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Hymns on Faith

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

16. Rhythm the Sixteenth

How shall Thy servant, Lord, cease from giving Thee glory? how shall my tongue desist from Thy praise? How shall I stop up the sweet overflow which Thou hast opened in my mind that was parched? With what is Thine I will sing praise unto Thee, from Thine own gift. For in Thee, Lord, it is that I am rich, and unto Thee I bring forth increase. In Thee I am increased, and shall I refuse Thee, O Thou Giver of all increase? Blessed be He that sent Thee unto us! Thy treasure is sweet, and we are Thy treasurers. My deposit is increased in Thy storehouse as a choice seed. This is of Thy gentle mercy, that Thou causest my little to have great returns. For, lo! our debts are great, and who shall dare to ask? Lo! the danger is taken away, in Thy mercy, from the oppressors who have taken and op¹pressed. Yea, they dissemble, and have come to the door of Thy treasury. Give unto us, O give unto us more! To be bold I would not wish, from being daring I refrain myself. Which then of the two is preferable to Thee, Lord? The boldness of our love is pleasing unto Thee, as it is pleasing² to Thee that we should steal from Thy treasury.

To Thee, Lord, my faith I bring as an offering in its³ nakedness: I have brought it without works; it as being Thine will be enriched by Thee, and I from it, and also from Thee, since I am [found] wanting. A merchant bringeth a pearl to the king; he receiveth it in its nakedness, and by⁴ himself he enhanceth it. If the king enhanceth it in his crown, how much more, Lord, shall my faith be enhanced in Thee? If even the husbandman offers plucked fruit, and the lord of the vineyard rejoiceth therein, and even giveth him clothing, and if the workman for fruit plucked receiveth clothing, clothe me with Thy mercy. He whose faith is great is not small: the faith that in him is small, in Thee, Lord, it is enhanced; and if even wheat corn is enriched in the dust⁵, let my faith be enriched from Thy⁶ treasury. It sufficeth then for that [corn] and also for this faith that it is not we who, as though impostors, give to it from what is its own. Strip not off even from what is its own; because it groweth not in us, let it not therefore, Lord, diminish in us.

Woe [unto us] if we see the abode of idle disputants; we have been naughty labourers who have turned idle and fallen asleep! But and if we be watchful, we shall receive the reward which the prudent receiveth, who hath not been in any wise idle⁷. Yet at this time many smother it entirely, for beneath the veil of the silence of fear have they put it, whose faith watcheth in their hearts, while their profession⁸ slumbereth in their mouths. For this is not prayer⁹ ministering in silence. Faith, typified by the face, is set in an open place. He that concealeth his faith, it were fitting for him to cover his face also¹⁰.

Notes

comp. Mat. 11, 12.
Heb. 4, 16.
See R. lxxvi. §. 2.
pp. 89, 90.
R. xx. §. 2.
See Mat. 17, 20.
p. 153, n. d.
Luke 19, 20.
p. 173, n. b.
A similar complaint occurs in St. Bas. Ep. xvii. §. 2. ‘At these things the faithless laugh, and those of little faith are shaken: the faith is doubtful, ignorance overwhelms men’s souls by reason of the truth imitating those who corrupt the word with craftiness. Silent are the mouths of those who are godly, &c.’