Sol 6

  1. Remove, O soul's brother, what remains of me.

    Perhaps my thirst within you will drink its fill of my blood.

  2. O my heart's core, melt with sorrow and burning.

    O my sigh, increase my anguish with your heat.

  3. O my liver, seek yourself a dwelling.

    Let it shelter you, or I shall melt in my dwelling's shade.

  4. O my health, I shun union with you.

    To be joined with you would be my calamity.

  5. O fair patience, depart from every trace of me.

    Find consolation in my distance and forgetfulness.

  6. O eye, pour out hot tears.

    And spare me the lovely sights.

  7. O sting of sorrows, leave me with longing.

    O heart, away with you; do not remain after my soul.

  8. There is no good in a heart seized by change.

    Nor in what I have kept of my remaining self.

  9. The fire of longing has straightened, within me,

    The curves of my ribs, so they no longer bend.

  10. Terrors have erased my being and my body,

    My person, my substance, then my shadow and experience.

  11. Nothing remains but a sigh; if I released it,

    It would become a scorching wind that burns every breath.

  12. After that, every visitor came to see me

    With a figurative notion, not a true understanding.

  13. I returned with a soul that struggled through its affliction,

    Then turned back as it departed.

  14. You see its distinction among its kind, just as you see

    The others when you measure it by nature.

  15. Its definition in itself is not concealed,

    Nor hidden when it has withdrawn from the person.

  16. Its effects show you its qualities,

    And proclaim a meaning hidden in the heart.

  17. You see them in an inert body, unable to bear

    Its perils, though it has borne what belongs to it.

  18. If the body's burden supported the soul,

    And the soul's virtues were readied within it,

  19. Its acts would not so badly need, for their soundness,

    A physician to heal every ailment of both.

  20. Nor would its scattered condition have required

    A noble raising from distant foundations,

  21. To end the widespread harm of its punishment,

    By which it spread the tyrants' disease of error.

  22. God came to it, descending from the throne,

    And assumed a human body out of love for creation.

  23. He came when blindness veiled it,

    And gave it a sound eye instead.

  24. He came while the sea of sin swelled on earth,

    Breaking ships like mighty fortresses.

  25. You see people like two armies on a battlefield,

    Each driving souls toward death.

  26. They wear supple coats of mail beneath helmets,

    Mounted on steeds, in daylight or darkness.

  27. He came to them as a humble, embodied Lord,

    His divinity veiled by human flesh.

  28. He began to speak truth, and truth is clear

    Through the lights of manifest knowledge.

  29. I was before all beginnings in my eternity,

    And I am beyond all endings in my everlastingness.

  30. I was before the earth, when it was a deep,

    And before the folding of heaven, within my hidden knowledge.

  31. I was before darkness and its light,

    And before the radiant spirits of paradise.

  32. I was before the heavens were split, and before

    Those upon them, and before earth's first formation.

  33. I truly was before any plant took root,

    Before the beauty of flowers and the ripening of fruit.

  34. I was before the sun rose at midday,

    And before the full moon rose in the dark night.

  35. I was before all the stars

    Stood and moved in obedience to my wisdom.

  36. I was before the universe, which was brought into being

    By my command, and before the steadfast mountains.

  37. I truly was before Adam's creation,

    And by me and my command creation came to be.

  38. I ruled in paradise while Adam

    Strutted in the robe of safety in every direction.

  39. I was there when, in ignorance, he wandered astray

    And left it, trailing the hem of shame.

  40. I was with Enoch when he ascended to the

    Heaven by my command, in fulfillment of the will.

  41. I was with Noah during the flood,

    Shielding him in the ark from the pouring waters.

  42. I was with Abram as he migrated

    In obedience to my command toward a strange land.

  43. I was with Isaac on the day of his sacrifice,

    And redeemed him with the ram, a figure of flesh.

  44. I was with Jacob on his day of fear,

    And drove hardship from him wherever he lived.

  45. I was with Joseph in prison, informing him,

    And he gained office only through my gift.

  46. I was with Job on the day of his trial,

    And repaid him many times over for every ordeal.

  47. I was with Moses in Egypt, sustaining him

    With banners of signs revealed to him.

  48. I was with my people in a strange land,

    And delivered them from captivity through signs.

  49. I was with them as they passed through the sea,

    On foot as though walking on solid ground.

  50. I was with them as they traveled by land,

    Shading them from the midday sun's heat.

  51. I was with them at every evening stage of travel

    And every night march, with a shining fire.

  52. I was with them when enemies overpowered them,

    And made those foes drink the cup of death for their sake.

  53. I truly was with Joshua in his battle,

    And holding back the sun was among my easier feats.

