Sol 5.6

  1. The grievous enormity of this calamity has made me weep blood over you.

    Do a man’s tears not stream forth when he grows old?

  2. Elias, what has befallen us is no easy thing,

    when you fell—you who were the peerless standard.

  3. What a man we have lost, O sons of my homeland,

    in losing one so generous-spirited, truthful, and discerning—

  4. one who earned his livelihood while intent on sharing it,

    as though it had already been allotted to those in need.

  5. Ask every virtue about him, and every praiseworthy deed;

    ask right guidance, openhandedness, forgiveness, and magnanimity.

  6. His aspirations rose above any glory he might wear,

    and his purpose soared above the vanities of life.

  7. In every circumstance you found him content and gracious,

    and never, in any circumstance, resentful or weary.

  8. He would be the first to meet even his adversary with kindness,

    and was never vindictive toward anyone who wronged him.

  9. He fought nothing but misery, wherever it appeared,

    and struggled against nothing but oppression and orphanhood.

  10. His virtues answer anyone who asks about him,

    and no listener can recount a word against him.

  11. Even the chief of a people might stand in reverent awe before him,

    yet the lowliest among them would never feel intimidated.

  12. O sons of my beloved, I console you, though my very liver is

    sorely wounded, and my heart complains of sickness.

  13. My grief is like your grief; yet I have a hope

    in you that softens the soul’s grief and pain.

  14. You are an example to us in every clear-sighted judgment,

    and stand at our forefront whenever we advance.

  15. Elias—so long as you remain, and may God preserve you—

    lives on in his descendants; the bond has not been broken.

  16. Nor can there be a rupture when his sons inherit

    those noble qualities, manners, and fine traits.

  17. Refer your consciences to the Lord’s wisdom;

    can God’s judgment be averted once He has judged?

  18. For God is more generous when He hastens His reward,

    and God is more merciful to the servant who showed mercy.

Sol 5.6