On Tuesday the 21st of
November Bata Bardak gave a paper on St Ephraim the Syrian’s ‘Hymns of the
Pearl’ to the Spiritual Reading Group at the Carmelite Library. Here is Bata's selection
of readings from the hymns to accompany the paper.
On a certain day a pearl did I take
up
(Hymns on Faith, No.81)
Translated by J. B. Morris, c.1886
1.
On a certain day a pearl did I take up, my brethren; I saw in it mysteries
pertaining to the Kingdom; semblances and types of the Majesty; it became a
fountain, and I drank out of it mysteries of the Son.
I
put it, my brethren, upon the palm of my hand, that I might examine it: I went
to look at it on one side, and it proved faces on all sides. I found out that
the Son was incomprehensible, since He is wholly Light.
In
its brightness I beheld the Bright One Who cannot be clouded, and in its
pureness a great mystery, even the Body of our Lord which is well-refined: in
its undividedness I saw the Truth which is undivided.
It
was so that I saw there its pure conception,--the Church, and the Son within
her. The cloud was the likeness of her that bare Him, and her type the heaven,
since there shone forth from her His gracious Shining.
I
saw therein His trophies, and His victories, and His crowns. I saw His helpful
and overflowing graces, and His hidden things with His revealed things.
2.
It was greater to me than the ark, for I was astonished thereat: I saw therein
folds without shadow to them because it was a daughter of light, types vocal
without tongues, utterances of mysteries without lips, a silent harp that
without voice gave out melodies.
The
trumpet falters and the thunder mutters; be not thou daring then; leave things
hidden, take things revealed. Thou hast seen in the clear sky a second shower;
the clefts of thine ears, as from the clouds, they are filled with
interpretations.
And
as that manna which alone filled the people, in the place of pleasant meats,
with its pleasantnesses, so does this pearl fill me in the place of books, and
the reading thereof, and the explanations thereof.
And
when I asked if there were yet other mysteries, it had no mouth for me that I
might hear from, neither any ears wherewith it might hear me. O thou thing
without senses, whence I have gained new senses!
3.
It answered me and said, "The daughter of the sea am I, the illimitable sea!
And from that sea whence I came up it is that there is a mighty treasury of
mysteries in my bosom! Search thou out the sea, but search not out the Lord of
the sea!
"I
have seen the divers who came down after me, when astonied, so that from the
midst of the sea they returned to the dry ground; for a few moments they
sustained it not. Who would linger and be searching on into the depths of the
Godhead?
"The
waves of the Son are full of blessings', and with mischiefs too. Have ye not
seen, then, the waves of the sea, which if a ship should struggle with them
would break her to pieces, and if she yield herself to them, and rebel not
against them, then she is preserved? In the sea all the Egyptians were choked,
though they scrutinised it not, and, without prying, the Hebrews too were
overcome upon the dry land, and how shall ye be kept alive? And the men of
Sodom were licked up by the fire, and how shall ye prevail?
"At
these uproars the fish in the sea were moved, and Leviathan also. Have ye then
a heart of stone that ye read these things and run into these errors? 0 great
fear that justice also should be so long silent!"
4.
"Searching is mingled with thanksgiving, and whether of the two will prevail?
The incense of praise riseth along with the fume of disputation from the
tongue, and unto which shall we hearken? Prayer and prying [come] from one
mouth, and which shall we listen to?
"For
three days was Jonah a neighbour [of mine] in the sea: the living things that
were in the sea were affrighted, [saying,] "Who shall flee from God? Jonah
fled, and ye are obstinate at your scrutiny of Him!"
What is it you resemble? (Translation
1)
(Hymns on Faith, No.82)
Translated by Sebastian Brock,
c.1975
What
is it you resemble? Let your silence speak
to
one who listens to you; with silent mouth
speak
with us, for to him who hears
the
whisper of your silence
your
symbol proclaims in silence our Saviour.
Your
mother is the virgin bride of the sea
–
without its having married her; she fell into its bosom
–
without its being aware; she conceived you in it
–
though it knew her not. Your symbol
rebukes
the Jewish girls when they wear you.
