I said, “I am great!”
Who made me small on the Earth?
I said, “I’m the King!”
Why did they overthrow me from my throne?
The Great N’bat hated me,
and my mother Sharat hated me.
I have destroyed my worlds,
and ruin has come to my House.
When I was gentle and meek,
why did they call me rebellious?
When they rewarded me as a righteous man,
why did they call me the author of wrongdoing?
When I was diligent and accomplished,
why did they call me feckless in the world?
When I was king from the beginning of the universe,
why is it that they have set me down at the end of the universe?
They set me down at the end of the universe,
and I am waiting in stocks.
Why have they called me rebellious,
and I summoned the gentle from within me?
When I was king in the universe,
why did they call me the author of strife?
In such and such a manner it happens to every man,
who listens to the muttering of women.
The aeon who listens to the mutterings of women,
he will be cast down from the (or: his) world.
Then, when I stood out from the aeons,
why did they call me the Eighth?
Why did they separate the light from me,
and carry off my splendor?
They lifted my garments from me,
and bound me on the spot on which I seek my parents,
and my glance does not meet theirs.
I seek my wives,
but my wives does not meet my glance.
I seek my sons the aeons,
but they do not meet my glance.
When it pains and oppresses me,
I weep for myself.
Among all the aeons that did wrong,
they repaid me with the wrong [that] I did not do.
When I was gentle before the king,
why did they cast me down from my throne?
Woe is me, whose mouth brought him down,
and whose tongue was an affliction to him.
They set me in bondage, called me a “wanderer,”
and by the treachery of my mouth overthrew me from my throne.
When I was king, they made me an aeon before whom is a king.
When I was gentle and humble,
all the aeons that were mine hated me.
Woe is me [?], all the consorts I had,
all of them, yes, all of them were greatly enraged with me,
and they bound me to a single place.
The victorious Life speaks,
and victorious is the man that went there.
The End.
Pingback: Progress Report 5 « Philologastry
Chollie, you and James are making an excelent work, you both have already translated the half of the book of Yahia, I love this translation, thanks for your excelent work!