Süleyman’ın Bilgeliği 17

¹Çünkü senin yargıların azametlidir ve kelimelerle anlatılamaz; bu yüzden eğitimsiz ve disiplinsiz ruhlar yoldan saptılar.

²Çünkü kutsal ulusu boyunduruk altına alabileceklerini sanan o yasa tanımazlar, karanlığın tutsakları ve uzun bir gecenin prangalıları olarak çatılarının altında kapalı kaldılar; sonsuz ilahi inayetten sürgün edilmiş olarak orada yatıyorlardı.

³Çünkü gizli günahlarıyla gizlenebileceklerini sanırken, unutkanlığın o karanlık örtüsü altında darmadağın edildiler; dehşet içinde kaldılar ve zihinsel yanılsamalarla sarsıldılar.

⁴Çünkü onları barındıran en kuytu köşeler bile onları korkudan koruyamadı; çevrelerinde gürleyen sesler yankılandı ve asık suratlı, gülümsemeyen hayaletler belirdi.

⁵Ateşin hiçbir gücü ortalığı aydınlatmaya yetmedi, yıldızların parlak alevleri bile o kasvetli geceyi ışıklandırmaya güç yetiremedi.

⁶Onlara sadece kendiliğinden tutuşmuş, korku dolu doğaüstü bir ateş göründü; o görünmeyen varlığın dehşetine kapılarak, gördükleri şeyleri görmediklerinden daha kötü sandılar.

⁷Büyücülük sanatının oyunları boşa çıktı ve bilgelikleriyle övünmeleri utanç verici bir şekilde azarlandı.

⁸Çünkü hasta bir candan korkuları ve sıkıntıları kovmayı vaat edenler, kendileri gülünç bir korkunun hastalığına yakalanmışlardı.

⁹Çünkü onları korkutacak dehşetli hiçbir şey olmasa bile, gelip geçen yaban hayvanları ve sürüngenlerin tıslamalarıyla ürkerek,

¹⁰titreyerek can veriyorlardı; kaçışı olmayan havaya bile bakmayı reddediyorlardı.

¹¹Çünkü kötülük, kendi tanıklığıyla mahkum edildiğinde korkaklığını gösterir; vicdanın baskısı altında her zaman sıkıntıları büyütür.

¹²Çünkü korku, aklın sunduğu yardımlara ihanet etmekten başka bir şey değildir.

¹³İçteki beklenti zayıfladıkça, insan acı veren nedenin ne olduğunu bilmemeyi daha büyük bir dert sayar.

¹⁴Ama onlar, gerçekten güçsüz olan ve o güçsüz ölüler diyarının derinliklerinden üzerlerine çöken o dayanılmaz gecede aynı uykuyu uyurken,

¹⁵kâh korkunç hayaletler tarafından kovalanıyor, kâh canlarının teslim olmasıyla felç oluyorlardı; çünkü üzerlerine ani ve beklenmedik bir korku çökmüştü.

¹⁶Böylece, orada kim yere yıkıldıysa, demirsiz bir zindana kapatılmış gibi gözetim altında tutuldu.

¹⁷İster bir çiftçi olsun, ister bir çoban, ister kırlarda çalışan bir işçi; yakalandığı an, kaçışı olmayan bu zorunluluğa boyun eğmek zorunda kalıyordu.

¹⁸Çünkü hepsi karanlığın tek bir zinciriyle bağlanmıştı. İster ıslık çalan bir rüzgar, ister gür dallar arasında kuşların tatlı ezgisi, ister hızla akan suyun düzenli sesi, ister yuvarlanan kayaların amansız gürültüsü olsun,

¹⁹ister sıçrayan hayvanların görünmeyen koşusu, ister en vahşi canavarların kükreyen sesi, ister dağların derin oyuklarından yankılanan eko olsun; tüm bunlar onları korkudan felç ediyordu.

²⁰Çünkü bütün dünya parlak bir ışıkla aydınlanıyor ve engelsizce işlerine devam ediyordu.

²¹Sadece onların üzerine, kendilerini bekleyen o gelecekteki karanlığın bir simgesi olan ağır bir gece çökmüştü; ama onlar kendileri için karanlıktan daha ağır bir yüktü.

