Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series II/Volume XIII/Ephraim the Syrian and Aphrahat/The Pearl/Hymn III

1.&#160; Thou dost not hide thyself in thy bareness, O pearl!&#160; With the love of thee is the merchant ravished also, for he strips off his garments; not to cover thee, [seeing] thy clothing is thy light, thy garment is thy brightness, O thou that art bared!

Thou art like Eve who was clothed with nakedness.&#160; Cursed be he that deceived her and stripped her and left her.&#160; The serpent cannot strip off thy glory.&#160; In the mysteries whose type thou art, women are clothed with Light in Eden.

2.&#160; Very glistening are the pearls of Ethiopia, as it is written, Who gave thee to Ethiopia [the land] of black men. &#160; He that gave light to the Gentiles, both to the Ethiopians and unto the Indians did His bright beams reach.

The eunuch of Ethiopia upon his chariot saw Philip:&#160; the Lamb of Light met the dark man from out of the water.&#160; While he was reading, the Ethiopian was baptised and shone with joy, and journeyed on!

He made disciples and taught, and out of black men he made men white. &#160; And the dark Ethiopic women became pearls for the Son; He offered them up to the Father, as a glistening crown from the Ethiopians.

3.&#160; The Queen of Sheba was a sheep that had come into the place of wolves; the lamp of truth did Solomon give her, who also married her when he fell away.&#160; She was enlightened and went away, but they were dark as their manner was.

The bright spark which went down home with that blessed [Queen], held on its shining amid the darkness, till the new Day-spring came.&#160; The bright spark met with this shining, and illumined the place.

4.&#160; There are in the sea divers fishes of many cubits, and with all their greatness they are very small; but by thy littleness the crown is made great, like as the Son, by whose littleness Adam was made great.

For the head is thy crown intended:&#160; for the eye thy beauty, for the ear thy goodliness.&#160; Come up from the sea, thou neighbour to the dry land, and come and sojourn by the [seat of] hearing.&#160; Let the ear love the word of life as it loveth thee!

In the ear is the word, and without it is the pearl.&#160; Let it as being warned by thee, by thee get wisdom, and be warned by the word of truth.&#160; Be thou its mirror:&#160; the beauty of the Word in thine own beauty shall it see:&#160; in thee it shall learn how precious is the Word on High!&#160; The ear is the leaf:&#160; the flesh is the tree, and thou in the midst of it are a fruit of light, and to the womb that brings forth Light, thou art a type that points.

Thee He used as a parable of that kingdom, O pearl! as He did the virgins that entered into it, five in number, clothed with the light of their lamps!&#160; To thee are those bright ones like, thou that art clad in light!

5.&#160; Who would give a pearl to the daughter of the poor?&#160; For when it hangs on her, it becomes her not.&#160; Gain without price that faith, all of which becomes all the limbs of men.&#160; But for no gold would a lady exchange her pearl.

It were a great disgrace if thou shouldst throw thy pearl away into the mire for nought!

In the pearl of time let us behold that of eternity; for it is in the purse, or in the seal, or in the treasury.&#160; Within the gate there are other gates with their locks and keys.&#160; Thy pearl hath the High One sealed up as taking account of all.