The laughable stories collected by Mâr Gregory John Bar Hebræ

ON THE DEATH OF JOHN BAR-MA DANI. 1 95
Yet I will travel on the top thereof, even though it blaze
with flame.
The pure soul which was in thy body hath become
And it
perfect,
hath straightway become mingled with the phalanxes
of the Watchers and of the spiritually wise;
Above the fiery coals among the wheels [hast thou] set hs
thy
footstep.
If thou couldst permit me to see the divine Shechinah,
The eye of the soul which though now it were bashful,
Yet at the sight of thy shadow would it become luminous.
This despised form [of mine] would be unworthy to
see
thee.
Therefore hath thy Lord made for thee a house in the 150
heavens.
In all the world ipy soul hath become a wretched and
apostate
thing.
And thyself alone in all the world wast its friend.
Why didst thou leave it in despair and solitude.'^
Why didst thou not take it with thee as a handmaiden
or as a servant?
Since it never at any time spared itself in [thy] service, 155
Why didst thou leave it in tears behind thee like a
rejected thing?
From the time when it came into being it never heard
the voice of weeping,
But through thy departure it hath become skilled in the
arts
of grief
What one who mourneth for a lover or for a mistress,
Payeth heed to the voice of him that draweth nigh 160
with
speech of consolation?
Though thinking to give comfort to others like the
tragedian.
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