping place for him, even
according to the words of the holy Mâr Evagrius, "Voluntary poverty is this, that a man
shall possess nothing except a cloak, a tunic, a Bible, and a cell. Now when he went to
the congregation on stated days, he used to take the Bible which he read with him in his
cloak, and lay it upon the Kestrómâ of the temple until he went back to his cell [when] he
took it with him;

4 but his cell he left [unguarded] without fear, according to the words of the blessed
Evagrius, "The man that hath prepared himself for voluntary poverty dwelleth in peace of
mind," and again he saith, "The monk who hath embraced voluntary poverty is a swift
traveller; let him dwell wherever he wishes without fear. Such things concerning his
voluntary poverty and asceticism we have thus briefly related. 5 verbum vendidi, quod
jubet, vende omnia, et da pauperibus." Rosweyde, Vitae Patrum, p. 582, No. 5.
"Interrogatus est senex quidam à fratre, quid faceret ut salvus esset. Ille autem
exspolians se vestimento suo, et cingens lumbos suos, atque extendens manus, dixit: Sic
debet nudus esse monachus ab omni materiâ saeculari, et crucifigere se adversus
tentationem atque certamina mundi." Rosweyde, op. cit., p. 583, No. 16. The quotations
from Evagrius made by Thomas of Margâ probably form part of the monachos e peri praktikes,
extracts from which are given by Cotelerius, Eccles. Graec. Monumenta, tom. iii. pp.
68–102; by Bigot, Palladii De Vita S. Joh. Chrysostomi dialogus, 1680, pp. 349–355; and by
Galland in his seventh volume of Bibliotheca Patrum; see also philokalia ton ieron
neptikon, 1782, fol. pp. 41 and 46ff. upotutopis monachike didaskousa pos dei askein kai
esuchazein and kephalaia peri diakriseos pathon kai logismon.

CHAPTER 9. OF THE SUBLIME KINDS OF PRAYER WITH WHICH HE ENRICHED HIS SOUL

1 Among all the virtues cultivated by holy men there is none greater and more excellent
than the wonderful work of prayer, for prayer maketh the pure mind at one with God, and
maketh the whole man a deified and spiritual being. It removeth him that giveth himself
continually to it from earth, and from the anxious care which is upon it; it made the
Prophets to be victorious; it sanctified the Apostles; it entered with the Martyrs into
every kind of contest, and by it they conquered the threats of kings and terrible
torments; it made them like asbestos before the fire, and they became like wood and
creatures without feeling under the various tortures of every [kind of] affliction; and it
protected the recluses, and anchorites, and ascetics in desert places, which were full of
every [kind of] harmful assaults of devils, and evil animals, and noxious reptiles. For
when our Lord Jesus, the Cause of the redemption of our nature, walked upon earth on our
behalf in the days of His dispensation, and was teaching, and commanding, and exhorting
the keeping of all the virtues which are in His Gospel with His living mouth, He shewed
forth in His own Person the effectual working of prayer, going at one time to the mountain
desert [by day], and at another to a solitary wilderness to pass the night alone, so that
by His immunity from the sounds and sights which confuse the understanding, and by His
solitude, He might assist [His] occupation in divine things.

2 On account of this the holy fathers the monks were more anxious about this than any
other virtue, and they have taught us to do as they did, for the blessed Mark the monk
saith, "Being men subject to passions it is meet that we subject ourselves to prayer; he
that subdueth himself with the subjection of prayer is a wise athlete, for by means of his
remoteness from things which can be felt by the senses, he sheweth forth openly the strife
which is hidden. And again he saith, "There is nothing so powerful to help as prayer, and
there is nothing which profiteth like unto it in respect of the Will of God, for it
containeth the whole doing of the commandments; the prayer which is without wandering is a
sign of the love of God to him that endureth patiently. And again the holy Evagrius saith,
"We are not commanded to watch and fast at all times, but that we should pray continually
is a law laid down for us; for those who would heal the part which is liable to affections
and passions need the labour of the body."

3 And again the blessed Abbâ Macarius, on being asked by the brethren, "Which of the
labours of the ascetic life hath a reward? answered thus:—"There is nothing more sublime
than the continuing in prayer. To the very end the devils will wish to abolish [prayer],
for they know that their artifices are made of none effect thereby. And the holy Abbâ
Isaiah places endurance in prayer above all the glorious acts of the ascetic life, and
thus also saith the blessed Expositor in his book on the Mysteries, "Every prayer that is
[made] is a teaching concerning life to every one who is careful and knoweth [how] to
regard that which is fitting. And again he saith, "Let him that is solicitous for [a life
of] excellence, and is careful to do those things which please God, have anxious regard
unto prayer more than unto any [other] thing; for it is manifest that the man who is not
careful for even one virtue, and is not anxious to do those things which please God, will
also be sluggish in respect of prayer. Wherefore also the holy Rabban Mâr Elijah, to whose
noble deeds we bring back our simple narrative, aiming at the mark of the holy fathers, or
rather having already entered into the experience of its efficacy, and felt through it all
the hidden treasures [which are] hidden in the Books of the Spirit, knew and understood
that without it a man was not able to be perfect in the service of the ascetic life.

4 And he yoked himself to it from the beginning of his going into the cell, and he joined
to it bodily labours and the concentration of the mind, having learned from the blessed
Mark the monk, that every prayer in which the body hath not laboured is accounted to be an
abortion and imperfect in its bodily form. And because these two fierce contentions resist
the man who has yoked his mind to the concentration which is in prayer, that is to say,
disturbed wandering of the mind, and vacillating perplexity, Elijah was armed mightily,
for he listened to the blessed Evagrius, who said, "If thou hast overcome the wandering of
the mind, the aim of all aims, thou art worthy of perfection. Now concerning the pious and
holy man [Mâr Elijah], Mâr Abraham the Catholicus told me that he had made himself
accustomed to live in a dark spot in his cell, and that in it he used to perform all his
seasons of prayer. And to every verse of the psalm which he said he joined a "Hallelujah!
Glory be to Thee, O God," in such a way that his mind was compelled to think about the
verse which was coming next and that he might not be distracted in prayer.

5 And he used to do this so that by reason of [his] too ready facility in calling the
verse to mind, it might not be too easy for his mind to wander during his prayers, and to
forget the verse which should follow, and that when, at the end of every verse, the mouth
followed with, "Hallelujah! Glory be to Thee, O God," his mind might be compelled to make
[one] verse follow the other in proper order. And because without the concentration of the
mind divine intuition doth not give itself to the understanding so that the understanding
may enter into the bosom of a divine intuition and the ascetic cannot find the shadowless
Galilee, he made his understanding prepared for seeing [God], even as one of the saints
saith, "The moon is not equal in all its periphery except at full moon," and he asked
those who observe the mind by prayer if there were any corners in their country. And
because it hath been said by the holy fathers "One word near is better than a thousand
afar off," he cared less about the quantity of the Psalms [which he sang] than for the
doubling of the riches and concentration of the thoughts which were in his mind, and it
was superfluous to him that others said the psalter of David twice in a day and night,
while their minds were building up, and hiding, and judging, and condemning, and buying,
and selling.

6 Such were the advantages which this most praiseworthy man learned for himself, who
although he was little cultivated in the Scriptures, and only [knew] the psalms, and
responses, and the ordinary lessons for the day, yet included all the commandments in one
[act, viz.,] voluntary renunciation of every thing, and the crucifixion of the mind
against all [disturbing] thoughts. And when by means of great wrestling after many years
he was freed from this defect of wandering [in prayer], he cleansed and purified his
heart, and from this time and onward he forsook the first step of the ascetic life, and he
changed his manner of life to the singing of psalms without ceasing, being silent neither
day nor night. For the holy Mâr Abraham, who more than any was acquainted with every thing
concerning him, told me that even when he was wearied in sleep his mouth was not silent,
but was singing psalms audibly, and that whilst his soul was answering with secret
hallelujahs, his mouth sang psalms as he dreamed. And as that holy soul was [engaged] in
all the spiritual and external service of the Spirit, and was dwelling in that aged and
ascetic body, that strife which existed between the spirit and the flesh, and the flesh
and the spirit, ceased, and his two natures (lit. manhoods) were swallowed up in the
desire for the happiness of the life which is to come.

7 And in proportion as the body languished, and his labour became less, his soul was
lifted up to heaven on the wings of the spirit, as the holy Abbâ Isaiah wrote, saying,
"The soul that hath walked worthily by the might of Christ, and hath departed from [this]
world, delighteth itself in these countries whither pinions incapable of sufferings have
borne it."

CHAPTER 10. OF THE ELECTION OF THE HOLY MÂR ELIJAH TO BE BISHOP OF MÔKÂN A CITY OF THE BARBARIANS

1 There is a certain city called Môkân, which is [situated] in a country to the north-
east, near to the border of the peoples of Dailôm, and its inhabitants are barbarians, and
they worship dumb animals. Now when the pious Mâr Timothy had anointed and sent the holy
Metropolitans Mâr Yabhlâhâ and Kardagh to Gilân and Dailôm, he wisely determined that he
would appoint to the city of Môkân also a shepherd and prosperous husbandman to cultivate
the rational souls that were therein, which had been led captive by the Calumniator from
days of old. And because he knew by experience, and had found out in very deed that men of
might and athletes of valour had gone forth from the divine congregation of the holy Mâr
Jacob, and because from these men Mâr Catholicus had appointed fitting persons to all
regions and cities [of the world], and because by them wonderful acts of power and
glorious cures had been made manifest, he chose from this stock to send to that city also
a rod of power as out of Zion, that he might obtain dominion over the demons and devils
which were in that wretched city, [where] the sore of destruction had spread abroad. And
because he had heard about the extraordinary manner of life of the blessed Elijah, he
wrote a letter to him with love and patience, like a wise father to a son who can be
easily persuaded, [telling him] to come down to him and he would appoint him Bishop of the
city of Môkân.

2 And the pious Elijah answered, saying, "I cannot receive consecration except in the holy
temple in which I am, and I would that this [rite] be performed upon me on the holy first
day of the week of Pentecost," [wishing] in his simplicity that [he might receive the
rite] on the day in which the blessed Apostles received the gifts of the Holy Spirit. And
although the time which Mâr Elijah appointed [appeared] to be afar off to the quickened
readiness of the Catholicus, Mâr Timothy put off the time until the day of Pentecost, and
he wrote to the pious Nestorius, Metropolitan of Adiabene, who came here (i. e., to Bêth
Âbhe) and ordained Mâr Elijah in this temple according to his will; and Mâr Elijah went
down to Mâr Timothy who confirmed him, and sent him off with certain merchants who were
going into the countries in which Môkân was situated. And the blessed Mâr Abraham the
Catholicus related to me concerning him, that instead of a cross on his neck he used to
hang upon his breast a complete Book of the Gospels in a small size; and he took with him
a cross of brass which, when he required to sing the psalms where he passed the night, he
placed on the top of the staff which was in his hand, and he used to drive it into the
ground in front of him and pray, and in this manner he acted when he was travelling in
terrible places.

3 Now when he was going along the road with the merchants in several companies, and he was
following at some distance behind that he might have an opportunity of [singing] a psalm,
a certain man had a mule which he was [trying] to keep close to the other animals (now
this mule had a heavy load upon his back), and when he was going up through a high, rough
and rocky pass, his foot slipped off the rugged rock, and the hoof of his foot was
wrenched off and put out of its place. And when the holy Mâr Elijah came up to the man and
asked him the reason of his staying behind his companions, behold he wept, and cried and
rent his garments, and shewed the spiritual physician the hoof of his animal which had
fallen off. Now because that holy old man in the time of his old age made use of olive oil
with his dry crust by reason of the cold and feebleness which had fallen upon his stomach
through [eating] dry bread and salt, he had with him in his cloak a phial of oil. And he
answered and said to the owner of the mule, "Weep not, my son, neither be mournful, for
God will heal thy mule easily.

4 And he said to him, "Bring me the hoof," and he took it, and poured upon it [some of]
the oil for his food, and salt of wild thyme which he ate, and he laid it upon the leg of
the mule, and made the sign of the Cross over it, and said to the man, "Lead on quickly in
the name of the Lord, that he may not remain behind his companions; thus he bestowed
healing on the animal and joy upon his master. And this was known to all that company of
people which was journeying with him into that country, and they praised and confessed the
mighty power of Christ by Whose disciples sicknesses were healed without medicines and
without drugs.

CHAPTER 11.

1 Of the going in of the blessed mâr elijah to the city of môkân, and of his preaching in
it, [and of his return to this monastery, and of the end of his life]. 2 Now when by the
hand of God his helper the holy Mâr Elijah arrived at that city of the heathen, and went
into it, and saw that the name of God, the Lord of all, and confession of Him did not
exist therein at all, but that all the people that were in it offered up worship to dumb
trees and senseless stones, and that it was destitute even of the Arabs and Jews who
confess One God, the Creator of heaven and earth, he offered up prayer ceaselessly to
Christ our Lord on their behalf, that He, Who according to the custom of His graciousness
and longsuffering had brought all nations to the worship of His Godhead, might by his
means, as by the hand of the Apostles, give to those people a new heart and a new spirit,
that they might despise the images and senseless forms which they worshipped, and be
converted to the knowledge of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

3 And together with all these [prayers] which he made on their behalf he bore suffering in
his heart, and he placed the cross which [he had] with him upon the top of the staff which
was in his hand, and during the whole day he went round about in the streets and lanes of
the whole city, and preached to the inhabitants with a loud voice, saying, "O men, who
have erred from the true knowledge of God, God the Lord of all hath sent me to you to turn
you from the error in which ye live. Ye have served enough those things which from their
nature are not gods, for without knowledge, and by the agency of daring devils, have ye
offered the worship which was due to your Lord to the trees which the earth maketh to grow
up for your honour. And having gone round and about the whole day in this preaching of
Life, every evening he used to go forth outside the city, and fix the cross [upon his
staff], and sing the service for the night and pray until dawn; and when it was morning,
and they opened the gates, and [the people] came forth, and saw that he sat openly before
the cross they marvelled and were astonished. Now in those days when he came to them,
according to the Divine command and the curse of Jeremiah, the evening wolves gained the
mastery over them, and all persons who were left outside the [city] wall were devoured
mercilessly.

4 And the people having compassion upon him said to the blessed man, "Pass the night with
us inside the wall that the wolves devour thee not. And he answered and said to them, "The
God Whom I serve will protect me from the wolves; and this [thing] became to them a great
wonder. And when he had tilled, and ploughed, and thrown up [the furrows], and cast the
grains of the living wheat of the doctrine of our Lord into their ears, and had covered
them up and made [the ground] smooth, he did not gather from them the fruit which he
expected, but at one time they mocked at him, and at another they laughed at him. Then the
good and merciful God Who saw his labour and toil on their behalf, brought upon them the
sickness which is called "Sharʿûṭâ", and their bodies were smitten with ulcers and
tumours. And when Mâr Elijah saw them in the depth of their infirmity and saw that they
were nigh unto death, he demanded from them that [in return for] the healing of their
bodies, [they should] worship his God, and they by reason of the affliction which they
were suffering promised, saying, "We will do this at once, and we will become servants of
that God Who is able to give us healing, and we will cast aside all our [present] objects
of worship, and elect Him [in their stead].

5 And he blessed the oil [taken] from the phial which he had upon him, and by prayer, and
the sign of the Cross, and the making mention of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy
Ghost, he healed them all. Now when they were healed of this sickness by the grace of God,
and they had seen the mighty deeds and miracles which [Mâr Elijah] worked among the sick,
and the devils which he drove out of many [people], their hearts were softened to hearken
unto his doctrine. And he began to speak before them concerning God, the Lord of all, and
concerning the coming of our Lord Christ into the world, and they were converted by his
words, and by the love of his God, and they answered him with one voice, saying, "We have
Yazd, whom our grandfathers, fathers and ourselves have worshipped, and we are afraid of
the injuries which he may do unto us, lest peradventure when we deny him, he may destroy
our lives. If, however, thy God, in Whom thou hast made us to place our trust—for He is
[God alone], and there is none other besides Him, and we also have chosen to be His
servants and worshippers—is able to slay and destroy him, behold then we are before thee
like matter before the handicraftsman, and it is in thy power to do with us according to
thy will.

6 Now the holy Mâr Abraham told me—even as if he were standing before God the Lord of all,
with His holy angels as witnesses, and I set down [here] his words without alteration—that
when those people had said this to the blessed man, he answered and said to them, "Where
is this Yazd, the son of a whore, whom ye and your fathers have served? And they went with
him and shewed him from the top of a hill a mighty oak tree, situated in a valley, which
was called the "chief of the forest," and which owing to length of time and the care with
which they had tended it, had grown to a great height, and had acquired great breadth in
its girth, and great density of foliage. And he asked for an axe, and they brought him
[one], and he girded up his loins, and rolled up the sleeves of his tunic, and he took the
axe like a warrior, and went down to the tree, more especially, however, against the devil
which dwelt therein, and lifting up his voice in the courage of his confidence, saying,
"The voice of the Lord moveth the hinds to calve, and uprooteth the trees of the forest,"
he lifted up his axe and brandished it against the tree. And he did it a second time, and
a third time, and the tree fell, and he hewed down all its ancient strength and thickness
with three strokes of the axe;

7 and he smote and cut down also the rest of the branches which were round about it, and
which those erring people called the "children of Yazd. And he lifted up his voice, and
with his hand he made signs to those people to come down to him, and they did so, and they
gathered together reeds, and pieces of bramble and pieces of dry wood, and laid them on
the tree and upon its branches, and burnt them up, and thus the error of that devil
ceased. And they all lifted up their voices and glorified God Who had made the blessed Már
Elijah to preach to them, as did those [men] who in the days of Elijah the Prophet mocked
at Baal and destroyed all his priests; in that case heathen priests were destroyed, and in
this case false gods, which by the error of their reproof made devils to abound to the
destruction and annihilation of those who were obedient unto them. And after the burning
of their images of accursed devils they all went up to that city, being glad and rejoicing
in the victory which the soldier of Christ, who had been sent for the conversion and life
of their souls, had wrought.

8 And they all began to build the glorious building of a church, and Mâr Elijah ordered it
with all its arrangements, and he baptized many of them, and ordained them priests and
deacons, and he wrote out psalms for them, and taught them the responses, and thus little
by little they became virtuous, and increased, and the grace of Christ grew and dwelt in
them. And they received the conviction in their hidden nature that they were in very truth
converted from error to the light of life, and they laid fast hold upon the ordinances of
the seasons of prayer, and the receiving of the Holy Mysteries, and they were sanctified
in their manner of life, and the sun of the mind of God shone upon them, Who called them
and brought them near, and made them members of His household. And when they were
confirmed in their hope, and had become members of the household of this man in all the
ordering of the Christians, that blessed man praised and glorified [God], and gave thanks
unto our Lord, that the first seed which he had sowed in his plot of ground had come up in
seed buds, and had given birth to ears, and had produced wheat and a granary full of wheat
and grain. And when he had tarried with them for many years, the holy man was minded to
come to this country to worship in the holy monastery of the house of his fathers, and to
return.

9 And when he had done this, and had come here, he shewed to all his brethren the
conversion of those erring nations which, by his hands, had been converted to life and
redemption, and how he had built for them a church, and how he had baptized and sanctified
them, and [how] they had become participators in his joy in divine gratitude for these
things. And Mâr Jacob the Bishop of the country of Margâ, came to this monastery with
certain well-known believers of this country, and he and the whole assembly of monks
entreated him not to leave this country to return there before he had gone round about
through it, and had blessed its inhabitants, and healed the sick, and visited the smitten
that were in it; and certain old and venerable brethren of the congregation were appointed
to go round about with him from village to village. And the pious Bishop Jacob wrote to
all the believers, saying, "Behold I have entreated the pious and holy Mâr Elijah, Bishop
of Môkân, the strenuous soldier of virtue and the doer of mighty deeds, to go forth and
round about among all the villages which ye inhabit that ye may be blessed by his
holiness. Now therefore any one of you who hath any [cause for] judgment, or who wisheth
to receive the laying on of hands for grades of the Holy Church, hath the power to settle
the idle matters of his contention before Mâr Elijah and to receive ecclesiastical
ordination.

10 And the venerable old man Sergius said to me, "I was one of those who accompanied him
from the monastery, and when all the believing men heard [of him] they came out to meet us
from a great distance, and they brought us into their churches with service and honour,
and a great crowd accompanied us from one village to another; and he healed and made whole
the sick and the afflicted, and cast out devils by the word of his mouth. And heathen and
Jews came to be blessed by him, and by his means the praise of God increased in the mouth
of the inhabitants of this country who saw the sick that were made whole, and the deaf and
the dumb who heard and spake. Now of all his wonders and mighty deeds which he wrought in
this country I can only describe and write down one or two, but from these the reader will
understand concerning all the mighty deeds of his wonderful acts and boldness of speech
with Christ Who made him victorious. And that trustworthy old man Sergius, who went about
with him through the whole country said, "He never sat upon an ass during the whole [time]
of our going round about through this country. Now he acted thus all his life, for he
walked upon his feet at an easy pace, and a psalm was never absent from his mouth.

11 And at the words Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost," which
[came] between each marmithâ, he used to bow down and prostrate himself to the ground as a
mark of honour, and he did not refrain from this even when he was [walking] upon stones,
or briars or any other [thorny] growth, and at every place [in the psalm] where he ought
to say the Gloria, he bowed down until he touched the ground with his head. Now when he
had arrived at the city of Shahrai, the people saw him and came forth to meet him from
this village, and they begged and entreated him to go into the house of a poor Arab woman
who was afflicted with an evil devil, and pray for her, and he did so. And when we had
gone in he commanded me to say, 'Peace', and he himself prayed and made the sign of the
cross before the woman, who was in great affliction and was beaten so mightily by that
devil that four women were [obliged to] hold her and to kneel upon her that the devil
might not break her to pieces with the blows and beatings with which he rent her. Now the
devil through the mouth of that woman began [to give utterance] in the Arabic tongue to
wicked blasphemies and horrible abuse of the blessed man.

12 And since he wore hung round his neck the Book of the Gospels instead of a cross",
(even as I have written in a preceding passage), "he brought it forth from his bosom, and
laid it on the breast of that woman, at the same time anathematising and adjuring the
devil to come forth from that woman. And when the devil had acted with great insolence,
and had contended against the command of the holy man,—now the holy man was ordering him
to depart from her with quietness,—his answers began to fail little by little. And he
answered in the Arabic tongue and said to the blessed man, Where dost thou command me to
go, O bishop? And the blessed man answered and said to him, "For the sake of our Lord,
thou wilt not be restrained until thou goest to Harran, and moreover, by the word of our
Lord thou art bound not to return to this woman again. And as the entire village being
gathered together, was listening to the words of the holy man, and the answers of that
devil to his speech, the devil began to go forth from her, and he cried out in Arabic,
saying, "Ho, let us go to Harran, ho, let us go to Harran," many times, "the road is
before us, let us go to Harran.

13 And we heard his voice as he cried out in the air, going towards the west, for a long
time, and [then] little by little his voice died away and became inaudible to us in the
distance. And fear and trembling laid hold upon all those that were there, and they began
to glorify Christ and to magnify his servant the blessed Mâr Elijah; and that woman
received a complete cure, and she confessed the power of Christ, and lived freed from the
attacks of the devil a life of gratitude to Christ our Lord, and she proclaimed, "There is
no true belief except among the holy Christian people." 14 And again, another woman
entrusted an exceedingly valuable pledge to a neighbour, and when she demanded it back
from her she denied her, saying, "Thou hast never given any pledge to me, and I cannot pay
it back. And the defrauded woman drew nigh to this blessed man, and he sent and called the
other woman, and said to her, "Behold, the pledge which thy neighbour gave thee is lying
in such and such a place in thy house, bring it hither, and defraud her not lest the anger
of the Lord come upon thee; and when she saw that she was made a mockery, she at once
returned to that woman the things which belonged to her, that she might not be exposed in
other matters also. Now very many other things were wrought by the holy man which I need
not take the trouble to write down, because I only wish to receive some small blessing
from the glorious deeds of these holy men, and to pass on. And when he had gone round
about throughout all this country, and had been blessed in his holy steps and had made
judicial decisions, and ordained priests and deacons, he came into this monastery.

15 Now when God the Lord of all saw his troubles and afflictions, and the length of his
years, and the greatness of his age, in order that he might not die in exile, far away
from the house of his fathers, like the blessed Moses whom He buried on Mount Nebo that he
might not be disturbed by the war of the Canaanites, and the slaughter of insolent kings,
He willed that this blessed man also should rest from a life full of anxiety and care; and
he fell sick of a slight ailment, and so departed from [this] temporary life to the
enjoyment of everlasting life. And our holy father Mâr Abraham the Catholicus told me,
saying, "While many of us were gathered together about him at the hour of his departure,
he sat and spake with us concerning his separation from us. And he commanded us to say the
response of baptism [which runs], The doors of the spiritual marriage chamber are opened
for the absolution of men," while he sat with his hands laid upon his knees. And when we
had come [to the passage] "Enter in then ye that are called to the joy which hath been
prepared for you," he opened his mouth three times [to join in the singing], and his soul
departed from his body with the joy which was prepared for him.

16 And marvelling we understood that he actually saw and beheld with the hidden eye of his
mind the happiness which had been prepared for him, and that it was because of this he had
asked us to sing this baptismal response, and that the rest and happiness which is laid up
for the righteous baptized firstborn whose [names] are written down in heaven had assumed
a visible form. And he was buried with great ceremony and honour by all the congregation
of his sons and brethren, and he was laid with the rest of the Bishops and Metropolitans
who were before him in the martyrium of this monastery; and is made ready for him with
those who are of like rank and garb the enjoyment of heaven, namely the just and righteous
in whose footsteps he walked, and in whose manner of life he triumphed. Glory be to Christ
our Lord Who made him victorious, and may mercy be shewn upon us sinners by his prayers in
this world, and may we participate in his enjoyment in that which is to come, Amen.

CHAPTER 12. THE HISTORY OF THE BLESSED MÂR NARSAI (NARSES), BISHOP OF THE CITY OF SHENNÂ

1 Now every spiritual gift cometh down from above from the Father of lights, according to
the words of the divine James in the Catholic Epistle, and the light which shineth upon
our holy temples beareth the mark of spiritual knowledge, according to the affirmation of
Evagrius the spiritual philosopher, and according to David, the prophet of the Spirit who
said to God, "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path," and the Lord of
the Prophets and Apostles stated definitely that He was 'the Light of the world', and
that, even as the Scriptures say, "Rivers of living water should flow from the belly" of
whomsoever believeth in Him. It is well known then that all the holy men who were authors
of works upon the healthful doctrine of orthodoxy, whether of history, or doctrine, or
prayer, or admonition, have drunk from the abundant streams of the sweetness of the
Gospel, which like the breath of life is placed for the cooling of their bitterness. And
they have filled the Church with the spiritual light of the glorious rays of their
understanding, and they have enlightened the assemblies of its children, and they have
made them to know and to understand that while they make use of those footsteps they must
set their own feet in the paths which lead to the height above, where Christ our Lord
sitteth on the right hand [of God], and maketh intercession for them, although they do not
actually make perfect this ascent except by mysteries and types.

2 And I also, who am subject to all passions, have been obliged through the entreaty of
many to write down also the history of the blessed and holy Mâr Narses, Bishop of the city
of Kârdîlâbhâdh, which is Shennâ dhê Bêth Rammân, and to teach it together with those of
the holy men his companions. And because I am a man lacking all wisdom, from the Light,
the Father of light, according to the words of the holy and wise Dionysius, I ask for a
gift and the bestowal of power, to enable me to speak and to enter into the sanctuary of
the victorious deeds of the holy man concerning whom our speech hath made ready to praise.
And I beg and entreat that as He hath bestowed a gift upon others to the praise and
glorification of His saints, he will also bestow upon me a sinner, full of hypocrisy
through his hateful deeds, a gift that I may speak, if it be only in part, concerning some
of the noble deeds of the blessed Mâr Narses, the member of His household.

3 Moreover, I would make known unto those who come across these histories, that according
to what I have learned from the gentle-souled Eustathius, the Archdeacon of the holy Mâr
Abraham the Catholicus, at the time when he and I were deacons of the Catholicus in the
city of the kingdom of the world, after the death of the elect and holy Mâr Narses, that
by the encouragement of Bûrzâdh his father, the head of the church at Shennâ, he collected
the [accounts of] his noble deeds and sent them to Rabban Ḥabbibhâ, the teacher of the
monastery of Mâr Gabriel, that he might weave them into a crown, and glorify them in a
history. Now Rabban Ḥabbibhâ having departed from the manner of diction which historical
narrative requireth, composed an account in metrical discourses which were to be sung to
the 'fourth tone'—a style of composition which doth not at all aid [the writer] to make
known acts of piety and persecutions, and moreover this style is appropriate for hymns and
for the sweet penitential compositions which are sung to tunes, but not for history. "And
when we had seen it", he saith, "we rejected it, and we did not miss it, and the leaves
were torn by reason of the lapse of time, and because it was not suitable we have not
copied it into our book.

4 But I will now set down in writing, for the gratification of those who have commanded
me, some of the things which I have learned from Eustathius, and from the monks who lived
in the holy Monastery of Abbá Simon of Shenná, but more especially from the aged monks who
were to be found in my days in the holy monastery of Běth Ábhé, and from the Tigris
boatmen and fishermen whom I have seen; and taking refuge in the prayers of those who told
me the stories, and of those who commanded me to write them, and of readers, and
listeners, I will go into the sweet-smelling garden laid out and cultivated by the holy
Mâr Narses, and I will write briefly about him, even as I have written about his
companions, some few matters to commemorate his holiness.


THE BOOK OF GOVERNORS (CHAPTERS 13. OF THE ORIGIN OF THE BLESSED MÂR NARSES AND OF HIS COMING TO THIS MONASTERY–3. OF THE DEPARTURE OF THE HOLY CYPRIAN FROM THE DESERT TO AN ISLAND OF GREECE)
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THE BOOK OF GOVERNORS continued

CHAPTER 13. OF THE ORIGIN OF THE BLESSED MÂR NARSES AND OF HIS COMING TO THIS MONASTERY

1 There was in the country of Běth Běghásh a famous village called Zám, the inhabitants of
which were warriors, and they all were mighty men of valour. Not only did they pursue
thieves, and make raids, but they also shewed themselves fierce and disobedient to the
royal officers who came to them for the imperial taxes, and many of them they fearlessly
drove away with blows. From this village then came the blessed man, whose noble deeds I am
about to relate, and he and his brother whose name was Shalmân, and his only sister sprang
from a family of believers, and from people who were prosperous as regards the affairs of
this world. And the manner of life of each brother was as different as that of the blessed
Jacob and of Esau, for Shalmân carried a sword and shed the blood, not of the good but of
wicked men. And because the Kharêwâyê had at that time begun [to commit acts] of
destruction and theft, Shalmân armed himself, and having gathered together a body of men,
he put an end to many of the Kharêwâyê by cutting off their heads. And the rumour is
reported of him that every day in which he did not lie down upon the skull of some
malefactor whom he had slain with his own hands as upon a pillow, his food was without
taste and unpleasant to him.

2 And like Esau he was a man of the chase and a man of the desert, but his brother, the
holy Narses, elected to live the ascetic life in an admirable manner, and he firmly
stamped into himself—like the impression on a dinâr—the [qualities] of the blessed Jacob,
gentleness and sweetness, and praiseworthy obedience to his parents. Now their sister
became the wife of the honourable Shâhdôst from the country of Dâsen, who was born at Beth
Gâwzâ, and who begat by her the honourable Nâ'mân, that great and famous and rich man, who
accepted many offices of government and received dominion over countries from Zuraik and
[from] his fathers [who were] governors of Mōṣul and of all the north, and who during the
time of his rule made great gifts to the Church, and to her children, and to her
directors. And when Rabban Mār Narses had become a young man, having by the care and pains
taken about him by his parents been trained in the Holy Scriptures in the church of their
native village, at which time each man turneth to the right hand or to the left according
to the nature which is implanted in his earthy composition, and sheweth in his manner of
life either nobility or depravity of nature, he elected to become a disciple [of purity],
and left the house of his fathers, and all the wealth of their possessions;

3 and he despised the love of brethren and of relatives, and came to the holy monastery of
Bēth Ābhē, and worked in the monastery, as the canons of the Fathers order; and it came to
pass that an accident happened to the advantage of himself and for the benefit of the
purity of the body with which he was clothed. Now when he was with the other monks his
companions shaking down the olives from the olive trees in the large garden of the
community, having gone up into one of the trees he slipped down between the fork of the
branches, and his testicles were crushed. And he fell into a severe illness and these
members had to be cut off from him altogether, and 4 and a safe-conduct, (Ya'kubī p. 564,
l. 18). When Zuraik came to him he sent him to the court of the Khalifa, who at once
ordered that all the wealth and possessions of Zuraik and of his family should be
confiscated. This order was not, however, strictly carried out, for Fumaid entered into
negotiations with Zuraik's brethren, and part of Zuraik's wealth was returned to his
family. he became a eunuch. And as it is written concerning this matter by the fathers,
and concerning those who cut off their members, "If [the members] have been cut off by
sickness or by barbarians, the canon of the Church doth not reject a man, but let him take
upon himself the grades of priesthood, and let him minister, and this shall become to him
the merchandize of virginity;" and according to that which the wise man spake, "Woe to the
man that worketh impurity upon his couch;" and that which the blessed Evagrius spake
warningly, "At the time when [thou art] striving against impurity, excuse thyself from
going to thy friend when he shall ask thee;" and from the fact that the fathers commanded
us to be remote from the sight of these members—for by the sight of them the fire of
desire which is implanted within us is stirred up, and it may happen that we shall not be
able to hold ourselves against the force of passion—by the sickness which happened to him
Christ our Lord freed him from the necessity of handling and touching those parts which is
an absolute loss of chastity. But perhaps the Divine dispensation arranged beforehand
these things concerning him, so that when afterwards he should be appointed to act as
shepherd to the city of his flock, he might rest in peace from the sight of the beautiful
things of this world and its losses.

5 And when he had gone forth from service in the monastery, he built himself a little cell
far away from the community (which is well known to this day and in which there still
exists an olive tree which the holy man himself planted), to the east of the monastery,
and below the [Little] Fortress; and when he had come to dwell in it, he made himself a
place for weeping, and as he regarded himself as living in a grave he hid himself therein
with humility and weeping of tears. And although he excused himself from the society of
those who wished to increase in virtue by reading and conversing and singing the Psalms
[with him], yet because he was a neighbour of the holy Mār Cyriacus, whose history I have
written a little above, he visited him, and it was sufficient for him. For they had been
fellow-workers in the monastery, and contemporaries; they were the children of one love,
for they were to become the children of one kingdom; they were the sons of one monastery,
for they were about to become heads of the monasteries which are in heaven; one was their
communion, for they lived under one directorship; one was their doctrine, for they had
been made wise by the Master of teachers; fellows under one yoke were they, for they had
both ploughed the same spiritual furrow; two mighty arms were they of one body, and two
brilliant eyes were they of one body;

6 and both of them were appointed shepherds of cities, which are [situated] on the great
river Tigris, the one to Bâlâdh, and the other to Shennâ. Now the blessed Narses so
devoted himself to solitary meditation that he was never seen outside his habitation, and
for many days according to the report which I heard handed down from one to another, he
never went out even to his outer chamber; but the gain and sweetness from this art with
which a man enricheth and enjoyeth himself is only known and made manifest to those who
have tasted it, and who have been consumed by the vision of beauty which is produced from
thence. "For quietness of the body," saith the blessed Abbâ Isaiah, "begetteth peace of
the mind; for by the peace of the mind, and the keeping watch upon the body which
resulteth [therefrom], and by prayer and reading, and by the other works of the ascetic
life, the soul acquireth unity with Christ, and becometh with Him one spirit. Blessed is
the man who endeth his life in such employments, for, being crowned with diadems of light,
as it is said, he entereth into heaven. For living in solitude did not magnify and glorify
the saints of the new [dispensation] and the righteous men of the new [dispensation only],
so that they became gods among men, but heathen philosophers also, before the coming of
our Lord, and before the revelation of His dispensation, gained therefrom the riches of
sublime and glorious knowledge, and they enriched others [thereby].

7 Pythagoras the master of philosophers, from the experience which he had gained during a
long [interval of] time, said, "Without the lying fallow of the body in restraint, and the
silence of the tongue from speaking, philosophy can never be acquired. And he commanded
all those who were being taught in his school to keep silence for five years, and the
entrance to wisdom was taught by him in that school by hearing and sight only. And the
wise man Homer, having lived in the desert for many years making his mind to fly about
collecting knowledge, arrived at a subtle perception which he received through solitude
and silence; and by means of chemicals, and fire, and a furnace he transmuted lead into
silver, and brass into gold, and formed precious stones by means of a preparation of
herbs, from these common things [about us], and other things from other materials. And
concerning Plato, who was wiser in philosophy than all [other men], and who obtained a
splendid reputation among the Athenians, it is said and written that he built himself a
cell in the heart of the wilderness, beyond the habitation of man, and that he took the
covenant of the blessed Moses, and

8 Aristotle, Anaxagoras and others upon metals and their alloys, etc., see Hoefer,
Histoire de la Chimie depuis les temps les plus reculés jusqu'à notre époque, Paris, 1842,
tom. i. pp. 65, 108ff. On the whole subject of ancient Alchemy (al-kimiyâ, from Gr.
chemeia or chemia, which in its turn seems to be derived from an Egyptian word meaning
"preparation of the black)," see the excellent article Chemie by Hoffmann in Ladenburg's
Handwörterbuch der Chimie (in the Encyklopaedie der Naturwissenschaften, Breslau 1884),
Bd. XVI. p. 2, pp. 516—530; Kopp, Beiträge zur Geschichte der Chemie, 1869; and the
article Pierre Philosophale in Migne, Encyclopédie Théologique, tom. 46, col. 1173. 9
meditated on the verse, "Hear, O Israel, the Lord thy God is One," for three years, until
God, the Lord of all saw his toil and trouble and granted His mercy unto him, and he
wrote, saying, "The God of the Jews is one in nature, and three in Persons," and behold
this composition on His similarity of nature and unity, and on the Trinity of Persons and
their attributes is [extant] in the books of the Church. And it is said concerning him,
and written also in another [place], that once when he was occupied in trying to think out
some speculation concerning created things, he travailed in [his] mind, and was brought
low, and [fell] into great toil and affliction; but when he had plucked out his [earthly]
desires, and had become aware of his contemplative power, and had been persuaded from
within, [saying] "Verily I have attained unto some of it", he remained silent in joy three
whole nights and days without any movement whatever. And the master of physicians, and the
teacher of great doctors, Hippocrates the philosopher, by means of all the wisdom which he
received from solitude and silence, penetrated deeply with his mind sagaciously into the
strife of mental investigations, and he learned to understand how the child is nourished
in the womb of its mother.

10 And if upon the heathen who are aliens, and who are remote from spiritual knowledge,
God the Lord of all bestowed the wisdom which they sought after, or by reason of their
affliction, or as it were for the benefit of others by the labour of the deepest
tranquillity and silence and absence from mankind, made them glad, how much [more] to the
holy men who keep His commandments, and who train themselves according to His will by
hunger and thirst, and suffering, and tears, and prayer day and night, will He give not
[only] the wisdom of [this] world, which they have not sought after, but the kingdom for
which they suffer, and make them to enjoy the pledge of it here? 11 Now the holy man Mâr
Narses received a gift of the fruits of a tranquil life which is beloved by all the
fathers, and which is the completion of all excellence, that is to say a constant flowing
of tears which never ceased from him. And an old man from this monastery whose name was
Tûmânâ, whom I have mentioned in the history of Rabban Cyriacus, told me that when the
blessed Narses came to the congregation he used to wrap himself up in the covering of his
cap so that the flowing of his tears might not be seen; now this was also said of him by
the believing men of Shennâ. And when one of the brethren asked a certain old man, saying,
"How is it, father, that although my soul desireth tears they are not given to it? he
replied to him, "My son, tears are the land of promise, for as long as a man is without
tears he journeyeth in the wilderness with the children of Israel; but when he arriveth at
the gift of tears he entereth into the land of promise. And because this great gift, for
which not every man is sufficient, is much needed for the watching of humility, a man
should train himself to despise himself and to hold everything in contempt in such a
manner as not to be deprived of this great wealth and gift.

12 And let him hearken unto the advice with which the blessed Evagrius ordereth him,
saying, "Even though thou shouldst have a fountain of tears in thy prayer, be not in any
wise exalted in thyself, [thinking] that thou art greater than many [other men], for thou
wilt [only] have received help from thy prayer [when] thou hast discovered [how] to
confess thy sins with diligence, and to pacify thy Lord by thy tears. Do not then turn to
the passion of pride that which is the destroyer of the passions, lest peradventure thou
shalt offend the more Him that hath bestowed grace upon thee; for there are many who have
wept for their sins, but because they have forgotten the end and aim of tears they have
been smitten with madness. And the blessed Mark the monk saith, "If thou hast tears in thy
prayer be not lifted up, for Christ hath drawn near to thine eyes, and thou hast obscurely
seen the Light.

13 And because in proportion as the soul is exalted to the height of excellence, mighty
adversaries make attacks upon it, according to the words of the holy Evagrius, [let a man]
spiritually adorn himself with the deepest humility, and with watchfulness of every thing
round about him through abstraction and contemplative power, lest peradventure when he
conquereth in the war of fornication, he whom he hath overcome may accidentally ensnare
him, and he be led captive by the Evil One to the cruelty of wrath, or even if he endure
this he fall into the abyss of envy and anger, or if he be free from these things he be
led astray by avarice and vain-glory. For it is more difficult to preserve excellence than
it is to labour for it, even as saith a certain holy man, "If thou shouldst put all the
labours of virtue on one side, and the observance of them on the other, the observance of
them would outweigh them; for the glory of the actions of a man's life and the purity of
his heart are like unto the entrance into the love of his Lord, and Christ will thus
sanctify him to be a pure temple unto Him. For in this manner doth act that gracious Lord
Who doth not withhold the hire of those who labour in the garden of His Gospel.

14 And when He findeth a pure spot He sanctifieth it for the dwelling of His Will, and
crowneth it with the glorious honour of the revelations of His wonders, and when it is
manifest to His inscrutable wisdom that the hidden pupils of the eyes of a man, which are
within, cannot be injured by the glorious brightness of the beauties of his splendours, He
maketh him to be an altar of His revelations, and He maketh the mind to be a priest in the
holy of holies of the heart, which is within, with secret hymns of praise which are akin
to the holy hymns of spiritual beings. And this holy man concerning whom our insipid
narrative relates lived in the enjoyment of such things as these for many years and
excelled; but the time draweth nigh, indeed hath already come when he must receive the
ordination of the five talents, and must administer like a wise servant the treasures of
his master to the members of the house.

CHAPTER 14. OF THE ELECTION OF THE HOLY MĀR NARSES TO BE BISHOP OF THE CITY OF KĀRDĀLĪĀBHĀDH WHICH IS SHENNĀ

1 Now since the spirit of the Prophets is subject unto Prophets, and [since] revelations
conceive a fulfilment before the time for their being carried out hath arrived, because
they are made manifest and pointed out by a hand which is of the Holy Spirit, so also
according to the spiritual vision which the blessed Mār Cyriacus, Bishop of Bālādh, had
seen some years before—as I have made known above—concerning the election of the holy Mār
Narses and of many others, the time drew near and came for him to be appointed to the
direction of the Church. Now he was made manifest by the hand of God through the blessed
father, Shûbhhâl-Mâran, the ascetic and head of the Monastery of Shennâ, the murder of
whom we are about to describe in this history, and he made known to those believing men
that the Spirit of the Lord had set apart the holy Mâr Narses, the ascetic from Bêth
'Abhê, to be a shepherd and governor of their church. And Christ also urged them through
him to go after him without delay, and they went down to the pious Mâr Timothy, and made
known to him that he must ordain as their Bishop Rabban Narses the solitary and ascetic.

2 And Mâr Timothy wrote [and sent] by their hands a canonical letter ordering Mâr Narses
not to dispute the Divine choice, and when this blessed man had read it, and saw that in
any case he was bound and compelled to appear before the Patriarchal throne, he assented
to the Divine Will and departed with them, and was consecrated by the Patriarchal hands
and by the prayers of the chief priests, and he was reckoned like Matthias in the series
and company of the priests of the Church. How very fitting is it to introduce in this
place the Divine word which was spoken by the Lord to the holy prophet Zechariah, saying,
"Take of [them of] the captivity, [even] of Hûldi (Heldai), of Tûbhyâ (Tobijah), and of
Îdha'yâ (Jedaiah), and go into the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah, who hath come
from Babylon; take his silver and his gold, and make a crown and put [it] on the head of
Îshô bar-Yôzâdhâk, the high priest."

3 Now when [Mâr Narses] had gone into his city, and had been received with the ceremony
and honour of which his piety was worthy, the city of Shennâ became enviable in the sight
of the other cities, and [it was] as if the psalm of the blessed David had been said of
them, "The Lord hath multiplied to do these [things] for us," and they had answered, "The
Lord hath multiplied to do for us, and we are glad," and again, "The Lord hath brought
back upon us His good gifts together with His gracious acts like the water brooks that are
in the South. And the holy [Mâr Narses], like a vigilant watchman of the flock which had
been entrusted to him, kept a strict and careful watch on all sides upon the sheep of his
flock that none of those believing men under his pastoral care might stray in the
slightest degree from what was right. And he became like a wall to that flock, and like a
spiritual boatman he held the oars of that spiritual ship, and guided it through the
storms and waves of [this] world, and brought it to the mansions of heaven.

4 And like a wise gardener he cleansed and purified from it as from a garden all the bad
shoots and stubborn roots, and he drew water for the fruit-bearing trees, and he made the
sweet herbs to grow up and to flourish, and he protected their fruit that they might not
be injured by the wiles of Satan their adversary, who is accustomed to put tares in the
place of choice wheat. And in order that when the account of their reckoning and what they
had lost should be demanded from them, he might in very truth give an answer on their
behalf, he diligently examined and scrutinized and looked carefully into all the affairs
of those under his pastoral charge. And while he was occupied and employed in working with
such care as this, and was meditating upon everything which belonged to it by right, the
Holy Spirit bestowed upon him another gift of the power of healing, so that every pain and
sickness to which his blessing and holy right hand drew near departed without delay from
the body in which it was.

5 And he received the spirit of revelation, and attained unto the knowledge of things
which were afar off, and as the Prophets and Apostles in their times, the times when
justice, and righteousness, and chastity, and piety of life had fled from the world,
proclaimed peace upon all men and departed, so the holy man triumphed, and in his days
restored the gift of miracles which had been taken away from the world, and the name of
Christ was magnified in the mouth of the heathen, and honour was accorded to the solitary
and ascetic life through which his holiness had flourished; and until the end of his life
his city remained unharmed by any injury either secret or manifest.

CHAPTER 15.

1 Of The Spiritual CONTEMPLATION AND OF THE INTELLECTUAL PLEASURE IN THE THREE [KINDS OF]
SPIRITUAL MEDITATIONS, ON THE CORPOREAL, ON THE INCORPOREAL, AND ON THE HOLY TRINITY, IN
WHICH THE HOLY MÂR NARSES WAS TRAINED AND MEDITATED PHILOSOPHICALLY. 2 Certain of the
fathers have written in their books that there existeth in the heart a glorious
intellectual mirror which the Creator of natures formed from all the visible and spiritual
natures which are in creation for the great honour of His image, and as a means for
discovering His invisibility; and He made it a tie, and a bond, and a completion of all
natures. Now the fathers call it the "beauty of our person," and by Saint Paul it is
called the "house of love," and by the doctors the "house of peace," and by the wise the
"house of goodness," and by others the "house of joy," in which dwelleth the spirit of
adoption which we have received from holy baptism, and upon it shineth the light of grace.
And whosoever hath cleansed this mirror of beautiful things from the impurity of the
passions and from sin, and hath renewed it and established it in the original condition of
the nature of its creation, can see by the light of its glorious rays all spiritual things
which belong to natures and to things of creation which are afar off and which are near.
And he is able by the secret power of the Holy Spirit to look into them closely as if they
were all arranged in order, without any covering whatever, before his eyes. And when the
working of God dawneth upon the souls of holy men there dwelleth and abideth upon it this
gift of the Holy Spirit, and He bestoweth this gift upon the good, and maketh them to
possess life and happiness for ever. And even thus, according to what I have heard from
those who saw his glorious deeds, was the holy man of whom we are about to speak worthy
[of this gift].

3 Now there was in the Monastery of the holy Abbâ Simon of Shennâ, an old man whose name
was Mârî, and this man related to me concerning the holy man, that inasmuch as the blessed
man was endowed with the knowledge [of God], and his mind was continually carried away
towards God, he was unable to keep himself from this holy contemplation; and as in [the
case of] many [other] things he was prevented from going down to the service of the Holy
Mysteries on the first days of the weeks, it was thought by the believers that he acted
thus by reason of the weight of his old age. And it came to pass on a certain first day of
the week, when he was forced by the elect of God, Rabban Shûbhhâl-Mâran, the head of our
monastery, to be with him in the pulpit for the performing of the service of the church,
that Mâr Shûbhhâl-Mâran saw that he was occupied in meditating upon this subject and in
doing so he saw that he became unconscious of every human feeling and movement, so much so
that he was utterly unmindful of the necessary acts which the service of psalmody
required, to sit down for the keryânê, and to lead off in the exordia, and he saw that his
eyes were closed and that he did not know where he was.

4 And as soon as Rabban Shûbhhâl-Mâran had gone up with him to his cell, he fell at his
feet and took an oath, saying, "I will not stand up again until thou shalt have revealed
unto me concerning the vision which was seen by thee in the church. And the holy Mâr
Narses having required the head of the monastery to keep this matter secret until his
death, answered and said to him, "Every time I am in the church during the service of the
Mysteries, my mind is lifted up above the sight of these things which are done during the
service, and above the church and its congregation, to the things which are in heaven; and
these things which are before my eyes are explained [mystically] by the things which are
secret and hidden from every man. The church which is depicted before me [represents] that
of Jerusalem which is upon earth; the platform which is in it [represents] Zion; the altar
which is in it represents the ark of the Old Covenant; the cross which is upon it, and the
Book of the Gospels [represent] the New Covenant and the throne of Christ at the time of
His dispensation here, and the connexion which both Covenants possess, each with the
other; the body of priests which are in it [represents] the companies of the Apostles; and
the path [leading] from the platform to the cupola above the platform the narrow path
which goeth up to heaven.

5 The three steps which are before the platform [symbolise] the third heaven whither the
blessed Paul was taken up; the ḳestrōmā the place [which extends] from this [earth] to the
firmament; the screen which is over the door of the chancel, and the veils which are upon
it indicate to me a type of the firmament. The chancel [symbolises] 6 the place which is
above the heavens; the naos [symbolizes] the heaven of heavens and the Divine Shechinah;
and the veils which are upon it [indicate] that the Godhead is hidden even from the
angels. The altar [represents] the throne of the Deity; the priests [represent] the
angels, the three congregations of which are in heaven divided into nine companies. The
Cherubim, Seraphim and Thrones [which form] chancel from the nave. It stood either upon
the third or highest step leading to the or by the side of the lowest step on the floor of
the nave. The seems to have been the partition wall to the right and left of the door of
the and its width must have been equal to the depth of the three steps. According to this
theory the would very well represent the. the first congregation represent to me
Patriarchs, Metropolitans and Bishops; the second congregation [which consists] of Powers,
Lords and Rulers [represents] priests, and deacons, and solitaries; and the third
congregation [which consists] of Principalities, Archangels and Angels [represents] sub-
deacons, readers, and believing laymen. The lights which are in the chancel fill the place
of Divine splendour, and the knowledge Divine in all things by which all the companies of
spiritual beings sparkle and shine. The censer which hath been transmitted by the priests,
from hand to hand, in order, from the priests of the early [period] to those of the middle
[period], and from the priests of the middle period to those of these last times,
[represents] the doctrine of the things which are about to come to pass, and of the things
which must needs be, and which the Divine dispensation demandeth, and which the angels
receive by teaching from one another. And the knowledge of things which are about to come
to pass, and the insight into things which are hidden, and the

7 are a fiery motion; and the Thrones are a fixed motion. The Lords are a motion which is
entrusted with the government of the motions beneath it; the Powers are the minister of
the will of God; and Rulers are a motion which hath power over spiritual treasures. This
class of angels governs the luminaries, the sun, moon and stars. The Principalities are a
defined motion which possesseth the direction of the upper ether, of rain, cloud,
lightning, thunder, whirlwinds, tempests, winds, etc.; the Archangels are a swift
operative motion which governeth the animal creation and everything that hath life, from
the gnat to the elephant; and the Angels are a motion which hath spiritual knowledge of
everything that is on earth and in heaven. The number of each one of these classes of
angels is equal to the number of all mankind from Adam to the resurrection." 8 zzz
gratification and joy which we receive therefrom are like unto the sweet scents which the
censer breatheth forth in our holy temples. The gathering of us all in the church
[symbolises] the universal assembling which [shall take place] before the face of our Lord
in the celestial heights. Our choirs which face each other, and the service which is sung
by two choirs, represent those which cry each to each, and say, "Holy, Holy, Holy, is the
Lord the mighty One," etc. So then by reason of the contemplation of these things which
are before my sight, O chosen one of Christ, I am exalted to the incorporeal congregations
of the spiritual beings, and I forget myself, and I pass over by the mental faculty which
I abstract from these typical objects to the prototype which is depicted upon my
understanding by these things which are above the world. And on account of this many, many
times I have kept myself back from going into the holy temple on days of assembling for
holy feasts, and since I am occupied in this enjoyment every first day of the week, in
order that I may not be accounted a drunkard and remote from knowledge and understanding
of those things which are being performed during the festivals, I remain in my cell that I
may not appear to be such to the simple and pure minds of the saints. For our Lord when
pronouncing the Beatitudes spake, saying, Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall
see the living God;" and again, "I and my Father will come, and we will make a dwelling
with them"; and again, "I will dwell in you and walk in you, and they shall be one with
us, even as Thou and I, O my Father, are one".

9 And moreover this same very aged man Mārī who related to me the things [above]
concerning [Mār Narses], also told me saying:—"Once Abbā Shubhhal-Māran asked him
concerning the questions and answers of the old men which are written in the Book of
Paradise, saying, 'How is it, master, that the excellent Palladius was able to carry in
his memory an innumerable multitude of questions and to set them down in writing? Have
they not been altered since the time when they were spoken by the fathers and by those who
asked them?' And the holy Mār Narses answered him, saying, 'The histories of the holy
fathers which have written above them [the statement] that they were composed by him, were
actually written by him, but the questions and their answers he gathered together from the
collections of the books of the Fathers. Now on the holy days of the Passover, and the
Passion, and the Resurrection, when they were going forth from the restraint of fasting,
between one service and the other, the holy fathers were accustomed to sit down with the
novices before them, and scribes wrote down the questions which were asked and the
explanations of them, and counsels, and answers, and they placed them in writing for their
own benefit, and for the benefit of those who should come after them; and Divine grace
worked upon the holy Bishop Palladius, and he gathered them together'. And this thought
hath at times greatly troubled me also, but it was shewn to me secretly that these things
were written down in this manner; and it is well known to us that the revelation and
knowledge of this [matter] became known unto him by the hand of the holy angel which clave
unto him."

CHAPTER 16. OF THOSE THINGS WHICH WERE WROUGHT BY THE HOLY MÂR NARSES, SOME BY SPIRITUAL VISION, AND SOME BY THE WORKING OF MIRACLES, AND OF THE END OF HIS LIFE

1 If any man desireth to learn concerning all the wonderful acts and mighty deeds of
healing which the holy man ever wrought, let him go to that believing city [of Shennâ,]
and he will hear about all the glorious and excellent things which were performed by the
hands of that holy person, not only from priests and deacons, and ordinary believing men,
but also from a host of women and children, for behold, to this day his wonderful acts are
spoken of daily. I, however, will write down a few pleasant memorials [of him] out of the
many things which I have heard concerning him, even as I have done in the case of the
histories of the holy men his companions, leaving out the remainder which are beyond
counting, for I must bring the writing of my history to a close. Now the venerable
Eustathius told me that there were certain believing people in the royal city of Bagdad
who had an only son about twenty years old, who when he was three years of age had fallen
sick of the palsy, and he was grievously afflicted by severe pains for seven years until
he became abhorred by his parents by reason of this disease. And they would even have
preferred his death [to his being alive]; for he received no benefit at all from the
physicians, and he found no relief from the prayers and gifts which his parents
distributed on his behalf among the needy.

2 Now the blessed Mâr Narses had a man sick of the palsy in the house of a certain rich
God-fearing believer in Bagdad, and one year the holy man went down to see the Catholicus
Mâr Timothy. And when those people learned and heard from many concerning the gift of
healing which the blessed man possessed, they went to Mâr Catholicus and entreated him to
write to the holy man Mâr Narses to command that the boy should be brought to him, so that
he might pray over him, that peradventure by [his] help he might receive healing. And he
wrote through them [to him], saying, "Inasmuch as thy holiness hath received the gift from
the Holy Spirit, which hath prepared for itself the working of mighty deeds, and cures of
sicknesses according to thy piety through the virtues of the spirit and of the body which
it hath gathered together and placed [in thee], and inasmuch as our Lord hath trusted thee
to be steward of His household, and to work wonderful deeds, and hath set me in the third
grade of teaching, as the blessed Paul glorieth, and inasmuch as these believing people
have required of me to write to thy holiness to command them to bring to thee their sick
son who is struggling with disease, I entreat thee to do this, and to let the young man be
brought to thee, and to let him be blessed by thy holy right hand;

3 and our Lord Christ shall heal him also of the infirmity which hath become confirmed in
him, even as He hath healed others by thy hands". And when the blessed man had read the
letter, he commanded them to bring the young man to him. And Eustathius swore that they
took the young man, who was lying in his bed upon his back and was unable to turn upon
either side, to the upper chamber of the blessed man, and Már Narses commanded them,
saying, "Go to your house, and at mid-day come and take away your son. And when they had
come back according to his command and the masters of the house had informed him, he
commanded the young man, who had been made whole and sound by the might of the prayer of
the blessed man, and he went down the steps of the staircase of the gallery with leaps,
like the paralytic whom the Apostles healed in Jerusalem; and he induced and moved all men
to give praise to God, the Lord of all, Who had visited our evil generation in the person
of this holy man; and this thing was known throughout all the city.

4 And again there lived in the city of Shennâ a well-known believer, who had an only son,
who when he was eight years of age departed from this world through the destructive work
of magic. And when the blessed man heard the sound of the funeral service with which the
boy was being carried to the cemetery, and the noise of the crowd, and the weeping of his
parents as they arrived at the door of the church, he stood at the door holding the stick
upon which his old age was supported, and commanded them, saying, "Enter in all of you,
and [bring] the dead body with you, that we may perform a short service over it in the
church"; and the people did so, and the bier was set down in the place where the services
were held. And the blessed man commanded every one to bow down in worship and to kneel,
and he commanded the parents of the boy to untie the cords and bandages with which he was
bound, and he took hold of his hand, and said to him, "By the might of our God, rise up",
and the boy sat up alive. And the blessed man answered and said, "The death of your son
was an act of magicians, but henceforth fear not, for he shall not suffer this mischance a
second time;" and every one glorified God and returned to their houses.

5 Now the blessed man had as a disciple, a certain priest whose name was Cyprian, and this
man told [me], saying, "One night while I was sleeping in the outer courtyard [of the
house] of the holy man, and he was inside, he came out to me hastily, and stirred and
roused me up, and he answered and said to me sadly, 'Rise up, my son, and take with thee a
little bread and a jar of water, and a rope, and take with thee a donkey, and go quickly
to the ruined village of Hammimâ, and go into a ruined house which is in such and such a
place, and behold there is there a dry well into which a man has fallen, and thieves threw
him into it two days ago; draw him up and lift him out, and feed him with bread and water,
and set him upon the animal and bring him hither'. And I answered and said to him, 'Be
patient a little, master, and with the dawn I will set out, for I am afraid lest some harm
should happen to me on the road during the night time.' And the holy man answered and said
to me, 'My son, go quickly before that stranger die, and

6 (and note on p. 150); p. 154, and p. 49, l. 5 (and note on p. 153). I will be a pledge
to thee that neither evil hap nor injury shall befall thee.' "And", said Cyprian, "through
[my] confidence in the word of the blessed man I did what he commanded me, and I went to
the ruined village according to the indications which he had given me. And I stood above
the well, and I cried out, and there answered me [a man] who chattered like a bird, and I
drew him up, and lifted him out, and I brought him to the city to Mâr Narses. And he
remained with him until he was healed of the bruises and wounds in his limbs, and with a
blessing he bestowed upon him a prayer for the way, and sent him away from his house."
"And again, one day at dawn he called me, and said to me, 'Go to-day to the banks of the
Tigris and command the sailors that not one of them unmoor his boat to cross over to the
other side, that their ships be not broken and sunk, for a violent storm is about to arise
through a mighty wind'—now this wind actually arrived—; 'and the boat and all the cargo of
every man who doth not receive what I have said shall perish', now it was the season of
the great flood when the rivers Tigris and the Little Zâb overflow."

7 "And again, on another occasion, there began to be a pestilence in the city of Mâr
Narses, and the believers entreated him to allow them to decree a solemn supplication to
God on account of this. And he said to them, 'That we should make a solemn supplication is
a good thing to do, but death, which is your master, will not be stayed unless he hath
taken from among your souls according to the number which God hath decreed shall be taken
from you as a punishment.' Now he privily made known the number to his disciple, and when
this limit was reached the sword of death rested and stayed." 8 (became a mighty stream,
and it was not hard to understand how very materially this river which Sennacherib tells
us he brought to Nineveh (Rawlinson, Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia, vol. iii. pl.
14, l. 11), must have helped to destroy the palaces of his great city. The yellow Tigris
flowed along with its swollen stream at the rate of 5½ or 6 miles an hour, and small rafts
reached Bagdad in 4½ days, including stoppages of a few hours each night. The distance
from Môṣul to Bagdad viâ Kerkûk is about 300 miles, and I believe the distance by river to
be about 400. The greatest flood of the Tigris and Zâb takes place in April. It may be
noticed that Thomas of Margâ used the Syriac form of the Old Assyrian word for "flood"; i.
e., = Assyrian mi-lum; see Strassmaier, Wörterverzeichniss, No. 5294, p. 658; Bruno, A
Classified List, Leyden 1887, p. 466, No. 11538; Smith, Sennacherib, p. 146, l. 52;
Rawlinson, Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia, vol. I. pl. 57, col. vii. l. 51; and
Norris, Assyrian Dictionary, pt. iii. p. 789. Floods on the Tigris are often accompanied
by violent south-east winds which literally blow craft up the river or into the banks, and
it is necessary to cut the bridges of boats until the wind and stream subside.

9 "Now there was an exceedingly wicked Arab who surpassed all those who lived in his time
and after him in his cruelty and plunderings, and his name was Ya'lê bar-Himrân of Beni-
Taimlah, which is in this country of Adiabene. And this man having brought himself to
execute all wickedness, the [shedding of] blood and the slaughter of men were regarded by
him as the slaughter of snakes and scorpions, and his conscience never pricked him because
of the blood of the holy men which he cruelly shed. And this man destroyed the Monastery
of the holy Rabban Mâr Job, and the Monastery of Bêth Nestorius and the Monastery of
Margânâ, and he left many places without an inhabitant. He rode a mare without saddle or
bridle, and none of the governors was able to overtake him because he could travel in one
night twenty farsah, more or less, at a rapid rate, and while he was heard of in this
country to-day, to-morrow he was heard of in a very distant one. Now this utterly wicked
man went down to the Monastery of the holy Abbâ Simon, and he went up covertly to the cell
of Rabban Shûbhhâl-Mâran, the head of the monastery, and slew him.

10 And it was revealed to the blessed Mâr Narses, and Cyprian his disciple said, 'When
deep sleep falleth upon man, with sadness and tears he cried to me, saying, Rise up, my
son, and follow me, and let us go to the Monastery of Abbâ Simon;' and we went forth from
the church and arrived at the Tigris, and he made the sign of the cross over the water and
he took hold of me with his hand, and said to me, 'Come with me, and fear not.' And we
crossed over, and went into the monastery, and he sent me to cry out and to knock at the
door of the common-room, and the brethren came out, and I took them to him. And he
answered and said to them, with tears, 'Woe to you my brethren, for your chief Shûbhhâl-
Mâran is slain;' and we all went to his cell, and we found that blessed old man smitten
with knife and sword wounds. And upon this a great uproar arose, and that murderer from
the top of a hill answered and said to us, 'I am Yâlê bar-Himrân, and I have slain the
head of the monastery; after a time I will come and destroy you all.' The holy Mâr Narses
said to him, 'If thou dost ever return here I will dry up the mighty river Tigris.

11 The decree of the Highest hath gone forth against thee, and thou wilt be slain by the
governor of the city of Hadhattâ in the village of Esîrenyâ.' And thus our Lord actually
did to that murderer, for wishing to come back again to Shennâ, the governor of Hadhattâ
slew him in Esîrenyâ according to the word of the holy man'." 12 "And also, one year when
I for some reason or other was coming up from the low countries with the boatmen along the
banks of the Tigris, there met me above the city of Hadhattâ a certain fisherman whose
name was Hêshim, and who having tied up his large net was wishing to cast his gâwpâ into
the river. 13 And he lifted it up in his right hand, and spake with his mouth, saying, 'In
the name of the living God, and by the prayer of the holy Mâr Narses.' And I said to him,
'How is it that being an Arab thou didst call upon the holy Mâr Narses, a Christian
teacher, to help thee by his prayers?' He said to me, 'Upon which Mâr Narses thinkest thou
that I called?' And I said to him, 'As I think, Mâr Narses the teacher who lived in
Nisibis.' He said to me, 'That Mâr Narses upon whom I called was the blessed Mâr Narses
who was Bishop of Shennâ. For when I was a boy with my father and we were fishing there,
we used to see him continually crossing over upon the water at night-time from his city to
the Monastery of Rabban Simon, and back again from the monastery to the city. And when he
perceived that we had seen him, he sent his disciple after us early one day, and called my
father to him, and he prayed and entreated of him that he would reveal [this] to no man
until [after] the holy man's death. And he blessed us, and said to us, Every time ye fish,
and ye make mention of the living name of God, the Lord of all, and the name of my
sinfulness, an abundant catch of fish shall be brought back to you in a full net; and from
that time to this, whenever we have made mention of that holy man, we have made a large
haul of fish in the Tigris."

14 "And again, there was a certain Arab who had never taken anything from any man by fraud
or injury, and he was in want, and he went out one night to go and plunder and steal. And
after the death of the blessed man he said, 'I went out to steal, being in want, and I
crossed over the Zâb and went to the neighbourhood of Ekrôntâ, I and two members of my
household, and we took from there many sheep, and a quantity of other things, and we left
the guardians who were there strongly bound and beaten. And when we were in the plain
opposite Shennâ, behold the blessed man himself was coming towards us, and he met us above
the Monastery which is named after Bar-Gâmêsh. And when the mare which I was riding saw
him—now it was a dark night without a moon—she pricked up her ears, and threw up her neck,
and I knew that something had appeared to her; and I laid the pointed end of the spear on
[her head] between her ears, and let go of the bridle, and she charged straight ahead
against the blessed man who was coming on towards us without fear.

15 And when I saw him I lifted up the spear and wished to drive it into him, and he
answered in the Syriac tongue, and smiling said to me, O thou that hast a spear and a
mare, smite me not.' And I answered and said to him, 'Who art thou?' And he said to me, 'I
am Narses the Bishop.' And I got down from the mare and fell at his feet, for I was
acquainted with the beauty of his holiness. And I said to him again, 'How hast thou come
hither at this time [of night]? and who ferried thee across the river? and for what cause
hast thou troubled thyself [to come out] at this time [of night]?' He said to me, 'I have
come out for thy deliverance, and the Lord Who desireth not that thou shouldst live before
Him a life of theft and fraud hath sent me;

16 now take back everything which thou hast with thee, and go and set free those men from
their bonds, and hand over to them everything which thou hast taken, and come to me to my
cell to-morrow privily, and I will give to thee more than that which thou hast taken by
wickedness.' And when I saw that the man possessed so great renown that God had informed
him concerning the iniquity which had taken place by my hands, and that God had not
allowed me to be polluted by sins which I had never committed in the days of my youth, I
promised him that I would readily do it, and I did according to his will. Next morning I
went to him without delay, and he brought out five hundred züzé and gave to me, and he
said to me, 'Buy thyself two yoke of asses, and buy wheat and sow a field, and behold thou
shalt gather in a crop a hundredfold, and our Lord will make thee rich, and thou wilt not
need to perform this disgraceful work; and it came to pass according to his word, and I
gathered fruit a hundredfold, and by his blessing from being a poor man I became rich.'"

17 Now if I were to write down all his acts, how many sick he healed, how many evil devils
he drove out from men, and what temptations and trials he endured from bad and vicious
men, as well as all his glorious deeds, I think that much time would not be sufficient for
this, and that many volumes would not contain the multitude of mighty deeds and wonders
which Christ wrought by his hands; and from the time when we began to write our history
until now, it hath not been our intention [to do this], but only to give a brief account
of each one of the holy fathers. So [Mâr Narses] finished the rest of his days, and rested
in peace with all the just and upright men, and his holy body was laid in the holy church
of that city, where the holy fathers [who were] Bishops before him lie; and his holy body
in that holy church in which he performed the duties of priest, became a haven of help and
a fountain of healing for all those who were attacked by any kind of pain and temptation,
whether of bodily sickness, or affliction by cruel devils. May our Lord also shew
compassion upon us by his prayers, that the remainder of our days may be made perfect
according to His good will and pleasure, and may we make praise to ascend to the Father,
and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, now and always, and for ever and ever, Amen.

CHAPTER 17. THE HISTORY OF THE HOLY ABBÂ JOSEPH

1 The greater number of the histories which I have written before this I have written down
in order from hearsay and from tradition handed down from one [man] to the other; but the
present history, which is now in my hands and which my discourse wisheth to set forth
clearly, concerneth the holy and blessed life of Rabban Joseph, of whom I was a
contemporary. And moreover I have been blessed by that God-worthy old man, for he departed
from affairs of this mortal life to the everlasting house of light in the first year of my
coming to this holy monastery [of Bêth 'Abhê]. Now this blessed man came from the country
of Bêth Garmai, from the district called Bêth Mêshainânê, which is situated on the Lower
Zâb, and from his youth up he was a disciple in this your monastery of Bêth Âbhê. And from
the beginning of his coming out from the world he expelled from his heart all noxious
thoughts and emotions, and he renounced every material thing absolutely, and he built
himself a cell in that valley which is called Dakhyâ; and he dwelt therein all the days of
his life with absolute poverty of the spirit, and he did not possess, according to what is
said [about him, the quality] which may be called friendly affection.

2 During the whole period of his life he had neither companion nor disciple, and he either
collected wheat from a little plot of cultivated ground which he had before his cell, or
he went out to harvest with his fellow [monks], and from this he supplied his want in a
very sparing manner. And in addition to all his excellent virtues, I observed also in that
holy person, of whose prayers I am in need, the following method which he observed for
guarding his feelings: namely, that he always looked straight before him, and that even
when he was in his cell he never moved his neck to this side or to that to look at any
place, so that the nerves of his neck and shoulders which went up his head, according to
the arrangement of our natural construction, had become dried up, and he was only able to
see such things as were quite near him at his feet, but other things which were a little
way off, either to this side or to that, he could not see at all. The very old solitaries
whom I found told [me] concerning him: "For forty years he has neither lifted up [his
head], nor seen the ceiling of this temple," even as it is written of a monk like unto
himself, "His eyes were destroyed, and his eyelids were worn away, and the flesh beneath
them was seared and blackened by reason of the perpetual flow of his tears;" and he ended
his life peacefully, wishing to be known to no man, nor to be considered by any.