You
of all gems are the only one
whose
begetting resembles that of the Word of the Most High,
whom,
in unique fashion,
the
Most High begot, while other engraved gems
symbolically
resemble those things created on high.
O
visible offspring of a hidden womb!
O
mighty symbol, your pure conception
required
no seed; your chaste birth needed
no
intercourse; you have no brothers,
for
your birth is unique.
Our
Lord has brothers – and yet He has none,
for
He is the Only-Begotten, O solitary pearl,
great
is the mystery, for your symbol
stands
all alone, yet on the royal crown
you
have brethren and sisters!
The
fair gems shall be your brothers,
along
with the beryls; and other pearls
are
as your companions, while gold shall be,
as
it were, your relative: the King of kings shall have
a
crown constituted out of your dear friends.
When
you came up from the depths of the sea
–
the living grave – you acquired this
glorious
band of bretheren, relatives
and
kinsmen. As wheat on the stalk,
So
are you on the diadem, set amongst many.
As
a debt is justly
returned
to you, so you are raised from the depth
to
the glorious height. The stalk in the field
bears
the wheat: you the king’s head,
as
though a chariot, carries about.
O
daughter of the waters, who left the sea
in
which you were born, you went to the dry land
in
which you were cherished. Men cherished you, seized you
and
were adorned with you: so too with the Child
whom
the gentiles cherished, being crowned with Him.
In
symbol and in truth Leviathan is trodden down
by
mortals: the baptized, like divers, strip
and
put on oil, as a symbol of Christ
they
snatched you and came up: stripped,
they
seized the soul from his embittered mouth.
Your
nature resembles the Silent Lamb
with
His gentleness: even though a man pierces it,
takes
it and hangs it on his ear,
as
it were on Golgotha, all the more does it throw out
its
bright rays on those who behold it!
In
your beauty is the Son’s beauty depicted:
–
the Son who clothed Himself in suffering, nails went through Him.
Through
you the awl passed, you too did they pierce,
as
they did His hands. But because He suffered He reigns
–
just as your beauty is increased through your suffering.
If
they had spared you, then they would have cherished you,
for,
if you have suffered, you now reign. Simon Peter
had
pity on the Rock by which all who struck it
were
wounded. It is because of His suffering
that
His beauty now adorns both height and depth.
What is it you resemble? (Translation
2)
(Hymns on Faith, No.82)
Translated by J. B. Morris, c.1886
1.
Whereunto art thou like? Let thy stillness speak to one that hears; with silent
mouth speak with us: for whoso hears the stammerings of thy silence, to him thy
type utters its silent cry concerning our Redeemer.
Thy
mother is a virgin of the sea; though he took her not [to wife]: she fell into
his bosom, though he knew her not; she conceived thee near him, though he did
not know her. Do thou, that art a type, reproach the Jewish women that have
thee hung upon them. Thou art the only progeny of all forms which art like to
the Word on High, Whom singly the Most High begot. The engraven forms seem to
be the type of created things above. This visible offspring of the invisible
womb is a type of great things. Thy goodly conception was without seed, and
without wedlock was thy pure generation, and without brethren was thy
singlebirth.
Our
Lord had brethren and yet not brethren, since He was an Only- Begotten. 0
solitary one, thou type exact of the Only-Begotten! There is a type of thine in
the crown of kings, [wherein] thou hast brothers and sisters.
Goodly
gems are thy brethren, with beryls and unions as thy companions: may gold be as
it were thy kinsman, may there be unto the King of kings a crown from thy
well-beloved ones! When thou camest up from the sea, that living tomb, thou
didst cry out. Let me have a goodly assemblage of brethren, relatives, and
kinsmen. As the wheat is in the stalk, so thou art in the crown with princes:
and it is a just restoration to thee, as if of a pledge, that from that depth
thou shouldest be exalted to a goodly eminence. Wheat the stalk bears in the
field; thee the head of the king upon his chariot carries about.
