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Repentance of Nineveh
St Ephrem the Syrian, tr. Burgess, 1853
5. Part the Fifth
The King arose and laid aside his robes,
They all put off their attire.
The King hastened, and clothed himself with sackcloth,
And his troops, like him, put on blackness.
The Assyrians, so sumptuously adorned,
Were suddenly clothed in mourning.
By the hair upon their garments,
The mystery of Jacob was illustrated;
For they by remorse prostrated themselves,
And chose his victory by his repentance.
For, like Esau, Satan was foiled of his expectation,
The master like his pupil;
And these conquered, like Jacob,
The disciples like their master.
The King called the chief of his mighty men,
To go and visit his encampments;
Messengers went among the hosts,
To the intent that every man should be penitent.—
“Let the impure,” they said, “put off his uncleanness,
Lest it should vanquish him in the battle;
Let the miser cast off his covetousness,
Lest he should be impeded in the conflict;
Let the angry man be reconciled to his neighbour,
Let there be no wrath in his heart,
Lest his salvation be put in peril;
And let not his lips contrive strife,
That the city may be blessed by acts of kindness.
Let no man falsely accuse nor oppress another,
Neither let him be guilty of perjury;
Lest the sentence of doom which hath proceeded against us,
Should justly prove to be true.
Let the fetters on our hearts be broken,
That our supplication be not impeded;
Let no man pursue after folly,
Lest a greater torment should overtake us.”—
Such things, and others like them,
The heralds proclaimed in the great city.
The King remained in trouble,
And diligently inspected the city;
He decreed a fast for his camp,
And supplied it with the armour of truth;
He called his regiments to prayer,
For that was their only safety.
He proclaimed an earnest supplication,
A bow whose arrows would be victorious;
Armour which would surround the oppressed,
And a fierce sword for those wielding it.
When the King had inspected these,
And carefully armed his regiments;
He turned himself to give weapons to the city,
The men and the women together;
That the whole people unitedly,
Might do battle for their safety.
By his own sackcloth he set an example;
He armed the city with sackcloth.
It was the son of Nimrod, the mighty one,
It was a warrior, and a hunter,
Who leaving off to slay great wild beasts,
Slew, in the place of the beasts of the field,
The hateful sins of his people.
Instead of things hunted in the field,
He purged the city from crimes.
He let alone the wild creatures without,
And killed the iniquities within.
He rejected the poison of dragons,
And sweetened his disposition by fasting.
In place of the chariot of his majesty,
He visited the city on foot;
He called on all his people,
That he might awaken them to repentance.
The King wandered in a private manner,
That he might purge them from impurity;
He walked about in humility,
That he might establish the agitated city;
In places of low resort
He sowed tranquillity among the streets.
Jonah saw this, and wonder seized him;
He blushed for the children of his own people.
He saw the Ninevites were victorious,
And he wept for the seed of Abraham;
He saw the seed of Canaan in sound mind,
While the seed of Jacob was infatuated;
He saw the uncircumcised cut to the heart,
While the circumcised had hardened it;
The former gloried in the Sabbath,
While they of the circumcision despised it,
And placed it between death and life.
The King of Nineveh knew
That the cause of wrath was folly;
He cut off the evil occasions,
And quickly composed the storms.
As a physician he had visited his city;
And knew the medicine which was proper for it;
By fasting, that powerful physic,
He healed the malady of the city;
And by sackcloth and ashes,
Drove sin from the midst of it.
Because they forsook their crimes
The Good magnified his gift;
They gave up accumulation and usury,
And the city and its suburbs were delivered.
Jonah was an avenger of iniquities,
But fasting remitted their sins.
The Ninevites gathered themselves together,
And took counsel how they might be saved;
The whole people appointed a fast,
That by it they might propitiate God.
Who made known to the Ninevites
These hidden divine mysteries?
That fasting was able to remit
The stern decree of God?
