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Hymns and Homilies

St Ephrem the Syrian, tr. Burgess, 1853

8. Hymn 8: On the Death of a Bishop

Who will not rejoice
That this blessed one hath triumphed?
Who will not weep
That the conqueror hath departed?
Who was the salt of our souls.

Since the hour of death
Cannot be avoided,
Let your tears cease to flow,
But exalt your voices high
In praise of the hero.

Make your psalms abundant;
Give thanks to Him who hath taken him away,
And praise Him who hath separated him from us,
And placed him in the bosom
Of the upright who were his friends.

Thou wert the companion of the chaste,
And the brother of the perfect;
The image of good men of olden time;
The exemplar of such as have finished their course
With them mayest thou delight thyself!

Thy Lord hath bestowed upon thee
An abiding habitation,
Because thy youth rejected
A transitory home;—
In Eden mayest thou be happy!

The day of thy birth
Was known only to thy Lord;
The day of thy death
Is known to all men:—
It hath prepared for thee great felicity.

No more does there exist
The burden of thy mortal part;
Thy portion henceforth
Is in the midst of Paradise:—
Glory be to Him who hath chosen thee!

Thy Lord was at all times
Before thine eyes;
And thou didst haste diligently
To the mark set before thee:—
To that hath He removed thee.

Who will not weep
Because of thy departure?
Who will not rejoice
Because the crown is thine?
Glory be to Him who hath chosen thee!