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LEARN SYRIAC (ARAMAIC)

St. Ephrem the Syrian “Hymns on Paradise”

 
 

- Introduction and Translation by

Dr. Sebastian Brock
Hymn XI

Paradise can only be described in terrestrial terms, but it is essential to realize

that these terms are purely metaphorical; to understand them in a literal sense is
to abuse God's great condescension in revealing to us, through Scripture,
something of Paradise's beauty and wonders. Yet, although Paradise belongs to a
different mode of existence, outside time and space, it is still able to serve as a
direct source of well-being for life on earth, a fact that the Genesis narrative
expresses by means of the imagery of the fountain which issues forth from
Paradise and divides itself up into the four great rivers of the world. Nowhere on
earth was the fragrant breath of Paradise more evident than in the Upper
Chamber where the Apostles were assembled at Pentecost.

1.    The air of Paradise

is a fountain of delight
from which Adam sucked
when he was young;
its very breath, like a mother's breast,
gave him nourishment in his childhood.
He was young, fair,
and full of joy,
but when he spurned the injunction
he grew old, sad and decrepit;
he bore old age
as a burden of woes.

RESPONSE: Blessed is He who exalted Adam and caused him to return to

Paradise.

2.    No harmful frost,

no scorching heat
is to be found
in that blessed place of delight;
it is a harbor of joys,
a haven of pleasures;
light and rejoicing
have their home there;
gathered there are to be found
harps and lyres,
with shouts of Hosanna,
and the Church crying "Alleluia."

3.    The fence which surrounds it

is the peace which gives peace to all;
its inner and outer walls
are the concord which reconciles all things;
the cherub who encircles it
is radiant to those who are within
but full of menace to those outside
who have been cast out.
All that you hear told
about this Paradise,
so pure and holy,
is pure and spiritual.
        
4.    Let not this description of it
be judged by one who hears it,
for descriptions of it
are not at all subject to judgment,
since, even though it may appear terrestrial
because of the terms used,
it is in its reality
spiritual and pure.
Even though the name of "spirit"
is applied to two kinds of beings,
yet the unclean spirit is quite separate
from the one that is sanctified.

5.    For him who would tell of it

there is no other means
but to use the names
of things that are visible,
thus depicting for his hearers
a likeness of things that are hidden.
For if the Creator
of the Garden
has clothed His majesty
in terms that we can understand,
how much more can His Garden
be described with our similes?

6.    If someone concentrates his attention solely

on the metaphors used of God's majesty,
he abuses and misrepresents that majesty
and thus errs
by means of those metaphors
with which God clothed Himself for his benefit,
and he is ungrateful to that Grace
which stooped low
to the level of his childishness;
although it has nothing in common with him,
yet Grace clothed itself in his likeness
in order to bring him to the likeness of itself.
        
7.    Do not let your intellect
be disturbed by mere names,
for Paradise has simply clothed itself
in terms that are akin to you;
it is not because it is impoverished
that it has put on your imagery;
rather, your nature is far too weak
to be able
to attain to its greatness,
and its beauties are much diminished
by being depicted in the pale colors
with which you are familiar.

8.    For feeble eyes

cannot gaze upon
the dazzling sight
of its celestial beauties;
it has clothed its trees
with the names of the trees we know;
its figs are called
by the same name as our figs,
its leaves, which are spiritual,
have taken on bodily form;
they have been changed
so that their vesture may resemble ours.

9.    More numerous and glorious

than the stars
in the sky that we behold
are the blossoms of that land,
and the fragrance which exhales from it
through divine Grace
is like a physician
sent to heal the ills
of a land that is under a curse;
by its healing breath it cures
the sickness that entered in
through the serpent.

10.    The breath that wafts

from some blessed comer of Paradise
gives sweetness
to the bitterness of this region,
it tempers the curse
on this earth of ours.
That Garden is
the life-breath
of this diseased world
that has been so long in sickness;
that breath proclaims that a saving remedy
has been sent to heal our mortality.
        
