| The hymns of Ephraem, written in Syriac, are
rhythmic texts interspersed with refrains which the faithful learned by
heart. In Hymns on Paradise Ephraem constantly draws parallels
between Adam, the figures of the Old Testament, and Christ.
Refrain
Make me worthy in thy goodness
That we may enter thy paradise
Naked, Adam was handsome:
His diligent wife toiled to make him
a garment of filth.
The garden saw it and,
finding it hideous, cast him out.
But a new tunic
was made for him by Mary.
Clothed in his finery and
according to the promise,
the villain looked splendid.
The garden, seeing Adam again
in his image, welcomed him.
Moses doubted, yet lived,
but he never entered
the promised land
bounded by the Jordan.
After his sin, Adam
left the Garden of Life,
guarded by the cherubim,
but through our Lord,
both of them, having been buried,
were able to enter by the resurrection:
Moses, the Promised Land;
Adam, Paradise.
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