Arabic Life of Saint John of Damascus

In 1912, an Arabic text of the life of St. John of Damascus was published in one of the printing houses in Syria. His publisher, Constantine Basha 1, had previously been involved in Christian Arabic literature, and he was responsible for the publication of the Arabic works of the 9th century writer Theodore Abu-Kurra (Abukara), a supposed disciple of John of Damascus, and the translation of some of them into French 2. Until now, the Arabic text of the life of John of Damascus has not yet been published. But the question of the Arabic life of this saint is important for a better understanding and more correct assessment of his Greek life. The latter, written by John, Patriarch of Jerusalem, published in 1712 by the famous Lekien and then reprinted in the 94th volume of the Greek “Patrology” of Min, before the publication of the Arabic version of the life of John of Damascus, was the best source for getting acquainted with the life of the famous defender of icon veneration 3 . In 1897, A. Papadopoulou-Keramevs published two more Greek texts of the life of John of Damascus, of which the first, anonymous and completely legendary 4 , is entitled “The Life of... Cosmas and John of Damascus, singers of hymns,” and the second, set forth by the Jerusalem Patriarch John Mercuropolis, is called “The Life of... of John of Damascus and Cosmas” 5 . What is very interesting for us is the evidence from Greek life that it was based on the life of John of Damascus, “roughly composed” in Arabic, that is, in simple Arabic, and written in Arabic letters 6 . Therefore, first of all, the question arises whether in Bash's edition we do not have the original Arabic text about which the Greek life speaks. This circumstance alone should arouse a certain interest among Byzantinists in our text. The publisher himself believes in this and titles his publication as follows: “The Basic Life of St. John of Damascus. The work of the monk Michael of Antioch, from the monastery of St. Simeon." Let us turn to the preface written in Arabic by Konstantin Bash (pp. 3–6). The publisher, in the preface, having said a few words about the life of John of Damascus, notes that, despite the great significance of his personality and activities, a more or less detailed history of John’s life appeared long after his death. Only in the 11th century, when Antioch was conquered by the Seljuks, the monk of the monastery of St. Simeon, in the vicinity of Antioch, Michael, familiar with Greek and Arabic, wrote in Arabic the life of John of Damascus, based on various useful stories, as he himself says in the introduction to our Arabic text of the life. Then, a few years later, K. Basha found in Homs (Emes) an ancient Arabic manuscript in which several leaves were missing; in this manuscript he found part of the life of St. John of Damascus, and this part did not have the appearance of a translation, so it seemed to the publisher that he saw here the original Arabic text; but he still wasn’t sure about the latter. A short time later, in the village of Kafarbu, in the region of Hamat (Hama), Basha found another Arabic manuscript from 1646, beautifully written by the hand of Gabriel, son of Constantine of Hamat, son of Gregory, Metropolitan of Hamat. In this manuscript of Gregory, which contains the lives of some famous eastern saints, Basha found the life of John of Damascus, which, in comparison with the above-mentioned manuscript from Homs, turned out to be only an abbreviation of the text of the latter; In addition, two sheets were missing from the Hamat manuscript. Finally, in the Vatican Library, Basha, in one manuscript of 1223, written by Pimen Lavriot (from the Lavra of St. Sava), among the famous “Hundred Chapters” of John of Damascus, found the Arabic text of his life, which, in comparison with other manuscripts, turned out to be the most complete and correct, except for the abbreviation of the preface of the author of the life. It was on this Vatican text that Basha based his present publication, sometimes resorting in unclear and corrupted places to the two above-mentioned manuscripts; however, the difference between them and the Vatican list turned out to be so insignificant that the publisher considered it even useless to note these discrepancies. Basha ends his preface with these words: it is known that Patriarch Macarius of Aleppo read a complete Arabic copy of the life of John of Damascus with a preface, as he himself says more than once in his writings: and in one place he attributes the life to the monk Michael, in another place to him with the assistance of John, Patriarch of Antioch. This is the content of Bash's preface. Apparently, Basha does not give the number of the Vatican manuscript that formed the basis of his publication. When I was in the Vatican in the summer of 1913, I had this manuscript in my hands. In the catalog of Arabic Vatican manuscripts by Angelo Mai, it is under No. LXXIX and contains various works of John of Damascus, for example, 53 chapters of “Dialectics”, “Exposition and Explanation of the Faith”, “Discourse against the Nestorians”, “One Hundred Chapters on the Orthodox Faith” and some others 9. A. Mai gives the following general definition of this code: Opera philosophica et theologica e graeca lingua in arabicam ab Abdallah-ben-Alphadeli, metropolita Melchitarum conversa. Ha fol.317 there is an entry mentioned only in Bash. The entry reads as follows: “This book was written by Abularam-ibn-Ganaim-ibn-Abraham, monk Bimin Lavriot, in the Damascus church of the blessed Lady Virgin Mary, in the days of Abba John, archbishop of the same city, and Abba Simeon, son of Abu Saybeh, Patriarch of Antioch.” This book was supplemented in the last ten days of the month of Adar, from the creation of the world 6731, which corresponds to the last ten days of the month of Safar, in the year of the Hijri 620 (that is, at the end of March 1223 AD). Starting from fol.328 there is an anonymous life of John of Damascus, which Basha used. In the Vatican manuscript, the preface of the life, which, in the Basch edition, provides information about its author, is completely absent, so Cardinal Mai was quite right in calling this life, on the basis of this Vatican list, anonymous. Basha gives a preface, obviously based on his Eastern manuscripts. For us, meanwhile, the preface to our text is very interesting, the author of which is the monk Michael, who was captured by the Rum (Asia Minor) Seljukid Suleiman ibn Kutulmysh when the latter captured Antioch in 1084 10 . From this it is