0
daughter of the water, who hast left sea, wherein thou wert born, and art gone
up to the dry land, wherein thou art beloved: for men have loved and seized and
adorned themselves with thee, like as they did that Offspring Whom the Gentiles
loved and crowned themselves withal.
It
is by the mystery of truth that Leviathan is trodden down of mortals: the
divers put him off, and put on Christ: In the sacrament of oil did the Apostles
steal Thee away, and came up. They snatched their souls from his mouth, bitter
as it was.
Thy
Nature is like a silent lamb in its sweetness, of which if a man is to lay hold,
he lifts it in a crucial form by its ears, as it was on Golgotha. He cast out
abundantly all His gleams upon them that looked upon Him.
2.
Shadowed forth in thy beauty is the beauty of the Son, Who clothed Himself with
suffering when the nails passed through Him. The awl passed in thee since they
handled thee roughly, as they did His hands; and because He suffered He
reigned, as by thy sufferings thy beauty increased.
And
if they showed no pity upon thee, neither did they love thee: still suffer as thou
mightest, thou hast come to reign! Simon Peter showed pity on the Rock; whoso
hath smitten it, is himself thereby overcome; it is by reason of Its suffering
that Its beauty hath adorned the height and the depth.
O gift that came up, quite free? (Translation
1)
(Hymns on Faith, No.85)
Translated by Sebastian Brock,
c.1975
O
gift that came up, quite free,
with
the diver, relation of this
visible
light that shines, quite free,
for
humanity, a parable of the Hidden Light
who
gives, quite free, the hidden Day-Spring.
The
painter too has depicted you in a likeness,
using
pigments. But in yourself is faith
depicted
with types and symbols,
as
with paints, and instead of just a likeness,
in
you and in your colour is your very Creator depicted.
You
have no scent, but from you the fragrance
of
symbols exhales; you cannot be eaten,
but
you delight the palate of those who listen to you;
you
cannot be imbibed, yet through the telling of you
you
turn into a fountain of symbols for the ears.
You
are great in your smallness,
O
pearl; your dimension is modest,
your
measure is light, so too your weight,
but
great is your glory: that crown
where
you are set alone is without price.
Whosoever
does not perceive how great you are
amidst
your smallness, should he despise you
he
will also lose you, so that he will come to blame himself
for
his stupidity; for when he beholds you
on
the royal crown he will be drawn by you.
Men
stripped bare dived down and drew you up,
O
pearl. It was not kings
who
first presented you to humankind,
but
men stripped, symbols of the apostles,
poor
Galilean fishermen.
They
could not approach to you
with
their bodies clothed, so they stripped
like
young children: they buried their bodies
and
descended to you. You eagerly met them
and
took shelter in them, because they so loved you.
Their
tongues proclaimed glad tidings of you
as
these impoverished men opened up their bosoms
and
brought out for display a novel kind of wealth
amidst
the merchants, placing you
in
people’s hands, as the Elixir of Life.
The
naked divers, symbols of the apostles, saw you rising up
by
the sea shore, and by the shore of the lake
did
the true apostles see the risen Son
of
your Creator: both sea and lake
have
been adorned by you and by your Lord!
The
diver comes up from the depths of the sea
and
puts on his clothing; so too, did Simon Peter
come
up, swimming, from the lake,
and
put on his clothing. Both have put on,
as
their raiment, love of you both, pearl and the Pearl.
I
have strayed in my telling of you, O pearl;
let
me gather up my mind: having gazed on you
let
me imitate you, for you are completely
self-recollected;
and because you at all times
remain
single, let me too be single in you.
I
gathered in the pearl to make
a
crown for the Son. In place of the stains
marked
out on my limbs, accept my gift,
even
though You have no need of it: I have offered it to You
for
my own need. O make white my stains!
The
entire crown consists of
eloquent
pearls; instead of with gold
it
is girdled with love, and instead of with links
it
is fastened by faith. In place of hands
let
praise raise it up to the Most High!
O gift that came up, quite free? (Translation
2)
(Hymns on Faith, No.85)
Translated by J. B. Morris, c.1886
1.
