1. Between me and the innovators there are darting glances
The ropes of their quarrel tied to my quarrel

2. They violated God's covenant until they were betrayed
In the East, they became ruffians without reins

3. They abandoned the Imam of truth and followed
The wiles of opinions lost in delusions

4. About Arius, Nestorius, Barsuma,
Sergius, Photius and Palamas

5. Those whose knowledge they suckled, they lapped up poison and their stench
They split venom so they had no protector

6. And forgot that God tore them asunder
And established in the West, wandering without a supporter

7. And destruction befell the East ceaselessly
A target for every enlightened and sharp sword

8. They became without a king, knowledge, repute
And were a blemish upon Syria

9. They went astray from faith when they surrendered
The seats of power to the heresies

10. Until the innovators regained their best
The camel led by halter and bridle

11. And they parted from an arena that boasted them
Like the blossoming of a garden with spring rain

12. And they tossed away the Church's signet ring and recoiled
Seeking comfort from the fears of passing days

13. Since their faith was shaken, they discarded it
And it was a blow to the temples

14. Israel still denies its Lord
Until it became prey to arrows

15. Had it understood the past, it would have accepted
What its Master decreed in understandings

16. But it thought ill, arrogant, obstinate
Haughty, pretentious, with twisted wombs

17. It vilifies the bearers of truth for what they narrated
About the pledge, about its intrepid scribe

18. How dare you criticize us while you are criticized
O dancer in the darkness of dreams

19. Did our corruption harm our faith
Or did we seal it with a bad ending?

20. Or did we inherit deceit from Simon's
Sale, whom we rewarded with grace?

21. Or did we adopt the wiles of an innovator
Leaving us struck down without support?

22. Or did we stumble, if it is said to us: the blind
Are excused, but you are obstinate?

23. Or did we break a pact time and again
The Church's covenant after tying its reins?

24. Or do we believe those myths that are
Laughable to elite and commoner alike?

25. Or did we ignore an obvious right
Out of obstinacy, tyranny, and arrogance?

26. Or did we disobey Peter's successorship
Proven by the signs of prelates?

27. Or did we follow the opinion of every discredited one
Clinging to the stigma of delusions?

28. Or did we deny the truth while it is supported
By proofs from the honored fathers?

29. Or did we secretly adopt heresy and deceit
Feigning the mark of high office?

30. Or did we parade the ignorance of our customs
Among Shem, Ham, and Japheth in all people?

31. Or did we interpret our scriptures
Against their composition, like other interpreters?

32. Or did arrogance cast us down until our banners fell
From the lofty pinnacle of banners?

33. Or did we neglect filial obedience
When we obeyed the trickery of illusions?

34. Or did we support the claimants until they plunged
Into their confusion with the rashness of plunging?

35. Or did we vilify God's pledge which
Spread the rays of its apostles among people?

36. By which of these do you boast, while you are
A people whose faith is fragmented - so depart in peace!

37. For boasting is not with office or privilege
Or ordination or rhymed compilation

38. But with the unity of believers in obedience to the
Great pope, arbiter of doctrines

39. Do not boast of your roots and branches
With faith marred by the burin

40. For if a branch is rooted in its origin's essence
It flourishes, but if detached, it withers

41. And now your creed, while you are its people
Is to boast of refutation and confirmation

42. If you deny what I have said, then explore
Your history in bygone times

43. So you may see what we see in you
If the judgment of truth binds by necessity

44. No, the owl's eye darkens in daylight
Then illuminates in darkness

45. Would God answer the prayer of a devout worshipper
In a temple of idols?

46. Take heed and rise high with wisdom
Be humble to Him, repent and fast, O eminent one

47. And when souls see deficiencies in themselves
They strive to remedy their shortcomings

48. Do not blame only yourselves for your affliction
Decay arises from the rot of food

49. Without it, the praise of honorable deeds would not be known
Nor would the lampooning of villains be composed

50. Benevolence, grace, piety suffice
A people whose faith was given a leader

51. So I will elegize you in every ode
And mourn you in every composition

52. And eulogize you for every misfortune
And weep for you with copious tears

53. I have enumerated these and counted them
Not to melodize strings with tunes

54. But to awaken you - so beware!
The cure can be in maladies

55. Spirits are not cleansed of their sins
Unless their bodies are enshrouded

56. So hold fast to your mother Church's ties
To be saved from the stain of sins

57. Then sit at the gate with your head bowed to Peter
No good is in a body devoid of shoulders

58. O joy of the shepherd when his lost sheep returns
After wandering confused in the thickets

59. You and I are like Joseph's brothers
Would that you be deterred by our forebear Aphram's status

60. O if only it would spare me what has preoccupied me
From versifying rhymes and speaking words

61. But the rogue's insistence is his death sentence
It draws the arrow to the archer's target

62. These are details I have employed
For you, and excellent their employment

63. Take them veiled, for when they bare
Their news, the Children of Abraham are content

64. So when Mary invites you, after you have called upon her:
Attribute to me my power and position

65. You are God's heaven, His throne
You are the sign of His lofty decree

66. O God's sign, for whom you are
In all worlds, the result of doctrines

67. You are His mother, bride, and daughter
Who has seen a virgin who has a weaned son?

68. These are attributes no master has reached
King or angel of highest heaven

69. Except you, whom I came to intercede
And certainly traversed plains and dunes

70. Be generous, send down my rain, have mercy,
My longing and passion for you has increased

71. Be compassionate, burn, practice asceticism
Hold fast, repent, be devoted, protect me

72. This is my peace - it will not suffice unless
Gabriel joins his poem's peace to my peace