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Hymns and Homilies
St Ephrem the Syrian, tr. Burgess, 1853
6. Metrical Homily 6: Error Counterfeits Truth
How much the heretics resemble
Those who steal the signet of a king,
And impress false coin with it secretly,
This, falling into the hands of the skilful,
They see there the seal and the royal image,
But detect also the counterfeit, and the fraud of the artist.
Thus the thief is not able,
To imitate the signet entirely.
So false teachers, who counterfeit the way,
Cannot imitate the waymarks of the kingdom.
And while the waymarks are standing,
The road itself is not unknown;
So that whoever is sound of memory,
When he looks on the waymarks, can understand
Both whose they are and whence and whither they lead.
Thus he who moves the waymarks to a by-road
Deserves a twofold reprehension;
For he injures the road and steals the waymarks.—
Blessed, oh Lord, is the power of Thy truth,
For no one is able to eclipse its beams!
Come, let us further consider this way
Which the heretics tread in a by-course,
Having stolen and arranged in order
The waymarks of our true King.
Behold! the names of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
The standard of the chrism also and of baptism,
The breaking of bread and the cup of salvation,
The stolen Scriptures also which they have corrupted.
Blessed be the King of kings,
Whose way is like mountains which cannot be concealed!
Come! contemplate these imbecile men,
Who with their broken fragments of truth
Would bury these high mountains,
Which cannot be stolen nor concealed!
And perceiving the waymarks cannot be covered,
They call them by the name of another king who has no existence.
Some men indeed err and believe them,
But others reject and reprove them.—
Blessed is He who hath fixed waymarks on earth,
As He hath fixed the starry lights on high!
And as no man is able
To conceal the rays of the dawn,
So no one hath power
To hide the truth of the Scriptures.
Some stumble in the many lights of heaven,
And some err in the abundance of the Scriptures;
In the lights above they find stumbling-blocks,
And in the pure Scriptures blemishes.
Blessed is He who hath illumined us with light,
And saved us by truth which cannot be refuted.