0 gift that camest up without price with the diver! Thou laidest hold upon this
visible light, that without price rises for the children of men: a parable of
the hidden One that without price gives the hidden Dayspring!
And
the painter too paints a likeness of thee with colours. Yet by thee is faith
painted in types and emblems for colours, and in the place of the image by thee
and thy colours is thy Creator painted.
0
thou frankincense without smell, who breathest types from out of thee! thou art
not to be eaten, yet thou givest a sweet smell unto them that hear thee! Thou
art not to be drunk, yet by thy story, a fountain of types art thou made unto
the ears!
2.
It is thou which art great in thy littleness, 0 pearl! Small is thy measure and
little thy compass with thy weight; but great is thy glory: to that crown alone
in which thou art placed, there is none like.
And
who hath not perceived of thy littleness, how great it is; if one despises thee
and throws thee away, he would blame himself for his clownishness, for when he
saw thee in a king's crown he would be attracted to thee.
3.
Men stripped their clothes off and dived and drew thee out, pearl! It was not
kings that put thee before men, but those naked ones who were a type of the
poor and the fishers and the Galileans.
For
clothed bodies were not able to come to thee; they came that were stript as
children; they plunged their bodies and came down to thee; and thou didst much
desire them, and thou didst aid them who thus loved thee.
Glad
tidings did they give for thee: their tongues before their bosoms did the poor
[fishers] open, and produced and showed the new riches among the merchants:
upon the wrists of men they put thee as a medicine of life.
4.
The naked ones in a type saw thy rising again by the sea-shore; and by the side
of the lake they, the Apostles of a truth, saw the rising again of the Son of
thy Creator. By thee and by thy Lord the sea and the lake were beautified.
The
diver came up from the sea and put on his clothing; and from the lake too Simon
Peter came up swimming and put on his coat; clad as with coats, with the love
of both of you, were these two.
5.
And since I have wandered in thee, pearl, I will gather up my mind, and by
having contemplated thee, would become like thee, in that thou art all gathered
up into thyself; and as thou in all times art one, one let me become by thee!
Pearls
have I gathered together that I might make a crown for the Son in the place of
stains which are in my members. Receive my offering, not that Thou art
shortcoming; it is because of mine own shortcoming that I have offered it to
Thee. Whiten my stains!
This
crown is all spiritual pearls, which instead of gold are set in love, and instead
of ouches in faith; and instead of hands, let praise offer it up to the Highest!
Thou dost not hide thyself
(Hymns on Faith, No.83)
Translated by J. B. Morris, c.1886
1.
Thou dost not hide thyself in thy bareness, 0 pearl! With the love of thee is
the merchant ravished also, for he strips off his garments; not to cover thee,
[seeing] thy clothing is thy light, thy garment is thy brightness, 0 thou that
art bared!
Thou
art like Eve who was clothed with nakedness. Cursed be he that deceived her and
stripped her and left her. The serpent cannot strip off thy glory. In the
mysteries whose type thou art, women are clothed with Light in Eden.
2.
Very glistening are the pearls of Ethiopia, as it is written, Who gave thee to
Ethiopia [the land] of black men. He that gave light to the Gentiles, both to
the Ethiopians and unto the Indians did His bright beams reach.
The
eunuch of Ethiopia upon his chariot saw Philip: the Lamb of Light met the dark
man from out of the water. While he was reading, the Ethiopian was baptised and
shone with joy, and journeyed on!
He
made disciples and taught, and out of black men he made men white. And the dark
Ethiopic women became pearls for the Son; He offered them up to the Father, as
a glistening crown from the Ethiopians.
3.
The Queen of Sheba was a sheep that had come into the place of wolves; the lamp
of truth did Solomon give her, who also married her when he fell away. She was
enlightened and went away but they were dark as their manner was.
The
bright spark which went down home with that blessed [Queen] held on its shining
amid the darkness, till the new Day-spring came. The bright spark met with this
shining, and illumined the place.
4.
There are in the sea divers fishes of many cubits, and with all their greatness
they are very small; but by thy littleness the crown is made great, like as the
Son, by whose littleness Adam was made great.