11.    What need was there
that from that land
a river should flow forth
and divide itself,
except that the blessing of Paradise
should be mingled by means of water
as it issues forth
to irrigate the world,
making clean its fountains
that had become polluted by curses
-just as that "sickly water"
had been made wholesome by the salt.

12.    Thus it is with another spring,

full of perfumes,
which issues from Eden
and penetrates into the atmosphere
as a beneficial breeze
by which our souls are stirred;
our inhalation is healed
by this healing breath
from Paradise;
springs receive a blessing
from that blessed spring
which issues forth from there.

13.    Avastcenser
exhaling fragrance
impregnates the air
with its odoriferous smoke,
imparting to all who are near it
a whiff from which to benefit.
How much the more so
with Paradise the glorious:
even its fence assists us,
modifying somewhat
that curse upon the earth
by the scent of its aromas.

14.    When the blessed Apostles

were gathered together
the place shook
and the scent of Paradise,
having recognized its home,
poured forth its perfumes,
delighting the heralds
by whom
the guests are instructed
and come to His banquet;
eagerly He awaits their arrival
for He is the Lover of mankind.

15.    Make me worthy through Your grace

to attain to Paradise's gift
-this treasure of perfumes,
this storehouse of scents.
My hunger takes delight
in the breath of its fragrance,
for its scent gives nourishment to all
at all times,
and whoever inhales it
is overjoyed and forgets his earthly bread;
this is the table of the Kingdom-
blessed is He who prepared it in Eden.

Hymn XV
Hymns on Paradise

St. Ephrem the Syrian

Paradise can be compared to the wind: although it cannot be seen, it is

nonetheless experienced. The Tree of Knowledge - awareness of truth and of
spiritual reality - is the gate to Paradise, through which the mind can enter. But
the Tree of Knowledge has to be approached in the right spirit and in obedience
to God; otherwise, it will lead to destruction and loss, as both Adam and Uzziah
discovered. Furthermore, once led astray by eating the fruit of the Tree in
disobedience, man goes on to blame the fruit, rather than his greed for the
consequences of his grasping. So strong indeed was the serpent's poison that it
enabled Satan to turn aside (the verb is sta in Syriac, providing a word play) the
whole of humanity-when we should be listening instead to another representative
of the animal world, the ass whose brief words to Balaam saved its master from
destruction.

1.      My brethren, consider the wind:

though its blast is tumultuous,
it lacks any color by which it can be seen,
for it is hidden in its manifestation;
having no outer array
or substance at all,
it is both hidden and yet manifest
when it is blowing.
So too the abode of Paradise
is both hidden and manifest:
while it can be perceived to exist,
what it really is cannot be perceived.
        
RESPONSE: Blessed is He who came and invited both worlds to His Paradise.
        
2.    The tree that is called
the Tree of Knowledge
symbolizes the gate
of Paradise:
it  is through the gate of knowledge
that one is able to enter in;
it  is the likeness
of its glorious Creator,
in  whose hidden abode
through the gate of knowledge
all who are perceptive
may approach His hiddenness.

3.    Consider this knowledge

which is the gateway to all things:
by  it the intellect
can enter everywhere,
though where it meets error
in front of it
it comes up against a wall
and is blocked.
Through this gate of knowledge
the intellect enters in,
explores every kind of treasure,
brings out every kind of riches.
                    
4.    Even when the army
surrounded Elisha
a voice proved the key
to the eyes of the shepherd.
When the disciple's eyes
were held closed,
bread too was the key
whereby their eyes were opened
to recognize the Omniscient:
saddened eyes beheld
a vision of joy
and were instantly filled with happiness.

5.    So likewise that Wood,

which is the Tree of Knowledge,
can, with its fruit, roll back
the cloud of ignorance,
so that eyes can recognize
the beauty
of that Tabernacle
hidden within;
but because Adam and Eve
ate it in sin,
the vision that should have caused joy of heart
resulted in grief of heart.