clear that our Arabic text belongs to the end of the 11th century, that is, written more than three hundred years after the death of John of Damascus. Judging by the introduction of our publisher Konstantin Bash, he is inclined to consider the Arabic text of the life he published to be more ancient than its well-known Greek edition, attributed to John, Patriarch of Jerusalem. Although in the scientific literature we often come across the statement that here we are talking about John of Jerusalem, a contemporary of Emperor Nikephoros Phocas, that is, about the second half of the 10th century (963–969) 11, nevertheless, some doubts and hesitations can be noted regarding the identity of this patriarch 12. The Greek text of the life published by Papadopoulo-Keramevs names its author as Archbishop and Patriarch of Jerusalem John Mercuropolis. Papadopoulo-Keramevs believes that there is no evidence for the 10th century, and finds two patriarchs of Jerusalem, John, one of whom lived at the beginning of the 11th century, the other in the second half of the 12th century; Moreover, he identifies John of Jerusalem, a previously known Greek text, with John Mercuropolis 13, who occupied the patriarchal throne in Jerusalem from 1156 to 1166. It is interesting to note that our Slavic Great Menaion of the Day, on December 4, gives the life of John of Damascus, written by John, Patriarch of Antioch 14. A full assessment of our Arabic text dating back to 1085 will only be possible when its relationship to the Greek text has been accurately determined chronologically. Let us note that in the 11th century all the works of John of Damascus were translated into Arabic 15. In the middle of the 11th century, for example, the Melkite deacon, later Metropolitan Abu-l-Fath-Abdallah-ibn-al-Fadl, flourished in Antioch, who translated the philosophical and theological works of John of Damascus, namely: 1).the first 53 chapters of the “Source of Knowledge”; 2).“Exposition and explanation of faith”; 3).Extracts from the second part of the “Source of Knowledge” (against heresies); 4).“The Book of the Orthodox Faith” (third part of the “Source of Knowledge”); 5). “Treatise on the Orthodox Faith”; 6). “Canon of Confession of Faith” 16. It is not surprising that the life of John of Damascus appeared in Arabic also in the 11th century. In St. Petersburg, in the Asian Museum of the Academy of Sciences, there are also manuscripts with Arabic translations of the works of John of Damascus, for example, “Exposition of the Orthodox Faith,” “Dialectics” and some others 17. In the Vatican, in addition to the already noted manuscript, there are several more manuscripts with the works of John of Damascus in Arabic, for example, No. 78 (Paradisus intellectualis), No. 177 (53 chapters of “Dialectics”, e graeca lingua in arabicam conversa ab Antonio monasterii sancti Simeonis in monte Antiochiae abbate; 100 chapters on the Orthodox faith), No. 178 (Liber dialecticae ex graeco in arabicum idioma ab anonymo conversus), No. 179 (Liber dialecticae ad Cosmam episcopum civitatis Maiumae) 18 . I also consider it not superfluous to note that in Vienna there is a Greek palimpsest, where the life of John of Damascus, attributed to John, Patriarch of Jerusalem, and printed by Minya, is written in minuscule writing of the 11th century, according to the definition of Spyridon Lamvros. The only question is whether Lamvros correctly dates the palimpsest letter, which he attributes, as we have seen, to the 11th century. At this moment, after these preliminary remarks, it is my intention only to offer, in as literal a translation as possible, the Arabic version of the life of St. John of Damascus, published by Constantine Basha. I have not yet undertaken any research into its history. I consider it my pleasant duty to express my heartfelt gratitude to the private associate professor of St. Petersburg University I.Yu. Krachkovsky, who, with his usual comradely readiness, helped me understand the difficult parts for me in this Arabic text of the life of John of Damascus. [7] Во имя Отца и Сына и Святого Духа, Единого Бога. Amen! The story of the life of our father, outstanding among the blessed, famous among the best saints, Abba John of Damascus, presbyter, nicknamed the Gold-Gunner (Χρυσοῤῥόας): what was easy to collect from data about his history. Да поможет нам Бог его молитвами. Amen! This is what prompted and forced me to tell and write the life of our blessed father, Saint Abba John of Damascus, a presbyter, nicknamed the Gold-Gunner. May God have mercy on us in his prayers. Suleiman ibn Kutulmysh besieged the city of Great Antioch and began to destroy it from the mountain located to the east, which is called al-Kaysakil, on Sunday, the first day of the month of Eve I, in the eighth indiction, in the year 6593 from the creation of the world (that is, 1084). Within three days, he captured the city: none of its inhabitants remained alive except those who, in flight, climbed the mountain to the city fortress. That day, I, poor Michael, a monk, a presbyter - and it was Tuesday - was in the city, escaped from the Turks and hid in one dark room. God, by His will, hid me from their sight and saved me from them. When night fell and I saw that the city was abandoned by the inhabitants, fear and anxiety attacked me: I blamed myself for staying behind them and not climbing the mountain with the population of my city. Then at midnight I got up and began to climb the mountain, so that by morning I reached the gates of the fortress. While I was trying to enter it, a crowd of city residents rode out on horseback and with them a detachment of [8] Turks 20, whom they called for help from the Artakh fortress and gave them a lot of money so that they would help them against their enemy Suleiman; и они быстро спустились. While I was turning right and left to enter the fortress, I saw that they were returning in flight, and Suleiman's Turks were pursuing them. In less than an hour, they drove all the men, women, children who were on the wall, on the mountain, in the fortress and its environs, and in addition to the riding and pack animals, and forced them to go down. I was among the prisoners and reproached myself for imprudence. Every time I remembered this very sad incident, my eyes shed streams of tears, [9] because it was an extremely terrible and terrible disaster, the like of which had never happened in so short a time. When their people were driving us down the mountainside and we were in confusion and despairing of life, I remembered the day - and it was Wednesday