3 At that time when I was his contemporary the thievish Kartēwāyē came against us in great
numbers, and they spoiled and seized all the monastery, and they went into all the cells,
and took everything which they found; now since we all had taken refuge in flight to every
hill, there was the greater opportunity for them to go about quietly through all the
common-rooms of the monastery and the cells, for it was daytime. And when they had set out
and departed from the monastery, we all went back, and one of the brethren [who were] the
neighbours of Abbá Joseph went to see what had happened to that holy old man, and he found
him sleeping the mid-day sleep in the little doorway of his habitation with the door open
upon the old man for coolness. And he asked him, saying, "Father, whither didst thou flee
from before the Kartêwâyê who came against us this day, and who have carried off all our
property?" And being astonished he answered and said, "My son, I did not perceive that
thieves had been here;" thus did God guard that man from harm and trouble by those
thieves.

4 Now the pious Ḥakimâ, Bishop of Ghâwkai—now one day I went to this blessed man to ask
for his prayers, and to be blessed by him—told me [saying], "When I knocked [at his door]
and he opened [it] to me, I sat down with him for a little, and [as] he dismissed me to go
forth he brought out and gave me a small bowl, the like of which for manner of make and
appearance I had never seen. And he answered and said to me, 'Give this, my son, to such
and such an old man, and take it for him as a gift of grace and say to him, Thy gift of
grace is accepted, for since thou didst bring me cooked food in this bowl for three days
[at a time] nothing was lacking to me.' For behold the Angel of the Lord had brought food
to him even as He sent food to Daniel by the hands

5 No. 3892; Strassmaier, Wörterverzeichnis, No. 59, p. 13, and for the form a-bu-la see
The Tell el-Amarna tablets in the British Museum, p. 87, No. 42, l. 39. For the Greek
embolos see Du Cange, Glossarium, col. 378, and for native explanations of see Payne
Smith, Thes., col. 11; Duval, Lexicon, col. 12; and Hoffmann, Syr.-Arab. Glossen, No. 30,
p. 6. of Habakkuk, from Judah to Babylon. And I am certain that such was really the case,
for when I had taken the bowl to that old man, and had repeated to him these things which
Abbâ Joseph had said to me, he swore to me and assured me with an oath, saying, 'It is
more than a year since I went to the cell of that blessed man.' Now the angel of the Lord
in the form of that old man, had appeared to Abbâ Joseph, who bore hunger inside the door
of his cell and who never went outside to knock at any human door to supply his need."

6 Now there was in this monastery a man whose name was Pálôhâ, and he was a hireling of
the monastery, and was sent by those who were over the affairs of the monastery to cut
wood [and to bring it] in a boat. Now Rabban Joseph had the day before gone to the holy
Monastery of Rabban Mâr Îshô'-Zêkhâ, which is called Gâşşâ, and at the break of day he
turned to come back, and Pálôhâ saw the holy man on the other side of the river, and he
recognized that it was he; and he saw that when he had drawn near to the Zâb he made the
sign of the cross and crossed over upon the top of the water, and he drew near to him and
saluted him. And when the old man saw and knew that Pálôhâ had perceived him care
afflicted him, and he was troubled, and he adjured him, saying, "Thou art forbidden by the
word of our Lord to make known what thou hast seen until I depart [this] life;" and he
left him and came to his cell. And Pâlôhâ, paying no heed to the ban, neither fearing the
oaths, related this before the whole brotherhood.

7 Now when I lived in the service of the monastery I used to pasture a few cattle which we
had in the monastery in the woods [which were] in the valley near the cemetery, and I
heard from within the thicket the sound of bitter weeping, like that of one fastened in
the stocks. And at the noise of the mournful outcries I went softly into [the thicket] and
found Abbâ Joseph sitting on the ground among the grass and plants and flowers—now it was
the time of the month of Îyâr—and I saw him gathering dry grasses from among the green
grass, which he brought with his hands before his face, and weeping bitterly he said, "The
days of man are like the grass, and he groweth up like the herb of the field, which when
the wind hath blown over it is not, neither is its place known; and again, "Man is like
unto a vapour, and his days pass like a shadow; and he laid them down upon the ground. And
again he gathered other grasses and after he had weeded out all the old, he passed his
hand softly over the new, and embracing them said, "Verily the generations of flesh and
blood are like unto the leaves of trees, some of which fade and fall, and some of which
grow up; and he repeated these [words] with mournful sighs and groans while tears flowed
down from his eyes abundantly.

8 And again he took some of the beautiful flowers, and looking at them sweetly he groaned,
and said to God, "Glory be to Thee, O Creator of all [things], how beautiful are Thy
works. Now I standing silently above him marvelled at the wonderful things that I saw, and
how that holy old man was able to weep over such contemptible and despicable matters with
so great a weeping which others could not have wept even had they been beaten. And after
his great weeping and his bitter outcries, he started up with gratitude to God, and there
sprang up gladness within him, and like David, his mouth was filled with laughter, and his
tongue with praise, and he took some of those flowers which were in front of him in his
hand, and bringing them near to his nose, he lifted up his voice and sang in metre the
whole of the hymn of Hosannas, "The rose, and the lilies, and the blossoms, and the spring
flowers are very lovely in their appearance; and without being perceived, for he would
have been angry, I left him and went away. There are many things about him [which I could
tell], but I pass over them all that I may not burden this discourse with too much weight,
and that it may not become longer than its fellows. Now when this holy man died he was
alone in his cell, and he departed this life without a servant, for no man ministered unto
him during his illness;

9 but the holy Rabban Peter his fellow-soldier knew of it, but whether by divine
revelation, or whether because he went to visit him is hidden from us, and he made known
to us concerning his death. And the funeral service was said over his venerable body and
it was laid in the common sepulchre of the monastery near the oratory; may we receive a
blessing through it, and may we be helped by his prayers, Amen. 10 Here endeth the history
of the holy men who lived in the Monastery of Bêth 'Abhê. Permit me to inform thy love, O
Mâr 'Abd-Îshô', and every one who shall peruse these lines that I am not to be blamed
because I have not been able to write these histories with polished speech and with
learned words skilfully strung together. For I have not done it as well as I could have
wished, but according to my power and as I was able, and that which [is done] according to
[a man's] power is beloved by God and [resteth] upon Him. To God the Cause of all things,
the Supporter of all things, and the Administrator of all things, be glory, and honour,
and praise, and worship, and thanksgiving, now and always, and for ever and ever, Amen.
Here end the five Books of the triumphs of the holy Fathers.

BOOK VI — CHAPTER 1.

1 The histories of rabban cyprian and of rabban gabriel the holy head of the monastery
which is in the district of bîrtâ, in the country of margâ, composed by the pious thomas.
2 According to what the holy fathers say, the rational soul possesseth three powers,
desire, anger, and thought, and from these, as from fathers and mothers, are produced the
other powers. From desire spring chastity, love, and patience; from anger, strength and
fortitude, and from thought understanding, wisdom and knowledge. From these, according to
what say the holy writers on the ascetic and monastic life, is propagated in the God-
loving heart every work upon which as by stories, the spiritual building riseth and with
which the mind, which is wise in Divine matters, buildeth up and completeth the whole
tower which mounteth up to heaven. Now the labours and habits of life which are wrought by
holy men and which have repentance as their aim, namely, fasting, watching, bowing of the
whole body and head to the ground, and prayers themselves, are the primary matters and
materials for the ascetic life; and services of Psalms, self-denial, tears, contrition,
readings of the Scriptures, patience, seriousness, chastity, voluntary poverty, silence,
meditation on divine matters, the despising of self, the fleeing away from men, the
struggling, and the sitting apart quietly in the cell: these are all the various things
which purify the understanding [which] loveth prudence. These, and more than these,
needeth the labour of monks which is performed with correct aim and for the sake of the
glory of the world which is to come. And the blessed Mark the monk grouped these things
under the three comprehensive heads of the ascetic life, namely, "that a man should pray
without ceasing;

3 that he should cleanse his thoughts; and that he should endure those things which
happen. Wherefore when the soul of him that would be perfect in these things hath entered
into them, it hath already become a dwelling-place for the Holy Spirit; and hath trodden
the passions under foot; and hath become exalted above the body; and hath yoked it beneath
itself like a chariot; and like a strenuous charioteer it pursueth after the passions and
treadeth under foot the desires of the body; and like a fire blazing with the love of our
Lord it burneth up all humidity [of the body] which is placed as an obstacle in the
burning path of Christ; and it is filled with love towards its neighbour, from which love
for God is produced, and concerning which the divine Apostle John saith in his Catholic
Epistle, "He that thinketh he loveth God, but who loveth not his brother whom he hath
seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? [Thus] thou seest that love to God is
produced by love to man. And [this] soul despiseth the hostile disposition and all the
crafty duplicity of the devils which are its enemies, and by the Divine help in which it
taketh refuge it cutteth to pieces their snares, and dissipateth their crafts and wiles,
and becometh a mansion of Christ, and He, and His Father, and His Spirit come and make
their dwelling with it.

4 And it attaineth the heavenly rest and the Sabbath peace in that mystical feast which
the tried fathers who have penetrated into the mysteries of the new world have celebrated
in the secrecy of their pure minds, by a bond of perfect unity which is joined to its
object and which is superior to this world, and which can never be explained by created
beings with a tongue of flesh, and which is filled on all sides with understanding which
is superior to the learning of books, and the mind plungeth into the obscure and concealed
domain of their dark hiding place, and emergeth into the splendour of their enjoyments and
forgetteth the world and everything which is in it. And it happeneth that twice and thrice
a day [the mind] is absorbed there without perceiving it, even as it is said concerning
every one of the holy men, and according also to what happened to Abbâ Sisoes, who when
his disciple knocked at the door of his cell to come in cried out, saying, "Be gone,
Abraham, and come not in hither, for this place will not suffice [for thee]"; and
according to that which [happened] to Abbâ Bessarion, and which was wrought for the
blessed Macarius and others. Observe then to what [height] is exalted the dust of Adam,
which is formed with the clay of passions and moistened with the water of wandering from
what is right.

5 So mayest thou know that when man is purified from the passions which are within [him]
and without, and his course moveth in a supernatural place, he will be able to illumine
all deep places, and to throw light into the deepest wells; and thus the spiritual eye,
which is the understanding, shineth and illumineth others, like a polished mirror which
when placed opposite the sun, also reflecteth in the same manner the glorious rays which
overcome the pupils of eyes of flesh. To such degrees and to such great glory were lifted
up the holy men, who were superior to the world in their lives and actions, and concerning
whom our feeble narrative wisheth to relate, that is to say, Rabban Cyprian the anchorite
and ascetic, by whose hands the Lord completed a holy monastery in the district of Bîrtâ
towards the end of his life, and with him was the holy Abbâ Gabriel who also triumphed in
this monastery. But before we involve ourselves in these histories and write down their
noble deeds for prudent readers, we will lift ourselves above our narrative a little, and
introduce into this history [some] mention of the holy anchorites who lived in this
country, by whose rays our part of the world was illumined, and who made the country of
Margâ to possess a splendid appearance [such] as it never possessed before; and they made
it the abode of their holiness, and the scene of their labours in the caves, and
habitations, and monasteries which they planted therein.

6 I speak now concerning the holy Monastery of Rîshâ, in which according to what the
historians of times and kings say, seven Bishops lived at the beginning, but in which
subsequently many [more] lived; and the Monastery of the holy Mâr Ephraim the monk, who
lived for the whole period of his life in a double cave, [which was situated] in a place
called "Ammîkê" or "Nahlâ dhê Nahrâ", far away from all human intercourse and affairs; and
also of the blessed 'Anân-Îshô', that famous and triumphant man, whose monastery which was
[situated] above Hêtârâ excelled preeminently in mighty deeds and miracles; and of the
holy Mâr Îth Allâhâ, who passed his whole life in the perfection of ascetic acts and deeds
in a small hole in the rock above the village of Lalêsh; and of the blessed Îshô' Râhmêh,
to the name of whose piety the Monastery of Beṭmâ was built, the glorious things of whose
shrine are still spoken of by the wise and prudent;

7 and of the blessed Hebhishâ whose booth was fixed near the village of Hennes, and the
resting place of whose bones and of those of the holy men who were his companions was
revealed in our days by the hands of venerable men;—now when thou goest into that cave and
seest the crosses hewn out of rock [which] hath never [before] been subject to the [chisel
of] steel, fixed there as marks of honour for a testimony of the holiness of those monks,
and how the tablets above their coffins are hewn out, and how little holes (or channels)
have been left [in the coffins] for the sweet odour from their dust [to come out], thou
must marvel and admire—and also of the holy Mâr Addai, whose Monastery was called Râmâ,
the strength of which testifies to the solitude of his dwelling place, in which, according
to what is said, many mighty deeds and miracles were wrought for all men. And of this
company were the holy Gregory, whose holy monastery was [situated] near the village of
Berbêli; and the blessed Mâr Isaac the ascetic, who made his habitation in the territory
of the village

8 and Payne Smith, Thes., col. 300. The form i. e., stomoma also occurs; see Payne Smith,
Thes., col. 2601. Ḥarbai, and lived a life remote from all visible things; and the blessed
Mār John, concerning whom we will speak later, who dwelt in a cave like unto a grave in a
place which is called Nērabh Barzai, and who wrought signs and wonders like the Apostles
in the conversion of the village of Kōph to belief [in Christ]; and the blessed Mār Abhā,
who built a monastery in a mountain ravine on the Outer Rishā above the village of Bēth
Zēāṭā, which is Bēth Sāṭi, where he ended his days, at a good old age, and in a course of
life which was superior to the world; and the blessed Mār Abraham, the dust of whose limbs
worketh many mighty deeds unto this day. And a fellow-worker of his was the holy Mār Aḥā,
who ended the strife of his life of an anchorite in a little cave in a mountain gorge near
the Zāb, and he was a fountain of help to all the countries round about him. Now these men
were, according to what the early writers say concerning them, bishops and ascetics. And
at the time when the abominable doctrine of Arius the heretic was blazing forth, during
the reign of Valens the Emperor and of his wicked companions, who tyrannically persecuted
the orthodox who would not accept their doctrine, by reason of the insolence and cruelty
of those who persecuted them these men fled from the countries of the Greeks, and came to
this land of the east, and preferred rather to live in tribulation, and in banishment from
their native lands and relatives, than to be near their persecutors, and to be tormented
by acquiescence with the diseased doctrine of heretics.

9 Now once, when [the sense of] what was right urged me to go round about and to pray in
their caves where they had lived, I went into them with great reverence, and I understood
the affliction and tribulation of their lives, to which the very places where they lived
testify, and I was exceedingly sorry and very much grieved, and at once I blamed the
teachers who were found in their days, [teachers who] perhaps had been esteemed worthy to
see these men, or to behold their wonderful works, because [the sense of] what was right
had not urged and obliged them to set down in writing some matters of the noble acts and
deeds of such anchorites as 3rd century A. D., and died at Constantinople A. D. 336. For
his life and doctrines see Sozomen, Hist. Eccles., I. 15; Socrates, Hist. Eccles., I. 4,
38; Theodoret, Hist. Eccles., I. 5; Epiphanius, Haeres. 69. 6, 60; Rufinus, Hist. Eccles.,
I. 13; Gibbon, Decline and Fall, chap. XXI.

10 these; for it is more evident than the sun at noon-day that signs, and mighty deeds,
and noble acts must have been exhibited by them to the believing men who lived in their
days. And when I had returned from there, that is to say from the clefts and holes of the
holy men in the rocks above, I went also into the Monastery of the holy Mār Cyprian the
ascetic, which was situated in the vicinity of [the caves of] these holy men, and I
enquired also concerning the holy men who were therein, and if they had any histories of
them in their possession which I could read, and with which I could satisfy my eager
desire [to know] their triumphs. And the brethren who were therein brought out and gave to
me some incomplete narratives, in which there were, however, some few materials relating
to the triumphs of the mighty deeds of the holy Rabban Cyprian, and of the blessed
Gabriel, and of Paul his brother, from which I could learn whence they came, and how and
where they became disciples, and how they lived, and in what manner they ended their days.

11 And when I had gone through them, although they were written in a simple manner by men
who loved God, I thanked our Lord and offered up grateful thanks for the gift of the zeal
of the ascetic brethren who lived in this monastery during the life-time of these fathers,
who had not been negligent like the early [writers] and passed over all the noble acts and
deeds of these holy men. And I dared—now such boldness as this is praiseworthy, because it
stirreth up those who listen to the praise of God—to collect from the materials of their
most excellent works a spiritual treatise in writing, upon which the brethren [and]
ascetics who are in this monastery may meditate, as well as the priests and believing men
who are desirous of hearing about the glorious works of these men who are [now] captains
of the hosts of the kingdom of heaven. Now first we will make ready our discourse to speak
concerning the thrice blessed and holy Rabban Cyprian the ascetic, and we will set down in
writing the blessed things of his victorious deeds before wise and prudent readers and
listeners, for he lived a long time before Rabban Gabriel, and he was the origin and
father of this holy assembly. We will begin, then, to relate [his] history, and may the
Divine grace through his prayers be with us, and may our discourse, through Christ Who
strengthened him, be a benefit [to all].

12 Here endeth the Prologue and First Chapter.

CHAPTER 2. OF THE ORIGIN OF THE BLESSED CYPRIAN, AND OF HIS TRAINING AT SCHOOL, AND OF HIS GOING TO JERUSALEM

1 There is in the country of Margâ a district, the name of which is Birtâ, and in this
district is a village, the name of which is Béth Magûshâ, and it would seem that it
received its name and title from the leaning which its former lords and inhabitants had to
Magianism, and from this village the blessed Cyprian is said to have sprung. And having
been born of believing parents, he was brought up by them in an excellent manner, and
carrying out the Apostolic command which [saith], "Fathers, provoke not your children, but
bring them up in the instruction and teaching of our Lord", they laboured with all their
might in the teaching of the blessed Cyprian; and because a new plant maketh use of
everything, and the Lord knoweth those that are His, grace at an early period manifested
in him the sign of its working. And having read for a short time the Psalms and the
subjects which children are taught in their village church, he arrived at the state of
being a young man, when every man doeth his own will and pleasure, without let or
hindrance, and he chose these things which belong to the Spirit, and dedicated himself to
the service of the Lord, and wandered about as a pilgrim in foreign countries.

2 So then he departed to the holy school in the village of Makkabhâ—now it was flourishing
greatly during his days—where he was thoroughly trained in all the glorious doctrine of
the Holy Scriptures, and in the books on the dispensation of life, and in expositions of
them. And when he arrived at the state of perfect manhood, because he like Samuel, and
Jeremiah, and the other holy men, had been set apart aforetime to be a soldier and a
member of the household of the heavenly Lordship, and because he had been ordained to be
the cause of great benefits at a time when [important] matters began to run their course,
He that knoweth hidden things, and things which are about to happen, and things which are
afar off, did not fail to give to that blessingworthy person an indication of His
providential dispensation that he should become and be called a portion of eternity. And
with what result? He inflamed his heart and set on fire his mind with the desire, hotter
than fire, of going to Jerusalem to see the holy place where Christ our Lord manifested to
mankind His bodily dispensation for the sake of their redemption.

3 And being involved in this thought and determination he prepared to begin the plan of
his journey with hot and zealous steps directed thither, and having renounced earthly
love, and made himself an alien to the love for parents, and brethren, and human kind, and
all his kindred, he laid upon himself the holy Book of the Gospels, and thus like an
athlete he began to depart; and he brought his journey to an end in hot haste, letting
pass places of tarrying for rest, like a man who hurries home to his father's house and to
his family whom he hath not seen for a long time. And when he had arrived in Jerusalem and
had worshipped in all the holy places, the place where Christ was baptized in the Jordan,
and the Temple, and Golgotha, and the Sepulchre, and the Upper Chamber, and the Mount of
Olives, [places] in which the redemption of our race by a Son of our nature was completed,
his soul rejoiced, and his spirit was satisfied, and he rested from the toil and weariness
of his way; and he praised and glorified Him, by trust in Whom he had been anxious to
travel and to see the places which the adorable footsteps [had trodden].

4 From thence he set out to go to Mount Sinai in Arabia, and in this mountain [he went
into] the cave in which the blessed Moses had lived, and in which the Lord shewed him the
constitution of all this universe, and where he composed the words of the Spirit, and
where also God had spoken with Elijah the great Prophet, and he offered up the sacrifice
of praise to the Lord like sweet-smelling odours; and our Lord made His light to shine
upon the understanding of the holy young man, and He prepared him to journey uprightly
along the path in which there is no blame. From thence he directed the course of his
journey straight to Alexandria, and from this [city] he went to the Egyptian desert, where
he stayed some time going about among the monasteries of the holy men who lived in the
desert; and he worshipped at the graves of the righteous and holy Antonius, and Pachomius,
and Evagrius, and Arsenius, and Macarius, and Serapion. And from the sight of the holy men
who were there and from their labours he gained a good type and example for himself. And
just as the bee that is skilful in her handicraft formeth and buildeth up the honeycomb in
her dwelling from [various] herbs and grasses, so also did this holy man gather together
habits of the monastic life from each of the holy men and did perfect them in himself;

5 and having become initiated into all the monastic life, and having endued himself with
the venerable garb of the monks in one of the monasteries of the orthodox which were
there, and having laboured in the service of the community according to the canon of the
fathers, and having lived in that monastery a considerable time, the chosen vessel deemed
that henceforth he might become an anchorite.

CHAPTER 3. OF THE DEPARTURE OF THE HOLY CYPRIAN FROM THE DESERT TO AN ISLAND OF GREECE

1 Now the holy Cyprian heard of a solitary island in the territory of the Greeks in which
palms and fruits for food were found, and although there might be men living there he
would have no need for the services of man; and he persuaded certain traders of the sea,
and they carried him in their ship and brought him thither. And when he had gone into the
interior he praised God, the Lord of all, who had prepared that place for him, and he
rejoiced in it and loved it, and it seemed to him as if he were in the Paradise of Eden.
And thus he took advantage of tranquil solitude to fast, and also to pray and to sing
Psalms, and from these [arose] prayer and supplication, which [lasted] day and night, to
Him Who loved and Who walked [over] sea and land to fulfil His will in the renunciation of
every thing. Now he tarried there a long time without the knowledge of [any] man,
delighting in the desert and training himself in all the most severe and minute details
and particulars of the ascetic life, at the same time sparingly sustaining his life with
dates and vegetables and herbs which he took from the earth. How many were the fierce
strifes and afflictions which this valiant athlete endured there from the passions of the
body and the wickedness of obstinate devils it is not for us to write;

2 but those who have occupied themselves for a long time with the affairs of the solitary
life and with the life of an anchorite [know] how hard it is to lead that life, and how
difficult, and what fierce enemies attack the wretched monk, and how he eateth [his bread]
day and night with the tears of his eyes, and with bitterness. As for consolation it is
far from him; as for wars, they surround him on all sides; and helpers he has none. So
then, considering contests and strifes of absolute necessity he was entirely collected in
his mind, and he was afraid lest the thought which awoke in him irritatingly would put an
end to his contemplation, and would destroy in the twinkling of an eye all his life-long
labour; for, as Paul saith, his contest "was not against flesh and blood, but with
principalities and powers, and against the rulers of darkness of this world, and against
evil spirits under the heavens". His labour was [his] furnace, that [he might go forth]
like gold which is tried and tested by the fire. There in the desert he was victorious,
and he was profited by afflictions by which as the body melted away and gradually
disappeared, the soul shone and became radiant to meet the riches of glorious things after
its sufferings and afflictions; for in proportion as the soul entereth into sublime things
and becometh exalted, so do its fierce enemies attack it.

3 So then [we cannot] relate concerning the strifes of this mighty man of strength, for
they are secret and hidden from us. 4 Now after he had tarried there for the space of many
years he became known even unto the traders in this wise: it came to pass that they once
touched that island to brace up their ship which had been greatly shaken by the violence
of the waves, and certain of the crew wandered about hither and thither in the island. And
they had heard about him from those who had brought him over there when he first came to
that island, and when they saw from a distance the palm trees of his garden they knew that
the man of God dwelt there. And they went, and found him, and drew near to him, and were
blessed by the holy man whom they sought, and they left with him some of their provisions,
and received a blessing from him and departed. And this was the cause of his being
perceived there by men and becoming well known. And after his strugglings and strivings
which [took place] there our Lord made him to flourish in all the excellence of a perfect
ascetic life, and not only were healed those who came to him, but even those who were afar
off, and who could not see him, when they called upon the name of the God of Cyprian the
anchorite, speedily received healing of their sicknesses.

5 And likewise also the seamen who went down into the sea, when they were in trouble
through the raging of the sea, [called upon] the name of the holy man, and the waves
became quiet by his prayer, and the billows of the sea subsided. Now when he had lived
full forty years in that desert, and had gathered to himself riches of which he could not
be despoiled, and had laid up all his treasure in heaven above, according to the Redeeming
word, and had received from the Lord all things which could perfect His will, and had
become instead of a creature of soul and body, a man of the Spirit, the holy angel of the
Lord appeared to him in a vision, [and told him] to return without delay to the country of
Margâ, and to build a monastery for ascetics on the border of his village, and to become a
spiritual father and a director of solitaries. Now Divine Goodness is accustomed to work
in this [manner], even as it did in the case of Moses the Great (whom after he had been
the shepherd of a dumb flock for forty years, it raised up to lead and direct the
thousands and ten thousands of Israel), and many others; for they were first of all
trained and exercised in the solitude of the desert and mountains, and were afterwards
appointed by God and brought to rule over those who led the life of solitaries, and over
the Church.


THE BOOK OF GOVERNORS (CHAPTERS 4. OF THE COMING OF RABBAN CYPRIAN TO THIS COUNTRY OF MARGÂ, AND OF HOW HE WAS REVEALED AND BECAME KNOWN IN THIS PLACE–15. OF THOSE ASCETICS AND HOLY MEN WHO WERE TO BE FOUND IN VARIOUS PLACES IN THE DAYS OF RABBAN GABRIEL)
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THE BOOK OF GOVERNORS continued

CHAPTER 4. OF THE COMING OF RABBAN CYPRIAN TO THIS COUNTRY OF MARGÂ, AND OF HOW HE WAS REVEALED AND BECAME KNOWN IN THIS PLACE

1 Now this holy man, having received from the Lord this permission, changed the place in
which he had lived for forty years pleasing God, as was right, and crossed the sea, and
returned to this country. And it happened before his coming here that the village of Bêth
Magûshê, which was the home of his parents, had been laid waste, and so, Divine Grace
leading him, he came and dwelt in the wood which is below the monastery [which he
afterwards built]. Now aforetime the place was such that fierce wild animals dwelt
therein, and even with the blessed man Cyprian, according to what is written concerning
him, during the whole of the time in which he lived in the wood without any man being
aware of his presence, there lived two lions, which not only did not do him harm, but
stood tranquilly before him like innocent lambs. His food was grass and other green herbs
and vegetables which [grew] on this river, but because he had ordered and set himself
apart for the benefit of many people he did not tarry long here before men came to know
about him and to see him.

2 And in the days of snow the young men of Nîrâm dhê Râ'awâthâ, a village [situated] above
the monastery, went forth, and they took (crossed) river after river that they might find
wild animals to hunt, and they had with them powerful dogs, and with slings and outcries
they surrounded the wood, in which was the blessed old man, for they saw the tracks of the
wild animals which were gathered together to the old man. And when they had made much
noise, being in fear and terror of lions, and saw that there was no lion there, they went
into the wood [thinking] that perchance they might find some animal therein; and when they
had gone in they saw a little shelter built above a ravine, like that which wild animals
make in the ground, and when they had looked hither and thither they saw the man of God
sitting half hidden in his cave. And they pointed their spears at him boldly and
threatened [to slay] him, for they did not know that he was a holy man, but he spake with
them gently, and went forth, and blessed them, and gave them words of encouragement,
saying, "I am one of the company of

4 wandering mendicants. I came here last night, and to-day I shall go away. Go back to
your village, and behold a stag will meet you, take him and slay him, and so depart to
your houses; then they went forth from him quickly that they might inform their fathers
concerning him. Now when they had gone away about a stone's throw, from that part of the
wood [where] the old man [was] they found the stag of which he had spoken to them caught
by his horns in the branches of the forest, and they took him and slew him, and went in to
their village, and they quickly informed the people thereof concerning that old man. Then
the whole village came out, and ran swiftly to the old man that they might see and become
acquainted with the anchorite who had been sent to help them; the wise physician who was
able to heal their sicknesses without payment; the merchant who was laden with much riches
which he might spend for their benefit; the spiritual father who was able, like the son of
'Amram, to stand before the breaches of those who afflicted them; and the man who became
altogether like Paul; that they might see John in the Jordan, and hear his voice
encouraging sinners to repentance; [and] Elijah the prophet who would burn up and destroy
the evil company of heretics as he burned up the children of Baal.

5 And when they had come to him, and had gone in and seen this holy old man they bowed
themselves down to the ground before the ascetic and recluse, and they drew near [to him]
and kissed the old rags of his clothing. Now the blessed man perceived no one of them, for
he remained before them lying on his face with his eyes streaming with tears, and the man
who had led the life of an anchorite for forty years was not able to look boldly upon
[any] man in that gathering. And while they were waiting and entreating him that he would
hold them to be worthy of the blessings of his prayers, he answered and said to them,
"Rise up now, my children, and go to your homes, for behold the head and governor of the
churches of this country will come to your village this evening, and as for me I shall
remain here to-morrow and the day following; and he blessed them and said farewell to
them. Thus they left him, and departed from him, and according to the words of our master,
"[he will come] at the eventide of this day", there came to them the pious and holy
Metropolitan of the country, as he was going round visiting his flocks and nourishing the
people of his pasture, according to our Lord's command to him.

6 And when they were gathered together to that holy head, they related to him concerning
the manifestation of that mighty man of God, and at the same time concerning his
asceticism and his venerable appearance, and concerning the self-abnegation and voluntary
poverty which they had seen in him, and how he had informed them, saying that "at the
eventide of this day the coming of thy holiness would take place. And when the holy father
had heard these things, he went down to the holy man in the morning of the morrow with a
great assembly of priests and teachers and scholars of the school of Ṣāwrā; and when the
blessed old man perceived that it was the Head of the Church who had come to him, he rose
up without delay and went forth to meet him. And the holy Bishop saw him from afar, bent,
and bowed, and supporting himself on a small staff, and bowing, and falling down, and
rising up, and he hastened towards him and fell upon his face before the feet of the
Metropolitan. And the holy Bishop marvelled greatly at the unexampled sight which he saw
in the blessed man, for by reason of the long endured burden of his labours he appeared to
be like unto a spectre.

7 Then the holy old man wept, and said to the Bishop, "Why did I not come to thee, like a
servant to the feet of his lord, instead of thy coming to me, O holy father, [seeing that]
I am a sinner [who is bound] to bow down to thy greatness? (Hail to the humility which is
so superior! Hail to mind [which] beareth wisdom! "For [I] know that honour is due to the
priesthood, and for this reason I have come with tears to meet him to whom the ministry of
the priesthood hath been entrusted, and not like a man who hath been reared in a desert
country, and who is not acquainted with the estimation in which the fathers are held, and
who hath in his hole in the rock become neglectful and remiss, and who considereth the
honouring of that man not to be among things which are necessities. And when both of these
holy men had been blessed by each other Már Bishop asked the blessed man by degrees to
tell him about the manner of his coming here, and from what place he made his way to us;
and having informed him about lesser matters he omitted [to speak] of great matters.

8 Then the Bishop rose up and took the old man by his hand and led him round this place
where a temple and monastery should be, and in the words of the Lord he said to him, "This
is thy portion, build, finish, receive the brethren, and teach disciples, and may the Lord
be pleased by thy labour, and by all the course which thou runnest in His commands. For
thou shalt increase and become abundant, and thy seed shall inherit the lands which are
round about thee, and with the hosts of ascetics which thou shalt beget shalt thou meet
the face of the Judge on the day of His coming; and he marked out for him the dimensions
of the temple and of the sanctuary, and he departed from him to [continue] his visitation.

CHAPTER 5. OF THE BUILDING OF THIS HOLY MONASTERY BY THE HANDS OF THE BLESSED MAN

1 Then the believing men from these and many other villages came with all solicitude to
the blessed man to build the temple and the buildings for the community, and in a few days
the building received conclusion. And there were gathered together to Rabban an assembly
of ascetic brethren, fifty men who were proved by their wonderful works, and who were
stamped with the likeness of their spiritual father; but the wax did not receive the
impressions of the gems of the ring, even although they inscribed upon them the likenesses
of the holy Cyprian, until there lived among them ascetics who had wrought holy and mighty
deeds in this world. And our Lord sustained [them], and provided abundantly all things
which were necessary for their use, and little by little the belief of our Lord was fully
spread abroad by them, and the renown of the congregation of the holy man was carried into
every place; and [one] might see that through the prayers of this holy man, this
congregation [was] the fountain of all help which flowed into all parts [of the country].
Now Rabban lived here, from his coming to the day of his death, twenty years, more or
less.

2 And the blessed man became old and gray, and reached a prolonged old age, and his limbs
became infirm by reason of the asceticism of those years which had passed over him, for he
had lived forty years in that island, and it is well known that he lived [there] upon the
meagre fare of green herbs and of the fruit of palms, and [during] the twenty [years]
which he lived in this monastery he supported his life with dry bread only; for one of the
monks who served in the monastery used to bring to him every evening a piece of ordinary
bread, and a draught of common water only. And once when the brethren urged him to take
part with them in a meal of cooked food, and he did what they wished, that food became the
cause of an illness, for he was not accustomed to [eat] such food as that, and by reason
of feebleness in this respect his illness increased, and the end of his term of years
arrived, and the athlete of Christ, who had borne the burden of the day and its heat from
the morning of youth to the evening of old age in the service of His vineyard, drew near
to rest from his labour; and the conclusion of the end of the days of this strenuous
worker of the house of our Lord took place with sweaty labours dripping with the sweat of
the new life.

3 He received revelations from his Lord, and he wrought among us the mighty deeds and
miracles of the Prophets and Apostles, concerning which, selecting certain parts from
their whole [mass], it is time for us to narrate, and thus the course of our history
draweth towards the end of the contest of our holy father; and it will be possible for us
by means of the small portion which is [here] written down, to explore for wise and
understanding [readers—if indeed we have them—] the depth of all his wonderful deeds, for
"he that is faithful in a little shall become master over much," according to the word of
Him that laid down the contest [for us].

CHAPTER 6. WHICH MAKETH KNOWN CONCERNING THE WONDERFUL DEEDS WHICH THE BLESSED CYPRIAN WROUGHT

1 The first of the wonders which the blessed Cyprian wrought in our country is the
following, and the village in which the working of mighty deeds began was that which first
of all perceived his manifestation. Now it came to pass that while two young men from
Nirâm, a village of the Shepherds, were tending their cattle in the fields, it fell out
that they were afflicted by devils in one day; but when their parents had brought them to
Rabban, the power of the Evil One departed from them straightway, and they ended their
lives in freedom [from him]. And while a certain man was passing at night along the road
by the side of a fire temple of the Magians which had been a ruin for some time, devils
sprang out upon him in the form of black ravens, and they entered into him and convulsed
him; and since his kinsfolk and relations had heard concerning the wonders which had been
wrought by the hands of this our Elisha, they led him in bonds to bring him to him. And
when they had crossed the river Hâzer to come to this monastery, those devils answered and
said to them, "If ye are going to that impostor Cyprian, we are going to remain here;" so
they departed from the man and left him. But they nevertheless brought him to Rabban, and
he commanded him not to deprive himself of the attendance at Church, and the receiving of
the Holy Mysteries, [saying], "the devils shall not be able to draw nigh to thee again;"
and the man undertook [to do this], and departed in joy.

2 And on another occasion they brought to him from the village of Bêth Kaddishê, a woman
bound with cord, and with her garments rent by reason of the violence of the struggling of
a devil [with her]; but when they had brought her and a Hênânâ to Rabban, he signed the
sign of the Cross over her, and she was completely healed, and her kinsfolk and relatives
took her and went away with gladness. And a certain man from Margâ had a paralytic son who
from the womb had never walked, and this man, having heard of the influence which the
prayer of Rabban possessed with God, and that our Lord brought to a satisfactory issue
every thing which he commanded, laid the boy upon an ass in firm belief, and came to this
our Simon; and when he had set him before the feet of the holy old man, he entreated him
with tears to have mercy upon him. Then Rabban brought forth the oil of prayer from the
sanctuary—now it was a custom of Rabban to

3 of the body and soul, in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost." have
the horn [of oil] carefully placed in the kotche— and when he had anointed the whole body
of the boy, he stepped back from him about ten paces, and calling the boy by his name,
said, "Rise up, and come to me," and at the word the boy rose up readily and went to
Rabban. Then Rabban laid his hand upon his head, and blessed him, and his father took him
and went to his house rejoicing, and every one marvelled and praised God. And about that
time a pestilence fell upon the camels in the country of Bèth Garmai. And the believing
men sent to him and asked him to pray for them, and as soon as their messenger had gone
into the monastery on that very day the pestilence ceased from their camels; and having
received a Hênânâ and returned, they asked him concerning the day on which he had seen
Rabban, and they knew that it was at that hour that God had manifested His help to them;
and they praised and glorified God for the power which the prayer of the holy man
possessed, in that while he himself was in the country of Margâ, his prayer was doing
battle with the pestilence in Bèth Garmai.

4 One day they brought a boy to him from Birtâ, a village of Rûstâkâ, with his face turned
behind him by the agency of Satan; and when they had brought him in to Rabban, he received
healing by the holy right hand of this our father, and he set his face straight, and he
became as he was in former times. Once there came to Rabban a man from the country of Bèth
Bèghàsh, whose name [was] Yahbh Màran, who although he had lived with his wife for many
years had not become the father of children, and he entreated Rabban that he would
consider him worthy of the help of his prayer. And Rabban made the sign of the Cross over
him with a hènànà three times, and having dismissed him to his journey with prayer he
departed to his [own] country, and there were born to him two sons and one daughter.

5 And they brought to him from Sèyàn, a village of heretics, a woman whose two legs were
paralysed, and after she had continued in the monastery two days, lying in the chapel, our
Lord gave her healing by the prayers of the holy man. And again they brought to him from
the province of Gàrìn a woman who was blind in both eyes—now this woman belonged to a
noble family of rich people, and she was exceedingly beautiful in appearance—and by the
prayers of the holy man she also received a complete cure in the appearance and beauty of
both her eyes, and every man praised and glorified God when they saw the help which that
woman had obtained. [One] night a devil beat a youth from Berbèli severely, and made him
foam at the mouth, and on the morrow in the morning his parents carried him and brought
him [to the holy man]. And when they had taken him in to Rabban, he sealed him with the
sign of the Cross, and rebuked the devil according to the word of our Lord, and all the
brethren being gathered together before him, he went forth from his mouth like a carrion
crow and flew away and departed; and that boy received healing and became as he was
aforetime.

6 And they brought to him from Nâhêrmeshi a woman who was persecuted by a wicked devil,
and by the prayer of this holy man, the power of our Lord freed her also from the conflict
with that devil. And a certain man from Şeyân brought to Rabban his only son who was
smitten with a putrid sore, and Rabban commanded him to go down to the river which ran
under his cell and to bathe, and by this [means] he sent away [from him] the whole garment
of that evil sore; and being healed his father took him with joy and praise of God, and
departed to his village. Once a man from the village of Bêth Talai, who believed in God
and loved Him wholly, fell into a severe illness, and by reason of its violence his soul
was well nigh departing [from him], and like Hezekiah he sent to this our Isaiah [asking]
that he would visit him with his prayer. And when the youth had gone forth from him to
come to the monastery, that believing man saw the angel of the Lord standing above him in
the form of Rabban as if he were offering up prayer on his behalf, and he was healed
completely, and he sat up in his bed, and he praised and glorified God; and by reason of
the sound of his praise the people of his house were disturbed, and they went in and saw
[him] sitting on [his] bed praising God, and he stood up forthwith and walked. And when
the youth came to Rabban he informed him that he that had sent him was made whole; and
those and such-like wonders were wrought by this holy man.

7 Once Satan appeared to a man by night in the form of a mighty man, and as he neither
distinguished the vision nor the strange power, when Satan called him by his name, the man
answered him readily and as he spoke Satan entered into him and tortured him. And his
kinsfolk and relatives brought him to Rabban, and by the holy oil, and the mediation of
his right hand, and by proclaiming over him [the name] of the Father, and the Son, and the
Holy Ghost, he received healing and remained whole all his days. And they brought to
Rabban from the village of Shamrakh a man who was vexed by Satan and he lacerated all his
body with bites; he also was quickly made whole by the prayers of Rabban, and returned to
his house rejoicing and praising God. And a certain man had a plot of land which was sown
with beans, and when the fruit was in the pod, the worm fell upon all the pods, and tore
them to pieces mercilessly; and when he had brought some of the pods and shewed [them] to
Rabban, Rabban gave him some water in which the cross which [he wore] upon him had been
washed, and commanded him to sprinkle it over all his plot of land, and straightway the
plague ceased, and the praise of God increased through him and flourished.

8 And again, a certain man had large flocks of sheep, upon which there once fell a
pestilence, and many of the sheep perished. And the man came to this holy old man and
entreated him to pray against that affliction, and on the day when he returned from us,
and had distributed the ḥenānâ over his flock, by the help of our Lord the pestilence
ceased. And when they had brought to this servant of Jesus the God of all, a woman whose
blood had flowed from her for a long time, and she was nigh unto death, she was healed by
the prayer of this blessed old man like the woman whom Jesus healed. In a district called
Sâwrâ, which was situated above the monastery, there lived a famous family of Magians, are
contained; compare Brit. Mus. Orient. 7203, fol. 180a, col. 2; plur. Dozy, Supplément,
tom. 1. p. 754, col. 1; Lagarde, Praetermissorum, p. 122, No. 55. The plur. occurs in
Ahrens, Das Buch der Naturgegenstände, text, p. 37, l. 17, trans. p. 60, note 3. In Brit.
Mus. Orient. 2441, fol. 371a, col. 2, we have:

9 who had not yet taken upon themselves the bridle of the worship of God the Life of the
worlds, but according to the custom of their parents they worshipped fire and the heavenly
bodies. And when these men saw the mighty deeds and signs which were wrought by the
mediation of this wonderful man, they were overcome [by] a noble-minded victory, and they
spat upon the object of their worship, and despised the impure doctrine of Magianism, and
came to this light of Christianity, and entreated him that through him they might become
members of the household for the worship of his God, for, said they to him, "The God who
is worshipped by thee, O our father, is the true God, and we will be His servants and
adorers as long as He permitteth us to live in this world, and Magianism is to be denied,
together with all its unclean and polluted muttered prayers. Then he with great joy shewed
and made clear before them all the glory of Christianity, and of the living doctrine of
the Gospel of Christ our Lord and of those good things which are above [this] world, and
which are laid up for holy Christians in the world which is to come, and how in all
generations holy men have pleased God the Creator and Maker of all created things, and of
God the Cause of everything which exists and is made.

10 And he commanded and made ready everything which was necessary for the Mysteries of
holy baptism, and according to the order of the service of the Holy Church he baptized
them with his hands in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost. And he
commanded their wives and children [to be brought], and he baptized them in the church of
Ṣāwrā their village, and he admonished them, and said to them, This day is a marriage
feast made in the heights of heaven above among the ranks of the holy angels, for if our
Lord said, 'The angels who are in heaven rejoice over the conversion of one sinner that
repenteth', how very much more [will they rejoice] over the many who have gone into the
courts of the Holy Church, and [whose names] have been written down and inscribed with the
royal stamp of the money of the kingdom! This day have your names been written down with
[those of] the first who have been inscribed in heaven; this day have ye cast off the
black garment which the error of the worship of fire wove for you; this day have ye made
white that soul which was spotted with the polluted passions of the doctrine of erring
devils.

11 Now therefore, my beloved, seek the things which are above, and let be earnestly
desired the things which are above, and not those which are upon earth, where Christ Whom
ye have put on dwelleth in heaven, for ye are dead to yourselves, and your lives are
hidden with Christ in God, and when Christ, Who is our Life, shall be revealed, then will
ye also be revealed with Him in glory. Mortify then your members which are upon earth,
fornication, uncleanness, theft, avarice, and idolatry; try everything, and lay hold upon
that which is good, and flee from every evil thing. And the Magians hearkened unto him
graciously and simply, and undertook [to do] those things which were said by him to them,
and they were mingled among the Catholic Church; and they were changed from their former
manner of life of marrying their mothers, and sisters, and daughters, and they acted
according to the rule of life which Rabban taught them. And they brought an enlightened
and learned man, and he taught them the psalms, and hymns, and holy customs, and
observances; and thus they were made perfect holily in the new man which they had put on.

12 And a certain Persian woman having been made by devils their abode, the poor creature
was grievously vexed by them, and she used to come against every one who passed near unto
her with foul abuse and stone-throwing; and her kinsfolk having brought her to Rabban, she
tarried in the martyrium the whole night, and with the dawn our Lord gave to her freedom
from the subjection to the devils. And after she had been made whole she related to her
neighbours, saying, "An old man came to me in the night, and he laid hold of those black
beings which clave to me, and he smote them, and with adjurations forbade them to come
near to me again, and they fled and they have not [come] again"; and thus being made whole
she returned to her house. 13 And again, a certain thief once came in the night and began
to dig through the wall of the kogche of this monastery that he might carry off the books
and property of the monastery, and having struck two blows his right hand straightway
withered. And in the morning he went in to Rabban and confessed his folly, but although
Rabban laboured much, and made much supplication in prayer on his behalf, the man did not
receive healing, and rightly, for it was meet that the man who had dared to break into the
house of God's worship, which had [but] newly been built, and to which the blessed
brethren had been [but] recently gathered together, should remain with an uncured stroke.
For in every beginning of [progress] in Divine things fear and awe are necessary, just as
the word of Simon, the chief of the Apostles, cast fear upon Ananias and Sapphira at the
beginning of [his] preaching; and it is written moreover, "If a man sinneth against a man,
let him entreat the Lord and it shall be forgiven him; but if he sin against the Lord,
whom shall he entreat?" So that wretched man remained with his withered arm, like Cain in
Genesis, and as he was unable to find food to sustain his life, when he went begging from
door to door and from village to village, he became the herald of his own punishment.

14 On another occasion a certain man took away the silken veil from the martyrium, and as
soon as he brought it into his house all his children were vexed by a devil. And when he
saw this he went back to the monastery, [having] the veil with him, and he bowed down
before Rabban, and confessed his sin, and Rabban gave him a ḥenānā and commanded him to
give it to his children to drink, [mixed] with water; and when he had done this they
straightway received healing. On another day a certain heathen went into the garden of the
monastery, wishing to gather figs, and the Lord smote him with the sickness of blindness,
and he remained the whole night sitting on the wall. And when it had dawned and the monks
who served in the monastery came and found him, he confessed the sin which he had
committed, and they took him in to Rabban who passed his hand over his eyes, and he
received perfect healing and undertook never to do the like again.

15 Now when Satan, the father of lies, who from the beginning fought with our parents in
Eden and who hath in all generations inflicted injury upon our race in many things—and he
it is who hath sown bitter tares among the chosen wheat of the congregations of the
Cross—saw that the monastery of the triumphant man was adorned with every kind of virtue
and that its monks performed their duties and observed with diligent care the stated
seasons of prayer, and that they completed with joy all the singing of the Psalms, and the
praise of Christ which was formed in the mouth of those who daily went in and came out [of
it], he wished to make those ascetic brethren to cease from service of the spirit, through
the service of the table, and to pour into and to fill their cells with the votive
offerings of meat and drink of the will of Satan, and [to occupy them] with services for
the villagers of the country round about and for people of all ranks in the world whom he
invited and brought to this poor monastery, instead of the standing up in service before
God. And he worked upon a certain erring monk who [belonged] to the corrupt confession of
the followers of Severus of Antioch, and he brought with him some rancid oil, and he came
to this monastery, forsooth, to pray.

16 And he tarried here the night, and in the morning he took out from his bosom a little
horn of that abominable oil, and gave it to the steward, saying, "Keep this prayer oil for
me until I come back from a journey which I must needs make"; now the brother in his
simplicity took the oil without asking any questions, and hid it in one of the windows of
the monastery, until its owner should come and take it. And what did Satan our adversary
do? As long as that stinking oil remained here, he stirred up [the people of] every
country and district to come and pray in the monastery of Rabban Cyprian, and [they came]
not only [from] Margâ, which was near, but from Bêth Nûhdêrân, and there came Arabs, and
Ninevites, people of Adiabene, and the people of Bêth Garmai, Bêth Bêghâsh, Dâsen, and the
field of Heptôn. And he caught and brought hither such crowds upon crowds of people that
the monastery and the temple and the cells of the brethren could not hold the multitudes
that were going and coming, and that belonged to the congregations which established the
will of Satan. And when Rabban, the holy Mâr Cyprian, saw this thing which was not
according to custom, he called to the brethren and said to them, "O my sons, the tumult of
all this changing multitude is very foreign, in my opinion [to our life].

17 Who am I, and what is my righteousness, that my fame hath stirred up all countries to
weary us? Shew me if ye have wrought any thing contrary to [our rules], or if there is
among you a man who hath associated himself with heretics and hath learned any thing from
them; for I know that God is not the cause of all these assemblies. Then the brother who
had received the oil from the heretic came and fell down before Rabban, and he answered
and said to him, "Master, forgive me, for I have committed sin unwittingly. A certain monk
of the followers of Severus of Antioch gave me this vessel of oil, and he said to me,
'Keep it until I return from the journey which I must make'; but what was the object of it
I knew not. And when Rabban saw it, he smelled from it the rancid smell of the wicked, and
he knew that it was the cause of this damned weariness; and he commanded, and the furnace
was made hot, and he threw it into the fire together with the vessel [that contained it].
Thus was extinguished the flame of that spiritual sickness, and those people who were on
the roads turned back, and those who were making preparations in their houses to come left
off making ready, and we received the grace of God that the heretical doctrine of the Evil
One was corrected by the mediation of our holy father.

18 And a certain woman from Ṣāwrâ had a daughter who was one day vexed by Satan, and she
brought her to this driver away of devils. And when she had laid her at the feet of his
holiness, he stood up and prayed over her, and we were all looking on, and wasps' vicious
as those excited by smoke came forth from her mouth, and thus our Lord speedily gave her
healing; and the woman took her daughter and went out from before him confessing and
glorifying God with us. But why should we strive as if, forsooth, we were able to relate
[all] the wonders of this holy man? For who knoweth the mighty deeds which he wrought in
that island, and in the deserts of Egypt and Scete, where he lived for forty years? The
things which he wrought here he wrought secretly, and we have written down a few of the
many things which he did, [being] those which were wrought before us, but we have omitted
[to notice] the rest because of their great number.

CHAPTER 7. OF THE END OF THE COURSE OF THE BLESSED MAN, AND OF HIS EXHORTATIONS TO HIS CHILDREN IN THE HOUR OF HIS DEATH

1 Let us now shew forth the crowning of the course of this warrior, and how he who for
sixty years had not rested, either day or night, from his ardent course towards his Lord,
rested from the trouble of his wandering in strange lands. Now after he had completed
twenty years of life here, and after he had made his monastery to flourish with many
brethren, and with the books of the Holy Scriptures, and with readers and ascetics, like
the other monasteries of the holy men his contemporaries, the day drew nigh and arrived in
which he should rest from his labour, and should finish his contest in glorious
perfectness. And he knew and felt that the hour of his departure had arrived, and he
called to his holy sons, and spake to them, saying, "Now, my sons, abide in peace, for my
time is come, and the moment of the end in which I shall go the way of my fathers, and
along the road of all the race of Adam, hath drawn nigh. Take good heed, my sons, to
yourselves, and to all the doctrine which ye have received from me; be not neglectful of
the seasons of prayer, nor of sitting [in meditation] in your cells, nor of penitential
bowings and prostrations to the ground which I have committed to you, and in token of
regret for the worldliness of your lives, commanded you to perform.

2 Let not your lives pass away in idleness, for the hour of death is hidden from us, and
when it hath come [to you] ye will repent of your days which [ye have passed] in
slothfulness. With all your might take good heed that ye be not mingled with profane
heretics, and let your souls abominate all their doctrine, for they are enemies of your
manner of life, and of your peace of mind, like Satan who is in them. My sons, enter not
into their monasteries, and mingle not with the pure gold of your belief the abominable
brass of their subtleties; for they are cut off from belief, and are empty of hope, and
that their work is Satanic the polluted oil which [we burned] a short time ago [and which]
gathered all countries against us, will teach. Take heed moreover, my beloved, unto the
love of those who are in the world and exchange not the love of your Lord for the love
which ye once denied before many. Possess neither gold, nor silver, nor clothes more than
ye need, that ye fall not, like Gehazi, from the household of our Lord; for just as our
Lord is greater than Elisha, so also is the punishment of those who tread His commandments
under foot greater; ye shall give answer to our Lord on the Day of Judgment if ye
transgress one of these commandments.

3 And when he had admonished and exhorted them, he commanded them and they came near
before him, and he kissed each one of them, and said farewell to them; and all the
brethren wept with a great weeping at the parting of the righteous man from them. And when
he had saluted them, he bowed on the top of his staff, like Jacob, and prayed, and he
blessed the Church and her children, and pastors, and masters, and kings, and governors;
and he made the sign of the holy Cross over his monastery, and thus with his mouth full of
the glory of God, and his tongue [of] praise, he stretched out his legs without sickness
and without suffering, and he opened his holy mouth and delivered up his spirit in peace.
And as he was gentle and gracious in his life, and never chid any man or behaved harshly
[to him], so let him sleep happily until the Voice which shall raise him up alive calleth
him, and lifteth him up to heaven with all his holy fellow-labourers. And [the people of]
all the village, together with the teachers, and scholars, and priests, and deacons were
assembled with the congregation of his sons, and they celebrated the day of his
commemoration with the praises and canons according to custom, day and night, and he was
laid in the martyrium with the honour which befitted his holiness;

4 and on the following day they kept a vigil for him a second time that he might be an
intercessor with his followers for them on the day when he shall be paid the wages of his
trials and troubles, and that they might sit down happily at the feast of the kingdom
above. Amen. 5 Now after the death of that holy chief our Lord wrought a miracle at his
grave, the [like of] which had never been worked by him during his life, that it might be
known unto all men that he was alive and with our Lord, and that now he was more near to
Him, and that he had obtained freedom of speech before Him. A certain believing woman from
the village of Bèth Màrùth, who during the lifetime of Rabban had had experience of the
signs [which he worked], had a son, who had been given to her by the prayer of Rabban
through a hènànà which she had received from him; and this son contracted a serious
disease, and it waxed grievously sore in him. Now when his mother understood that he was a
dead man, for he was nigh unto death, that believing woman, who is worthy of being
remembered for good, was, in her faith, like unto the Shunammite woman of Elisha, and she
said to her husband, "Rise up, and make ready a she-ass for me, that it may go with my son
to my Elisha, Màr Cyprian, the ascetic, the spiritual father of my son".

6 And although every man advised her [saying], "Give up this idea, for when the boy's body
is shaken by the motion of the ass, he will die immediately", she was not at all
persuaded, but said, "If he die there I will bury him, and if he is made whole it will be
the power of God that, by the prayer of the holy man, shall bestow healing upon my son".
And having set herself and her son upon the she-ass, she commanded her servant to lead on
quickly, and when she had come a distance of three farsah the soul of the lad departed
from him. And she alighted from the ass, and she bandaged(? him, and wrapped him round,
being strong in her faith. And she came to this monastery and went into the martyrium, and
laid him before the grave of Rabban and she gave herself to prayer like the holy woman
Hannah, the mother of Samuel, and in a voice which could be heard she spake mournfully, so
that every one round about her wept, saying, "O Mâr Cyprian, the servant of God, behold
the loan which thou didst grant to me during thy lifetime thou hast taken back in thy
death. I did not ask of thee a soulless corpse, neither did I seek to suffer the pangs of
childbirth, and to bring up a child if all my care and lullabies were to be in vain.

7 Take pity upon that belief which hath taken refuge in thee now that thou art dead as
when thou wast alive, and let not the bosom of thy woman disciple be deprived of the child
which thou hast placed therein. Entreat now thy Lord, like Elisha, and let Him give back
to me the blessing which I have plucked from the tree of the house of Adam by thy prayer;
and as concerning Elisha also it is written that a dead man came to life again [through
touching] his dead body, even so let the breath of life blow into the son of thy handmaid
by the shrine of thy glorious body, for when a servant is near unto his master he hath the
greater freedom of speech. Have pity upon the woman who with lamentations goeth round
about thy holy tomb, and I will make it a condition with thy Lord that he shall minister
in thy monastery all the days of his life, and that like Samuel the son of Hannah he shall
be a man set apart to the Lord, and shall be dedicated [to God] all his days. O God of Mâr
Cyprian, let the request of thy handmaid enter in before Thee, although I am unworthy [of
it], and let Thy holy man Cyprian be [my] advocate before Thee.

8 Then God the merciful One Who spake "Let light shine out of darkness", and "Everything
is possible to him that believeth", and "Everything which ye shall ask in prayer, if ye
believe, ye shall receive", especially wishing to glorify the son of His household in his
death more than in his life, made the soul of the boy to return to its body, and he cried
out according to [his] custom. Now we were in the temple [occupied] in the service of
Psalms for the night, and the woman was in the martyrium; and when the mother saw that
[her] boy moved she glorified God with a loud voice, and by her voice we perceived that
the boy had come to life. And we also went into the martyrium, and saw him sitting before
his mother as in former times; and with the life which was restored to him he received a
complete cure. And every man praised God and marvelled, and the woman took her son and
went to her village, and related to the believers everything which had taken place; and
because of this thing the praise of our Lord was proclaimed in all the country. And that
believing woman, like Hannah, performed her vow, and she set him apart [to the Lord] even
as she had vowed; and when the boy had grown up and had arrived at years of discretion,
she brought him to the monastery and left him and went away.

9 And he became a disciple and [afterwards] an ascetic, and every year she came to see
him, and brought to him clothes even as Hannah did for Samuel. And he became a perfect
example of a solitary brother, and completed his life in this monastery according to the
will of God, the Lord of all, to Whom be praise, and honour, and worship, and dominion,
and exaltation; and by the prayers of the holy Mâr Cyprian may His grace and mercy [be]
upon our assembly, now and always, and for ever and ever, Amen. 10 Here endeth the history
of the blessed Rabban Mâr Cyprian, the priest and ascetic, the founder of the holy
monastery in the province of Birtâ.

CHAPTER 8. THE HISTORY OF THE WONDERFUL ACTS OF THE MIGHTY MAN RABBAN GABRIEL, THE ASCETIC IN VERY TRUTH, AND THE HEAD OF THE MONASTERY OF THE HOLY MÁR CYPRIAN

The Author's Apology to the Reader.

1 Now therefore we have the intention of writing concerning that marvellous man among the
ascetics who flourished in the later times, the blessed Rabban Gabriel, the man who
penetrated the mysteries of Christ, by whose hands our Lord wrought the signs of the
Prophets and Apostles, and of weaving with my feeble speech the crown of his strife, from
the materials which have been written down by early [writers] concerning his noble acts,
and from those things which I have heard repeated about him, some by the monks who saw him
whom I have met, and some from the priests and believing men of the country. And I will
lay it upon the table of the hearing of those who love the histories of holy men, adding
also at the same time, according to the materials which I have found with his history, the
narrative of the gentle-minded Rabban Paul, his brother, whose memorial is among the
righteous, upon the help of whose prayers I rely. And as far as my ignorance will allow I
hope to bring conviction to my hearers of the befitting rank of the excellence of these
divine men, and I entreat every one who is about to read through these histories, not to
consider me blameworthy as if I had drawn nigh presumptuously to set down in writing their
glorious deeds; for our Lord knoweth that I have not drawn near to write down their
histories for the sake of profane advantages or lying fame.

2 For what profit can the ignorant man who relieth upon his own wisdom inherit from dull
and senseless words? Or what benefit can the fool gain, who although he cannot heal
himself, is nevertheless occupied with the praise of others? And I was seized with
jealousy that the congregation, and the place where their bodies rest should not be
deprived of the stories of their holiness, for a paternal inheritance is beloved by
children, and the study of the histories of their lives is a blessed thing for the heirs
of the fathers. And, moreover, it is not meet that the marvellous fame of the mighty deeds
of men, who in their holiness fall short in no way of the early saints, should not be
proclaimed and spoken of in the world. So then it becometh the wise and understanding
reader to drive out all blame of my shortcomings from his mind, for just as I have drawn
near to set down in writing the memorials [of holy men] for the benefit of the community,
so also is it incumbent upon him to praise and magnify these things which are written
down. And although [my] discourse be weak and halting, let him have regard of the fruit
which it beareth, and let him gather roses from thorns, and flowers from brambles, leaving
the thorns and brambles behind in their commonness to become food for fire and pasturage
for wild animals.

CHAPTER 9. OF THE ORIGIN OF THESE HOLY MEN [RABBAN GABRIEL AND RABBAN PAUL]

1 In the country of Bèth Garmai there was a village called Lûz, and in it there was a
certain house of believers renowned for [their] fear of God, among whom was a believing
man whose good works were well attested. For this man our Lord prepared a good wife, as it
is written in Wisdom, "A good wife shall be given to the man that feareth God because of
his good works", and he begot by her two sons; the name of the one was Paul, and of the
other Gabriel. And while they were young children their father departed from [this]
temporary life to that of eternity, and his true faith clave to him by the light of his
works; and the house remaining to their mother, this woman occupied herself in the reading
of the Holy Scriptures and in fasting and prayer, and she gave alms and oblations
abundantly to the poor and afflicted. Now when the two boys had grown up and they had
determinedly set themselves apart to observe the things which were seemly and which their
Creator had placed in the nature of the family of Adam, that believing and holy woman took
them, and gave herself to exile for God's sake, holding on to the hands of her sons, and
relying upon the heavenly hope, and going along the paths which [lead] towards this land.

2 When God, Who knoweth every thing before it cometh to pass, saw the love of that
believing woman, and that her sons were about to become sons of His kingdom, for she had
despised everything in her love for Him, He drew her with her sons to this province of
Birtâ, to a hamlet called Şâwrâ where there was a famous school with enlightened
teachers—for that school was still in existence through [the support] of other believing
men who feared God, and who carefully provided for the assemblies of scholars, and for the
teachers who loved learning. And when this woman had gone into this part of the country,
and saw that the believing men who lived there were well attested in the Christian belief,
she elected to live in this village, and she entrusted her two beloved sons, Paul and
Gabriel, to the school there. And she trained and taught them by works of the perfect life
and admonished and counselled them by day and by night to despise and reject all the
possessions of this fleeting world, to such a degree that she allowed them to draw nigh to
no manner of service, the labour of learning alone excepted.

3 And they remained in that holy school for fifteen years until they were trained in all
the doctrine of Divine things, and in the theoretical knowledge of the Scriptures and the
understanding and interpretation of them, moreover, they were frequent in the actual
practice of fasting, and prayer, and night vigils [which they kept] with their mother, the
woman worthy of mention for good; for she would not separate nor depart from them, and she
lived in a chamber in the school, and like Hannah the daughter of Penuel, she persevered
with them in standing up in prayer in the temple, and in the vigils of holy festivals, and
of first days of the week. And when they had been fully instructed, and needed nothing
more from the school—for in the fifteen years they had acquired all ecclesiastical
learning—that blessed old woman counselled them to renounce henceforth every material
thing of [this] world, and to draw nigh to the ascetic life.

CHAPTER 10. OF THE DISCIPLESHIP OF THE BLESSED PAUL AND GABRIEL IN THE MONASTERY OF RABBAN CYPRIAN

1 Now at that time the congregation of Rabban Cyprian was famous among perfect, upright
and holy men, with whom there still existed the sweet smell of the sweat of the labours of
that holy man, and by the will of God, and their own freewill choice, and the desire of
their mother they elected to draw nigh to the ascetic life in this monastery. And when
they two had entered there, and had asked to be received by the old men, and were numbered
among the brotherhood, they completed three full years in the service of the community in
the ready obedience [which is] acceptable unto God, having careful regard always for the
nursing and attendance upon strangers, and [performing] all manner of service for the
community; and they became a fair mirror to all the brethren who were in the monastery,
and to the strangers who used to come to them. Now Paul was of a zealous nature and
somewhat quick-tempered, but the divine man Gabriel was gentle and mild, and he was a man
in whom the love of Christ dwelt, and by reason of his gracious disposition he was called
Sābhā by all the brotherhood. What peaceful disposition ever existed which could be
compared unto his? What wise man ever possessed the ready disposition [to receive] all men
like unto him?

2 For those who had never seen him distinguished and recognized him at once from the
report of his characteristic qualities, the venerable appearance, the gentle word, the
measured step, the bent head with his gaze fixed upon the ground, and his stooping
position, when meditating upon the Holy Scriptures at such times as he was free from the
service of the monastery. And the two [young men] performed the work of the monastery
thoroughly and with great discretion, without which no man is able to live perfectly the
ascetic life, for they went forth into the outer cells of the monastery when all the other
monks were celebrating the vigil of a festival, and remained by themselves. Now the
excellent Paul received and ministered unto strangers, and he chose this manner of life
that he might afford relief and do honour unto all men, to the poor and afflicted, the
troubled and the sick, for he had experience in healing the body; and he established the
old woman his mother in a chamber near his cell, and thus toiling and labouring in acts of
holiness, like the venerable and holy women [of old] and with a good name and a crown of
praise, she departed to our Lord in sweet peace; and glorious happiness is prepared for
her on the day of His coming. Now the blessed Gabriel chose to dwell in the cell of the
monk and to lead the life of an anchorite;

3 and while Paul, like the blessed Abraham, took care by his labour and service to become
one who received the poor, Gabriel, like the mighty prophet Elijah, honoured the life of
the solitary.

CHAPTER 11. OF THE DEPARTURE OF RABBAN GABRIEL TO THE COUNTRY OF KARDÔ TO LEAD THE LIFE OF AN ANCHORITE, AND OF HOW HE CAME BACK AGAIN TO THIS COUNTRY

1 Now when [Rabban Gabriel] had been in this monastery a long time labouring and excelling
in all the various acts of the life of ascetics, in fasting, and in prayer, in nightly
vigils, and sighing and weeping between the times [of prayer], happiness was ascribed to
him by all the brotherhood. But when that man, [who was] wise in matters relating to God,
saw the honour which was offered to him by all the brotherhood, and that happiness was
ascribed to him by every man, he despised and rejected everything, his cell, and the
things which were necessary for his use, and everything which he possessed in the
monastery, and taking with him the holy Book of the Gospels [wrapped up] in a small cloak,
he went out secretly by night, without any one knowing [of his departure]. 2 And because
he had decided to become an anchorite and to live remote from any human habitation, and to
make himself a stranger to all those who knew him, he directed the course of his journey
to the mountains of Kardô, and he made himself a dwelling and a place of rest far away
from any spot where he was likely to meet a human being, in a hollow which he lighted upon
in a thickly wooded glen in a mountain side, for asceticism and voluntary abstinence
became his dwelling-place, which was remote from every human consolation, and he never saw
a man, and never approached either a habitation or a peaceful and inhabited place during
the whole time that he lived there. His food [consisted] of the roots and the fruit with
which the Divine Grace kept his life [in him]. What temptation of devils [is there] which
did not pass over him there? And what pains [are there] which mortal nature knoweth [how]
to bring upon the child of man, which did not come upon the holy man? Those who have lived
the life of the anchorite and have tasted its troubles will know the taste of these
bitternesses. Now he held conversations with the wild animals, for they came to him
constantly.

3 And just as [they stood] before the blessed Noah at the door of the ark, even so also
did they stand tranquilly before him—now a wild animal [usually] departeth, and fleeth and
shyly runneth away at the sight and approach of a human being—and although they were
[usually] afraid of the cage(? yet they fed and made their homes near him, as if they had
taken refuge and shelter in him. 4 Now the blessed Paul his brother ceased not to weep by
reason of the remoteness of the venerable Gabriel, but by day and by night he and the
brethren prayed with supplication and beseeching, and entreated God to make known to them
what had become of the holy man and where he dwelt; and after a long time, because the
blessed Rabban Gabriel became well known to all the people who were in Kardó, for our Lord
had given healing and great cures by his hand unto many, his fame also reached the
wonderful Paul his brother. And having taken a letter of entreaty from the congregation of
the brethren who were in this monastery, he rose up and set out to bring him, and he made
inquiries about him, and sought [him] out, and it was shewn to him where he dwelt; and
when he came up to him, they fell upon each other's neck and wept like loving brothers.
And the venerable Paul brought out the letter of the congregation and gave [it] to him,
and when he had read it, he did not give his brother a decided answer whether he would go
or whether he would not, but he gave the matter to God; and they both stood up the whole
night in prayer, [entrating] that the Lord would make known His will unto them.

5 And on the third night when Paul was sleeping through the fatigue of the vigil, the
angel of the Lord appeared to Abbâ Gabriel, face to face, and counselled him to set out
with his brother, [saying,] "This is the will of the Lord, for thou art set to be a great
benefit to that country; and on the morrow he rose up and came with his brother, while
Paul rejoiced, and was glad, and praised God at the return of the holy man his brother.
Thus by the power of Christ our Lord which clave to them they came to this country.

CHAPTER 12. OF THE BLESSED MÂR JOHN, AND OF HIS CONGREGATION IN THE HOLY MONASTERY OF NÊRABH BARZAI

1 Now inasmuch as I promised above, in the history of Rabban Cyprian, when I repeated the
names of the holy men who lived in this country, and counted among them the holy John who
lived in Nêrabh Barzai (for to this [monastery] came Rabban Gabriel when he returned from
Kardô, and dwelt therein a long time), to relate the history of this place, it is [now]
time for me to do so. This mountain glen (nêrêbhâ) had a place of ascent on one of its
lower sides, but on [all] the others it was fortified from the most remote generations and
times of old, when each country had a chief, and when each chief was held to be a petty
king in his country; but each was afraid of the others and considered them to be raiders
and robbers. And therefore in many places in the mountains, and rocks, and crags thou
mayest find fortresses, and castles, and strong cities fenced about with walls, which were
built and fortified by the ancients. In this country, according to what is said, there
lived a mighty man called Barzai, and he fortified this mountain glen and dug in it great
cisterns, that is to say, pits to hold water, and he built caves hewn out of the rock [in
it], and it was called Nêrabh Barzai, after the name of that ruler who furnished the
fortress and made it a habitable place from the beginning.