6.     Intelligence is
like a treasurer
who carries on his shoulder
the keys to learning,
fitting a key
to each locked door,
opening with ease
even the most difficult-
skilled in what is manifest,
well instructed in what is hidden,
training souls
and enriching creation.

7.    The precious stones of the ephod

worn by the priest in accord with the
commandment
he called
"luminous" and "perfect,"
as well as
"knowledge" and "truth."
Thus the priest was robed in knowledge
whereby he might hear
the voice that came to him
from inside the sanctuary,
for it spoke to him
from between the cherubim.

8.    Accompanied by the knowledge

which was hidden in the ephod
the priest entered the sanctuary,
a type for Paradise,
and he tasted of the Tree
through the symbol of the revelation given him.
But if anyone entered
contrary to the commandment, they died,
as a type of Adam who died
for taking the fruit prematurely.
The priest put on sanctification,
but Adam was stripped of glory.
        
9.    The intellect cannot explore
the bosom of those trees
without that fruit,
nor can the priest investigate
that treasury of revelations
without the ephod.
Two people did the evil one beguile and captivate
with his blandishments-
promising to make Adam into a god
and Uzziah into a priest,
whereas in reality he stripped the one of his glory
and clothed the other in leprosy.

10.    The Exalted One gave to Adam

the luxury of Paradise
and to Uzziah
the luxury of kingship.
To the former he forbade the fruit,
to the latter the censer.
Both however grasped at
something they were not given:
with the censer
Uzziah's name turned putrid,
with the scented fruit
Adam's name became loathsome.
        
11.    It is easy to understand
how mankind
has come to hate creation:
having become hateful themselves, they hold
creation to be hateful;
by sacrificing flesh they spoil it,
by defiling marriage they have set it aside,
while gold they make hateful
by means of their idols.
Since it was through the fair fruit
that Adam became odious
he has made that fruit an object of hate,
considering it to be harmful.
        
12.    It is obvious that the censer
of the inner sanctuary is good,
but the Tree in Paradise
has come to be considered as poisonous.
If the censer is glorious,
then the fruit is even more so;
through the censer, pure and glorious,
the evil one
made royalty leprous,
and likewise in Paradise
the cunning one slew
the young couple with the excellent fruit.
        
13.    Of the serpent
which spoke for a moment
God provided an illustration
in the speech of the ass
which spoke for a moment
to rebuke the audacious Balaam.
So too the serpent spoke
in order to test
the ears of Adam and Eve:
their ears heard two voices,
and at the voice of the bitter one
they held the Sweet One's to be false.

14.    The serpent served as a garment

for the evil one to put on:
on seeing the innocent ones
he became full of guile,
he prepared a cunning trap
for the hearing of the young couple.
In their simplicity
they listened to his words eagerly,
for he made a show of his care,
but hid well his guile.
On another occasion the Iscariot
can instruct you in the devil's types.

15.    How strong is his poison,

upsetting the whole world.
Who can hold back the sea
of that bitter one?
Everyone contains drops of it
that can harm you.
Judas was the treasurer7
of his poison,
and although Satan's form is hidden,
in Judas he is totally visible;
though Satan's history is a long one,
it is summed up in the Iscariot.

16.    Let the ass put the serpent to shame

with its brief words:
it spoke the truth,
while from the serpent issued falsehood;
it turned aside to turn away greedy Balaam
who had gone awry.
The serpent too turned aside,
and caused us to go aside to our destruction;
it made crooked our thoughts,
and so God made crooked its path;
the course it travels
indicates how it turned awry our road.

17.    All this, and similar things

that I have read in the Scriptures,
have helped depict in my mind
that Garden of Life;
blessed is the person who is worthy to attain
its enjoyment.
May the Merciful One
bring me to its fruits,
may their taste give me life,
or their scent strike me,
or their radiance reach me,
or their dew bathe me!