  54. I was with David in his distress,

    And he escaped danger only through my protection.

  55. I greatly loved Solomon,

    And he judged the people only by my wisdom.

  56. I was with Jonah, afloat at sea,

    And by my power was with him in the whale's belly.

  57. I was with Daniel, crouching in the pit,

    And by my might kept the roaring lion from him.

  58. I was with Elijah as rain poured down,

    And he subdued idols only through my call.

  59. I was with the youths of Babylon, protecting

    Them from the harm of the blazing furnace.

  60. I guided all the prophets,

    And when I renewed the promise, I came with my grace.

  61. I truly was in the womb of the virgin Mary

    For a span counted as nine months.

  62. I slept in the manger of the cave,

    And in Bethlehem my flesh was born.

  63. I ascended Solomon's sanctuary,

    Its pulpit, at the age of twelve.

  64. I rose there to debate

    And confounded the masters of lofty learning.

  65. I was at Cana when it sheltered a bride,

    And changed water for her into red wine.

  66. I healed the blind man at Siloam,

    Using clay to heal the corner of his eye.

  67. I truly washed away a leper's disease,

    And left him in a finer state.

  68. I was in a bare wilderness,

    And fed thousands with a piece of bread.

  69. I was among the crowd when a young woman touched my cloak

    And was cured of her bleeding disease.

  70. I was there when they brought a paralyzed man,

    And I told him, 'Be well'; he obeyed my command.

  71. I was in Zion when I cast out the

    Demons openly from within the Magdalene.

  72. I truly sat above a deep well

    In Samaria, disclosing the Samaritan woman's secret.

  73. I was above the sea while it surged,

    As though I walked on firm earth.

  74. I was stationed on the mount of transfiguration,

    And light filled my companions around it.

  75. I raised Lazarus on the Sabbath,

    Though he had lain dead in the tomb for days.

  76. I entered the precincts of Zion

    And received praise there from children's mouths.

  77. I washed the disciples' feet

    After my supper, out of love.

  78. I consecrated bread and wine,

    And they truly became my blood and natural body.

  79. I bore the burdens of Adam's humanity

    So that I might show him my excellence.

  80. Truly, Christ came bearing help for us,

    And his incarnation for us was real.

  81. The mystery of his rising amazed minds,

    And its clear sign appeared to us.

  82. People followed different schools of thought

    About the mystery of his humanity, as the learned recount.

  83. Some spoke with certainty, resolve, and judgment;

    Others spoke falsely through corrupt belief.

  84. The unbelievers denied his exalted humanity

    And persisted, speaking as if in foreign tongues.

  85. The Jewish people acknowledged his coming,

    But described him as merely human flesh.

  86. As for the Christian faithful,

    They disputed him in one arena after another.

  87. The wretched Sion and his party said,

    Practitioners of magic, vile lies, and fabrication,

  88. That Jesus had a body like ours

    And was no God, but merely resembled a sign.

  89. The Samosatene likewise held that view,

    Claiming virtue in the process.

  90. Mani said that his body only appeared

    As an illusion and never tasted death.

  91. He said death at the crucifixion was only a semblance;

    That claim is full of doubt.

  92. Alentis said his body came from heaven

    And was not taken from a pure virgin.

  93. The accursed Arius openly denied

    His equality with the Father, Lord of creation.

  94. Nestorius, too, erred in saying

    That he had two persons as well as two natures.

  95. Severus maintained that the two natures

    Of Jesus mingled like water and wine,

  96. And afterward became one

    United nature; beware his error.

  97. Likewise, ignorant Dioscorus followed

    What he stated concerning their union.

  98. Barsawma and Jacob both strayed and dissembled,

    Their condemned deceit shared by some followers.

  99. Sergius and his companions asserted,

    In error and guile, that he had one will.

  100. As for Honorius, narrators differed over him,

    And some contested others' view.

  101. But my honest judgment of him is that

    His thought was sound and his belief upright.

  102. Others, too, grew arrogant and schemed,

    And strayed from the straight path.

  103. All fell into the pit of unbelief

    And followed the misleading tyrants' course.

  104. Their denial offers them no deliverance,

    Nor does their assertion give them a true path.

  105. Upon them from God Most High be a thousand curses,

    Multiplied in number by a thousand curses.

  106. But those of sound judgment

    Saw rightly in every respect.

  107. They define the understanding of doctrine as

    Handed down from the foremost leaders,

  108. Saying that Christ is Mary's son

    And God's Son since the virgin's annunciation.

  109. They affirm one person in him

    And two natures, together with two wills.

  110. His divinity is united, yet complete,

    With his humanity, without mingling or mixture.

  111. Theirs is an essential union,

    Not merely a union of agreed love.

