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Repentance of Nineveh
St Ephrem the Syrian, tr. Burgess, 1853
7. Part the Seventh
As soon as the days were accomplished,
They stood together at the gates of death,
Embracing one another.
The day had arrived which cut off hope,
In which wrath should be consummated;
The night drew on, even that which came
After the six weeks.
While still weeping, they reflected,
“In what hour will the city be destroyed?
Will it be thrown down in the evening,
Or will its ruin take place in the morning?
In what watch will come upon us
The sound of the dreadful earthquake?”
They thought that the city would fall at even,—
The evening came and it yet stood;
They thought they should be swallowed up at night,—
That night they continued among the living;
They expected the overthrow in the twilight,—
The twilight passed and they were not destroyed;
They thought the city would fall in the morning,—
The morning came and their hope increased.
At the season when they expected to be no more,
Suddenly salvation was theirs!
Each man looked for his friend,
And longed after his companion.
For forty days the earth had not ceased
To tremble with earthquakes.
Jonah stood afar off,
And feared lest he should be a deceiver,
For the earthquake and the trembling ceased.
At the moment when hope was cut off,
The good news of mercy were afforded,
For they looked upon a token of grace.
By this sign they were made glad
That the earth ceased from quaking;
The lightnings and thunders became silent,
The ear and the eye were refreshed;
The Good, who had looked upon their tears,
Had pity on their lives.
But although they died not, they were tormented,
While living they had tasted death.
Through those six weeks
It was better to the dead than to them;
For as the living they had life,
Yet were as unburied dead men.
The brother met his brother,
And did not recognize his form;
A man met his companion,
And could not discern his countenance;
The ear could not distinguish
One voice from another;
Neither could the eye see the difference
Between form and form.
Like shadows of the gloom
Had they become through their misery;
They were scorched up like brands,
By that severe fast.
Their bodies had wasted by watching;
Only the skin and skeleton remained.
The time when Jonah had expected
That now the city would be overthrown,
In that very day and hour
It was delivered from destruction;
The cloud and darkness on a sudden
Were dispersed and passed entirely away;
There was now tranquillity and increasing hope,
The dead city came again to life.
Great vexation clothed Jonah,
But the Ninevites had a cheerful countenance;
A hope was afforded to them
When they saw the sky was brightened.
They bowed their knees in prayer,
They stretched out their hands to heaven.
Every mouth uttered thankfulness,
And every tongue spake praise,
To Him who when angry had returned to them
Their life;—through their repentance
They were reconciled to the Lord of heaven.
“Thou hast gladdened us, Thy people on earth,
By raising us up from the dust,
That we may live a new life.
Through Thy hands we have obtained
Those good things which have happened to us.
Thou hast not disappointed us in this,
That thou wouldst turn us from condemnation to life;
For in Thy hand we discovered
The key of repentance,
So that from among the divine treasures
A good hope has been given to us.
What would it have profited thee, O Hebrew,
If all of us had perished?
How wouldst thou have been the better, O preacher,
If we had all been slain?
What wouldst thou have gained, O son of Mathai,
If we had been put to silence in the grave?
Why shouldst thou thus be afflicted
Who hast become renowned by our repentance?
Why should it grieve thee, that thou hast healed us,
So that the whole people should return thee thanks?
Why shouldst thou be sad on this account,
That thou hast gained our city?
Why dost thou mourn, O conqueror,
That thou hast triumphed among the penitent?
This shall be thy lot, to be spoken of
As a restorer and not a destroyer.
Let this suffice for thy happiness,
That thou hast gladdened the angels on high.
It becomes thee to rejoice on earth,
For God rejoices in heaven.
“Let thy mind exult in this,
That all men confess thy God;
In this let thy spirit be consoled,
That the city and the King reverence thee.
Behold our youth who have been delivered,
Are praying, in return, for their saviour;
See the little children who are preserved,
How thy remembrance will be great among them.
Bless the city which is saved,
From which chastisement has passed away!
O Jonah, bless the city,
Which shall henceforth be called by thy name!
For six weeks together
Thy mouth has abstained from its food,
Quit thy fasting, and let thy sorrow pass away;
Be glad with us, O son of the Hebrews;
This is a great festival,
Whose memorial shall be through all generations;
Generation shall relate to its fellow
Our woe and our deliverance.”
Such things as these they said,
And greater things than these.
Jonah sat without the city,
And the whole people went forth to him;
And they heard one questioning him,
And Jonah also replying.
The Holy Ghost who by his mouth
Was reasoning with him against himself,
Spoke in two different persons with him—
That of God, and that of the prophet.
The whole city heard
The prophet, who was speaking
Concerning his gourd and himself,
And concerning his Lord and His city;
And they heard him contending
With his Lord on account of His city.
From him therefore there were heard proceeding
Voices of two different kinds.
Hail to thee, O Hebrew intercessor!
Ministering to thy double self.
Great multitudes came together
To listen to the voice of the prophet,
And they heard him saying,
In their own language before God,
That he was grieved and wished for death
Because of the withering of the gourd.
The Spirit of God replied,
Who by his own mouth contended with him,—
His tongue fought against him,
In the place of the person of God;—
By him they listened unto God,
Speaking on behalf of the city:—
“Art thou, Jonah, displeased
Concerning a withering gourd
For which thou didst not labour nor make it to grow,
Which a night made to flourish and to wither?
Let the gourd which has perished and dried up
Be compared with the city which exists.
Let the gourd be to thee a teacher,
And learn consolation from it.
From the rejected gourd take an example
Of the disposition of divine grace.
Thou hast compassion on the gourd
I have compassion on the city;
For through thee it has become
A city of penitents.
Thou hast fixed thy bower in the earth,
But thou wouldst root up cities;
Thou wouldst preserve the despicable gourd,
But throw down the corner stone.
Where is thy justice, O Jonah?
Dost thou compare the city with the gourd?
Thy kindness is towards the bower,
Thy cruelty towards the city.
The gourd which is given for food
Is more to thee than the eaters;
The gourd, made to decay,
Is preferred by thee to penitents.
Thou thinkest the leaves of the gourd
Are better than rational men;
The blossoms and flowers of a gourd,
Than children and young persons!”