2 Now when the Gospel of our Lord and Redeemer Jesus Christ had flown abroad, and heathen
doctrine and the worship of idols had ceased from the world, all the furrows of the world
ascribed praise to the wise Creator by the mouths of the holy men who were in it, and the
mountains also ascribed praise to God through the ascetics and anchorites who dwelt in
them, according to the word of Isaiah the prophet, "Those who dwell in the rocks shall
give praise, and from the top of the mountains shall they cry out. To this mountain glen
then, with other [ascetics] from the territory of the Byzantine Greeks, came the blessed
Mâr John, the Metropolitan, the companion and colleague of the seven Bishops who dwelt
together all their lives in the holy Monastery of Rîshâ, and this holy Mâr John
established there a congregation of anchorites; and he himself dwelt among them in a [cave
like unto a] grave without light and without intercourse with his fellow-man, except on
rare occasions, and sometimes he went to participate in the Holy Mysteries. All [those]
men were perfect and divine men, as the cave in which their bodies were laid testifieth,
and their names are written in the Book of Life; and behold if thou readest above their
coffins thou wilt find their names written over the places where they are buried, but some
of them are known to have been erased through the long interval of time.

3 Now the congregation of that place was preserved and continued until the time of the
holy Rabban Gabriel, and in the days when he came from Kardó there were forty men in that
holy Monastery of Rabban Már John. And this Már John taught the inhabitants of the village
of Kóph, and this village before his time never accepted the teaching of Christianity, but
was mad and drunk with the worship of idols and of trees and other things. When Már John
received the Divine revelation concerning the teaching of that village, that divine man
rose up and came forth from the place in which he had shut himself up, and went down to
the village of Kóph, and the Magians and Manicheans and heathen who dwelt therein were
gathered together to hear his discourse and to listen to what he had to say to them; for
they knew of the virtue and righteousness of the man, and they had also heard of the
mighty deeds and signs which he wrought in the name of Christ. And when, according to the
words of the blessed Paul, "Those who believe will not ask for signs, but only those who
do not believe", they asked him to shew them the greatness of his doctrine and belief
which [arose] from [the signs], he manifested mightily to them his great works. He brought
to life again a man who had been dead three days, and they marvelled;

4 and again he withered by a curse only a large, tall olive tree, to the worship of which
Satan had led them on by reason of the beauty and splendour of its growth, the abundance
of its fruit, and the density of its foliage. He mocked at fire, for he used to go and sit
in it, like Ananias and his companions, and was in no wise injured; the sun which was held
to be a god by those who worshipped it, he turned back by his command; he adjured a
fountain of water and stopped it from flowing, and again he gave the permission, and the
water came forth; and the blessed John greatly moved and terrified the inhabitants of Kôph
by the power of his signs. And when those people saw that the power of God was manifested
by his command, not only upon creatures and things, but also upon physical bodies which
were accounted gods by them, they bowed the shoulders of their free-will to take upon them
the yoke of the chariot of the Cross. And he brought them nigh to holy baptism, he made
them partakers in the happiness of the propitiating Mysteries, he pulled down the fire-
temple and built them the church which still standeth [there], he brought a teacher for
them, he established schools there, and he sanctified it and purified it.

5 From being a field of tares and a shrine of the Calumniator, it hath become this day the
field of Christ, and the abiding place for His will, and [its inhabitants] make a boast in
the name of the holy Mâr John, as people who by his hands were converted to the worship of
God the Maker of heaven and earth.

CHAPTER 13. OF THE COMING OF RABBAN GABRIEL TO THE MONASTERY OF NÊRABH BARZAI, OF THE HEADSHIP WHICH HE ACCEPTED, AND OF THE DEATH OF PAUL HIS BROTHER

1 Now when the congregation of this Monastery of Nêrabh Barzai heard that the blessed
Rabban Gabriel had drawn nigh to their border, since the head who had been appointed over
them was dead, they went out to meet him with great honour and ceremony, and they led him
to their monastery. And when he had tarried with them a few days, they and the believing
men of the place prevailed over him with their entreaties, and he unwillingly accepted the
headship of that holy monastery; and he did not wish to dwell with them [in the monastery]
below, but in the cell of the holy Mâr John in the place where he was wont to shut himself
up. And he lived there for many years, even until he reached the limit of his old age,
ministering in the service of angels, and profiting and making [others] profit, and
leading [others], and being led himself. And he was watchful to guard himself and the
brotherhood which had been entrusted to him, and he was never once negligent in [making]
intercession and prostrations in prayer, and in [performing] labours, and in continuing in
his strenuous career by day and by night.

2 Now Rabban Paul his brother lived in the Monastery of Rabban Cyprian, and after a few
days the head of that monastery departed [this] temporary life to that of eternity, and by
the election of the brethren and by the wish of the believing men [Divine] Grace marked
Paul out to be the head and governor of the brethren. And when he had accepted this work
he went down to the country of Béth Garmai, and sold his village Lûz, for as much as
anyone would give him, disputing nothing, and he removed and built in this place the
temple which had been built some time ago, in the days of Rabban Cyprian, because it was
well nigh crumbling into ruins and falling down by reason of its great age. And he also
built and furnished the Monastery of the holy Mâr John, where his brother Rabbân Gabriel
was the head, and whatever [money] was left over he gave and distributed among the poor
and needy (may his alms be laid up in heaven!), caring for himself nothing at all, but
only that he might give food to the orphans, and the afflicted, and the distressed, and
the beggars who came to him. He was kind and gracious to the orphans, he fed the widows,
and in his monastery the table was at all times laid ready with good, substantial food as
much for the stranger who came there, as for the brethren whom he had appointed therein.

3 He ministered unto the sick, he visited the prisoners, he clothed the naked, he filled
the hungry with food, he gave the thirsty to drink, he visited continually the prisoners
who were confined in the gaol of Shukā-dhe-hadh-bhē-Shabbā for [non-payment of] taxes, he
himself carrying in his own hands food for them, and whatever they were in need of,
clothing for the naked, and fruits (? for the sick who were among them. But how many
[more] times shall we repeat the glorious things of this strenuous labourer who took upon
himself the burden of every man? In that day shall our Lord cause him to hear the joyful
sound, "I was hungry and thou gavest me to eat, I was thirsty and thou gavest me to drink,
I was naked and thou didst clothe me, I was sick and thou didst visit me, I was in prison
and thou didst come unto me; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord."

4 And it came to pass that he went into the city according to his habit of anxious care
[for others] to bring back clothes for the ascetics and strangers, and he fell ill there
of the severe attack of sickness through which he departed from [this world]. And the
brethren who were with him carried him upon an animal and brought him to the monastery,
and [his] illness became more severe, and thus being soaked with the sweat of his labours,
and his feet worn and broken through [his] travelling in the paths of holy men, he
exchanged [this] life which passeth away for that of heaven, and he became the heir of the
saints. Then the brethren and the people of all the country were pained at the death of
the holy man, and all the brethren from the monasteries round about were gathered
together, and they bore his holy body with honour and laid it on the west [side] of the
martyrium towards the north by the command of Rabban Gabriel, [who] solemnly adjured and
forbade that any tomb-stone or monument whatever should be built above his grave, for he
looked upon humility as his monument; may our Lord by his prayers give help and redemption
to those who care for this holy house, Amen!

5 Now when a certain believer whose name was Malbadh, who belonged to a noble family, saw
that Rabban Paul had built this monastery and finished it, and had obtained a great and
fair renown thereby, he was smitten with envy, and he presumed to set himself in
opposition to these holy men, and wasted much money uselessly, and built a so-called
monastery near Ṣāwrā. And he filled it with fine buildings, and provided it with cells,
and he invited [thither] ascetics, promising [them] that he would care for them in
everything; but he did not know that a monastery for ascetics must be built by holy
ascetics and virgins [themselves], and not by wealthy denizens of the world. And Rabban
Gabriel, who was in the habit of enjoying Divine revelations, made a mock of that
building, saying, "Behold, as it is written in Ezekiel, it is founded, but it shall not
prosper;" and in a short time that house began to be deserted, and the two or three
ascetics who dwelt therein were scattered, and it remained in its miserable condition as
it is apparent to all men.

CHAPTER 14. OF THE HEADSHIP OF THE MONASTERY OF RABBAN CYPRIAN WHICH RABBAN GABRIEL RECEIVED, AND OF HIS WATCHFUL REGARD FOR EVERY DUTY

1 Now after the departure of Rabban Paul of holy memory to [his] everlasting home, this
monastery began to be in want and to become poor; for their divine protector Paul had
already left them, and the monks also began to depart. And the people of this country
together with these brethren were gathered together, and they went to Rabban Gabriel in
the Monastery of Mâr John of Nêrabh Barzai, and shewed him that this monastery would
certainly fall into decay if it was deprived of his protection. And they said to him, "All
the brethren are going away, and this holy place which thou hast toiled to build up is
becoming deserted. And the blessed man answered and said to them, "I am unable to go to
[any] place without the Divine command which permitted me to return from Kardô, and which
gave me rest in this holy place; but return all of you, each man to his house, and this
night I and these brethren will pray to our Lord, and that which is best He will do for
us". And in the evening at the general service of prayer he commanded the brethren to pray
concerning the matter, and he himself went up to the cell of Abbâ John, and offered up
prayer to God the whole night. And towards the morning when his wakefulness rested, his
mind was carried away, and it was as if he were in the martyrium of Rabban Cyprian.

2 And Rabban Cyprian himself was alive and singing this psalm by himself, "How good, and
how pleasant [it is] for brethren when they dwell together", and it seemed as if Rabban
Cyprian were asking him to sing the verses of this psalm in turn with him. And when he had
said the last verse, "For there the Lord commanded blessing and life for evermore", he
woke up and came to himself glad and rejoicing, and he knew that the vision was from the
Lord, and that he had received permission to depart from there to the dwelling of [Rabban
Cyprian]'s monastery where his marvellous brother Paul had ended his life. And in the
morning he went down to the monastery and appointed a guardian in his stead, and promising
that he would never forget them, he and the brethren of the monastery came down hither.
And he began the work of relieving the poor and the brethren of the monastery like unto
his brother, but he helped them more than he did, and he manifested the greatest care [for
them], for our Lord had given him the gift of dominion over devils, and he healed every
wound and sickness by the might of the Cross; and revelations were shewn to him by God,
and he could look into and see things that were afar off like things that were near. He
bore the Cross of his Master with glorious fervour, and he clave to the reproach of the
Cross;

3 and as he had laboured in the vineyard of his Master the whole day, and had borne the
burden and the heat without shewing slackness in his spiritual traffic, his Master
honoured him, as with a pledge by the mighty deeds and wonders which He wrought by his
hands, and by the glorious revelations which He made him enjoy, until the day for which he
waited should come when He would call him, and set him at His right hand, as a guest of
the company of Antonius, and Macarius, and Arsenius, and all the righteous men of his
calling and manner of life. For after the manner of the Prophets and like unto the
Apostles he wrought healings and wonders in this monastery, and on account of this, many
ascetics were gathered together here. And every one who flagged, or was lax in carrying
out the works of the ascetic life, became young again, and his strength was renewed for
the labours of the monastic life when he saw this holy old man. And he constantly
admonished the brethren who persistently carried out the work to which they had been
called, saying, "My beloved, it is but a little time that we can serve our Lord in this
life, and [then] we pass away, but the reward for our small service is laid up for us
[for] a space of time which is not diminished by the course and revolutions of times and
seasons.

4 Consider, my beloved, how many troubles and trials the holy Prophets bore, and how many
afflictions and tortures the blessed Apostles endured, and the sufferings and bitter
deaths which the victorious martyrs suffered for the sake of the kingdom of heaven!
Consider the ascetic fathers how they forsook the world and its possessions, and [how]
they forgot the love of parents and brethren, and how they went forth naked into the
wilderness to live by themselves for the love of our Lord Who said to them, Whosoever will
not forsake parents, and brethren, and sons, and daughters, and everything, and hate
himself, and take up his cross", —that is to say troubles, and trials, and bitterness—
"and endure for My sake everything which shall afflict [him], and deny himself the things
that are visible, is not able to be my disciple. Let us not then, beloved, be readers of
the glorious deeds of holy men without carrying out in ourselves their course of life, for
God, the Lord of all, reproacheth the man who readeth but doeth not, by the hand of David,
thus, "What hast thou to do with the books of My commandments? Thou hast taken My covenant
in thy mouth, but thou hast hated my instruction, and thou hast cast My words behind thee.
And again the divine Paul writeth in his beloved epistles, "Those who know the law are not
[accounted] righteous before God, but those who do the law are justified".

5 Let us not put our trust upon the tunic, and the black cloak, and the tonsure, and the
garb with which we are clothed, as if these were anything at all before God. For there are
in the world poor people who do not possess even these things, but are naked and in want,
and are afflicted and needy, and have not even the bread of the day, yet God doth not shew
compassion on them for the sake of their being in want, because poverty is their business
in life. And although ye fast and pray, and watch, and work, still all the labour of all
the days of your lives is not worthy to be compared with the gift of food with which God
sustaineth you in this life; give up, then, expecting to be rewarded for it with a reward
in the world which is to come. For the happiness of that world is not given for the sake
of labours, but is bestowed upon holy men by Divine Grace, for the wages which are laid up
there are in proportion to the righteousness of God, and the [merits of the] labours of
holy men are completely put out of sight by the Grace of God.

6 So then, my beloved, let us not imagine that the little work which we do [here] can
justify us before God, but let us be the more filled with fear lest our parents and our
brethren who are involved in earthly affairs, and who give tribute, whose heads are bowed
under the payment of imperial taxes, who relieve the afflicted and shew compassion upon
the needy, and who imagine that we are righteous, may be found there before our Lord to be
better than we are; for it is written, "Blessed is he that giveth more than he that
receiveth. Let us not then destroy that blessing by eating the labour of believing men,
and by doing nothing which is worth our food; for the hireling who laboureth honestly
before his companion keepeth [his] covenant with his master who hath hired him; and if in
the presence of a man like unto himself he is careful not to eat the bread of his labour
without fatigue, how much more is it meet for us to live upon the bread of our Lord with
tears, and not to neglect for one moment the service and labour which our holy garb
demandeth. My brethren, let us remember that unchangeable kingdom, and that never-ending
feast and that everlasting light in which the saints revel with delight.

7 And let us earnestly desire that brotherhood which is never attacked by envy, and that
undisturbed concord, and that unbroken unanimity, and that insatiable love by which the
hearts of the righteous are filled at the sight of the adorable splendour of Christ. And
[let us remember] that assembly of the Church gathered together from spiritual and
corporeal beings which is never to be dispersed; and that unchangeable happiness of the
sounds of the songs of joy of those who sing; and that humility which can never be puffed
up; and that inheritance which can never be spoiled, which the righteous inherit in the
world of light; and the incomparable glory with which the children of light there are
clothed; and the gift which can never be stolen away, which the blessed inherit in the new
world of Christ; and that praise which can never be silenced, which is loudly proclaimed
by all rational beings. And if the vigilant understanding of your souls be occupied in
meditation upon these and such-like things, O my venerable brethren, ye will find the
power and be able to tread down and to hold in contempt the foul passions which are
stirred up within you by reason of the wretchedness and earthiness of the body with which
ye are clothed, and by the erring nature of the changeable soul which is in you;

8 and ye shall be worthy of the Grace which is the bestower of all gifts, so that ye may
live out your days in peace which is free from all strivings, according to the Will of
your Creator. And ye shall become in this world holy temples in which the praises of the
Lord are sung; and ye shall be glorious tabernacles in which the songs of glory and
redemption are heard; and ye shall become like luminaries [shining] in the darkness, whose
good works [men] shall see and shall glorify your Father Who is in heaven; and ye shall be
crowned with the glory which is laid up for all the righteous who have been and who shall
be. And with these and such-like words did that holy mouth preach and make to listen the
ears of the flock which had been entrusted to him. And they became like unto good seed
sown in a cultivated field of good ground, and the furrows of the souls of his disciples
brought forth fruit; and the holy children of his fatherly [rule] became well known and
esteemed, and every day and always the sons of this congregation, [which was under] the
direction of this good and famous labourer in the sanctuary, the all-wise and holy Rabban
Gabriel, became the occasion of praise of their Lord.

CHAPTER 15. OF THOSE ASCETICS AND HOLY MEN WHO WERE TO BE FOUND IN VARIOUS PLACES IN THE DAYS OF RABBAN GABRIEL

1 Now in the days of Rabban [Gabriel] many ascetics were to be found, some of whom were
solitary brethren who lived in a monastery, and some were Bishops and Metropolitans, of
whom we have made mention in this history that we might be blessed through recording their
names; and we will shew forth concerning Rabban Gabriel who was well known and famous
among them. In the holy monastery of Béth 'Abhê there lived a holy ascetic whose name was
Abbâ Dômat (Domitius), and he was a righteous and famous man by whose hands Christ our
Lord wrought many mighty deeds. And the rags from his garments drove away the devils
openly as did those from the clothes of Paul; now as he also came from the country of Béth
Garmai he had great affection for Rabban Gabriel. In the Monastery of Bêth Rabban
bar-'Idtâ there lived a holy man who was called Îshô'-sabhran bar-Mâmai, a good and self-
denying man, and sicknesses were driven away by the maṣṭaba upon which he rested himself;
he was finally appointed Bishop of the great city of Nineveh (Môṣul). This man restored
the temple of that monastery, and removed it from its site, as did Rabban Paul in this
monastery.

2 In a mountain glen called Bêth Gazzâ there dwelt the marvellous ascetics Khôminâ and
Ma'nâ, [who were] aged solitaries, and who wrought many mighty deeds, for they were many
times seen by believers to cross over on the top of the Great Zâb river. The holy Abbâ
Pethion lived a glorious life of asceticism by himself in a cell [situated] in a mountain
glen called Ṣaphi. He was a good and self-denying man, and was seen by men but rarely;
devils and sicknesses fled away from the bread which had been blessed and given [to
people] by him. He departed this temporary life there, and his body was removed to a
village called Rishâ. Abbâ Ḥabhibhâ and Jacob his brother shone with the light of virtue
in the mountain of Yânân; they made whole those who were sick of the palsy, they gave
barren women children, they forbade the locusts to injure the vines, and everything was
obedient to their command.

3 In the Monastery of Béth Ḳôḳâ there lived—famous for holiness—Abbâ Sabhr-Îshô, surnamed
Khêphiphâ (i. e., Humpback), who was a truly ascetic monk, and also Abbâ 'Abd-Îshô of
Kartaw. This latter ascetic had no door to his cell so that no man could come into his
cell, and he could go out to no man. Now he was exceedingly poor, and he had no care for
his dwelling-place—even so also was the holy man Gabriel—and he was like the ostriches and
other birds, [and he lived] remote and in solitude away from disturbing influences in the
voluntary poverty of his mind. In the mountain of Zinai there lived tried solitaries, and
discreet anchorites, concerning one of whom whose name was Amonius the [following]
wonderful thing is told. Every wild goat which had fallen from a rock or any high place,
and injured itself, came to him to be healed; and once when his servant, [who was] a
believing man, went to carry [his] food to him, he found there with him a she-goat with
her leg broken, and it had been set and bound up by that holy old man, and her two young
ones were with her. And as a proof of the truth of [this] wonderful thing the believing
man took one of the young ones, and brought [it] to his village, and I have seen people
who saw that kid which lived tame in the village from year to year.

4 At that time certain holy fathers flourished in the government of the Church. On the
throne of Arbela [sat] the blessed Metropolitan, Mâr Ahâ, and after him the marvellous Mâr
Mâran-ʿammeh, and after them Mâr İshôʿ-yahbh the Metropolitan. Now the venerable Rabban
Gabriel flourished during the life-time of those three Metropolitans who wrought many
mighty deeds during their governorships, and as he sprang from this country which was
[under] their jurisdiction, they had great affection for him, and he was accounted by them
a mighty man, and a servant of righteousness. In the church of the city of Adiabene [there
lived] the holy and praiseworthy Bishop Mâr Solomon, [who was] a fellow-worker with the
Apostles, and who, like Peter, by his command only used to drive away refractory devils;
he passed over on the top of the great river Tigris many times, and he cursed the wicked
man Kardagh, and made a horn to grow out of his forehead. But why should I weary my
fingers with writing his glorious deeds? for behold they are written at great length by
his disciples. Now the [hair of] his head and his beard were shaved off from this man,
worthy of blessing, by a heathen king because of the conversion which he wrought among the
heathen.

5 Now in the Church on the episcopal throne of Sinjâr the holy Mâr Shûbhhal-Mâran was
being glorified, and all his great and splendid works were superhuman. For when he was
appointed Bishop in the great church of Nisibis, and was obliged to go to the Patriarch
that [the enthronement] might be performed, he took the boat in which he embarked from
Bâlâdh to Baghdad in one night, [that is] he made the boat go down to Baghdad; and so also
when he came up he brought the boat in which he sailed back to Bâlâdh in one night. And
[once] when Satan smote his disciple and blinded his eyes he adjured Satan, and he brought
stones upon an ass for the building of his church instead of his servant. In the country
of Hânâithâ, in a mountain half way towards Ma allthâ, there dwelt a certain solitary
whose name was Mârôî, and on the mountain of a village near him there lived a dragon which
used to come each day and carry off an ox from the herd. And when those men came to him,
and wept before him concerning the injuries which they [suffered] from that destructive
beast, he went with them to the dragon's cave; and when the dragon saw them he hissed like
a serpent and came down against them, and the holy old man cursed him, and straightway he
became like a senseless stone. And he stands [there] to this day, and is like unto a clay
building, and those who pass along the road rest under his shadow, and marvelling, praise
God and bless that holy man, and make entreaty for his prayers.

6 And on the episcopal throne of Salâkh there shone with apostolic light the holy Bishop
Mâr Îshô'-zêkhâ, who came from the country of Bêth Armâyê; this [holy] man cursed a
certain large vine belonging to some proud and insolent men, and tore it up by its roots.
In Salâkh Gâwaitâ there was a village called 'Ulâi, the inhabitants of which had but
recently become converted to the way of Christ, and when they built a church in their
village they endowed it with a thicket of many nut trees; but when those old men were dead
their children raised a dispute about the nut trees, and took possession of them. And when
this holy man went to them the priests of that church laid a complaint before him against
the believing men; the believing men said, "They are ours", and the priests said, "[They
belong to] the church." Then the holy man stood up and prayed, and said before them all,
"I trust in our Lord, Whom I serve, that if those nut trees belong to the believing men
they will remain in their place[s], but if they [belong] to the church that Christ will
bring them to the courtyard of the church." And when the night had passed, and they came
early in the morning, behold, they saw that the whole of that thicket had departed [and
come] near the church, without any one of the trees having [suffered] injury, or leaving
behind any of its roots in its former position; and all those who saw and heard [this]
glorified God.

7 And again, in the Monastery of Rabban Aphni Mâran the truly venerable and holy Abbâ bar-
Dairâ the anchorite put forth signs and mighty works, which are greater than any related
in history; it is not however, our affair to relate things about him, but that of the holy
men who have composed accounts of his noble deeds. In the Monastery of Bar-Ṭûrâ there
shone like a heavenly star with the light of his holiness, the blessed Abbâ Mark, who put
the heathen to shame, and exalted the horn of the Church by the noble deeds which he
shewed forth before multitudes of people. And in those days and times, the monk and
ascetic the holy Abbâ 'Anân-Îshô, who is worthy of being mentioned with all the righteous,
built and completed the monastery near the city of Hadhattâ, and he established a famous
congregation by the mighty deeds and wonders which our Lord wrought by his hands.

8 In the country of Béth Béghâsh the holy Bishop Mâr Simon was glorious in his
ecclesiastical pasture and government which was [situated] there; he it was who built the
church in the village of Shalmath when he was a teacher there, and he shewed forth many
healings in the world in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. During the time of his
episcopate the mention of his name was a subject for boasting for all Christians, and even
after his departure from the tabernacle of his holy bones every healing of the body and of
the soul was vouchsafed unto whomsoever took refuge in him. These and such-like wonderful
things were performed by the hands of these holy men, [to write] the noble deeds of each
of whom would require a history to be specially devoted to the purpose; I have, however,
written down the histories of certain of them in another book. Now inasmuch as I have made
mention of them twice, [I did so] the first time, that I might make manifest what lamps
were shining in the Church in the days of Rabban Gabriel, and the second time, that those
who read this book might hearken to [the account of] his wonderful deeds, and might not
remain unbelievers when they hear repeated before them [the story of] the mighty works
which our Lord wrought by the hands of this member of His household.


THE BOOK OF GOVERNORS (CHAPTERS 16. OF THE REVELATIONS CONCERNING THINGS OF THE FUTURE WHICH THE HOLY RABBAN MÂR GABRIEL RECEIVED FROM GOD–18. OF THE LAMENTABLE DEATH OF RABBAN GABRIEL, AND OF HIS DEPARTURE TO THE WORLD OF JOY)
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THE BOOK OF GOVERNORS continued

CHAPTER 16. OF THE REVELATIONS CONCERNING THINGS OF THE FUTURE WHICH THE HOLY RABBAN MÂR GABRIEL RECEIVED FROM GOD

1 Unto what limit now shall we extend our feeble discourse in demonstrating the greatness
of this marvellous man? Let us come now, little by little, and as it were by brief signs
and indications we will [first] relate concerning the revelations which came to him, and
afterwards [we will speak] about the miracles and mighty works which he wrought, and thus
with the steps of [our] narrative of him we shall travel on to the conclusion of [this]
history. 2 Who now is unacquainted with 'Amran bar-Muḥammad' of the family of el-Azd, who
was descended from the [tribe of] the great Taiman, the exceedingly stubborn servant whose
asperity was softened and mollified by means of this holy head? Now before this Arab came
to this country, God, the Lord of all, had revealed before the eyes of the mind of the
holy man the beginning and end of this man, and concerning his children, and his
childrens' children, for five generations; and he became known to him in this wise:—Rabban
once wished to sell certain oxen of the herd belonging to the monastery to provide for the
ministration of the brethren, and he sent ten oxen with a monk to the market of the
village of Yazdainâbhâdh, and he commanded him, saying, "Take these oxen, and go to
Yazdainâbhâdh, and do not take them into the market, but pasture them above the village.
And behold, a man will come to you mounted upon a horse, and will haggle concerning their
price with thee with many words, but thou shalt not strike a bargain with him, neither
shalt thou accept their price from him. And when he shall say to thee, 'Wait until I bring
thee their price,' thou shalt say to him, 'Thus saith Mâr Gabriel, Whenever it is easy for
thee, take their price and come [with it] to me to the monastery'.

3 And when that brother had gone and had done as he had been commanded, behold 'Amran
came, and when he saw the oxen he turned aside [to look at] them. And having enquired
about their condition he said, Hast thou brought them to sell? and the brother answered
and said to 'Amran, "What is thy name? and he said, "Why askest thou concerning my name?
The monk said, "My father Rabban Gabriel commanded me, saying, 'Behold a certain
Ishmaelite whose name is Amran will come to thee, deliver the oxen to him freely, and say
to him, I know that thou hast not the money to pay for them, but whenever God hath made it
ready for thee, take [it] and come [with it] to me to the monastery that I may see thee'.
And when 'Amran heard these things [about himself from] this holy old man who was not even
acquainted with him, for he had not as yet entered into [his] inheritance of the estates
of Margâ,' he marvelled and was astonished, and he knew that this man must be great, for,
said he, He saw my coming to the market, and saw that I wished to buy oxen; and he knew
and perceived with his soul's understanding that the esteem of the Christians was mighty
and exalted before God, for behold their holy men see and know the things which are
hidden. So he took the oxen and went [his way], and the monk returned to Rabban and
informed him of all that had happened meanwhile;

4 and Rabban was silent and answered never a word. Now after a day or two behold 'Amran
knocked at the door [of the monastery], and when they opened the door for him and he had
gone in he asked for Rabban and fell down upon the ground before him, and Rabban kissed
him on the head and blessed him; and Amran brought [out] the money, the price of the oxen.
And as he was sitting down he embraced Rabban's legs as a mark of honour, and entreated
him to pray for him, and Rabban answered and said to him, "If thou wilt establish a
covenant before God and before myself that thou wilt not slay the Christians, I will
reveal to thee what thou shalt become, and what shall happen to thy children, and to thy
children's children. And he swore before him, saying, "From this day and henceforth to the
most remote time, among the Christians a man like unto thyself I will never harm. Thou
hast heard concerning the children of Bôzî, but they acted wickedly towards me, and
exasperated me with their fables and pride. The blessed man answered and said to him, "If
thou wilt restrain thy sword from the people of God, behold God will make thee, and thy
children, and thy children's children to inherit peacefully all this country of Margâ, and
the men who shall arise from thy seed shall become strong and mighty, and no man shall be
able to stand before them and conquer.

5 Like Nisân with its blossoms and flowers, and the vine with its clusters of grapes, even
so shall they be distinguished in their appearance and strength from the other families of
the Arabs. Thus hath it been revealed to me by God, in comparison with the love of Whom I
count the whole world as nothing, and I entreat thee to command the sons whom God shall
raise up from thee to shew love to the Christians, and especially to the monasteries and
convents, and to ascetics, and scholars, and priests, and deacons. And 'Amran undertook to
act according to the command of Rabban, and he did so, and he likewise commanded his sons
to do so. Such was the revelation which appeared to the holy old man. 6 And again, there
were three hamlets near the monastery of the holy man, the inhabitants of which, together
with all the heathen, robbed and vexed this holy house; and when the brethren made a
complaint [to Rabban], he said to them merely, "They will be made desolate utterly", and
this actually came to pass. Moreover, by the [gift of] prophecy which dwelt in him he made
known concerning the revolt in the kingdom which took place before this our generation.
And as we have said above, he shewed aforetime to the brethren concerning the desolation
of the Monastery of Malbadh, and the ruin of all his family, and of the glory which
descended not after him; and behold the sight of that ruined and desolate place testifieth
to the words of the holy man. And he shewed aforetime concerning the death, which should
take place before his own, of his beloved fellow-labourer and ascetic Abbâ Dômat
(Domitius) of Bêth 'Abhê, and when that holy old man was dying [Rabban] said to the
brethren, who were in his monastery, "In this night shall the perfection of the blessed
Abbâ Dômat (Domitius) be accomplished, and his soul shall be exalted to the treasuries of
heaven; this day shall Satan, the foe of holy men, be put to shame by reason of the escape
of that divine old man from his crafty wiles."

7 Now divine visions which surpassed our knowledge appeared to him frequently, but through
the negligence of authors they have not been set down in writing; we, however, by a very
few of the things which have been said about him, like a drop of rain out of the whole
shower, or like a single block of stone out of the whole mountain, make known to what
measure [of power] this divine man attained. was a contemporary of Mâr Ahâ, Mâr
Mâran-'ammeh and Mâr Îshô'-yahbh [of Adiabene], and we know that these Metropolitans lived
in the VIIth century of our era; however, died about A. H. 137 (A. D. 754), and if he had
been a contemporary of Mâr Ahâ he must have been considerably more than 100 years old at
the time of his death. For the account of Malbadh's monastery see Bk. VI. chap. 13, supra
p. 639.

CHAPTER 17. OF THE WONDERS, AND MIGHTY WORKS OF HEALING, AND CURES OF ALL KINDS WHICH WERE WROUGHT BY THE HANDS OF RABBAN GABRIEL

1 Let us now turn, the might of the prayer of this holy man cleaving unto us, to the
mighty deeds which Christ wrought, and the wonders which He shewed forth by his hands. "A
city which is built upon a mountain cannot be hid," as [long as] it pleaseth Christ our
Lord, and according to His command, neither may His disciples conceal His mysteries and
revelations. Now although certain holy men have excelled in mighty works of excellence,
yet wonders and the working of mighty deeds have not been performed by their hands; and
this did not happen through any defect or lack of renown on their part, but because God,
the only wise Being, giveth to every man that [gift] which is most suitable for him. And
because human nature is deceitful, and Satan lieth in wait continually, and lurketh to
compass its ruin, especially in the case of holy men and of those who have often cut
through his snares and laughed at his wily tricks, our Lord God withholds from certain men
this gift of healing. For behold, we see that to the divine Paul, who was the tongue of
Christ, who fulfilled His designs, and who was the great pillar and father of the churches
of the Gentiles which had been sanctified by his hands with the mark of the Cross of
Christ, was delivered a goad for his flesh, the messenger of Satan, which was his moderate
weakness, lest by the excellence of the revelations and signs which he used to work, after
he had preached to others he himself might become a castaway. So then everything cometh
from the will of the Governor, Who, according to His inscrutable fore-knowledge,
perfecteth in those who are participators in His counsel those things which are
administered for the common good. Now this holy man, our father Mâr Gabriel,

2 "ambush", and by. "bands of thieves who lie in wait, that is to say, thieves who plunder
people, and who band themselves together with others in revolt, and unite together to rob
and steal;" see Duval, Lexicon, col. 1147. Compare "band of brigands," and "voleur", Dozy,
Supplément, p. 408, col. 2. having aforetime, from the beginning of his discipleship,
embraced humility, chose to be considered of no account and unknown, and he passed the
whole period of his life in this [manner], even until his old age, when by the Divine
choice he was called to the headship of this holy monastery, and our Lord gave by his
hands mighty deeds and gifts which fell short in nothing of those possessed by the early
fathers. And, notwithstanding that he was the fountain and origin of the healings which
were wrought by him, many afflictions came upon him from the wicked men who were his
neighbours in this place, whom Satan, the enemy of our master, stirred up [against him]
every day and always, and they were gathered together against him with threats and curses
to put him to shame in this place, as afterwards, little by little, by the help of God we
will prove with our words.

3 Now when Rabban [Gabriel] lived in the Monastery of Mâr John, and was carrying out his
customary duties, a certain man from the village of Tellâ came to him in the month of
Îlûl, and said to him sadly, "The vines in our village have been severely smitten by the
hail, and my vine only remaineth uninjured." The blessed man said to him, "My son, a
punishment hath been sent upon you by God for your benefit, and whosoever receiveth the
chastisement of the Lord, the Lord will bind up his wound. Had the hail smitten thy vine
also it would have been for thy benefit; but thou must know that destruction [of thy vine]
awaiteth thee. If the sin is the sin of the whole community, the chastisement also must be
of the whole community." And that man went and pressed the grapes of his vine, and he
poured his wine into a wine jar and sealed it; and when he went back to look at it on the
following day, behold the wine jar was empty and there was nothing inside it. Thus the
words of Rabban were actually fulfilled.

4 Once while he lived in the cell of Mâr John, when he was sitting in front of his cell
and reading a book, an eagle came and carried off a kid of the goats belonging to the
monastery. And when Rabban saw that the kid bleated, and that the eagle was carrying it up
to his nest to devour, he said to the eagle, "For the sake of our Lord let down carefully
what thou hast taken"; and the eagle, as if some heavy thing were hanging from him, let
the kid down little by little, and laid it on the ground without injury, and spread out
his wings and flew away. And all those who heard concerning these things from the
shepherd, praised God, but because they were the beginning of the miracles of the blessed
man they were perturbed and frightened. And the holy man answered and said to them, "My
brethren, be not astonished at this thing which hath taken place, for it hath not happened
through my power, but by God, Who hath made manifest these things on your account; I am a
weak man and a sinner, and this hath been wrought by your prayers. Every wild animal, and
beast, and bird, and reptile is made subject unto divine and holy men, even as it was to
Noah at the door of his ark, for the God of the people of these last times is the God of
the ancients.

5 Another time also there came to him a certain Persian believer from the village of Bèth
Kèwàz, which [is situated] on the Great Zàb, leading with him his two sons who were vexed
by evil spirits; the name of the one was Noah, and that of the other Marwà, and he
entreated Rabban to pray for them. Then Rabban commanded and the boys were brought to him,
and he anathematized those devils, saying, "In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who cast
out legions from him who dwelt among the tombs, I command you to come forth from these
boys"; and while the brethren were standing before him and all looking on, [the devils]
came forth from their mouths in the form of fire. Thus by the word of Rabban they received
healing from the vexation of obstinate devils, and that man returned to his house
rejoicing and praising God.

6 One day a mad dog came forth from the village of Niram, and as it passed by some
children who were playing, it fell upon one whose name was Màròn, and tore open his belly,
and his bowels came out freely, and his parents carried him and brought him to Rabban. And
when he saw him he was much grieved for him, and he commanded and they put the child's
bowels back into his belly, and he made the sign of the Cross over them, and thus by the
word of Rabban the wound was healed. Sapsa with lions; and Macarius had two lions whom he
called "Little sons." See Rosweyde, Vitae Patrum, pp. 49, 650, 120, 459, 84, 857 and 228.
7 In the village of Hēṭārā, which is situated on the [bank of] the river Hāzer, there was
a certain man whose name was Naggārā; he belonged to the race of the Shahrīghān, and had a
son whose name was Maslamāh. Now this boy was smitten with a very virulent sore, and his
father sent him to this monastery, and the old man gave him a hēnānā, and commanded him
not to eat meat or anything of that nature until the end of the Fast of the Apostles; and
when the fifty days were ended the boy had become whole. And his father commanded one of
the members of his home to bring some fish from the river, and to carry [them] with the
boy to Rabban, and some they fried [to eat] in the village, and some they left alive and
took with them as they came to this monastery. And the young man who was with Maslamāh was
a heathen, and when they drew near to the precincts of the monastery on the first day of
the week which ended the "Week of the Apostles"—now the boy was fasting to receive the
Holy Mysteries—the heathen young man counselled the boy with the counsel of Eve, saying,
"Thou art fasting now, and when thou goest to the monks thou wilt be ashamed to eat, but I
will place in this tree a piece of fish with [some] bread, so that when we come back thou
canst eat;

8 now the boy did not prevent him, and according to his word they placed [the meat and
bread there], and set forth [again] on their journey. And when they had gone in to the old
man they laid the basket of fish before him, and he commanded the brethren to dress them
by the time of the Holy Mysteries. And while the fish, which they were about to fry on the
fire in Rabban's chamber, were lying in the pan, Rabban's cat came and took one of them.
And Rabban answered and laughing, said to him, "Do not be more greedy than the brethren,
for he that brought the fish did not receive healing from thee, but through their prayers;
let it go, wretched creature, that chastisement may not come upon thee; and with the word
of Rabban, a strong eagle seized the cat and bore him up into the air. And Rabban said to
the eagle, "Let him go and offend not a second time," and the eagle let him down and laid
him upon the ground uninjured; and the young men and the brethren marvelled and were
astonished.

9 And with this miracle the blessed man wrought also another wonderful thing at the table
in the refectory while they were eating. When the brethren had taken the gift and had sat
down to eat the good things which the Lord had brought to them, Maslamâh and his companion
ate with deliberation. And Rabban said to Maslamâh, "My son, see what this my servant
telleth me." Now the old man had as his disciple a young man whose name was Kûphrâ, the
son of Sabhrîshô, a believer [who came] from Nîram, a village of shepherds, and when many
illnesses had waxed strong in him, his father set him apart to become the servant of
Rabban, if ever he should become well, and by the mediation of this holy man this actually
came to pass, and he became a disciple, and a monk, and afterwards head of a monastery. At
that moment this young man was standing before Rabban, and to him Rabban directed the gaze
of the boy Maslamâh, saying, "This [my] servant counselleth thee to eat abundantly, for a
crow hath carried off that which ye hid in a tree." And with the word of Rabban, behold
[there came] upon the roof a large black crow, [holding] in his beak the bread and the
fish which the young men had hidden in the tree; thus astonishment about the crow and what
he carried followed closely upon their wonder concerning the cat. These and such-like
things were wrought by the hands of this our prophet.

10 At another time there came to him a certain believing man from Nineveh (Môṣul), who,
although he had lived with his wife a long time, was not called the father of children; to
him Rabban gave a ḥenânâ, and having prayed for him, he dismissed him, and three children
were born to him through the prayers of Rabban, and he also was called the father of
children. A certain man from the village of Amûlhir was sorely vexed by Satan, and he
shouted out with cries by day and by night, and he was brought to Rabban by his parents;
and as soon as he had gone into the martyrium and Rabban had anointed him with the oil of
prayer, he was made whole, and became free from attack. And a certain man from the village
of Birtâ who had no children, came and knocked at the door of the old man with
supplication, and asked for his prayers, and in due time twins were born to him. And
Rabban commanded him to minister unto the poor and the strangers "in return for the double
blessing which God hath given thee;" and that believer undertook and did according to the
command of Rabban.

11 In the village of Niram there was a woman who was a ministrant unto rebellious devils.
And when she saw the mighty deeds and wonders which the holy man was working against the
devils her masters, she set herself in opposition to him, that they might make an end of
him and destroy him out of the world. And although Rabban had known concerning her for
some time past, he had never done her any harm, nor given information concerning her; now
this woman set her face to slay Rabban, whom the wretched creature was not only not able
to harm in any way, but she, the wretched creature, destroyed herself. And she took in her
bosom some dried white grapes and went straight to him; now Rabban was saying Compline at
the door of the martyrium. And when she saw him, she bowed down before him, and
reproaching him in, as it were, a loving manner said, "Because I am a poor and sinful
woman, thou neither liftest up my head, nor takest any care for me, as thou dost for the
other widows whom thou feedest. And the holy man rebuked her, saying, "Depart, wretched
woman, thou hast no need of sustenance at my hands, for thou hast other protectors; but
she did not understand that he spake of the devils whom she served, and sighing she sadly
entreated him to receive the few dried grapes which she had brought to him.

12 And Rabban, knowing of the strange power that was hidden therein, answered and said to
her, "Get thee gone, woman; I have harmed thee in no way, what hast thou to do with me?
Light hath no portion with darkness, neither can the adorers of the Cross be participators
in the table and the food of devils. Now although [Rabban had spoken] thus, she
nevertheless dared to throw the grapes down upon the doorstep of the martyrium before the
holy old man, and she left [him] and went away. And as Rabban was singing the psalm, with
the top of his staff he traced [a figure of] the Cross over and among them, and they were
straightway changed into large, strong wasps. And they flew after that despicable woman
and overtook her on the road, and they took vengeance upon her for the insult to the holy
man, and they stung her upon her face and head, and she died immediately, and fell into
the river; and every man was astonished at the terrible death which had happened to the
wretched woman.

13 And again the Calumniator, who wishes to make a mock of the holy men of our Lord, and
who was lurking in ambush and watching for the ruin of that mighty old man, into whom none
of his arrows ever stuck, and whom no spiritual or corporeal blemish ever touched, brought
upon him, and upon his monastery innumerable trials, in which Rabban was victorious, and
inflicted severe defeat upon his enemy, who sometimes troubled him by the stubborn
heathen, and sometimes by other afflictions. 14 Now there lived in the village of Bêth
Ôbhîd a woman who was exceedingly beautiful, and she set the beauty with which mortal
nature had endowed her as a stumbling-block for the children of the race of mankind, and
Satan invited and led on this woman [to attempt] the ruin of this divine man. And she rose
up and adorned herself like a harlot with all the ornaments which stir up lust for women
in men, and she put kohl on her eyes, and tired her head like Jezebel, and like Jezebel
she also was about to drink the cup of the wrath of the Lord; and she hung upon herself
all her ornaments of gold and silver, and she rose up and set out from the village and
made her journey to the monastery of Rabban. Now Rabban was among a great crowd of people
who were sick and afflicted with devils, and she also went in among them all breathing
forth the evil smelling scent of her perfumes, and she waited until every one had gone
forth on his way. And when she saw that Rabban remained alone she dared to stand before
him with her face uncovered, and she showed him her beauty without shame. And Rabban
answered in his accustomed gracious manner, and said to her, "What is the cause of thy
coming here? and the audacious woman said to him, "I have come to thee that I may sleep
with thee this night and that thou mayest be united with me.

15 And Rabban was passionately enraged with her, and he cursed her, and she fell down on
her face straightway, and he called brother Kûphrâ his servant to gather her up, and
commanded him to drag her outside; and she went to her village in great pain, and on the
morning of the morrow she was buried, and behold she was reserved for a judgment more
bitter than death. And this thing was known to all who dwelt in the country, and they
glorified our Lord Who made the holy man victorious, because by the memory of her [whom]
the holy man burnt up with his curses and destroyed, the lust of the lascivious perished.
16 And on a certain day the heathen from the hamlets round about came by night and fell
upon Bêth Hêsikhê, the forest of the monastery, with axes and scythes, and they
mercilessly hacked and hewed and threw down [the trees]; and they at the same time were
making threats against the monastery, saying, "We will burn it with fire, and we will make
it a waste place as if it had never existed;" and when the sacristan went out to strike
the board for morning [prayer], he heard the noise of those that were cutting the trees,
and he went in and informed Rabban. And the holy man went out to speak with them, and to
admonish them for their daring behaviour, but the children of destruction poured out
insulting words upon him, and with bitter pain in his heart he cursed them as Elisha
cursed the children, and straightway the angel of the Lord slew them with the exception of
one who remained [alive] to proclaim their audacious behaviour. Thus the prayer of this
altar of prayer was heard and accepted, and at the first moving of his request the work
[of destruction] was performed.

17 And again Satan, who desired their destruction, inflamed [the hearts of] the
inhabitants of a village called Bêth Ṭimai, who were heathen, and evil livers, and
thieves, to come and smite the monks and to plunder the community; and when they had come
and many of the brethren had been badly wounded, and had had their bones broken by them,
the [other] brethren went in and informed Rabban of the audacious violence of those
godless men. And Rabban admonished the brethren, saying, "My sons, for the sake of Christ,
your Lord, endure insults and blows from [your] enemies, for He said, 'In the world ye
shall have tribulation'; and what man or what saint ever departed from [this] world
without affliction? And while Rabban was admonishing and exhorting his disciples with such
words as these, those men from Bèth Timai seized the herd of cattle [belonging] to the
community and departed, and they hid themselves in a certain place called Bèth Saphwàn, so
that when the night came they might carry the oxen away unobserved to a distance and sell
them. Now when it was evening Rabban went forth after them secretly, and he went into the
wood and took with him two fierce lions, and drew near to those wretched men.

18 And when they saw him and the lions, [one] on his right hand, and [one] on his left,
and saw that they were ready at his command to swiftly destroy them, mounting upon rocks,
and hiding in caves they adjured him by his God to take what belonged to him, and to save
their lives from destruction by those cruel lions; and they swore to him that they would
never come back to the monastery. And the holy man spake to them darkly, saying, "I trust
in God, Whom I serve, that from this day and henceforth ye will need neither to buy nor to
sell, nor to go forth outside the borders of your village, but that ye may rest in
relaxation and peace for ever, and that ye may not wake up until the time appointed
beforehand for this universe. And the men worthy of woe rose up and went to their village,
and the Lord destroyed them in a short time, and their village was made a desolation for
ever, so much so that even its name and memorial were blotted out entirely from this
earth. And the holy man took the herd of cattle and returned to the monastery in the
evening when it was quite dark; and this wonder was proclaimed throughout all the country.

19 And again when the 'Amran bar-Muḥammad—whom we have mentioned above—had gone in and
inherited the lands [round about], and with them also Nīram of the shepherds, in which he
lived, because of the love which he had for this righteous man—for he had actually done
what Rabban asked him [to do]—he called to one of his servants and said to him, "Go to
Rabban Gabriel and say to him, if he has a little wheat, let him lend it to us, and as
soon as we bring the corn into the granary we will pay him double. Now it was the season
of Nīsān when it happeneth that many people are in need [of wheat]. And when he that had
been sent had come [to Rabban], the holy old man rose up and shewed him a hollow in the
ground, that is to say, a pit, full of wheat, and said to him, "Behold, my son, take all
this wheat and carry it to thy master". And this servant took up out of the pit as many
loads as he pleased, leaving, however, some behind, for he was mindful not to take all the
grain, having compassion for the brethren that they themselves might not lack. And he left
[the monastery] and went to 'Amran, and when Amran asked him if any [wheat] was left in
the pit, he was afraid of his master's violence, and told him, saying, "I did leave a
little there for the food of the monastery and of the old man.

20 Then 'Amran according to his cruel disposition asked him to go back and bring also what
was left, saying, "Rabban Gabriel will lack nothing. And when the servant had gone back to
the old man he made the matter known to Rabban, who answered and said to him, "O my son, I
have lent all the pitful [of wheat] to 'Amran, do not therefore leave anything in it that
thou dost not carry away. And when the servant went to the pit he opened it and saw, and
behold it was full to the top as before, and he looked and was astonished, and he went
back having loaded the mule, and related [the matter] to his master, who marvelled and was
astonished, and did not send again [to Rabban]. How wonderful is the love of God towards
holy men, who having elected to live in penury and to be unpraised and unknown, in that,
contrary to their wishes, it leadeth on their part to the praise of His great power, and
in such a way that they provoke those who love its excellence! And this holy person who
was beloved by his Lord wrought many most astonishing things which were full of His glory.
This man was a prosperous gardener who fenced round his own vineyard with the sure hedge
of keeping the commandments, that [wild animals] might not enter in and destroy the fruits
of his sweetness.

21 He was a wise builder who dug down deep and laid the walls of his house firmly upon the
sure rock of belief, that they might not move by reason of the blast of the mighty winds
of pride, and that the thief might not enter in and spoil the riches of his treasure. He
was a faithful steward who laid upon the table before those who sat at meat in his
master's house the portion which had been entrusted to him. He was a diligent mariner who
saved his valuable ship from the waves and storms, and who steered straight out of them
for the quiet harbour. He was a merchant [who] understood what was advantageous for him,
and who laid up his treasures in heaven above where the fingers of thieves draw not nigh
to plunder the riches of the prosperous. He was a soldier without blame who went forth to
meet the enemies of his Lord, and who never turned his back until he had destroyed them.
He was a husbandman who sowed the seed wisely, and who cleansed the field of his thoughts
from every plant of stubborn tares, and he shewed his field [to be] full of choice fat
wheat. He was a valiant warrior who conquered all the armies of the mighty Philistines who
had driven out the upright from the land of promise.

22 He was a Gideon victorious in the wars of the Lord, who pursued spiritual Midianites,
and took the gold and the crescents of their camels, and plundered them until he had made
them pass from out of his dominion. It was in such a manner that he was victorious, and
these and suchlike triumphs did he exhibit. What speech can fathom the hidden virtues of
this man, and bring [them] to the light and shew their glorious character? It is meet that
his praises should be recited by blessed and righteous men whose discourse is savoury and
sweet, in that it hath been seasoned with the salt of chastity, and not by ignorant men
who are overwhelmed in sin like myself. It is meet that thy noble triumphs should be set
down in writing, O pearl of asceticism, wherefore we have made bold to write [the history
of them]. We will attribute honour to thy love, and we will award gratitude to thy
holiness, in order that the dust of thy limbs, which alive or dead, driveth away devils,
and the vessel in which thy body is laid, may be known by the prudent and not be despised.
And although it was pleasing to thee in thy life and in thy death to follow after
humility, yet if [thy triumphs] remain unknown they will bring injury and harm [upon men];
[therefore we have written them] that they may be a benefit to them. To thee be praise and
to thy Lord glory!

23 moon, in which are set precious stones; they also call that [piece of] iron which is
made like the half moon, and which the Arabs put on their camels above their nostrils."
The Arabs call every thing which has the form of a crescent or new moon.

CHAPTER 18. OF THE LAMENTABLE DEATH OF RABBAN GABRIEL, AND OF HIS DEPARTURE TO THE WORLD OF JOY

1 And how much longer shall we weary [our] listeners with our common and ignorant words?
After these things then, let us proceed and advance to the sickness which smote the holy
man, and to those things which happened during his illness, so that with the end of his
career we may also bring our lines to a close. Now while that holy man was bringing down
this and such-like help upon all mankind, one by one the years of his life came to an end,
and old age and feebleness troubled him; day by day he began to complete the path of his
journey in this world and to set out on the paths of death, so that he also might go and
join all the saints in the never-ending mansions for which and because of which he had
toiled all his days. And the holy man fell ill of a disease of the bowels and suffered
from diarrhoea for four months, like the majority of the holy men who have departed and
who will depart from the world. And at the end of the months of his sickness the report of
his departure from this life was carried to all the nobles and governors of the country,
and they were gathered together and came to see him.

2 And the honourable and noble Zádói bar-Zadhbháh, [who] is worthy of mention for good
because of his noble deeds and his protection of the schools,—for he had taken upon
himself the burden of maintaining them—was also among the many who came to the monastery
to see the holy man, and the honourable Zádói, who was sitting behind Rabban, supported
him in the hour of his death, and he was grieved at the departure of the holy old man. And
while all the brethren were standing before him, (now some of them were sitting) the eyes
of the blessed man dropped tears of grief, and he wept abundantly. And when the brethren
saw that he wept, all the believers wept also, saying to him, "If thou weepest, Rabban,
and art grieved at thy departure, what shall we who are sinners do? He said to them, "I am
not afraid of death, neither am I grieved at my departure, but I am afraid of the judgment
of our Lord, for God judgeth by fire. If Saint Paul was terrified at the judgment hall of
God and said, 'It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God,' who am I
that I should not be stupefied with terror? For I know not what the Judge will make me
hear there, or what answer He will return to me, for I know not whether my work will be
pleasing before Him or not.

3 And behold I am going along a road upon which I have not journeyed, and to a judgment
hall of sin into which I have not entered, and the face of the Judge is terrible towards
sinners, among whom I am reckoned. His Holy Cross shall be an advocate for me before His
justice, and I will take refuge in it; and as the holy old man wept and [his] tears poured
down wetting his beard and his neck, a cry went up to heaven from every man. And after the
weeping and the tears the beauty of grace shone upon his countenance and drew forth great
astonishment from every man, and the eyes of the brethren and of the believers looked upon
him. And when they saw him in that changed condition of heavenly splendour, and saw that
he had composed his mind and had become peaceful [after] his weeping, the brethren and
monks answered and said to him, "Our father, to whom wilt thou leave us? From this day and
henceforth who will hedge us in from before the enemies by whom we are surrounded? Whilst
thou wast alive they swallowed us up alive, and when thou art dead what evil will they not
make us suffer? They will certainly make a desolation of this poor monastery. The blessed
man answered and said to them, "My brethren, take heed to your redemption and to your
reward, and multiply [your] prayers for the Church and the government.

4 Pray also for me that I may have openness of face before our Lord, [and if it be granted
to me] by the fifth day of the week not one of your enemies shall remain alive; and this
actually came to pass according to the old man Rabban's word, for he departed [this] life
at dawn on the fifth day of the week and by the following fifth day they had all come to
an end and perished, [and], their lands are made desolate unto this day. And having his
mouth filled with praise, and admonishing and encouraging the brethren not to be cast down
before the afflictions and sufferings and trials from within and without, he delivered up
his soul to his Master and ended his valiant contest; and immediately the whole house in
which he died was filled with a sweet smell. And the teachers, and scholars, and priests,
and deacons, and believing men were gathered together and came to be blessed at the bier
of the holy old man, and every man wept and was sad and mournful by reason of the
departure of [their] father; the monks for their head and governor who watched on behalf
of their souls; the widows for the supporter of their lives; the orphans for the foster-
father of their destitution; the poor for the man who filled their bosoms with his crumbs;
the wandering strangers and abjects for him that gathered together their wanderings [into
a house]; the afflicted for the man who relieved their need;

5 the troubled for the man who alleviated the pains of their wounds; the oppressed for him
that delivered them from their oppressors; the sick for the physician who healed them for
nothing; those who were in anguish for the consoler of their sorrow; and the rich because
he made their alms wing their way to heaven. In his death the man who was entirely and in
every way like unto Paul was lamented by every man. And the venerable and holy body, which
was in truth the fountain of help, was borne with honour and laid in the south side of the
martyrium in front of the shrine of the bones of the true ascetic Rabban Rā'yā, the
disciple of Rabban Cyprian, for the holy Gabriel had commanded and strictly enjoined that
the pavement should be his grave, as it was that of Paul his brother, and commanded that
no monument should be built above him. And so he was buried by all the grades of
ecclesiastics in all the honour of which the majesty of that holy old age was worthy; and
he left behind in the world the fair renown of his strife, and the sweet odour of his
name. The death of the righteous is not death, but sleep.

6 And some days after his death and departure God wrought a wonderful thing. Two sick men
vexed by devils were brought to this monastery, and when they had gone into the martyrium
and had bowed down before Rabban's grave they received healing immediately. And again a
certain Persian, who was hostile to the monastery, came and took away an ass from the
community by force; and when he had gone forth to depart the Lord smote him with a severe
pain, and with an abundant gift he brought the ass back here. To God now, for Whom holy
men live, Who doeth for the benefit of our nature everything which He doeth in their lives
and in their deaths, to Him Who hath made victorious the early [saints], Who hath
sustained those who come next, and Who hath made mighty those who come last, be praise,
and honour, and adoration, and exaltation, from every rational being who hath lived and
who liveth. By the prayers of these saints whose histories we have recounted, may He make
His blessings to accompany this assembly in all its crises, and may He extend to it His
help, now and always, and for ever and ever! Amen.

7 Here endeth the book of the history of the life of Rabban Gabriel, the priest and true
ascetic, and with it endeth [the whole work]. By the help of our Lord, and by the support
of His power here endeth the writing of this book which is called the "Book of Governors,"
which consisteth of the histories, and noble triumphs, and profitable stories concerning
the holy men and ascetics who lived in the holy Monastery of Bèth 'Abhè, together with
discourses divided into distinct chapters, which shew forth all their histories, and which
was composed by the divinely pious man and spiritual philosopher Màr Thomas, Bishop of
Margà. May his prayers, and those of his master Màr Jacob, and of the saints whose noble
triumphs he wrote, be a high wall to all believers, especially to the poor scribe, and to
the man who had this spiritual composition copied, and may the Lord God hold them worthy
of the remission of [their] sins in the day of judgment! Amen.


MARGANITHA OR PEARL : THE TRUTH OF THE FAITH. (AD 1298)
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MARGANITHA OR PEARL : THE TRUTH OF THE FAITH. (AD 1298) Abdisho bar Brikha

d. AD 1318

Metropolitan of Nisibis and Armenia; wrote a catalogue of Syriac writers and a summary of
doctrine.

INTRODUCTION

THE JEWEL,

2 Written by Mar Abd Yeshua, Nestorian Metropolitan of Nisibis and Armenia, A.D. 1298. In
the strength of our Lord Jesus Christ we begin to write the book called Marghianeetha,
(lit. "The Jewel,") on the truth of Christianity. Written by the undeserving Abd Yeshua,
Metropolitan of Nisibis and Armenia. O Lord, help us. Amen. [Preamble.] O God the Cause of
all things, the Enlightener of all men, the Giver of life and existence to all beings
corporeal and incorporeal, the Vast Ocean of every blessing, the Unfathomable Depth of
every knowledge, the Righteous One whose Nature is all-merciful, the Lover of mankind, and
the Eternal Spring of all goodness.----Thy Godhead is worthy of all praise and honour, and
to Thy Greatness it is fit that unceasing thanks should be offered for Thy wonderful
providence towards the world above and the world beneath, and for the abundance of Thy
mercies towards Thy heavenly and earthly creatures. With the humility of a servant we
implore Thy Eternity, and with earnest longing we beseech Thy Unspeakable Love, to select
us as unsullied and chosen vessels for Thy hidden Treasury, and to make us abodes of
beauty and purity for the inhabitation of Thy Trinity: that by Thy help we may be drawn up
out of the drowning sea of this material world, and be lifted up to the holy of holies,
the place of Thy divine mysteries, and be transformed into That Likeness which is above
all likeness; and that through the rays of Thy Everlasting Light we may shine forth for
ever, being eternal, and live and be confirmed far beyond the reach of all error of mind
or of body, and become the companions of those who are near to Thee in spirit and in act,
and be happy both here and there for ever and ever. Amen.

3 The chief of our community and the father of our people, after having been graciously
pleased to approve of my book entitled "the Paradise of Eden," written by me in varied
versification, directed me to write another in proof of the truth and certainty of the
Christian faith, for the perusal and study of his disciples, and for the benefit of all
the lovers of Christ under his sway, as it will be an evidence of his own zeal and renown
to those who shall come after. As an obedient servant I obeyed his profitable injunction,
and wrote this small book, small in size and brief, but precious in its subject matter.
Hence I have called it "The Jewel" of the truth of Christianity; and herein I have briefly
treated of the origin, roots, plants and branches of the teaching of the Church, and have
divided it into five parts, each part subdivided into chapters. And now I conjure, and
most humbly and earnestly beseech, every lover of God into whose hands this book may fall,
or who may read it, copy it, or hear it, that, for the love of Christ, he will not censure
me for whatsoever I have written, but on the contrary pray for me, inasmuch as I have
spent much labour therein, although as regards myself I am very weak and unworthy. Let
every one follow herein whatever approves itself to his own mind; and may God make them
and us meet for blessedness, and enable both to attain the truth.

PART I.

1 OF GOD. CHAPTER I. -- That there is a God, and that the world is created, made, and
temporal. S. Paul the heavenly apostle, the treasury of the Holy Ghost, and the spiritual
philosopher, has, through the Spirit, laid an admirable foundation for Theology, by his
saying, that men "should seek God, and feel after Him, and find Him out from His
creation." Inasmuch as the artificer is known by his work, and the maker through the thing
made. That the world is made, and created, and had a beginning in time we know from
this:----This world is compounded, framed, and disposed, as a whole, and in all its parts;
and every thing that is compounded, framed, and disposed, must have a com-pounder, framer,
and disposer. That it is compound is proved from its whole being made up of many parts,
and from all its bodies being made up of matter and kinds, and from the visible and
invisible movers therein. But the most certain witness of its being framed is man, who is
a small world in himself, and in whose formation all creation is brought together, as one
of the sages has said: "Man is an epitome of the whole world, and of the whole frame of
creation."

2 Now that the world is disposed is clear from the wonderful order of the heavens, the
planets, the elements, with all their productive powers, generating plants, trees, mines,
and the members of beasts and of men, the astonishing order of which surpasses the wisdom
and knowledge of all created beings. In the same way the ancient philosophers concluded
that every motion must have a mover, until they arrived at Him Who is not moved, Who is
the Cause of all, and of Whom they predicated that He must be good, wise, and almighty.
Good, inasmuch as He created the world without a cause [i.e. of His own motion]; wise,
because of the admirable order and frame displayed in the universe; almighty, because He
overcame the things which are naturally destructive of each other, and brought them
together in one agreement. Further, this world is made up of quality and quantity, as
respects its bodies and spirits, and of different dimensions and extensions, of which the
mind can inquire, why they were not less or more, higher or lower than they are. And when
it would know a cause for the appropriated designs, resemblances, and dimensions, of all
and of each, and for their existence and continuance as they are, it can find no other
than the will and intelligence of the Creator, who created and disposed them after His own
will, and as He knew would be best and most fit. The artificer must of necessity exist
before the work, in order that it may be proved of him that he is really the maker of that
which did not exist before, and that he made it. This truth, then, being confirmed, it
results that the world is made, and had a beginning in time, and is not eternal. It also
results that it has a Maker, Who is good, wise, eternal, strong, and possessed of a will.

CHAPTER II. -- THAT GOD IS ONE AND NOT MANY.

That the Maker of this world is one and not many may be proved thus:----It is impossible
that many can possess one, perfect, unchangeable, self-consentaneous will; because they
must either be co-equal in substance, and in every thing appertaining thereto, which would
destroy plurality by the non-existence of distinction, or anything distinguishing, just as
it is inconsistent to conceive of the existence of two blacknesses, alike in every
respect, and not distinguishable, and having but one and the same substance:----or they
must be distinct from each other in substance, and in what appertains thereto; when they
would be contrary the one to the other, and destructive the one of the other. But
existence could not exist between two opposing makers, nor could a perfect work proceed
from them.----Or they must be alike in substance, and distinct in what appertains thereto,
each one having an appropriate quality by which he is distinguishable from his associates;
when they would all be compounded of the things in which they are alike, and of those in
which they are distinguishable. But every compound thing is made, and must have a maker
and compounder; hence results the truth of that declaration: "The Lord our God is One God;
and though there be gods many and lords many, to us there is but one God."

CHAPTER III. -- THAT GOD IS ETERNAL.

Everything that exists must be either eternal or temporal; and everything temporal has a
cause and maker, and time and maker must be pre-existent to it. But that the cause of all
things is without a cause, and that the Maker of all things has no maker, every right and
unprejudiced mind is assured of, because it is natural to it so to judge. It results,
then, that the Self-existent is the Creator, and the Eternal, anterior to time, because He
Himself created time. For time is a reckoning of the motions of bodies, and as we have
already proved that He is the Creator of these, therefore He is eternal, and without
beginning. Now that which has no beginning, can be reachable by no end, and must possess
of these two opposite extremes whatsoever is the most high and the most glorious, as
truth, light, and life, and must be the Best, the Wisest, the Almighty.

CHAPTER IV. -- THAT GOD IS INCOMPREHENSIBLE.

1 Every thing comprehensible is comprehended either by the senses, or by the mind; and
that which is comprehended by the senses must be either a body or an accident. But the
adorable God is not a body; for every body is compound, and every body occupies space, and
every body has limits, all which is opposed to the Self-existent. Nor is He an accident;
for an accident cannot exist alone, but requires a substance wherein to exist. All that is
comprehended by the mind, the mind must either stretch to the ends of its length and
breadth, (which are parts of its limits distinguishing it from what it is not) in order
that it may in reality comprehend it; but hereby the thing is at once limited, and
extension and dimension are foreign to the nature of the Self-existent:----or the mind
does not stretch to its end, or to the boundaries which limit it; but this is not
comprehension. Hence the Divine Nature is incomprehensible, it being impossible for the
mind to comprehend aught of the knowledge of the Self-existent, except that He does exist.

2 It is said of a certain great philosopher, that he always used this prayer: "O Thou
cause of the motion of my soul, grant me to know that subtle essence which moves me, what
it is, and what it is like. But not even that subtle essence wherewith I am endowed, and
whereby I am capable of knowing, can comprehend what Thou art, and how Thou art. This only
it can know, that Thou dost exist." Now, when we say [of God] that He is invisible,
incomprehensible, impassible, and immutable, we do not describe what He is, but what He is
not.

CHAPTER V. -- OF THE TRINITY.

1 Everything that exists must be either a material body whose existence is the subject of
accidents and changes, and is acted upon by whatever is opposed to it; or not a body, and
consequently not the subject of any of these things. Now, we have already proved, that
God, (glory be to His incomprehensibility) is not a body, and therefore is not subject to
anything pertaining to materiality, from which He is infinitely removed. Whatever is
immaterial, and not subject to anything appertaining to matter, the traditions of the
ancients call Mind. And whatever is exclusive of matter, and of what appertains thereto,
must be knowing, and must know himself, because himself is ever present and known to him,
and he is not dependent on anything but himself. And whatever knows himself must be
living. Therefore God is Wise and Living. Now, he who is wise is wise because of his
wisdom; and he who is living is living because he has life. This is the mystery of the
Trinity, which the Church confesses of the Adorable Essence: The Mind, Wisdom, and Life,
Three co-essential proprieties in One, and One who is glorified in three proprieties. [The
Church] has called the Mind, Father and Begetter, because He is the Cause of all, and
First. [She] has called the Son, Wisdom and Begotten, because He is begotten of the Mind,
and by Him everything was made and created. [She] has called Life the Holy Ghost, and
Proceeding, because there is no other Holy Ghost but He. He who is Holy is unchangeable,
according to the expositions of received expositors; and this is that which is declared by
John the Divine, the son of Zebedee: "In the beginning was the Word;" and, "the Light is
the life of man."

2 Now, as the reasonable soul has a three-fold energy, mind, word, and life, and is one
and not three; even so should we conceive of the Three in One, and One in Three. The sun
also, which is one in its disk, radiance, and heat, is another simile adduced by the
second Theologus Paul, the chosen vessel: "He is the brightness of His glory, and the
Express Image of His Person;" and, again: "Christ, the power of God, and the wisdom of
God." Further, every thing that exists is either an accident or a substance. But the Self-
existent can in no wise be susceptible of accidents. Therefore these three proprieties
must be essential, and are on this account called persons, and not accidental powers, and
do not cause any change or plurality in the essence of the Self-existent; for He is the
Mind, the Same He is the Wisdom, the Same He is the Life, Who ever begat without
cessation, and puts forth [makes to proceed] without distance [i.e. without removal from
Himself.] These things [cessation and distance] are infinitely removed from Him, and
appertain to bodies.

3 Now, there is no real likeness between created natures and the Nature of the Self-
existent, and a simile does not in every thing resemble that which is compared by it; for
then the simile and that which is compared by it would be the thing itself, and we [who
have just instituted several comparisons] should not be unlike the man who attempts to
compare a thing by the self-same thing. The mystery of the Trinity is expressed in the
words of the Old Testament: "Let us make man in our own image, after our likeness; "the
occurrence of the letter noon three times in this sentence is an indication of the
Trinity. The "Holy" thrice repeated in the seraphic hymn, as mentioned by Isaiah, joined
with one "Lord," attests Three Persons in One Essence. The words of David, also, are of
the same import: "By the Word of the Lord were the heavens made, and all the host of them
by the breath of His mouth;" and many other like references. Let the heathen, then, and
Jews who rail at the truth of the Catholic Church, on account of her faith in the Trinity,
be confounded and put to shame. Here endeth the first part.

CHAPTER I. -- ON THE CREATION OF THE UNIVERSE.

1 He to Whom time was before He wrought, and subsequently began to work, must have wrought
either by compulsion, or through necessity, or from a motive of goodness. But God did not
create the world of compulsion, because there was no other God beside Him, nor any other
Essence to compel Him to act. Neither of necessity, because His Essence is perfect, and in
nothing wanting, and He is the Giver of all perfection, and is Himself imperfect in
nothing, either in His Essence, or in what appertains thereto. It justly results, then,
that He created the world of His goodness and love, He being essentially the origin of all
good and bounteous things. 2 First He created the Angels, the heavens, and the four
elements, the light, and the planets. After that trees and plants; then the different
classes of animals, with their various species. And when He had adorned the universe with
every good thing, and made it like the chamber of a bridegroom, and a wonderful paradise,
on the sixth day, after the heavens and the earth with all their hosts were finished, He
created the first Adam, the father of the human race, "in the Image of God created He
him," according to the testimony of the blessed Moses, the first-born of the Prophets, and
the first of the scribes. And he was called an image [of God] for three reasons: First, on
account of the reasonable soul with which he was endowed, and which is a likeness of the
Divine Image in a twofold respect, first, in its spirituality, subtilty, and
incorporeality; and, again, because in his mind, word, and life, man is an emblem of the
Trinity. Secondly, on account of his power over all, [Gen. i. 26,] his sovereignty, and
his free will. Thirdly, because from him God intended to take a temple for His union
[thereto], and to be worshipped of all with it for ever and ever.

CHAPTER II. -- ON MAN'S FIRST SIN.

1 After God had thus created man a reasonable image, a wonderful temple, and a bond of the
universe, in short, a small world existing in the great world, He took from him a rib and
made therewith woman, and placed them in the delectable paradise of Eden which He had
prepared for them, and commanded them that they might eat of all the trees in paradise,
but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil they were not to eat. And He further
decreed, that in the day they should eat thereof they should die the death. Now, hereby
God declared the freedom of man's will; for, had they not been free to act, He would have
wronged them in punishing their transgression of the command; whereas, if they were really
free agents, He justly condemned them, inasmuch as with wicked intent, and in their own
self-sufficiency, they trampled upon and despised the Divine command, in order that they
might become gods, and be released from obedience to their Creator, after the advice of
the devil who deceived them. Because of this, they became debtors to death, and fell under
subjection to the devil, and were shorn of their glory, and put on shame, and were removed
from the companionship of angels, and became mourners in a land of curses.