on the fourth day of the month mentioned - and what I had previously seen on that day in the population of Antioch: joy, gaiety, great rejoicing and triumph; their most magnificent dress and robe; a large number of persons riding camels and mules; the presence in the church of St. Barbara and the annual celebration of her memory together with the patriarch, church clergy, ruler and main representatives of the authorities. Then I turned to her with a prayer for intercession and help before God and repeated the prayer to the one who participates with her in celebrating his holiday on the same day, that is, Abba John of Damascus, the presbyter. I begged him throughout my descent from the mountain, reminded him of his zeal in the cause of the Christian faith and asked him to protect and deliver the people from the destruction among which he found himself, through his prayers and intercession; (I prayed so) until we found ourselves in the valley. We sat down on the ground, and the heralds shouted in a loud voice, saying that Suleiman allowed the captive inhabitants of the city to calmly and fearlessly return to their homes. Everyone thanked God - blessed be His name! - Who helped them at that moment with His merciful love and His hidden, good providence. This was mercy from the Creator - may He be glorious! - to describe the qualities of Whose tongues are weak. When a year passed and the day of two feasts arrived, that is, the feast of St. Barbara and Blessed John, that is, in the second year in the month of Eve I, I wished to hear the story [10] of St. John, but I learned from everyone that his detailed history does not exist either in Greek or in Arabic. I wondered how the carelessness of his contemporaries made them forget his history, despite his glory, greatness, abundance of excellence and honor before others; after all, his speeches have been pronounced by all Christians gathering in churches, night and day, for many years now. And I couldn’t find anyone to explain to me the reason for neglecting the story of John. I had previously heard individual stories about him and found very brief references recorded in many histories of his fathers, his contemporaries, and individual parts. I collected it all, released some of it because I found that part of the story to be inconsistent with its core character, and made it into one coherent story. Whoever pays attention to it will forgive me that I dared to do something that exceeds my strength, and was ahead of the scientists who came before me, although they are more eloquent than me in this and other respects; but I wanted to get closer to him because of the benefit that I felt came to me from him. I have therefore collected from the data of his history what was easy to collect; and this is a little of a lot. God rewards everyone according to the strength of his understanding and labor. To him be glory forever. Amen! For the majority of people 21 who wish to become acquainted with the history of divine men and blessed holy fathers, whose glory exceeds other worthy and learned ones - the pillars of the church, fortified on the rock of the right faith, and the defenders of the true religion - for these people there is nothing better and more important than reading stories about the saints, [11] which gives pleasure that surpasses any other pleasure, both mental and bodily sweetness. This happens especially often when a lot of time passes after their life, and there is neither a coherent story about their life, nor a story written down on paper that could be heard in the ears of Christian believers gathered to commemorate the saints. News about them is reported one after another, in a few words, by hearsay and by tradition: then, at the moment of pleasure and pleasant sweetness of tasting the story, the message is interrupted, since the narrator has no sources for studying the saint, like precious stones scattered in different places and different localities; when these scattered pearls and costly scattered stones are collected and form a stringed necklace, where the stones, in due order, follow one another, then the eyes are diligently directed to their contemplation and the hearts, with great desire and desire, are directed to listen to them from beginning to end; and this is better for them than precious stones or powerful, strong fame. Among them then was one, the most outstanding in its significance and influence - Blessed John of Damascus, the story of which is now with us, nicknamed the Gold-Gunner, decorating the churches of our Lord Christ the Most High, praising our Lady the Virgin Mother with His songs, canons and psalms, hymns of all kinds, which are sung by the people in Orthodox churches on the Lord's holidays and on the triumph of the holy martyrs, who also wrote numerous books and objections to those who doubted and contradicted him, who knew the books of the Old and New Testaments by heart after studying the secular sciences of logic and philosophy. And Cosmas, of blessed memory, whose history is known, Bishop of Mayum, was his collaborator in most of his writings and psalms due to their joint study [12] and common life, since Cosmas was brought up in the house of Father John, and due to their identical piety and monastic life, high in dignity, in later times. Blessed John, whose place of birth and upbringing was in the famous city of Damascus, was the son of Mansur, known as Ibn Serjun (Sergius); the latter occupied an honorable place among the population of the city, firmly held the reins of government, namely, he was a basil, that is, the ruler of his entire region and the collector of money from it; he followed the path of true virtue and commendable religiosity, feared the Great God, fulfilled His commandments and, being richly endowed with wisdom, loved knowledge. Therefore, by Divine inspiration, he took care of the education of his son John and raised him to the highest levels of knowledge with the help of his teacher, the monk Cosmas, a Calabrian philosopher. Do not think, my listener, because of the coincidence of names, that this is Cosmas, Bishop of Mayuma, brought up with John in his father’s house. This is another Cosmas, of mature age, strong in knowledge, from whom both of them (that is, John and Cosmas) received their philosophical education; he, that is, Cosmas the Calabrian, arrived in the city of Damascus in a crowd of numerous prisoners to be sold into slavery; sea ​​robbers captured them from one of the foreign ships. If one of the prisoners was not bought and did not agree to his price, they threatened