For
the head is thy crown intended: for the eye thy beauty, for the ear thy
goodliness. Come up from the sea, thou neighbour to the dry land, and come and
sojourn by the [seat of] hearing. Let the ear love the word of life as it
loveth thee!
In
the ear is the word, and without it is the pearl. Let it as being warned by
thee, by thee get wisdom, and be warned by the word of truth. Be thou its
mirror: the beauty of the Word in thine own beauty shall it see: in thee it
shall learn how precious is the Word on High! The ear is the leaf: the flesh is
the tree, and thou in the midst of it are a fruit of light, and to the womb
that brings forth Light, thou art a type that points.
Thee
He used as a parable of that kingdom, 0 pearl! as He did the virgins that
entered into it, five in number, clothed with the light of their lamps! To thee
are those bright ones like, thou that art clad in light!
5.
Who would give a pearl to the daughter of the poor? For when it hangs on her,
it becomes her not. Gain without price that faith, all of which becomes all the
limbs of men. But for no gold would a lady exchange her pearl.
It
were a great disgrace if thou shouldst throw thy pearl away into the mire for
nought!
In
the pearl of time let us behold that of eternity; for it is in the purse, or in
the seal, or in the treasury. Within the gate there are other gates with their
locks and keys. Thy pearl hath the High One sealed up as taking account of all.
The thief gained the faith
(Hymns on Faith, No.84)
Translated by J. B. Morris, c.1886
1.
The thief gained the faith which gained him, and brought him up and placed him
in paradise. He saw in the Cross a tree of life, that was the fruit, he was the
eater in Adam’s stead.
The
fool, who goes astray, grazes the faith, as it were an eye, by all manner of
questions. The probing of the finger blinds the eye, and much more doth that
prying blind, the faith.
For
even the diver pries not into his pearl. In it do all merchants rejoice without
prying into whence it came; even the king who is crowned therewith does not
explore it.
2.
Because Balaam was foolish, a foolish beast in the ass spoke with him, because
he despised God Who spoke with him. Thee too let the pearl reprove in the ass’s
stead.
The
people that had a heart of stone, by a Stone He set at nought, for lo, a stone
hears words. Witness its work that has reproved them; and you, ye deaf ones,
let the pearl reprove today.
With
the swallow and the crow did He put men to shame; let the pearl reprove now, O
ye birds and things on earth ad things below.
3.
Not as the moon does thy light fill or wane; the Sun whose light is greater
than all, lo! of Him it is that a type is shadowed out in thy little compass. O
type of the Son, one spark of whom is greater than the sun!
_____________
The
pearl itself is full, for its light is full; neither is there any cunning
worker who can steal from it; for its wall is its own beauty, yea, its guard
also! It lacks not, since it is entirely perfect.
And
if a man would break thee to take a part from thee, thou art like the faith
which with the heretics perishes, seeing they have broken it in pieces and
spoiled it; for is it any better than this to have the faith scrutinised?
The
faith is an entire nature that may not be corrupted. The spoiler gets himself
mischief by it: the heretic brings ruin on himself thereby. He that chases the
light from his pupils blinds himself.
Fire
and air are divided when sundered. Light alone, of all creatures, as its
Creator, is not divided; it is not barren, for that it also begets without
losing thereby.
4.
And if a man thinks that thou art framed [by art] he errs greatly; thy nature
proclaims that thou, as all stones, art not the framing of art; and so thou art
a type of the Generations which no making framed.
Thy
stone flees from a comparison with the Stone [which is] the Son. For thy own
generation is from the midst of the deep, that of the Son of thy Creator is
from the highest height; He is not like thee, in that He is like His Father.
And
as they tell, two wombs bare thee also. Thou camest down from on high a fluid
nature; thou camest up from the sea a solid body. By means of thy second birth
thou didst show thy loveliness to the children of men.
Hands
fixed thee, when thou wast embodied, into thy receptacles; for thou art in the
crown as upon a cross, and in a coronet as in a victory; though art upon the
ears, as if to fill up what was lacking; thou extendest over all.