2 Their children also, because they walked in the selfsame way of transgression, bound
more tightly the yoke of the devil, and of death, on their necks, and these forgat their
Creator, and walked after their own hearts' lust, and the desires of their own minds, and
nourished iniquity, and strengthened rebellion,----"who, being past feeling, gave
themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. On this
account justice woke up, and led Noah and his family into the ark, which the Long-
suffering had ordered to be made in the hope of their repentance. And every mortal was
destroyed by the flood, and the earth was cleansed from their wickedness. And thus after
two thousand years, more or less, that barbarous dispensation was brought to an end. 3
CHAPTER III. -- On the Divine Laws and Ordinances, and of the Prophets. 4 When Noah went
forth from the ark, God gave him ordinances adapted to the infancy of human nature; but,
gradually, as his race increased, they forgat these, and some of them deemed it right to
worship the images of those whom they revered, whilst others joined in a ruinous
confederacy, and made a vain counsel that they would build a tower and a place wherein to
rebel against God; so that in case of another flood being sent in His anger, it might
serve them as a place of refuge; or in case of His commanding any thing contrary to their
will, they might thereby ascend and war against heaven. And after that God had confounded
their tongues, and scattered them to the four winds of heaven, because of this, they added
idolatry to their wickedness, and sacrificed their sons and their daughters to devils, and
served the creature more than the Creator. God then chose our father Abraham, from whose
seed He purposed to take to Himself an everlasting temple, gave him the covenant of
circumcision, and entered into a compact with him, and in him began the way of the fear of
God called Hebrew. After this, through successive generations, God raised up of his family
good and righteous persons, who laboured in vain to make men return unto the Lord. Then
Moses, the head of the Prophets, was chosen, and to him were given written laws and
ordinances, such as were not vouchsafed to the three dispensations which preceded him.

5 And in him began the Jewish dispensation, which like a child who has not yet attained to
perfect knowledge, was taught to read in the old law, which enjoined that good should be
done towards relations, and towards the good, and evil to evil doers and enemies. It
moreover represented God after the similitude of man, with bodily members, as dwelling at
Jerusalem, as abiding on Mount Sion and among the congregation of Israel. It makes no
mention of hell, or of the kingdom of heaven; but it threatens the transgressors of its
laws with corporal punishments, such as submission to enemies, the being scattered among
the heathen, with drought, famine, poverty, and barrenness; whilst, on the other hand, the
good are rewarded with earthly and temporal rewards. All the Prophets who succeeded Moses
followed and confirmed this way, and for it they submitted to every species of trial and
persecution.

CHAPTER IV. -- PROPHECIES CONCERNING CHRIST.

1 All the holy Prophets prophesied of Christ, Who was to bring salvation to the world, and
to create all things new. And, in order not to lengthen our discourse, we shall adduce the
witness of six of the greatest among them. In the first place Israel, the father of the
Prophets declared: "The sceptre," that is, a king, "shall not depart from Judah, nor a
lawgiver," that is, a Prophet, "from between his feet, until He shall come Whose it is,
and Him shall the nations wait for;" together with the remaining portion of the chapter.
Moses says: "the Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a great prophet from the midst of
thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto Him shall ye hearken.... and whosoever will not
hearken to that Prophet shall be cut off from among his people." The deliverance of
Israel, moreover, out of the hand of Pharaoh, was a type of the redemption of all from
under the power of the chief of this world. The manna, also, prefigured the mystery of our
Lord's Body; the water from the rock, the drinking of His Blood; and the brazen serpent,
the life-giving Cross.

2 David likewise fully prophesied of Christ in the Psalm, "Why do the heathen rage?" and
in that beginning with "O Lord our God, how glorious is Thy Name in all the earth!" and in
that, "My heart is inditing of a good matter;" as also in the Psalm, "The Lord said unto
my Lord, sit Thou on My right hand." Isaiah prophesies: "Behold a Virgin shall conceive,
and bring forth a Child, and they shall call His name Emmanuel, which being interpreted
is, God with us, and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the
Prince of Peace, the Everlasting Father." And, again: "He was wounded for our
transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon
Him;" to the end of the chapter. Zechariah says: "Fear not, O daughter of Sion, behold thy
King cometh unto thee, lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass."

3 Daniel, after having fixed the period of the seventy weeks which were to precede His
appearance, writes: "Messiah shall be cut off, and shall have nothing; and the holy city
shall be destroyed, and the sacrifice and oblation shall cease." And, again: "I beheld
till the thrones were placed, and the Ancient of Days did sit; and I saw one like the Son
of Man come with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days; and there was
given to Him dominion and kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve
Him; for His dominion shall not pass away; and His kingdom shall not be destroyed." Here
endeth the Second Part.

PART III.

1 ON THE CHRISTIAN DISPENSATION. CHAPTER I. -- On the advent of Christ, and of His union
[of the divine with the human nature.] 2 Justice is an universal benefit, since whatsoever
man would have others do to him, justice demands that he should do to them; and whatsoever
he would not have men do to him, let him not do the same to them. This is the Law and the
Prophets, as saith the Saviour. But as the prophets could not hereby reduce to perfect
order the lives of men, and bring them to a knowledge of the truth by causing them to
forego idols and follow the divine commands, in order that they might be saved, there
remained no other way for the renewal of our nature, and for the reformation of our lives,
but that God should appear in the world. Like a sovereign, who having sent many messengers
to dispense the affairs of his kingdom, and to put in order those whom he would reconcile,
if these should be overcome because of their weakness, and be unable to effect any thing,
he goes in person to put those of that country in order. But since God is invisible, and
because were it possible for Him to appear to the created as He is, all men would be
destroyed by the effulgence of His brightness;

3 therefore He took to Himself a man for His habitation, and made him His temple, and the
place of His abiding, and thus united an offspring of mortal nature to His Divinity, in an
everlasting, indissoluble union, and made it a co-partaker of His sovereignty, authority,
and dominion.----That is, the Divine Essence enlightened the human nature by its union
therewith, as the pure and faultless jewel is enlightened by the rays of the sun falling
upon it, causing the nature of that which is enlightened to be like the nature of that
which enlightened it, and causing the sight to be affected by the rays and brightness
pertaining to the nature of that which received, as it is by the nature of that which
communicated, the light, no change whatever taking place in the agent by his action on
that which was acted upon. And, again, just as speech hidden in the soul is united to
written discourse by the consent of the mind, and is transmitted from one spot to another
without itself moving, from its place,----so the Word of the Father united with the man of
us, through the mind, and came into this our world, without, in His self-existence,
leaving the Father:----"The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. A devout and pious man
laboured for many years in prayer to God, that He would disclose to him the meaning of
this declaration. A voice from heaven was at length vouchsafed to him, saying:

4 " Ascribe to the flesh the word 'became,' and to the 'Word'' ascribe 'dwelt among us.' "
Such was the answer.

CHAPTER II. -- ON THE LIFE AND ACTIONS OF CHRIST.

1 When the angel saluted the Blessed Virgin, saying: "the Lord be with thee; blessed art
thou among women;" God the Word, beyond all doubt, united Himself at that moment with that
which He formed simultaneously, and without human seed, in the womb of the Holy Virgin,
and to which He gave the name of the "Highest;" at whose birth, also, He wrought miracles,
and diffused joy over the whole world, and endued It with perfect wisdom, grace and
stature. And when He had attained the age of thirty years, in the fifteenth year of
Tiberius Caesar, and the three hundred and forty-first of Alexander, He presented Himself
to the baptism of John. Not that His purity needed a baptism of water; but in order that
He might become a pattern and example to us in every thing. He was baptized, and He
commanded that we should be baptized. He fasted, and directed us to fast. He prayed and
taught us to pray. He humbled Himself, and instructed us to be humble. He was lowly in the
exercise of every virtue, and enjoined us to be lowly.----"Whosoever shall do and teach
these things, shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven."

2 And after having wrought signs and wonders in the land of Judah, such as, the healing of
the sick, the raising of the dead, the opening of the blind eyes, the making the lame to
walk, casting out devils, and revealing hidden mysteries, He drew near to the time when He
was to pay the debt of the first Adam's transgression, and to cancel the writing of
condemnation against his race, and to reveal, by an example, the mystery of the general
resurrection. He suffered, and was crucified under Pontius Pilate, He died, and was
buried, and rose again on the third day, as it is written. After His resurrection, He
appeared to His disciples through many signs during the space of forty days, saying unto
them: "All power is given unto Me in heaven and on earth. As My Father hath sent Me, even
so send I you. Go and disciple all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and
of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you;
and, behold, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen." "And He brought
them out to Bethany, and lifted up His hands and blessed them; and, as He blessed them, He
separated from them, and ascended up to heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. Then the
disciples went forth and preached in every place, the Lord helping them, and confirming
their words by the miracles which they wrought." This is the origin of Christianity; its
truth we shall establish in the following chapter.

CHAPTER III. -- ON THE TRUTH OF CHRISTIANITY.

1 Christianity is the belief in One Divine Essence, in Three Persons, and the confession
of Christ as has already been explained, and the belief in a resurrection of the dead, and
a judgment to come, and a new and eternal life, all which articles of faith are spiritual
and unworldly. For the rational soul has a threefold power, lust, anger, and
discriminating judgment, from the excess or the want of a due proportion of which, evil
acts and follies proceed, and from the harmony of which proceed virtues. Our Gospel,
however, inculcates with regard to each of these what is superior to nature. Thus, with
regard to lust, Christ saith: "Whosoever shall look upon a woman to lust after her, hath
committed adultery already in his heart." Again: "Be ye like the birds of heaven, and like
the flowers of the field." And, again: "Take no thought for the morrow." Of anger, He
saith: "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, and do good to them that
despitefully use you." Of discriminating judgment; that the kingdom of God is life
everlasting, and everlasting life is a knowledge of the truth:----"This is eternal life,
to know Thee the Only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent." What exalted
doctrine is this! and what truth can be superior to this, or more certain?

2 The truth of Christianity is indicated by this also, that like philosophy, it is divided
into theory and practice. The end of its theory is truth, as we have already shown, and
shall yet further show; and the end of its practice is virtue, as we proved by what we
said of the powers of the soul, in regard of which it demands purity of thought, and the
sanctification of the spirit, and enjoins good to be done to evil-doers, the love of our
enemies, and that we should bless those who curse us. The truth of the Christian religion
is still further established by the credibility of those who preached it,----who preached
and wrote of Christ,----men, who without exercising any compulsion, and without holding
out any lure, were received by people of various tongues, by kings, sages, and
philosophers; for whosoever abandons the religion of his forefathers, and follows him who
calls him to embrace another, must do so either from fear, or because of the allurement
held out to him, or he is led by the supernatural signs and wonders by which it is
attested. But the blessed Apostles had neither weapons nor soldiery to terrify any;
neither had they possessions or riches wherewith to allure; it results, then, that the
world bowed to listen to them on account of the supernatural signs and wonders which they
wrought. But God does not work miracles by the hands of false men, lest they should cause
His servants to err, and corrupt the work of His hands. The Apostles, therefore, were true
and not false men; and if they were true, those things which we confess of Christ, and
which we have received from their preaching and writings, the Christian Church holds to be
true, because those who delivered them were true.

CHAPTER IV. -- ON THE DIFFERENT SECTS.

1 When the light of Christ's brightness, shed abroad by these preachers, had scattered the
darkness of error from the face of the world, idolatry ceased, and the worship of pictures
and molten images passed away, and the earth was cleansed from the abomination of
sacrifices and unclean rites, and the inhabitants of the world learned goodness, holiness,
humility, and gentleness, and the earth was full of the knowledge of the Lord as the
waters cover the sea. This filled Satan with envy and rage, and he forthwith proceeded to
act towards us as he had acted towards Adam; so that after the Apostles, and their
disciples, and their immediate successors, had slept, Christians rose up against each
other, and divisions and controversies sprung up among them, and heresies without number
increased in the Church of Christ, until they went so far as to compass each other's
destruction, and regarded each other as infidels deserving of death. How many false
doctrines were rife, and how many crimes were perpetrated in those days, we learn from the
histories of Mar Eusebius. On account of these things, the Oecumenical Council of the 318
was convened, by order of the good and CHRIST-loving Emperor and Saint Constantine, in the
year of Alexander 636, and by the power of the Spirit, and by proofs adduced from the Holy
Scriptures, they decreed, interpreted, enlightened, disclosed, manifested, and confirmed,
the orthodox faith; and by strong argument, and with words of sound doctrine, they
condemned all the heresiarchs, excommunicated and cut them off from the body of Christ, as
being diseased members not susceptible of cure. And thus the Catholic Church, was purified
from every stain of vain worship and false doctrine, and all the world, from the rising of
the sun to the going down of the same, was of one mind, and of one Church.

2 About one hundred years after this a dispute arose between Cyril Patriarch of
Alexandria, and Mar Nestorius Patriarch of Byzantium, respecting the Incarnate Word. In
the confession of the Trinity all Christians agree, for all receive the Nicene Creed,
which creed confesses that the Trinity is co-equal in essence, dignity, power and will;
and all confess of Christ that He is perfect God and perfect Man, being fully persuaded
thereof by the declarations of the Gospels, of Saint Paul, and of the 318 Fathers. The
dispute which now arose respected the manner of the Union, and the words used to express
it. Cyril maintained that we ought to call the Virgin "Mother of God," and wrote twelve
Sentences excommunicating all who should, in any way, draw a distinction between the
divinity and humanity of Christ after the union. Nestorius replied to these Sentences, and
showed that they were erroneous, and with respect to the appellation "Mother of God," he
argued that it did not exist either in the writings of the Prophets or Apostles. The
Prophets prophesied of Christ to come, and the Apostles preached of that same Christ,
predicted by the Prophets as coming into the world, that this was He Who was born of Mary.
Now, were we to use the expression "Mother of Man' only, we should be like Paul of
Samosata, and Photinus of Galatia, who said of our Lord that He was but a mere man like
one of the prophets, and on this account they were excommunicated;

3 so if we use the bare expression "Mother of God," we become like Simon and Menander, who
say that God did not take a body from Mary; but that His life and actions were in
appearance only and not real, and on that account they also were excommunicated. But we
call the Virgin "Mother of Christ," the name used by Prophets and Apostles, and which
denotes the union generally. Cyril, in the Sentences which he drew up, and in which he
excommunicated all who shall distinguish between the divinity and humanity of Christ,
virtually excommunicates the Holy Scriptures, since the Apostles and Prophets do
distinguish between the natures of the Person respecting Whom the dispute is, and from
these the holy Fathers learnt to confess of Christ, that He is perfect God and perfect
Man, the Likeness of God and the likeness of a servant, the Son of David and the Son of
the Highest, flesh and Word.

4 From this time commenced the division of the Church; some followed Nestorius, whilst
others went after Cyril, both parties mutually anathematizing each other; from which
resulted sects, and the slaughter, exile, imprisonment, and persecution of the Fathers,
such as had never been before, as is fully recorded in the histories of Irenaeus, Bishop
of Tyre. After this, tumult and discord went on increasing until the zealous and Christ-
loving Marcian undertook to convene the great Council of the 632 in the town of Chalcedon,
and commanded that both parties should be examined and judged, and that whosoever did not
follow the truth and faith as declared by this Council should be expelled the Church, in
order that the Church might be united in one perfect agreement. This Council confirmed the
confession, that there are two natures in Christ, distinct in the attributes of each, and
also two wills, and anathematized all who should speak of mixture, which destroys the two
natures. But because in Greek there is no difference between the meaning of the word
Person and Parsopa, they confessed but one Person in Christ. And when the party of Cyril
was not satisfied with the expression "two Natures," and the party of Nestorius with the
expression "one Person," an imperial edict was issued declaring all who did not consent to
this doctrine degraded from their dignity. Some were made to submit through compulsion;
but the remainder maintained their own opinions.

5 Christianity thus became divided into three sects: the first confessing One Nature and
One Person in Christ, which doctrine is held by the Copts, Egyptians, and Abyssinians,
after the tradition of Cyril their Patriarch; and this is called the Jacobite sect, from a
certain Syrian doctor called Jacob, who laboured zealously to spread the doctrines of
Cyril among the Syrians and Armenians. The second sect are those who confess the doctrine
of two natures and one Person in Christ, and these are called "Melchites," because it was
imposed forcibly by the king. This is the doctrine which is received by the Romans called
Franks, and by the Constantinopolitans who are Greeks, and by all the people of the West,
such as the Russians, Alani, Circassians, Assaï, [?] Georgians, and their neighbours. But
the Franks differ from the rest of these in maintaining that the Holy Spirit proceeds from
the Father and the Son, and in their use of unleavened bread in the Lord's Supper. These
two sects accepted the appellation "Mother of God;" but the Jacobites have added to the
canon: "Holy God," &c. "Who wast crucified for us."

6 The third sect which confesses two Natures and two Persons in Christ is called the sect
of the Nestorians. As to the Easterns, however, because they never changed their faith,
but kept it as they received it from the Apostles, they were unjustly styled "Nestorians,"
since Nestorius was not their Patriarch, neither did they understand his language; but
when they heard that he taught the doctrine of the two Natures and two Persons, one Son of
God, one Christ, and that he confessed the orthodox faith, they bore witness to him,
because they themselves held the same faith. Nestorius, then, followed them, and not they
him, and that more especially in the matter of the appellation "Mother of Christ."
Therefore when called upon to excommunicate him, they refused, maintaining that their
excommunication of Nestorius would be equivalent to their excommunication of the Sacred
Scriptures and the holy Apostles, from which they received what they professed, and for
which we are censured together with Nestorius, as shall appear in the following chapter.

CHAPTER V. -- REFUTATION OF THE FOREGOING CREEDS.

1 After having carefully distinguished the above Creeds, we shall now briefly refute two
of them. First: If it is right to believe that there is but one nature and one Person in
Christ after the union, either the human nature and person are destroyed through the
union;----here is destruction, not salvation. Or, the Divine Nature and Person are
destroyed;----a monstrous profanity. Or, the two natures and two persons were mingled and
confounded together;----behold hence a corruption! neither divinity nor humanity any
longer existing. Mar Yohanan bar Pinkhâyé adduced the name of Christ, written with black
and red ink, by way of illustrating this confused union which the Jacobites believe, and
the union of adherence which we believe; thus, CHRIST, behold corruption! behold
confusion! Is it red ink? It is not. Is it black ink? It is not. Now look at this CHRIST
behold beauty! behold light! Is it black ink? It is. Is it red ink? It is.

2 Secondly: The Divine Nature and Person, before and after the union, is an eternal,
uncompounded Spirit. But the human nature and person is a temporal and compound body. Now,
if the union destroys the attributes which distinguish the natures and persons in Christ,
either the one or the other of these becomes a nonentity, or they become a thing which is
neither God nor man. But if the union does not destroy the attributes which distinguish
the natures and persons in Christ; then Christ must exist in two natures and two persons,
which united in the Parsopa of the Filiation. Thirdly, the Gospel declares, that the
infant Christ "increased in stature, and in wisdom, and in favour with God and man." And
the Apostle Peter says: "Jesus, a Man of God, approved among you by miracles, and wonders,
and signs, which God did by Him in the midst of you." And, again, S. Paul, the master-
builder of the Church testifies, that "there is one God, and one Mediator between God and
man, the Man Christ Jesus." These three quotations most clearly affirm of Christ, after
the union, that He existed in two natures and two persons, and whosoever shall dispute
these testimonies is far removed from all truth.

CHAPTER VI. -- ON THE TITLE "MOTHER OF GOD."

1 First: If the Virgin is the "Mother of God," and we understand by the word "God,"
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; then she brought forth the Trinity, and not the one only Son.
Secondly: If the Virgin is the "Mother of God," and if He whom she brought forth suffered,
died, and was buried, as the four Evangelists testify, either ye hold that He died in
reality, (and he who really dies has no power whatever to revivify others or himself, but
must remain in death for ever) and thus ye declare false the saying that He rose again:
Or, ye hold that He died in appearance only, and in the same way rose again, (in which
case He could not have arisen in reality, seeing that He did not die in reality;) then the
hope of the resurrection is vain, since hereby the saying that "He hath raised us up with
Christ" is made void.

2 Thirdly: If Mary is the "Mother of God," and Peter testifieth of Him whom she brought
forth, saying: "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God;" then, according to you,
she is not the Mother of Christ, but the mother of His Father, and Christ is her grandson,
not her Son, and she is the mother of His Father. Where, then, is the mother of Christ?

CHAPTER VII. -- OF FOUR PERSONS.

First. If by our confession of Two Persons in Christ there result four Persons in the
Trinity; then, by your confession of two natures in Christ there must equally result two
natures in the Deity. Secondly. If the Trinity, as is admitted by all, is eternal and
uncompounded, and the human person temporal and compound, how can this, in any way, be
considered as a fourth person to That? Thirdly. If we maintained two Sons in Christ, this
charge might justly be brought against us; because the Father and the Spirit, with these
two Sons, would make four persons. But seeing that we confess but one Son, one Christ, one
Parsopa, we have no fear of being guilty of blasphemy.

CHAPTER VIII. -- OF THE CHURCH.

The term "Church" imports a congregation, and an assembly met together to unite in acts of
celebration. It is a model of things above; for as the nine orders which minister to the
Most High are divided into three degrees, just so the Church. The Patriarchs,
Metropolitans, and Bishops, occupy the place of the Cherubim, Seraphim, and Thrones; the
Archdeacons, Deans, and Presbyters, the place of the Dominions, Virtues, and Powers; the
Deacons, Subdeacons, and Readers, the place of the Principalities, Archangels, and Angels.
The name "Church," as we have said, has this signification; for Christ does not call
material foundations and stones "a Church," but the congregation which believes in Him.
The nave and the altar are called the Church metaphorically, just as the people of a city
are called by the name of the city, as when it is said: "all the city went out to meet
Jesus." And just as the city itself is often called by the name of the city, as when it is
said; "He entered into the city."

CHAPTER I. -- ON THE NUMBER OF THE CHURCH SACRAMENTS.

1 The Sacraments of the Church, according to the Divine Scriptures, are seven in number;
1. The Priesthood, which is the ministry of all the other Sacraments. 2. Holy Baptism. 3.
The Oil of Unction. 4. The Oblation of the Body and Blood of Christ. 5. Absolution. 6. The
Holy Leaven. 7. The sign of the life-giving Cross. These are necessary because of the
wants of man in this carnal world. In order for a man to be, and to exist in the world, he
must be born of a carnal mother through a carnal father, though the figure and perfection
of man come from the Father of Lights. In like manner, in order to belong to a world of
immortality, it is requisite to be born of the spiritual womb of baptism, through the
spiritual father, the priest, notwithstanding that form and perfection are imparted by the
Holy Ghost, and by the power of The Highest.

2 Further, it is requisite for every one belonging to this world to sustain his temporal
life by temporal food, and earthly drink. So, in like manner, spiritual meat and divine
drink are a means to him who is baptized for sustaining his eternal life in God. Again, as
every one who is in the body, through the changes of the times, and bad living, is subject
to sickness and disease, and is in need of physicians who will restore him to his former
health if he follow their injunctions; so the man of God, through the effects of sin, and
immoral living, falls into the disorders of iniquity, and receives health from the priests
of the Church, the spiritual physicians, if he orders himself after their directions. The
Oil of Unction is used in the birth which is by baptism, and the Holy Leaven is used in
the spiritual food of the Body of Christ. The Sign of the life-giving Cross is that by
which Christians are ever kept, and by it all the other Sacraments are sealed and
perfected.

3 But some Christians who possess not the Leaven reckon Marriage, according to Christ's
ordinance, (whereby in the place of a mortal deceased another is raised up) the seventh
Sacrament. Should any from without inquire what constitutes the holiness and sacramental
nature of each of these Seven Sacraments, we reply that these three things sanctify them:
First, a true priest, who has attained the priesthood rightly, according to the
requirements of the Church. Secondly, the word and command of the Lord of Sacraments,
whereby He ordained each of them. Thirdly, right intention and confirmed faith on the part
of those who partake of them, believing that the effect of the Sacraments takes place by a
heavenly power. We shall now treat briefly of each of the Sacraments separately.

CHAPTER II. -- OF THE PRIESTHOOD.

1 The Priesthood is the ministry of mediation between God and man in those things which
impart forgiveness of sins, convey blessings, and put away wrath. It is divided into
imperfect, as was that of the law; and perfect, as is that of the Church. The foundation
of the Priesthood in the Church is laid on that declaration of the Lord of the Priesthood
to S. Peter, in the town of Caesarea Philippi: "To thee I give the keys of the kingdom of
heaven; whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever thou
shalt loose on earth, shall be loosed in heaven." Its superstructure comes from that other
injunction: "Feed My lambs. Feed My sheep. Feed My sheep." Its ornament and perfection
from Christ's breathing on the Apostles when He said: "Receive ye the Holy Ghost;
whosesoever sins ye remit, they are remitted; and whosesoever sins ye retain, they are
retained."

2 The old Priesthood was one of generation, was not irrespective of family, and did not
depend upon the will of those who succeeded to it. But the new Priesthood handed down from
the Apostles, and imparted in the Church through the laying on of hands, is committed to
those who are deemed worthy of it after examination had of their life and
conversation.----"Let these be first proved, and then let them minister being found
blameless." Therefore the perfection of this and the imperfection of that Priesthood is
evident, since we know that very many wicked children are begotten to righteous fathers,
as Cain, Ham, and the children of Lot, of Moses, Eli, and others; and good children are
begotten of wicked fathers, as Melchizedek, [?] Abraham, and others. Moreover, the former
Priesthood was conferred by material oil; but this latter by the immaterial unction of the
Spirit, through the laying on of hands.

3 As to the matter of the rules whereby he who desires the priesthood is to be tried,
whether he be worthy or not, let him who wishes to know this attend to the words of S.
Paul, the tongue of the Spirit: "If a man desire the presbyterate he desireth a good work.
A Presbyter, then, must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good
behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach; not given to wine, no striker, not greedy
of filthy lucre, but patient, not a brawler, not covetous; one that ruleth well his own
house, having his children in subjection with all gravity; (for if a man know not how to
rule his own house, how shall he take care of the Church of God?) not a novice, lest being
lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover he must have a
good report of them which are without; lest he fall into reproach, and the snare of the
devil. Likewise must the deacons be grave, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not
greedy of filthy lucre; holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience. And let
these," that is, all the degrees of the priesthood, " be first proved, and then let them
use the office of a minister being found blameless."

CHAPTER III. -- OF BAPTISM.

1 Baptism is the immersion in and the washing with water, and of this there are five
kinds: 1. The washing off of the filth of the body, as is commonly done by all men. 2. The
legal washings, whereby it was believed that purity towards God from all carnal
uncleanness was attained. 3. Those of the traditions of the elders, such as "the washing
of cups, and pots, brazen vessels, and tables," and as "when they come from the market,
except they wash, they eat not." 4. The baptism of John, whereby he preached only
repentance and the forgiveness of sins. 5. The baptism of our Saviour, which is received,
through the Holy Spirit, for the gift of adoption, for the resurrection from the dead, and
for everlasting life; which is "the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the
body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ." For as the circumcision of
the flesh was given for a sign denoting those who were of the family of Israel of old
according to the flesh; so the baptism of Christ is a sign of spiritual relationship to
the new Israel, viz., those who are the called, and the children of God. "Those who
received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God."

2 The matter of Baptism is pure water. "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit,
he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." The form, baptism "in the Name of the Father,
Son, and Holy Ghost," according to the words of the Saviour. There is also a Sixth
Baptism, that of blood, as our Lord has noticed: "I have a baptism to be baptized with,
and how am I straitened until it is accomplished." Also a Seventh Baptism, of tears, after
the saying of the Fathers. These two are allied to the Fifth, which is an emblem of death
and the resurrection.

CHAPTER IV. -- OF THE OIL OF UNCTION.

1 The Oil of Unction is an apostolical tradition, and there is still kept up in the Church
of God a succession of that which was consecrated by the Apostles. The end of its use we
learn from its own physical properties, and from the sacred Scriptures. The Bible
instructs us that, according to the Law, such as were set apart for the typical
priesthood, or for earthly sovereignty, were anointed with the oil of unction. And in like
manner with us: such as are separated to the kingdom of heaven and to the true priesthood,
must be anointed with this same manifoldly symbolical unction, in order that they may be
truly anointed ones and brethren of Christ, Who by His union with God is truly and
supernaturally anointed. "Therefore hath the Lord Thy God anointed Thee with the oil of
gladness above Thy fellows." He is the Anointer and the Anointed: the Anointer by His
Divinity, and the Anointed by His humanity.

2 As to the natural properties of oil, we know that the most eminent artists, after having
completed a picture with all its rich colouring, anoint it with oil, in order that it may
not easily be injured, or receive damage when brought into contact with other objects. In
like manner, those who are drawn after the Likeness of the Heavenly King are for the same
reason anointed, lest they should receive damage from the chances of the world and from
the opposition of the devil. The matter of the Oil of Unction is pure olive oil. The form
the apostolical benediction.

CHAPTER V. -- OF THE OBLATION.

1 The Oblation is a service offered up by those below to those above, through material
elements, in hope of the forgiveness of sins and of an answer to prayer. The old oblations
consisted of irrational animals and of the blood of bodies, but with us the Only-begotten
of God, Who took upon Him the form of a servant, He offered His own body a sacrifice to
His Father for the life of the world, and hence He is called by John, "The Lamb of God
which taketh away the sins of the world. And again it is said of Him, that "His blood is
the new testament, shed for many for the remission of sins. And again: "So God loved the
world that He gave His Only-begotten Son," Who was offered up to His Father a living,
rational sacrifice for all mankind, thereby reconciling the world to Himself, and bringing
salvation to angels and to men. Now, seeing that it was impossible that His identical
sacrifice upon the cross for the salvation of all could be showed forth, in every place,
throughout all ages, and to all men, just as it was, without any alteration, He beheld
with an eye of mercy, and in wisdom and compassion thus ordained: "In that night in which
He was betrayed for the life of the world, He took bread into His holy, pure, and
immaculate hands, blessed, brake, and gave it to His disciples, saying: This is My body
which is broken for the sins of the world.

2 And also of the cup, He gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying: This is My Blood of
the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. Take and eat all of
you of this bread, and drink of this cup, and do this, whenever ye shall meet together, in
remembrance of Me. Through this divine institution the bread is changed into His Holy
Body, and the wine into His Precious Blood, and they impart, to all who receive them in
faith and without doubting, the forgiveness of sins, purification, enlightenment, pardon,
the great hope of the resurrection from the dead, the inheritance of heaven, and the new
life. Whenever we approach these Sacraments we meet with Christ Himself, and His very Self
we take into our hands and kiss, and thereby we are joined to and with Christ, His holy
Body mixing with our bodies, and His pure Blood mingling with our blood, and by faith we
know Him that is in heaven and Him that is in the Church, to be but one Body.

3 The matter of this Sacrament Christ ordained to be of wheat and wine, as being most fit
to represent body and blood. The form He conveys through His life-giving word, and by the
descent of the Holy Ghost.

CHAPTER VI. -- OF THE HOLY LEAVEN.

1 The holy and blessed Apostles, Thomas and Bartholomew of the Twelve, and Adi and Mari of
the Seventy, who discipled the East, committed to all the Eastern Churches a Holy Leaven,
to be kept for the perfecting of the administration of the Sacrament of our Lord's Body
until His coming again. And should any Christians dispute the fact of the above-mentioned
Apostles having committed to those of the East this Leaven, on the ground that Peter, the
head of the Apostles, and his companions did not commit it to the Westerns, and should
object to us on this wise: "If it be as you say, then one of these two consequences must
result: either the Apostles did not agree in their mode of discipling, which is
impossible, or this tradition of yours is false." We reply: The Easterns from the day of
their discipleship up to this day have kept their faith as a sacred deposit, and have
observed, without change, the Apostolical Canons; and notwithstanding all the persecutions
which they have suffered from many kings, and their subjection to the severe yoke of a
foreign power, they have never altered their creed nor changed their canons. Such as are
well versed in such matters know full well the labour and care required on the part of
Christians to observe these canons, and more especially to preserve this Leaven, in a
difficult country, where there is no Christian sovereign to support them, nor any
commander to back them, and where they are continually persecuted, vexed, and troubled.
Had this Leaven not been of apostolical transmission they would not, most assuredly, have
endured all these afflictions and trials to keep it together with the orthodox faith.

2 Then, as to their argument drawn from Peter and the great Apostles who discipled the
west, we have this to oppose to them, ---- that those Apostles did transmit the same to
the Westerns, but that with their alteration of the faith, the canons also were corrupted,
through the influence of heretical rulers. And, in proof of this statement, we urge that
if they all held the traditions of the Apostles, the Franks would not offer an unleavened,
and the Romans [Greeks] a leavened oblation; since the Apostles did not transmit it in two
different ways. Therefore the Westerns have changed the faith and the canons, and not the
Easterns.

CHAPTER VII. -- OF ABSOLUTION AND REPENTANCE.

The human race is frail, and easily inclined to evil, and it is hardly possible that all
should not be tried with spiritual diseases; and on this account the healing priesthood
was given to heal freely.----"Whosesoever sins ye remit, they are remitted." "The whole
have no need of a physician; but such as are variously sick." And, again: "I came not to
call the righteous, but sinners unto repentance." The parables of the Prodigal Son, of the
Hundred Sheep, and of the Two Debtors, were moreover intended to raise the hope of
sinners, and to open to them the gate of repentance which leads to heaven and imparts
heavenly happiness. To the same end serve the case of Peter after his denial of Christ,
and of Paul after his persecution, and the woman who was a sinner, the Publican, and the
Thief upon the cross. Hence it behoves believers when, through the infirmity of their
human nature, which all cannot keep upright, they are overcome of sin, to seek the
Christian Dispensary, and to open their diseases to the spiritual Physicians, that by
absolution and penance they may obtain the cure of their souls, and afterwards go and
partake of the Lord's Feast in purity, agreeably with the injunction of the eminent
doctor, who writes thus: "Our Lord has committed the medicine of repentance to learned
physicians, the priests of the Church. Whomsoever, therefore, Satan has cast into the
disease of sin, let him come and show his wounds to the disciples of the Wise Physician,
who will heal him with spiritual medicine." These things will most assuredly result if
they are done in faith, and not after a worldly manner, for "whatsoever is not of faith is
sin." Just as some, for lucre's sake, have made of this sacred thing a merchandize, and a
source of temporal profit.

CHAPTER VIII. -- OF MATRIMONY AND OF VIRGINITY.

1 Marriage after the ordinance of Christ, and entered into for the sake of the care and
labour of a wife about the house, and for the bringing up of children in the fear of God,
without idleness or murmuring, and in order that the eye may not wander towards that which
belongs to others,----this is called in Scripture a holy estate:---- "Marriage is
honourable in all, and the bed undefiled." Paul makes it the mystery of things far above
this world:----" This is a great mystery, but I speak of Christ and His Church." Hence
divorce is unlawful except for the cause of adultery. For adultery of the soul, which is
divisible into three kinds: sorcery, denial of the faith, and murder. Or of the body:----"
Whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to
commit adultery; and whosoever shall many her that is divorced committeth adultery."

2 With regard to Virginity, the steward of God's house saith: "I have no commandment of
the Lord;" for the commandment of the Lord enjoins matrimony. But should any one desire to
keep his virginity, and to follow, in this respect, the example of the Baptist, of the
Saviour, of Elijah, and of Paul, it is allowable for him so to do, agreeably with the
permission, and not after the command of God. Not, moreover, because he counts marriage an
unholy and contemptible thing, but on account of what it entails, such as the being
obliged to mix with the multitude, to have and to hold converse with them, and to reside
in towns and villages, from all of which difficulties arise, which ofttimes make the yoke
of marriage heavy by increasing one's cares, and thus the soul's advancement is hindered
through its manifold connection with the world. Notwithstanding this, however, he who
makes a vow of virginity, and does not become like a spiritual angel in theory and in
practice, is inferior to a lax married man; for "no man that warreth entangleth himself
with the affairs of this life." Here endeth the Fourth Part.

PART V.

ON THE THEORY OF THOSE THINGS WHICH PREFIGURE THE WORLD TO COME.

CHAPTER I. -- OF WORSHIPPING TOWARDS THE EAST.

1 The custom of worshipping toward the East is the subject of an apostolical canon, and is
founded upon that saying of our Blessed Lord: "As the lightning cometh forth from the east
and shineth towards the west, so shall the coming of the Son of Man be." And because "of
that day and of that hour knoweth no man, neither the angels "of heaven, it becometh us
ever to be on the watch, with our faces turned towards the promise of His coming. This
custom is therefore profitable in two ways; first, because it stirs up the remembrance of
the end, and of the judgment to come, which is a preservative against evil; and, secondly,
because it brings to mind our old place from which we were driven out on account of our
sins, viz. Paradise, which is situated in the East, and thereby we are led to lay hold on
repentance.

2 It is written in the Commentaries of Mar Ephraim, that the angel Gabriel appeared to the
Virgin from the East, and that when he said unto her, "Hail, thou highly favoured!" she
worshipped at his salutation towards the East. And when our Lord ascended up to heaven,
His face was turned toward the west, in the same way in which He will come at the
Resurrection. The disciples who were before Him, and looking at Him ascending, worshipped
Him towards the East, and the angels said unto them: "This same Jesus which is taken up
from you into heaven, shall so come, in like manner, as ye have seen Him go into heaven."
And the early commentators have added that on the first day the seven essences were
created in silence, and afterwards the voice went forth, "Let there be light." The angels,
who knew not that they had a Creator, when they heard the voice, concluded that if an
effect followed it the Speaker must be their Creator, and the Creator of all. "And there
was light," instantaneously. Then all of them worshipped towards that part from whence the
light sprang forth, which was the East; and this is what Job the blessed says: "When I
created the morning star, all My angels worshipped Me." [Syriac Version.]

CHAPTER II. -- ON THE WORSHIP OF THE LORD'S CROSS.

1 We worship Christ's humanity because of the Godhead in Him; so, through the Cross, we
worship God our Saviour. The "Cross " is the name of Christ, being equivalent to our
saying the "killed," the "worshipped," and does not rightly designate wood, silver, or
brass. Now the great foundation of Christianity is the confession that through the Cross
renewal and universal salvation were obtained for all, and that Cross which we use is the
same sign of our Lord as is to appear in the heavens before His coming, as He Himself has
foretold. When, therefore, we look upon this emblem of our salvation, we conceive as
though we were beholding our Saviour outstretched upon it for the remission of our sins,
and for the renewal of all creation. Hence we offer a fervent and eucharistic worship, not
to the fashioned matter of the Cross; but to Him whom we figure as upon it, and above all
to God, who gave His Son to be a Cross [i.e. crucified] for us, through whose crucifixion
He wrought out renewal and redemption for us, and through Whom He gives to such as are
worthy everlasting life in the kingdom of heaven. "For if, while we were yet enemies, we
were reconciled unto God by His Son; how much more shall we be saved through His life."

2 By this sign the Apostles wrought miracles, and the laying on of hands for the
Priesthood, and all the other Sacraments of the Church are perfected thereby. These
things, handed down from the Apostles, and confirmed by all those who succeeded them,
declare that "the preaching of the Cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us
which are saved it is the power of God." CHAPTER III. -- Of the holy First Day of the
Week, and of the Festivals commemorative of our Lord. 3 The observance of the First day of
the Week is also the matter of an Apostolical Canon, it being the great day on which our
Saviour rose from the dead, and by His resurrection made all created beings to rejoice by
giving them, in His own Person, a most certain proof of the general resurrection and of
everlasting life. For as the First-born of men arose on the first day of the week, so
shall all the race of Adam arise on that same day,----a day which shall be the
commencement of an endless world,----of that world which shall not begin with a beginning,
but which is to appear. Surely it becomes us to hallow the day on which such great events
transpired, and, seeing that at the resurrection all worldly labours shall cease, and all
shall return to the worship of God, and be engaged in the contemplation of His unutterable
mysteries; hence the Apostles ordained, that on the first day of the week Christians
should suspend all worldly occupations, and engage in prayer to God, in reading the Holy
Scriptures, and in meditating on the life of Christ. And they enjoined more especially the
study of the Prophetical books, which are, as it were, the foundation and introduction to
the truth of the life and actions of Christ, Who came to fulfil the prophecies and not to
destroy; (for He who cometh to perfect that which was imperfect, though in some things he
substituteth perfection for imperfection, how can such a one be deemed a looser or
destroyer?

4 "Search the Scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they
which testify" that the Father hath sent Me. Hence the Apostles enjoined that the Prophets
should be read first, and after these the Gospel which is their fulfilment and seal. And
this ordinance we observe every Sunday in remembrance of the resurrection to come, when
all shall be rewarded according to their works, that hereby we may be led to eschew evil
and to do good. 5 In like manner, and with the same design, the Church celebrates year by
year the life and actions of our blessed Lord, lest, from not being commemorated, those
benefits which are given to us through the advent of Christ should be withheld from us,
and should finally be lost to us in the darkness of error.

CHAPTER IV. -- OF FRIDAY.

This used to be called the sixth day until the sun set upon it at the crucifixion of our
Saviour, and darkness prevailed over all creation on account of the temerity of the Jews;
and hence it is called arobta [the setting of the sun]. Creation, we say, put on the
garment of mourning and affliction because of the enormity of the first sin, and because
of the sins of all, for which He died Who had committed no sin, neither was guile found in
His mouth. The sun was hid from the heavens, the earth shook and quaked, the veil of the
temple was rent, and the rocks were riven, and no carnivorous animals or birds of prey ate
meat on that day, or went near to any carcasses, in reverence to the holy corpse of the
Saviour which was outstretched upon the wood, as we understand from the comments of Mar
Ephrem. Hence the Apostles made a Canon, that Christians should not eat meat on this day,
neither on Wednesday, on which latter day the Jews took counsel together to kill the
Saviour, and agreed upon the price of the innocent blood with Judas Iscariot. On this
account Wednesday is included in the same Canon. And, in truth, Friday ought to be a day
of mourning with all, because on it, for the transgression of the first Adam, the sentence
of death was passed upon all our race, and we were driven from Paradise into a land of
curses. On this same day the flood took place, in the time of Noah, and destroyed all
mankind; and thereon also Satan warred with the First-Born of men, viz. on the last of the
forty days, as he did on the day of the Passion.

CHAPTER V. -- OF FASTING, PRAYER, AND ALMSGIVING.

1 The foundation of the virtues of true godliness with such as believe in the
resurrection, and exercise themselves therein in hope of the world to come, consists of
these three, Fasting, Prayer, and Mercy, wrought with the end enjoined in the Gospel, and
not from any other motive. As one of our sages has said: "Fasting is superior to all
passiveness, and Prayer superior to all other action; but Mercy is the being like God."
Now Fasting is of two kinds: outward, from food; and inward, from evil. It tends to induce
the rich to show mercy to others, for by tasting the bitterness of hunger and thirst
themselves, they are made to feel what the poor experience. It moreover tends to sanctify
the senses, purify the thoughts, and to make us resemble the angels. Prayer is not only
the key of the Lord's treasury, but a spiritual converse, as one of the fathers has said:
"My son, when thou art engaged in prayer, thou dost speak with God; and when thou readest
the Scriptures, God speaketh with thee."

2 Mercy doth not only make us resemble God, Whom there is none like, but it is also a
medium for the exercise of wisdom on the part of the followers of Christ, Who, through the
needy, sends forward to heaven those things which we love and esteem, and declares that in
them we shall have joy and exultation without end: "Lay not up to yourselves treasures on
earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal; but
lay up unto yourselves treasures in heaven,... for where your treasure is there will your
heart be also." There is a passage in the life of Saint Thomas the Apostle, which
beautifully illustrates this Scripture. Having undertaken to build a magnificent palace
for the Emperor of India, and received vast sums for this purpose, which he distributed
among the poor, when asked about it, he replied that he had built the palace in heaven:
and the fact was confirmed by the testimony of a deceased brother of the Emperor, who was
restored to life through the prayers of the Apostle. By the exercise of mercy men are made
worthy of receiving Angels unawares; and to Cornelius it was said: "Thy prayers and thine
alms are come up for a memorial before God." The Prophets and Apostles moreover testify
that this is the only way by which the rich can attain unto God.

CHAPTER VI. -- OF THE GIRDLE.

1 The girding of Christians at the time of prayer, though it betokens a preparedness for
service, and a ready appearance before the Lord, after the manner of those who stand in
the presence of the kings of the earth; yet it is nevertheless the subject of a Divine
command both in the Old and New Testaments. In the Old Testament the girdle was ordered to
be worn by the Priests, the sons of Levi, with the other parts of their vestment; and in
the New Testament we read: "Let your loins be girt about, and your lamps burning, and be
like those servants waiting for their Lord's coming." The blessed John the Baptist had his
loins girt about with a leathern girdle; and it is said of S. Paul in the Acts, that the
Prophet Agabus took the girdle from off his waist, and girded himself therewith. Now there
is a threefold object in the use of the girdle: First, he who binds up his loins bears the
sign of worship and ministry, and intimates that he is a worshipper and minister in the
kingdom. Secondly, as it was enjoined by our Lord, it betokens a wakeful mind, pure
intention, and the being in wait for Him, Who is to return from the feast, and to conduct
all with Him thither. Thirdly, it is an emblem of death: "another shall gird thee, and
lead thee where thou wouldest not." Those who set out on a journey generally gird up their
loins; and so it becometh us mortals and wayfarers, whose days, in spite of ourselves,
have been brought forward on the road which leadeth above, to make ready a viaticum which
shall be useful to us in the other world, viz. a right theory of the orthodox faith, and
the practice of good works. The use of the girdle teaches us these things.

2 CHAPTER VII. -- Of the Resurrection, the Judgment to come, and Everlasting Life. 3 He
who commenceth a work must have a design therein, and when this is attained he ceases
working, and maketh an end of his work, otherwise his labour is vain and unprofitable. Now
God, who is all-wise, did not create His creation in vain, and without a design; but, as
we have already shown, He created it in consummate wisdom, and with an exalted purpose, to
be the study of His rational creatures, and for the perfection of His Likeness in them.
And when the time decreed in His wisdom shall arrive, He will bring this world to an end;
for every beginning is the beginning of an end, and, contrarily, every end is the end of a
beginning. On this subject a certain godly man has said: "When the tenth circle shall be
made up from among men, then shall the end be, and the cutting off of time shall come, and
shall not fail. On that day the sun shall set and shall not rise again, and the stars
shall fall from heaven, and all this world shall become a chaos of darkness, and all the
motions of the elements shall cease. Then shall the sign of the Son of God, the shining
Cross, appear in the heavens with power and great glory, accompanied with the awful sounds
of the trumpets of angels. Thus shall Christ, the King of kings, appear like the lightning
which cometh from the east, and shineth towards the west.

4 His glorious appearance shall shake all the ends of the heavens, and all the foundations
of the earth, and He shall then cry out with His life-giving voice: Let the resurrection
and the renewal be. This is the last trumpet, at the sound of which the wind of
revivification shall blow and enter into those who shall be alive, and shall divest them
of their grossness, and suddenly, as in the twinkling of an eye, they shall be changed
into the likeness of Angels. And it shall likewise enter into the dead, and these also
shall rise up incorruptible. Then shall the righteous ascend up into the kingdom of
heaven, and shall enter with their Lord into the chamber of the Bridegroom above, and with
unspeakable joy shall exult in the visions and revelations which through His light shall
shine in upon them. This is true happiness. But, as to the wicked, they shall remain upon
the earth in darkness in which none can walk, and shall be consumed with the fire of
remorse for those things which they have committed, and because they bartered everlasting
bliss for temporal and deceptive enjoyments, and a real possession for the dung of earth.
This is the true hell, whose fire is not quenched, and whose worm dieth not.

5 But as to those who are deceived, and who fancy that everlasting life consists of
something corporeal, such as eating, and drinking, and marriage, things which appertain to
mortals, our Saviour reproves such when He says: "In the resurrection they neither marry,
nor are given in marriage, but are as the Angels of God in heaven." Eating and drinking
are profitable for the body, because by replacing the humours which go out thence they
preserve the person from decay. And marriage, likewise, by raising up one for the one who
dies, keeps up the species until the number decreed in the Everlasting Purpose is made up.
Then as these two effects will cease, the causes also by which they existed must
necessarily cease. Moreover all carnal blessings serve for the warding off of pain; but,
as we have before observed, when man exceeds in the use of them they turn into evils. As,
for example, meat and drink: one realizes the blessings of these after the pain
experienced from hunger and thirst; but used inordinately and greedily, they bring pain
and disease, if not death. And so with all the good things of this world; but with
spiritual blessings it is not so, for the more one desires and partakes of these, he ever
desireth more, as is seen in the case of those who seek after knowledge, science, and
wisdom.

6 But, now, should any doubtingly inquire how bodies can rise again which have been
destroyed, and which have mingled with the dust, which have been eaten of wild beasts, or
consumed by fire, or drowned in water? we reply: Should a piece of iron be broken into
impalpable powder, and be mixed with dust and sand, the hidden power of a magnet will at
once separate the atoms from the dust and sand, and from whatever other heterogeneous
bodies with which they may have been mixed; and if such virtue resides in the magnet, how
much more possible is it for the power of the Creator, in His wisdom, to separate, bring
together, and remodel the bodies of men at the resurrection! 7 Or, again: if a skilful and
ingenious mechanic should form a figure from many materials, and should conceal each of
these separate materials in a particular part of his house, no one knowing the place where
they are hidden but himself; if asked to construct that figure, could he not at once, and
without hesitation, bring forth every part from its separate hiding place, and put all the
different parts together in their proper order without any mistake? How much more easy
must a like work be to Him Who is the Only Wise, the Almighty! Our bodies, through
corruption, return at last to the four elements of which they were composed; the skill
whereby these parts were put together in our likeness is hidden with God, and when it
pleaseth Him, He can restore each part to its place, in its separate shape and quantity,
so as to make it conformable to that figure, the lineaments of which are hidden with Him.
Then shall every human body arise, just as it was, "in the stature of the fulness of
Christ." As to the final rewards and punishments, these shall be distributed according to
the deserts of each, in perfect justice: "the wicked shall go away into everlasting
punishment; but the righteous into life eternal."

8 "Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think,
according to the power that worketh in us, unto Him be glory in the Church by Christ
Jesus, throughout all ages, world without end. Amen." Here endeth, by the help of God, the
book called Marghianeetha, on the truth of Christianity, written by the undeserving Abd
Yeshua, Metropolitan of Nisibis and Armenia. To our God be glory and thanksgiving for
ever. Amen. This useful book was written in the month of September, in the year of
Alexander 1609, in the blessed city of Khlât, in the Church of the blessed Nestorians; and
to God be praise, honour, thanks, and worship, for ever. Amen. Written by the frail hands
of the author for the benefit of his own soul, and for the profit of all who may possess
it. May the Lord endue all such with wisdom. Amen.


METRICAL CATALOGUE OF SYRIAC WRITERS. (AD 1298)
===============================================

METRICAL CATALOGUE OF SYRIAC WRITERS. (AD 1298) Abdisho bar Brikha

d. AD 1318

Metropolitan of Nisibis and Armenia; wrote a catalogue of Syriac writers and a summary of
doctrine.

INTRODUCTION

INDEX OF BIBLICAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL WRITINGS,

Drawn up by Mar Abd Yeshua, Metropolitan of Nisibis and Armenia, A.D. 1298. In the
strength of Thy help, O Lord, and aided by the prayers of all the eminently righteous, and
of the Mother of great name, I write an excellent treatise, in which I shall enumerate the
Divine Scriptures, and all the ecclesiastical writings of ancient and modern times. I
shall moreover record the names of the authors of the different books, and the subjects of
which they treat; and, depending upon God, I begin with Moses.

[PART FIRST.]

[Old Testament Scriptures.] Genesis. Exodus. Leviticus. Numbers. Deuteronomy. Joshua.
Judges. Samuel. Kings. Chronicles. Psalms. Proverbs. Ecclesiastes. Cautica. Wisdom. Jesus
the son of Sirach. Job. Isaiah. Hosea. Joel. Amos. Obadiah. Jonah. Micah. Nahum. Habbacuc.
Zephaniah. Haggai. Zechariah. Malachi. Jeremiah. Ezekiel. Daniel. Judith. Esther. Susanna.
Ezra. Daniel the Less, probably comprising the Song of the Three Children, and Bel and the
Dragon. Baruch. Maccabees. Tobit. Moses wrote the Law in five books, viz.: Genesis,
Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. After these follow the book of Joshua the son
of Nun, Judges, Samuel, the book of Kings, the Chronicles, the Psalms of David, the
Proverbs of Solomon, Ecclesiastes, the Song of Songs, the Great Wisdom, the Wisdom of the
son of Sirach, Job, Isaiah, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habbacuc,
Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Judith, Esther, Susanna,
Ezra, Daniel the Less, the Epistle of Baruch, the Traditions [or Expositions] of the
Elders, Josephus the historian, the book of Proverbs, the Narrative of the sons of
Solomona, the Maccabees, an account of Herod the king, the book of the destruction of the
latter Jerusalem by Titus, the book of Asenath the wife of Joseph the son of Jacob the
righteous, and the book of Tobias and Tobit the Israelites.

[PART SECOND.]

1 [New Testament Scriptures.] Matthew. Mark. Luke. John. Acts of Apostles. Epistle of
James. Epistles of Peter. Epistles of John. Epistles to the Romans. 1 Corinthians. 2
Corinthians. Galatians. Ephesians. Philippians. Colossians. 1 Thessalonians. 2
Thessalonians. 1 Timothy. 2 Timothy. Titus. Philemon. Hebrews. 2 Having enumerated the
books of the Old Testament, we shall now record those of the New Testament. First, Matthew
wrote in Palestine, in the Hebrew tongue. After him comes Mark, who wrote in Latin at
Rome. Luke, in Alexandria, spoke and wrote in Greek. John also wrote his Gospel in Greek
at Ephesus. The Acts of the Apostles were written by Luke to Theophilus; and the three
Epistles of James, Peter, and John, were written in all languages, and called Catholic.
Besides these there are fourteen Epistles of the great Apostle Paul, viz., the Epistle to
the Romans, written from Corinth; the First Epistle to the Corinthians, written from
Ephesus and sent by the hands of Timothy; the Second to the Corinthians, written from
Philippi of Macedonia the great, and sent by the hands of Titus; the Epistle to the
Galatians, written at Rome, and sent by the same person; the Epistle to the Ephesians,
also written at Rome, and sent by Tychicus; the Epistle to the Philippians, written at the
same place, and sent by the hands of Epaphroditus; the Epistle to the Colossians, written
at Rome, and sent by Tychicus the true disciple; the First Epistle to the Thessalonians,
written at Athens, and sent by the hands of Timothy; the Second to the Thessalonians,
written at Laodicea of Pisidia, and sent also by Timothy; the First Epistle to Timothy,
also written from Laodicea of Pisidia, and sent by the hands of Luke;

3 the Second to Timothy, written from Rome, and sent by the hands of Luke, the Physician
and Evangelist; the Epistle to Titus, written at Nicapolis, and sent by the hands of
Epaphroditus; the Epistle to Philemon, written at Rome, and sent by Onesimus, the slave of
Philemon; the Epistle to the Hebrews, written in Italy, and sent by the hands of Timothy,
the spiritual son. And the [Harmony of the] Gospels, called the Diatesseron, collated by a
man of Alexandria named Amonis, who is Tatian.

[PART THIRD.]

1 [Writings of Western Fathers.] The following were written by disciples of the Apostles:
the book of Dionysius, the heavenly philosopher; the book of Clemens, one of the Seventy;
the Narratives of Peter, Paul, and John, and the other Apostles; and the Apostolic
Constitutions. Africanus the Happy, Bishop of Emmaus, wrote a Commentary on the New
Testament and a Chronicon. Hippolytus, Bishop and Martyr, wrote a book on the Life and
Actions of Christ, an Exposition of Daniel the Less and Susanna, also Sentences against
Gaius, an Introduction on the Advent of Christ, and an Exposition of the Gospel of S.
John. Damasus, Bishop of Rome, wrote an account of the Faith, and drew up several Canons,
as did also Ignatius. Symmachus is mentioned by the Expositor [Theodorus of Mopsuestia] as
having written several works, one of which is entitled the Distinction of the
Commandments. Eusebius of Caesarea wrote a history in two volumes, a treatise on the
Divine Advent, a Chronicon, a book solving the contradictions contained in the Gospels,
another entitled a Picture of the World, an account of Constantine and of the Martyrs of
the West, and an epic poem in their praise, a narrative of a drought of rain, and a
defence of Origen which was condemned by Theodorus.

2 Athanasius the Great, Patriarch of Alexandria, wrote many epistles and treatises on the
orthodox faith, an account of his flight, and a narrative of S. Anthony, which was sent by
him to Epictetus. Basil the Great wrote a work on the Six days of Creation, besides many
other dissertations, narratives, and epistles. Gregory of Nyssa wrote many treatises,
among which are an Exposition of the Lord's Prayer and of the Beatitudes, a book of poems,
a dissertation on the Resurrection, a dissertation on the Creation of Man which he sent to
his sister, another on Natural Philosophy, one against the Gentiles, an exposition of the
Song of Solomon in two volumes, and a treatise on the soul. Gregory Nazianzen the Great
wrote five volumes, and a collection of Poems, several Essays for Caesar, a work called
Tragoedia, and a book against the Theopaschites. John Chrysostom wrote an exposition of
the Gospels of SS. Matthew and John, each consisting of two volumes, an Exposition of the
Apostolic writings, a book on the Priesthood, another on Baptism, a treatise against the
Jews, a book on the Monks of Egypt, a book of Consolations, a treatise on Repentance, a
treatise written to Justinian, another to Mitidus the Bishop, another on Generations,
besides many epistles on various subjects.

3 Diodorus of Tarsus wrote sixty books, most of which were burnt by the Arians; among
those remaining are the book entitled the Division of Food, one written against
Chaldeanism, one against the Eunomians, another against the Manicheans, another against
Apollinaris, and an exposition of a portion of S. Matthew's Gospel. Theodorus the
Expositor wrote forty-one volumes containing one hundred and fifty prophecies, each
prophecy divided into thirty chapters. He also wrote a theoretical and practical
exposition of Genesis in three books, which he sent to Elipia the great; an exposition of
the Psalms in five books, sent by him to Cedron and his brother; an exposition of the
Twelve Prophets in two volumes for Maurice; an exposition of Samuel in one book, which he
sent to Marius; an exposition of Job, sent to Cyril of Egypt; an exposition of
Ecclesiastes in one book, written at the request of Porphyry; also an exposition of
Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, and Daniel, each in one book. These were his labours on the Old
Testament.

4 On the New Testament, he wrote an exposition of S. Matthew to Julia in one book, and
another of SS. Luke and John, in two books, to Eusebius; an exposition of the Acts in one
book, to Basil; on the Epistle to the Romans, also to Eusebius; on the Epistles to the
Corinthians, in two books, at the request of Theodora; and on the Epistles to the
Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians, for Staurachius. The Epistles to the
Thessalonians he expounded for Jacob, and the two Epistles to Timothy for Peter, and those
to Titus and Philemon for Corinne, and the Epistle to the Hebrews he expounded for the
same person. All his expositions of the Apostle Paul he collected in five volumes, and he
wrote, besides these, a work on the Sacraments, and another on Faith, and another on the
Priesthood, also two books on the Holy Spirit, and one on the Incarnation, in two volumes;
and two other books against such as say that man cannot help sinning, and two against the
Magians, and one addressed to the Monks, and one on Perfection, and another for Basil, and
another on the union of the two natures and persons in Christ, and a book of Jewels in
which he collected all his epistles, and a treatise on the enacting of Laws, with which he
concluded his writings.

5 Nestorius the Patriarch wrote many celebrated works, most of which were destroyed by the
blasphemers. Of those remaining, one is entitled the Tragoedia, one dedicated to
Heraclides, and an epistle to Cosmas, which was written in the time of Paul. He wrote,
moreover, a large liturgy which was translated [into Syriac] by Tooma and Mar Awa. There
is also of his a book of epistles, an Antiphonary, and a collection of epic poems.
Theodotus, the disciple of Theodorus the Expositor, wrote an exposition of Isaiah in two
volumes, and in another work he has explained the occasion of the writing of the different
Psalms of David, and to what occasions their use is adapted. Aquilinus wrote a commentary
on S. Matthew and S. John the son of Zebedee after the traditions of the ancients.
Basilius wrote several Antiphonaries, and other treatises. Chiore wrote on the different
kinds of worship, and several narratives.

6 Irenaeus of Tyre wrote five histories on the persecution of Mar Nestorius, and on all
the events which transpired during that period. Phileteus expounded Ezekiel in two
volumes, and wrote a book named, from its subject, the Healer. Theodoret of Cyprus wrote a
book entitled "Phileteus," one against Origen, another called the "Division of Food," an
exposition of Daniel, excellent histories, Apologies for our righteous Fathers in two
volumes, a solution of the Sentences of Cyril, a book against the Philosophers, and many
epistles containing much learning and knowledge. Socrates wrote two volumes of History,
and an account of the Emperors Constantine and Jovian. Titus wrote a work against Manes.
Arniastataeus also wrote a work against Manes. Theophilus, the Persian, wrote against
Dostseus, and another work in which he solved the Sentences of Cyril. Eutheris wrote a
book against the Patripassians, several narratives, antiphonae, and expositions of the
Gospel. 7 Epiphanes wrote a work on the Divine Advent, and another on the different
heresies which had arisen up to his time. Zenobius wrote against Marcion and Pamphilus,
and epistles to Isidore, Lycullus, Abraham and Job. Eusebius of Emesa wrote a book against
the Jews, and on the ceremonies of the Old Testament, and a narrative of Stephen. Father
Macarius wrote three books on the right mode of living. Marcus wrote a book of chapters.
John wrote histories. Evagrius wrote three books. Father Isaiah wrote one book. Ammonius
wrote epistles. Macarius, not the same just mentioned, wrote several narratives. Xistus
wrote a book of sacred poems, and a work on the Lovers of God. Nilus the Monk wrote two
wonderful volumes. Palladius and Hierome wrote the book of Paradise, and the sayings and
injunctions of the Elders in three volumes. John of Apamea, wrote three books, and several
epistles on the Spiritual Life, on the Effects of Sin, and on Perfection.

8 Jacob, the disciple, wrote a short exposition of S. Matthew, of the Epistles, and of the
Prophet Jeremiah.

[PART FOURTH.]

1 [Writings of Syrian Fathers.] After having enumerated the writings of the Greek Fathers
we now begin to record the writings of the Syrian Fathers. Shimeon Barsabbaï wrote
epistles to Mar Acac. Meelis wrote epistles and treatises on various subjects. Mar Yaw-
ahui wrote an epistle to the Eastern Papa, in whose days a letter was written by the
Westerns raising this Eastern See into a Patriarchate. The letter was sent, with all
honour, by the hands of Agepta of Elam. Ephraem the Great, called the Prophet of the
Syrians, wrote a commentary on Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Joshua, Judges, Samuel, the
Kings, the Psalms, Isaiah, the Twelve Prophets, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel; besides
other books and Epistles on the faith of the Church, poems, anthems, and hymns, and the
Anneedhé, [Services for the dead]. He wrote also on the alphabet, a controversy with the
Jews, and treatises against Manes, Bardassenes, and Marcion, and an answer to the
blasphemy of Julian.

2 Narsai, the Harp of the Soul, wrote an exposition of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus,
Numbers, Joshua, Judges, Ecclesiastes, Isaiah, the twelve minor Prophets, Jeremiah,
Ezekiel, and Daniel. He wrote also twelve other books, three hundred and sixty poems, a
Liturgy, an exposition of the Sacraments, and a treatise on Baptism. He wrote, moreover,
Consolations, Antiphonae, hymns, litanies, homilies, and a treatise on an Evil Life.
Barsoma wrote homilies, anthems, and other poems: also a liturgy, and many epistles.
Auraham of Beit Rabban wrote an exposition of Joshua, Judges, Kings, the Wisdom of the son
of Sirach, and Isaiah, in two volumes; also a Commentary on the twelve minor Prophets, on
Daniel, and the Song of Solomon, and a book of Moutwé, divided into chapters. Johanan of
Beit Rabban, wrote a commentary on Genesis, Leviticus, Numbers, Job, Jeremiah, Ezekiel,
Proverbs, a book against the Magi, one on the Customs of the Jews, and another against
heretics. He wrote also a poem on the humiliation of the Ninevites, one on the death of
Chosroes, and another on the plague which visited Nisibis, together with consolations for
all conditions of men, a Catechism on the Old and New Testament, hymns, poems, and a
treatise on Chanting.

3 Marootha, Bishop of Meiparket, the learned physician, wrote a book of Evidences,
Antiphonae, and hymns in honour of the Martyrs. He also expounded the Canons of the 318
[of Nice], and wrote a full account of that Holy Synod. Mar Awa the Great translated the
entire Old Testament from the Greek into this Syriac tongue; he also wrote an exposition
of Genesis, the Psalms, Proverbs, the Epistle to the Romans, the second to the
Corinthians, the three following Epistles, and that also to the Hebrews. He wrote,
moreover, several poems and anthems for the Canons of the Psalter, a synodal epistle on
the Discipline of the Church, and other Ecclesiastical Rules and Canons. Hnâna of
Hdheiyyeb wrote a Commentary on the Psalms, Genesis, Job, the Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, the
Song of Solomon, the Twelve Prophets, on the Gospel of S. Mark, and the Epistles of S.
Paul. Also an exposition of the Faith and Sacraments, a Catechism and a Treatise on the
Origin of the Festival of Palms, with poems thereon. Besides these he wrote on the origin
of the festivals of Golden Friday, of that in commemoration of the Humiliation of the
Ninevites, and on the Invention of the Cross, with many other works condemned by Theodorus
of Mopsuestia.

4 Eprahat, the wise Persian, of happy memory, wrote two books, and many poems
alphabetically arranged. Heeba, Comar, and Proba, translated the writings of Theodorus of
Mopsuestia from Greek into Syriac, as they did also the works of Aristotle. This same
Heeba wrote also a commentary on the Proverbs, Antiphons, and other poems, and a polemical
work against the heretics. The Disciples of Mar Awa wrote many poems, and an exposition of
the prophecy of Daniel. Tooma of Edessa wrote on the origin of the Feasts of the Nativity
and Epiphany, an epistle to Kâlé, a work against astrology, a book of Consolations, and a
polemical treatise against heretics. Serghees of Reish Aina wrote a treatise on Logic.
Paul of Nisibis wrote a Commentary on the Bible, a treatise against Caesar, and various
epistles. Babai the Great wrote eighty-three books, in one of which he gives an account of
the origin of the Feast of Palms, a dissertation on the union of Christ's humanity and
divinity, and an exposition of the Book of Hundreds. He also expounded the book written by
the Father Marcos, wrote an account of Diodorus and his followers, of the Feast of the
Cross, and of the Saints for the cycle of the year, such as the Feasts of S. Mary, S.
John, and the other feasts and commemorations. He moreover wrote a book for conventual
Novices, an epistle to Joseph the Seer, rules for Monks, and an exposition of the whole
Bible. Also a work on the Causes of Things, in which he speaks of Mattai who was
translated, of Auraharn of Nisibis, and of Gawrièl of Kutr [or Kutra.]

5 Dad-Yeshua expounded the "Paradise" of the Westerns, and the work of Father Isaiah, and
wrote other books on the right mode of living. He also wrote a hymn on the consecration of
a Cell, a funeral Dirge, several Epistles, and a Catechism on the Spiritual Life and
Quiet. Joseph the Seer wrote 1900 chapters on various theological subjects, and a book
called the "Treasure," in which he solves many difficult questions. He also wrote a work
on Calamities, an Exposition of the work entitled the "Merchant's Book," and another, in
two volumes, on the Paradise of the Easterns, which contains many historical notices.
Besides these, he composed a commentary on the Prophet Ezekiel, a treatise on the
Festivals, and an exposition of the Heads of Knowledge, and of the works of Dionysius. He
moreover expounded the Vision of Mar Gregorius, and wrote epistles on the life of
Anchorites. John of Dilyâtha wrote two books, besides epistles on the monastic life.

6 Ishâk of Nineveh wrote seven books on the spiritual and divine Sacraments, and one on
the Distribution of Food. Yeshua-yau, of Gadhla, wrote a commentary on the Psalms,
together with epistles, dissertations, and poems on various subjects. Yeshua-yau, of
Erzona, wrote a work against Eunomius, and another against an heretical Bishop. Also
twenty-three Queries on the Sacraments of the Church, a Synodal Preface, Epistles, and
Canons. Cyprian, of Nisibis, expounded the Theology of Gregory the Great, and compiled an
Ordination Office. Yeshua-yau, of Hdheyyeb, wrote on a Change of Mind, and an Advice to
Monastic Novices. He also arranged the Khudhra, and the Baptismal Office, and wrote an
Office for the Consecration of a New Church, as also an Ordination Office, and the Office
of Hoosâyé. He wrote, moreover, many antiphons, epic poems, epistles, anthems, and
Consolations, in the most beautiful style, and a controversial treatise against certain
persons. 7 Hnan-Yeshua wrote a treatise on Chanting. Michael composed a book of Inquiries
into the Bible, in three volumes. Theodore, Metropolitan of Marro, wrote an account of Mar
Eughène, and of the Greek doctors, in poetry; also an Exposition of the Psalms, and other
poems, in which he answered the ten theses of Serghees. He composed another excellent
book, moreover, at the instance of Mar Awa, the Catholicos. Gawrièl, brother of the above,
and Bishop of Hormuzdshir, wrote a work against Manes, and another against the Chaldeans,
besides Homilies and other treatises on various subjects, to the extent of about three
hundred chapters. Elîa, Metropolitan of Marro, wrote antiphons, Consolations, and a
Commentary on all the Gospel Lessons; also epistles, and an account of the origin of the
Moutwé, and an Exposition of the Proverbs, Genesis, the Psalms, Ecclesiastes, the Song of
Solomon, the Wisdom of the Son of Sirach, Isaiah, the Twelve Prophets, and the Epistles of
the Apostle Paul. He also compiled an authentic History.

8 Gheorghees, Catholicos, wrote hymns, anthems, a Litany for the Fast of the Ninevites,
and a few other Canons and poems. Gawrièl Arya, of the family of Ishâk of Nineveh, wrote
an Exposition of many extracts taken from the whole Bible. Hnan-Yeshua, surnamed Hgheera
[the lame] wrote antiphons, epistles, Consolations, homilies, poems, and several
catechisms: also a book of Thanksgiving, on account of Serghees Doda, Two Reasons for
Schools, and an Analogical exposition. Awa, of Cashgar, wrote several homilies and
epistles, a book on the rules of Logic, and another in which he explains the Logic of
Aristotle. Hnan-Yeshua, Catholicos, wrote a collection of epistles, Consolations, and
anthems, in five books, besides other poems and ten dissertations. Awa bar Brikh Sowyâne
wrote a work on Strategy, several expositions, and antiphons full of wisdom. Timatheos
wrote a book on the Stars, another against the Mehdi, another on Church Matters, with many
Synodal Canons, two hundred epistles collected into two volumes, a catechism, and a
dissertation against heretics.

9 Ephràm, of Elam, wrote a work on the Faith. Tooris, the Anchorite, composed a book in
two volumes. Hoonein, the physician, the son of Ishâk, wrote a book on the fear of God, a
Grammar, and a Vocabulary. Yeshua bar Nun wrote a work called "Theologia," Inquiries into
the Bible, in two volumes, a book of sentences, of the Causes of things, Consolations, and
epistles. He wrote also on the different Church Services, antiphons, and anthems. Elisha,
the Expounder, wrote a Commentary on Job, and on the Second Epistle to the Corinthians,
and on the three following epistles. He also composed an account of the Moutwé, and
another of the Martyrs, a book of Thanksgivings, and a poem on Shimoon of Germakh. Besides
which he explained the Chronicon of Eusebius. Soreen, the Expounder, wrote in Greek
against the heretics, and a book of evidences. Bar Had-Bshabba, the Arab, wrote a work
entitled "The Book of Treasures," in three volumes, and other polemical treatises, against
the Gentiles, such as idolaters and others. He also wrote a history, and an account of Mar
Diodorus and his followers, and an exposition of Mark the Evangelist, and of the Psalter.