to cut off his head. And each of them, who was going to execution, came first to Cosmas the Calabrian, a monk and philosopher, who was in captivity and slavery with them, threw himself at his feet and asked him to remember him in his prayer and pray for him, so that he would have patience and firmness during his suffering and that he would be granted forgiveness and remission in the future life. When the sea robbers saw that Cosmas enjoyed [13] such great honor and primacy among the captives, they said to him: “Are you the patriarch of Christians? And that’s why they give you such a great place and great dignity?” He answered them: “I am not a patriarch and not the head, but a poor monk-philosopher.” At this answer, abundant tears flowed from his eyes. Mansur, John's father, saw him in this position, crying and sobbing; he quickly approached him and said: “Man! What makes you cry? Your appearance indicates your renunciation of the world.” Kosma answered him: “I do not cry about worldly life, nor about its difficulties, nor about its many variability, nor about its great sorrows. But I grieve for the knowledge that I learned from an early age, which I worked on throughout my life, but did not use it during my existence and was not able to convey it to those who would ask God to have mercy on me after my death.” Ruler Mansur said to him: “Which sciences have you learned?” And Kosma said to him: “I studied and recognized them all, so that not one of them hid from me.” Hearing this from him, Mansur quickly went up to the emir and asked him to give Kosma; then he brought him to his house and consoled his heart with speeches, telling him the following: “Now you will not be my slave; but, for God's sake, be free. And behold, I will place you in my house, make you a sharer in my money and property, and make you equal to me in life and drink. But I wish from you that you teach my own son John and Cosmas, my spiritual son, an orphan, my now pupil, from Jerusalem, that knowledge of yours that you told me about.” And Kosmas answered him: “I listen and obey your [14] command, my lord!” And he began to teach them, not being separated from them day or night. With their happy, that is, blessed abilities, they in a short time learned from him all the sciences and reached the limit (of knowledge): these sciences are grammar, philosophy, astronomy and geometry. They did not leave a single book that they did not carefully study or carefully read: they mastered the entire universal cycle of Greek sciences and tried to penetrate into the depths of the Holy Scriptures as far as it was necessary. Their superiority was obvious to all who knew them. A test is possible for someone who would like to test what we have told and to know their perfection in all sciences: if he reads the chants, canons and writings attributed to them, he will know how strong they were in knowledge and piety; when they wished to follow a path more glorious in position and higher in dignity, they put on the monastic robe and accepted its yoke. We will finish the story of this in its proper place, and now we will return to where we began earlier. When their training was completed, Cosmas, the monk-philosopher, appeared and said to his master Mansur: “Your son John has already studied all the sciences, and he knows no less than me. The same goes for Cosma. I'm asking you to let me go. I will go to Jerusalem, worship the holy places, settle, with God’s help, in the monastery of St. Sava, devote myself to God and serve Him for the rest of my life; I will be grateful to you for your mercies and good deeds and [15] I will pray for you.” And Mansur answered him with the following words: “I am filled with sorrow due to separation from you, and there are no limits to my sadness because of your departure. But if you want to surrender to God, may He be glorious, to leave us and part with us, then I do not consider it possible to keep you from this or prevent you from doing this. Go in peace on good terms and remember us in your prayer.” He sent him on his way, as Cosmas wished, and gave him everything he might need. And Cosmas the Calabrian lived in the monastery of St. Sava, according to his desire and election, until his death. After this, Mansur died, and his son John became the first secretary of the regional ruler, the owner of his secret and obvious thoughts, his orders and prohibitions. At this time, Constantine, by calling Navoznik (=Copronimus), the son of Leo the Isaurian, who rebelled against the divine icons, took possession of the city of Constantinople. He confused all the churches and opened persecution against those who were firm in the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ the Most High, rising up against His holy images, as well as against the images of His Mother, the Holy Virgin, and in general against all images of saints; he hated those who speculated on the nature of God—great be His name! - that is, monks who devoted themselves to the ascetic life and followed the path of angelic life. He called them dressed in a dress of darkness. The merciful and wise John was distinguished by his zeal in faith and his direct and firm views. He did not hold any specific position in the holy church and did not belong to the persons who possessed church departments and church authorities; but he was known for his correspondence with all near and distant countries on the question of strengthening the churches and his commitment to the veneration of holy icons worthy of glorification; correspondence distinguished by firm presentation [16] and eloquent exhortation; Moreover, as proof, he cited the best words of St. Basil the Great, who says that the veneration of an icon goes back to its prototype. When Emperor Leo, who hated holy icons, learned about his energetic and pure deeds and about his correspondence, he gnashed his teeth and fangs like a wild pig, and began to build intrigues of this kind against him. He called the scribes from the offices, showed them one of John’s letters and ordered them to perfectly forge his handwriting, without at all departing from it in similarity, to become like him in language and write a similar letter that would look like a message from him to the emperor, where he explained to the emperor, out of affection for him and the community of religion, that most of the cities in the region of Syria are not occupied and free; they have no defense against an enemy who would rush at them, and they have no means of repelling from themselves one who would wish to capture them; the intention of someone