¹ΜΕΓΑΛΑΙ γάρ σου αἱ κρίσεις καὶ δυσδιήγητοι· διὰ τοῦτο ἀπαίδευτοι ψυχαὶ ἐπλανήθησαν.

²ὑπειληφότες γὰρ καταδυναστεύειν ἔθνος ἅγιον ἄνομοι, δέσμιοι σκότους καὶ μακρᾶς πεδῆται νυκτὸς κατακλεισθέντες ὀρόφοις, φυγάδες τῆς αἰωνίου προνοίας ἔκειντο.

³λανθάνειν γὰρ νομίζοντες ἐπὶ κρυφαίοις ἁμαρτήμασιν, ἀφεγγεῖ λήθης παρακαλύμματι ἐσκορπίσθησαν, θαμβούμενοι δεινῶς καὶ ἰνδάλμασιν ἐκταρασσόμενοι·

⁴οὐδὲ γὰρ ὁ κατέχων αὐτοὺς μυχὸς ἀφόβως διεφύλασσεν, ἦχοι δὲ καταράσσοντες αὐτοὺς περιεκόμπουν, καὶ φάσματα ἀμειδήτοις κατηφῆ προσώποις ἐνεφανίζετο.

⁵καὶ πυρὸς μὲν οὐδεμία βία κατίσχυε φωτίζειν, οὔτε ἄστρων ἔκλαμπροι φλόγες καταυγάζειν ὑπέμενον τὴν στυγνὴν ἐκείνην νύκτα.

⁶διεφαίνετο δ᾿ αὐτοῖς μόνον αὐτομάτη πυρὰ φόβου πλήρης, ἐκδειματούμενοι δὲ τῆς μὴ θεωρουμένης ἐκείνης ὄψεως ἡγοῦντο χείρω τὰ βλεπόμενα.

⁷μαγικῆς δὲ ἐμπαίγματα κατέκειτο τέχνης, καὶ τῆς ἐπί φρονήσει ἀλαζονείας ἔλεγχος ἐφύβριστος·

⁸οἱ γὰρ ὑπισχνούμενοι δείματα καὶ ταραχὰς ἀπελαύνειν ψυχῆς νοσούσης, οὗτοι καταγέλαστον εὐλάβειαν ἐνόσουν.

⁹καὶ γὰρ εἰ μηδὲν αὐτοὺς ταραχῶδες ἐφόβει, κνωδάλων παρόδοις καὶ ἑρπετῶν συριγμοῖς ἐκσεσοβημένοι,

¹⁰διώλλυντο ἔντρομοι καὶ τὸν μηθαμόθεν φευκτὸν ἀέρα προσιδεῖν ἀρνούμενοι.

¹¹δειλὸν γὰρ ἰδίως πονηρία μαρτυρεῖ καταδικαζομένη, ἀεὶ δὲ προσείληφε τὰ χαλεπὰ συνεχομένη τῇ συνειδήσει·

¹²οὐθὲν γάρ ἐστι φόβος εἰ μὴ προδοσία τῶν ἀπὸ λογισμοῦ βοηθημάτων.

¹³ἔνδοθεν δὲ οὖσα ἥττων ἡ προσδοκία, πλείονα λογίζεται τὴν ἄγνοιαν τῆς παρεχούσης τὴν βάσανον αἰτίας.

¹⁴οἱ δὲ τὴν ἀδύνατον ὄντως νύκτα καὶ ἐξ ἀδυνάτου ᾅδου μυχῶν ἐπελθοῦσαν, τὸν αὐτὸν ὕπνον κοιμώμενοι,

¹⁵τὰ μὲν τέρασιν ἠλαύνοντο φαντασμάτων, τὰ δὲ τῆς ψυχῆς παρελύοντο προδοσίᾳ· αἰφνίδιος γὰρ αὐτοῖς καὶ ἀπροσδόκητος φόβος ἐπῆλθεν.

