Sol 5.6

  1. Forever may it return to you—a most felicitous return,

    a feast renewed whenever time grows old.

  2. The feast of your exalted name has come to us, standing in

    for your radiant person, resplendent in noble deeds and generosity.

  3. You have gone far from us, away in distant lands; yet

    we still possess something of yours that is not far removed from us:

  4. your memory, from whose breaths the perfume of aloeswood wafts.

    It consoles the yearning lover and quenches thirst.

  5. Forever do mouths utter it, thereby reaping

    honey, while in listeners’ ears it unfolds as cooling relief.

  6. By it the supplicant invokes you; were it not for the awe

    it inspires, our singer would sing it aloud.

  7. Of illustrious exploits we recount but some;

    with that, there is no need to enumerate them all.

  8. Gregorius, of the house of Joseph, has taken up residence;

    your two Egypts bestowed their gift upon him—may he remain in them as long as eternity endures.

  9. The gardens of Paradise were spread for him, though he was no warrior;

    may the western lands forever envy him.

  10. His heart stood firm, although he was no combatant,

    except against the onslaughts of calamities—not hostile foes.

  11. His foothold in Egypt was made firm, just as

    her pyramids have stood since the beginning of time.

  12. In a crisis when her pyramids nearly

    let their reins turn toward defeat and fled,

  13. the wind of plague raged upon her, and she almost

    collapsed; but he proved more steadfast than she.

  14. Though the wind toys with the summits and gathers might,

    seeking to demolish mountains, it passes away in vain.

  15. A mountain to whom none but the All-Merciful extended

    a hand, just as he extended his hand to none but Him;

  16. girded with the sword of virtues and piety—

    and that suffices, for no other sword does he wear.

  17. With the one he blunts ignorance’s sword when it attacks,

    and with the other, unbelief’s sword when it is drawn.

  18. He founded schools for minds, and likewise

    founded churches for souls, upon true guidance.

  19. The former are for this world, the latter for the world beyond, so that

    through both he may make a life-giving spring flow for our world.

  20. A shepherd who wisely governs his flock,

    he has become, in their eyes, a model for whoever would follow.

  21. They pray that he remain alive, out of concern for themselves,

    and seek from him, for themselves, the prayer they hope will be granted.

Sol 5.6