who would like to take possession of them is easily fulfilled, and the like in the same spirit and kind. Then Leo wrote another letter from himself to the ruler of Damascus, where he said: “To consolidate the love and peace that exists between us, I, not wanting to violate the agreements on the basis of which our peaceful relations were established, am sending you one letter that came to our state from your secretary John, where he incites us to rush to your region and take advantage of the opportunity to take possession of your country, since it is deprived of people for its protection and is available to anyone who would like it. master. When I read the letter and made sure of it, I knew the sincerity of love for you on our part; and the strength of your meaning is high with us. Hello!" And he sent an ambassador to him with a letter from the heretic emperor and with a letter forged [17] in accordance with (the handwriting and syllable) of Blessed John. When the ambassador arrived to the emir, he personally handed him both letters and explained to him the essence of the letter from his minister John, so that it would not fall into the hands of the latter and would not be hidden by him. The emir called John, first handed him a letter in which his handwriting was forged, and said to him: “Do you recognize, John, this handwriting and the one who wrote it?” And John said to him: “Emir! Indeed, this handwriting is similar to my handwriting; but it was not my hand, and my lips did not speak his words. This letter has never been in my hands, and my eyes see it only (for the first time) at the present moment, when I stand before you.” Then (the emir) gave him a letter from the Byzantine emperor; and he read it. When (John) finished reading it, the emir sentenced him to immediately cut off his hand. John begged him a lot and earnestly asked him to delay his execution in order to reveal to him the intrigues thanks to which the emperor sent him a letter. But the emir did not heed his words and did not give him the opportunity to justify himself further: his right hand was cut off and hanged in the center of Damascus. When evening came, John sent to tell the emir: “Emir! There is severe pain in my hand; and as long as her palm hangs in the air, her pain will not calm down at all. But if you deign to give it to me for burial in the ground, then perhaps this pain will stop.” Then (the emir) ordered the cut off part of the hand to be handed over to him. When John received it, he entered his chapel and fell with his whole body to the ground in front of the icon of the glorious Lady and unyielding Intercessor; then he put [18] his severed palm to his hand and prayed to Her from the depths of his heart; his eyes filled with hot tears falling onto his chest. He said: “Oh, holy, pure Lady, Mother of our God, the Eternal Word after His incarnation from Your pure blood! In the name of His great love for the human race, I ask You to turn to Him with a prayer for me and to intercede before Him for the sake of the abundance of my sorrow and the strength of my suffering, since He knows what befell me and to what extent I was brought by the iconoclasts, whom I openly exposed in the falsity and emptiness of their abominable beliefs due to my great faith and my love for God our Lord Jesus Christ the Living To the Eternal. And so, the enemy of man instigated intrigues against me, and they cut off my hand. Now I extend it to You, so that You will strengthen it where it was previously whole, free from all pain, so that the cut off part will heal and so that You will show on Your servant the abundance of Your compassion, so that my tongue will not cease to praise You as long as I live. After all, You are able to do what I ask of You, thanks to the power of the Creator of the whole world, Incarnate from You, its Holder and Ruler, to Whom belongs glory forever and ever. Amen!" When he prayed in this way and in this form, tears flowed abundantly from his eyes from the burning of his heart and entrails. He immediately dozed off and saw in a dream the Merciful One, in her form and image, who looked at him with Her eyes and said: “Your hand is healed. Keep your word to your God and do not delay your promise.” John woke up in joy and gladness, stood on his feet with a prayer of thanks and immediately sang something that befitted the speed of answer to his prayer and complete healing in a very short time, like the ancient, famous miracles described in times past. He performed his prayer throughout the night, constantly being in his room, [19] thanking the Most High God and proclaiming His brilliant miracles and abundance of beautiful mercies. But John’s case did not escape his enemies, who slandered him to the emir, as if John’s hand had not been cut off; but he gave money, and the hand of another man was cut off, not his, since he was very happy in his own house. And the emir called him. When he examined the mark of the cut-off part on his hand, he was surprised at the case and said to him: “Which doctor treated you, and what did you use to cure yourself?” And John answered him with a loud voice and with delight that surpassed the preacher, the following: “My Christ is a skilled physician. He can do whatever he wants. Therefore, it was not difficult for Him to heal me, and He quickly completed my work.” And the emir said to him: “As it seems to me, you are free from the suspicion in which we kept you. We ask your forgiveness for him and for the fact that we so hastily went to meet him. Return to your service and your position. From this day forward we will not act without your command and we will not oppose your judgment and advice.” Then John fell to the ground in front of him, remained in this position for a long time and asked him to forgive him and let him go along the path of his Lord, along the path that he had chosen and which was pleasing to God. After much effort and labor, he agreed to let him go. And (John) went immediately to his house and distributed most of his property to the poor and needy. Then he set off on a journey to Jerusalem and headed to the monastery of St. Sava, accompanied by Cosmas, who was brought up in his father’s house and was his partner in science and education; as a result of their desire to follow a path more glorious in position and higher in dignity, they had to put on the honorable monastic robe and accept its honest, light burden. [20] When John turned to the abbot of the monastery with a request (to allow him) to settle with him and become a monk, he was very happy about his arrival and