¹⁶εἶθ᾿ οὕτως, ὃς δήποτ᾿ οὖν ἦν ἐκεῖ καταπίπτων, ἐφρουρεῖτο εἰς τὴν ἀσίδηρον εἱρκτὴν κατακλεισθείς·

¹⁷εἴ τε γὰρ γεωργὸς ἦν τις ἢ ποιμὴν ἢ τῶν κατ᾿ ἐρημίαν ἐργάτης μόχθων, προληφθεὶς τὴν δυσάλυκτον ἔμενεν ἀνάγκην,

¹⁸μιᾷ γὰρ ἁλύσει σκότους πάντες ἐδέθησαν· εἴτε πνεῦμα συρίζον ἢ περὶ ἀμφιλαφεῖς κλάδους ὀρνέων ἦχος εὐμελὴς ἢ ῥυθμὸς ὕδατος πορευομένου βίᾳ ἢ κτύπος ἀπηνὴς καταρριπτομένων πετρῶν,

¹⁹ἢ σκιρτώντων ζώων δρόμος ἀθεώρητος ἢ ὠρυομένων ἀπηνεστάτων θηρίων φωνὴ ἢ ἀντανακλωμένη ἐκ κοιλοτάτων ὀρέων ἠχώ, παρέλυεν αὐτοὺς ἐκφοβοῦντα.

²⁰ὅλος γὰρ ὁ κόσμος λαμπρῷ καταλάμπετο φωτὶ καὶ ἀνεμποδίστοις συνείχετο ἔργοις·

²¹μόνοις δὲ ἐκείνοις ἐπετέτατο βαρεῖα νύξ, εἰκὼν τοῦ μέλλοντος αὐτοὺς διαδέχεσθαι σκότους, ἑαυτοῖς δὲ ἦσαν βαρύτεροι σκότους.

¹For great are thy judgments, and cannot be expressed: therefore unnurtured souls have erred.

²For when unrighteous men thought to oppress the holy nation; they being shut up in their houses, the prisoners of darkness, and fettered with the bonds of a long night, lay there exiled from the eternal providence.

³For while they supposed to lie hid in their secret sins, they were scattered under a dark veil of forgetfulness, being horribly astonished, and troubled with strange apparitions.

⁴For neither might the corner that held them keep them from fear: but noises as of waters falling down sounded about them, and sad visions appeared unto them with heavy countenances.

⁵No power of the fire might give them light: neither could the bright flames of the stars endure to lighten that horrible night.

⁶Only there appeared unto them a fire kindled of itself, very dreadful: for being much terrified, they thought the things which they saw to be worse than the sight they saw not.

⁷As for the illusions of art magick, they were put down, and their vaunting in wisdom was reproved with disgrace.

⁸For they, that promised to drive away terrors and troubles from a sick soul, were sick themselves of fear, worthy to be laughed at.

⁹For though no terrible thing did fear them; yet being scared with beasts that passed by, and hissing of serpents,

¹⁰They died for fear, denying that they saw the air, which could of no side be avoided.

¹¹For wickedness, condemned by her own witness, is very timorous, and being pressed with conscience, always forecasteth grievous things.

¹²For fear is nothing else but a betraying of the succours which reason offereth.

¹³And the expectation from within, being less, counteth the ignorance more than the cause which bringeth the torment.

¹⁴But they sleeping the same sleep that night, which was indeed intolerable, and which came upon them out of the bottoms of inevitable hell,

¹⁵Were partly vexed with monstrous apparitions, and partly fainted, their heart failing them: for a sudden fear, and not looked for, came upon them.

¹⁶So then whosoever there fell down was straitly kept, shut up in a prison without iron bars,

¹⁷For whether he were husbandman, or shepherd, or a labourer in the field, he was overtaken, and endured that necessity, which could not be avoided: for they were all bound with one chain of darkness.

¹⁸Whether it were a whistling wind, or a melodious noise of birds among the spreading branches, or a pleasing fall of water running violently,

¹⁹Or a terrible sound of stones cast down, or a running that could not be seen of skipping beasts, or a roaring voice of most savage wild beasts, or a rebounding echo from the hollow mountains; these things made them to swoon for fear.

²⁰For the whole world shined with clear light, and none were hindered in their labour:

²¹Over them only was spread an heavy night, an image of that darkness which should afterward receive them: but yet were they unto themselves more grievous than the darkness.