10 Mikha, the Doctor, wrote Five Causes of the Moutwé, a poem on Cantropos [?], and
another on Mar Sawr-Yeshua, of Lashum. Also an exposition of the books of the Kings of
Israel. Kioré wrote various dissertations, homilies, and anaphoras. Paulona wrote poems, a
dissertation against inquirers, a treatise against Marcion, a book on Believers, and
another on the Creed. Serghees wrote an exposition of Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and of Daniel,
after the style of the ancients. Mari, the Persian, wrote a Commentary on Daniel, an
explanation of the epistle of Akak, and a work against the Magi of Nisibis. Auraham, of
Mahozé, wrote Consolations, Epistles, an account of all the Festivals, and a book of
Antiphons. Paulos, of Ambar, wrote a work against the epistle of Omar, Consolations, and
Antiphons, and a treatise against different persons. Gawrièl, of Kotra, wrote a poem on
the union of Christ, and a solution of the difficulties of the Faith.

11 Yakoob, of Kelta, wrote an exposition of the Proverbs, poems on Diodorus, and a book on
the Faith of the Church. Barsoma, of Kerkook, wrote a work called "the Liver," and another
containing thanksgivings, Consolations, and Antiphons. Ab Yeshua, Bar Bahrees,
Metropolitan of Athur, wrote on the Division of Inheritances, and an Explanation of the
different Church Services. Daniel, of Toowaneetha, Bishop of Tahl, wrote a work entitled
"the Book of Lilies," Consolations, and Antiphons. Also a book solving the difficulties
contained in Holy Scripture, Replies to different Queries, one of Thanksgiving, another of
Poems, a Solution of the difficulties in the writings of Mar Ishak of Nineveh, and an
exposition of the Heads of Knowledge. Auraham, Metropolitan of Basra, wrote several
epistles. Ahoob, of Kotra, wrote a Commentary on the Old and New Testaments with the
exception of the Pentateuch. Dinha expounded the Psalms, and wrote Consolations, and other
treatises on Church subjects. He also explained the two books of Gregory, and the Logic of
Aristotle.

12 Shallecta, Bishop of Reish Aina, wrote Antiphons, Consolations, Prayers, Canons, and
hootamât, [collects for the conclusion of Divine Service]. He also expounded two Litanies.
Babai, the Persian, who became Bishop of Riu Ardsheer, wrote a work solving various
difficult questions. Shehdost, of Teheran, wrote several Synodal Epistles and Letters,
besides many small poems and Antiphons. Habeeb, the Anchorite, wrote Meditations on the
Life of Christ, Elements of Knowledge, and made several chants and tunes for Anthems.
Babai of Nisibis, wrote poems, epistles, hymns, narratives, and several homilies. Shimoon
of Taibootha, wrote a work entitled "the way to live," another on Medicine, and an
Exposition of the Sacraments. Yohanan el-Ezrak, of Heerta, wrote a book of Homilies, a
Guide, and two hundred and eighty epistles. Yohanan of Deilom wrote nine poems. Mar Yau,
wrote an epistle and an exposition of the same for Epni Mâran. Yeshua Pâna, of Kotra,
wrote hortatory poems, an exposition of the "Book of Hundreds," another on the Philosophy
of the Soul, and many poems, anthems, epistles, Consolations, and hymns, arranged
alphabetically.

13 Babai, the Scribe, of Maarra, wrote a work on the Distinction of Things. The Turkish
Expounder wrote a work on the Joys of Heaven. Mar Shooha 'l Mâran, of Seleucia, wrote a
work called the "Book of Portions," another on Elements of Knowledge, besides many useful
epistles. Yohanan bar Pinkhâyé wrote seven books, one on the Education of Children, a
controversial treatise against the "Words of a Merchant," one against Idolatry, one on the
Seven Eyes of the Lord, one on Perfection, and a Catechism. Auraham, of Nethpra, wrote
many works. Gregorius, of Deir, wrote one book and several epistles. Akb-Shma wrote
homilies, Consolations, anthems, on the Principles of Knowledge and Proverbs. Akhoodemé
wrote against the Philosophers and Magi, and on the limits of things. He also wrote a book
on Logic, another on the Persons [of Christ], and a third on the inquiry: "Has the will
power over the nature of man?" in two parts. He also wrote on the Soul, showing that man
is a small world in himself, besides many other instructive treatises in beautiful style
and language.

14 Auraham bar Dishended, wrote a Book of Advice, an exposition of the writings of Father
Marcos, a treatise against the Jews, another entitled "the Way of the King," poems on
Repentance, and many epistles on various subjects. Yeshua-Bukht wrote a book on All
Things, and another on Church Matters, and poems on the Air. Yeshua-Dnah, of Basra, wrote
three books of History, an exposition of Logic, Consolations, Anthems, and Poems, and a
treatise on Chastity, in which he collected an account of all the Saints. Auraham bar
Lipah wrote a Rationale of the different Services. Alexandros wrote a work against the
blasphemy of Julian. Poplius wrote two books, one on Holy Things, and a Remembrancer. Abd
Mesheeh, of Heerta, wrote a book rich in meaning. Theodorus bar Coozai wrote a Scholion, a
History, and many other dissertations. Abd Yeshua bar Akarwé wrote several anthems, and a
work on the origin of Things.

15 Andraos wrote antiphons, and a work on the diacritical and vowel points. Gawrièl, of
Basra, collected all the Synodal Canons, in two volumes, and added thereto several
dissertations. Yohanan, of Germaka, wrote on the Principles of Knowledge, Rules for
Novices, a short Chronicon, an account of Mar Koodehwi, and many poems and anthems.
Auraham, of Beit Hâlé, wrote a treatise against the Tai [Arabs.] Mar Shlemon, Bishop of
Hdhetta near Mosul, wrote several narratives, and a treatise on the Monastic Life. Yeshua-
dad, also of Hdhetta, wrote a Commentary on the New Testament, and a short exposition of
the Pentateuch. Aboo-Nuah wrote a work against the Koran, a treatise against Heretics, and
on several other subjects. Kindi wrote an excellent work on Polemics, and another on the
Faith. Dad-Yeshua wrote a wonderful exposition of Daniel, of the Kings, and of the book of
Wisdom, in three volumes. Yohanan, of Nineveh, wrote a work on Controversy.

16 Kuriakòs wrote an exposition of the Faith and Sacraments, another work on the Nativity
and Epiphany, and a Commentary on the Epistles of S. Paul. Shimoon bar Tabbâhé wrote a
History. Meshikha Skha also wrote a History. Mar Athken, the Anchorite, wrote a
Controversy with the Wise Brother, and many epistles on the right way of living.
Gheorghees, of Nishra, wrote a book on Obedience. Anos, of Piros-Shaboor, wrote poems,
Consolations, and many other works. Bood Piryadotha wrote poems on the Faith, a treatise
against the Manichees, and another against the followers of Marcion. He also wrote a work
in Greek, entitled "Alep-Megheen," and it was he who translated "Kleilagh oo Dimnagh" from
the Indian language. Danièl, of Reish Aina, wrote poems against the Marcionites,
Manichees, Heretics, and Chaldeans. Auraham bar Kardâkhé wrote anthems, Consolations,
poems, and homilies, and an Epistle against Shisban. Nathnièl wrote against the followers
of Severus, against Manes, and against the Kanthi and Mandri [Sabaeans], and an Exposition
of the Psalms.

17 Elisha bar Sabîné wrote an Exposition of the Psalter, on Different Opinions, and a
chapter of Proverbs. Auraham Katteena wrote Catechisms. Shimoon, of Kurdlah, wrote 1,028
poems and anthems. Father Yazeedad wrote a vocabulary called "Lookaté." Bar Shhak wrote
one book. Damanis wrote poems. Susai, of Sus, wrote a book of Thanksgivings. Auraham Saba
wrote a beautiful Catechism. Gregor, of Shushtre, wrote a work against Heathenism, on
Natural Evidences, Consolations, anthems, a narrative of Auraham of Shushtre, a History,
and an account of the different Festivals. It was he who originated the chant "Ittayyeb
b'awadheicon." Bar Sehde, of Kerkook, wrote a History, and a work against the Magi, the
disciples of Zoroaster. Jacob, of Edessa, wrote a Book of the Times, and a Chronicon.
Shimoon, of Bedhka, wrote a History. Ara wrote a work against the Magi, and another
against Bardassenes, entitled "Beetles." Pâkor wrote one book. Bar Dkôsi wrote two volumes
against the Chaldeans, and another against Porphyry the heretic.

18 Danièl ibn Mariam wrote a History in four volumes, and another expounding the
Chronicon. Zacchai, of Supna, wrote on the Wonders of the World. Bar Daknâna wrote poems
for the consolation of the sorrowing. Yohanan bar Abgaré wrote Canons and Homilies on
Church matters, and on the Division of Inheritances. Mar Daweedh, of Beit Rabban, wrote on
the Boundaries of countries, and on the Changes of nights and days. Yohanan, of Estooni,
wrote a Grammar. Yohanan bar Khâmees, Bishop of Temnoon, also wrote a Grammar. Bar Bahlool
collated a Lexicon from many books, assisted by Yeshua bar Ali the Physician, Marozi, and
Gawrièl. Elîa, of Azak, wrote three books of poetry, questions, epistles, prefaces and
anthems. Dad-Yeshua, Bishop of Heerta, called Mattushuah, wrote a Catechism on the Holy
Scriptures, and Anthems. Andor, the Scholar, wrote a dissertation on many things, arranged
alphabetically, which he sent to his friend Koorta. 19 Elîa bar Kanosh wrote Benedictions,
Narratives, a treatise on the use of the Psalms, and on the Sacraments of the Church. Mar
Elîa, the First, wrote Decrees, a treatise on Church matters, and a Grammar. Yohanan bar
Keldon wrote a valuable work called "Busnâya," another on the Most Beautiful, and a third
on the Merchandize of the Monks. Elîa bar Yeshnâya, Metropolitan of Nisibis, wrote a
History, a Grammar, poems, four books of Church rules, and epistles on various subjects in
Syriac and Arabic. Behishua, of Kamool, wrote on the Monastic life. Yohanan Hermis wrote
poems. Emmanuèl, the Doctor, wrote a work on the six days of Creation in poetry, homilies,
and expositions. Gawrièl, Bishop of Shabookhwest, wrote a catechism, homilies,
controversies, Consolations, and anthems. The Greek Emperors Constantine, Leo, and
Theodosius the Great, convened the Synods of the Westerns, that of the Apostles, of Nice,
of Byzantium, of Gangra, the false one of Ephesus, that of Chalcedon, of Antioch, and the
-- -- of the Greek Emperors.

20 And we possess the Eastern Synods of Ishâk, of Barsoma, of Mar Awa, of Mar Hezkièl, of
Yosep, of Yeshua-yau, of Mar Timataos, of Yeshua bar Nun, of Yohanan, the Acts of Shimoon,
the Acts of Yeshua-Bukht, Metropolitan of Persia, and those of Abd Yeshua and of
Gheorghees, Metropolitans of Athor, besides two volumes of Synods collated by Gawrièl,
Metropolitan of Basra, and another of the Catholicos Mar Elîa the First, and four of Elîa
of Nisibis, surnamed Bar Ishnâya. We possess, moreover, many other books whose authors'
names are unknown; such as the book entitled "the Enlightenment," and the book on the
Union. [Here several lines of the original are destroyed.] Shlemon, of Khlàt, of Basra
[prob. Metrop.], wrote a work entitled Debboreetha [lit. The Bee], another on the Heavens
and the Earth, and several poems. Abd Yeshua, my vile self, wrote a Commentary on the
Bible [MS. defaced], the book of the Paradise of Eden, a collection of Synods in Arabic,
the book entitled Marghianeetha on the Truth of the Faith, a treatise on the Mysteries of
the Grecian Philosophers, and another called "Scholasticus," against heresy. I also
collated a book of Church Laws and Discipline, and another consisting of twelve treatises
on knowledge in general, besides Consolations, antiphons, and anthems, for various
occasions, an explanation of the Epistle sent by Aristotle to Alexander the Great [MS.
defaced], also a work solving many difficult questions, and one of arguments, proverbs,
and riddles.

21 After the best of our ability we have recorded the books which we have seen, our object
being to show that the perusal of them is profitable. The authors spake by the Spirit,
according to the testimony of Paul the Apostle; may their prayers keep and invest with
glory us, the sheep of Christ, and may their memory endure for ever, inasmuch as they
enlightened the Church by their wisdom, and enriched her children by their attainments.
Glory be to that Spirit by whom they themselves were enriched. Here endeth the catalogue
of all the Church books, written by the undeserving Abd Yeshua, Metropolitan of Nisibis
and Armenia. To God be thanksgiving and glory for ever. Amen.


COMMENTARY ON REVELATION
========================

COMMENTARY ON REVELATION Dionysius bar Salibi

d. AD 1171

Syriac Orthodox bishop and commentator.

INTRODUCTION

1 Dionysius Bar Salibi quotes the comments of Gaius and Hippolytus on: and of Hippolytus
on: and (from a subsequent manuscript find) Some additional notes by Roger Pearse

HIPPOLYTUS AND HIS 'HEADS AGAINST CAIUS.'

2 [By John GWYNN. D.D.] The extant remains of the writings of Caius, and the scattered
notices of him that occur in ancient writers, are so few and meagre, that they serve to
raise, rather than to solve, questions concerning him. It may be briefly said, that hardly
anything has hitherto been known of him with certainty, beyond the facts that he
flourished about the year of our Lord 200, and that he wrote a Dialogue against Proclus, a
Montanist leader. I believe, therefore, that many students of the early history of the
Church, and of the New Testament Canon, will welcome an accession to the scanty materials
out of which the existing acounts of him have been constructed. I propose, accordingly, to
give in this Paper a few passages which I have recently lighted on, purporting to be
derived from a work in which his contemporary, Hippolytus, controverted his teaching
concerning the authenticity of the Apocalypse of St. John.

3 These passages, five in number, are embodied in the inedited Syriac Commentary on the
Apocalypse, Acts, and Epistles, of Dionysius Barsalibi, the learned Jacobite divine of the
twelfth century from whose Commentary on the Gospels investigators have learned many
valuable facts----notably, the existence of Ephraim's Commentary on the Diatessaron of
Tatian, recently confirmed so signally by Moesinger's publication of a Latin translation
of the Armenian version. Of each of the five the method is the same. An objection is
briefly stated as raised by Caius against some point in which he conceived that the
Apocalypse was at variance with the teaching of the Gospels and of St. Paul; and the
arguments of Hippolytus, in reply, are given at some length. Now, of the fragments
preserved for us by Eusebius of the Dialogue of Caius, the principal is one on which much
dispute has arisen----whether it refers to the canonical Apocalypse. It is as follows:----

4 'Cerinthus, by means of revelations purporting to have been written by a great Apostle,
attempts to impose on us marvels which he pretended were shown to him by angels; and says,
that after the resurrection the reign of Christ is to be on earth, and that men are to
inhabit Jerusalem in fleshy bondage to lusts and pleasures; and being an enemy to God's
Scriptures, he declares, in his desire to deceive, that the space of a thousand years is
to be spent in a marriage feast.' (Hist. Eccl. iii. 28.) 5 From these words the suspicion,
prima facie, arises, that Caius may have rejected the Apocalypse from the Canon, and
ascribed it to the arch-heretic Cerinthus. Yet, if the passage stood alone, this suspicion
might well be set aside. The carnal millennium it describes is utterly unlike the
millennium of our Apocalypse; and it seems, besides, impossible that anyone could have
imagined Cerinthus to be the author of a book of which the Christology differs so
fundamentally from his. But Eusebius, though he does not appear himself to have understood
Caius to refer to the Apocalypse of the Canon, cites from Dionysius of Alexandria a
statement, that 'some of those before him' had rejected the Apocalypse as the work, not of
St. John, but of Cerinthus; the grounds of rejection being much the same as those alleged
by Caius, and expressed in similar, but grosser terms. The obvious inference seems to be,
that Dionysius is here referring to Caius, and that he believed the 'revelations' which
Caius ascribed to Cerinthus to be the Book of the Revelation, usually received in the
Church as written by St. John. And in support of this inference the fact is adduced that
Ebediesu, a late Syriac writer (circ. 1300), in his Catalogue, mentions, among the works
of Hippolytus, his 'Heads against Caius.' What more likely (it may be asked) than that the
point of controversy between these contemporaries may have been the authenticity of the
Book which the one appears to have called in question; while the other, as his extant
works attest, accepted it with reverence, and studied it with sedulous care?

6 Bearing these particulars in mind, we shall better be able to estimate the evidence
yielded by the passages of which I proceed to give a translation.

I. THE FIRST IS AS FOLLOWS :----

1 [Rev. viii. 8: A great mountain was cast into the sea, and the third part of the sea
became blood,] fol. 3r, line 13) 'On this, Caius the heretic objected to this revelation,
and said that it is not possible that these things should be, inasmuch as as a thief that
cometh in the night, so is the coming of the Lord [1 Thess. v. 2]. Hippolytus of Rome
answered him, and said that, in like manner as God wrought signs such as these in Egypt,
so is He to work when Christ appears. And those that [were wrought] in Egypt were partial,
inasmuch as a part of the people was subjected there; but these are to be general, before
the judgment, on all the world. Accordingly, by the revelation John declared that there
are to be plagues before the judgment, as though for the avenging of the righteous and
retribution on the unbelieving, that when involved in these they may not trouble the
faithful.

2 So also the Lord said, There shall be in that day tribulation such as has been none like
it [St. Matth. xxiv. 21]; and Joel, I will shew signs in heaven and on earth, blood and
fire and vapour of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood,
before the day of the Lord come [Joel ii. 30, 31]; and Amos, To what end is the day of the
Lord for you, for it is dark and not light? in like manner as if thou fleddest from a lion
and a bear met thee, or one leaned his hands on a wall and a serpent bit him [Amos v. 18,
19]. The text, that the day of the Lord cometh as a thief, signifies as regards the
unbelieving that they are darkness, inasmuch as the faithful are children of light, who
walk not in the night [St. John xi. 10; xii. 35, 36; Eph. v. 8]. Accordingly, in Egypt
this type was completed; for the Egyptians had darkness, but the Hebrews had light [Exod.
x. 22, 23].'

II. THE SECOND GOES ON MUCH THE SAME LINES----

1 [Rev. viii. 12: The third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon,
and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened]. (Ms. Rich.
7185, f. 3v, line 20) 'On this Caius said that, just as in the Flood the heavenly bodies
were not taken away and suddenly submerged, thus also is it to be in the end, as it is
written [St. Matth. xxiv. 37]; and Paul says, When they shall say, Peace and safety,
destruction shall come upon them [1 Thess. v. 3]. But Hippolytus says, in reply to this
objection of the heretic: Before the Flood there was none of these signs, inasmuch as the
Flood was partial; and the heavenly bodies were not removed, inasmuch as the general end
had not arrived: but when heaven and earth are about to pass away [St. Matth. xxiv. 35],
it must needs be that by little and little their splendour shall perish.

2 And to this Joel testifies: Before him verily the earth shall be confounded and the
heavens shaken, and the sun and moon shall be darkened, and the stars their light shall
set [Joel ii. 10]. And our Lord said, in the Book of Luke, And there shall be signs in the
sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations, and the powers which are in
heaven shall be shaken [St. Luke xxi. 25, 26]. And as to this, that He sent a manifest
token, it is with regard to the non-perception of the unbelieving that He signifies. And
as to the text, When they shall say Peace, destruction shall come upon them, it is with
regard to the Jews that He signifies, that they expect to possess their land and to be
able to live in peace, and forthwith Christ appears and they are put to shame.'

III. THE THIRD IS NOT DISSIMILAR.

1 [Rev. ix. 2, 3: There came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth, and unto them was
given power, even as the scorpions of the earth have power,]. (Ms. Rich. 7185, f. 4r, line
14) 'On this Caius objects, that according to this, the unrighteous are consumed by the
locusts; whereas Scripture has said that sinners prosper and the righteous are persecuted,
in the world' [Ps. lxxiii. 12 ]; and Paul, that the faithful shall be persecuted and the
evil shall flourish, deceiving and being deceived [2 Tim. iii. 12, 13]. But Hippolytus
answers him, and says that the faithful, those who are persecuted by the unrighteous, at
this period are to have rest, because they have been sealed; but the unrighteous who
persecuted the saints, on them comes the plague of locusts; even as the Egyptians were
devoured, and the Hebrews were free from the plagues, while they dwelt in one place. Thus
the saints in this time are to be in well-being, even as our Lord said, When these things
begin to be, be of good cheer, and lift up your heads, inasmuch as your redemption is nigh
[St. Luke, xxi. 28]; that is, when plagues come on the evil, the righteous have rest. And
this, that evil men deceive and are deceived [2 Tim. iii. 13], at the present day is
coming to pass: that crafty men, who alter the words of the Lord and of the Scriptures
after their evil thoughts, that even though at the present day they are proceeding
further, yet in the end they are to be rebuked: even as Jannes and Jambres, who withstood
Moses [ib. 8, 9], and afterwards were overcome and put to shame.'

2 IV. The fourth takes up different ground, and (as will presently be shown) contains a
further element of interest. [Rev. ix. 15: And the angels were loosed, which were prepared
for seasons and for days, to slay the third part of men,]. (Ms. Rich. 7185, f. 4v, line 7)
'On this Caius says: It is not written that angels are to make war, nor that a third part
of men is to perish; but that nation shall rise against nation [St. Matth. xxiv. 7].
Hippolytus in reply to him: It is not of angels he says that they are to go to war, but
that four nations are to arise out of the region which is by Euphrates, and to come
against the earth, and to war with mankind. But this that he says, four angels, is not
alien from Scripture. Moses said, When He dispersed the sons of Adam, He set the boundary
of the nations according to the number of the Angels of God [Deut. xxxii. 8 (LXX.)].

3 Since therefore nations have been assigned to angels, and each nation pertains to one
angel, John rightly declared by the Revelation a loosing for those four angels: who are
the Persians, and the Medes, and the Babylonians, and the Assyrians. Since then these
angels who have been appointed over the nations have not been commanded to stir up those
who have been assigned to them, a certain bond of the power of the word is indicated,
which restrains them until the day shall arrive and the Lord of all shall command. And
this then is to happen when Antichrist shall come.' V. The fifth has a special importance,
as touching on the matter of millennarian prediction. [Rev. xx. 2. 3: And he laid hold on
the dragon, the old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand
years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him

4 up and sealed the bottomless pit upon him, in order that he should not deceive the
nations till the thousand years should be fulfilled: after that, he must be loosed a
little season,]. (Ms. Rich. 7185, f. 9v, line 8) 'On this Caius the heretic objected: that
Satan is bound here, according to that which is written, that Christ went up into the
strong man's house and bound him, and spoiled his goods for us [St. Matth. xii. 29].
Hippolytus answered this and said: If the Devil has been bound, how does he deceive the
faithful and persecute and plunder men? And if you say that he has been bound as regards
the faithful, how did he draw near against Christ, Him who aid no sin? according to the
text, The Prince cometh and findeth no sin in me [St. John, xiv. 30 ]. And if then he has
been bound, how did the Lord teach us to pray, that we should be delivered front the evil
one [St. Matth. vi. 13]? and why did he desire to tempt Simon and the Apostles [St. Luke,
xxii. 31]? And how was one who had been bound able to sift and trouble the disciples
[ib.]?

5 And truly for us the conflict is not against flesh and blood, but against
principalities, and against the rulers of the darkness of this world [Eph. vi. 12]. If he
had been bound, he would not maintain the conflict, or catch away the word which was sown
[St. Matth. xiii. 19], as is said in the Parable of the Seed. That He has bound the strong
man; the meaning of it is this: that He has rebuked and cast scorn on those who did not
come unto Him when He went against the Devil in order to purify them from his bondage and
make them sons unto the Father. And this is proved by what He said just after, that he
that is not with me is against me, and he that gathereth not with me, scattereth abroad
[St. Matth. xii. 30]. Accordingly, in the end of times, the Devil is to be bound and to be
flung into the bottomless pit, when the Lord comes; even as Esaias hath said, that the
wicked shall be taken away in order that he see not the glory of the Lord [Isai. xxvi. 10
----LXX. (Syr. Hex.)].

6 And the number of the years is not the number of days, but it represents the space of
one day, glorious and perfect; in which, when the King comes in glory with His slain, the
creation is to shine: according to the text, The sun shall shine twofold [marg.,
sevenfold; Isai. xxx. 26]; while the righteous eat with Him and drink of His vine. This is
the day which the Lord hath made [Ps. cxviii. 24], which David spoke of. Accordingly, when
with the eye of the spirit John saw the glory of that day, he likened it to the space of a
thousand years; according to the saying, One day in the world of the righteous is as a
thousand years [2 Pet. iii. 8?]. And by the number he shows that day to be perfect, for
those that are faithful. But as for what he has said, that after the thousand years he
shall be loosed, and shall deceive the nations [Rev. xx. 7, 8], it is this: that justly he
is to be loosed, and to be cast into the burning, and to be judged [ib. 10, 12]; with
those who from old time were gathered together with him, when he gathered the strangers of
the kingdom, and Gog and Magog [ib. 8].'

7 These passages are conclusive on the main question that has been in dispute concerning
Caius. They prove that he refused to admit the Apocalypse as the work of St. John. And
they prove that Hippolytus wrote a reply to the arguments by which Caius maintained his
opinion. These arguments, we may assume, were put forth in a written treatise; and the
purport of them appears to have been (so far as they are reported to us by Barsalibi),
that the teaching of the Apocalypse, especially as regards its eschatology, is
contradictory to that of our Lord, as reported in the Synoptic Gospels, and of St. Paul.
Hence it follows that he rejects its claim, not merely to be the work of St. John, but to
be an authentic part of the New Testament Canon. The work of Hippolytus whence Barsalibi
derived his knowledge of this controversy was, no doubt, the Heads against Caius,
mentioned by Ebediesu, which was evidently a distinct treatise from his Exposition of the
Apocalypse and Gospel of St. John. The passages as they stand in Barsalibi's Commentary
are, probably, not actual excerpts from the 'Heads'; they have the air rather of brief
summaries of the arguments on either side: those of Caius (whom it will be observed
Barsalibi brands as a 'heretic') being stated in the barest possible form, while those of
Hippolytus are given in more detail, yet highly compressed.

8 The objections of Caius are, as will be seen, those of a somewhat captious critic, and
indicate little breadth of scriptural learning or of eschatological conceptions; while the
replies of his antagonist are not only fair ad hominem retorts, but display a large and
thorough knowledge of his subject. But, on the other hand, it is observable that none of
the objections at all resembles in character or tone the passage above cited (from
Eusebius), in which Caius condemns the spurious 'revelations' which he accuses Cerinthus
of attempting to pass off as the work of 'a great Apostle'; nor does any of them, in the
remotest degree, answer to the account given by Dionysius of Alexandria of the attack made
by certain unnamed writers on the canonical Revelation as being carnal in its promises of
millennarian felicity. And this remark applies with especial force to the last of our five
passages, which deals with the millennial binding of Satan [Rev. xx. 2, and following
verses]. We may assume that if Caius not only denied the Revelation to be written by St.
John, but ascribed it to Cerinthus, and interpreted the millennium it foreshows as being
one of sensual joys, devised by an 'enemy of the Church of God who desired to deceive,'
this would be the place where he would put forward that view. If so, it is not to be
supposed that Hippolytus would leave so gross a misconstruction unrefuted;

9 and it is, to say the least, improbable that Barsalibi would omit, in his summary of
their controversy, to include this which would be obviously beyond comparison the most
important and interesting part of it. But, instead of this, we find the point at issue
between the two disputants to be merely whether Satan has or has not been already '
bound,' and therefore whether it is or is not in accordance with our Lord's teaching to
speak of the 'binding' as deferred till the millennium. Besides, the error which in his
reply Hippolytus imputes to Caius is, not that he represented the millennium as sensual
and unworthy, but merely that he understood the 'thousand years' literally, and not as
denoting the spiritual fulness and perfection of ' the day which the Lord hath made.' And
Hippolytus does not himself hesitate to speak of the righteous as 'eating and drinking' in
that day with the Lord in His glory, without giving any hint that the promise of a grosser
'eating and drinking' had been attributed by Caius to the Apocalyptist.

10 It is hardly necessary to add that in none of these objections do we find any trace of
doubt cast by Caius on the Johannine authorship of the Fourth Gospel. He does not, indeed,
expressly cite any Gospel by name in any of these passages, and the texts he uses are from
St. Matthew only. But it will be perceived that Hippolytus, in replying to him, once at
least cites St. John's Gospel, evidently as an authority admitted by his opponent; and
this fact of course excludes the supposition----for which, indeed, no ground exists----
that Caius, like the of whom Epiphanius tells us (Haer. xxxi. [li.]), rejected that Gospel
as well as the Apocalypse. In the fourth passage, however, there occurs a point of contact
between the views of Caius and those of the Alogoi, as stated by Epiphanius (ut supr.), as
regards their objections against Rev. ix. 15. It extends, however, only so far as this,
that he demurred, as they did, to the idea of angels 'making war';----not, however,
because he found it ridiculous, as they professed to do, but because he regarded it as
unscriptural ('it is not written'). But it is highly interesting to compare the reply of
Hippolytus to this objection, with the arguments with which Epiphanius refutes the Alogoi,
the substance of which is as follows:----

11 'By the four angels he signifies the four nations who dwell by the Euphrates----the
Assyrians, Babylonians, Medes, and Persians... That the nations are put in. charge of
angels, Moses testifies... He set the boundaries of the nations after the number of the
angels of God [Deut., as above]. The loosing of the angels implies, therefore, that these
nations, after being for a while restrained in the longsuffering of God, are in due time
to be let loose, stirred up by their several angels to work vengeance on such nations as
have done despite to the saints of God.' 12 Here, as will be seen, we have every one of
the points put forward by Hippolytus reproduced. In both these passages we have the
explanation of 'angels' as representing nations; in both the same passage of Deuteronomy
is adduced in support of it; both name the same four nations; both represent the 'binding'
as a delay of the vengeance of which these nations are to be the instruments, till God
shall command; and the ' loosing,' as the signal given for its execution on the oppressors
of His people. That Epiphanius here borrowed from Hippolytus there can be no question; and
thus we draw from the comparison of these passages a striking confirmation of the
ingenious and convincing theory of Lipsius (Quellenkritik des Epiphanios), who has made it
practically certain that in this part of his Panarion Epiphanius (in common with
Philaster, in his similar Treatise on Heresies) is borrowing from the lost Refutation of
the Thirty-two Heresies of Hippolytus. The passage, as thus reproduced by Epiphanius, is
not indeed identical with that translated by Barsalibi; but the agreement between them, in
substance, is complete, and there is a close resemblance in diction (so far as the Syriac
version of the latter passage enables us to judge ). And this is just the sort of affinity
to be expected between two passages from different works by the same author.

13 The results at which the discovery of these passages has enabled us to arrive may be
conveniently summed up as follows:---- 1. They establish the separate identity of Caius,
of whom hitherto so little has been certainly known, that Bishop Lightfoot was able to
make out a strong case in favour of the hypothesis that Caius was but Hippolytus under a
different name. 2. They prove that Caius (apparently in a written treatise----possibly his
Dialogue against Proclus) rejected the Apocalypse from the New Testament Canon, as
containing predictions, mainly eschatological, irreconcilable with the words of our Lord
and the teaching of St. Paul. 3. They prove that Hippolytus wrote a work in refutation of
this view----probably the Heads against Caius, named by Ebediesu---- These conclusions are
direct and certain; and it may be added as a safe inference from them---- 4. That Caius
was not (as some have supposed), the author of the Muratorian Fragment, in which the
Apocalypse is included in the Canon.

14 And it seems to follow, with scarcely less certainty---- 5. That Caius accepted the
Fourth Gospel as St. John's. 6. As a further result, we may add, that the theory of
Lipsius concerning the relation between the Panarion of Epiphanius and the lost Refutation
of the Thirty-two Heresies of Hippolytus, has received independent and strong confirmation
from our fourth extract. But the farther question, whether Caius went to such lengths in
his condemnation of the Apocalypse as to assign it to Cerinthus, is not decided by any of
these extracts. It is, at least, a possible hypothesis that Cerinthus may have written a
pseudo-Apocalypse, containing previsions of a millennium of carnal pleasures; and that
Caius, in his anti-millennarian over-zeal, may have rejected both Apocalypses, the genuine
and the spurious alike,----the former for the reasons assigned in the Barsalibaean
extracts, namely, that it contravened those Books of the New Testament which he accepted
asbeyond question genuine----the latter on the ground stated in his Dialogue, as cited by
Eusebius, that its promises were addressed to the baser part of man. It is unfortunate
that the introduction prefixed by Barsalibi to this work has reached us in such a
mutilated state that little light is thrown by it on the points which are in doubt. The
fragment that remains of it merely exhibits a brief notice of the opinions for and against
the Johannine authorship, the writers mentioned being Eusebius, Dionysius of Alexandria,
Irenaeus, and Hippolytus. It breaks off in the middle of a sentence in which 'John the
Presbyter' is suggested as the possible author.

15 The MS. whence I have derived the Syriac text which I print at the end of this article
was acquired by the British Museum, in 1830, as part of the Rich collection, and is
classed as 'Rich 7185.' It is a small quarto, written on cotton paper, apparently of the
fourteenth century. It contains a series of brief commentaries on the Apocalypse, the
Acts, the Catholic Epistles, and the Epistles of St. Paul, ending with Hebrews. The second
and third leaves only are missing, but of the first leaf nearly half has been torn away,
vertically. Its recto is blank, and its verso exhibits the superscription of the book, and
the fragment above mentioned of the introduction. The fourth leaf (now numbered 2) begins
in the middle of the comment on Rev. iv. 3. The first three chapters, including the
Epistles to the Seven Churches, must therefore have been very briefly noticed, or (more
probably) passed over without comment. In the Bodleian there is another, and perhaps
earlier, copy of the same Commentary, in the MS. Bodl. Or. 560 (small folio, on cotton
paper), which, however, has suffered far more severely from the effects of decay or
injury. Several leaves are missing at the beginning, so that more than half the Commentary
on the Apocalypse (which in this MS. likewise stands first ) has perished, and of our five
passages, the last only survives----that relating to Rev. xx. 2, 3. I have collated it,
and find that its variations from the text of Rich 7185 are very minute. I have recorded
them, so far as they are of any value, in the notes on that passage.

16 Except in the cases indicated in the notes, I have been content, in printing these
extracts, to follow the MSS., without attempting to correct inconsistencies in the use of
the diacritical and other points. [pp.411-416 containing Syriac text, and 417 (textual
notes) are omitted] [I have not thought it worth while to record the variations of Rich in
transliterating the name Hippolytus.] SUPPLEMENTARY NOTE. A few points of affinity between
the foregoing extracts and the known writings of Hippolytus may be here noted. (1). The
replies to Caius, in I. and II., are paralleled by the discussion of Genesis xlix. 6, in
the treatise De Consummatione Mundi, c. 19; where the argument turns similarly on the
distinction between and. (Lagarde, p. 103.) (2). In V., the explanation of the "thousand
years" harmonizes with (in fact, is implied in) the signification given to the "seventh
day," in cc. 4-6 of the Chisian fragment of the Comm. in Danielem, and in both places the
saying, "one day is as a thousand years," is adduced (with slight variation) (ib. p. 153.)

17 (3). In V., again, we find the same remarkable application of Isai. xxvi. 10 as in De
Antichristo, c. 63 (ib. p. 33.) (4). But on the other hand the interpretation of the
binding of the "strong man" (St. Matth. xii. 29), in this same extract, does not well
agree with the use of that text in Comm. in Dan., c. 18 (ib. p. 158.) JOHN GWYNN. July,
1888. END OF VOL. VI. Printed by PONSONBY and WELDRICK, Dublin.

HIPPOLYTUS ON ST. MATTHEW XXIV. 15-22.

18 IN a Paper which appeared in the last number of Hermathena (Vol. VI, pp. 397-418) I
gave some extracts from the unpublished Commentary of Dionysius Barsalibi on the
Apocalypse, being controversial passages which that writer professes to have derived from
a treatise of Hippolytus----no doubt, his lost Heads against Caius. As a sequel to that
Paper, I now offer another extract: from the same Commentary, purporting to contain a
summary of the interpretation of the passage, St. Matth. xxiv. 15-22, given by Hippolytus,
apparently in some other of his writings which has not reached us.

VI. IT IS AS FOLLOWS : ----

1 [Rev. xi. 2: And the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months] (Ms.
Rich. 7185, f. 5v, line 10) '(On this): The city is the Church; and these months they are
to persecute her and kill, when the false Christ [St. Matth. xxiv. 24] shall come, because
she worships him not. Now of this said Daniel, He shall approve the covenant for many, one
week; in the half of the week shall cease the sacrifice [Dan, ix. 27]. The half of the
week: that is, three years and a-half; and these make the forty and two months which are
mentioned. The sacrifice he speaks of is not that of sheep, but the prayers of the
upright. And the holy city he speaks of is the righteous, i. e. [those] who are oppressed
and trodden under foot by the horn that sprang up in the midst [Dan. vii. 8, 20, 21, 25],
which is Antichrist, as Daniel said.

2 Hippolytusotherwise interprets that which is said in the Gospel, When indeed ye shall
see the pollution of desolation [St. Matth. xxiv. 15]: for he says that it is not
concerning the Jews, and the laying waste of Jerusalem, that these things are said, but
concerning the end of Antichrist. The elect [ib. 22] he speaks of are the Christians who
are in this conflict. And He says, Pray that ye fly not on the Sabbath or in winter [ib.
20]: i. e. He advises that we be not overtaken by those things that are coming on us, when
we are unoccupied in righteousness, as the Jews [are unoccupied] on the Sabbath, or
troubled with worldly cares and sins, as one that is in a winter storm. There shall be
tribulation such as there was not like it since the beginning of the world, etc. [ib. 21;
cp. Dan. xii. 1].

3 On this Hippolytus says, that in the siege of Vespasian this did not come to pass; for
nothing new happened to the world in his days beyond the things that were before. If you
speak of war, many times it has happened in former times: and if again of captives, there
have not lacked massacres or blood-shedding that was more than that [of the siege]. And if
of the eating of children and unclean beasts, lo also in the days of Ahab these things
were [2 Kings, vi. 28]. Accordingly it is not concerning Jerusalem that the Lord said
this; for when He willed to speak concerning her, He said, When ye shall see the army
compassing the city, know that the desolation thereof is nigh [St. Luke, xxi. 20]. Hence
the pollution of devastations He speaks of is Antichrist. And Daniel said, [In] the half
of the week standeth the abomination in the sanctuary [Dan. ix. 27; cp. xi. 31]. Now
"Vespasian did not set up in the temple an idol, but that Legion which Trajanus Quintus
placed, a chief man of the Romans: he set up the idol there which is called Kôre.

4 Also the Apostle has written that these things are concerning Antichrist, Except if
there come first a falling away, and the Man of iniquity be revealed, so that he as God
shall sit in the temple, whom our Lord Jesus shall consume, etc. [2 Thess. ii. 3, 4, 8].
From these [words] it is evident that Vespasian did not call himself God, nor did he sit
in the temple, nor was he killed by the Spirit of the Lord. Accordingly it is manifest
that in the end tribulation arises against the Church, such as was none like it.'

VII.

1 [Rev. xi. 3: And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy, etc.]
2 '(On this: There come two prophets, Enoch and Elias, and these are the two olive trees
he speaks of [ib. 4], even as Zacharias spoke of them [Zech. iv. 3, 11, 14]. Now
concerning Elias our Lord said, Elias must come to restore all things [St. Mark, ix. 12;
cp. St. Matth. xvii. 11]. Of these he says that they work miracles and signs, and send
plagues upon the unbelieving [Rev. xi. 5, 6], in order that the faithful may have some
respite. These two prophets will stand up against Antichrist, even as Moses and Aaron
stood up against Pharaoh and the Egyptians. These things then are to be in the half of the
week, when Antichrist will scatter all men, so that there shall not be found two or three
together to assemble, to offer sacrifice to God. This then is to be fulfilled, that the
sacrifice shall cease. When then these are killed there [ib. 7] by the false Christ,
afterwards they are to stand up, in presence of many, and are to be caught upon the clouds
to meet our Lord [ib. 11, 12; 1 Thess. iv. 17]. In the half of the week, said John, Enoch
and Elias are to receive power [ib. 6], and are to preach a thousand two hundred and
threescore days girt with sackcloth [ib. 3], and to teach repentance to the people and the
Gentiles. These days are the half of the week;

3 and these are the two olive-trees and the two candlesticks (ib. 4), as Zacharias said,
Enoch and Elias. And the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war
against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. And their dead bodies he shall cast
into the streets, that is the highways, of the city [ib. 7, 8]. (On this: Concerning this
beast Daniel said, I saw indeed a beast that came up out of the bottomless pit, that is,
the sea [Dan. vii. 3], and made war with the saints [ib. 21], which [beast] that horn
which sprang up designates [ib. 8J. No other kingdom is to persecute the saints, save this
alone from which the horn is to spring up at the last, which is Antichrist, who is to kill
Enoch and Elias. And after these things that is to come to pass which Esaias said; Behold
the Lord out of His sanctuary send-eth forth His sword, great and strong, against the
dragon, the crooked serpent [Isaiah, xxvi. 21; xxvii. 1]: and in like manner said Daniel,
The beast was killed and destroyed, and his body was given to the burning fire [Dan. vii.
11]. The body he speaks of is the devil, he who worketh [2 Thess. ii. 7, 9] in the false
Christ: and the city he speaks of is Jerusalem, where these things are to come to pass.
For Paul said concerning him who is Antichrist, He sitteth in the temple of God as God'

4 The foregoing extract, though continuously written in the MS. whence I take it, divides
itself into two parts, the division being marked (as is usual in this MS.) by the sign x.
It will be perceived that Hippolytus is cited by name in the former of these parts only
----that which relates to the second verse of Rev. xi. But (as I shall presently show) it
is certain that in the latter part likewise the comment on the ten following verses (3-12)
is in great measure drawn from Hippolytus. Besides, the line of interpretation that runs
through both parts is continuous. For these reasons I have thought it well to give the
whole. The Commentary has no further note on chapter xi., but passes on immediately to
chapter xii. 5 On the second verse Barsalibi begins by explaining the 'treading underfoot'
by the Gentiles of the 'holy city ' during 'forty and two months' to mean that in the
latter days of the world the Church shall suffer persecution for three years and a half,
which period he identifies with the 'half-week' foretold by Daniel (ix. 27); and the
'sacrifice caused to cease in the midst of the week,' signifies accordingly the
suppression of the public prayers of the Church by the tyranny of Antichrist, when she
will refuse to worship him. And he is the 'little horn' of the fourth of the beasts of
Daniel's vision, who is to 'prevail against the saints' (Dan. vii. 8, 21). For so far the
Commentary appears to follow the teaching of Hippolytus in the treatise De Christo et
Antichristo (Lagarde, pp. 1-36). In that treatise it is laid down, as in the Commentary,
that the 'horn' is Antichrist (ss. 28, 47 ); that the half-week of Daniel is the same as
the period defined in this eleventh chapter of the Revelation (ss. 43, 47, 61), and that
its completion is to be the end of all things (ib., & s. 64). But the discussion which is
subjoined, cited as from Hippolytus, of our Lord's eschatological prediction, recorded in
the twenty-fourth chapter of St. Matthew's Gospel, and of St.

6 Paul's, in the second chapter of his second Epistle to the Thessalonians, is not (so far
as I know) to be found in any of his extant writings----though in the De Christo et
Antichristo (ss. 62, 63) he inserts several verses of both chapters (St. Matth. xxiv.
15-19, & 21; 2 Thess. 11. 1-12 ], similarly connected together. It is natural to suppose
that the citation is from the lost Commentary on Matthew, which St. Jerome mentions in the
Prologue to his own Commentary on that Gospel. Indeed, this appears to be directly
attested by the MS. of Barsalibi in the marginal note (quantum valeat) attached to the
name of Hippolytus, which says, 'In the Commentary on the Gospel.' The words with which
Barsalibi introduces this discussion ('Hippolytus otherwise interprets...') imply that he
regarded it as in some measure inconsistent with the preceding interpretation of Rev. xi.
2, which (as I have shown) is drawn from, or at least coincides with, that contained in
the De Christo et Antichristo. But it is not easy to see any real inconsistency between
them; and it may be that he only means to point out that of Daniel's two representations
of Antichrist----the 'little horn' and the 'abomination of desolation '----Hippolytus has
fixed on the former in the Treatise, and on the latter in the Commentary (or whatever work
of his is here borrowed from). It is to be noted that though the texts of Daniel and St.

7 Matthew, which speak of the 'abomination of desolation,' are cited in the De Christo et
Antichristo (s. 62), and its appearance reckoned among the signs of the end (64), it is
nowhere in this Treatise identified with Antichrist. 8 I see no reason to doubt that we
have here a genuine excerpt, probably in a condensed form, from a lost work of Hippolytus;
though the identification of it as belonging to the Commentary on Matthew is but
conjectural. It is of value as a clear and forcible summary of the reasons why the seige
and destruction of Jerusalem under Vespasian cannot be regarded as adequately fulfilling
the predictions of our Lord, or those of St. Paul, as we read them in the chapters
referred to. It contains, moreover, an incidental statement which, if true, is an
interesting addition to our knowledge of the history of the capture of the city. Josephus
makes no mention of the setting up of an idol in the Temple, which Hippolytus here relates
as the act of a Roman commander named Trajanus. But he mentions a Trajanus as being
prefect of the tenth legion at the time when Jotapata was besieged (B. J., bk. III., chh.
vii. 31, viii. 8), who may be presumed to be the same person. And the name of the idol,
Kore, of course represents,or Persephone, whose images, set up beside watersprings, were
so familiar to Justin in the second century, probably in Palestine (Apol. 1. 64).

9 In the remaining part of my extract----that in which the next ten verses of the
Revelation are commented on----the relation of the Commentary of Barsalibi to Hippolytus
is closer. Not only is the identification of the 'two witnesses' as Enoch and Elias common
to both, but in the terms in which the mission of the witnesses is expressed there is a
striking coincidence. St. John has merely said, 'they shall prophesy,' which the
Commentary expands into, 'they are to preach... and to teach repentance to the people and
the Gentiles.' This expansion is plainly derived from the words of the De Christo et
Antichristo, 'They shall preach... proclaiming repentance to the people and all the
Gentiles' (s. 43). There are, indeed, in the extract a few points which, so far as I am
aware, are not to be found in any work of Hippolytus that has come down to us, for
example, the curious explanation that the 'body of the beast' is the Devil. But that
Barsalibi had the De Christo et Antichristo before him in the composition of his
Commentary appears beyond question in many places. A conclusive instance is his comment on
the latter verses of Rev. xiii., the greater part of which I find to be simply a
translation, somewhat abridged, of the latter half of section 49 and the former half of
section 50 of that treatise.

10 It may be well to note here that this mention of Enoch and Elias, and nearly all the
other points above noted as connecting the Commentary with Hippolytus, appear also in the
Homily De Consummatione mundi (Lagarde, pp. 92-123). But this Homily seems to be certainly
spurious. I have inadvertently quoted it in my Paper in Hermathena xiv. (p. 418, suppl.
note (1)), where I ought to have referred instead to the De Christo et Antichristo, s. 15
(Lagarde, p. 8). I may add that a coincidence with the Hippolytean fragment V in that
Paper, which I had overlooked, is to be found in the Commentary on Proverbs, printed by
Mai (Nova Patrum Biblioth., t. vii. ii. p. 74), which is not included in Lagarde's
Hippolytus. It is the comment on Prov. XXX. 19:. On this remarkable reading of St. John
xiv. 30, see my note, ib. p. 417. 11 VIII. The accompanying autotype [omitted from the
online text] reproduces faithfully the mutilated first page of the MS. Rich 7185. The
first eight lines contain the superscription (written in vermilion). Lines 1 and 2 are as
follows: 'On God [relying] we delay not to write extracts from the interpretation of the
Revelation of John, a small portion...' Of the six following I can only decipher a word
here and there. Among them, however, I find 'Dionysius [Bishop of] the city Amid.' This
identifies the author as Dionysius Barsalibi, who occupied that See from A.D. 1166 to
1171. It appears, moreover, that in the MS. we have not his Commentary on the Apocalypse
in full, but only a series of excerpts from it. The remainder of the page (twenty lines in
all) is written in black ink. The page is so mutilated that the opening words of every
line of it are lost, except of the first four. Lines 9 and 10 appear to speak of the
brevity of this Commentary as compared with the fuller one on the Gospel. Lines 11 and 12
ask the reader's prayers for Dionysius Xenaias [?]. In line 13 begins the discussion of
the authorship of the book. The substance of the remaining lines (14-28), mutilated as
they are, may be made out to this effect:----

12 'Many have denied that the Revelation is the work of John the Apostle. Eusebius of
Csesarea quotes [Diony]sius of Alexandria, who argues that it is written by some other
John, because the style is unlike that of the Gospel, and because the writer [not as in
the Gospel] gives his name, and claims to have received his revelation from the Lord.
Irenaeus and Hippolytus ascribe it to John the Evangelist, writing in the reign of
Domitian: but [Eusebius] to John the Presbyter, contemporary of the Apostle.' [See Euseb.
H. E. iii. 39; vii. 25.]

THE AUTHORSHIP OF THE MURATORIAN CANON.

13 [T.H. ROBINSON, in The Expositor] The Muratorian Canon is our oldest list of the books
of the New Testament. It is a fragment discovered in the Ambrosian library at Milan, and
published in 1740 by the librarian Muratori, from whom it takes its name. His object was
to give an example of the kind of Latin an ignorant monk could write, but it was soon seen
that the document had a very great intrinsic importance, due to the professed antiquity of
the Canon of New Testament writings which it contains. Pius, who was bishop of Rome from
146-161 a.d., is mentioned as being almost a contemporary of the author. As it stands, the
fragment is anonymous; and, of course, several attempts have been made to identify the
author. Muratori himself suggested "Gaius the Presbyter," of whom Eusebius says: "There
has come down also to our time a dialogue by the eloquent Gaius, which was addressed at
Rome in the time of Zephyrinus, to Proclus, the champion of the Phrygian heresy. He,
Gaius, rebukes the precipitancy and rashness of the opposite party in the matter of
composing new scriptures, and mentions only the thirteen epistles as belonging to the
blessed Apostle, not including the Epistle to the Hebrews with the rest; so also, even to
the present day, there are some in Rome who do not regard it as being the Apostle's."

14 This was, for a time, practically the sum of our knowledge and the limit of critical
speculation concerning Gaius. Then came the discovery of a work entitled, The
Philosophumena, a Refutation of all Heresies. This was attributed to Origen by the first
editor on its publication in 1851, and subsequently, by certain critics, to the Gaius in
question, together with a number of other works belonging to the second century. It is,
however, perfectly certain that this document is the work not of Gaius, but of Hippolytus.
And Lightfoot took the various lesser books which had been ascribed to Gaius, and showed
that they also were to be regarded as writings of Hippolytus (Apost. Fath., part i. vol.
ii. pp. 378-380). He was, however, unable thus to explain away the Dialogue with Proclus,
except by supposing that Proclus and Gaius alike were mere dramatis personae, with no more
solid basis for existence than Hippolytus' imagination. Some later authors, finding a book
Gaius against Proclus, had, he assumed, deduced from it Gaius' reality.

15 Now if Gaius was a mere lay figure, Muratori's connexion between Gaius and the
fragmentary Canon disappears, unless we reserve the case that the fragment is a part of
the speech of the assumed Gaius against the imaginary Proclus. And, as all Gaius' other
works had been attributed to Hippolytus, it was natural that this should go the way of the
rest. The question then arose, to which of the Hippolytean writings did it belong? It is
certainly not in any of his extant works, but we have several lists of his writings
preserved, and from the titles it may be possible to infer to which of them a Canon of the
books of the New Testament should be referred. The oldest of these lists is an inscription
on the statue of Hippolytus, which is now preserved in the Lateran Museum. The statue
dates from the first half of the third century, and represents the recently deceased
Hippolytus as seated in his episcopal cathedra. On the back of his chair there is a list
of his works, and Lightfoot quotes the inscription in full. This gives very nearly a
complete catalogue; though it omits several books to which other writers refer. Eusebius'
catalogue (H.E. vi. 22) does not profess to be complete, nor does it throw any fresh
light. That of the fourteenth century Syrian father, Ebed-Jesu, does, however, include a
title which we should not have known from other sources, for it mentions two works noted
on the chair---- and just before them inserts, "And chapters against Gaius." Lightfoot
guessed----and, as we shall try to show, the guess was a correct one,----that there was
some intimate connexion between this work and the two apologetic treatises, suspecting
that it was composed of extracts taken from them.

16 To return to the Canon itself. Lightfoot not unnaturally attempted to discover the
original Greek that lay behind Muratori's text, and his first effort showed that some of
the Latin went naturally into Greek Iambics, and it was possible to retranslate the whole
into verse. It is true that there were certain metrical licences, but, as Lightfoot
pointed out, they were frequently surpassed by writers of the same age. Now near the end
of one of the lists of Hippolytus' works was an item entitled. This was suspected to be a
metrical account of the books of the Old and the New Testaments, The first part of this
was assumed to have perished, but possibly the second survives in a mutilated form in the
Muratorian Canon. This, then, is a brief outline of the position in which Lightfoot left
the study of this fragment. The next phase began with the discovery of a MS. of a
commentary on the Apo-calypse by Dionysius Bar Salibi, a Syrian father of the twelfth
century. The MS. is in the British Museum (Add. 7185), and was there studied by Dr. Gwynn
of Dublin.

17 Dr. Gwynn published the results of his investigations in Hermathena (vol. vi. pp.
397-418). He found in the MS. in question five passages where Bar Salibi quotes from a
work of Hippolytus against Gaius. The quotations are introduced with a brief objection by
the "heretic" Gaius, who insists in each case that the teaching of the Apocalypse is not
in accord with the teaching of Jesus and the Apostles. The answer of Hippolytus is given
in a condensed form----as, indeed, are nearly all Bar Salibi's quotations from other
authors. From these passages Dr. Gwynn deduces three direct and certain conclusions. 1.
They establish the separate existence of Gaius, thus refuting the view of his identity
with Hippolytus which Lightfoot had put forward. 2. Gaius rejected the Apocalypse on the
ground stated above. 3. Hippolytus wrote a work in refutation of this view. This, Dr.
Gwynn thinks, is not the same as the Apology for the Apocalypse and the Gospel. (But Dr.
Gwynn translates the Syriac words "mappaq brucha" as "Exposition," although the usual
rendering is that of Lightfoot, "Apology.")

18 To these he adds, as a safe inference, that the Muratorian Canon was not the work of
Gaius, since the Canon includes the Apocalypse, while Gaius rejected it. It also seemed
equally certain to Dr. Gwynn that Gaius accepted the Fourth Gospel. This is due to the
fact that Hippolytus quoted it against him, and was unlikely to appeal to a disputed book.
Further, one of the passages quoted proves that Epiphanius knew and used the same work
that Bar Salibi employed in this Commentary. This work Dr. Gwynn believed to be the lost "
Refutation of the thirty-two heresies," which is now identified with the Philosophumena.
19 The next step was taken by Rendel Harris, in a paper read before the Society for
Historical Theology in November, 1895. Dr. Harris has since published this essay
(Presbyter Gaius and the Fourth Gospel) in a small volume, entitled Hermas in Arcadia.
Working on the same material as Dr. Gwynn, the Cambridge scholar found himself able to go
further in his knowledge of Gaius, and succeeded in explaining one of the difficulties
which hindered our acceptance of the view that Gaius attributed the Apocalypse to
Cerinthus. He was also able to show, from Bar Salibi's commentary on the Fourth Gospel,
that Gaius had denied the Johannine authorship of that book in just the same way as he
criticised the Apocalypse. Dr. Harris goes on to suggest, by a reference to the passage in
Epiphanius already cited by Gwynn, that Gaius was one, perhaps the leader, of the heretics
known as the Alogi. It is strange to find that Harnack (Chronologie der altchristlichen
Litteratur, p. 227) still refuses to admit that Gaius rejected the Gospel of John, on the
ground that Eusebius could not have described him as being (H.E. ii. 25). This is
certainly a difficulty; but in the face of the overwhelming evidence which we now have to
the contrary, we can no longer agree with Gwynn and Harnack on this point.

20 Dr. Gwynn (Hermathena, vi. p. 410) notes with regret that there are two leaves missing
from the MS. of Bar Salibi on the Apocalypse in the British Museum. Fortunately a MS. of
this work has been discovered in the Tur 'Abdin, and a transcript has found its way into
the collection of Rendel Harris. This MS. is complete, and by one of those strange tricks
of fortune which are at once the hope and the despair of the critic, the missing pages
contain the solutions of some of the problems which centre round Gaius, Hippolytus and the
Muratorian Canon. The keys that have been already filed will go far towards opening the
door; but it is only within the last few months that the exact piece of metal has been
found which will fit the lock without further manipulation. This is true, at any rate, as
far as the authorship of the Muratorian Canon is concerned; and there are one or two other
problems whose answer is given with certainty.

21 Bar Salibi is a good scholar and a sound critic, and well repays study. The
introduction to the Commentary on the Apocalypse is so interesting that it will be well
worth quoting at some length:----

IX.

1 "Now that we have finished the exposition of the Gospel, brethren, fully and very
clearly, we come and approach the exposition of the Revelation of John the Evangelist. But
do you, readers, with the students of the spiritual enquiries maintain your prayers for
Dionysius the stranger, according as you also will be saved. At the beginning of the
treatise we must say that there are many teachers who are in doubt regarding the
Revelation of John, and say that it is not his. And Eusebius of Caesarea declares the same
thing in his ecclesiastical writings (i.e. in the History of the Church). For Dionysius,
bishop of Alexandria, says that the Revelation was not that of John the Apostle, but of
another John, 'the Presbyter,' who lived in Asia. The reason is, that the style of the
Revelation is not like the type of the language of the Gospel. Also John makes no mention
of his name at all in the Gospel, but does put his name at the beginning and end of the
Revelation. Now we agree that he received the Revelation of which he wrote from our Lord.
Irenaeus the bishop, and Hippolytus of Bozra say that the Revelation is that of John the
Evangelist, and that it was granted about the end of the reign of Domitian. And Eusebius
of Caesarea agrees with this, but immediately says that some do not accept it as being the
Revelation of John the Apostle, so saying that it is the work of John the Elder, who was a
contemporary of John the Apostle. And there are two tombs in Asia, one being that of the
Evangelist, the other that of John the Elder.

2 Hippolytus of Rome states that a man named Gaius had appeared, who said that neither the
Gospel nor yet the Revelation was John's; but that they were the work of Cerinthus the
heretic. And the blessed Hippolytus opposed this Gaius, and showed that the teaching of
John in the Gospel and Revelation was different from that of Cerinthus. "This Cerinthus
was one who taught circumcision, and was angry with Paul when he did not circumcise Titus,
and the Apostle calls him and his disciples in one of his letters 'sham apostles, crafty
workers.' Again he teaches that the world was created by angels, and that our Lord was not
born of a virgin. He also teaches carnal eating and drinking, and many other blasphemies.
The Gospel and Revelation of John, however, are like the teaching which the Scriptures
contain; and so they are liars who say that the Revelation is not by the Apostle John."
And we agree with Hippolytus that the Revelation is the Evangelist John's. This is
attested by S. Cyril and Mar Severus, and all the teachers who bring evidence from it.
Also the Theologian, in his 'Address to the Nation,' testifies that there is no proof from
the conclusion, and says, 'as John taught me by his Revelation; He made a way for thy
people, and these stones'----where he calls the heretics and their teaching stones."

3 This is good criticism, and we shall want it again. In the meantime, Bar Salibi plunges
at once into exposition:---- "The Revelation of Jesus Christ, etc.----Hence he begins with
that which was revealed to him in a vision concerning those things which were about to be.
To His servant John.----He records his name in the Revelation that we may believe what he
saw. In the Gospel he does not record his name, because there was no need for it there,
since all the Apostles were witnesses of what our Lord did. John to the seven Churches
which are in Asia.----By Churches, he indicates cities, and calls them Churches because of
the excellence of the elect who were in them. He says "seven," because the number seven
was in high esteem among the Hebrews in the Scriptures. And there are seven gifts of One
Spirit descending on one Church. Hippolytus says that in writing to seven Churches, he
writes just as Paul wrote thirteen letters, but wrote them to seven Churches. That to the
Hebrews he does not judge to be Paul's, but perhaps Clement's."

4 We have gone far enough. We have heard something like this before. "Cum ipse beatus
Apostolus Paulus sequens prodecessoris sui Johannis ordinem nonnisi nominatim septem
ecclesiis scribat ordine tali:----ad Corinthios prima, ad Ephesios secunda, ad
Philippenses tertia, ad Colossenses quarta, ad Galatos quinta, ad Thessalonicenses sexta,
ad Romanos septima. Verum Corintheis et Thessalonicensibus licet pro correptione iteretur,
una tamen per omnem orbem terrae ecclesia diffusa esse denoscitur, et Johannis enim in
Apocalypsi licet septem ecclesiis scribat, tamen omnibus dicit." So runs the fragment of
Muratori. What are we to say? 5 Muratori's own guess as to the Gaian authorship of this
fragment is at any rate proved to be impossible by the above quotation from Bar Salibi.
For the Canon accepts both the Apocalypse and the Fourth Gospel as being Johannine; Gaius
accepted neither. But the mention of Pius seems to prove that the Canon is at least of the
age of Hippolytus and Gaius. The probabilities were, before, on the side of the
Hippolytean authorship; it looks as though they were considerably strengthened. It is
obvious, however, that Bar Salibi is not quoting exactly, and, unfortunately, we have no
means of testing his other quotations from Hippolytus, unless Epiphanius be allowed to
represent Hippolytus more closely. But we can compare his references to Eusebius with that
author's Syriac text, and the result we reach is the certainty that Bar Salibi's
quotations are not necessarily verbal. He only means to reproduce the thought. This being
so, we shall have no longer any hesitation in saying that our Syrian Father is quoting the
Muratorian Canon as being the work of Hippolytus. The proof is not mathematical, but there
seems to be no real objection on a priori grounds; so that there is now as strong a
presumption as criticism ever needs, and a much stronger one than it usually finds. If the
scale pans wavered at all before, this extra weight will carry them down with a run.

6 But we now have a further light on the Canon itself. The omission of the Epistle to the
Hebrews has puzzled every one, Westcott included. The Canon, however, is universally
admitted to be incomplete, and its testimony to the fourteenth "Pauline" epistle would
have been most valuable. We have no other indication of Hippolytus' views on the
authorship beyond the bare fact that he did not regard it as Paul's. Origen and Eusebius
both report that some people have regarded it as being the work of Clement of Rome. Now
for the first time we have a name attached to that suggestion, and while we feel that the
Clementine authorship is out of the question, it is interesting to note that it had such
respectable support as that of Hippolytus in his Canon. So we come to a further question.
What is the work of which this document forms a part? Lightfoot, finding that he was able
to write it in Greek verse, suggested the "Odes on all the Scriptures." And this indeed
seems at first sight a very suitable place for the Canon. But a scholar of Lightfoot's
calibre would probably have little difficulty in rendering any Latin into Greek Iambics,
and even if it were originally metrical, it need not have formed a part of the Odes. And
we shall find reason to assign it differently.

7 In the first place we have to notice that this is not a mere guess on Bar Salibi's part.
He knows what he is quoting and he knows its source. It follows from his familiarity with
the author that he is familiar with the work containing the passage. Now, so far, we have
only detected one single work of Hippolytus on Bar Salibi's bookshelf. This is the work
against Gaius which Dr. Gwynn has referred to the Refutation of the thirty-two Heresies,
and Lightfoot to the Apology for the Apocalypse and Gospel of John. The recognition of the
Refutation under its pseudonym of Philosophumena contradicts the theory of the Irish
critic. He was unable to accept Lightfoot's identification of the "chapters against Gaius"
with the Apology, because he believed that Gaius accepted the Fourth Gospel, and
Hippolytus was evidently opposing some one who rejected it. The passage cited from Bar
Salibi proves conclusively that Gaius did not regard John as the author of the Fourth
Gospel. He is in the critical position of the "Alogi," and we feel ourselves justified in
regarding him as their leader and the principal object of Hippolytus' attack. It is still
difficult to explain Eusebius' respect for Gaius, and we do not quite understand how
Hippolytus could quote against him from the Fourth Gospel. But we feel that although these
objections would have weight in the absence of other evidence, they cannot be allowed to
stand in face of the direct and positive testimony of Bar Salibi.

8 The removal of this objection leaves open the way for the other hypothesis----that there
is an essential connexion between the "chapters against Gaius" and the Apology for the
Apocalypse and Gospel of John. It may be noted that it is not at all improbable that this
was what Ebed Jesu intended to imply in his catalogue of Hippolytus' works. A very brief
acquaintance with the ways of Syriac scribes justifies us in omitting a conjunction, or at
least in suspecting its presence. And in all probability Ebed Jesu intended to write first
the full title of the work and then denote two of its sections, one concerned with the
Apocalypse, the other with the Fourth Gospel. This view is strongly supported by the way
in which the combatants are introduced by Bar Salibi. "The blessed Hippolytus," he says,
"opposed this Gaius"----qam luqbal hana Gaius----a phrase so like the title of Hippolytus'
work "rishe luqbal Gaius " as to justify us in regarding it as a reminiscence thereof.
Lightfoot may have felt that Bar Salibi had robbed him of a favourite theory by proving
the existence of Gaius; he has now every reason for gratitude, for on two points, the
authorship of the Muratorian Canon and the identity of the "chapters against Gaius," the
Syrian Father has unexpectedly vindicated two out of the English critic's series of
conjectures.

9 Now, this being the only work of Hippolytus which we have found in Bar Salibi's hands,
the law of parsimony of causes compels us to attribute all quotations from this author to
the same document unless we have some fairly strong evidence to the contrary. And an
examination of the evidence seems to lead to a conclusion which confirms our first
impression. We are now at liberty to use the Canon itself in order to determine its place
in Hippolytus' writings. And near the beginning we certainly find a most illuminating
passage: "Primum omnium Corinthiis schisma haeresis interdicens, deinceps Galatis
circumcisionem, Romanis autem ordinem scripturarum, sed et principium earum esse Christum
intimans, prolixius scripsit. De quibus singulis necesse est a nobis disputari." So little
has this passage been understood that some editors have even inserted "non" before
"necesse." Needless to say, this has no foundation in the MS. and it leaves the passage
really more inexplicable than ever. For why should these three epistles be especially
mentioned if there is no need to discuss them? The very fact of their selection here
shows, as Tregelles saw, that this Canon must have stood at the head of a controversial
work. The points of difference will be:----

10 1. Heresy. 2. Circumcision. 3. Canonicity of certain books of Scripture. 4.
Christology. The word "ordinem" offers a difficulty. Its use in the first passage cited
----a list of the Pauline Epistles----shows that it does not mean a definite orderly
sequence. And it seems to have been the earliest translation of the idea expressed in the
Greek ecclesiastical language by " Canon," as a Latin word is not quoted in this sense
before Augustine, while Quintilian (1, 4, 3) uses "ordo" with almost the same meaning:
"Grammatici alios auctores in ordinem redigerunt, alios omnino exemerant numero." We
recognize, therefore, that it is not simply the order of the books of the Scriptures, but
a list of those which they oontain. Moreover, there would be little point in discussing
the sequence of the books of Scripture in a treatise which involved the other matters; and
as a matter of fact the sequence is immediately set at nought.

11 Hippolytus' meaning in this extract is clear. He points out how Paul had found it
necessary to face and solve certain problems in certain of his Epistles. He remarks that
he is faced with the same questions, and will have to discuss these same matters. The
connexion in subject between this passage and Bar Salibi's quotation from Hippolytus is
abundantly clear. This Cerinthus was one who taught circumcision, and was angry with Paul
because he did not circumcise Titus, and the Apostle calls him and his disciples in one of
his letters "Sham apostles."... Again he teaches that the world was created by angels and
that our Lord was not born of a virgin. He also teaches carnal eating and drinking and
many other blasphemies." Primum omnium Corinthiis schisma haeresis interdicens, deinceps
Galatis circumcisionem; Romania autem ordinem scripturarum sed et principium earum esse
Christum intimans prolixius scripsit. De quibus singulis necesse est a nobis disputari.

12 The parallel between the various subjects is easily seen when it is remembered that Bar
Salibi does not mean to quote exactly. The question then arises, To which of Hippolytus'
works is the passage to be referred? The natural answer is, The Philosophumena; but we
have that work, and the passages concerned with Cerinthus make no mention of his Judaizing
tendency. The Chapters against Gaius, however, must have contained sections on all the
questions raised in the above citation from the Canon, because they are the points on
which Cerinthus differs from the Scriptures. It is by enumerating and discussing such
points, as Bar Salibi tells us, that Hippolytus refutes Gaius' objection to the Apocalypse
and Fourth Gospel. It becomes clear, therefore, that the most suitable suggestion for the
source of this Canon is the book entitled Chapters against Gaius. One more point may be
brought forward. Can we be sure that this Cerinthus passage in Hippolytus comes from the
same work as the other answers to Gaius? If it does, we may be fairly sure that our guess
is right, and we have reached a point between probability and certainty. For this it is
only necessary to turn to that arch-plagiarist, Epiphanius. Dr. Gwynn and Rendel Harris
have already shown that he knew and quoted the "Heads against Gaius," and indeed, that his
work is largely based on Hippolytus. We come to him with assurance, and find our
expectations fully met, in the article on Cerinthus in Epiphanius' work on Heresies. The
following extracts will make this sufficiently clear:----

14 This does not claim to be more than a preliminary discussion of the subject. A fuller
investigation of the questions involved is reserved for the publication of Bar Salibi's
Commentary on the Apocalypse. It may be possible, however, to sum up our results. We may
regard as practically certain the following:---- 1. The fact that the Muratorian Canon is
the work of Hippolytus. 2. The identity of the Chapters against Gaius with the Apology for
the Apocalypse and Gospel of John. Incidentally we may regard it as proved that Gaius
really existed. 3. The free use made by Epiphanius of the Heads against Gaius. This is one
of the subjects that needs further inquiry, and will probably throw no small light on the
history of the Church at the end of the second century. These results may be held to be
certain. To them we may add as being highly probable, though not of the same order of
probability as the others:----

15 4. The Muratorian Canon stood at or near the beginning of the treatise against Gaius in
which Hippolytus defended the Johannine authorship of the Apocalypse and Fourth Gospel.
Theodore H. ROBINSON.