most earnestly praised his aspirations. Due to his great glory, exalted position and veneration, (the abbot) wanted one of the outstanding and perfect elders to accept John to guide his life in accordance with the honor that he deserved and which was due to him, and that he would teach John the monastic life without those hard labors that are associated with the paths of the holy fathers and perfect ascetics. But the elder declined to accept John and asked the abbot to entrust him to someone else. After the abbot spoke with most of the elders on this issue, they were not inclined to his desire, but gave him reasons, saying the following: “This man is high in position, rich in perfections and great in importance, so he cannot obey our orders and obey our commands. And we ask you to deliver us from him." When the question about him took on such a situation and dragged on, one of the spiritual, simple elders came to the abbot and told him: “I will take over the leadership of John.” And the abbot entrusted John to him. When he went with him to his cell, the elder began to instruct him, saying the following: “I make it a condition for you, my spiritual son, that you throw away from yourself all worldly images and their vain, misleading vicissitudes. Everything that you will see that I do, do the same, like me, you too. And do not be proud of the knowledge that you have acquired: monastic and ascetic knowledge is not lower than him, but much higher than him in its position and wisdom. Try to break with your hobbies and do things that are contrary to your pleasure. Do not do anything without my instructions and advice. Don't write letters to anyone. Do not talk or remember at all about the worldly sciences that you have studied.” John bowed his head before him, bowed to him and promised to follow his covenant and instructions perfectly and completely. After he had remained with him for a long time, [21] his mentor wanted to test his obedience and see to what extent he reached in his virtue. He told him: “My spiritual son! I learned that our work, that is, baskets, is needed in Damascus: and we have a lot of them. Get up, go to the city, sell them and bring money for them, since we need them for our expenses.” After this, (the mentor) ordered him to carry the baskets and set him a double price for them so that he could not quickly and easily sell them. When (John), having come with them to Damascus, walked around the square with baskets and did not find a buyer due to their high price and his addition to their real price, one of the slaves who served him before saw him. He recognized (John), but did not show him that he recognized him; he felt compassion for him, took pity on him and gave him the entire price he asked. (John) took the money from him and returned to his mentor, crowning himself with a crown of victory, defeating the demon of pride and arrogance. One day, an old monk who was a neighbor of mentor John died. He had a brother who was greatly saddened by his separation from him and could not help crying and sorrow every time he remembered him. And (the brother) asked Abba John to compose a euphonious troparion for him in the form of consolation in his sorrow, so that he would pronounce it and be comforted when he reads it and is distracted by it from sobs, which are useless for him. And John answered him, strenuously avoiding (this), with the following words: “I am afraid of censure from the elder, my mentor, (for violating) what I committed to him at the beginning of my monasticism.” And the monk who asked him said to him: “I will not report it and will not pronounce it except in private.” And (John) composed for him a troparion, which to this day is read at burial and which is constantly used - (troparion) lovely, beautiful, graceful, beautiful, the beginning of which is this: “Truly, [22] all things are vain and transitory.” John began to sing it and finish it. While he was reading the troparion loudly, his mentor found John and said to him: “Did I order you to do this? Did I command you to sing instead of cry?” And he (John) informed him about the request of the monk, his neighbor, and asked him to forgive him for violating his sentence. But he answered him: “It is not appropriate for you to live with me. Get away from me quickly!” And John left him saddened and went to the monastery elders so that they asked his mentor to allow him to return to him and forgive him his sin. When the elders came to his mentor, he did not accept their requests. Then one of them said to him: “Don’t you have a penance to punish him, and then accept our request and forgive him his sin?” And he said to them: “If he cleans out the latrines of the elder monks with a shovel and shows me his obedience in this work, I will return him to his cell.” And the elders left, saddened and embarrassed. Seeing them, Blessed John went to meet them, bowed to them and began to question them about what the elder, his mentor, had ordered in his case. And they answered him: “Truly, it turned out to be so difficult for us to persuade the elder, your mentor, as we did not expect; namely, he agreed to a penance that we have never heard of or known about.” And John said to them: “What is this?” And they said to him: “Will you clean out the latrines of the elders with a shovel?” And (John) answered them, with the promptness of his obedience and the perfect pleasantness of his disposition, [23] with the following words: “For me it is easy to do and not difficult to perform.” He immediately took a shovel and a basket and began work in the cell that adjoined their home. When the elder saw the speed of his action and the abundance of his humility, he hurried to him immediately, did not allow him to finish his work, grabbed him by both hands, kissed his head and eyes and said: “Enough, my son, enough! You have expressed humility perfectly, and even more than humility. You don't need to practice any other virtue. Come here, to your cell, with greetings and contentment, with perfect honor and peace!” A few days later, the Lady appeared to his mentor in a dream, who told him: “Why are you blocking the source and preventing it from flowing and pouring. Truly, John is destined to decorate the churches and feasts of the saints with his songs, and for the faithful to enjoy the pleasantness of his words. Let him say whatever he wants and desires: the Spirit of the Comforter speaks with his tongue.” When morning came, the elder said to Blessed John: “My spiritual son! If from now on a word comes to you that you say, then no one will keep