Let’s translate a bit more of the work of the Arabic Christian writer, Sa`id ibn Bitriq, also known as Eutychius. The last section dealt with the reign of Alexander the Great, and his death and burial by his minister “Filimun”. For the funeral, Eutychius now introduces material from the “Sayings” literature. So this chapter is fiction.
Collections of moral sayings attributed to famous figures circulated in antiquity in several languages, including Greek and Syriac. They were a popular, and therefore a vulgar form of literature. The material also came into Arabic. Some of this material was used for Christian purposes, to demonstrate that the Greek philosophers predicted the events of the life of Christ, paralleling the predictions in the Old Testament. None of this material is historically reliable. Sayings pass from one author to another in the mass of material. A modern analogy would be a joke book, where material may be attributed to Oscar Wilde, or to Winston Churchill, even if in fact it is proverbial.
I’ve footnoted the Italian where I was unsure of the inevitably concise meaning.
17. Fīlīmūn the philosopher said, “This is a day of great instruction. For the evil that he did has come about, and he abandoned the good that preceded him.[1] He who wishes to weep over him whose kingdom has come to an end, let him weep.
Aflātūn [Plato] the philosopher said: “O you who gained by force everything, you accumulated what has deceived and abandoned you, and left you only the trouble of it, while the pleasure will pass to another.”
Aristatālīs [Aristotle] the philosopher said: “Alexander went away full of eloquence and returned to us silent.”
Nārin the philosopher said: “Say to Alexander’s flock, ‘This is a day when the flock leads the shepherd to pasture.'”
And Nīlūn said: “Can anyone console us for our king, who has suffered no disgrace, and truly leave us consoled?”
And another said, “This is the way that we must travel. Desire what lasts as much as that which is temporary.”
And another said, “Take this as an example. Yesterday gold was for Alexander a treasure. Today Alexander was buried in gold.”
And another said, “You join those who rejoiced over your death, like those whose death will please you will join you.”[2]
And the philosopher Lūtas said: “Do not marvel at him who did not teach us anything when he was alive, and now warns us by his death.”
And the philosopher Mitrūn said: “Yesterday, O man, we could listen but not speak. Can you hear what we are saying today?”
And the philosopher Sīsan said, “This man has killed many people in order not to die himself. Yet he died. How could he not have been able to get rid of death with death?”
And another said, “Alexander did not teach us with his words as much as he teaches us now with his silence.”
And philosopher Dimitar said, “O you whose anger was the cause of your death, why have you never been angry with death?”
And another said, “Your strongholds tremble with fear, O king, and you have reassured the strongholds of those who feared you.”
And another said, “How do people neglect you today, O king, and how interested they are in your coffin!”
And another said, “How true is death to his own, yet they will not see, and they block their ears!”[3]
And the philosopher Fīluqatūn said: “If this is the end of life, it is best for us to be indifferent from its inception.”
And another said: “O people, do not weep over someone who has ceased to weep, but each of you weep for yourselves.”
And another said, “Well, you who were accustomed to the vastness of the conquered countries, how can you now endure such a narrow place?”
And another said: “If someone only weeps at death when it happens, there is still death on every new day.”
And another said: “You who were exalted, you have now become humble, and if you were in an enviable position, you have now become worthy of pity.”
And another said, “Who is he now whose anger was terrible, and standing beside him was forbidden? Why are you not angry that death is allotted to you, or that you were unable to resist the humiliation [of death]?”[4]
And another said, “It is easy to see the example of the death of kings, and from kings the warning of the death of the will.”
And another said, “Alexander never had a lesson more effective than that of his death.”
And another said, “Your voice was terrible and high your kingdom. But now your voice is gone and your kingdom has fallen.”
And another said, “You could give favours and I could not speak. Today, however, I can speak and you can not give favours.”
And another said, “If nobody was safe from you yesterday, there is no one today who is your subject.”
And another said, “Yesterday the shepherd had cared for his flock, but today the flock cares for its shepherd.”
And another said, “You’ve joined those who had a claim against you and you’ll definitely have to pay it off. Maybe I could know what tolerance you show to acts of paying debt and of justice.”
And another said, “If you had had as much severity and serenity in the past as you show us today, you would have been a sage.”
- [1]Not sure that I correctly render this sentence: “ne è venuto fuori il male che gli stava alle spalle e l’ha abbandonato il bene che lo precedeva.”↩
- [2]The Italian is: “Ti possa raggiungere chi si è rallegrato della tua morte come tu hai raggiunto coloro la cui morte ti rallegrò”. I can’t really understand this.↩
- [3]“Come è verace la morte con i suoi, eppure essi tacciano di falsità i loro occhi e si otturano le orecchie!”↩
- [4]Perché non ti sei incollerito sì che la morte s’allontanasse da te o perché non hai opposto resistenza per cacciar via da te l’umiliazione /della morte/?↩