Notes from the Commentary on the four gospels

16 [Roger Pearse] This material was composed and placed online after a discussion in an
online forum, provoked by the question, "What are our (ancient) sources for the datum that
Gaius, presbyter of Rome, attacked the fourth gospel and the apocalypse of John?" The
answer given was: No single source combines all those details in one place. Rather, it is
a conclusion reached by coordinating different ancient and medieval sources, including:
Irenaeus, AH 3.11.9; Eusebius, HE 6.20.1-3 and 7.25.2; Epiphanius, Pan 51; Photius, Bibl;
and Dionysius bar Salibi, In Apoc at Rev 8:8, 12, 9:2-3, 15, and 20:2-3. These sources are
collected, quoted, discussed, and criticized by Charles E. Hill, The Johannine Corpus in
the Early Church (Oxford: University Press, 2004), 172-204. I found from Sebastian Brock,
A brief outline of Syriac literature,Moran Etho 9, Kottayam (1997), that Dionysius (or
Jacob) Bar Salibi (aka Dionysius Syrus) died in 1197 AD, and was a monophysite author.
From W. Wright, A short history of Syriac Literature (A&C Black, 1894, reprint. Gorgias
2001) I learn that copious extracts from his commentary on the NT were translated in to
Latin; there are, in fact, English translations of portions of the commentary on the
gospels (tr. Loftus, 1672, 1695), and on revelation (tr. J. Gwyn, Hermathena 6, p.397ff,
and 7, p.137ff, the latter containing extracts from Hippolytus on Matthew; the journal
started in 1873).

17 Hill, based Pierre Prigent (Hippolyte, Commentateur de l'Apocalypse, in Theologische
Zeitschrift 28, 1972, pages 391-412; Les Fragments du De Apocalypse d'Hippolyte, in
Theologische Zeitschrift 29, 1973, pages 313-333; Citations d'Hippolyte trouvée dans le
ms. Bodl. Syr 140, in Theologische Zeitschrift 30, 1974, pages 82-85, with R. Stehly) and
Allen Brent (Hippolytus and the Roman Church in the Third Century, Supplement to Vigilae
christianae 31, 1995), argued that Bar Salibi in fact did not possess the so-called Heads
against Caius, but rather a florilegium of Hippolytan extracts that included legendary
embellishments. Bar Salibi, On the Apocalypse This work has been printed, with a Latin
translation, by Sedlacek. His Latin translation of the introduction to the Apocalypse
reads: Postquam enim absolvimus expositionem Evangelii, o frater noster, fuse et
lucidissime, parati sumus aggredi explicationem Apocalypsis Iohannis evangelistae. Vos
autem lectores, cum incitatoribus petitionum spiritualium, orationes emittite pro Dionysio
peregrino, ut et vos sanemini.

18 Initio sermonis dicimus multos magistros dubitavisse de Apocalypsi Iohannis et dixisse
eam ipsius non esse. Et hoc exponit Eusebius Caesaraeensis in libro eqlisiastiqi seu
Historiarum ecciesiasticarum. Dicit enim Dionysius, episcopus Alexandriae: Apocalypsis non
est Iohannis apostoli, sed Iohannis alius, presbyteri, qui habitabat in Asia; nam non est
similis typus, id est species sermonis, Evangelii et Apocalypsis. Et Iohannes nullibi in
Evangelio commemoravit suum nomen; hic vero, initio et fine Apocalypsis posuit nomen suum.
Et a Domino nostro accepisse revelationem eum, qui eam scripsit, profitemur. Irenaeus
episcopus et Hippolytus Bosrae dicunt Apocalypsim Iohannis evangelistae esse et sub finem
regni Domitiani ipsi revelatam esse. Etiam Eusebius Caesaraeensis his assentit at statim
dicit: Si quis non admittit Apocalypsim esse Iohannis apostoli, evangelistae, dicimus:
ergo est Iohannis presbyteri, qui tempore Iohannis apostoli extitit. Et duo sunt sepulcra
in Asia, unum evangelistae et alterum Iohannis presbyteri. Hippolytus Romanus dixit:
Apparuit vir, nomine Caius, qui asserebat Evangelium non esse Iohannis, nec Apocalypsim,
sed Cerinthi haeretici ea esse. Et contra hunc Caium surrexit beatus Hippolytus et
demonstravit aliam esse doctrinam Iohannis, in Evangelio et in Apocalypsi, et aliam
Cerinthi.

19 Ille quidem Cerinthus docebat circumcisionem, et iratus est in Paulum, quod non
circumciderat Titum, et vocat apostolum eiusque discipulos in quadam e suis epistulis
"apostolos falsos et operarios fallaces". Docebat etiam mundum ab angelis creatum esse; et
non e virgine Dominum nostrum natum esse, et cibum et potum materiales, et multas
blasphemias. Evangelium et Apocalypsis Iohannis mentem Scripturarum sequuntur; ergo
mendaces sunt qui dicunt Apocalypsim non esse Iohannis apostoli. Nos autem Hippolyto
assentimur. Etiam Iohannis evangelistae esse Apocalypsim testatur s. Cyrillus, et Mar
Severus et omnes Doctores qui adducunt testimonia in libris suis, sed etiam Theologus in
oratione valedictoria ab eo adducit argumentum et dicit: "Quemadmodum docet me Iohannes
per revelationem suam: 'Auferte viam populo meo; et hos lapides'...", cum "lapides"
haereticos et doctrinam eorum vocat.

I.E.

1 After in fact we finished the exposition of the gospels, o our brother, on a grand scale
and very clearly, we were prepared to attempt an explication of the Apocalypse of John the
Evangelist. However you, dear readers, with those who incite spiritual petitions, please
utter prayers on behalf of Dionysius the pilgrim, so that you also may be saved. In the
beginning of the text, we say that many masters have doubted concerning the Apocalpyse of
John and said that it is not his. And this Eusebius of Caesarea expounds in the book The
Church or The Church History. For Dionysius, bishop of Alexandria says: The Apocalypse is
not by the apostle John, but by another John, a presbyter, who used to live in Asia; for
they are not of the same type, that is species of text, in the Gospel and the Apocalypse.
And John nowhere in the Gospel mentions his name; but here, at the start and end of the
Apocalypse he gives his name. And we declare that we have received from our Lord his
revelation, who wrote it. Bishop Irenaeus and Hippolytus of Bosra say that the Apocalypse
is by John the Evangelist and was revealed to him at the end of the reign of Domitian.
Also Eusebius of Caesarea assents to these things and immediately says: If anyone does not
admit that the Apocalypse is by John the apostle, the evangelist, we say: therefore it is
by John the presbyter, who lived in the time of John the apostle. And there are two
sepulchers in Asia, one of the evangelist and the other of the presbyter John.

2 Hippolytus of Rome said: A man appeared, by name Caius, who used to assert that the
Gospel was not by John, nor the Apocalypse, but that they are by the heretic Cerinthus.
And against this Caius the blessed Hippolytus rose up and demonstrated that the teaching
of John, in the Gospel and in the Apocalypse, was one thing, and that of Cerinthus
another. This Cerinthus indeed used to teach circumcision, and was angry against Paul,
because he did not circumcise Titus, and he calls the apostle and his disciples in some of
his letters "false apostles and workers-for-hire". He also used to teach that the world
was created by angels; and that our Lord was not born from a virgin, and the importance
(?) of food and drink, and many blasphemies. The Gospel and Apocalypse of John [both?]
follow the plan of the Scriptures; therefore they are liars who say that the Apocalypse is
not by John the apostle. However we agree with Hippolytus. Also there testify that the
Apocalypse is by John the evangelist: St.Cyril, and Mar Severus, and all the Doctors [of
the church], who adduce witnesses in their books, but also [Gregory] Theologus in the
valedictory oration adduces an argument from this and says: "In the way that John teaches
me by his revelation: 'take away the way from my people and these stones'...", where he
calls heretics and their doctrine "stones".

3 (Cyril=Cyril of Alexandria, Mar Severus = Severus of Antioch, Theologus = Gregory
Nazianzen). Bar-Salibi, Commentary on the Four Gospels Charles E. Hill mentioned that
further information about Gaius was available from a further work of Dionysius, although
his comments were rather too compressed: Another advance, however, came in 1895, when
Rendel Harris reported the existence of another fragment from bar Salibi, this one in a
Latin translation made by Dudley Loftus in the seventeenth century (Bodleian Fell 6 and 7)
from a now lost Syriac manuscript of bar Salibi's Commentary on the Gospel of John. In
this work Gaius is recorded as criticizing the author of the Fourth Gospel with one of the
same objections which Epiphanius had attributed to the Alogi. 'A certain heretic Gaius
criticized John because he did not agree with his fellow evangelists who say [emend to: in
that he says] that after the baptism he went to Galilee and performed the miracle of the
wine at Cana' (John 2:1-11).

4 This, at last, appeared to establish that Gaius had also opposed the Fourth
Gospel—though doubts were still possible for the sceptic, for Loftus's translation of the
name of Gaius was evidently based on a Syriac text which included it only as 'added in the
margin by a later hand'! Another Syriac copy of the text discovered later (British Museum
Add. 12,143) in fact did not include the name of the heretic. The objection is followed in
the commentary, however, by a reply from Hippolytus, as in the extracts from the
Commentary on Revelation. In any case, Harris's discovery was corroborated when T. H.
Robinson in 1906 discovered and published a manuscript of bar Salibi's Commentary on
Revelation which contained its prologue (missing in the manuscript used by Gwynn), in
which bar Salibi explicitly named Gaius as one who attributed both Johannine works to
Cerinthus. 'Hippolytus of Rome states that a man named Gaius had appeared, who said that
neither the Gospel nor yet the Revelation was John's; but that they were the work of
Cerinthus the heretic. And the blessed Hippolytus opposed this Gaius, and showed that the
teaching of John in the Gospel and Revelation was different from that of Cerinthus.'

5 J. R. Harris, Hermas in Arcadia and Other Essays (Cambridge, 1896), 48-9. Text from an
unpublished Syriac MS, Cod. Paris. syr. 67, fol. 270, r, col. 2, contained in the
Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, tr. by Smith, 'Gaius', 200-1, 591. Smith, 'Gaius', 201.
That MS is Cod. Mus. Britt. Add. 7184, fo. 2432. Cf. Brent, Hippolytus, 145. T. H.
Robinson, 'The Authorship of the Muratorian Canon', The Expositor, 7/1 (1906), 481-95.
Ibid. 487. Dionysius' commentary was finally published in full in 1909 (I. Sedlacek).
Sedlacek = Dionysius bar Salibi In Apocalypsim, Actus et Epistulas Catholicas Part:
[Syriac text] / edidit I. Sedlácek. Series: Corpus scriptorum Christianorum orientalium;
vol.53. Publisher: Parisiis: E Typographeo Reipublicae, 1909. Physical desc.: 170p; 25cm.
Note: Syriac text and Latin translation. Other Names: Sedlácek, Jaroslav, 1860-1925. Brent
= Alan Brent, Hippolytus and the Roman Church in the Third Century: Communities in Tension
before the Emergence of a Monarch-Bishop, VCSuppl. 31 (Leiden, 1995).

6 Smith = Smith, Joseph Daniel. Title: Gaius and the Controversy Over the Johannine
Literature [microform]. Notes: UMI80-11552 Dissertation: Thesis (Ph. D.)--Yale University,
Department of Religious Studies, 1979. Hill was mistaken in supposing that the manuscript
used by Loftus was lost. In Harris, Hermas in Arcadia, it states that the manuscript is
now in Trinity College Dublin. An email to their library revealed the existance of a Ms.
1512 containing the Commentarius in Quatuor Evangelia by Dionysius (Jacob) Barsalibi.
According to their catalogue it was written by "Matthew, son of John, for his nephew
Mathew, son of Bakhtitujar, A. Gr. 1509; A.D. 1198." Hill's comments on the Commentary on
the Gospel of John are also somewhat condensed. The work is in fact a Commentary on the
Four Gospels. Fell translated a Syriac manuscript now in Trinity College Dublin (Ms. 1512)
into Latin, creating the handwritten Bodleian Mss. Fell 6 and 7 (which I have seen: it is
a large work, and so split in two volumes; 6 contains comments on Matthew and Mark, 7 the
remainder, together with some material on the Pauline letters, and ends with a note that
the manuscript didn't contain very much more, but was so corrupt he could not continue).
Loftus published some extracts from Dionysius in English:

7 Loftus did publish an English translation of materials from the Commentary on the
Gospels, and there is a copy in Cambridge University Library, since I saw it in the
catalogue om Wednesday but was too rushed to look at it: A clear and learned explication
of the history of our blessed Saviour Jesus Christ: taken out of above thirty Greek,
Syriack, and other oriental authors: by Dionysius Syrus,... and faithfully translated by
D. Loftus. / [by] DIONYSIUS BAR SALIBI, Bishop of Amadia; Loftus, Dudley; JESUS CHRIST.
(1695) In this he states his intention to publish the Latin translation of the Commentary,
but in fact he never did so. However his manuscript was intended for a publisher, so is
quite readable. I could only transcribe a small portion, which took around an hour (John
is contained in folios 105-193); this is from f.124, where his commentary on chapter 2 of
John starts. From the top of the page (underlinings by Loftus):

8 Et die tertio factum est convivium. Expositio Mosis Bar Capha, -- non conformendo hunc
diem cum die baptismi, ita dixit, sed cum isto die quo rediit e deserto, cum vicisset
Diabolum; si enim cum die baptismi eum contulisset, composisetur esse quartus dies, non
tertius, quia antea dixit die postero, id est, post diem interrogationis sacerdotum vidit
Johannes Jesum bonientem, alioque die stabat, & duo ex discipulis eius, alio etiam die
voluit Jesus exire in Galileam; non refert igitur hunc diem ad diem baptismi sed ad ipsum
quo rediit e deserto.-- Sanctus Hypolitus Romanus) dies primus, ipso fuit, quo
interrogarunt Pharisei Johannem, Quis es? et secundus dies, fuit ipse, quo baptisavit
Dominum nostrum, statimque abiit in desertum, ibique mansit quadraginta dies et postea
rediit, primus dies fuit, quando vidit eum ambulantem & secuti sunt eum duo discipuli,
secundus quando abiit in Galileam, tertius quando factum est convivium. Gaius haereticus
reprehendebat Johannem quia non concors fuit cum sociis dicontibus, quod post baptismum
abiit in Galileam. et fecit miraculum vini in Kaina). Santus Hippolytus e contrario, s??
dicit (?), Christus postquam baptizatus fuerat abiit in desertum, et quando inquisitio
facta erat de illo per discipulos Johannis et per populum, quarebant eum & non
inveniebant, quia in deserto erat, cum vero finita fuisset temptatio & rediisset, venit in
partos habitatas non ut baptizaretur, baptizatus enim iam fuerat, sed ut monstraretur a
Johanne qui dixit intuens eum, Ecce agnus Dei! [etc]

10 And on the third day the (wedding) feast happened. The exposition of Moses Bar Kepha,
-- this day cannot be made to agree with the day of baptism 1, but with that day when he
returned from the desert 2, when he had conquered the Devil; for if it be tied to the day
of baptism, four days will be computed, because earlier he said 'the next day', i.e.,
after the day of the interrogation of the priests, John saw Jesus and his goodness, and on
another day also two of his disciples, and on another day again Jesus wanted to leave
Galilee; therefore this day does not relate to the day of baptism, but to that on which he
returned from the desert. -- St. Hippolytus of Rome) the first day, so-called, when the
Pharisees asked John, Who are you? and the supposed second day, when he baptised our Lord,
and at once He went off into the desert, and remained there for 40 days, and afterwards
returned, was the first day, because he saw him walking and two disciples were following
him; the second when he went off into Galilee, the third when the (wedding) feast
happened. Gaius the heretic used to criticise John because he was not in agreement with
his fellow narrators because (he says that) after the baptism he went off into Galilee and
performed the miracle of the wine in Cana). St.

11 Hippolytus, on the contrary, [uncertain in ms. -- says to this?], Christ, after he had
been baptised, went off into the desert, and when an inquiry was made concerning him by
the disciples of John, and by the people, seeking and not finding him, because he was in
the desert, when indeed the temptation had been finished and he had returned, he came into
the habitable parts, not to be baptised, for he had already been baptised, but that he
might be pointed out by John who said, looking at him, Behold the lamb of God! [etc] 12 1.
Matt. 3:13. 2. Luke 4:14. A modern edition of the Commentary exists, in the CSCO series,
with Latin translation: Dionysii bar Salibi Commentarii in Evangelia: Ediderunt I.
Sedlacek, I.-B. Chabot et A. Vaschalde Series: Corpus scriptorum christianorum
orientalium. Scriptores syri; t. 33, 40, 47, 49 Corpus scriptorum christianorum
orientalium; v.77, 85, 95, 98 Publisher: Louvain: Secrétariat du CorpusSCO, 1953 However
this stopped at the end of Luke, on the death of Sedlacek. The portions on John have never
been published. But the Syriac of this portion of the Commentary on the Four Gospels was
published by J.Rendel Harris in his article, and he consulted two manuscripts. In this he
determined that, in British Library Ms. Add. 7184, the name 'Gaius' was added above the
line by a later hand; in another copy of the same text in the same library, B.L. Add.
12143, the addition of the name 'Gaius' was not present at all.


A TREATISE AGAINST THE MELCHITES (MINGANA TRANSLATION)
======================================================

A TREATISE AGAINST THE MELCHITES (MINGANA TRANSLATION) Dionysius bar Salibi

d. AD 1171

Bar Ṣalībī’s treatise against the ‘Greeks’ or Melchites, the Chalcedonian Christians of
Syria, in ten chapters on the sign of the cross, the Trisagion and the person of Christ.
It is a rare work of the twelfth-century Syriac Orthodox controversy, and Mingana’s
prefatory note is kept with it.

PREFATORY NOTE

1 (i) A Treatise of Barṣalībi against the Melchites. I GIVE in the following pages the
translation, accompanied by a critical apparatus, of a very rare treatise of Dionysius
Barṣalībi, the well-known West Syrian or Jacobite writer who died in A.D. 1171. The
treatise is indeed so rare that not even a reference to it is found in Baumstark, and no
acquaintance with its existence is shown by the early Syrian bibliographer who wrote a
complete list of Barṣalībi's works. The treatise is in the form of a discussion with, or
rather a long address to, a certain Rabban 'Ishō', a West Syrian monk of some importance,
who had evidently shown some leniency towards the Melchites, and was about to leave, or
had already left, his own community to join them. He had written a long letter to
Barṣalībi on this subject, and it is this lost letter that has given birth to the present
treatise. Barṣalībi analyses verbatim his opponent's missive, and refutes it. As the
author does not give any clear indication where his own sentence ends and that of his
adversary begins, I have experienced some difficulty in following his argumentation; but I
believe that I have succeeded in overcoming the obstacles thrown in our way in this
matter, but not without sacrificing to the altar of clearness my predilection for literal
translations.

2 I have, therefore, been compelled to mark in the translation Rabban 'Ishō's text by the
words: "You write" which are not in the text, and here and there I have added words and
even complete phrases in order to make it easier for the English reader to follow the
author's too concise, too disconnected, and sometimes obscure reasoning. The "Greeks"
assailed by Barṣalibi are better known to us under the name of Melchites, who in the West
Syrian Orthodox Church are generally styled "Chalcedonians," although the appellation
"Melchites" is also very often ascribed to them. The Syriac MS. in which the treatise is
found constitutes an integral part of my own collection of Syriac MSS., in the custody of
the Rendel Harris Library, Birmingham, where it has the class-mark Syriac MS. Mingana 4.
It was copied in A.D. 1895 by Deacon Matthew, from a very ancient MS. preserved in Ṭūr
'Abdīn, near the monastery of Dair uz-za'farān, the residence of the monophysite
Patriarchs of Antioch. Because of the rarity of the MS. I have deemed it advisable to give
a complete facsimile of its text, and refer in the footnotes of the translation to some
lexicographical and grammatical errors made either by the first or by the second copyist.
An index of proper names will be found at the end of the work.

3 We will further write the ten chapters composed by Dionysius, metropolitan of Amed, who
is the illustrious Jacob Bar Ṣalibi, against Rabban 'Ishō'. The humble Dionysius, the
servant of God, offers you his greetings and his prayers, O Rabban 'Ishō'; may you be in
the keeping of Providence! Any work from which spring good and gain for the souls of both
the speaker and the attentive hearer, is not to be hindered or silenced. These words we
write at the beginning of our discourse to you, as we have read your conciliatory treatise
which stands between truth and falsehood in order not to hurt anybody's feelings. In
another place we will deal with the worldly questions that it raises. So far as the
spiritual questions which give life to the souls are concerned, it is more advantageous to
strive after undiluted truth and avoid ambiguity, especially in our dealings with those
people who twist the facts and mix straw with corn, water with wine, and all kinds of
impure alloys with gold. The Apostle of the Gentiles has said: "Prove all things, hold
fast that which is good, and abstain from any form of evil." See how Paul teaches us to
prove and examine everything, and hold fast that which is good before God, and flee from
all bad things and false teaching, as from nests of snakes.

4 We are also shown how a man can learn with certitude where truth lies: he must either
follow one who is universally acknowledged to be wise and learn little by little from him,
as Philip taught the eunuch of the Queen of Sheba, or he must read studiously the Books of
the Spirit and acquire from them the knowledge of truth. He who believes that he has
attained truth from hearsay, or from the ravings of a seducer, or from the sight of an
occurrence that happens to be in harmony with his beliefs, does not lean on truth but on a
broken reed, on a shadow only. But it is time now to embark on our subject.

CHAPTER 1. ON THE SIGN OF THE CROSS

1 You wrote to us that neither from nature nor from any book did you learn to cross
yourself with two fingers, but that you are following in this the habit of the Greeks, of
the Franks, and of twenty-four other peoples such as the Iberians, Alans, Russians,
Hungarians and others who cross themselves with two fingers. This, O Rabban 'Ishō', we
will answer in the following manner: 2 An intelligent man like you should weigh his words
in the balance of justice before uttering them. If you have not acquired a subject from a
book, nor learned it from nature, the two sources which embrace all the universe, how then
can you neglect the truth of both book and nature, and follow something that is not based
on any real foundation? The Book says: " Remove not the eternal landmark; " now if the
landmark is nature and book, in rejecting them both we naturally trespass on the
boundaries of truth. Christ did not destroy the law but fulfilled it, and we contend that
we are not to follow nature and the law, but to step in strange paths! Do we not fear then
a rebuke from David who says: " When thou sawest a thief, then thou consentedst with him,
and hast been partaker with adulterers." Among the peoples whom you have mentioned there
is injustice, murder, immorality and many other abominations; should we follow them in
these? Sound judgement forbids it. Even those people whom you have mentioned, if they do
not prove the truth they hold from nature and book, no one will ever induce himself to
listen to them, and their own followers will forsake them. But we who are right and
possessors of the truth, will demonstrate to you that we are walking in the path of nature
and book, and that is why we make the sign of the cross with one finger only.

3 First, nature teaches us that the cross to which Christ was attached was not composed of
double pieces of wood stretched in its perpendicular and horizontal side, as a symbol to
the two fingers used by the Greeks in crossing themselves, but had only one piece of wood
on each side. Further, the rod of Moses which was a symbol of the cross, was one and not
two like that symbolized by two fingers. Finally, the crosses made of silver, brass and
wood, and those found on the walls are not fashioned by the peoples you mentioned in
double perpendicular and horizontal lines, but in one line only as the symbol of one
finger. These arguments from nature will suffice, and we will now enumerate the arguments
from book. 4 That universal Doctor, John Chrysostom, clearly shows this in saying thus in
the fifty-third discourse of his commentary on Matthew: "(Paul's saying) 'Ye are bought
with a price,'" signifies the price paid on your behalf, and it does not fit you to be the
servants of any man. (Paul) alludes by the word "Price" to the cross; you should not make
the sign of the cross with the finger in a simple way, but you should first make it with
will and with great faith; and then if you print it in this way on your forehead, no vile
demon will be able to prevail against you." See how the Doctor speaks of one finger only
and not of two or three. If we were to cross ourselves with two fingers he would have said
"with the fingers" or "with two fingers." Further, when the Apostle Thomas wished to test
the resurrection of the One who was crucified, he only desired to put his finger into the
print of the nails, because he said: " Except I put my finger into the print of the nails,
I will not believe." And when our Lord revealed Himself to him, He said, " Reach hither
thy finger." See how the Book mentioned one finger only in the first and the second
instances, and not two or several.

5 From these we may learn that the act of making the sign of the cross upon oneself or
upon the holy elements is not done with two fingers but with one only. The Greeks,
however, who believe in two natures in Christ say: " We make the sign of the cross with
two fingers because there are two natures in Christ." Against this we wrote at length in
our controversial treatise against them; here it will suffice us to say: If the natures in
Christ are as separate from each other as two fingers are, they have no unity, and the
Doctors of the Church who say that the Word was united to His flesh as fire is to iron,
are in error. Further, two fingers, although separate from each other, are really one in
substance, and thus, in the contention of the Greeks, the eternal Son of the Father would
be one in substance with the flesh which is created and subject to time; and this is
blasphemy.

6 We will further rebut the Greeks as follows: the cross teaches us that Christ, the Son,
was attached to it in the flesh, while in His divinity He was neither extended nor
attached; but with two fingers you show that He was extended on the cross and crucified in
His two natures. You are thus Theopaschites, because with the human nature you crucify God
also. As to us, we believe that as Christ is one, and the cross is one, the sign also of
the cross is to be made with one finger only; and this we have learned from both nature
and book. You write: " The sacrament of the sign of the cross consists in the Word of God
who became flesh and came down from heaven to earth, and removed mankind from the left
hand and darkness to the right hand and light." 7 We do not drive away darkness with
light, as you write, because we make the sign of the cross from right to left; everyone
knows that darkness is the very antithesis of light, and that if the latter is mixed up in
the former it becomes swallowed up in it in the same way as the bitterness of a little
brackish water in a jug of sweet water, or that of a little myrrh or wormwood in a
considerable quantity of honey. Let us admit that light drives away darkness, how can the
left hand drive away the right? Our Lord has said that He will set the sheep on His right
hand and the goats on His left; in this our Saviour demonstrated that the right cannot
expel the left, but those who make the sign of the cross from right to left, move, out of
their own free will, from the right hand to the left which is that of the goats, and are
counted with the robber who was on our Lord's left. But see how in the consecration of the
elements and in the final prayers of the service the Greeks make the sign of the cross
like us, from left to right, and in this way they contradict themselves.

8 You wrote: "twenty-four peoples use two fingers," but your number did not reach even
ten. Do not listen, therefore, to some deceivers who say that we have with us twenty-four
peoples. Further, truth is not always with the majority. Consider that there are seventy
different peoples, and that those who follow the gospel are less numerous than those who
are still pagan; and no one pretends that because of their higher number, the pagans have
greater right than we have. In the time of Abraham and Moses there was only one people,
that of the Hebrews, who worshipped God, and the rest worshipped idols, and no one says
that because of that the worshippers of idols had greater right than the single people of
the Hebrews. This suffices for this chapter.

CHAPTER 2. ALSO ON THE SIGN OF THE CROSS

1 You wrote: "What is the meaning of our making the sign of the cross with one finger?
Could we possibly have greater right than all others? Christ ordered that every word
should be established at the mouth of two or three witnesses, and in our case there are
more than three." If your words are true, it follows than wherever there are several
people holding an opinion, they have more truth than one people; and this leads us, as we
wrote in the first chapter, to the assumption that the Gentiles had more truth than the
Jews, and that Abraham was in error because he was the only one who worshipped God, and
the numerous men, his contemporaries, who worshipped idols, were right. Our Lord's
sentence: "At the mouth of two witnesses or three every word is established," has not the
meaning that you attribute to it; it bears exclusively on the fact that the testimony of a
single witness should not be accepted against a culprit, lest he should be testifying
falsely against him out of spite; when, however, there are two or three witnesses, they
could not testify against him in a biased way, but only truly and rightly.

2 You write: "Is it not more advantageous that a man should cross himself in beginning
with the right side, which is the side of light, and then pass this light over his face
and with it drive away darkness, than to cross himself from the side of darkness and pass
it over his face?" If darkness and light are defined by the right hand moving
horizontally, tell me what is meant by the first act we do in crossing ourselves, which
consists in moving our hand in a perpendicular way from our head downwards? You might say
that the top movement means light and the bottom one darkness, and that a man first takes
light and comes down to darkness, and then takes light again to another darkness. The
Greeks would have thus two lights and two darknesses, and would begin with light and end
with darkness. This theory of yours is not a happy one, and the single cross is not light
in one of its horizontal sides and darkness in the other, but it is light in both of its
sides. It is also advantageous that the end of all our works should be on the right hand,
that is to say, good, and it is thus better to end the sign of the cross with the side of
the right hand, and not with the side of the left which is, according to the words of our
Lord, that of the goats.

3 Further, we maintain that the cross of the Greeks has not only two lines in its
horizontal side, but four lines. In the first act of crossing themselves they form their
cross from top to bottom with two fingers, and then in making the horizontal part of the
cross, they form it, also with two fingers, from right to left, and finally they return
backwards to the right. The horizontal part of their cross has then two lines, nay, even
four lines, in counting the two fingers. Those who, as you put it, had driven away the
darkness of the left by the light of the right, return now from the light right to the
dark left, and take over its darkness which they carry to the right, so that they become
involved in thick darkness in both their right and left. If they were consistent with
themselves, since they form their cross from right to left, they should have crossed
themselves with the left hand, because in this way their cross would have been more
natural and it would not have been necessary for them to move their hand twice over.

4 Our ecclesiastical historians are in accord with their ecclesiastical historians in what
they wrote concerning the Emperor Constantine, that at the hour of the day in which the
sun was hottest, he saw in heaven a column of light in the shape of a cross, on which
there were the words "By this sign thou shalt conquer," and after the pattern which he saw
he fashioned the cross. Now what do the Greeks say about that column? Was it in the shape
of double columns, like the two fingers, or in the shape of one column? If in the shape of
double columns, two of which stretched perpendicularly and two horizontally, why is not
the fact mentioned in any ecclesiastical history? If the column of light was in the shape
of one column only, corresponding with one finger, why should we not have greater right
than the Greeks? And why should we not make the sign of the cross on ourselves with one
finger only, and from left to right as we, and not as they, do?

5 In administering the baptism even the Greeks make the sign of the cross on the child
with a collyrium-pencil which has one point only and not two points, which would
correspond with the two fingers, and move also the instrument from left to right as we do,
and not from right to left. Had they not done so in this case even their cross would not
have been straight but twisted. You write: "As we heard and saw, all the Fathers and
Doctors whose names I mentioned, whether they be Frankish, or Egyptian, or Greek, make the
sign of the cross with two fingers; and we have never heard that any of them has made it
with one finger." You have not attained yet the age of seventy years, and consequently you
could not have seen Athanasius the Great, Basil, Gregory Nazianzen, John Chrysostom, Cyril
of Alexandria, and others. We might believe you when you say that you heard, but who can
believe you that you saw? You should not, therefore, have written that you saw. If you
mean that you saw their books, how did you then write previously that you had not learned
this either from book or from nature? Is it because you forgot what you wrote previously
that you assert now that all of them made the sign of the cross with two fingers? If you
have heard and seen, tell us in which book and in which treatise? So far as we are
concerned we have already quoted you John Chrysostom, the glory of the Greeks, who refutes
them and corroborates us.

6 You write: "Since the Armenians profess one nature in Christ, why are they not ordered
to make the sign of the cross with one finger only?" Some of the Armenians make the sign
of the cross with two fingers, some of them with three fingers, and some of them with all
their hand, like the Franks. It is only those among them who are ignorant and mixed with
the Greeks, who make the sign of the cross with two fingers; but who can hold a discussion
with illiterate and insensible people, except those who wish to throw their pearls into
the depth of the sea? Further, the Armenians did not remain united with us long enough to
learn all the Christian sacramental customs; after having accepted the dogma of one nature
in the Word that became flesh, they left us and went after their own. They are somewhat
inconsistent with their belief; on the one hand they believe in one Lord, and in one
nature in the Word who became flesh, and on the other they believe in two natures in Him,
a proposition which they would readily reject, were they but told that it is implied in
the act of making the sign of the cross with two fingers.

7 You write: "We who make the sign of the cross with two fingers, do we believe in two
natures in Christ? God forbid that this should ever happen." If you do not believe in two
natures after the union, how then do you make the sign of the cross with two fingers? In
your mouth you believe something, and with your hand which makes the sign of the cross you
believe something else. The Greeks at any rate assert that the two fingers symbolize the
two natures in Christ. If this is not so, show us then the sacrament of the two fingers.
How can you mix up two incompatible propositions in saying "We believe like the orthodox
Syrians, and we make the sign of the cross like the Greeks?" This amounts to saying, "We
accept truth and untruth." No man can serve two masters; if we have the truth with us, you
cannot follow the others, and if the others have the truth, we are liars; and if you
pretend that both of us are right, who will believe you? How can that section of
Christians who believes in one nature that became flesh, and the other in two natures, and
how can that section of them who makes the sign of the cross with one finger and the other
who makes it with two fingers, be in harmony with each other and be equally right?

8 You write: "We should not reject the Greeks because they believe in two natures, since
apart from us and the Armenians, and a few Franks, all Christians believe in two natures
in Christ." It is narrated that a philosopher used to change his faith with every rising
king. When eventually he repented and realized that it was not good to forsake truth and
change with the times, he wrote: "Pity the salt which has lost its savour." O brother, no
one in your position should say that he does not reject the Greeks; if they are right and
should not be rejected, your own people are, therefore, wrong and should be rejected; and
if the Syrians are rejected, no one will believe you also, because you are a Syrian from
us and not from our enemies; but tell us now, if you know, which are the two natures in
which the Greeks believe? The Franks and some others call natures the Word God and the
body with a soul which He united to Himself, but the Greeks think otherwise, and their
story on this subject is a long one, and not even yet quite clear; if it ever becomes
clear, I know and I am convinced that you will never accept any Melchite. Further, how did
you assert that all Christians believe in two natures except us and the Armenians, while
the Egyptians, Nubians, Abyssinians, the majority of the Indians, and the country of Libya
which in the time of Dioscorus was composed of one thousand and five hundred parishes,
accept the faith of St. Cyril and St. Dioscorus, and of the great Severus.

9 Even the Greeks when brought face to face with the words of Athanasius the Great and
Cyril the Wise are put to shame and believe like them in one nature of the Word who became
flesh; this is written in their books and they believe in it like ourselves, but they
explain away the expression "one nature" and say afterwards "two natures" contrary to the
teaching of the Doctors, and give a meaning of their own to the words used by Cyril the
Great, and pretend that he really meant two natures, and this in spite of the fact that
those Arabs and Persians of the East and the South who are Christians understand like us
the doctrine of one nature in the Word who became flesh, and they are known to be Arabs or
Persians by the fact that they are not versed in any other language but Arabic and
Persian. Let now the subject end here.

CHAPTER 3. ON HIS HIDDEN FALSEHOOD THAT HAS BEEN EXPOSED AND ON HOW HE IS A PROTAGONIST OF THE BELIEVERS IN TWO NATURES

1 You write: "Why should we have greater truth than all? We do not agree with them in the
matter of two natures, but we should not reject them and consider them as heretics." See
how this discloses your intention to favour those who differ from us in their faith. I
will now ask you a question: Are the Syrians right or are they wrong? If they are wrong,
why do you not reject them completely? And if they are right, why do you not reject the
Chalcedonians? If you refuse to believe in two natures, you should reject also the truth
of the orthodox Syrians. As light is opposed to darkness, and good health to illness, so
that they are mutually repellent and cannot remain concomitantly in one place, so also the
one who believes in two natures in Christ after the union is opposed to the one who
believes in one nature in the Word who became flesh. You will not contradict that the two
are opposed to each other, how then do you pretend that you do not believe in two natures
like them, and at the same time not reject them? You are like the one who holds the two
ends of a rope and is unable to climb up with any of them.

2 You write: "Why should we not accept them? The Apostle said: 'Who art thou that judgest
the servant of another? To his own lord he standeth or falleth.' He also said: 'Pray for
one another,' and he did not say 'anathematize.'" Your words would have been very true, if
only the Chalcedonians would listen to you. For your sake we shall compromise and accept
them: but come now to Melitene which is not under their power and see how they tear at our
people like wolves. Anyone who through his unstability and weakness falls (and joins
them), they baptize again, and they openly call us heretics and untruthful, and out of
their own free will they do not allow anyone to enter their churches. I remonstrated
several times with them, but because of their arrogance they did not desist. Were it not
for a reason that I will not disclose, and for the fact that they would have been sneered
at by outsiders, I would have revealed their falsehood, and they would have been despised
by all; but mendacity often succeeds.

3 Now repair in your imagination to the city of their pride. You will see that it contains
a mosque for the Mohammedans, but it has no church for the Syrians and the Armenians. Do
they do this out of their good nature or out of their wickedness? By their actions they
show that the faith of the Mohammedans is better than the orthodox faith of ours. About a
hundred years ago, in the time of Ignatius of Melitene, we had a church in Constantinople,
but impelled by Satan they took possession of it, and their Patriarch of that time ordered
our books that were in it and the church vestry, and the holy chrism, to be burnt in the
middle of the bazaars. In that very night that Patriarch was struck by a sudden illness
and lost his life. What do you say about these? Glory be to the one who deprived them of
their power! If they had the power they would not have left a single Christian alive, as
their fathers did in the times of yore.

4 As to the quotation that you brought forth to the effect "Who art thou that judgest the
servant of another," it has not the significance that you attribute to it, and it has not
been said of the heretics. If it were, we should not be allowed to bring an accusation
against the Jews and the pagans, or to reprove the immoral people and the adulterers, or
to punish the criminals, the sedition-mongers, the robbers, and the murderers. Will the
Apostle come in these cases and tell us: "Who are you that judge these who are the
servants of another?" but for the tranquillity of your conscience I am going to disclose
for you the mind of the Apostle. 5 The Jews who had believed in Christ used to keep also
the law of Moses, and not to eat the food that that law considered to be unclean; but the
Gentiles who had believed in Christ used to eat everything. A disturbance arose on this
account between Jewish Christians and Christians. Paul then rose, strong in truth, against
the Jews who had believed, and he maintained that food does not bring men nearer to God
nor farther from Him; why do you force, therefore, the Gentiles to observe the old law?
and he further added: "He that is weak eateth herbs.' He meant by these words that as you
Jews are weak in faith you distinguish between this and that food (as a weak stomach does)
with regard to herbs, but he who is strong in faith eats everything and despises
distinctions between foods; let not him which eateth not judge the Christian that eateth,
for God hath received him;" that is to say, He has made him to be related to Him and not
to the law; you, therefore, O Jew, why do you judge him? He is the servant of God, how
dare you then judge him? If he standeth, that is to say by faith, he is to his Lord and
not to you; and if he falleth, as you believe, because he does not observe the legal
distinction between the foods, he is also to his own Lord. This is in short terms the
meaning of the sentence of the Apostle.

6 As to your other point, that we are commanded to pray for one another, it does not mean
that we are commanded to pray for a man to go astray from the truth of the faith and walk
in error; nor are we commanded to pray for this particular person in relation with that
particular person, but only to pray in such general terms as: O God, call all men and
bring them to Thyself. As to your saying "Paul did not say: anathematize;" but Paul did
say: "If somebody should preach unto you other than that which we preached unto you, let
him be anathema." What answer do you want us now to give to Paul? He said: "Let him be
anathema," and you say that we should not anathematize. Three hundred and eighteen bishops
assembled once and defined the Catholic faith in the Father and the Son, and reached in
the Credo as far as the passage "And in the Holy Ghost," and they anathematized Arius and
Sabellius. Then one hundred and fifty others gathered together in Constantinople,
completed the Credo, and said, "And in one Holy Ghost the Lord and vivifier of all, who
proceeds from the Father," etc., till the end of the Credo; and they anathematized the
Macedonians. Then again two hundred and fifty bishops assembled at Ephesus in the time of
the Emperor Theodosius and of the Patriarch Cyril, but they did not write a new profession
of faith nor did they add anything to the Credo in unum Deum, but they said that the faith
of the two previous Councils was sufficient; and they enacted in the Synod a Canon of
anathemas and curses against anyone who would introduce a new faith, or would add anything
to it, or diminish anything from it; and after anathematizing Nestorius and his teachers,
they went back.

7 Then after a time the Emperor Marcian assembled that unholy Council of Chalcedon. The
Fathers of it, however, did not follow in the steps of the Fathers who had preceded them,
but through the pressure brought upon them by the wicked Emperor, and by his accursed
wife, Pulcheria, and by other heretics who were present there, such as Theodoret, they
trespassed against the anathema of the Council of Ephesus, and wrote a new Credo which
begins: "We believe in the Father, in the Son, and in the Holy Ghost, and in the
incarnation of the Son." They thus made the Trinity a quaternity; and then they defined
the two natures. Now if the Greeks are anathematized, it is the Fathers of the first
Council who anathematize them; what blame then attaches to us from it? Where did you hear
in the faith of the ancients the mention of the two natures, which the Greeks have added?
Et Cetera.

CHAPTER 4. ON THE WICKED RITES AND HABITS OF THE GREEKS

1 Let us see what Rabban Isho' writes on this subject: "We (Syrians) constitute ourselves
the judges of Christians; some of them we make pagans and some others heretics. What would
be better for us to do would be to live in peace with everybody." Peace is a very
beautiful and praiseworthy thing, O honourable one, but not all peace; this is known from
the sentence uttered by our Saviour; "I am come not to cast peace on the earth but sword;
for I am come to set a father at variance against his son, and a daughter against her
mother." Learn, therefore, that peace with immoral passions and with the enemies of truth
drives us away from God. The theologian says: "A just war is better than a peace which
separates from God." Examine well the saying of this Doctor who teaches us that peace with
everybody is not advantageous.

2 Now who makes the Christians pagan except themselves? A pagan is much better than a
Christian who forsakes the true faith and follows strange religions, and is unjust,
immoral, adulterous, a murderer, a liar, or a breaker of the law. Go now to the Capital of
which you are so proud and see how much immorality prevails in it, and what is still more
terrible, how they call immorality "father." Bring also to it with you foodstuffs of any
kind and see how they will steal them from you and swear that they have not done so. 3 Let
it be also known to you that the word "Greek" is expressed in their language by
"Hellenios," which further means "pagan." What blame attaches to us from a fact to which
they themselves bear witness that their true names are "Hellenes" and "Hellenism," which
mean "pagan" and "paganism" respectively? The name "Romans" does not belong to them but to
the Franks, and it is derived from the name of "Rome" their town, and Romulus, their
ancient king; and the Greeks unjustly stole it from them. What does the word "heresy" mean
except "heterodoxy," or holding of another theological opinion? He, therefore, who adds
to, or subtracts from, the theological opinion of the ancients is an heretic. So far as we
are concerned we love so dearly our ancient Fathers because of the good habits and good
laws which they have; now what good habits do the Greeks possess? Is it the habit of
eating fish and drinking wine in Lent? Or is it that other habit of theirs by which they
rebel against God, and make men like women, in emasculating them, and defile themselves
with many abominations? What is still more terrible is that they ordain such men priests
and bishops. Paul has said: "I permit not a woman to teach," and what is the difference
between a woman and a neutered man? on the whole the difference is not very great. They
have other perverse habits about which we wrote at length elsewhere.

4 Which is the law that is observed to-day in their Capital? Not one. There is in it
nothing but iniquity, injustice and theft; the strong in it beat the weak, and the rich
plunder the poor; their soldiers enter anywhere they fancy, plunder and rob and misconduct
themselves with the wives of other men, who fear even to speak to them. You wrote: "They
have arranged rites of prayers, canons and Gospel lessons for every festival, and have
given eleven lessons to Easter; and what they read here is read in every other Church of
theirs. They have also composed Canons and Cathismata and stichera, and have written a
book which turns on eight echadia. If one is obliged to follow them for the sake of these
rites which you have mentioned, the Hebrew people had also similar rites; indeed the Torah
was not read by everybody, but only by the elders and the priests, and the prophetical
Books were only read on some special days, and what was read in Jerusalem was also read in
every country in which Jews were found, and their sacrifices were offered in one place.
David in his days set up twenty-four singers, every two of whom used to sing two hours and
were followed by a relay of two others. Coclions (= Cyclii) and various kinds of tones
never ceased to be in use in the Temple; and the Jews possessed other enactments and rites
of a similar kind. Why then we Christians do not follow the Jews? For crucifying the Son
they were humbled in spite of their tunes and rites. It is not through catechismata and
stichera that one will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, but by means of good works and
pious deeds: "The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom."

5 If the Gospel of the Syrians was different from that of the Greeks, the former might
have been blamed. But when the Gospel is one, no harm and wrong can possibly attach to
anyone who reads this or that lesson from it on a special occasion. Look at the community
of Muḥammad, their munādis or mu'adhdhins, when they cry, have the same words here and
anywhere else, and none of them adds anything to them or subtracts anything from them, but
no Christian praises them for this rite. Lo the Syrians also have arranged their prayers
in eight tones, and they perform two echadia every week. Sundays are consecrated to the
festival of the Resurrection; Mondays and Tuesdays are devoted to prayers for repentance;
Wednesdays are to the Mother of God, to the martyrs and the dead; Thursdays to the
Apostles and Doctors, to the Mother of God, to the martyrs, and to the dead; Fridays to
the Cross; and Saturdays to the Mother of God, to the martyrs and the dead.

6 The Syrians perform also every month the eight echadia like the Greeks; and they have
further Ḳabbelai Mār with the rest of the Ḳāle, while the M'irāne with the rest of the
itdakhraith are even supererogatory, and it was only the wealth of the devotions of the
Syrian Fathers that induced them to arrange them as a rite in this way. See now how the
Greeks have no special prayers for the night, apart from what they regularly recite in the
morning and in the evening, at night, and in the day-time; but the Syrians who are endowed
with great wealth of devotions have also the Shuḥlāph—Ḳāla which was recited by the
ancients, the Madhrāshé, the Ma'nyātha, the takhshpātha, the ba'wātha, with the rest of
the Ḳāle of itdakhraith, the Greek and Syriac Canons, and the 'Inyānē. The fact that
people of every country pray differently, and have something which singles them out from
the rest, goes to their credit, first because it indicates the wealth of their devotions
and spiritual vigour, and secondly because it is a sign of the incomprehensibility of God
who wishes to be glorified in different ways in different countries and towns.

7 Now you examine our Service Books and our penkyātha: if you find in them mistakes or
heresies, blame and rebuke us; but if they tell the undiluted truth, why should they be
blasphemous in their different bātē and Kīnātha? The Greeks also have different Canons,
Stichera, and Cathismata in different countries, and I myself saw in the books of the
Melchites Canons which were at Antioch recited for the saints, but which were not so used
in Melitene, and some others were substituted in their place; and the same thing happens
with them in other countries, as it happens also with the Franks, the Armenians and other
Christians. Tones and words vary with countries and persons. What harm is there in the
simple service of Maksa? It contains "multum in parvo," and has been arranged for the
sick, and at one time, for the nuns. Now that it has been established everywhere you see
that it possesses driving force, and fulfils all the requirements of the prayers directed
to the Mother of God, to the Apostles, to the Fathers, to the Prophets, to the Martyrs, to
repentance, and to the dead. "Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter
into the Kingdom, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven."

8 Let it also be known to you that the Canons, the Cathismata and the rest have entered
into the Church as something supererogatory. This is known from the fact that in the days
of the Doctors, there was only reading and interpretation of the scripture in the
Churches, and there were not found in it melodies and harmonious modulations which create
lust in the hearers. When Bardaiṣān became insane and composed the Kīṇta, St. Ephrem was
obliged to multiply the madhrāsha through which he destroyed Bardaişān's lustful Kīnātha.
And Mar Severus recited ma'nyātha against the poets and against the 'onyātha' of the Greek
Sustius. And John Chrysostom arranged the stichera against the Arians who had composed
'onyātha' through which they used to deceive the simple folk. The same may also be said of
the Canons, etc., which really did harm to the Church, since they have been in it the
cause of the cessation of the reading and interpretation of scripture and the art of
preaching. Show me if in the time of the Apostles there were musical tones and 'onyātha,
apart from the reading and interpretation of scripture and the art of teaching and
preaching.

9 You write: In the penkiyātha of the office of Lent it is said: "Moses, Elijah and Daniel
fasted;" and in the office of Palm Sunday it is written: "The children glorified Him,"
etc.; and in the office of the Passion Week there is: "Blessed is Thy passion, O Lord." 10
Let it be known to you that the Syrian writers showed the mystery of every festival in the
words of the office which they wrote for it, and they wove all its history in the Kīnātha,
in order to teach the hearers the mystery of the festival. It was quite legitimate for
them to have written the office of the festivals and commemorations in a way that its
prayers were directed only to penitence, but they wished to put variety in the ritual. If,
for instance, the Fathers had not said in the breviary of the time of Lent that so-and-so
had fasted, others would not have imitated the ancients and fasted; if they had not
explained how the wound of the sinners was healed, those who had the wound of sin would
not have had recourse to any medical treatment and to penitence; if they had not told how
our Lord entered Jerusalem and was praised by children, the children would not have
striven to emulate their praise; if they had not concerned themselves with Zechariah,
David, Ezechiel and the Prophets, one would not have known who prophesied about the Christ
that he would ride on a she-ass and enter the Holy City; if they had not written about
Abraham, and his son, no one would ever have known that Abraham was the figure of the
Father, and Isaac that of the Son, who was offered as a sacrifice for us; that Cain was
the figure of the Jews, and Abel the figure of Christ who was murdered; and that the
vineyard was the symbol of the synagogue of the Jews.

11 Now knowledge and not ignorance is necessary for the understanding of all these. The
Hdhau 'Amme has been said by St. Ephrem, and he derived it from the prophet who said
"Rejoice and be glad because your Saviour is mighty." The Train Talmidhe is derived from
the Gospel. You say that these two prayers have no driving power and no savour. If there
is no driving power in the prophets and in the Apostles whose very words have been
borrowed by the Fathers in the composition of these prayers, we will admit that the former
have not got them either; but if the prophets and the Apostles are believed in and
accepted by all Christians, we must also accept the Fathers and not rebel against the
truth. Et cetera.

CHAPTER 5. ON HOW TONES AND MELODIES DO NOT BRING ANY PROFIT TO THOSE WHO SING THEM AND THOSE WHO HEAR THEM

1 Now let us come to the remaining part of what you wrote on this subject: "To-day that
you are the Father of the Syrians and the son of... the rest of your encomium it is not
necessary to quote—collect all the service books of the Church and write from them all one
good book of Octoechus. What you have mentioned has been arranged by the ancient Fathers
in the matter of Ma'niyātha and the service of nocturns, as we have stated above. The
Church, however, is in no need of them, and I would suggest to you and to every God-
fearing man that instead of canticles and prayers containing musical melodies which bring
no profit to the singer nor to the hearer, to make use of the Books of the Old and New
Testaments and the writings of the Fathers, and to read a chapter from each one of them at
every festival. Both the reader and the hearer will derive profit from these lessons. Be
concerned with this good work rather than Canons. The Apostle Peter said: "Be ready to
give answer to every man that asketh you a reason concerning the hope of your faith;" and
the Apostle Paul said: "In the Church I had rather speak five words with my understanding
than ten thousand words." And: "Cry with thy throat, spare not, lift up thy voice like a
trumpet and show my people their transgression, and the children of Israel their sins." It
is not good to forsake the words of God and do good worldly service at the altar.

2 You see how the Prophets and the Apostles exhort us to read, interpret, preach and teach
the mysteries of the faith, and convert any one who is against us, and not to sing and to
contrive musical melodies like sirens, nor to bray like asses, nor to utter sweet sounds
like nightingales, nor to sing like swans, nor to coo like doves, nor should we institute
to-day a feast for so-and-so, and to-morrow another feast for so-and-so, and in this open
our stomachs to excessive food, and broaden our gullets to drink, and thus pander to the
proclivities of our alimentary desires and minister to occasions of sin and say: "To-day
is a feast, we must therefore eat and drink." To pagans belong festivities, songs, dances,
banquets and drink, and to Christians fasting, prayer, and reading of scripture. In their
festivities the Greeks resemble, therefore, those who are outside our sheepfold.

3 Let it be also known to you that musical tunes and melodies with Canons, stichera and
the rest of them have come down to the Greeks from outsiders, that is to say from the
pagan Odysseus who having experienced the sweetness of the song of sirens which dwelt in
the sea of Scylla, perceived a desire to learn it; and because these sirens sang men used
frequently to throw themselves into the sea, bewitched as they were by their song, and
were eaten by them. Odysseus, however, resorted to a stratagem: he plugged with wax the
ears of the sailors, and some men tied him and his companions with chains of iron, and
they floated on the sea. When the sirens saw them they began to sing songs of various
melodies, but those men whose ears were plugged did not hear the sweetness of the song,
and those who were attached with chains of iron could not throw themselves into the sea
because of their being strongly tied, and so they little by little learned the melodies
and introduced them to mankind. Examine, then, the origin of the melodies. It is really
the sirens which have to take pride rather than the Greeks.

4 You say: "It is not fair to make other Christians heretics, and to call ourselves
orthodox people." If Christians were such as they, what would you be yourself? If you
answer that you are a Christian, rise up and go to them and see what they will call you.
If they are not heretics, then the Syrians are. If you pretend that both sides are right,
no one from either side will believe you, neither from our side nor from the side of the
adversaries. They call us heretical Jacobites, and we call them Chalcedonians, Nestorians,
and heretics. If you have enough power in you like your namesake Joshua, son of Nun, to
reconcile them with one another, we ourselves will help you in everything. But what union
is there between light and darkness? Many believed that it would be good to join the
adversaries, but this has proved a stumbling block to them and finally their downfall.
When Ahab had pity on Benhadad and saved his life, God got angry with him and with his
people, and he was rejected from power, and Hazael killed him.

5 You write: "My heart does not allow me to anathematize anyone, not even Nestorius and
his companions. If I do not accept them it is solely because they are alien to, and
rejected from, the Church of God." I am tempted to be amazed at your simplicity, O
brother, how it easily contradicts itself. You contended that your heart does not allow
you to anathematize Nestorius and his companions, and you have at the same time
unknowingly anathematized him. Anathema is a separation from God, and when you have
separated them from the Church and rejected and denounced them, you have anathematized
them. Do you then believe that anathema means anything else? The word "anathema" is used
in two meanings. The first meaning is found in the sentence of Moses: "every 'anathema'
which is anathematized' by a man." Here "anathema" means "vow": i.e. every vow vowed by a
man. The second kind of anathema is that spoken of by Paul: "He who does not love our Lord
Jesus Christ let him be anathema." The first "anathema" means "vow" and "sacrifice," and
the second anathema means "separation from God" and "rejection from the Church of God."
This last kind of anathema is the one used by the Doctors against the heretics.

6 You write: "The Greeks have a heavenly King, and God gave them also an earthly king, how
can they not be proud?" It is written that we cannot serve two masters, O brother. If they
call God their King, they are deprived of an earthly king; and if they seek the earthly
one, they forsake the heavenly one. This is also known by what God said to Samuel: In
asking for an earthly king, the Jews "have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me,"
Creator and God, "that I should not reign over them." You see how God Himself decreed by
His words that any one who has an earthly king is deprived of the heavenly one. We follow
the words of God, and do not contend that a man has two kings; if it was so he would be
bound to "love the one and hate the other, and hold to one and despise the other."

7 Every pride in an earthly kingdom is from the evil one; it is he who overcomes the
passions and lays the body under the power of the soul who is a king. Further, other
Christian peoples have also kings, and they do not for that take pride in their souls, and
the Persians and the Arabs have all kings, and we could not say that they have greater
right than we have. The true kingdom is that which is established in orderliness and
virtue, as in the times of Constantine, Theodosius and the rest of the Roman kings, that
is to say the kings of the Franks. Now look back at the kings of the Greeks of our days,
how they commit adultery and fornication more than the pagan kings. When they are ordered
not to take two wives, they take them. And enter their Metropolis, and you will see in a
love of money, which is the root of all evil, and coveteousness which is idolatry, and
unbounded adultery, not only among laymen and laywomen, but also among the clergy. No
king, no head, and no superior can stop them. Their bishops are likewise covetous, and
they pile up gold like stones, and they enjoy material things, and wear fine linen and
purple instead of wool. They ride also on powerful mules and bathe in the public baths
like women, and relish different kinds of food. Faith without works and good conduct is
dead. Et cetera.

CHAPTER 6. AGAINST THE PRIDE OF THE CHALCEDONIANS, AND ON THE BUILDING OF THEIR CAPITAL

1 Let us proceed now with haste and examine the fallacy of the Greeks on this subject. You
write: "The beautiful Metropolis which Jeremiah has foreseen when lamenting over Jerusalem
is our Metropolis. God showed him her towers, her beauty, her ramparts, and her buildings
and said to him: 'Do not weep over Jerusalem, lo I have found a house better than
Jerusalem, and I will bring all people and all tongues to its glory;' and it happened as
he said." To whom shall we now speak, and on whom shall we pour our wrath? On those who
foolishly utter fallacies like these, or on people who listen to them? In what passage did
Jeremiah prophesy about Constantinople, and who is the commentator who understood it in
that sense? Jeremiah was taken to Egypt; and according to some people, he even composed
his Lamentations over Jerusalem in Egypt. It is not written in the Lamentations that he
prophesied about the Metropolis, nor about a town that would stand on its site. If they
are so untruthful in palpable subjects like this, how much more will they be so on the
subject of faith which is thinner that a hair?

2 They raved also another falsehood to the effect that it was Euphemia the martyr who gave
them the articles of faith of the Council of Chalcedon. In this they show that they have
received their faith from a dead woman; and to this effect they even hang in their
Churches the picture of something which is unreal. The fact is that the Council assembled
in the temple of Euphemia, and the Tomos of the unholy Leo and the other book containing
the articles of faith were laid in the font of the saint; but it is nowhere written that
the saint rose from the dead and confirmed them; what they are uttering is pure lie, and
their powerful pillars, and the enemies of the truth, such as Joannes Damascenus,
Theophilus, and Theodore of Harrân did not write these lies, I mean the untruth concerning
Jeremiah and Euphemia, because they knew that they were lies. Damascenus, however,
indulged in another falsehood in writing that a child rose up to heaven and heard the
angels say: "Sanctus es Deus, Sanctus es Omnipotens, Sanctus es Immortalis," without the
addition: Qui crucifixus es pro nobis. Against this we wrote at length (in another book)
and we reproved him and showed that "no man hath ascended into heaven but he that
descended out of heaven." We rebuked them that their faith has come down to them from a
woman, and that their trisagion has emanated from a child not yet in his full senses, and
not from an angel or a man in his full senses. You, however, believe not the untruth that
they have uttered against the Armenians.

3 Constantinople was built in the time of Manasseh by the brothers Byzantion, and it was a
pagan town, which had no fame till the days of Constantine who repaired to it and enlarged
it. You say that it is written: "I will bring to it all peoples and tongues for worship,"
to which we will answer: not the Christian, but the pagan, peoples. We have heard that
peoples and tongues went to Jerusalem for worship; and to the town you are mentioning no
one ever went for worship, but only on business. Further, when did Christians ever repair
to it for the sake of honour? They went to it only to grub, and to buy and sell. It is
frequented mostly by Persians, Arabs, and barbarous and godless peoples, such as Kumanians
and Hungarians, who have enriched it with gold, silver and precious stones. Lo, Bagdad,
Cairo, and other towns of the kingdom of the Arabs are richer in gold, silver and precious
stones, and we do not say that they have more truth than we have.

4 Listen now to Gregory, how he rebukes those who are rich in gold: "Against those who
have gold and silver, we have a pure speech; against those who have churches, we possess
the One who dwells in them; against those who have temples, we possess God and we are His
living temples; and against those who have multitudes, we have angels." You write: "God
has gathered together and brought to it prophets, apostles, and martyrs, so that none of
them is outside it." This also is untrue. James, the brother of our Lord, is buried in
Jerusalem, and James, son of Zebedee, is in the west, south of the city of Rome; Peter and
Paul are in Rome, and John, son of Zebedee is buried in Ephesus, where also is the mother
of God. The Apostle Thomas was buried in India, and his bones were transferred to Edessa.
Ezechiel and the three children are in Babylonia with Daniel, and the prophet Isaiah is in
Jerusalem. The rest of the prophets and apostles are likewise in all directions, and all
are not in the Metropolis. As to St. Basil, all the Emperors strove to transfer his bones
from Cæsarea to the Metropolis, but they did not succeed. The great Meletius was
transferred from the Metropolis to Antioch. As to the wood of the Holy Cross, it was in
Jerusalem, and in the time of Shahrbaraz and Chosrau it was carried to Persia, and in
their time also it was brought back and sawn in the middle, and half of it reached the
Metropolis.

5 You write: "And also the rod of Moses and the staff of Aaron, and the ark." O deceivers
and liars! How they deceive the simple folk to make them accept their teaching! In the ark
were the rod, the staff, and the golden pot holding the manna. This ark and all the
sacraments that it contained Jeremiah took out and hid in a cave: and from that day up to
now no one has ever known their exact place. We know this from the Book of Maccabees and
from other Doctors. You write: "And also the twelve baskets, and the veronica, and the
robe of the mother of God." From the time of the Economy of Christ to that of Constantine,
there are more than three hundred years, and in that time kings were pagan, and
Christianity was not yet in plain light; who, therefore, collected the above sacred
objects for the Greeks? So they are also liars in this matter; they have neither the
baskets, nor the crown of thorns—for which they have fabricated one of nails—nor the
swaddling clothes of Christ, as they rave. It is possible that the existence there of the
veronica is true, but who stole the robe of the mother of God and brought it to them, and
left the Virgin naked? Fie, the madness! All the sacred objects were in Jerusalem, but
when the Jews transgressed the commandments and the law, they were taken in captivity, and
Jerusalem was destroyed; the ark also and the tables of the Covenant were carried away by
the Philistines: their pride, therefore, in these things is that of ignorant and not of
intelligent men.

6 As to the right hand of John the Baptist by which they sanctify the holy chrism, do not
follow blindly after children, O brother! Tell me this: when Herodias took the head of
John the Baptist in a charger, what profit did she get out of this gift? Was it not a loss
that she sustained? It is the good actions of a man that give him the right to be worthy
of John's fellowship, and not the fact that he possesses great things for which he does
not care. To a pig pearls and muck are on the same level. Many asses of merchants carry
precious things from which they derive no profit whatever. Concerning John the Baptist,
Theodoret, the helper of the Greeks, wrote that in the days of Julian the Apostate, pagans
took his bones from the urn and burned them. John of Asia also wrote that in the time of
Justinian one of the prefects of Palestine who was like a pagan in his conduct, sent a
right hand to the Metropolis and said that it was John the Baptist's. Many were suspicious
about it and said that it could not be true. It was, however, accepted by the Emperor and
the people as true. Where is it written that the holy chrism should be sanctified by the
right hand of John? The Greeks that are amongst us rave that they mix the blood of Christ
with the holy chrism. The Apostles and the Doctors have ordered that the holy chrism
should be composed of different elements and be sanctified by the prayers of the bishops
and the people, and these pretend that it contains the blood of Christ; which is untrue.
This would make them resemble the Jews who said: "His blood be on us and on our children."
And they are being baptized by this same blood!

7 If the holy chrism is sanctified by a dead right hand, they are, therefore, being
baptized by a dead man; because although St. John be living to God, he is so in his soul,
while in his body he is so far dead, and he has not yet resuscitated. How can the right
hand of a dead man sanctify the holy chrism? Why! this is not a great affair, since their
ordination also emanates from a dead man! Indeed they used to receive for some time their
bishops from Rome, but when trouble arose between them and the Franks, Rome did not give
them any bishop; and it was after many frays and bickerings that they gave them a bishop,
but when the messengers who were bringing him reached the city of Heraclea in Thrace, he
fell ill and died. They were then in great pain and sorrow, and fearing lest the Romans
should require the ordination of another bishop from them, they resorted to a stratagem
and brought a man and laid the hand of the dead bishop on his head and ordained him. They
decreed also that in future it is the bishop of Thrace that shall lay the right hand on
the head of all the bishops of the Capital. This custom they observe down to our own days,
and on it we have written elsewhere in several places.

8 You write: "So far as we are concerned whom have we but SS. Barṣauma and Aaron?" What
shall we say to a mind glued to earthly things? As to us we have our beloved, the Lord of
heaven and earth; it is He, the Lord of heaven and earth and holy sacraments who said:
"Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them;"
and who spoke through the prophet: I do not count heaven and earth, "where is the house ye
build unto me?" and who proclaimed in the mouth of Isaiah: "To whom shall we look and in
whom shall I dwell except him who is peaceful and humble," and fears my word. You will
see, if you reflect, whom we have! He is indeed St. Barṣauma! Listen also to St. John
Chrysostom how he rises against those who take pride in such things; he said in the
eighty-second chapter of his commentary on Matthew: "How many men there are now who say
'We wish to see the face of Christ, His image, His dresses, and His shoes;' but lo you are
seeing Him, and you are holding Him; you are eating Him, and you are wishing to see His
dresses! He did not give Himself to you in order that you may only see Him, but that you
may also touch Him, eat Him, and receive Him in yourself."

9 What would you say about this quotation? Did it not confute and destroy all that you
wrote? Did it not put an end to all the pride of the Greeks? Do not err, therefore, after
them, but follow in the steps of your fathers. Et cetera.

CHAPTER 7. ON THE FACT THAT HE MADE THE GREEKS THE HEAD OF ALL CHRISTIANS

1 Let us go on with our investigation of the words of this writer and see how he inclines
to all winds, and how he possesses zeal and kindness, but not in the sense in which the
Apostle intended these to be. You write: "Why should we blame them? If they blame us it is
because we did not obey them when they were right. It is written: The superiors of the
peoples are their superiors." How well has Esau been tested and his hidden mind disclosed!
In everything that you have propounded you have shown that you are not holding your faith
from conviction but out of hypocrisy. On the one hand you persuade us not to blame those
who out of their own free will have trampled on the anathemas of the Synod of Ephesus and
decreed another canon. On the other hand you gave them authority to blame us on the score
that they are our superiors and directors. Show us where you get the information that they
have that precedence of us which would entitle them to blame us, and be our superiors. If
you say that it is because they were evangelized before us, we demonstrated in our
previous letter to you that their evangelization did not precede ours. If you pretend that
they are our superiors because some of their books have been translated by us, we have
proved decisively that all the Doctors of the Church are not Greek.

2 As the Jews do not scorn the Christians because it is from their people that the Books
of the Prophets and Apostles have emanated, so also the Greeks should not blame us on this
score. If as you say they are our superiors, and they have consequently right to blame us
because we did not listen to them, the Jews will hold them by their throats and say: "We
are older than you, and we are your superiors and directors; you took the Books from us;
come and become like us; if we blame you, it is our duty to do so; you Greeks should never
rebuke us for the fact that we crucified the Christ." What are these old women's tales,
and what is this useless discussion! You write: "That Council (of Chalcedon) which had six
hundred and thirty-six Fathers, and from which two were driven out." I am amazed at the
way you have accepted as true the falsehood of liars. Who saw (the Fathers of that
Council) and counted them as amounting to such a number? Who read their unofficial
proceedings and deliberations? As for us we read everything in books and we know what was
done and spoken there, and how long the Council lasted; we have also written with us the
names of all the bishops who assembled in it, and those who subscribed to it by proxy, and
the number of all them amounts only to three hundred and sixty-three. To what extent can
the deceivers lie! They believe that it is by the magnitude of the number of the Fathers
that truth is made manifest. Three hundred and seventy bishops assembled in the town of
Madecolinus subscribed to the wickedness of Arius, and wished to throw away Athanasius the
Great, because he did not agree with them.

3 Now what do you say? Had the high number of men in this case greater right than one man,
or had this one man, Athanasius, greater right than all of them? Learned men even among
the Greeks testify that Athanasius was right. Picture, therefore, in your mind and know
that Dioscorus and the bishops who were with him had likewise greater right than the other
three hundred who out of their fear of the king and for the love of their sees put their
signatures to the Tomos of Leo. Abraham was in his days the only one who served God, the
rest being idol-worshippers. But listen to what the holy Theologian says: "Three men who
gather together in the name of God, are more numerous before His eyes than several myriads
who deny His Godhead. Would you honour all the Canaanites more than one Abraham, or the
Sodomites more than one Lot, or the Midianites more than one Moses?" And he added
afterwards:

4 "No; this could not be, could not be. God was not pleased with a great number of people.
You count the myriads, but God counts those who are saved; you (count) the earth that
cannot be measured, but I will (count) the vessels of election." You further write: "Those
Kānōnē which are called Koklia are invented by the Jews." Show us the Canon which was
invented by the Jews. It is said that the Jews invented not the Kānōnē but the tishbhātha
to the tunes of which the Kānōnē have been invented, and which serve as the foundations of
their intonations. As to whether the Koklia are from the Hebrews, I heard that it is the
tishbhātha, that is to say the mazmōre, that they sing with different melodies. Ponder
well over what you write, and then begin to discuss. You condescended also to say that the
Greeks took the kingdom of the Romans by stratagem.

5 When did it happen that a kingdom has been stolen? It is God who removes kings and
raises up kings. He removed the kingdom from the Franks and bestowed it on the Greeks.
That a kingdom, however, is stolen without the wish of God is known from the fact that
Absalom stole the kingdom from his father David, and the people leaned towards him. That a
king does rise without the order of God is also borne out by the prophet who testifies and
says: "He reigned but not by me, and he governed but not by my will." Wicked kings reign
by the tacit permission of God; this occurs especially when iniquity is on the increase
among the people. If God gave the kingdom to the Greeks, it follows that it is He who also
gave it to the Arabs and the Turks for such a long time. The fact, however, is not so, and
the subject is different from the one that concerns us.

6 You write: "The foreign merchants who go in and out of the Metropolis testify that there
is no kingdom, no government, no wealth, and no charity similar to that of the Greeks; and
we Syrians consider them as nothing." Your saying that the Greeks are praised by outsiders
and not by Christians is prophetical; we mean by outsiders Persians, Arabs, and Turks.
Earthly people think of earthly things. The Greeks are not praised by just, pious, and
orthodox people, but by grubbing and robbing merchants. And in what do these praise them?
In the fact that there is no kingdom, no government, and no wealth like theirs. Alexander
has not been praised in any (sacred or ecclesiastical) book because his government
embraced three ends of the inhabited globe, and his kingdom extended to nearly all the
earth, and his wealth increased like stones. The kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar and that of
Sennacherib, Pharaoh, and others was also very great, but in what did these pagans excel
in their kingdom and government? Is it in their piety and holiness? There is no man of
sound judgment who thinks so. Do not praise, therefore, the Greeks for something that is
shameful before the eyes of God. The ancients, prophets and Apostles, have not been
praised for their government, kingdom and wealth, but for their trials, privations,
poverty and wants.

7 You say: " There is no charity like theirs." This is also untrue. Where is the one who
has been fed in the bazaars of their Capital? Indeed how many needy and destitute people
walk in its bazaars? Some Christians who had gone there because of their poverty told us
that they have no mercy at all, and that when they wish to eat bread they close their
doors and bolt them, and the poor man hoarsens his voice in crying and sighing from
hunger, and no man gives him bread. Here we will end this subject.

CHAPTER 8. ON HOW HE BLAMES HIS CO-RELIGIONISTS AND IS PROUD OF THE GREEKS

1 You write: " We (Syrians) were the first in our evangelization and the Greeks the last,
and God gave us kingdom, power, ecclesiastical see, and honour, because we were the first
to believe in Him, but now He has greatly humbled us." O brother, open your eyes and see,
incline your ear and listen, and you will not cling much to earthly things. Christ did not
promise the Christians earthly things sticking with mud, but He promised them heavenly
things. "Seek the things that are above, and set your mind on the things that are above
where Christ is." It is the pagans who glory in an earthly kingdom and have earthly
possessions; if we Christians wish to fix our minds on the latter, by what would we be
distinguished from pagans? Have you not heard your Lord say: "My kingdom is not of this
world; if it were then would my servants fight for me." And: "Where I am, there shall also
my servant be." If we are, therefore, the servants of Christ, we should prepare ourselves
for our journey to His heavenly kingdom, and not seek to reign here like other people who
have no hope.