you from it, since God approves and loves it. Open your mouth and speak about everything that will inspire you. My prohibition against you is explained by my ignorance and lack of knowledge.” Then John began to compile canons for the Holy Resurrection with stichera and troparia. Blessed Cosmas also did the same thing as him. They competed with each other in their speeches with the abundance and strength of divine love, and never, throughout their lives, were they attacked by either envy or arrogance. As for the glorious Cosmas, after he had lived for a considerable time in the Lavra of Saint Sava, the bishops living in Jerusalem turned to him with an earnest request [24] and ordained him bishop of the city of Mayuma, now known as Mimas. He ruled well and was pleasing to God and shepherded his flock to the pasture of salvation; he reached the age of extreme old age and retired to the Lord. As for Blessed John, the patriarch of the holy city called him to himself and ordained him as a deacon without his desire; but thanks to the force of his insistence on him, the patriarch turned John away from his point of view. When the latter returned from him to the Lavra, he devoted himself even more zealously to the performance of religious rites and asceticism and began composing his speeches, which spread to the extreme limits of the universe. Among them (must be included) is the story of Barlaam and Joseph, in which he expressed all the divine and human wisdom. As for his speeches “On the Right Faith and the Incarnation of the Eternal Word”, about his speech against the iconoclast enemies and other schismatics, then, if any of the people. devoted to knowledge, carefully acquainted with them, he will know the truth of his speeches, the power of the abundance of his words and his zeal for the Christian faith. As a witness to what I said, I will cite a person whose testimony is beneficial, there is no doubt - this is Saint Stephen the New, [25] confessor for icons during the reign of Constantine Copronymus. Stubborn Constantine strongly wanted Blessed Stephen to move away from his just view of the veneration of icons, and in his desire he went to the extreme. But since he could not change his way of thinking, despite the fact that he tried to influence him with all sorts of tricks and various troubles that he caused Stephen - the latter remained firm in his mind - then Constantine ordered him to be banished to one of the islands, after his first exile and before imprisoning him in the Praetorian prison, where 340 fathers were imprisoned, whose members bore traces of cruel beheadings, numerous blows and tortures for worship icons When his exile on this island continued for some time, then the abbots of the monasteries and the most famous of the monks, known for their piety, who lived in the countries of Europe, Byzantium, Bithynia and in the region of Abrusium (Prusiada-Brussa), rushed to him. They all came to Blessed Stephen, as a beloved father and chosen leader, with a request to show them the way and give advice to salvation. Stephen, as a result of his expulsion, was overcome by great sadness: he shed copious tears because of the persecution of the church. And they said to him: “Tell us, father, what we need to do, since we are drowning in confusion.” When the blessed one saw that fathers were coming to him in crowds, he tore out his gray angel-like hair and said: “Children and venerable brothers! There is nothing better than the decision to choose perfect piety, and there is nothing stronger than a soul that does not want to serve evil. I am convinced, based on your humility, that you are protected from both. Therefore, rather, you be my advisers and leaders, since “my eyes are weakened in tears, my heart [26] is troubled for the contrition of the daughter of my people,” I say along with the prophet Jeremiah 22; after all, I see the bride of the Lord rudely and bitterly besieged by an evil, deceitful demon who has been fighting our nature for a long time, and I cry greatly and weep for the fog, lying on the shepherds and flock." When Blessed Stephen addressed them with these words and others in the assembly of eminent monks, who rushed to him, shed copious tears, beat their chests and groaned, he answered them with the following words: “Since for us there are only three parts that have not joined this corrupting teaching, I advise you to go there; after all, of the places under the power of this devil, there is no other place left where his commands and teachings are not obeyed.” And they said to him: “Where are these regions that we should go there?” And he answered them in these words: “The regions are those that are located within the Pontus Euxine and the adjacent region of Kherson; as well as the regions lying along the Parthenian Sea and adjacent to the Southern Gulf, to the slopes of ancient Rome, to the region of the Tiber, the river of Rome, and to the limits of the lower coastal part of Lycia and other places on the [27] coast; as well as the island of Cyprus and Tripoli, Tire and Jaffa located beyond it. There is no need for us to talk about the leading patriarchs of Rome, Antioch, Jerusalem and Alexandria, who not only despised the beliefs of the icon burners, but cursed them, uttered anathema against them and did not stop sending messages disgracing (their beliefs), blaspheming the deceiving emperor, the culprit of this corrupting doctrine; Moreover, they called him a heretic and the head of the schism. Of those who most reviled the emperor was the much-glorified John of Damascus, called the rebellious tyrant Mansur 23, and by us - pure, holy and God-bearing. This Saint John did not stop writing to the emperor, calling him the head of jesters, madmen, an icon burner and a hater of shrines; he called the bishops who were on the emperor’s side admirers of the belly and followers of the opinion of the belly; especially (he meant) lovers of equestrian lists and spectacles: Bastila, Trikakaf, Bishop Nakoliy and Azsikiy, calling them for this the new Ziv, Zeve, Salman and Dathan, and those subordinate to them - the assembly of Aviron” 24. When Blessed Stephen said this and many other soul-helping things, the fathers, saying goodbye to him, burst into tears, kissed him, left him and headed to places safe for flight, not out of fear of martyrdom, but fearing the intrigues of the tyrant and their own little experience, because one who does not have experience is not perfect. Abba Saint John's struggle in defense of the holy icons and the Orthodox faith reached such extremes that he began to