  112. Thus you see the one person in both,

    United in the reality of their being.

  113. This is the plain truth to which

    Hopes have clung and by which they have prospered.

  114. Consensus proclaimed it east and west

    With clear signs and truthful proofs.

  115. It supports its view with authorities

    Whose transmitted reports are sound,

  116. Trusted figures to whom even an opponent turns

    In a gesture of assent to their evidence.

  117. That Comforter supports them by saying,

    'Take courage; I am with you through every trial.'

  118. On their foundation we build our faith's principles,

    As the church's temple was built through the Gospel.

  119. If the law of Moses foretold

    The coming of Christ our redeemer and stated it,

  120. Then his Gospel tells you of his splendid acts

    And his knowledge proceeding from a greater cause.

  121. Ask his apostles; they will plainly tell you of him

    Through their faithful recording of his words.

  122. They recount the punishments he suffered

    And every ordeal endured by that body.

  123. His prayer offered within a garden

    Raised Adam beyond a garden.

  124. His stripping pointed Adam

    Toward a silken robe of radiant joy.

  125. The marks of lashes on his tender skin

    Pointed to a garment of glory and grace.

  126. His crowning with thorns openly announced

    Adam's crown upon the throne of joy.

  127. His nailing to the wood at the crucifixion

    Was to raise Adam to the highest rank.

  128. The horizons reeled in grief and fear

    At the crucifixion of Jesus, Lord of all creation.

  129. The sun's eclipse shows a great burning grief,

    As the moon's eclipse shows a grievous loss.

  130. Sorrow spread through earth and heaven,

    And grief's caravan reached every company.

  131. This happened when he visibly assumed Adam's humanity

    And exposed it to shame before creation.

  132. The blessed wood bore a fruit

    Whose eating quenched the fire that blazed against us.

  133. If eating a fruit brought Adam grief

    And drove him from fertile lands,

  134. Then the gatherer of this fruit now wins success;

    How noble this fragrant fruit is!

  135. If someone was lost long ago through eating fruit,

    Someone later shone by gathering its source.

  136. Come, Adam, friend of God: you have been set apart

    And called to the wedding feast of paradise.

  137. Rejoice in the savior you have gained;

    For what you underwent, you were not rebuked.

  138. Blessed be the soul visited by its Lord's feast,

    And tended when it appeared in the heights.

  139. You see knowledge within it like an imprinting hand,

    And what it needs appears as it was.

  140. Now its name is clearly expressed and sound,

    And its visitor has returned to it in union.

  141. Its action now adorns it, whole,

    As its action once disfigured it through illness.

  142. He frees it from what was hidden and obscure

    And sets it forth in a form like rays of light.

  143. Marvel at its voices when it sings:

    They express a meaning concealed within.

  144. It strides joyfully in virtue and reverence,

    As a beauty strides in splendid robes.

  145. It sees the marks of salvation in itself

    And its realm beyond mighty fortresses.

  146. Around it you see every drawn sharp sword,

    Yemeni blades and spears with gleaming tips.

  147. They ward deadly death from its peaceful home,

    So neither humans nor spirits of paradise can harm it.

  148. The tongues of the universe praise its deeds

    And extol it in eloquent openings.

  149. For its ascent was not stained by descent

    Or a stumble in the pagan age.

  150. No supposedly trustworthy text led it astray with lies

    Through a forced claim without discernment.

  151. Instead, it earnestly stood firm in reverence,

    Affirming three persons in one God.

  152. It sought within his essence, drawing

    His light, and attained this through love.

  153. It returned whole, as God willed,

    Whole with healing, in the fullest sense.

  154. He granted it every grace from his treasury

    And bequeathed it the highest, noblest rank.

  155. A patterned robe of light clothes it,

    Followed by a girdle of manna on every side.

  156. It loves his essence, though it remains below him,

    And sees him above it upon a throne.

  157. Seeing him, it forgot a world of false knowledge

    Through what it learned after long hardship.

  158. So it dwelt in safety, ease, and pleasure,

    In triumph, blessing, happiness, and joy.

  159. It longed to praise the virgin Mary

    But could not praise her virginity enough.

  160. She rose to the greatest rank in perfect grace,

    And the poor maiden received the greatest gift.

  161. Did the greatest grace descend to her,

    Or did God make her worthy of the highest rank?

  162. For he came to dwell within her in companionship,

    And she received him, the firstborn of creation.

  163. When he saw her humility and chastity,

    He entered her deeply to assume human nature.

  164. 'To whom shall I look but the humble?'

    Says the God of all in prophecy.

  165. Her humility became the cause of her praise,

    And her high station became the cause of my praise.

Sol 6