The laughable stories collected by Mâr Gregory John Bar Hebræ

MISCELLANEOUS MORAL EXHORTATIONS. 1
89
And work and tillage upon all homesteads come to
an end.
He burieth every man in his bed as if he were dead,
And he draweth over his face the gate of sleep as it 3S
were a curtain.
He bindeth on crowns and is boastful, and commandeth
all creation,
And he subdueth the sceptres of sea and of land [to
his]
dominion.
He maketh the earth to appear unformed, and waste,
and void,
And he stilleth the clamour of all those who are prosperous
through trafficking.
And as with colour he depicteth to every man the 40
type of the end.
And how the course of the world and of the vault of
heaven will cease.
Morn riseth like unto the sun of righteousness.
And with his beams he driveth away the night from
the ends of the earth.
Like a trumpet the light it beareth forth into the inhabited
world,
And men rise up from sleep as out of the grave. 4S
Suddenly each man possesseth himself of life and wakefulness,
And every one pursueth his labours with zeal and
diligence.
Mo>n commandeth the earth to beget its offspring from
the
womb of night.
And each man riseth up to the things which belong
to him in due order;
The rich man riseth up to his riches and the poor man 50
to his poverty without confusion.