revile emperors and the main representatives of the clergy and government because of his brilliant zeal and such directness of faith that his glory and perfections were proclaimed in all distant and distant regions, and he became a model, whose footsteps are followed due to his great struggle and the abundance of his asceticism. How necessary it is now for us, a Christ-loving congregation, to honor his memory, worthy of all glory, divine and human, since almost at no time can we do without his many useful works, which constantly bring joy to believers! And often from an abundant source flows something sweeter than the honey dripping from honey cakes, and often more pleasant than tasting it, because the writings of John are excellent in every place, in every sense for every desire; they are known, obvious, clear. When John reached a deep old age, rich in good deeds, he freed himself from the conditions of the world and retired to the desired Christ, in Whom his soul rested, hovering in the heavenly Kingdom, where there are high, brilliant villages, filled with all the joys and happiness that are beyond description in the glorification of the Trinity and the saints from the side of the [29] cherubim and in the rejoicing of the seraphim, in the ascension of glory and praise. I ask you, our blessed father John, to intercede for my humility and, out of my little knowledge and great insignificance, accept this short story, which I compiled on the basis of some news about your numerous and abundant virtues. I did not know about all their numerousness: I only collected from books separate, scattered parts, which I found along with the lives of the fathers of your time, written down along with what was added according to rumors and legends in different orders. I connected one with the other, so that (the story) became a single necklace, suitable for spiritual use by anyone who wants to feed on it and benefit from becoming familiar with it; at the same time, the reader will be completely satisfied with the benefits from it; he will know the greatness of your wisdom and thoughtfulness, to what extent they have reached. At the same time, I was burning with desire and tried, as far as possible, to have this insignificant fragment of an insignificant speech studied on the glorious day of your remembrance, which falls on the 4th of the Eve of I, and so that your glorious annual extremely joyful holiday would not be deprived of offering praise and glorification to the Holy Trinity: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen. Biographie de Saint Jean Damascene. Text original arab. Publié pour la première fois par le P. Constantin Bacha. Imprimerie Grecque Melchide de Saint Paul. Harissa (Liban), 1912. See, for example, Les oeuvres arabes de Théodore Aboucara, évêque d'Haran. Beyrouth, 1904. Un Traité des oeuvres arabes de Théodore Abou-Karra, évêque de Haran. Tripoli de Syrie – Rome – Paris. See J. Langen. Johannes von Damaskus. Gotha, 1879, S.19. For the Greek text of the life, see also Acta Sanctorum. Maii, t.II, appendix, pp.I–VII (=Migne). See B.M.Melioransky. George of Cyprus and John of Jerusalem, two little-known fighters for Orthodoxy in the 8th century. St. Petersburg, 1901, p.96. Ἀνάλεκτα Ἱεροσολυμιτικῆς σταχυολογίας... ὑπὸ Ἀ.Παπαδοπούλου-Κεραμέως. IV, ἐν Πετρούπολει, 1897, σ.270–350; amendments and additions to volume V, 1898, pp. 405–407. Mign e. Patrologia graeca, t.94. col.433 (c.III): Τούτου τοίνυν τὸν βίον, ὡς ἔτυχεν, ἐσχεδιάσμενον ὰγροϊκιστὶ, παρορατέον, καὶ μᾶλλον μόνον διαλέκτῳ καὶ γράμμασι τοῖς Ἀραβικοῖς; col.489 (c.XXXIX): ἐφ’ οἷς τοῦτον καλὸν ἔρανον ἄλλου πεποιηκότος, ὡς εῖχεν ό ἄνθρωπος, άφελῶς αὐτὸς εὑρηκὼς, καὶ διαλέκτῳ Ἀράβων καὶ γράμμασι κείμενον, ὁ ὁμωνυμῶν σοι... μετέβαλον. Ἀνάλεκτα, IV, σ.350: αὐτος εὑρηκὼς ἐγὼ κατὰ δύναμιν ἔγραφα καὶ διαλέκτῳ Ἀράβων καὶ γράμμασι κείμενον ὁ ὑμῶν θατέρῳ συνωνυμῶν εἰς τὸ τοῦ λόγου τοῦδε εἶδος μετέβαλον... Basha here means Agapius (in the world Athanasius) Landa (Λάνδος;), who died before 1664. Here is the full title of the work of Agapius mentioned by our publisher: πλείστης ἐπιμελείας συντεθὲν εἰς κοινὴν τῶν Γραικῶν διάλεκτον, παρὰ Ἀγαπίου Μοναχοῦ τοῦ Κρῆτος, τοῦ ἐν τῷ ἀγιωνύμῳ ὄρει τοῦ Ἄθω ὰσκήσαντος... Ἐνετίησι ᾀχμά. See E. Legrand. Bibliographie hellénique ou description raisonnée des ouvrages publiés par des Grecs au dix-septième siècle . Paris, I, 1894, p.413; II, 1894, p.185; III, 1895, p.531. Here Basha is referring to the book Γ.Ἰ.Παπαδοπούλου – Συμβολαὶ εἰς τὴν ἱστορίαν τῆς παρ’ ἡμῖν ἐκκλησιαστικῆς μουσικῆς. Ἀθῆναι, 1890. See Catalogus codicum Bibliothecae Vaticanae arabicorum edente Angelo Maio. Romae, 1831, p.172–178. See F. Chalandon. Εssai sur le règne d'Alexis I-er Comnène. Paris, 1900, p.96–97. Streck in his article Antakiya in the Encyclopédie de l'Islam. 6-me livraison, Leyde-Paris, 1910, p.364; There is also a bibliography on the history of Antioch. See, for example, Lan gen, op. cit., S.15. Kru mbacher. Geschichte der byzantinischen Literatur. 2 Auflage. München, 1897, S.71. See, for example, some of the fluctuations of Lequien (Migne. Patrologia Graeca, t.94, col.429–430); in Acta Sanctorum. Maii, t.II, p.108; in modern times y Kattenbusch ’a: Der oben genannte βίος; ist verfasst von einem Patriarchen Johannes von Jerusalem, wahrscheinlich dem um 970 gestorbenen (Realencyklopädie für protestantische Theologie und Kirche. 3 Auflage, B.IX, 1901, S.287). Great Menaion-Chetii. December, days 1–5. Moscow, 1901 (publication of the Archaeographic Commission), p. 104. See Un Traité des œuvres arabes de Th.Abou-Kurra. Par le P. C. Bacha. Tripoli de Syrie, p.5, n.1. G.Graf. Die christlich-arabische Literatur. Freiburg im Breisgau, 1905, S.68–69. Le baron Victor Rosen. Notices sommaires des manuscrits arabes du Musée Asiatique. St.-Pétersbourg, 1881, p.4–5. Here you can also find some indications of Western European manuscripts. Catalogus... A.Maio, p.172, 319–325. Spyridon P. Lambros. Ein griechisches Palimpsest in Wien. Byzantinische Zeitschrift, V., (1896), S.566. Here we mean the Seljuk Turks, the enemies of Suleiman’s Iconian Turks. This is where the Vatican manuscript begins. Jeremiah's lament (Plch.2:11). See Vita S.Stephani. Migne. Patrologia graeca, t.C, col.1113–1116. Vita: ὁ παρὰ τοῦ τυράννου τούτου Μανσούρ ἐπονομασθείς (col.1120). (Vita: Μάλιστα τοὺς ἱπποδρομικοὺς φιλάγωνας καὶ φιλοθεάμονας. Παστιλᾶν καὶ Τρικακαβον, Νικολαΐτην τε καὶ τὸν φιλοδαίμονα Ἀτζύπιον, ὡς νέους Ὠρήβ, Ζήβ, Ζεβεέ, Σαλμανάν τε καὶ Δαθάν, καὶ τοὺς ὑπ᾿ αὐτοὺς ὡς τὴν συναγωγὴν Ἀβειρῶν ἀπεκάλεσεν (col.1120). Num.16, 26:9; Deut.11:6; Ps.82:12;