OF THE BLESSED MAN EFRAIN, THE DEACON OF THE CHURCH OF

EDESSA.

    A certain man among the holy Fathers saw in a dream the company of the
holy angels who came down from heaven by the commandment of God, and one
of them held in his hand a roll which was written on the inside and on the
outside; and the angels said unto each other, “Who is fit to be entrusted with this
thing?” Then some of them mentioned one man and others another, and others
answered and said, “Verily these (whom ye mention) are holy “and righteous, but
they are not sufficiently (so) to be “entrusted with this thing.” And having
reckoned up many names of Saints, they finally said, “No man is fit to entrusted
except Ephraim”; and then they gave the roll to him. And when he had stood up
in the morning, he heard that they were saying, “Behold, Ephraim teacheth, and
“(his words) flow from his mouth like (water from) a fountain”; then the old man
who has seen the vision knew within himself that the things which were
proceeding from his lips were the Holy Spirit.

    Now therefore this Ephraim, who was (one) of those who had been held to be
worthy of mention by the saints, traveled along the spiritual road nobly and
straightly, turning neither to one side nor the other of the straight path; and he
was held to be worthy of the gift of the knowledge which he possessed naturally,
and subsequently he received the knowledge which enabled him to utter divine
things, and perfect blessedness. Thus he lived throughout the period of a certain
number of years a life of chastity, and stern asceticism, and contemplation, and
he edified all those who thronged to visit him, each according to his peculiar
needs; and finally he compelled himself to go forth from his cell for the
following reason, namely, a mighty famine lay over the city of Edessa.  For
having compassion on the creatures of the human race which was perishing and
being destroyed, he spake unto those who were heaping up grain in the store
houses, for he saw that they were wholly without compassion, saying, “How
long will ye refuse “to bring into your memories the lovingkindness of God?
“How long will ye allow your wealth, which is corruptible,” to be the means of
the accusation and condemnation of your souls?” Then they took counsel, and
said unto him, “There is no man whatsoever whom we can trust to relieve the
“wants of those who are dying of hunger; for all the people are crafty and they
act in a lying fashion concerning affairs” (of this kind).  Then Ephraim said unto
them, “What manner of man do ye imagine that I am?”  Now his character was
held in the highest esteem by every man (in the city), and every man knew that
he acted according to the truth and not falsehood.  And the people said unto him,
“O man, we know  “that thou art God”; and he said unto them, “Put your trust in
me, then, and give me (the means of relieving) this distress, for behold, for your
sakes, I will set myself apart to became the keeper of a house for receiving
strangers.” And he took money, but he began to fence off in the streets places
which were suitable for his purpose, and he provided with great care three
hundred beds, some of which were intended for use in the burial of those who
were dying, and others were intended for those who, it was thought, would live;
and, in short, he brought in from the villages which were outside the city all
 those whom famine had stricken, and put them to bed, and every day he
performed for them with the greatest possible solicitude the constant service of
which they were in need, (paying for the same) with the money which came to
him, and he rejoiced by means of those who supported him in the matter.
    And it came to pass that, when that year of famine had been fulfilled, and
there arrived after it a year of abundance, and every man departed to his house,
inasmuch as he had nothing else to do he went into his cell; and after a period of
one month he brought his life to a close, God havind given him the opportunity
whereby he might be crowned at the end of his life.  Now he left behind him
many books, and writings of various kinds, which were worthy of being
preserved with the greatest care.  It is said concerning him that when he was a
youth he saw a dream, that is to say a vision, wherein a vine grew up out of his
tongue, and it increased in size, and filled the whole of  the space which was
beneath the heavens, and was laden with grape clusters in rich abundance; and
all the feathered fowl of the heavens came and ate of the food thereof, and all the
time they were eating the grape-clusters were increasing both in numbers and in
size.

*  St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, Crestwood, New York 10707

 

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