Jonah did not give them this information,
For he feared lest they should be pardoned;
Jonah had proclaimed to the Ninevites,
That the stern decree was true.
The Ninevites believed Jonah’s words,
But made his sentence of no effect;
For they recognized a distinction,
Between God and man;
That man was but as man,
Whereas God was gracious.
They saw that the prophet was severe,
They concluded that God was gentle.
They argued not against him who was severe,
But they sought the favour of the Gracious;
They attributed justice to the prophet,
But goodness to God.
While Jonah cut off hope,
In fasting much hope was found;
While Jonah broke the heart,
Prayer afforded it support;
And while the indignation was fierce,
Its heat grew cold by sackcloth.
The cloud lowered with thick darkness,
At the sight of the sackcloth it was dissipated.
The sky was dark before,
By repentance it became serene.
The inhabitants of Asia, who were affrighted,
Were now assured by temperance;
The city tottered to its fall,
But the giving of alms strengthened its pillars.
Mammon, which had multiplied crimes,
Now obtained pardon for trespasses;
The iniquitous were preserved by the pious,
For they taught them to fast and pray.
Old men prayed loudly as they sat in sackcloth,
And became assured as to their salvation.
Young men who had wept in affliction,
Now retained their crowns;
And betrothed virgins who had put on sadness,
Were preserved for their bridals.
The beasts who had fasted from water,
Uttered cries in their different manners.
There was a loud wailing in all voices,
Both of human beings and brute creatures.
Justice heard their groaning,
And Grace redeemed their city.
From the day Jonah pronounced the sentence,
Great had been their diligence;
Supplication was without intermission,
And fasting still urged to fast;
Sackcloth was doubled to sackcloth,
And ashes in abundance were on them.
No eye there refrained
From repentant weeping,
No tongue there kept silence
From loudly imploring for mercy;
The ear there heard nothing
But the sound of wailing and grief,
Which arose from all sides;
The eyes there looked not upon
The shining form of the countenance,
Nor upon a laughing mouth;
For the tears of the sad and contrite
Were renewed every hour,
And descended like showers through repentance.
Alms of all varieties,
Were daily there administered;
And intercessions of every kind,
Were daily there renewed;
Earnest entreaty for all benefits,
Was every day witnessed there;
For a fountain of all consolations,
Was there opened by Mercy.
Then sobriety, without restraint,
Clothed both men and women;
A stedfast purity
Was maintained there by fasting.
Benignity towards each other,
Gave sweetness to their tongues;
By unity and concord,
Like fellow-members they were mingled together.
Grace bowed itself down to them,
And upon them mercy shed its dew.
Love existed among the children,
And truth between a man and his friend.
Among the angry there was reconciliation,
And unity took the place of discord.
With the women there was quietness,
But a silence full of good services.
The old men made intercession,
And gave counsel full of profit.
The youths were continent,
The virgins were modest.
Between maidens and their mistresses
One harmony was established.
There was no look of haughtiness,
For garments of humility girded them;
There were no angry excitements,
And jealousy was destroyed by impending wrath.
There was one feeling of kindness,
With servants and their lords;
There was one equal drink,
With masters and their slaves;
And the same humble food,
To the rich and the poor.
One sackcloth was placed beneath
The hired servants and noblemen.
The whole city had but one yoke;
It was occupied by repentance.
One work was carried on,
For a common salvation was to be received;
Lamentations, in various voices,
Were uttered there every day;
And the groaning of different sufferers,
Was always found there;
And the loud cry of various pains,
Was heard from them all.
By astonishment of every kind
The whole city was moved;
It altogether experienced
The surprise of various apprehensions;
Like a sparrow upon a thorn,
The city sat in fear;
It was moved and tottered to and fro,
Like a reed among the winds.
When the day dawned, they did not think
That to them it would become evening;
It became night, and they were not assured
That the morn would rise upon them.
Each day death was present,
And the whole people trembled;
The whole city with one consent,
Was knocking at the gates of the grave!