2 To which of the Apostles, who were the first to be evangelized, did God give in this
world, kingdom, government and wealth? On the contrary, they toured the world in want,
privation, poverty, and need. Has not the Son of God Himself plainly declared that He
"hath not where to lay His head." Peter and John said to the man that was lame: "Silver
and gold have we none, but in the name of Jesus rise and walk." The Lord of all did not
bestow any worldly honours, nor any earthly kingdom, which in reality is nothing, on all
these saints who forsook everything and followed him. If every poor man were despised
before God and wrong in his faith, and if the man who has wealth and kingdom were right in
his faith, it would have been high time for you to despise Lazarus, the poor, full of
sores, and to extol the rich man who was "clothed in purple and fine linen and faring
sumptuously;" it would have also been good opportunity for you to praise the faith of the
sons of Hagar who reigned in the earth from end to end, and are prosperous in the world,
while the Christians are lowly, wretched, under subjection, and poor.

3 Listen to your Lord who says: "If the world hateth you, know ye that it hath hated me
before you." And: "If ye were of the world, the world would love its own." And: "If they
persecuted me, they will also persecute you." And: "Ye shall weep and lament, but the
world shall rejoice." And: "Love of this world is enmity against God." What do you say
against all these? Your Lord has shown that it is the one who possesses neither kingdom
nor government who is accepted by Him. He who is here in subjection and strong in faith is
going to rejoice in the kingdom of heaven which will never perish. You write: "There are
no Syrians except with you in Melitene and in Edessa. There are very few of them with us."
Now Rabban 'Isho' comes back to us like a mighty teacher, and believing that the Syrians
are uprooted more than any other people, he asks us why.

4 If you say that that is their condition because of their sins, we will retort that there
are to-day many pagans and Jews who have kindled and kindle the wrath of God more than the
Syrians, yet they are strong in power and prosperous in wealth, and their number is so
high that it cannot be reckoned. Tell me also why are the prophets that rose in this world
now uprooted, while the Jewish people who crucified the Son is still prosperous
everywhere. Where are the Fathers, the just men, and the pontiffs? Where are the Apostles,
the evangelists, the solitaries, the martyrs, and the confessors? If all these are
uprooted because of their sins or for a similar reason, so also consider the Syrians; but
if it is because God loved them that He took them to Him, you should also assert the same
in the case of the Syrians.

5 Now listen to what Jeremiah says: "Now that the just have gone to their rest, and the
prophets have died, and we have left the land, we have nothing but the mighty one and His
law." That just king Josiah also did not last long in power, and it has been said about
him: "The just man goes to his rest before the wrath." You see that the wheat is always
gathered in the barns while the chaff is abandoned. You write: "Why should we (Syrians) be
proud because we were evangelized first? The Christ has said: 'Many shall be last that are
first, and first that are last.'" We did not take pride because we were evangelized first;
but we simply asked you the reason why the Greeks scorn us after you had made them our
superiors and directors! We have not received our faith from them; the Books have not come
down from them to us, and their language is not more ancient than ours. Further, in Lord
Jesus "there is no Greek, no barbarian, no bondman, and no freeman, but Christ is all and
in all." He who works with Him is accepted by Him. The proof which you put forward runs
counter to what you intended: you say that we who are first became the last, but see how
in the same sequence you added: "and the last shall be first;" the Syrians who in your
sentence were the last became the first in relation to the Greeks.

6 You write: "A prickly shrub that gives a beautiful rose, how can its master uproot it?"
It is sufficient for it that its name is a "prickly shrub." There are many prickly shrubs
which have no roses but are full of thorns, and their end is fire. Before the Council of
Chalcedon the Greeks were not prickly shrubs, but a tree that bore fruits. After they tore
the robe of Christ and divided it into duality of natures, the rose of the "first" was
taken away from them, in a way similar to that of the Jews from whom priesthood and Books
have been taken and given to a people that would yield fruits. The Jews were like the fig
tree of tender branches; as long as they kept the commandments and discarded sin, they
were planted in the angle of the heavenly abode, but when they sinned and transgressed the
commandments, the vineyard, that is to say, the people, was uprooted, and the vine and its
branches were burnt, and the fig tree was cut to pieces from its roots by the axe of
Vespasian and cast into the fire of dispersion.

7 Why did you not say to the master of the vineyard, as you would have doubtless wished to
have done: let the "prickly shrub" be watered, in order that it may bring forth a rose?
But which is the rose of the Greeks? Please tell me. If you say that the rose is the
Canons, the cathismata, and the stichera, intelligent people do not consider these as a
rose, because both our Church and theirs have been meditating for a long time over these
hymns, and have been unable to convert through them a single man to the right path. The
true rose is scriptural meditation, interpretation, teaching, wisdom and good advices; it
is through these that the Apostles and Doctors converted all the ends of the earth to the
truth. A second rose consists in fast, prayer, charity, holiness, chastity, and acts of
perfection. It is through the scent of this rose that one can convert his own soul and
convert others also.

8 Listen now to what the Doctors say concerning Canons and Kīnātha, of which you are
proud. The poets and the composers of Kīnātha, call sometimes a Kīnta angelic, and some
other times they compare the singers to Moses and to the three children. They confined
their Biblical references concerning those who fasted in repentance to the Ninevites, and
to the publican. Through high-toned Zummāre you may forget or completely lose the power of
penitence. We are commanded to "pray with the spirit and to sing with the understanding."
This is something difficult for a Greek to do, since his mind is concentrated on music.
God permitted sacrifices because He knew that the Israelites could not be convinced
otherwise; and He also permitted the use by them of cymbals and other musical instruments,
in order that they may not indulge in profane glees and in banquets. At the end, however,
he put an end to sacrifices in saying: "I have no pleasure in whole burnt offerings, and
the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit." He also put an end to songs and melodies by
saying through the prophet: "Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not
hear the melody of thy viols." How is it that you who have been ordered to sing spiritual
songs endeavour to mix with the Church songs those relaxing Kīnātha and loose tones, and
thus weaken with these same Kīnātha the vigour of the souls which have hardened themselves
against the passions, and mortified their bodies by ascetic works, and begun to sing with
angels?

9 If somebody says that these Kīnātha are spiritual, let him show me their fruits, and I
will agree: "By their fruits ye shall know them." You do not see any poet making
repentance from the depth of his heart, nor striking on his breast to thwart unclean
movements. On the contrary he stands erect, shakes his head, moves his neck hither and
thither, gesticulates with his hands and his fingers and claps them together with noise;
he often also strikes with his foot against the ground, but he does not exhibit a single
fruit of penitence to the hearers who are bewitched by the sweetness of his Kīntā (=
melody). Church music is not like this, but it is quiet, lugubrious, and inducing to
sighing and weeping. Kīnātha did not penetrate into the Churches except when these were
deprived of the gifts of teaching. When there was nobody to impart sound teaching, chanted
hymns invaded the Churches. Look, therefore, at this Doctor, how he disliked the Canons,
and the Zummāré, and magnified and praised the interpretations of doctrine. Do not
despise, therefore, the Kabbelai Māran, and the 'al itra d'bismé, and the Dukhrānāh
d'Maryam. Very often one gets greater spiritual gains from these simple Kālè than from the
elaborate tones, in which the words are lost or not caught by the ears of the listeners
through the twistings, falls, elevations, and cadences of the voice. Let this subject end
here.

CHAPTER 9. ON THE SIGN OF THE CROSS

1 Let us examine now your other points. You write: "Show me a Christian who believes in
Christ who crosses himself with one finger that we also should do the same. What is there
that matters in the act itself; if you wish, cross yourself with one finger, and if you
wish, do it with two fingers." Lo the Syrians, the Egyptians, the Nubians, that is to say
the Indians, and the peoples of their neighbourhood, such as the Kushites (= Abyssinians)
cross themselves with one finger. We have shown you above that the Book and nature agree
with us on this point; but now that you have become the advocate of the Chalcedonians,
show us either from yourself or from them the Doctor from whom they have received the
meaning of the habit of which the two fingers are the emblem, and where it is written. 2
If the habit of crossing oneself with two fingers symbolizes the two natures, as the
babbling nonsense of the Greeks has it, they crucify, therefore, both these natures as we
have already written in the previous chapters. How could it be good to make the divine
nature suffer and be crucified? If, however, there is nothing in the fact of crossing
ourselves with one finger or with two, why do you then forsake the habit of crossing
yourself with one finger, practised by your fathers, and make use of the practice of two
fingers against your fathers? If, as you say, you are not a stumbling block to your
children and to the children of your people—and it is more advantageous that one should
not be a stumbling block and a boulder—when your people, with the presbyters, elders, dead
and living bishops warn you that the practice is a stumbling block and a scandal, how is
it that you do not heed them? Did you not see what Paul wrote: "If meat maketh my brother
to stumble, I will eat no flesh for evermore."

3 You write: "We believe in one nature in Christ, we add to the trisagion: Qui crucifixus
es pro nobis, and we follow all the ecclesiastical canons of the Syrians; we do not reject
those of the Romans but we respect them, as a son respects his father, but in the matter
of the two natures we do not agree with them." The Book says: "How long will you limp on
your two hams?" Now in which camp shall we see and count you? In that of the Syrians with
whose faith you agree, according to your own words, or in that of the Greeks whom you do
not reject, and what is more difficult, whom you have made your fathers? Our first father
is God, from whom we are born in the spirit; our second father, and that in the flesh, is
Adam; each one of us also has a carnal father of whom he is born; the name of "father"
extends also to the holy Fathers, who, as we have previously shown, were not all Greek.
The great Alexander, the promoter of the Council of three hundred and eighteen Fathers,
and Athanasius, his disciple, were Egyptian; and so also were the rest of the bishops who
accompanied them from Egypt and Alexandria; Viton with Vincentius, the priests of Rome,
and Hosius of the town of Cordova, and the rest of the Western bishops were Franks; Jacob
of Nisibin, and Ephrem, his disciple, and Ith-Alaha of Edessa, and Mara of Macedonopolis,
and John of Persia, were Syrian.

4 Show us how are the Greeks your Fathers. The kind of pride you are taking belonged to
the Jews who used to have pride in Abraham and say: "We have Abraham to our father," but
Christ answered them: "God is able from these stones to raise up children unto Abraham."
Listen also to John Chrysostom how he rebukes those who take pride in carnal fathers, in
origin, in earthly possessions, and in country, in all of which the Greeks your fathers
and friends take pride: "Why are you proud that you are from a great country, while I
would command you to be a stranger to all the earth? And why do you take pride in earthly
possessions, you man, who, if you wish, can easily render all the world unworthy of you?"
Christ was brought up in Nazareth, was born in Bethlehem, and laid in a manger. What
profit had the children of Samuel in not imitating their father's conduct? And likewise
the children of Moses? What harm came to Timothy from the fact that he was the child of
pagan parents? In what was Canaan helped by Noah, his father? Children do not always help
their parents, nor parents their children; indeed no help came to Esau from Isaac, nor to
the Jews from Abraham. From these you will learn that neither parents help their children,
nor the children their parents, but each one is justified by his works and his deeds.

5 Neither the Greeks are our fathers nor the Romans, nor are the Jews the fathers of
Christians: all these are loose expressions and old women's tales. If Yawan, the father of
the Greeks, was born before Aram, our father, there might have been occasion for
discussion, but when this is not the case, how did you then glory in the not very weighty
words of those haughty and arrogant people. It is written in the prophets: "A son honours
his father, and a servant his master; if I am a father, how is it that you do not honour
me, and if I am a master, how is it that you do not fear me, saith the Lord Sabaoth." What
do you say about this? God says that He is the Father and the Lord of us and them and of
all peoples, and you establish them as our fathers, our lords, and our superiors because
of some of their Canons that happened to be translated in our Service-books! This is not
the saying of a wise man.

6 If it is because of these Canons and because of four or five books of theirs that we
have translated that they are so arrogant, our Lord was a Syrian, and they have translated
all His teaching into their language; and in case we pretended to be their fathers, we
might say that lo all the Melchites who resemble them take great pleasure in the teaching
of St. Jacob. The Greeks take also great pleasure in the teaching of the great Athanasius
and Cyril, both of whom Egyptians, while the Franks take great pleasure in the teaching of
Xystus, and the Franks, we and they in that of Hippolytus, Julius and others. Let them,
therefore, not show arrogance against truth. These will suffice for this point.


A TREATISE AGAINST THE MELCHITES (MINGANA TRANSLATION) (CHAPTER 10. ON THE TRISAGION)
============================================================

A TREATISE AGAINST THE MELCHITES (MINGANA TRANSLATION) continued

CHAPTER 10. ON THE TRISAGION

1 You also discuss with us the trisagion in which you have written that the Greeks say:
Sanctus es Deus, Sanctus es Pater omnipotens. Let it be known to you that the
Chalcedonians do not refer all the trisagion to the Father, as you write, but to the
Trinity, because they say: "Sanctus es Deus Pater, Sanctus es omnipotens Filius, Sanctus
es immortalis Spiritus Sancte, miserere nobis." We Syrians, with the Armenians, the
Egyptians, the Abyssinians, the Nubians, and the Indians, refer the trisagion to the Son.
There are some who say that when Joseph brought down the body of our Lord from the Cross,
people saw that angels had set up three choirs, the first of which saying: "Sanctus es
Deus," and the second: "Sanctus es omnipotens," and the third: "Sanctus es Immortalis:"
then Joseph and Nicodemus were moved by the Spirit and said: "Qui crucifixus es pro
nobis—i.e. for mankind—miserere nobis." This was immediately received in the Churches, and
Ignatius the fiery, the disciple of John, established it in the Churches. Some others,
however, say that it has been established after Nestorius had been rejected from the
Church, but they are wrong. The Fathers said that it was that fourth Person, with the
human nature which was crucified, who, although God, omnipotent and immortal, wished to
become flesh for us, and not another kind of nature.

2 The Chalcedonians say that the trisagion is derived from the Sanctus found in Isaiah. As
the Seraphim glorify the three persons of the Trinity with the thrice repeated Sanctus, so
we also should refer the trisagion to the Trinity. Against them we will write as follows:—
The One whom Isaiah saw on a high throne and the seraphim round him is the Son. This we
know from John the Evangelist who says: "These things said Isaiah about Him when he saw
His glory." Cyril, John Chrysostom, and other Doctors teach us that it was the Son, the
Word, that Isaiah saw on the throne and not the Father. We also believe that it is He who
is the door and that it is through Him that we go to the Father. He says: "I am the door;
by me if any man enter in, he shall find life." In the fact that we refer the trisagion to
the Son we may go up to the Father and say: "Our Father who art in heaven." And in
referring the glory to the Son we speak in the Holy Spirit: "No man can say: 'Jesus is
Lord, but in the Holy Spirit.'"

3 We say further that the Seraphim said: "Holy, Holy, Holy, heaven and earth are full of
His glory," and they did not say: "Thou art holy O God, Thou art holy O Omnipotent, Thou
art holy O Immortal." If the Doctors have explained the thrice repeated "holy" as
referring to the three persons (of the Trinity), and if the Sanctus of the liturgy also:
"Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus Dominus Omnipotens, pleni sunt," etc., refers to the three
persons, although addressed to one of them only, let them show us from where they learned
that the trisagion of "Sanctus es Deus" refers to the Trinity. The prophet says only:
"Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus," and the words "Deus, Omnipotens, Immortalis" have been added
afterwards. That this trisagion refers to the Son to whom it is appropriate is known by
the following: we say "Holy art Thou O God the Son," because He became flesh although
remaining God; and we say: "Holy art Thou O Omnipotent," because He put on our weak body
although remaining omnipotent in His divinity; and we say: "Holy art Thou O Immortal,"
because He died in the flesh although remaining immortal like God. What passage is it of
the heretic Macedonius or of any other who attributed mortality to the Holy Spirit that
the Chalcedonians want to refute when they say: "Holy Thou art O immortal Holy Spirit?"
They have really no apology to offer. The words of the trisagion have been attributed by
the Doctors to the Son because He became flesh, put on the weak and mortal human body, and
was addressed by them as "God," "omnipotent," "immortal," and "who hast been crucified for
us" in the flesh.

4 If they refuse this and say that the trisagion refers to the Trinity, let them only say:
"Holy, holy, holy," and not: "Holy art Thou O God," and the remaining "Omnipotent" and
"Immortal." The Nestorians and the Chalcedonians, in order to take from the middle the
question of the crucifixion, and to introduce the division of nature and natures, and
count in Christ two attributes, powers, and wills, and in order not to admit that we
crucify the Son in the flesh, avoided the reference of the trisagion to the Son and
attributed it to the Trinity, not paying sufficient attention to what Paul said: "God
forbid that I should glory save in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." John the
evangelist also said: "glory to the cross." The theologian said in his discourse on the
passover: "We had need of a God becoming flesh and dying in order that we may live with
Him. We died that we may be purified, and we rose with Him. Many miracles occurred at that
time: God was crucified, the sun suffered eclipse and then shone again. It was necessary
that the creatures should suffer with the Creator." Now where does this Doctor put
division in Christ? Where does he say that man died or that human nature was crucified? He
openly declared that God became flesh, died and was crucified.

5 Let it be also known to you that if, as the Greeks believe, the trisagion refers to the
Trinity, and the sentence Qui crucifixus es pro nobis is taken away from it, it would not
only refer to the Trinity, as they say, but also to angels and demons; which is blasphemy.
The angel or the demon might indeed say: "I am a God," because they are Spirits; and Satan
said about himself: "I will ascend above the stars of heaven, and I will be like God," and
Paul also said: "Whose minds the god of this world hath blinded." Satan calls also himself
"omnipotent," because he is constantly watchful in his war against the saints, and he even
made bold and fought the Christ. He is also "immortal" because he does not die. Consider
well, therefore, where the trisagion might lead, if we did not add to it Qui crucifixus es
pro nobis; indeed the trisagion of the Greek may reach Satan! When, however, the words Qui
crucifixus es pro nobis are added to it, no one can refer "crucifixion" to an angel or a
demon, because this would be impossible; nor could then the trisagion be referred to a
mere man, because "immortality"

6 which is expressed in it is not referred to a man. The trisagion is, therefore, to be
truly referred to the Son, and Word—God who became man, and who is both mortal and
immortal: mortal in the flesh, and immortal in His Godhead, and He was crucified on our
behalf. You mentioned that the Armenians at the Nativity say one thing and at the Epiphany
say another thing, and on some other occasion some other thing. This, however, does not
matter, since they refer the trisagion to Christ. As we say in the Passion week: "O
Christ, who by His passion delivered us from error," and as at the beginning of the Gospel
we say: "At the time of the Nativity of our Lord," or "at the time of His Baptism, at the
time of His Economy, at the time of His resurrection" as the case may be, so also the
Armenians do with the trisagion, and use it according to circumstances.

7 We gave ourselves all this trouble for your salvation, not yours alone, but that of many
others who will listen to us. The prophet said: "He who taketh forth the precious from the
vile shall be as my mouth." Do not throw, therefore, truth behind you, and abandon an old
habit. Who is the man who can be so forgetful of his own self as to hate a human being? We
do not hate the Greeks, but the schisms which they brought into the midst and the
divisions which they introduced into the Church. For a certain number of years I only
disclosed the trouble caused by five of their innovations in five points of faith; had I
disclosed at length all the disturbances they had caused, they would have been ashamed of
themselves, because not all of them are aware of what happened to them. I warned them
several times to let everyone go his own way without recrimination against his neighbour
of another creed, but they showed no desire to heed our advice. I wrote chapters
concerning their habits, and also on the fact that we should be permitted to enter their
churches, and be allowed to pray for them and they for us; I also wrote many other
chapters to rebuke them and point to the disturbance that they would be causing in the
Church if they did not desire to live in peace and concord. For several reasons, however,
among which is the fact that they have no responsible director and head, I kept my tongue
and did not disclose what we are now aiming at.

8 Because, if God gives me life, I have the intention of exposing little by little all
their teaching and comparing it with the interpretation of the holy Doctors, and of
outlining afterwards our own teaching and interpretation and those of the Doctors. We have
written the present pages in haste, but we have confidence that we shall not find
ourselves in need to write to you again on the same subject, and that you will rather
constitute yourself a preacher of truth, and thus possess your own soul and that of the
many who fell like you. In case you remain stubborn in your old ideas, and in case light
and darkness are on the same footing with you, it is your own business, but there is a
great day which will make manifest all the hidden secrets of mankind. Let it be also known
to you that it is very pleasing and agreeable to God that there should be no divisions in
the Churches of Christians; it would have been also more just that the Greeks should have
torn and pulled at their own flesh, but they are so steeped in iniquity as to say that
there are no other Christians but themselves, and they inflict more harm on our community
and on that of the Armenians than the Turks. As I said above, I warned several times the
Greeks of Melitene that they and the Syrians and Armenians should love one another and not
to growl at one another like wolves and lions, but their madness reached such a pitch as
to say like their fathers: "You are not Christians" and other similar ugly offensive words
which are in keeping with their iniquity.

9 I wished to sow peace in the camp of the hostile parties, and to convince them from the
books of the Apostles and Doctors that it is not good that they should contend with one
another, but that they should enter one another's Churches, and pray with love, and if
necessary to come nearer to one another and remember one another in prayers, with the
understanding that each one may follow his own theological convictions, but they did not
condescend to reconciliation. When I examined their madness and noticed that it was that
of insolent people, I retorted and said to them: since you are so incurable, and believe
that truth, which you do not know, is with you, bring first the testimony and the
signature of your bishop, priests and notables, and I on my part shall also bring those of
our Patriarch, our bishops, priests, and notables, to the effect that (in a public
discussion which we will hold on religious questions) either party shall be pleased with
the truth which shall there be revealed, and that either of them shall embrace it when
revealed; that in the discussion no party shall abuse the other, or rebuke him and refer
to extraneous subjects. By the help of God I shall on that day disclose everything to the
sun with justice and equity, in spite of the fact that the affair requires labour, time,
helpers and promoters.

10 Here end the ten chapters.


ON HOW TO DISCERN THE TRUTH OF RELIGION
=======================================

ON HOW TO DISCERN THE TRUTH OF RELIGION Hunayn ibn Ishaq

AD 809–873

Nestorian physician and translator of Greek works into Syriac and Arabic at Baghdad.

ON HOW TO DISCERN THE TRUTH OF RELIGION

1 Hunayn ibn Ishāq, On How to Discern the Truth of Religion [Translated by Stephen J.
Davis] Based on the critical edition by Samir Khalil Samir, "Maqālat Ḥunayn ibn Isḥāq fī
'Kayfīyat idrāk ḥaqīqat al-diyāna'," al-Mashriq 71.2 (1997), 345-63; see also Paul Sbath,
Vingt traités philosophiques et apologétique d'auteurs arabes chrétiens du IX au XIV
siècle (Cairo: H. Friedrich and Co., 1929), 181-5. The respective paginations of Samir's
and Sbath's editions are marked in the translation with the symbols Sm (= Samir) and Sb (=
Sbath). N.B. The italicized headings in bold and in brackets were supplied by Samir for
the presentation of his edition; they are not part of Hunayn's original text.

(Sm349/Sb181) On how to discern the truth of religion, by the wise Hunayn ibn Ishāq, the
Nestorian physician (may God have mercy upon him).

2 He said, (2) From where does a person know that what he believes is the truth, and that
what someone else believes is falsehood? [I. Introduction: A Basic Premise] (3) Indeed, if
someone says that that belief has come to him by way of his ancestors, (4) or if he says
that that belief (Sm350) has come to him by way of a book, (5) or from a prophet who has
performed miracles, (6) or from his own opinion, since he holds to a certain viewpoint and
to him his own religion is confirmed to be true through it, (7) all the adherents of the
religions who disagree with him would be able to say something similar. (8) If that
response is common among all the adherents of the (different) religions, (9) it must be
necessary then for whoever accepts his religion on the basis of this argument to embrace
any other religion on account of this same argument.

3 (10) But if he does not accept such an argument from those who disagree with him, then
he should not accept this argument from the followers of his own religion. (Sm351) [II.
The Distinction between Truth and Falsehood] (11) To the one who says this, we say that
truth and falsehood, among all utterances, (12) are known by the reasons that prompted
their acceptance in the first place. (13) The reasons why a lie is accepted are different
from the reasons why the truth is accepted. [II.1. Reasons for the Acceptance of
Falsehood] (14) The reasons for the acceptance (Sb182) of a falsehood are six in number.
(15) The first reason is that the one who accepts falsehood is forced to accept that which
is made compulsory for him against his will. (16) The second reason is that a person
willingly tries to escape from hardship and oppression, (Sm352) since he was not able to
bear them, (17) so as to be delivered from them to what he hopes is ease and comfort.

4 (18) The third reason is that a person favors great might over humiliation, honor over
inferiority, and power over weakness, (19) so that he leaves his religion and converts to
another. (20) The fourth reason is that the one who speaks (falsehood) is a wicked man,
deceitful in word, (21) with the result that he beguiles and overwhelms whomever he
invites (to accept falsehood). (22) The fifth reason is that (the one who invites to
falsehood) exploits the ignorance of his invitees and their lack of literacy. (23) The
sixth reason is that there is (Sm353) a natural kinship between the invitee and the
inviter, (24) so that the invitee, not wishing to sever that shared kinship, agrees with
him in his religion. [II.2. Reasons for the Acceptance of Truth] (25) Now, the reasons for
why truth is accepted are four in number. (26) The first reason is that the one who
accepts the truth beholds miracles that the human faculties are incapable of (performing).

5 (27) (Sm354) The second reason is that the manifest aspect of the truth to which the
inviter offers an invitation is (in fact) evidence that testifies to the truthfulness of
its hidden aspect. (28) The third reason is the (decisive kind of) proof that obliges one
to accept it. (29) The fourth reason is when the end of something corresponds to its
beginning, (30/31) and when its origin (i.e. the valid statement following its valid
precedent) is indisputable due to the validity of what preceded it. [III. The Application
of These Criteria to the Different Religions] [III.1. How the (Different) Religions Stand
in Relation to these Reasons] (32) This induces us to observe (Sm355) how we may know (33)
that all the other religions have been accepted on the basis of those (first) six
characteristics, whereas the true religion has been accepted on the basis of the (latter)
four. (34) It would take too long to mention every single one of the religions: (35) those
religions that were ancient (Sb183) but became defunct along with everything that had
given them subsistence, (36) as well as those religions that have come about more recently
but whose subsistence has rested on the subsistence of those (defunct religions); (37)
for, insofar as we can know that one of these religions has been invalidated, it is indeed
proven invalid, just as the other religions before it were invalid.

6 (38) It is incumbent upon anyone who wants to understand (Sm356) (in the first place)
which of these reasons has led to the acceptance of his (own) religion, (39) and whether
it was one of the reasons for the acceptance of falsehood or one of the reasons for the
acceptance of the truth, (40) to do the following: First, he must observe who it is who
accepts that religion now and for what reason he accepts it—(41) whether it is on account
of one of the reasons for accepting the truth or one of the reasons for accepting
falsehood—(42) until he understands (from the acceptance of what is held to in his own
time) what the reasons were for its acceptance in times past, since its very beginning.
(43) And second, he must perceive that the truth is something that is accepted
spontaneously, (44) and that falsehood requires reasons through which it becomes
established in the mind of the one who accepts it, (Sm357) (45) for indeed whoever
contemplates this, at the very moment that he contemplates it, perceives which forms of
religious observance are true and which are false.

7 [III.2. Presentation of the Idea: The Reasons for the Acceptance of Christianity are
Contrary to the Reasons for the Acceptance of Falsehood] (46) Now I will refrain from
mentioning the remaining forms of religious observance, and instead I will expound on my
own religion, asserting that it has been accepted (47) for the (same) reasons that truth
is accepted, whether it be for all of those reasons or (only) some of them. (48) And I say
that it is incomprehensible that people should accept a particular form of religious
observance (49) without (at least) one of the reasons why every religion is accepted.
Indeed, it is unimaginable, apart from the ten characteristic reasons (Sb184) that I have
enumerated, (51) with six of them being the reasons for the acceptance of falsehood,
(Sm358) and four being the reasons for the acceptance of truth. (52) If it is correct that
not one reason for the acceptance of the (true) worship of God is found among the reasons
for the acceptance of falsehood, (53) then the reason for the acceptance of this (true)
worship must be found among the four reasons why truth is accepted, whether it be all of
them or (only) some.

8 (54) And if the reason for the acceptance of the (true) worship of God (that which we
ourselves hold to) in fact is not (the same as) the reason for the acceptance of
falsehood, (55) but rather it is the case that the reasons for the former are opposed to
the latter, as far as it can be from its opposite, (56) then the truth of the matter is
established and obligatory. (57) We find the matter to be just so. (Sm359) [IV. Proof that
the Reasons for the Acceptance of Christianity are Contrary to the Reasons for the
Acceptance of Falsehood] (58) Examination of each of the reasons: (59) With regard to the
first reason (for the acceptance of a lie), the true religion is in fact not accepted
through the great might of a king, nor through subjugation by a ruler. (60) But rather all
the kings and rulers of the earth have been hostile to it (61) and have forbidden all the
people from (accepting) it by means of all kinds of torture and unseemly killing, (62) and
(thus) they have wiped them off (the face of) the earth. (63) And yet this true religion
has vanquished all of those rulers and has remained unshakeable.

9 (64) With regard to the second reason, the true religion has not invited (people) to
flee from a life of hardship and difficulty to a life of plenty and ease. (65) But rather,
it has called (them) (Sm360) from all the more plentiful and easier forms of life (66) to
the life that is harder and more difficult, to that which is almost an object of loathing.
(67) And yet, it has been accepted in the most excellent way! (68) With regard to the
third reason, the true religion has not invited (people) from lowliness to high standing,
or from humiliation to great might. (69) But rather, it has called (them) from great might
to humiliation. (70) And yet, it has been accepted, even to the extent that whoever has
accepted it would rather die than live at its cost. (71) With regard to the fourth reason,
the true religion was not received from wicked people (Sb185) and from the eloquent in
speech. (Sm361) (72) Rather, it is received from the ignorant and speech-impaired, and
from fishermen (who might even be considered more silent and speech-impaired than the
fish).

10 (73) With regard to the fifth reason, those who have accepted the true religion have in
fact been neither ignorant, nor stupid, nor common, nor barbarian. (74) But rather, they
have been people of logic and philosophy more than all the (rest of the) world, (75) and
(they have been) people of discernment and scholarship, those who surpass the rest of the
people in wisdom. (76) With regard to the sixth reason, it was not the case that whoever
accepted the true religion (Sm362) was joined with those he loved and with his friends as
a result of that acceptance. (77) But rather, once that person accepted it, for its sake
he typically parted ways with everyone with whom he had common kinship—whatever that
kinship might be, whether through close family ties or through loving affection. (78) Now
if you would like to add a seventh characteristic reason, then look and see (79) what the
apostles made public knowledge about this religion, (80) in comparison to which nothing
appears more difficult.

11 [Conclusion] (81) No one at all ought to say (Sm363) that if all of these matters were
like this—(82) and hence our acceptance of whatever we believe apart from the display of
signs and wonders—(83) then (proving the truthfulness of religion) would be impossible
except by an opponent who presents (it) out of his own expertise. (84) If you say this,
then seek for yourself (with respect to your religion as well as the others) what
corresponds to what I have described to you regarding our religion. (85) Indeed, you will
notice that there is no comparison between us and them.


ON THE TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL BY WAY OF REASONING FROM PROOFS
==========================================================

ON THE TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL BY WAY OF REASONING FROM PROOFS Yahya ibn Adi

AD 893–974

Syriac Orthodox philosopher and translator in Baghdad, who wrote in Arabic.

ON THE TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL BY WAY OF REASONING FROM PROOFS

On the Truth of the Gospel by Way of Reasoning from Proofs — by Yaḥyā ibn ʿAdī ibn Ḥamīd
ibn Zakriyā, may God almighty have mercy on him

1 [Translated by Sam Noble] 2 Among the evident proofs is that the pure Gospel is accepted
by many peoples whose countries are far from each other and who have different religions
and diverse ambitions. It is not possible for ones such as them to collude nor is it
thinkable that they would agree with one another. If this is the case, then all things
that are accepted are accepted either because of the reasons that something false is
accepted or because of the reasons that the truth is accepted. The reasons for accepting
something that is false are fear of being killed and degradation and poverty, the
imposition of oppressive burdens, the constraints of the law, separation from relatives,
proximity to pleasures and the rebelliousness of desires, the desire for strength and
power and easy circumstances and the acquisition of wealth, the desire for ease and calm
and security and peace, laxity in the law, familial bonds, the allowing of total
indulgence in pleasures, the permission to indulge in lusts, and the trickiness of those
preaching and the foolishness of those who are preached to. The Gospel contains the
opposites of all these things and the renouncement of them all. It commands the bearing of
degradation, the renouncing of seeking power, the love of poverty, patience with
oppressive burdens, and the leaving aside of laxity in the law in favor of exactitude in
it. It commands courage in bearing suffering, the laying aside of indulgence in pleasures,
and the laying aside of worry in the face of dangers.

3 It is manifestly clear that those who preach the Gospel, that is, those who preach
Christianity, were not trickier and cleverer than those to whom they preached. Most of
those who preached were illiterate fishermen and craftsmen. They were not endowed with
special knowledge or overwhelmingly strong understanding. As for those to whom they
preached, these included the Romans and the Greeks, the masters of subtle wisdom and the
foremost in lofty knowledge. They possessed sharp intellects and penetrating insights.
They could not be fooled by a trick or defeated by deception. No error is hidden from them
and they are not blind to erroneous expressions. Thus it is clearly unimaginable that the
Gospel was accepted for one of those reasons by which falsehood is accepted. 4 It remains
then that it was accepted for those reasons by which the truth is accepted, either wholly
or in part, and this compels belief in what it contains. These commands and prophecies
that the Gospel contains not only require that one not hasten to accept them, but even
demand to be found burdensome, and to be mocked and fled from and avoided, to not be
accepted at all and to not be loved in principle. For this reason, if it is accepted by
peoples whose numbers are countless, then this is the most convincing proof and the most
impartial testament that belief in it is a miracle and the surest sign. The reasons that
remain by which, in whole or in part, the truth must be accepted are: that what is
reported is tangible to the senses and manifestly present, that it is primary in the
intellect, that it is made clear through apodictic proof like the existence of the corners
of an isosceles triangle, or it is believed because it is commonly and widely known and
because peoples who could not conspire to agree on a falsehood bear witness to it. A
reason for its acceptance other than these reasons is that acceptance and credence in it
is only because those who preach it demonstrate it through signs and miracles of which
man's inability to perform bears witness that they are not possible without the help of
the Creator, blessed be His name. Only those who are good and pure are able to perform
them, those who are excellent and trustworthy, who only speak the pure truth untainted by
falsehood, only that which is wholly beneficial unmixed with harm.

5 If this is the case, and if what is contained in the Gospel was not ascertained by the
all peoples who accept it through the senses or through its being materially present, nor
is it one of the first principles in the intellect, nor is it ascertainable by apodictic
proofs from the natures of things, and not something that is widely and commonly known,
the truth of which is undisputed, then it necessarily follows that it was accepted and
believed on account of the miraculous signs that those who preached it used to demonstrate
it. It is not at all possible to believe that those who were preached to believed those
preaching if what they preached was completely devoid of the reasons by which the truth is
accepted, which we have enumerated. It follows that those who accepted it, accepted it
because they witnessed the miracles that the preachers worked, which are impossible for
humans. This confirms what we wanted to prove about the truth of what the pure Gospel
contains, which is that the peoples who were called to believe it only did so because of
signs and miracles that God worked by the hands of those who preached it. Thanks be to God
always!


ON OUR SAYING "AND BECAME INCARNATE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE VIRGIN MARY"
============================================================

ON OUR SAYING "AND BECAME INCARNATE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE VIRGIN MARY" Yahya ibn Adi

AD 893–974

Syriac Orthodox philosopher and translator in Baghdad, who wrote in Arabic.

ON OUR SAYING "AND BECAME INCARNATE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE VIRGIN MARY"

On our saying "and became incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary" — By Yaḥyā ibn
ʿAdī

1 [Translated by Sam Noble] When some of the brothers asked, one after another, about the
meaning of our saying in the Catholic Creed "and became incarnate of the Holy Spirit and
the Virgin Mary" each one of them received a response appropriate for him that proved
this, so that they may recall what the scholars have examined and articulated (if indeed
it needs articulation) so that those who have need of it may benefit from it. I say: the
source from which these words were taken is the Holy Gospel because in it is written,
"Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is called the Christ, and she gave birth to her
firstborn son and his name was called Jesus, and the one to whom she will give birth is of
the Holy Spirit, and she was found with child from the Holy Spirit.[4]" So it is
established that Jesus Christ was born of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary. The Apostle
Paul made clear the circumstances of His birth from His mother and said, "He was born in
the body of a woman," meaning that He was born in His human nature of Our Lady the Virgin
Mary and it was established in our previous essay on this statement that that His human
nature is created.

2 The existence of each created thing requires causes such as the carpenter and the wood
and other things. His efficient cause is the one divine nature which creates every
creature, that is, the divinity of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. His
material cause is the Virgin Mary. Just as it is not possible for iron to be made into a
sword without fire entering into it and giving it form in order to make it possible for a
sword to be formed from it, so too the Virgin Mary did not have a human nature that the
Holy Spirit did not rest upon and prepare for the adoption of the human nature from it.
For this reason, when the angel said to her, "Behold you will bear a child and give birth"
and she said "How can this be for me when I have not known a man?", he said, "The holy
spirit will come upon you" and the Holy Spirit put into her the natural power to form an
embryo.

3 This is like what was written in the Old Testament: "The Spirit of God hovered over the
waters." The Holy Spirit rested upon the water and put into it the natural power for
animals to come out of it. Then after that God said, "Let the water bring forth animals,
and it brought forth." This is like when a bird sits on its egg to warm it and the power
of life goes from it to its egg and after that an animal is brought forth from it. It is
also known that the relation of the woman to what is born of her is the relation of the
earth to what springs forth from it. Just as God wanted in the beginning of creation for
the earth to bring forth plants without plants first being sown there, so too the Almighty
wanted a woman to be with child without a human being sown [in her].

4 The expression "of" when we say "and of Mary" is the genitive of material, like when we
say "the ring is of gold" because the human nature is a part of Mary in the way that the
ring is a piece of gold with the form of the ring that the goldsmith made in it and in the
way that each embryo is from its mother. The expression "of" when we say "of the Holy
Spirit" has the meaning of something made by Him. This is like when it is said that all is
of God, not meaning that something is a part of God, but that everything is made by God.
There is no difference between when we say that the human nature is made by the Holy
Spirit and when we say that it is made by the divine nature, since the divine nature is
the divine nature of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. It is clear that the Holy
Spirit prepared Mary to bear that which the divine nature formed from her nature,
according to the natural, gradual development of the embryo in the belly of the one
bearing it. About this it was written of old, "Wisdom built itself a house." In expressing
building, there is indication of an agent, which is the divine nature, and of a material,
which is the nature of Mary, and of an object, which is the human nature of Christ. In His
gradual development, which is His natural formation, and in our saying "built itself a
house" there is indication of the divine nature's residing in the human nature. This is
the residing of union, not the residing of resting within, like the union of the soul and
the body in man.


ON THE DIFFERENCES IN THE EXPRESSIONS IN THE GOSPELS AND THEIR MEANINGS
============================================================

ON THE DIFFERENCES IN THE EXPRESSIONS IN THE GOSPELS AND THEIR MEANINGS Yahya ibn Adi

AD 893–974

Syriac Orthodox philosopher and translator in Baghdad, who wrote in Arabic.

ON THE DIFFERENCES IN THE EXPRESSIONS IN THE GOSPELS AND THEIR MEANINGS

On the Differences in the Expressions in the Gospels and their Meanings, also by Yaḥyā ibn
ʿAdī

1 [Translated by Sam Noble] 2 "Difference" is used in various ways. One way is to mean a
contradiction, as when a speaker says something and its opposite which contradicts it.
This is like when someone recounts something and also recounts its opposite, which
undermines it. This is impossible in the books of God, on account of the infallibility of
those who recount them. "Difference" also has another meaning, as when someone reports
about something that no one else reports. In reality, this is not called a difference
because one person may say one thing and another something else but these two things are
not called different. "Difference" is used in another way, which is a difference in names
but not in meanings, as when we say "rock" and "stone". When the Spirit of the Paraclete
rested on the disciples and they were made infallible with the infallibility with which we
are made secure from mistakes and errors, the writers of the gospels only wrote them at
the times when necessity called for writing, each one of them writing what is useful from
what he saw by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

3 Do you not see the Evangelist Luke mention that the reason that he wrote his gospel was
that many people had written stories and reports about Christ but that their stories were
not satisfactory for him, as when he says "As for me, I write to you O Theophilus, what I
have taken from those who saw with their eyes and witnessed"? If each of the evangelists
brought something that the others did not bring, this is not a difference, as we have
explained it according to the types of differences. Rather, in this is keen wisdom and one
of the great graces of God, because if the expressions and meanings and language of the
gospels were the same, then it would be possible for one to accuse the evangelists of
collusion in writing them and spreading them through the world, as those who oppose us
among the sects claim.


ON KNOWLEDGE AND MIRACLES
=========================

ON KNOWLEDGE AND MIRACLES Abdallah ibn al-Tayyib

d. AD 1043

Physician, philosopher and priest of the Church of the East in Baghdad.

ON KNOWLEDGE AND MIRACLES

On Knowledge and Miracles — By Abū al-Faraj ʿAbdallāh ibn al-Ṭayyib, secretary of the
Catholicos and philosopher

[Translated by Sam Noble] In the religion of the Christians, rational proof is nobler than
miracles because rational proof is proof by which the intellect comes to grasp the truth
of the claim of those who have miracles, his own investigation, the investigation of his
circumstances and the circumstances of those who are making the claim, and the state of
the matter with regard to the claim. Rational proof is for the elites and the philosophers
and the scholars who are not led except by it, while miracles are for the masses whose
breasts are not delighted by certain knowledge and who only believe what they behold by
the senses. So it is clear that rational proof is evidence which convinces through
knowledge and is for the elites and that miracles are evidence which convince through the
senses and they are for the masses. Scriptural evidence that knowledge is nobler than
miracles is from when Paul, the chosen and heavenly apostle says, "God appointed in His
Church the apostles first, and after then the prophets, and after them the scholars, and
after them those who work miracles, and after them those who heal the sick, and after them
those who possess languages (1 Corinthians 12:28)." From this evidence it becomes known
that knowledge is nobler than miracles. Then he says, "The elders who order the affairs of
the Church well deserve multiple recompense, especially those who toil with knowledge (1
Timothy 5:17)."


REFUTATION OF THE MUSLIMS WHO ACCUSE THE CHRISTIANS OF BELIEVING IN THREE GODS
============================================================

REFUTATION OF THE MUSLIMS WHO ACCUSE THE CHRISTIANS OF BELIEVING IN THREE GODS Abu al-
Khayr ibn al-Tayyib

11th century

Christian Arabic writer of Baghdad.

REFUTATION OF THE MUSLIMS WHO ACCUSE THE CHRISTIANS OF BELIEVING IN THREE GODS

Refutation of the Muslims who accuse the Christians of Believing in Three Gods — Composed
by the excellent father and scholar, the priest Abū al-Khayr ibn al-Ṭayyib

1 [Translated by Sam Noble] Some of the Muslims say, "Christ said to the apostles, 'Go
forth and make apostles of all the nations and baptize them in the name of the Father and
the Son and the Holy Spirit,' so here it is said openly that you believe in three gods!"
We respond to them: There is no doubt that the sciences of the Christian Law are the
fruits of three things—the glorious Gospel, the letters of the Apostle Paul, and the
stories of the pure apostles and disciples. These three books testify in all the corners
of existence that God is one god, and that the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit are
attributes of His one essence. All the writings of their scholars in the four corners of
the inhabited world testify to this. If not for fear of it taking too long, I would
recount their beliefs in detail, but I will be brief here and summarize their statements
as will become clear, and I will say:

2 The Christians say that the Creator, may he be exalted, is one substance endowed with
the attributes of perfection and that He is endowed with three eternal essential
attributes which the Lawgiver has commanded, and they are the Father and the Son and the
Holy Spirit. They indicate by "the Father" the name of the substance which they call the
Creator, who possesses pure intellect. By "the Son" they indicate the aforementioned
substance which possesses an intellect that intelligizes itself. By "the Holy Spirit" they
indicate the aforementioned substance which possesses an intellect that is intelligible in
itself. Here they indicate the substance that is subsistent in itself and is free of [...]
The Christian Law only permitted Him, may He be exalted, to be described in this way in
order to speak to the peoples in a way they understand. The scholar and imam Abū Ḥāmid al-
Ghazālī gave this opinion about them in his book known as al-Radd al-Jamīl: "The
Christians believe that the essence of the Creator, may He be exalted, is objectively one
and that it has aspects. If it is regarded with relation to an attribute whose existence
does not depend on an attribute prior to it, such as existence, then they call this the
hypostasis of the Father. If it is regarded in relation to an attribute whose existence
depends on the existence of a prior attribute, such as knowledge, since the essence's
having attributes depends on its having the attribute of existence, then they call it the
hypostasis of the Son and the Word. If it is regarded with relation to its essence being
intelligible to itself, then they call this the hypostasis of the Holy Spirit, because the
essence of the Creator is intelligible to Himself. This usage of terminology means that
the divine essence is objectively one and is characterized by each of these hypostases.

3 Some of them say that the essence qua essence without regard to attribute is an
expression for the intellect and they call this the hypostasis of the Father. If it is
regarded from the perspective of it intelligizing itself, then this perspective expresses
for them the intelligizer, which they call the hypostasis of the Son or the Word. If it is
regarded with relation to it being itself, then this perspective is for them an expression
of the intelligible, which they call the Holy Spirit. According to this usage of
terminology, 'the intellect' only expresses the essence of God and the Father is
synonymous with it. 'The intelligizer' expresses of His essence with regard to its
intelligizing itself, and the Son or the Word is synonymous with it. 'The intelligible'
expresses the God whose essence is intelligible to Himself, and the Holy Spirit is
synonymous with it." Then he says, with reference to the above, "If these meanings are
true, then the terms are indisputable, as are the technical terms that those who set them
down agree upon."


COMMENTARY ON THE NICENE CREED
==============================

COMMENTARY ON THE NICENE CREED Abu al-Majdalus

medieval, date uncertain

Arabic Christian writer who commented on the Nicene Creed.

COMMENTARY ON THE NICENE CREED

Al-Majdalus, Commentary on the Nicene Creed.

1 [Translated by Samuel Noble.] In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,
one God. We begin with divine help and the assistance of the Holy Spirit to write the
commentary on the Orthodox Creed which three hundred and eighteen blessed spiritual
fathers set down by the grace of the Holy Spirit, as it was commented upon by the priest
father Abu al-Majdalus, God rest his soul. May we benefit from the movement of his
knowledge and his prayers, amen. May the copyist and the reader and the hearer be
forgiven. Know, dear brother-- may God aid you with the Spirit of success and write your
name in the Book of Life, the registry of the day of reckoning-- that when our three
hundred eighteen fathers were aided by Christ and set down this creed according to how
Christ deified them, Christ was with them at its setting down and they numbered three
hundred nineteen when they sat on their seats. This is according to the words of Christ to
them- 'two of you do not gather in my name without me being the third and not three
without me being the fourth.' There is nothing in it which is not from the Law of Moses
and the prophecies of the prophets, their blessings be upon us, amen.

2 First, the believer says 'we believe in one God.' This expression is taken from the Law
of Moses, since God said in it, 'hear O Israel, the Lord your God is one.' They began by
confirming God's sole lordship, as in unity He is the God of every thing. No one is His
partner, no likeness resembles Him, and no opposite rivals Him. In His eternal essence
there is no mass and no breadth because mass is bounded by dimensions and dimension
confines it and form touches it. The parts of that which is divided separate and what is
described is bounded by its description, but the Absolutely One is not resembled by His
works or comparable to His creature. He is not described except by the attributes of His
eternity because He was Creator before every attribute and description. His essence is
unrestricted and His work is unimpeded. He is veiled from intellects just as He is veiled
from vision. He has no bounded description and no numbered time. Shortcomings and defects
do not reach Him. Times and seasons do not change Him. Pre-eternal, He remains eternal.
His existence has no beginning. Pre-eternal is an expression referring to one before whom
there is nothing. The Absolutely One is an expression referring to one who has no second.
Just as 'alif' is the first letter and nothing precedes it, the Creator—may He be
praised—is the first without beginning, eternally existent with nothing before Him.
Everything depends upon His will and comes out of His volition.

3 Moses bore witness in his great Law and all the prophets in their prophecies to the
oneness of God and the pre-eternity of His being eternal. God, may He be exalted, said in
the Law, 'Hear, O Israel, I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt.
Do not worship any god other than Me and do not bow to any god besides Me.' He also said,
'Look, look, I am He and there is no god other than Me. I cause death and I bring life. I
strike and I heal. No one escapes from My hand.' The prophet Isaiah said, 'I am the first
and the last. There is no god before Me nor will one come after Me.' The one is unique in
oneness. No one shares in it. The prophet Isaiah said, 'You are the mighty God, the God of
Israel who sits upon the cherubim. You alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth.'
The prophet Jeremiah said, 'Our Lord is one. We do not worship another with Him.' The Holy
Gospel said, 'Bow to the Lord your God and worship Him alone.'

4 The believer says: 'Father almighty, the Creator of heaven and earth, what is seen and
what is not seen.' These words are taken from the prophecy of the prophet Zakariah, 'O
children, love truth and goodness, said God almighty.' Our fathers made known to us that
the God whose unity they confirmed and whose lordship they confessed is eternal,
everlasting and that the eternal one is the master of all things and holds all in his
lofty power and his lordly arrangements. He alone is singular in his creating and
fashioning. He is singular in his bringing things into being and originating. Nothing
similar resembles Him and no opposite rivals Him. He is the one who reveals and the one
who causes to return. He is the master of all of his works through his greatness and their
arranger through the loftiness of His word, sensible things of what is seen and
intelligibles of what is unseen. Nothing leaves His governance and nothing evades His
knowledge. He knows all knowable things and encompasses all created things. Nothing is
dependant except on His will and nothing emerges except from His volition. He brought all
extant things into being and is self-sufficient in His essence and in the perfection of
His attributes. Limits do not confine Him and changes do not change Him. Those sent by
Him, the prophets, and the saints, those close to Him, bear witness to this. Zachariah
said, 'God almighty says these things: Lo I shall save My people from the eastern and
western ends of the earth.

5 I will lead them into their land and settle them amidst Jerusalem.' The prophet Nahum
said, 'O Judah, lo I shall come and dwell in you, said God almighty.' As for their saying
'father,' the prophet David said, 'as a father has mercy on his children, so likewise the
Lord has mercy on those who fear Him.' He also said, 'I will be a father to him, and he
will be a son to Me.' The prophets called God 'father' due to the pre-eternity of his
eternity and His having mercy on his creation and they called His Word 'son' not because
this sonship was a prophetic term but because it is an eternal sonship from an eternal
father. Through it the Word of God is above all the attributes of the sonship of created
things, like the begetting of power from one powerful and speech from one speaking. The
essence is absolutely one, above attainment, division, or dimension.

6 The believer says: 'We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only son of God, begotten
from the Father before all ages.' Their saying 'the only son of God' is an expression
taken from the prophet David: 'The Lord said to me, "you are my son and today I have
begotten you."' By their saying 'the only son of God,' they mean that the eternal Word of
God is begotten from His eternal essence, as is witnessed by the prophet Micah who said,
'You, oh Bethlehem of Judah, are not small among the kings of Judah because from you will
emerge a leader to shepherd my people Israel, whose begetting is before the ages.' The
sense of this is that Christ is that eternal Word, begotten from God who said 'be!' at the
beginning of eternity, by whom all came into being. His begetting is from the Father in
the same way as when one says 'My speech is begotten from my intellect and my tongue
speaks of what my thought begets. My thought is begotten from my essence and my essence is
one with my reason.' God's speaking is begotten from His eternal essence and not a letter
of it is cut off from it. Rather, it is begotten from the essence which eternally speaks
it. It comes forth from an eternal essence and is present and subsistent in it. It is
described by the pre-eternity and eternity with which God describes His eternity.

7 Just as His will is pre-eternally present in His eternal essence in order to create His
creation, so is the Word pre-eternally in the will and present in it in the essence of its
Speaker. It was begotten from Him by the eternal command. The Word of God is a pre-eternal
characteristic of His eternal essence and is not an essence other than the essence of God
who speaks and not a substance other than His substance and not an attribute other than
His attribute. His is not a sonship which He added to Himself, separate from His eternal
essence. God has one Word by which He devised worship through the power of His eternity.
From His divine nature God does with it what He wills. It is the will of God which
surpasses all wills. His will is from His substance and the will is one and the
sovereignty of his majesty. Its essence is eternal in His divine eternity. The law
established for us that God's Word is eternal and all the prophets testified to its pre-
eternity and existence and that it is eternal from the eternity of God who speaks by it,
that it is uncreated, and that the eternal God alone possesses the Word of His eternity
and is satisfied with it. It is not cut off broken up into letters. It is established in
the law that Christ is the Word of God. God said about Him, "I will be a father to him and
he will be a son to me.

8 Christ, the Word of God, appeared by His lofty will and His lordly economy and his
divine volition. He established to the world that He is the Word of God. We found Him to
be eternal light from God's eternal light and we saw Him in the sight of His creation as a
limited human. God alone possesses His Word. The evangelists announced his appearance and
said, "The one who is from the beginning is the one whom we saw and witnessed with our
eyes and touched with our hands. When the veil of darkness was removed from our vision, we
saw that He had shone light and removed from us the darkness of blindness and enlightened
us with His eternal light. He taught us that He is God's eternal Word by whom all things
came into being. God's Word is uncreated and is of an eternal essence. There is not anyone
from the beginning and to the ages of ages who has the power of divinity while being in
the human form other than Christ, the son of the living God. He alone possesses His signs
and the majesty of His lordship without comparison to creatures. He is called 'Christ' and
'lord' and 'powerful' and 'worker of lordly signs' and 'maker of the divine powers.' He is
described in the books of His prophets by eternity of essence and the working of signs.

9 He appeared by His lofty and lordly will as one upon whose divine essence createdness
did not enter and as one who by a mystery too subtle to be understood and too lofty for
the imagination was not transported from the majesty of lordship by it. His appearance was
through the power of one mighty and eternal, who by it is above relation to creatures and
the actions of limited beings because He has an eternal essence and the eternity of the
Word and He is above any name by which He could be named or any mention of Him that could
be made. One who claims that Christ, the Word of God, is created and attributes
servanthood to this creating Word is irrational and has no knowledge of God. He will not
see the face of God and He has no place in this world or in the world to come. God will
keep him in hell unto the ages of ages. The creator bore witness and His witness is true
and His prophets whom He sent and the holy ones dear to Him bore witness that Christ is
His eternal Word though whom He created all the worlds and that Christ has active power
which comes from one active and capable. His is power and majesty and lofty will and the
greatness of divine authority. All his actions are heavenly and not earthly. No created
being can perform a single one of his wonders such as raising the dead and great signs.

10 God bore witness and his prophets with him that Christ is his son and his word begotten
from his eternal essence. Christ went up Mount Tabor along with his pure disciples and
they heard God's testimony and his life-giving voice as he addressed his word, Christ, by
saying, "You are my beloved son with whom I am pleased. God is truthful even if all the
people disbelieve. The prophets and the one giving the prophets to prophecy bore witness
to the eternity of the Word of God who is Christ. One who disbelieves God and the prophets
he sent deserves an eternity in hell as well as one who teaches disbelief in the Word of
God and does not believe his testimony on account of his ignorance of the divine books and
says that Christ, the hypostasis of the Word of God is created and disbelieves the Law of
Moses even though the prophecies of the prophets who went before testified that the unseen
God appeared to all the prophets in the human form in which Christ appeared to the
Children of Israel, and those who denied the prophecies of the prophets and disbelieved
the Law of Moses and the prophecies of the prophets and deny the appearance of the Word of
God who will appear on the day of resurrection and all human eyes will see him and testify
that he is lord and master and judge.

11 He will appear to one who believes in him in this world in the court of the
resurrection in the image in which he was seen in this world. This will be counted as
great righteousness and a good work which causes him to merit eternal life as the prophet
Moses testified in the Law that God appeared to Abraham by the oak tree and Abraham
believed and this was counted for him as righteousness. Out of the greatness of Abraham's
faith in him he stood before him and prostrated to him and called him 'the judge of the
earth.' The Law testifies that he appeared to Jacob in the form of a very powerful man and
said to him, "From now on your name will not be called Jacob, but rather Israel, whose
meaning is 'one looking upon God.'" God said to Moses when the Children of Israel thirsted
in the desert, "Lo I go behind you and stand in Horeb upon a rock. When you see me
standing on it, strike the staff with which you struck the sea and water will come out of
it for you. God appeared to all the prophets in the form of Christ and they prophesied
about his appearance to the world in the human form in which Christ dared to appear to the
world and to the Children of Israel just as the prophets saw him in it and confirmed in it
the vision of the God of Sabaoth and confirmed through it his presence to them.

12 In it they became certain of his appearing to them openly to them and to the rest of
the servants of God. They hope for him and if the people searched the books of the
prophets for what they set down relating to the appearance of God the eternal word, they
would realize the existence of their creator through the vision of Christ and would behold
their creator because God and all the prophets testify to the coming of Christ as his
appearing two times: the first time is his appearance in human form from the Virgin Mary
and the second time is his coming in human form to sit in judgment and judge the whole
world in truth. The book of the Muslims testifies to this when it says, "faces looking to
their Lord" and everyone who read the Law of Moses and the prophecies of the prophets and
believed in the appearance of Christ the Word of God in human form is called to knowledge
of him through it, believing in God and witnessing the truth through the existence of his
creator and maker. The prophet David said, "The God of gods will appear in Sion. He also
spoke of the birth of the eternal word from the divine essence and its second birth from
the Virgin Mary when he said, "From the womb before the morning star I begat you.

13 Isaiah said, "A child is born to us and a sign and a son is given to us and he is the
mighty God and the king of great council. His authority is on his shoulders. The prophet
Moses said, "This is your father who made you and created you. Solomon said, "Who is the
one who went up to heaven and came down to earth and gathered the winds in his fist and
the waters in his robe. What is his name and the name of his father, if you knew? He also
said, "He begat me from the beginning and I was with him when he separated the sky and the
earth and set his throne upon the wings of the wind. When he gathered the clouds in their
storehouses I was with him and he begat me." 14 The believer says: "Light from light, true
God from true God, begotten, not created, equal to the Father in essence. This expression
is taken from the prophecy of the prophet Isaiah who says, "A light will shine in the
darkness," though human vision cannot see that light and it is not a light that lights
space and does not accept accident. It is not a light from the heaven of createdness or
one of the similar accidents. Rather, it is a light which is above all light, present in
the beginning and above being specified with dimensions, a light above all light to which
can be attributed spatialiality and movement and rest. Christ is from this light which is
above all light because his essence is from the essence of God his father. From his divine
light he shown that light from God the eternal father because his essence is from the
essence of the greatness of God and his light is begotten from the unattainable
uncircumscribable eternal light. That light is not sensed and is not compound. It is a
light from the light of God's greatness and his power. Anyone who does not believe that
that light is from God walks in darkness all the days of his life and he will not behold
the truth, neither in this world nor in the world to come because the light of God did not
shine in his intellect.

15 Christ is an eternal light and that light abolishes all darkness since his essence is
eternal and subsistent in the eternity of the eternal creator. That light appeared
ineffably because he is not bounded by dimension and he is not encompassed by any kind of
vision into his essence because he is a light beyond human capability and too holy for
dimensions and space. When Christ appeared with his light from the divine light of God's
essence, this light was not divided though his divine light is from the substance of the
true God. 16 The fathers said, "light from light true God from true God equal to God his
father in substance and essence and greatness," just as Christ said from his pure mouth,
"I am the light of the world and one who follows me does not walk in darkness. He said to
the Children of Israel, "The light is with you for a short time so walk in the light as
long as you have the light. When they realized that light, they called it the light of
truth. The Law said, "Moses looked at a fire in a tree and its branches were not burning
and he said, 'let me see this strange and wondrous sight.' He went forward to see and God
called out to him from that fire which is the light of truth, "I am God, the God of your
fathers," and taught us that that fire is from the light of truth because the tree did not
burn. The Muslims said that God is a light and is like the light which is like a lamp in a
niche. The creator, may he be praised, is robed and veiled with light. Human vision cannot
see that light nor can it see its eternal divine essence. As the prophet David said, "With
you, O lord, is the spring of life and in your light we see the light. He also said, "Your
light is great in the eternal mountains. The Prophet Isaiah said, "Shine O Jerusalem!

17 He is present and the grace of the lord has shone upon you. The lord will see in you
and his grace will rest upon you and the nations will walk with you in your radiance and
the kings by your light. Jeremiah said, "Thus says the lord, 'I will raise up for David
the light of light and he will rule over the domain and set up justice in the midst of the
earth and on that day I will save Jerusalem from those who combat her. The name of the one
who will save her is God.' Thus said the lord, 'A son of David will not cease to sit on
his throne until eternity.'" 18 The believer says: "who for the sake of us men and for the
sake of our salvation came down from heaven. They took this expression from the prophet
David who says, "O lord, incline in your heaven and come down. As for their saying, "came
down from heaven," they intend the closeness of the lord to them, the connection of their
intellects to knowledge of him and their witnessing his human appearance which all the
prophets going before had desired to see with their eyes as the Children of Israel saw him
with their eyes because God appeared to all the prophets and He favored them over all
mankind. So they prophesied of his coming in the appearance with which they saw him with
their eyes, just as the apostle Paul said, "in every way and every form God spoke to our
fathers on the tongues of the prophets of old and in these days he spoke to us in his only
son whom he made an inheritor of all, the one through whom he made the ages who is the
light of his glory and the image of his eternity and he held all in the power of his Word.
The expression "descent" is a connection of the soul to the maker of its life and the
witnessing of the light of truth without a movement in the divine essence and its descent
from the heaven of its dread throne to the passing, decaying material world.

19 By "descent," they intended the creator's drawing near to his servants through his
fellowship with them and his appearing to them in human form, since he was high on his
heavenly throne above their appearing to him and loftier than them in the high of his
heaven, above their seeing his divine essence. When the prophets brought tidings of his
coming in human form, this necessitated vision in terms of the human eye achieving vision
of the divine essence which is holy beyond dimensions and space. All the books of God that
have been sent down testify that he will come down and appear to his servants openly, and
it is an expression used in the books of God, even though no one in heaven or on earth can
see the light of the greatness of his divine essence because of its loftiness. Just as God
said to Moses when he asked to see the divine essence, "No one sees me and lives," this
indicates that human vision does not attain his light. When the prophets saw him, as they
testified, in his appearance they only saw him in the appearance of the form in which he
announced to them him appearing to them as Christ in his material world, just as he will
appear in it on the day of resurrection to judge them and pass judgment over them in it.

20 One who understands God's having written his name on the tablets of Moses without the
divine essence becoming present in those tablets or being encompassed by them has
understood when we point to it with this meaning that the writing was engraved in the
tablets and was not God but rather just as God, may he be praised, willed that the writing
be engraved it was as he willed, may he be exalted, and the words are subsistent in the
essence and preserved in the heart and written on the tablets for Moses without leaving
his divine essence. The Lordly Judge has a lofty will which appears by his will a he
wishes and how he wishes by his divine will which is connected to his lordly wisdom. The
powerful one is powerful and those over whom he has power do not reach him and his lofty
will. The thing which is made does not reach the work of its maker. When Moses saw him in
the veil of light in the bush though the wonder of sight and God assured him of his
presence in it and called out to him from it, "I am the God of Abraham and the God of
Isaac and the God of Jacob," Moses realized that that light was calling out to him, "I am
God," and that he appeared to him through a veil of fire and made it a veil for his power.

21 Moses did not doubt and did not think that the fire was other than the eternal essence
and he believed that the one addressing him by sound was God and that it was his will in
his appearance through the veil of fire. 22 We will follow with some of what the prophets
testified regarding his descent in human form. The prophet David said, "He will come down
like rain upon wool and like the drop of water upon the earth." He also said, "The heavens
leaned down and descended and the fog is under his legs. He rides upon the cherubim and
flies upon the wings of the wind." He also said in the 143rd Psalm, "O lord, incline in
your heaven and come down!" He said about his birth in Zion, "O mother of man, a man is
born in her and he is the exalted one who established her forever." He also said, "The God
of gods will appear in Zion and in his entering into the city of Zion." The prophet
Zachariah said, "Say to the daughter of Zion, behold your king will come to you humbly,
riding upon a foal, the son of an ass."

23 The believer says: "and became incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary. The
fathers took this expression from the prophet Isaiah who says, "Behold the virgin will
conceive and bear a son and his name will be called 'Immanuel,'" the interpretation of
which is, "our God is with us. As for the fathers' saying, "became incarnate of the Holy
Spirit and the Virgin Mary," they mention two incarnations and this statement is exalted
beyond human understanding or material ideas. The fathers said with the help of the Holy
Spirit that when the Spirit of God rested upon the prophets, they learned of the
appearance of the Eternal Word and that it took its substance from its eternal essence
without being divided into parts and without separation from this essence of its ineffable
majesty and it took from the Virgin Mary a sensible body in a manner which human
intellects cannot understand, just as the prophet Samuel said when they asked him what
form the speech of God takes when it speaks to him in the temple, 'God appears to me in
the form of a man like me. In this way he will appear in Sion at the end of days.' The
form in which he appeared from the Virgin Mary was not a temple or a veil or a place
existent before the union. Rather, he appeared as Lord and Christ and Savior, and as the
worker of divine wonders and the receiver of bodily acts, except that the union is beyond
human resemblance and psychological notions.

24 The Gospel of God says, 'The Word became flesh and dwelt among us' and we saw his glory
insofar as he became incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary. The word appeared
in human form without descending from the seat of his majesty or coming down from its
throne, from his dread throne and from his heavenly glory. We learned that the Creator,
may he be exalted, is capable of everything and is great in his power. He is able to
appear to whom he wishes how he wishes. He decrees as he wishes and his is the lofty will
and the divine, lordly power. He appeared from the Virgin Mary as He willed and as his
will preceded in his appearing. The prophets prophesied it and the form in which He
appeared was a human form to which was united the Eternal Word. His is the lordly
authority and his is the will which is above all wills. He is the Lord of the Judgment and
He will appear in this form on Judgment Day. He will appear with great and indescribable
glory and He will be more majestic than the creatures as He is the judge of those in
heaven and on earth. The Gospel of God says that when the angel Gabriel was sent by God to
the Virgin Mary, he said to her, 'Rejoice O full of grace! The Lord is with you!' He did
not say to her, 'You will bear a son' or 'an apostle' or 'a human'.

25 Rather, he said, 'You will conceive and bear a son and he will be called the Son of the
Most High and his kingdom will have no end.' The holy Gospel says in the Gospel of
Matthew, 'And Mary was found to be pregnant from the Holy Spirit' and the ineffable divine
seed whose way of being is unknowable took its place in her and he revealed to her the
mystery of God who sent him to bring tidings of it, saying to her when she asked how there
could be seed in violation of what is usual, 'The Holy Spirit will dwell within you and
the power of the Most High will overshadow you because the one to be born of you is holy
and will be called the Son of God.' When he said this to her, the Spirit of God dwelt in
her and purified her with its divine gift through the dwelling of the Eternal Word within
her. The indwelling of the Word was without its being split or divided. That light
surpasses all light and the light shone in the inner darkness and wisdom built a house for
the light by its eternal will and from the Virgin Mary, as Solomon said, 'Wisdom built
itself a house and established it upon six pillars,' meaning that that house became
incarnate in six dimensions.

26 The book of the pagans bears witness that the Virgin Mary bore the Word of God and that
He cast his eternal Word into her and He came from her as a man, just as the Gospel of God
says, 'the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.' The book of the pagans honors the Pure
Virgin Mary by saying, 'Mary, the daughter of Imran who guarded her virtue, we breathed
into her from our spirit and she believed the words of her Lord and was among the
obedient.' This agrees with the Gospel of God's saying that in the sixth month the angel
Gabriel was sent from God to the city of Galilee which is called Nazareth, to a virgin
betrothed to a man named Joseph of the house of David. When the angel announced to her the
dwelling of the Word of God within her, she asked him how there could be conception
without human seed because there had not been a sign like this. The angel revealed the
mystery of God which He had entrusted to him and he informed her that the conception would
not be from seed but rather that the one to be born from her would be from the Holy
Spirit. All the prophets sent forth prophesied this birth, that it is the Eternal Word of
God born from God the Father and from his eternal essence. Many of the ancient wise men
and philosophers spoke of this and afterwards the prophecies of the prophets were
transmitted.

27 In the book of the wise Hermes on the science of astrology known as the book of the
nine stones, he addresses his son saying, 'O my son, the great and uncontainable cause,
the rays of the perfect cause, subsistent in itself, not needing anything outside itself,
must descend and walk on earth in a veil which it will make for itself and it will return
to its heights and the seat of its throne. This is not movement from place to place. He
also said, 'A star will go from east to west for two and a half years and will return to
its center. It is the star of the good tidings. It will go unto the wise men coming from
the east to the eternal king in order to worship him and give their offerings. For his
sake the children of Bethlehem and its surroundings will be killed. This is after 183
rotations of Saturn, the ancient Zuhal, because its rotation crosses the sky every thirty
years. Plato said in the book of mysteries that the most high would appear on the earth
and would raise the dead and would exhibit lordly signs. He would be lifted up to his
throne and would not be seen until the day when He judges the world. The wise Jovatian
said, 'He is the great one of old, the pre-eternal who sits above the highest of the
heavens, the lofty one dressed in flames of fire, whose kingdom does not pass away.

28 He will appear upon the earth and raise the dead and heal the sick and he will exhibit
lordly signs and return to his lofty throne. When he appears upon the earth wise men will
come to him from the land of Persia and will present their offerings to him for he is the
king of kings and his kingdom does not pass away. Augustus, the wise in astrology, said
that a Hebrew youth whose name is Christ and who is eternal in his essence will appear
openly and bear lordly authority. He will raise the dead and cleanse the lepers and unbind
the tongues of the mute. The wise Aristotle said in his book known as the Lofty Sciences,
'You do not behold your God except through the veil in which he appears. He hides his
light from your vision lest your eyes become fixed upon looking at Him. If He appeared and
you saw Him, his signs would demonstrate the majesty of his authority and by this you
would know that He is the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings.' He said in his letter to
Alexander when he went off to search for the water of life, 'You will not find the water
of life except in one who will appear in the world wearing the clothing of the world. If
you find him, you will gain the water of life from him. He will redeem you with the tree
of life by tasting him and the water of eternal life flows from him.

29 He said in his book known as the Book of Treasures that the treasure of life is with
the god Adonai who will appear in the world and the dead will hear his voice from the
graves and they will rise. The prophets whom he gave to prophecy in truth spoke in veiled
terms about the appearance of Christ and his incarnation from the Holy Spirit and the
Virgin Mary. The prophet Nahum said, 'God will come in my image and his dress like my
dress and his name will be engraved in the books of the name. His vineyard is twelve
branches from the Children of Israel. He will have mercy on the nations and provide bread
in the wildernesses. He will walk upon the sea and the waves will bow to him. By his hand
He wrote the tablets for Moses. The prophet Zephaniah said, 'O daughter of Zion, do not
let your hand slacken for our God will come and live in you and will save you.' The
prophet Isaiah said, 'Rejoice O daughter of Zion for the one within you is the Holy One of
Israel.' He also said, 'A rod will come from the back of Jesse and will sprout a branch
from his root. The Spirit of God will dwell in him, the spirit of wisdom and intellect.

