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Hymns and Homilies
St Ephrem the Syrian, tr. Burgess, 1853
3. Metrical Homily 3: Ad Clerum
Speak, oh harp,
For silence is thine enemy!
Speak therefore whatsoever
Is lawful to be uttered;
For every other matter
Which is not proper,
If it is spoken,
Is blasphemy to the righteous.
He is allied with the infidel
Who presumptuously investigates;
At the threshold of death
Standeth that daring one,
Who hath laid aside
His faith with his research,
To descend to fathom
The sea of hidden mysteries.
Wonder not, oh youth,
At the things I have said to you;
But take their dimensions
With due discrimination.
For the former denieth
The Divinity itself;
And the latter investigates,
That he may dishonour God.
The Almighty in His nature
Is more exalted than all things;
Behold, by His name, Lord of All,
He is greater than all!
Who then is so mighty
In intellectual power,
As to hold and measure
The ocean of wisdom?
Purify the harp
Of thy spirit from contention;
Let it not play to thee of thyself,
For self-conceit is deadly:
Let it not whisper to thee
Even of vain glory
In its melodies,
For that is entire ruin.
Make harmonious the numbers
Which by research have become discordant;
Call back the notes
Which have wandered through investigation.
Place thyself, my son,
Before the Divinity,
And then utter psalms
To the glory of God.
Because thou art a harp,
Thou art animated and eloquent;
There is freedom in thy numbers
And in thy songs.
Oh happy lyre!
Which of its own accord,
As of its free will,
Sings praises to God!
Put then thy soul in tune,
And sing harmoniously;
Make thy notes distinct,
And play to us what is not mysterious;
Be thou the disciple
Of all things which are revealed;
And without trepidation,
Let thy utterances be becoming.
Weigh therefore thy words,
Let thy speech be unblameable;
Weigh them again and sing songs,
Which cannot be complained of;
Let thy performance
Be pleasant, my son,
To the servants of thy Lord,
And thy Lord will reward thee.
Utter not then in thy songs
What is injurious to man,
Divide not by disputation
Brethren who are united together.
Place not a sword
(Which captious enquiry is)
Between the upright.
Who have sincerely believed.
Sing not, therefore,
What is derogatory to God,
Instead of His praise;
Lest thou err and sing folly.
Sing like David did
To the Son of David,
And call Him Lord and Son
As David did.
Dishonour not through one another,
The Father and the Son;
Sing not then to the Father
That which is reproachful to the Son;
Lest thou also, on the other hand,
Shouldst sing to the Son
What is dishonourable to His Father.
By saying that He is not truly the Father.
That the Father takes precedence
Is without controversy;
That the Son is second
Admits not of dispute;
And the name of the Spirit
Stands the third.
See thou disturbest not
The order of the Names.
Make disciples, it is said, and baptize
In the three Names;
In the name of the Father,
And of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
For the name of the Son
Cannot precede
The name of the Father,
Lest there be confusion.
But in what manner this exists
Is buried in silence;
Far away from that silence
Do thou utter praise.
Let not thy tongue be
A bridge of words,
For the passage to and fro
Of all kinds of communications.
Offer praise to Him
As the tithes of thy songs;
Present to Him as a sacrifice
A sheaf of thy mind’s productions;
Make thy praise ripe,
And offer unto Him
Of the clusters of grapes
Which thy tongue hath gathered.