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Hymns on Faith

St Ephrem the Syrian, tr. Morris, 1847; selections

27. Rhythm the Twenty-seventh

God Who existeth essentially¹, hath a Nature glorious as His Name. And if He be an Entity Who is in His Name distinct from all, He is an Entity Who in the know²ledge of Him is withdrawn from all: let things which are made harass themselves as they may to understand Him, since He hath nothing like to a created being, gaze they as much as they may upon the attributes³, these it is which they behold instead of Him. Lo! natures fancy that they see Him, [even] Him Whom in them they cannot ever see! For they looked, and lo! they erred, in that God they deemed to be like unto themselves. For had they seen Him in Himself they had done well to think they saw Him; instead of Him they saw themselves, and thought that they saw Him. Oh, childish man, that feeleth himself, and fancieth that he toucheth the Hidden One. For the Nature of the Entity which cannot be shadowed out in the heart, as He is, of that what likeness shall we make, if we would not go astray and settle down in that for Truth, which is but like the Truth? If then in the likeness they fancy that they have seen Him, grievously are they misled, and do mislead grievously, they err and make to err. For the Fruit⁴ that is from Him alone knoweth Him in verity.

Woe to the blind synagogue of disputers! they stand in the light, and yet seek for it. They touched gold and imagined it the sun. They felt a seal, and thought it was the colour of the light. They handled every thing and felt every thing, and lo! they foolishly thought that they felt the sun. Each then as they fancied, took his shadow in his mind for the sun. Neither did they consider that there was but one sense akin to the sun. Their other senses were bereaved of and strangers to the sun. Its flavour is not tasted, its savour is not smelt: its clearness is not heard: its light is not handled. The sight alone, being related to it, is able to reach unto it, as a son to his father⁵.

Light dwelt in the palate and it felt it not; it rose and dwelt in the ear, and it was not affected by it. It dwelt on the hand, and how came it not to touch it? The nostrils snuffed it not up. At its rising upon it, the mind and the heart, the king⁶ and the captain of his forces, and all the host of thoughts and their army comprehended not the sun: and yet into the Lord of light vile things of dust do pry! Lo! it is a disgrace, and a dishonour, and an ignominy, and a shame, that all of them [are employed] about one thing, and that they are not all of them together able to see this feeble light which is before them! Lo! it poureth itself about them, its radiance brushes by them, its brightness anointeth them, and though they are clad with it, it is removed a boundless distance⁷; it is [as it were] by hearsay that the feeble beings have perceived it!

Lo! the blind in their questionings are like unto that proud blind man who took hold of the bow and shot arrows therewith into the flame, and he perceived not how his arrows were wasted away; for the arrows which he shot in his pride became ashes in the fire, became dust in the wind; and if it should happen unto him that he himself went up to it, he and his arrows would be consumed⁸.

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