30 The evil will retreat from his land and he will smite the earth with the rod of his
mouth and he will kill the hypocrite with the speech of his lips.' God said in the Law of
Moses, 'Judah, the lion's cub. There will not cease to be in Judah a king ruling and a
prophet sent until the one who has authority comes and the peoples will hope in him.' The
prophet Daniel said, 'I saw a mountain uncut by a hand and it struck the foot of the idol
which Nebuchadnezzar saw in his dream and it broke the clay, the brass, the iron, and the
silver and they were like the short-lived dust and. A strong wind blew and no trace of
them was seen. The great stone filled all the earth.' 31 The believer says: He suffered
and was buried. The fathers took this expression from the prophet Isaiah's saying 'the one
in whom was found no lie came to death.' Know my son that Christ, glory to Him, fulfilled
the prophecies of the prophets about his receiving passions and death. When the Laws which
the Hebrews possess and the prophecies of the prophets prophesied about the coming of
Christ, they prophesied about his receiving passions and death, as Isaiah said that Christ
would come and be killed because Christ appeared in a sensible body susceptible to
passions and death. The body in which he appeared was coarse and he did not want to return
that coarse body to heaven. He decided to strip away from it from the corruptible,
decaying form and to clothe it in the dress of lastingness and eternity and to glorify it
with the eternal resurrection to which no one was magnified except Him and to exalt it
with the robe of glory in the resurrection of glory and eternity and to magnify this form
with eternal glory. If it was raised to its lofty throne, the form rested in the light of
its divine majesty and the form became visible in the light of its eternal essence just as
David said, 'The Lord has put on glory and is exalted in loftiness.

32 When he willed by his heavenly will the body, He kept it free from the clothing of
being and decay by death and He clothed it in the clothing of eternal kingship in his
resurrection from the dead and raised it to his dread throne in the form of everlasting
eternity. It will no longer be subject to change. Death and decay do not change it, like
the grain of wheat that became through its death a fruitful ear. Its death was the cause
of its becoming the fruit of life. Likewise, the death of Christ in the form of Adam which
God had condemned to death he raised in the divine form of eternal kingship and lordly
majesty. He sat upon his dread throne in his lofty place in which his righteous angels
praise Him, just as the prophet Daniel said about Him, 'I saw in the cloud of heaven one
resembling the Son of Man go down to the Ancient of Days and He gave him kingship and
authority. Thousands of thousands of angels serve him and myriads of myriads stand before
him. His rule will not end and will not cease unto the ages of ages.' Death spares his
essence; it is only a movement from abode to abode, from the abode of passing away to the
abode of eternity. Christ willed by his accepting passions to rise up to his heavenly
throne.

33 We have compared the passions of Christ which He accepted by his will and the wonders
He worked by his power and we see that one of his signs among all his signs suffices for a
thousand of the passions which He accepted in human form. The Children of Israel imagined
that the passions of Christ are due to weakness on his part because of their unbelief. The
wise looked at the passions of Christ as heavenly and lordly wisdom that is not understood
except by those who have been helped, those to whom God has revealed the hidden things of
his divine wisdom. The death of Christ which He revealed openly distinguished between the
spirit and its body. The word of God is united to the spirit always and eternally from the
time of the union and forever because the Word is light from God's eternal essence and the
light rests in him eternally, united with him and one with him existing eternally. One in
whom is God and whom He has made one with his eternal essence is in the body in which
Christ accepted death and in the soul which left its body.

34 They both have eternal life since the union and forever, just as the prophet Isaiah
said when he saw with the eye of prophecy, 'God truly rests within you and God is none
other and you are the hidden God, the God of Israel and its savior.' The Holy Gospel said,
'The Word became flesh' and the Word is light that does not suffer and is not subject to
passions because it is beyond the intellect of humans and it is not a sensible body that
suffers. The light of truth does not suffer and is not subject to passions in his lordly
essence and the light of truth is the maker who is not attained by creatures. The Maker is
present in the form in which he appeared as Christ and the form received passions and the
Word does not receive what coarse things receive except that the form is the form of the
eternal essence and became one with him in the union and it rose as Christ and lord and
judge. If the Wise Maker made a garment and was robed in it while his essence is one and
eternal, what does the maker cause to suffer or in what is he ignorant of his creation? He
did not enter into it in a garment added to his essence nor with a lacking since his unity
is always more majestic than created attributes and corporeal actions.

35 God caused all his prophets whom He sent to prophesy Christ's accepting passions and
death, which is a decree of divine wisdom. That which God caused his prophets to prophesy
is the passions which the Children of Israel wrought upon him, just as the prophet Moses
said that God commanded him when the snakes in their multitude bit the Children of Israel,
'Make a snake of copper and hang it on a piece of wood before them. Let all of those whom
the snake bit lift their gaze up to the copper snake and they will be healed.' Then Moses
prophesied saying, 'Truly I say to you that you will see the one who gave you life
suspended before your eyes and you will not believe.' The prophet David said, 'Why were
the peoples disturbed and the nations guided in falsehood? The kings and chiefs of the
earth rose up and make orphans of all against the Lord and his Christ. May He break their
chains and throw off their fetters. The One who dwells in heaven laughs at them. The Lord
despises them. Then He will speak to them in his anger wrath and will forget them.' The
prophet Nathan said, 'The Lord will appear in Jerusalem with a rod of three kinds and with
it he will save the nations.

36 Their kings will be honored by that wood and He will purify them in the water of the
Jordan.' The prophet Isaiah said, 'In difficult straights they think of you and in
necessity they seek you.' He also said, 'God gave me the tongue of knowledge because I
wore away my cheeks with the flow of tears and I did not turn my face from the contempt of
those who spit.' He also said, 'Every man among us has gone astray in his path. The Lord
was given up for our sins. Humble, not opening his mouth, like a sheep he was led to the
slaughter and like a lamb before the slaughterer. Who can speak of his stories?' The
prophet Jeremiah said, 'The Lord will come with great glory and the sign of his coming is
that the nations will bow to the wood of the tree and the ark.' The prophet Amos said,
'When three pieces of wood are nailed together outside of Jerusalem and the sign of
salvation is planted upon it, then the Children of Israel will return to hunger and famine
and shame.' He also said, 'The Lord will come with his saints. There will not be light on
that day, but rather there will be hail and ice. It is a single day known to the Lord.

37 There will not be in it day or night and at evening there will be light.' The prophet
Obadiah said, 'God will come down from the heaven of his holiness to the earth and will
scatter the Children of Israel to the ends of the earth and make them a curse in the
mouths of the nations. They will kill him but he will rise on the third day and raise the
dead by his tree.' The prophet Jothan said, 'When you see the stone cry out with a voice
then the end has drawn near and the hope of the hopeful has drawn near. When you see the
nations with their loins girded then fear will come forever to Israel.' The prophet
Habakkuk said, 'God will come from the south and the Holy One from Mount Pharan, which is
the shaggy mountain, and they will know him among wild beasts.' The prophet Amos said,
'God will appear veiled and will renew Adam by rising upon a tree. He will cause the life
of the world to appear and He will cause bread to be tasted in the desert and make a new
creation. The dead will hear his voice and come to life.

38 He is the Holy One who will appear from the tribe of Judah.' The prophet Zachariah
said, 'God will save Adam by the tree and the feet of the ark when he rides upon it in the
middle of the earth and there will be fear upon Zion.' The prophet Malachi said, 'The Lord
will appear from Judah and mix with the house of David and manifest his glory to the ends
of the earth. His food from the people of Israel will be will be vinegar and myrrh and
they will stab him with a spear though he is their God.' The prophet Daniel said, 'After
seven weeks the Christ will come and will be killed. Jerusalem has no savior but him.'
David said, 'Many dogs surrounded me and a group of evil people enclosed me. They pierced
my hands and my feet. They counted all my bones. They divided my robes among them and drew
cast lots over my clothes.' He also said, 'They all took council against me and plotted to
take my soul.' He also said, 'They put myrrh in my food and gave me vinegar to me when I
was thirsty.' He also said, 'They hated me unjustly.' He also said, 'They rewarded me with
evil rather than good and cast me away, the beloved one, as one rejected and nailed my
flesh with nails.' The prophet Zachariah said, 'The ones who pierced him will know their
recompense from the Lord.'

39 The believer says, 'and rose on the third day'. The fathers took this expression from
the prophet David who said, 'The Lord rose like one sleeping, like the mighty one drunk
with wine.' Know, my son, that Christ put his body to death by his will and brought it to
life by the power of his majesty. He cast off of it the robe of passing away and dressed
it in the robe of eternity and the majesty of his lordliness. He raised it to the seat of
majesty and the pure angels bowed to him, just as the prophet Daniel said with the true
eye of prophecy, 'I saw in the cloud of heaven one resembling the Son of Man go down to
the Ancient of Days and he gave him kingship and authority and all tongues worship him and
his authority is forever.' Christ said to his pure disciples after his resurrection from
the dead, 'I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth.' He aided them after
his resurrection with the greatness of his authority and said to them, 'Raise the dead'
and they raised them and 'cleanse the lepers' and they cleansed them and 'heal the sick'
and they healed them. They worked great signs by his power with which He aided them after
his resurrection. He lived among them for forty days after his resurrection, teaching them
his life-giving law. He granted them his heavenly help and they subjugated the demons
beneath their feet.

40 Their shadow raised the dead and their speech put the spirits of devils to death. Then
He rose to the seat of majesty and sat on the right hand of the lordly power. 'The right
hand' is an expression referring to the power which is beyond all majesty and all
authority. The Creator, may He be exalted, is not in his eternal essence a compound body
and He has no right or left. The right and left hands of power are not sensible and are
not compound because God, may He be exalted, is exalted above the attributes of created
beings and the actions of limited beings. His saying to us, 'He sat at the right hand of
the father in the heights' is like the Book's saying 'he sat upon the throne'. If our
saying this was not an expression then we would not be able to distinguish God's right
hand from his left. Christ rose up to the essence of majesty which is an unattainable
place and cannot enter into the human intellect. Its essence is unattainable.

41 Human bodies are created from dust and will return to their first element, as God says
to Adam, 'You are created from dust and to the dust you will return.' For this reason
Christ put to death that in which He appeared to the world and raised it and did not let
the dust corrupt it, as the prophet David prophesied about him, 'O Lord do no let your
pure one see corruption.' The bodies of Moses, Abraham, David and all the prophets decayed
in the soil while Christ is in heaven above the highest of the heights of honor. The soil
did not corrupt his body and the changes that God previously decreed to Adam when He said,
'You are created from dust and to the dust you will return' did not change him. There has
been no one in the world from Adam until eternity who died by his own will and rose by the
power of his own authority other than Christ. For this reason we realized that He is the
King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Only He lifted up his body as an offering to God his
father for the sin of Adam and his seed. This pure and holy sacrifice is for the
forgiveness of sins and their redemption from the prison of hell and for returning them to
the paradise of blessedness. When He accepted the passions—which are his economy and
divine wisdom—He manifested with them things that dazzle the minds of the philosophers:

42 earthquakes and the disturbance of the inhabited world and the distress and sadness
which befell the people upon his rising up on the cross, the covering of the world with
darkness. The mountains shook and the sun hid its light. The rocks split and the graves
opened. The dead rose from their graves and left their graves and cried out weeping in the
streets of Jerusalem. When the Children of Israel did all this to their creator, if He had
not been the Lord of the sun it would not have veiled its light at his passions and if He
were not Lord of the temple then the temple's veil would not have split on account of Him.
At his resurrection from the tomb it shined upon the entire inhabited world with the light
of his resurrection. The sun multiplied its light seven times. The light of his
resurrection shone with it upon the believers. This is because the light shone to those
sitting in darkness and the shadows of death. He released those imprisoned in the prison
of hell and took them out of the darkness, just as Hannah, the mother of Samuel, said,
'The Lord will go down to hell and release those who are bound from its mouth.' We follow
with some of what the holy prophets have said about his resurrection.

43 The prophet David said, '"Now I rise" said the Lord, "and I work salvation openly."' He
also said, 'Rise up O Lord and destroy your enemies.' He said, 'The Lord will rise and
scatter all his enemies.' He also said, 'The Lord rose in the assembly of the gods and in
the midst of their assemblies He judges them.' He also said, 'The Lord rose with the
decree and saves the humble of the earth.' Isaiah said, 'The Lord said, "Now I will rise
and go up."' He also said, 'If the Lord rises the earth will indicate it and they will
cast away the idols of gold and silver which they adopted for worship.' He also said, 'The
Lord of Sabaoth will arise and raise in righteousness his paths.' He said, 'Those who
think evilly of the Most High will know. The body will give forth drops of water and blood
and the voice of the servant will be heard from the wood of the tree. He will be buried
and will rise from the dead and from the earth, ascending to heaven. He will be eternal
and rise to the right hand of the Most High and will be above the cherubim where he was in
the beginning. The holy ones in him will be proud.' The prophet David said, 'The Lord went
up with praise. The Lord went up with the sound of the horn. Sing to our Lord!

44 Sing, sing to our king!' He also said, 'The Lord went up with the sound of triumph.' He
also said, 'I looked at the Lord in front of me at all times. For this reason my heart is
joyous and my tongue gives praise.' He also said, 'The Lord went up to the heavens and
thundered and He will judge the ends of the earth.' The prophet Hosea said, 'We will
return to the Lord whom we smote and He will heal us. After two days, on the third day He
will rise alive and He will give us life.' 45 The believer says, 'He ascended into heaven
and sits at the right hand of the Father in the heights.' The fathers took this expression
from the prophet David who said, 'He sits upon the wings of the winds.' He ascended into
heaven as the gospel of God said, 'no one ascends to heaven except the one who came down
from heaven, the Son of Man who is still in heaven.' There has not been anyone who came
down from heaven and ascended to heaven except Christ alone. All the prophets and the
friends of God remain in the earth until the day of resurrection. When it is the day of
resurrection Christ will come, the one who ascended to heaven in the greatness of his
dread glory with all his holy angels. Then he will call to the dead with his voice and all
the dead will arise and stand before his throne. He will judge them in truth. He will
judge them because when Christ ascended to heaven He ascended to the unlimited space, to
the seat of his ineffable majesty. 'The right hand' is an expression referring to the
unlimited right hand of the majesty of the Creator because the right hand is lordly power
without bodily sensation because if we raise or hands to heaven we gesture towards the
height of his majesty and intend an unlimited essence that is not lacking in anything.

46 The one who ascended to this majesty is the eternal Word of God and the Word of God
does not cease to be with God and God is the Word. Its ascent is to its eternal essence
and it sits upon its throne in the place which is unattainable. The light that does not
dawn is begotten from the light of the eternal essence of God who dawned on us with his
lordly light as Lord and Christ with the meaning which He desired. It happened in his
lordly knowledge and He appeared by his lordly will which is incomprehensible to the human
mind. That light appeared in the world and shone in the darkness. He guided the world to
knowledge of his lordship and He ascended to his throne unto the completion of divine
will. He sat at the majesty of the right hand of his father ineffably and without
delimited dimensions. His sitting in his lofty place is in the form in which he appeared
as Christ but it subsists in the divine light which vision does not apprehend. This is the
form in which he will appear on the day of resurrection. On that day their faces will gaze
and just as I cannot explain how He sat upon his throne likewise I cannot explain his
place at the right hand of the majesty of the ineffable lordship other than that we
indicate his majesty and the place of the indescribable divine power. No one defines the
creator or delimits his ineffable essence.

47 If we said that the king unsheathed a sword and killed his enemies with it, then the
essence of the king is not defined and sight does not attain it. The king returned the
sword to its scabbard in the majesty of his glory and his original glory shines forth. Who
can comprehend the direction to which the king raised his sword when the king's light is
above all things? The pagans say that God raised Christ and cannot discern the direction
to which God raised him. Our minds cannot reach knowledge of Christ's ascension to his
lofty place and his sitting at the right hand of the divine majesty except what we have
read and we do not attain any knowledge of his appearing in the bodily world except what
we have explained and what the prophets who have been sent said to us. If we went far into
uncovering the depths of this mystery then no man's intellect will attain it. The good
disciple and evangelist John said, 'The one who is from the beginning is himself the one
whom we saw with our eyes and touched with our hands on account of the word of life.' The
prophets spoke openly about Christ's ascent. The prophet Jeremiah said, 'The Lord will go
up from Sinai and will come with great glory.' Also, the prophet David said, 'The Lord
went up with praise. The Lord went up with the sound of the trumpet.

48 Sing, sing to our king, sing for the Lord has gone up to the seat of his glory.' He
also said, 'Rise up, you eternal gates to let the King of Glory enter in. Who is the King
of Glory? The mighty Lord, He is the King of Glory.' The prophet Zachariah said, 'From the
Mount of Olives the feet of the Lord arise towards the east and from the Holy House He
ascends to heaven.' The prophet David said, 'The Lord said to my lord, "Sit at my right
hand so that I put your enemies under your feet."' The prophet Daniel said, 'I saw one
resembling the Son of Man go up to heaven and draw near to the Ancient of Days and He gave
him eternal dominion.' 49 The believer says, 'and He will also come in glory to judge the
living and the dead, whose kingdom has no passing away or end.' The fathers took this
expression from the Law of Moses because God said, 'I will come and judge and recompense
in truth.' Know, my son, that no one at all has seen God, as the gospel of God says his
light enlightens all light. If He appeared to creation with his divine light then the
creatures would not have been able to see him and their vision would be rent by the light
of his awesomeness, as He said to Moses when he asked to see Him, 'No one will see me and
live.' The creator's essence, may He be exalted, is unattainable and far above resting in
space. The vision by which Moses and Abraham and Jacob saw him in bodily form as Christ is
a kind of divine wisdom. That in which He appeared to them was not fantasia and was not
imaginary. His appearance affirmed his existence and the necessity of his wisdom and if He
relied on an unseen judge and perfect wisdom in his appearance on the day of resurrection
in the bodily form of Christ in which they denied his lordship, He will chastise those who
opposed him for their denial of his lordship in it. He will judge him for their works and
for how they opposed his words and commandments.

50 When they see him on the day of resurrection in that form of Christ, He will appear in
it as Lord and Christ and Judge. He will judge them as the judge who fashions his
judgment's acceptance. They will realize that that form is the vision of God and the image
of his eternity and the mirror of his eternal essence and they will realize that it is the
vision of the judge who judges righteousness, just as the prophet David said, 'He will
judge the inhabited world with true judgment.' He also said, 'Out of Zion comes the law
and the Word of God from Jerusalem and he will judge the peoples.' He also said, 'The Lord
reigned and the earth gives praise. The islands rejoice, the fog and clouds around him. A
just judgment is before his face.' He said, 'They said on the earth, "the Lord has reigned
and established the inhabited world."' The prophet Isaiah said, 'The Lord will arise and
judge his people. He is the Lord who judges the elders of his people.' Solomon said, 'The
Lord said, "vengeance is mine and I will repay. The prophet Malachi said, 'Lo the Lord
comes ruling all and those who endure to the end, to the day of his coming. His appearing
is like fire and he will sit in judgment, to purify mankind like silver.' He also said,
'Our God, God is the judge and blessed are those who rejoice with Him.'

51 The believer says, 'We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who
proceeds, whom we worship and glorify with the Father and the Son, who speaks in the
prophets.' The fathers took this expression from the Law which says, 'the Spirit of God
hovers upon the waters' and 'the Spirit of God created me.' David said, 'Your mighty
Spirit established me.' Know, my son, that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God by which
He gives life to every living thing because it is the Spirit of corporeal and spiritual
beings. When the fathers confirmed the unity of the Creator, they showed that He is above
having human attributes, and attested to his unity in the attributes of his subsistence
and established his existence with eternal essential attributes. He has two essential
attributes by which his essence is described, may He be exalted. He exists in silences
except for these two attributes which, if they did not exist, H e would not exist. They
established that He is subsistent in himself, living. Since nothing is alive without the
Spirit of God, it is an eternal essential attribute of God who is subsistent in himself.

52 Then they said that his one living, rational hand is a living Lord and a rational God
and when the one Creator is described by these two attributes by which they established
his existence they said, 'We believe in the Holy Spirit,' meaning that the Holy Spirit is
the Spirit of the true God who comes out of Him, who causes the prophets to prophesy. When
Isaiah gazed upon Christ with the eye of prophecy he said, 'the Spirit of the Lord is upon
me for the sake of the one who anointed me and sent me to bring good tidings to the poor
and to heal the broken-hearted and to warn those imprisoned in annihilation and those
blinded in vision and I will bring good tidings in the year received by the Lord.' The
prophet Joel said, 'In those days I will pour out my Spirit upon all those who have bodies
and your sons and will prophesy and your old men will dream dreams and your youths will
see visions.' The prophet David said, 'You established me by your mighty Spirit.' He also
said, 'Send your Spirit and they are created and renew the face of the earth.' The prophet
Ezekiel said, 'The Spirit of God has reached me and the Spirit of God has removed me.'

53 The believer says, 'we confess one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.' The fathers
took this expression from the prophet Isaiah who said, 'They were given to drink with joy
from the fountain of salvation.' Know, my son, that the water of holy baptism is the water
of life upon which the Holy Spirit blows just as God said in the Law, 'the Sprit of the
Lord blows upon the waters.' It blows upon the baptized and gives light to their darkness
and enlightens their essences. The universal soul rests upon the particular soul and the
Holy Sprit rests upon everyone who is baptized and by this they merit entrance into God's
heaven and rise from the world of darkness to the world of light. Those who are not
baptized do not rise to heaven and do not enter into the kingdom of God and God does not
count them among his righteous or write their name in the Book of Life, as Christ said by
his truthful mouth, 'anyone who is not born of water and the Spirit will not enter the
kingdom of God and he will not count him with his righteous or write his name with the
righteous.' The pure gospel said, 'one born from flesh is flesh and one born of the Spirit
is spirit.' Christ has given us two births: a birth from the flesh from mothers and
fathers and a birth from the Spirit.

54 The birth from the flesh decays and changes while the birth from the Spirit does not
decay and does not change because it is the birth of life, the birth from God to perfect
the human form by this second birth because the Spirit of perfection is in baptism and
brings the salvation of the soul from the darkness of the body. The Spirit of God rests in
the temple of God and if the Spirit of God rests in it, then it opens its eyes so that it
might witness the truth. Just as the soul of the body gives it the life of acting in the
corporeal world, so too the Spirit of God gives those baptized the eternal life of action
in the eternal heavenly world because the birth of the flesh is susceptible to corruption
and change, just as God said to Moses, 'my Spirit will not rest upon them because they are
flesh.' The apostle Paul said, 'flesh and blood will not enter into the kingdom of God'
because the unbaptized soul must be in the world of darkness. Baptism washes the soul from
the effects of sin and enlightens the essence of the soul so that it may be worthy to rise
to eternal bliss, as David said, 'sprinkle me with hyssop and I will be cleansed. Wash me
with it and I will be white like snow.' The prophet Ezekiel said, 'I will take you out
from the worldly and put you into your land.

55 I will sprinkle you with pure water which will purify you from your sins and your
transgressions. I will take out of you the heart of stone and give you a merciful heart.'
56 The believer says, 'We hope for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the age to
come, amen.' The fathers took this expression from the prophet Isaiah who said, 'The dead
will rise from the graves.' Know, my son, that God created two abodes: the abode of this
world and the abode of the world to come. This world is the abode of change and decay but
the world to come is the abode of eternity and lastingness. He created the body coarse,
temporary and susceptible to destruction through death. He compounded within it a rational
intelligent soul, abstract and indestructible. It uses the body in obedience to its
Creator and intends its elevation within its own spiritual world after its purification
from the filth of corporeal nature so that it might rise with it in the resurrection of
life because the rational soul is bounded within the body. Death is the perfection of the
human form- and the resurrection its second existence unto eternity- because when the wise
builder destroys a house he builds one better than it and when the planter wants plants to
grow, he sows it in the earth and rejoices at its death in the earth so that pure fruit
might come out. God created the element of earth and created his creation from that
element and decreed that it will return to its element. The elements are in his mastery
and they obey his command to return what they absorbed for He alone is unique in creating
out of nothing by generosity.

57 The rational soul of man which He compounded within the body will only receive the gift
of God in the beatitude of paradise through its good works in the abode of this world. He
caused its temple which was taken from the elements to live with the soul but it is the
house of its darkness and quick to decay. Just as it was in the darkness of the belly,
turning about in the enclosure of vileness, so the soul turns about in the body, in the
darkness of the elements in which it grew. However, it does not know what will become of
it in its turning about in the corporeal world. So too, the when the soul leaves the house
of its darkness, it leaves to a spacious world of light and looks upon the spiritual world
and the heavenly nations with their lofty ranks and spiritual levels. At that hour, it
will see that which it deserved on account of its actions. If it was good in the obedience
of its Creator, then it will go among the enlightened spiritual ones. He will raise it on
the day of resurrection and the light of its works will shine upon it if they were
righteous. Likewise, the gospel of God says, 'the righteous will shine in the kingdom of
their Father' because the resurrection of the dead is eternal life for the happiness of
those in whose righteousness He is pleased while the one who is proud of his ignorance sin
will be tormented.

58 The scriptures of God and the scriptures of his prophets bear witness to the
resurrection of the dead and the recompense of each soul for what it did, just as the
priest Ezra said, 'God will resurrect those in the grave all at once after death unto the
judgment. He will announce that truth and justice will know the people's works and He will
chastise them for their evil works.' The prophet David said, 'O Lord of Mercy who
recompenses each one according to his works.' Solomon said, 'God will recompense
everything you do in the abode of the world to come, what you have done secretly and what
you have done openly, if they were good and if they were evil.' Isaiah said, 'The day of
the Lord is near. He comes without forgiveness because He comes in anger and wrath and
will destroy the sinners. The stars of the sky will not give their light and the sun will
go dark at its rising.' Ezekiel said, 'God said to me, "O son of man, will you say how the
dead will arise? Come to the place of worn-out bones and prophesy upon them so that you
might see their resurrection. Thus spoke the Lord of Lords that each muscle may join to
its sinew. I did as the Lord said to me and I saw at those bones move and come together
with an earthquake of motion. The Lord said, "Prophesy, so that they put on flesh and
veins and nerves" and I saw them as complete bodies.

59 Then the Lord said to me, "O son of man, prophesy that the living spirit might enter
into them" so I did as He said and I saw them rise up and stand on their feet alive. He
said, "O son of man, these bones are from the Children of Israel and lo I open their
graves and raise them up to judgment. Thus said the Lord of Lords.'


DIALOGUES WITH A LEARNED MUSLIM: DIALOGUE 7
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DIALOGUES WITH A LEARNED MUSLIM: DIALOGUE 7 Manuel II Palaiologos

AD 1350–1425

Byzantine emperor who recorded his dialogues with a learned Muslim.

DIALOGUES WITH A LEARNED MUSLIM: DIALOGUE 7

The most pious Emperor, friend of Christ, MANUEL PALEOLOGUS, — to his most dear brother,
the most fortunate born-in-the-purple despot, Theodore Paleologus. — A dialogue with a
certain Persian, by profession a teacher, held in Ancyra of Galatia

1 The beginning of the seventh controversy 1. a. At daybreak, the Mudarris greeted us at
the doorstep. Addressing himself to us, according to his custom, he said, "Let us address,
if you like, the points left over from yesterday." When they had all sat down around us,
as by custom, I started the subject: b. "The Law of Moses comes from God. This is shown by
the multitude of supernatural miracles. Because Moses could not have worked wonders beyond
nature, if the laws that he was bearing were not communicated to him by God. However God
manifestly honoured this Law by constant works and declarations, not only by those by
which he glorified the aforementioned legislator, during and after the promulgation of the
Law, but also by the fact that He hated (so to speak) and rejected those who did not
observe it, and that if somebody scorned it, He scorned him and inflicted on him suitable
punishment.

2 c. "But I can teach you in a clear and short way the difference between the two Laws.
"Almost all mankind divides into three groups: those for Moses, those for Christ and those
for he whom you are not afraid to compare to him that saw God. However only your Law has,
in the eyes of all, from all points of view, nothing healthy about it. 2. a. "Consider
this: you yourselves say that the Law of Moses came down from God and that ours is without
any doubt much better than it. You thus judge them both good, although you preferred your
own, which is valued by nobody but is decried by all. b. "Here is the proof: If one asked
the whole of the men which is the best of all the Laws and which is on the contrary the
worst, each one would make this assertion: that his own is the best, but that of Mohammed
is the worst. We, now, we say that in the form of a supposition, but you are not unaware
that it is indeed the truth. You in vain scorn the opinion of all men; taking them one at
a time as if they were enemies, you reason badly. It is undoubtedly necessary to consider
the testimony of each for itself as inadmissible, and its vote invalid; those of the whole
of mankind on the contrary, when they converge, must be admitted, whatever the subject
under consideration.

3 c. "So your law cannot properly be called a "Law" any more, nor ranged with those which
are established by a number of legislators. And that because the most significant articles
of this new Law are older even than the legislation of Moses. Because they have an ancient
origin, and it is not Mahomet who instituted them. Indeed, to demolish the making of
idols, to flee polytheism, to believe in only one creator God, to receive circumcision as
a sign of faith, and other similar points, Abraham established these without writing.
Moses then put them in writing and promulgated them, adding to it what God, in his
discussions with him, had ordered. So this more recent Law, coming later than the old one,
borrowed it - this is obvious - its basis and its principles; and certainly not the older
from it. How indeed the could the older one be derived from the more recent? However so
much does such a condition give pre-eminence, that there is no need of a discourse to show
it. And what need I say about the basis and the principles, when what appears most perfect
of all and, we might say, all of what your Law seems to consist is obviously taken from
the old Law? So there is nothing new there, but the same things have been said again; or
rather they have been impudently plundered. For show me anything that Mohammed instituted
new: you will only find what is bad or inhuman, such as when he orders in decreeing that
the belief that he preached should be advanced by the sword.

4 3.a. "But it is necessary, I think, to explain this point more clearly. Men on earth
must experience one of three things [according to Mohammed]: -- they must place themselves
under this law -- or pay tribute and, more, be reduced into slavery -- or, in the absence
of either, be struck without hesitation with iron. b. "But this is extremely absurd! Why?
Because God is not pleased with blood, and to act unreasonably is foreign to God. What you
say thus has stepped over the border of insanity, or almost so. Firstly indeed, is it not
very absurd to pay money and to thus buy the opportunity to lead an impious life and one
contrary to the Law? c. "Next, faith is a fruit of the heart, not of the body. So he who
intends to bring somebody to faith needs skilful language and correct thinking, not
violence or threats, nor some instrument of wounding or intimidation. Because just as,
when it is necessary to compel a non-reasonable nature, one would not have recourse to
persuasion, in the same way to persuade a reasonable soul, one does not need to resort to
force, or a whip, or any other threat of death.

5 d. "No one can ever claim that, if he uses violence, it is in spite of himself, because
it is an order from God. Because if it was good to attack with the sword those which are
complete unbelievers and that this was a law of God given from heaven -- as Mohammed
claims -- it would undoubtedly be necessary to kill all those who would not embrace this
Law and this preaching. He is indeed quite impious to buy piety with money. Do you think
differently about this? I do not think so. How would you do it? However if that is not
good, to kill is yet much worse. e. "However if it is found that Mohammed added something
to the Law of Moses, at once you call that the Law. And you are not satisfied that we
allow you to talk like that, but you require that we prefer this Law to those which
preceded it. In virtue of what? -- and something which it is not right even to call the
Law!

6 f. "In fact the very thing which makes us consider it as Law, is the same thing which
places this kind of Law on the opposite side (from the real law). One of the properties of
the Law is that it can lay down new regulations which are agreeable to God. Yours boasts
that it has borrowed regulations. If we pruned out the older articles from it, it would be
just like the jay in the fable: He borrowed feathers of every kind, then they were removed
from him, and there he was, once again just a jay. g. "If so, everyone will consider your
Law — we'll call it the Law, in the meantime, to make you happy — inferior to that of the
Jews. And if it is inferior to that, it is far more so to the Law of Christ, which, with
your consent and the consent of all, superabundantly prevails over that of the Jews."

7 4. a. I spoke thus. He was silent for rather a long time. Then the interpreter — he was
descended from Christians, liked the beliefs of his parents and was opposed to our
interlocutors in thought, although not as much as might have been appropriate -- the
interpreter thus, rightly transported by our words, with a pleased look, put the blame on
the Persian, but not openly. He said more or less this: "How long will we remain like
statues without replying? You need to have the courage to perform some generous action if
we do not want to come out of here covered in confusion, leaving to others the crown of
victory. " b. He therefore, lifting his head with haughty pride, looked at them, and then,
turning to us, he spoke more or less as follows: The Persian 5. a. -- "I have said, I say
and I will say that good and beautiful is the Law of Christ and much better than the
earlier Law, but that mine is superior to both. Therefore consider what I am going to say,
you may hear something that you do not condemn altogether. Your law, I say, is beautiful
and good, but it is very hard and very burdensome and can not easily be useful. These
remedies are too bitter to taste. So there is no error in believing it is not completely
perfect.

8 b. "The Law of Mohammed follows the middle path and proclaims ordinances which are
bearable and in sum gentler and more humane. Hence it is moderate in all respects and
takes precedence over other laws. Indeed, the shortcomings of the old Law it fills by the
supplements which it brings; on the other hand it reduces the exaggerations of the Law of
Christ. There is also what it prunes visibly from both Laws, and suddenly it quite
prevails over them. c. "It also avoids, I think, the mediocrity and the imperfection of
the Law of the Jews on the one hand, and on the other hand, the elevation and height of
the precepts of Christ, their harshness, that they are excessive and impractical so far
for men, because they force, so to speak, our terrestrial nature to mount up to Heaven. It
thus avoids both faults and strives for moderation in everything. Thereby it appears
better than all the Laws that have preceded it.

9 d. "The virtues, you know, consist of avoiding excesses and keeping exactly to a happy
medium. That's what we call virtue, and what virtue is. What is virtue is a happy medium,
and what is not such is not virtue. This is the doctrine of all the ancients, and you
yourself have said the same earlier. e. "But tell me, is it to stay in the happy medium -
'to love one's enemies, to pray for them', to provide them with food when they are hungry;
-- And what is amusing - allow me this freedom - to 'hate his parents and brothers and
even his own soul; --- 'to he who took your shirt, to give him also your coat';--- 'to
give without distinction to he who asks' until you appear more naked than a stick and
ridiculous in the eyes of those who would then make your property the loot of the Mysians,
by pretending to be in need;--- to he who strikes 'on one cheek, to turn the other; to
never stand up to evil';--- to have 'no stick, no bag, no money, nor two tunics';-- 'to
not worry about tomorrow'? "Who is the man of iron, diamond, more insensible than stone,
who will bear all these things,- who will bear the offence and cherish the insulter;-- who
will do good to he who is ill-disposed towards him;--- who by his extra bounty will invite
the people of this species to gorge on him like vultures on the corpses of the dead?

10 f. "What ear could accept this, at least one without great complaisance towards
requirements of any kind, even those for which our miseries do not suffice? And that which
is quite intolerable and opposes the precept of God enacted already, I mean virginity,
should that be allowed? The answer is obvious. Because living in a body and wanting to
imitate the nature of incorporeal beings and, as if we lived as pure spirits, not
approaching women, is contrary to reason: it is a heavy burden and a great violence. g.
"Also, to not procreate children for posterity, because of living without getting married,
obviously destroys the world. It is completely absurd and unworthy of God to make the
human male and female in the beginning, to prescribe them to multiply, and then, having
reached the prescribed end and the earth being filled with men, to give men a law that
must do away with men. Do not tell me about the flood, nor the case of those who were
slaughtered in the desert at the time of Moses, nor the extraordinary fire, that of Sodom.
These cases and consequent punishment did not make the world entirely disappear, and it
was because of the magnitude of the transgression that they were inflicted on the guilty.
Christ, himself, is not a Minister of anger. He did not come, I think, to take revenge on
men who offended God, but rather to bring benefit and relief to men, mainly by a better
law.

11 h. "Let us consider this: It is good to 'leave his father and mother and cleave to his
wife' and thereby increase the human race, as the former precept ordered. There's no reply
to this, I think. God forbid that I try to destroy what has been prescribed by God to our
first parents for the construction of our species and that has peopled this world with
humans! But the second Law, which establishes virginity, you just want to see this as
carrying on from the previous one! What? Should not everyone observe it? But if everyone
observed it, the whole human race would be reduced to absolutely nothing. Thus these
precepts, namely, multiply and keep virginity, do not agree, they rather fight against
each other. And since there's no choice that, given their opposition, one must be good and
one not, the one is bad, in my opinion, that urges men to have an indecent opinion about
God. But this is indeed the case for the one that would have made the human race
disappear, virginity, as I said.

12 i. "So the interim Law, I mean yours, offering us many such examples, is clearly not
perfect. However, it is without question much better than that which preceded it. But
relative to that which followed, it clearly comes second. 6. a. "The Law that came later
thus appears higher than the others, as in buildings. That is why the Jew, under an Law
which lies closer to the ground, we can not welcome him when he comes to the law of
Mohammed, the highest located, unless he has first of all, as far as possible, practiced
your religion. He who comes to God must not in fact leapfrog forward in a disorderly
advance, but, by degrees, climb through the intermediate level to the last, beginning with
the first: thus everywhere the order will be preserved. b. "It follows, therefore, to
speak briefly, that the Jews had the true religion until the advent of Christ, and that
was the case for those who had faith in him; and the others were unfaithful to the Law and
not obeying Moses who had predicted Christ, even if they observed all the precepts, even
if they claimed to render to Moses veneration and honour (to him) after God himself. It
also follows that those who believed in Christ were God's people, all in succession, until
the arrival of Muhammad, who brings the perfect law. But, afterwards only those (belong to
the people of God) who adhere to this Law. So those who have rallied to Mohammed, those
are really the disciples of Christ and Moses. Those on the contrary who are more zealous
than they should be and because of this have remained in the repealed Laws, provoke
against themselves the wrath of legislators and by their madness work to their own
injury."

13 The emperor 7. a. The old man, after these words, raised his eyebrows and sat down. The
circle of listeners were attentive. The struggle, they felt, was reaching the culmination.
The children underscored with gestures the words of their father, applauded and wanted to
jump up and down. b. So I say: 8. a. -- "What's this, my man? Here, by a massive attack,
you invested the acropolis with an arrogance and a fierce passion. You were expecting to
take it at the first assault. But you were mistaken in your hopes. There are men who live
there, and it is firmly based on the rock. It is full of wonderful goods. Perhaps of these
goods of which you never had experience, you will have your share, when the war is
fortunately completed with the support of God, you and your two sons that are here. b.
"But I'm allowed to be amazed at this: You are in truth a man of sense and honour, in the
very first place among the doctors in your land, you are adorned with the great wisdom
that is specific to your country, you have virtuous morals, believing everything less
important than the truth. And yet here you refute yourself and you contradict yourself
openly. You have already declared the Law of Moses divine and good, and said strongly that
it has been sent from heaven to men. Then, as if you have repented of your previous
declarations, you do not hesitate to say evil of it, and thus contradict yourself, as I
said. It is not actually possible that the same Law is both divine and good and is also
such that it can receive fair criticism. However, this Law and that of Christ, because
they did not recommend moderation, you place among the bad Laws.

14 c. "You assume that the Law which is the best on all points, is yours, and that it
keeps to a happy medium. You hope to show thereby that because of this happy medium, it is
consistent with virtue. You deviate in this from the right position, and your friends will
be ashamed for you. Because it is not appropriate for so important a man as you to cover
the Law of Christ with lengthy contempt. You know how much you have allowed yourself to
show scorn, openly calling it very unbearable and very violent, and absurd and cumbersome,
even like a trap, and other similar epithets. I'm not saying anything about the many
criticisms that you have uttered against virginity and because of which you have grossly
attacked the legislator who established it, although you also placed him above all. 9. a.
"But continue to reflect on this. You could reach better judgments even on points where
you seem not to contradict yourself.

15 Now I should present my defence against your objections. b. "The extraordinary and
supernatural things that, you say, are beyond human virtue, because they seem to you above
human nature, are merely beyond a man. On the other hand, they are very accessible and
easy for men, if they wish. That may seem to you like a puzzle, but it is completely the
truth. If we consider our strength, or rather our weakness inherited from Adam, these
points may seem above every virtue, but not when you consider the support and power of him
who calls us to them. He doesn't encourage men in order to abandon them without his aid,
but invisibly the hand of God helps them with their actions. Here, then where such
assistance is found, won't that which seems rude, what seems awkward, be that which
appears instead very easy? c. "Get into the spirit where the reward is the kingdom of God.
The previous discourse has already shown this and you yourself are still in agreement with
it. It is therefore necessary that those whom this hope nourishes bear all. But this is
not the time to explain myself. Your words lead us imperceptibly to the assistants, like a
current. Let us therefore proceed to the defence, with the reasons that might persuade
you, without, from need of a reply, you having to be ashamed of what is fair (to say).

16 10. a. "Our Lord, in the time he lived among us, adjusting our habits and leading us by
all means into the light of truth, seemed to command and prescribe certain things
indistinctly to everyone. He established them actually as an indication, as a sign, if you
like, that we love him. Because, he says, 'one who loves me, keep my commandments.
Therefore all must observe them well. Without this it is not possible to truly become his
servants, from the enemies that we were previously because of the sin of our first
parents. b. "The other points, he does not establish them as precepts necessary, not for
all, nor as absolute master. It is in the form of exhortations and advice, or spiritual
battle, if we like to call them so, that he offers to the most perfect, the promise of
both the kingdom and the divine sonship. To those who are content to be servants, little
ones with little ambitions, He gives corresponding benefits. All wealth, as they say, is
not the same. On the contrary, all those who receive and observe this advice, enjoy the
mystical parentage through participation in the divine grace. As evidenced by the
operations and the power of the divine Spirit, who reveals himself in them and comes from
them, like a current from an eternal source.

17 11. a. "I want to speak about this more clearly. May I be forgiven if I allow myself to
follow the thread of discourse, led, if you like, by the current of truth; it leads me to
what I now don't want to say or agree to, and what looks like green fruit, or rather, to
speak more exactly, things premature for you who are attached to things carnal. Such
spiritual food belongs to all those who are found inferior to them, and who are still
attached all the same to the commandments: because if we omit them, we cannot be
considered blameless servants. So these men can not only avoid incurring punishment, but
also benefit from immortal rewards by the grace of the master to his servants, so that is
beneficial for all those who, to this end, agreed to 'take the form of a slave', even
though He is by nature the lord of all.

18 b. "So it is clear that to respect the precepts is a general and essential need. But to
raise the level of the advice, which raise up to sonship, is a matter only for those who
choose to suffer the painful things, whatever the quality and quantity, in order to win a
joy and a glory without end. It is their task to preserve their eagerness until the end,
not over time to abandon the group of the virtuous who practise virtue for itself, and
finally get the crowns that are only for the heads of the virtuous. 19 c. "That's why, in
dealing with this, the Saviour, who wanted to show what I said, uses this expression, very
brief if we consider the words alone, but as great as Heaven when you consider its power:
'Let he who is able understand.' It is as if he said: great is the current battle, but
larger and eternal are the rewards. This is to notify the man who has shown youthful
courage and who, supported by his meditation, knows how to endure the hard part. I do not
intend (you) to train at the race-track by force: that is neither normal nor just. Know
who has the power, i.e. the will to overcome the hard part. He's the one who is worthy of
admiration. Because free will, the honour given to men from the beginning and by which
they are superior to other animals, remains intact: it is unnecessary that it be
otherwise. Because how would one make a gift for what was done of necessity, whether it
concerns a kingdom, or should one crown the lazy? On the contrary, it is in another way,
it is by an art and a suitable power that he drives us all towards better goals. He has
opened to all men the kingdom of heaven, and indicated the path that leads to it. Leading
to a successful conclusion all that relates to that purpose, he had omitted nothing by way
of relief to help strugglers and travellers. Rather there is nothing that he has not
strongly recommended to all for their good.

20 d. "Is this a law above nature that you see here? It trains all men into virtue,
provides relief to the will and rewards that reflect the struggles of everyone. " The
Persians 12. a. -- "We see, said some, you speak of mysteries and doctrines higher than
our knowledge. The precepts of Christ, you divide them into commands and counsels. You
have expounded extremely well on this subject. b. "But we would like to hear you explain
this more clearly and in detail." The Emperor 13. a. -- "How do you think, I said, that I
should complete my defence? Anyone who can not keep their virginity will not be deprived
of future blessings: otherwise the elect would be few. Similarly, any person who, stripped
of his coat, does not give his shirt also to him who seeks a quarrel, he is not liable to
punishment, nor the one that, struck on one cheek, did not present the other to the
aggressor. But even though we were unable to demonstrate a willingness to bear a greater
injustice than the inclination to injustice of the unjust, nevertheless the fact that we
suffer patiently injustice from anyone deserves, as we know, an important reward: because
that is not easy nor possible for most people.

21 b. "These are your statements from the start - you remember - which we have rightly
brought to these words. However, even taken this way, the high character of the
exhortations does us good. Because certainly nothing would be happier than being able to
achieve them, to launch ourselves out towards them like a goal and to strip oneself of
this infirmity of spirit. This is not for us an acquisition of nature, far from it! Even
if we were not able to give even what has escaped the ferocity of the unjust, even though
we have not practiced all the higher virtues and are not in this way come to the end of
perfection, if we have been able to accomplish, as they say, the second crossing, to know
how to support patiently anyone encroaching on us, but we keep the medium, knowing how
much we are lacking to the best of the best things."

22 The Persian 14. a. -- "How is it obvious," said the Persian, "that the medium will look
after those who are lacking with respect to higher things, but practice charity, justice
and like virtues? b. "For you have said, I think, that few will share in the eternal
blessings. Living in such expectations is not keeping the medium." The Emperor 15. a. --
"But, my dear fellow, this is possible at need for those at least who have the spirit and
reason from suitable principles. If men carefully observe the commandments good for
mercenary servants, consider how to estimate those provided by the son? There is nothing
that can engage a servant to take pride, if he is sensible. If in fact he performs the
works of the servants, although by his service he gave his master thousands of blessings,
made of dark, poor and humble elements, he merely carried out his duty and did not perform
a service of freewill. He who does not do his duty is liable for a beating, imprisonment
and other chastisements. He on the other hand who performs well in all things, no-one
admires; he does even admire himself, I think. Is it his place to do it? Far from it.

23 b. " However the example, certainly, is not a happy one. For us, we need servants, and
there are those who, by their servants, have escaped many misfortunes and gained a lot of
property. But God, what need would he have of our services, He who lacks absolutely
nothing and who created all things merely out of goodwill? Thus no man of intelligence
could feel proud, because he observes the commandments of the master. He will however have
his wages, which are granted by grace. Because no wages are due to slaves. He will obtain,
however, what his moderate conduct deserves, and he will envy those who have practiced the
points that he himself left out. 16. a. "That should be enough on that. But it was
necessary that the discourse, which has deviated from the topic because of your questions,
should respond to those who require one. Sometimes even in the course of discussion, the
discourse takes us back on track so that it completes its course and returns to the
subject that is appropriate.

24 b. "It is certainly not true that all those who have not managed to raise themselves to
the level of the advice and exhortations were lost themselves. If, without any wrong to
anyone, without wishing to suffer any longer, we then carry on in fear of being abused and
will refer to the master of judgment to accuse the evildoer, we will not for that be
liable to this censure. Certainly not, any more than if we go about wearing shoes, owning
two tunics, with a staff, bag and money on the belt. It is also possible for those who
want to marry and gain money by just means to live in a reasonable manner, although it
would be a better acquisition if we did not want to acquire possessions in this world and
loved the poverty adopted at the beginning by Christ more than any abundance. In short, to
perform for a reasonable cause anything which is for us life is not condemned by nature,
so to speak, nor prohibited by the Law.

25 17. a. "Let us say this, if we must make distinctions and summarize what has been said
about this subject: b. "This is the act of evil men, unworthy even to be servants, to
scorn the commands of the Master. To observe them is the due of wise and faithful
servants. But to welcome the wonderful advice with pleasure and carry it out as you can,
this is the duty of a man desirous of great values, not content to just be a servant, when
it is possible to be a son. c. "It is thus necessary to speak as follows: it is the nature
of better men, I mean those who say that they follow the values above, to be with the
angels and become, so to speak, their companions in life. The characteristic of men below
them, men in the middle, is simply to observe the precepts that save and reconcile God
with sinners. The third group, I mean those who, by their own decision, place themselves
outside the other two groups mentioned, this is the herd of swine that are no good.

26 d. "It seems to me, dear friend, that you no longer hold to your first opinion, having
learned this, and do not declare more openly that our Law is very hard and like a trap,
nor that exhortations and advice which you said exceed the virtue of men, against all
truth. For how would this law have seen fit to recommend things impossible? e. "That this
advice seem more burdensome to you than the commandments of the past, is not surprising:
they are clearly higher that them - because they lead to their completion - as you
yourself have already agreed. But the thing that is complete is in all points higher than
that which receives its completion from it. On the other hand, that which is higher and
ascending is somewhat more difficult and makes more difficult the path that leads there.
For in truth, narrow, straight and elevating, considering it for itself, is the path paved
for all by God who, without leaving heaven, descended and became man for the salvation of
our species. This way was in the beginning unknown, unused and difficult. These
difficulties are inherent for it, because it leads upwards: it leads to the highest place;
it is neither broad, neither plain, nor easy, for the reason that nobody traversed it
before.

27 f. "The characteristics of the way that our first parents followed are the opposite. It
leads to the abyss, and there are many men who from the beginning committed themselves,
attracted by its gentle and easy slope and by the lure of the easiness. Not surprisingly,
the Saviour leads men away from pleasures that lead to the abyss, and He encourages them
to embark on the path that can save the travellers. It would have been amazing if he had
recommended the opposite. The main reason is that there is of necessity nothing in common
between him and playing around and that he has stigmatised the easy life, so to speak, in
the eyes of all and of those who seek the same. g. "Indeed, among all humans, it is to you
also and above all that he shows this. For those among you who seem to be the children of
virtue, you believe that they are better than those who boast of a wide reputation and of
great riches. The Greeks, obviously, thought in the same way. In short, for all, virtue is
an object of esteem, and vice one of contempt. However, it was undoubtedly in giving
precepts or advice in good and due form, better done than in seeking to gain the consent
of all.

28 18. a. "But as in fact not all of them follow the same way as the fervent (disciples),
it is not this which it is important to examine. The part which is flesh and mud may be
urged and pushed and led by any means to virtue by a rational soul, but it resists, you
think well, and by its nature refuses the benefits which refrain from corruption. Because
if it is true that the fruits of the virtue are sweet, the root of it is bitter. If such
is the truth, the works of virtue are painful and are not achieved by necessity in nature
but by the generosity of the will. However the will is not the same in everyone. It would
be necessary, on the contrary, to be astonished if all nourished the same dispositions
with regard to virtue and did not differ from each other in conduct.

29 b. "Thus the fact that all do not follow the same way as the fervent, in no way
disparages the affirmation that virtue is good. On the contrary, the fact that all rather
wish to be numbered with the virtuous than with those who have given themselves up to a
slacker life, it is this which raises it to the value of a higher good. I think that if
one offered, even to those dedicated to carelessness, the choice to be able, in all their
conduct, to turn towards the better values, or of living in their usual loose morals, they
would choose the first way and would reject the other, almost without considering it. [The
seventh dialogue continues, to chapter 37, when the day ends and the two sides separate]


APOLOGY (EXTRACT)
=================

APOLOGY (EXTRACT) Gerasimos

medieval, date uncertain

Arabic Christian writer; an extract of his Apology is translated here.

APOLOGY (EXTRACT)

1 [The following item appears in Beirut, Saint-Joseph University manuscript 548,
pp.243-271. It is an extract from book 4 of the 5-book apology of Gerasimus, abbot of the
monastery of St. Simeon the Wonderworker near Antioch, and contains a collection of
sayings by pagans predicting the teaching of Christ.] In the name of the Father and the
Son and the Holy Spirit, one God. We begin with the help of God- may He be exalted- to
write the words of the excellent father Gerasimos, abbot of the monastery of Simeon
Stylites. He compiled a book and named it al-Kafi fi al-Ma'na al-Shafi and gathered within
it testimonies from the Old and New [Testaments], from all the religions, from the books
of the sages and the [illegible] and the book of the Muslims which confirm the true
religion. Here we copy them. The Old and New [Testaments] we have with us, but the
testimonies of the Muslims and [illegible], are not with us and here we copy them with
God's help.

2 We say: the testimonies to the unity of God's substance which is exalted above every
substance. The wise Sybille said: One is God, may He be exalted. His greatness is not
varied. He alone sees all, though He is not seen by any mortal body. Plato: All these are
a part of time that was and will be. However, it is not proper for us to attribute these
to the eternal substance because we say that it was and it also will be. Rather, what is
appropriate for it in true and precise language is that it is only a verbal expression, as
'was' and 'will be' must be predicated upon being in time. Also among what he wrote to
Dionysius about God the Father: Because the existence of all of this and its maker is
difficult to grasp, if He exists speech about Him is forbidden to all people because He is
not like all the other things.

3 From the fourth book of Cyrus about the One God and that He does not have a name: There
is no name for Him and human knowledge does not grasp Him. [illegible] said: because He
has no need for anything, not for a part nor substance nor words, nor deeds. Rather, He is
the cause of all these things. From the words of Hermes Trismegistos about God: Here is
what I recounted about the One God alone. Nothing at all of Him is reached. We say that He
is unattainable. Antisianus: He is not known from the image of his likeness and is not
seen with the eye. He resembles nothing. Therefore no one can grasp Him from the image of
His likeness. Xenophon: It is evident that the One who shakes all though He is unmoved is
a great and powerful god. Any thing is subordinate with regard to form. One who wishes to
know the lacking as manifest is in need of faith.

4 Socrates: O excellent one, we do not need to think about what the many say about us.
Rather, we need to heed the righteous and the hypocrites. He is one and the truth itself.
Also Plato: That which the treatise on definition arranges is the god of the beginning.
What is below it is the gods. Tatawus Allakrus: The beginning of all is one and He is not
part of being, because if He was under being He is not a beginning. On the hypostasis of
the Son the Word. Plato: The eternally emanating essence of the Father which does not
change or cease has a personal will and power. From it the eternal word took substance and
upon its taking substance it alone governed all and graced the giver with the same
governance. Also from him: I swear by the chief of all the gods under existence and the
[illegible] their being. After Him are the chief and His son the Lord. He is the one whom
you will know if you rightly philosophize.

5 Aristotle: God's nature is not overcome and its being has no beginning. From it the word
took substance, the God who is powerful over all. From his fourth philosophical book: He
came out before all ages from God the cause, complete since he is begotten in himself
because his coming out did not only become a movement of that in the begetting. Arfaqus: I
swear to you O sky, the perfect work of God is wisdom. I swear to you by the word of the
Father who by it established the world. Hermes: The word of the creator is like an eternal
begetting, moving in itself without increasing or decreasing. It does not change and does
not decay. He alone resembles and is equal to himself, standing upright, steadfast and
watchful. He is one after the god the knowledge of whom is prior. Numithius: God the
creator should be thought of as a father, the first god.

6 The man given to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, in the time of Moses: When Pharoah, whose name
was Batsunius, king of Egypt, became enraged with Moses at the release of the People he
immediately went to the city of Munif, to the famous temple. When he made a sacrifice he
asked the Thibia, saying thus: 'Inform me who the first among you is, the great god of
Israel.' So he gave an oracle thus: 'In the great heavens there is a fire that surpasses
description, eternally moving and immortal. The earth, the sea, and the depths are shaken
by it and the demons are drowned by it. This is a god, the ruler of all, a father to a
son, threefold not one. As for us, we are after the angels. Go silently.' Plutarch: Do not
conceive of something prior to the cause of all, may it be exalted. From everything which
is from every other thing is something else like it because it necessitates a change in
it.

7 Babunius: From one intellect and the word which is from it aroseand was differentiated
all of this. Bukididus: The nature of God's begetting is always power and it has no first.
From Him himself the word took substance from the one with three hypostases. Porphyry: The
substance of God goes out to three hypostases: the lofty and righteous god, the one who is
after him and second to him, the creator, and the third is the soul of the world. Hermes:
In himself he has not ceased to be in his own intellect. His light and his spirit enclose
all. Also by him: There is no god besides him, and no angel and no demon and no other
substance because he is the lord and father of all and his is god, source, life, power,
light, intellect, and spirit. All is with him and under him. Another oracle given to Tudi,
king of Egypt, in the temple of Africa: First is a god, then after him is a word and a
spirit is with them. These agree in nature and their progress is towards the one.

8 Anthimus: God, the word, and the spirit are together. They do not cease to be one thing,
one substance, and one majesty. The sermon of Darius the Wise: The three divine names are
from the power of the one whose lordship is singular, whom no one has seen. He is the
cause of all that has being and the cause of all that has a body. Hermes: I swear to you O
sky by the father, the creator of wisdom, the divider of reason and intelligence. I swear
to you by the word which created, perfected, caused confusion, and steadied. I swore to
you by the spirit which divided the water and formed all that is in it. When they passed
to the house prepared in the city of Muriqus, someone said to them 'who is a man like?'
Philo said, 'Know that this house is for a god one and threefold and for his word unbound
and unperceived.

9 What follows this afterwards in the testimonies which pertain to the incarnation of the
word: Philo also: What do you claim? Philo claimed one god with three names. One of them
is the First Cause. The second is Power. The third is Wisdom pouring out upon all. The
second is the word which creates all and the third is the life-giving soul. The statement
on the birth of our lord Christ. Amilius the philosopher: One who aspires to becoming a
philosopher must possess continence and distance himself from all evils and his action
must be upright. When you philosophize thus then you will know the name and the one letter
and you will behold the son of God who is free of passion and will become manifest. The
words of Sybille the Wise: The maiden will come and with her the heavenly word.
[illegible] The king Manidus gave an oracle and said, 'The word of God the pre-eternal
Father will come in the body.' The king said, 'from which womb or from which seed will
this appear?' He said to him, 'from the womb of a pure young maiden of short stature, with
a light, shining complexion.' The king said to him, 'So without seed or sexual relations?'
He said, 'By the wisdom foretold with the father. Then this body will be crucified and at
that time doubts will come and minds will weaken.' His disciple said to him, 'Who sowed
the seed about whom much will be said and discussed?' He said, 'The hidden will of God
shall appear, my son.'

10 He pronounced another oracle that the word which was born perfect, who is the son and
creator and maker came down and was born by a woman and roused the blind. Dimilitus
pronounced an oracle and said, 'The word was with God and was God and made all with his
hand. When he came down and was clothed in a robe of flesh man looked upon him and he
revealed the substance of the majesty of the divine nature and he was as he was before his
coming down. Severus: In the fifth age the youth will come from the south whose mother was
not touched by man. The king will resist him and the children will be killed in the land
of Judah for his sake. Philon: The son of God will come in the flesh, resembling the
mortals of the earth. 11 [illegible] Hermes pronounced an oracle: Hermes, when Pharaoh
asked him at the time of his worshipping the star known as Saturn to give him an oracle
and to tell him who is greater than it. He said, 'Pardon me,' and he did not pardon him.
Then he said, 'Greater and more magnificent is the one who treads upon the heavens. His
robe is eternal light and his rays do not change or diminish. He is not disturbed and is
not penetrated. Before him are two blazing fires and he is the pre-eternal God and the
eternal father. The divine nature is his and from him and in him. He has no father before
him. He has a son from him and in him who is from no one but him. Pharaoh set this down on
stone tablets and erected them in the temple which is in the city of Murikus. Time passed,
and each one said 'this house is mine.' Their grandees gathered and accepted Philon. He
pronounced an oracle and said, 'know that this house belongs to one threefold god and his
unbounded and imperceptible word. I see a virgin girl with child and it is like a light
coming from her. The one born will frequent this house. Then he will be offered as a
sacrifice.

12 Aristotle said: The uncreated is created and the created is uncreated. The father is a
father and the son is a son and the one is three. One incorporealbecame incarnate a land
which gave birth to the maker of heaven. Apollo: Do all that leads towards the good and
the beautiful. I will confirm three times the one, king of exaltedness, God whose wisdom
and word do not decay. He will be born with them from a virgin girl and they will pass
through the world like a bow blazing with fire. He will catch all and will offer it as a
gift to the father. On statements about the holy passions of Christ Solon: In the end, he
will come to the earth which is variegated in multiplicity and become flesh, free of sin.
Within him will be the power of the unconquered divine nature to heal incurable ailments.
For the sake of this he will be born in an unbelieving people in the flesh and will be
persecuted by them and hung on a piece of wood.

13 Giun: At a certain time there will come to this drowning world a certain person free
from sin and he will be born in the body without passion afflicting the divine nature. He
will heal the corruption of incurable passions and the unbelieving people will be jealous
of him. He will be crucified as one condemned to death and by this pleased all with his
meekness. From the stories of the people of the city of Athens: The wise men of the city
of Athens upon seeing the darkness which fell during the passions of our Lord Christ asked
Dionysius the Areopagite, who was still a pagan, 'O teacher, what do you say about this
darkness, because we have determined the correct paths of the sun and moon but we cannot
determine the cause [of this].' He said to them, 'The Son of God was slandered by a
people.' Sagharklis on the response of the houses of idols: The god who made the long
heaven and earth is one, while mortals are many and wandering in the heart. We have set up
idols of stone and brass and images from works of gold and ivory. We offer to them
wondrous sacrifices and feasts and think that in this way we perform proper worship.

14 Porphyry of Tyre said: Now you are surprised if a plague afflicts a city of this size
for years, [but] it is because Asclepios and the rest of the gods have no presence and
Jesus is honored for no one is granted a deceitful benefit from the gods. From one of the
stories of the Romans: In the fifty-fifth year of the rule of Augustus, he went to the
temple and performed a sacrifice. He asked who will rule the Romans after him but he was
not given a response by the pythia. He made another sacrifice and asked, 'why do you not
speak?' and this was said to him: 'A Hebrew child will take precedence over me as he is a
gracious and powerful god. He will spur me on to leave this place and everything attached
to it. From an oracle of Apollo al-Daqnuni: When the maidservants of the temple of Apollo
asked him 'Why do you no longer give inspiration and knowledge like you used to?' he
responded to them with this response: 'O ones more wretched than the other maidservants of
my temples, it was not necessary to ask me this last question which inquires about the
wondrous god and the breath of his divine nature which envelopes all creation which hangs
from it like a bunch of grapes-- all creation, which is the stars and fire, the rivers and
the lower frost, wind and light. [The divine nature] expelled me from Athens, from the
temple which is here, and I did not desire this. The works of my three-legged stand which
I retain today are emboldened to lose me. Apollo has perished and is extinguished, since
the human and heavenly man is angered at me and the one who has suffered is a god and his
divine nature itself did not suffer.

15 The end of what I can explain of the statements of the sages about the truth of the
religion of Christ, which is the religion of the Christians, praise be to God forever. 17
Reading for This sentence is rather unclear in the Arabic, either due to a copyist's error
or a clumsy translation from the Greek. Tentativly reading as possibly to be corrected to
Yunius? This seems to be the sense here.


SOURCES AND CREDITS
===================

Where each text comes from, and the licence under which it may be reused.

UNIVERSAL HISTORY English translation: an out-of-copyright translation as transcribed, or
commissioned and given to the public domain, by Roger Pearse for his collection Early
Church Fathers – Additional Texts ( tertullian.org/fathers ). SermonIndex has only divided
it into chapters and short sections; the wording is the translator’s own. No Greek or
Latin text is shown beside it yet, and no modern English version has been made. Licence.
published 1909; turned into english for the site and dedicated to the public domain
(modern). Licence: Public domain.

THE BOOK OF GOVERNORS English translation by E. A. Wallis Budge, from The Book of
Governors: The Historia Monastica of Thomas, Bishop of Margâ, A.D. 840 , edited and
translated by E. A. Wallis Budge, volume 2, the English translation (London: Kegan Paul,
Trench, Trübner & Co., 1893); public domain. The text was read by machine (Mistral OCR)
from a scan from the Princeton Theological Seminary library at the Internet Archive and
has not been proofread against the printed book. SermonIndex has removed running heads and
page numbers, joined words split across lines, and divided the text into chapters and
short sections; the wording is the translator’s own. Footnotes and the editor’s
introduction are left out. Budge’s additional notes and his essay on the Syriac version of
the Paradise of Palladius are also left out, and the pages that are mostly in Syriac
script could not be read by the OCR, so some letters and short passages that the book
prints in that script are missing here. No original-language text is shown beside it, and
no modern English version has been made. Licence. The translation was published in 1893
and is in the public domain. Licence: Public domain.

MARGANITHA OR PEARL : THE TRUTH OF THE FAITH. (AD 1298) English translation: an out-of-
copyright translation as transcribed, or commissioned and given to the public domain, by
Roger Pearse for his collection Early Church Fathers – Additional Texts (
tertullian.org/fathers ). SermonIndex has only divided it into chapters and short
sections; the wording is the translator’s own. No Greek or Latin text is shown beside it
yet, and no modern English version has been made. Licence. published 1852. Licence: Public
domain.

METRICAL CATALOGUE OF SYRIAC WRITERS. (AD 1298) English translation: an out-of-copyright
translation as transcribed, or commissioned and given to the public domain, by Roger
Pearse for his collection Early Church Fathers – Additional Texts ( tertullian.org/fathers
). SermonIndex has only divided it into chapters and short sections; the wording is the
translator’s own. No Greek or Latin text is shown beside it yet, and no modern English
version has been made. Licence. published 1852. Licence: Public domain.

COMMENTARY ON REVELATION English translation: an out-of-copyright translation as
transcribed, or commissioned and given to the public domain, by Roger Pearse for his
collection Early Church Fathers – Additional Texts ( tertullian.org/fathers ). SermonIndex
has only divided it into chapters and short sections; the wording is the translator’s own.
No Greek or Latin text is shown beside it yet, and no modern English version has been
made. Licence. published 1906. Licence: Public domain.

A TREATISE AGAINST THE MELCHITES (MINGANA TRANSLATION) English translation by Alphonse
Mingana, from Woodbrooke Studies: Christian documents in Syriac, Arabic and Garshūni ,
edited and translated by A. Mingana, with introductions by Rendel Harris, volume 1
(Cambridge: W. Heffer & Sons, 1927); public domain. The text was read by machine (Mistral
OCR) from a scan of the 1927 volume at the Internet Archive and has not been proofread
against the printed book. SermonIndex has removed running heads and page numbers, joined
words split across lines, and divided the text into chapters and short sections; the
wording is the translator’s own. Footnotes and the editor’s introduction are left out.
Rendel Harris’s introduction, the index of names and the Syriac text in facsimile are also
left out. No original-language text is shown beside it, and no modern English version has
been made. Licence. The translation was published in 1927 and is in the public domain.
Licence: Public domain.

ON HOW TO DISCERN THE TRUTH OF RELIGION English translation: an out-of-copyright
translation as transcribed, or commissioned and given to the public domain, by Roger
Pearse for his collection Early Church Fathers – Additional Texts ( tertullian.org/fathers
). SermonIndex has only divided it into chapters and short sections; the wording is the
translator’s own. No Greek or Latin text is shown beside it yet, and no modern English
version has been made. Licence. commissioned for the site and dedicated to the public
domain (2009). Licence: Public domain.

ON THE TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL BY WAY OF REASONING FROM PROOFS English translation: an out-of-
copyright translation as transcribed, or commissioned and given to the public domain, by
Roger Pearse for his collection Early Church Fathers – Additional Texts (
tertullian.org/fathers ). SermonIndex has only divided it into chapters and short
sections; the wording is the translator’s own. No Greek or Latin text is shown beside it
yet, and no modern English version has been made. Licence. commissioned for the site and
dedicated to the public domain (2009). Licence: Public domain.

ON OUR SAYING "AND BECAME INCARNATE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE VIRGIN MARY" English
translation: an out-of-copyright translation as transcribed, or commissioned and given to
the public domain, by Roger Pearse for his collection Early Church Fathers – Additional
Texts ( tertullian.org/fathers ). SermonIndex has only divided it into chapters and short
sections; the wording is the translator’s own. No Greek or Latin text is shown beside it
yet, and no modern English version has been made. Licence. commissioned for the site and
dedicated to the public domain (2009). Licence: Public domain.

ON THE DIFFERENCES IN THE EXPRESSIONS IN THE GOSPELS AND THEIR MEANINGS English
translation: an out-of-copyright translation as transcribed, or commissioned and given to
the public domain, by Roger Pearse for his collection Early Church Fathers – Additional
Texts ( tertullian.org/fathers ). SermonIndex has only divided it into chapters and short
sections; the wording is the translator’s own. No Greek or Latin text is shown beside it
yet, and no modern English version has been made. Licence. commissioned for the site and
dedicated to the public domain (2009). Licence: Public domain.

ON KNOWLEDGE AND MIRACLES English translation: an out-of-copyright translation as
transcribed, or commissioned and given to the public domain, by Roger Pearse for his
collection Early Church Fathers – Additional Texts ( tertullian.org/fathers ). SermonIndex
has only divided it into chapters and short sections; the wording is the translator’s own.
No Greek or Latin text is shown beside it yet, and no modern English version has been
made. Licence. commissioned for the site and dedicated to the public domain (2009).
Licence: Public domain.

REFUTATION OF THE MUSLIMS WHO ACCUSE THE CHRISTIANS OF BELIEVING IN THREE GODS English
translation: an out-of-copyright translation as transcribed, or commissioned and given to
the public domain, by Roger Pearse for his collection Early Church Fathers – Additional
Texts ( tertullian.org/fathers ). SermonIndex has only divided it into chapters and short
sections; the wording is the translator’s own. No Greek or Latin text is shown beside it
yet, and no modern English version has been made. Licence. commissioned for the site and
dedicated to the public domain (2009). Licence: Public domain.

COMMENTARY ON THE NICENE CREED English translation: an out-of-copyright translation as
transcribed, or commissioned and given to the public domain, by Roger Pearse for his
collection Early Church Fathers – Additional Texts ( tertullian.org/fathers ). SermonIndex
has only divided it into chapters and short sections; the wording is the translator’s own.
No Greek or Latin text is shown beside it yet, and no modern English version has been
made. Licence. commissioned for the site and dedicated to the public domain (2009).
Licence: Public domain.

DIALOGUES WITH A LEARNED MUSLIM: DIALOGUE 7 English translation: an out-of-copyright
translation as transcribed, or commissioned and given to the public domain, by Roger
Pearse for his collection Early Church Fathers – Additional Texts ( tertullian.org/fathers
). SermonIndex has only divided it into chapters and short sections; the wording is the
translator’s own. No Greek or Latin text is shown beside it yet, and no modern English
version has been made. Licence. translated for the site and dedicated to the public domain
(2009). Licence: Public domain.

APOLOGY (EXTRACT) English translation: an out-of-copyright translation as transcribed, or
commissioned and given to the public domain, by Roger Pearse for his collection Early
Church Fathers – Additional Texts ( tertullian.org/fathers ). SermonIndex has only divided
it into chapters and short sections; the wording is the translator’s own. No Greek or
Latin text is shown beside it yet, and no modern English version has been made. Licence.
commissioned for the site and dedicated to the public domain (2008). Licence: Public
domain.