RECORD OF JARJIS [GEORGIUS] AND HIS MIRACLES.

Some of the chief historians narrate that Jarjis had been a disciple of the apostles. Certain pupils of theirs have recorded that he dwelt in Syria, in the town of Filisteen, and that he had property, to calculate the extent whereof exceeds the powers of imagination. A number of Christians, who were his adherents, concealed their religion on account of the predominance of infidels in that country. At that time a powerful and wicked king was reigning in Mousul, to whom also the inhabitants of Syria were sub­ject. He possessed an idol called Aflûn [Apollo?], to the worship of which he invited the people, and everyone refusing to comply was grievously tormented. On that occasion Jarjis conceived the idea of taking some exquisite presents to the King of Mousul, in order to remain safe to the end of his life from the rapacious attempts of powerful individuals to get hold of his possessions. Accordingly he collected some choice gifts and departed to Mousul, where he arrived just at the time when the king was sitting in the assembly of his grandees, in front of an enormous bonfire, inviting the people to worship Aflûn, pardoning everyone who complied, and throwing all into the fire who refused. When Jarjis saw what was going on, he said to himself: ‘It is impossible for me to remain silent in such a case, and to approach this wicked man is illicit, according to the principles of religion and probity.’ Accordingly he departed from the assembly, but exclaimed in a loud voice: ‘O king! hear the words of truth, and calm thy wrath, that thou mayest acknowledge me as thy faithful adviser, and act according to my admonitions.’ He also said: ‘O king! thou art a servant, and hast an Omnipotent Nourisher, who created heaven and earth, with whatever is between them. He has called thee and all created beings from the concealment of non-existence into the plain of being, and has assigned thee thy daily bread. But thou hast deflected from the straight path, and believest a carved stone, which has no power whatever to be God, commanding people to adore it as the Deity. Accept therefore my advice, abandon this false religion, and turn thy face to the true Oiblah.’ The king asked: ‘Who art thou, and whence comest thou?’ Jarjis replied: ‘I am a servant of the servants of God, who has created me or loam, and will again transform me into it. My native country is Rûm, and my dwelling-place Filisteen. The Lord and bestower of gifts has vouchsafed to me the possession of much property; but fearing the darkness and heat of the sun of calamities, I had the intention of taking refuge under the shadow of the king’s protection, and have come to this place. When, however, I beheld the king worshipping an object made with hands, and forcing people by threats and punishments to adopt a false religion, I lost the reins of self-possession from my hands, and pre­ferred speech to silence.’ The king replied: ‘In conse­quence of thy utterances and thy opposition to me, thou hast become liable to punishment; but I respite and advise thee, in the same manner as thou hast at first com­menced by advising me, that thou obey me, and that thou consider my wazir, my viceroy, and all my officials, with their honour and magnificence [who follow my religion]. Thou art deceived by worshipping a God from whom thou derivest no profit. For, if thy God were endued with the qualities attributed to Him by thee, He would have lifted thee out of this misery and baseness, and would have exalted thee to be a prince above all other men.’ Jarjis retorted: ‘I am not scorned and miserable in the sight of my Creator; humility and resignation are duties to me; I covet not the pomp and circumstance of thy people, and I entertain full confidence in the grace of my God.’ Per­ceiving two men very near to the king, Jarjis continued: ‘Thou and thy idol are both mean and despicable! You can create nothing, nor provide anyone with food, and can neither hurt nor profit anybody! My Nourisher is the Omnipotent Sage, and the proof of my assertion is, that neither of these two men, who are favoured and honoured by the king, can attain either the state of Eliâs or of I’sa.’ The king asked: ‘Who is Eliâs and who is I’sa?’ Jarjis replied: ‘Eliâs was a servant of God, in need of food and drink, but has now by the favour of the Lord attained a state of beatitude, is at present invested with the qualities of angels, and stands no longer in need of physical nourish­ment. I’sa was a servant of God, whom He created without the intervention of a father, and invested with the robe of prophecy, so that he resuscitated dead persons, cured dumb and leprous individuals, and after the manifestation of these miracles, the Lord and Answerer of prayers raised him to heaven, and assigned to him a place near His glorious throne.’ The king replied: ‘Thou hast made a long speech, and related stories, the truth whereof is not evident to us; but if thou adorest not Aflûn, we shall throw thee into the fire.’ Jarjis rejoined: ‘If the erection of the heavens, and the spreading out of the earth, the rising of the sun and of the moon, the alternations of day and night, and the production of plants and trees depend upon the power of Aflûn, I am ready to adore him; but otherwise not.’ The king replied: ‘After this there is no respite to thy punishment.’ Then he ordered the flesh of his body to be torn off with tongs of iron, and his limbs to be wrenched off. But as Jarjis felt not the least pains from these torments, the king commanded iron nails to be made red-hot in the fire, and to be stuck in his head, which operation likewise could not injure him. Thereon the king ordered a vessel to be filled with molten brass, into which Jarjis was thrown; then it was covered until it cooled and became solid again. When, however, the top had been lifted, Jarjis was found to be alive. At last the king asked: ‘Has this punishment not hurt thee?’ Jarjis replied: ‘No.’ He further queried: ‘What was the cause of thy safety?’ Jarjis rejoined: ‘I have informed thee that I have a God who is omnipotent, and He has granted me deliverance from this calamity that it may become a con­vincing argument to thee.’ The king now feared lest he might lose his realm and sovereignty [if he allowed himself to be thus contradicted]; therefore Jarjis was thrown into prison, prostrated on his face, and the extremities of his body having been fixed to the ground by means of iron nails, a block of marble was placed on his back. When the night set in, God the Most High and Glorious sent an angel to Jarjis, to adorn him with the diadem of prophecy, and to convey to him the following message: ‘By God, who is longsuffering and thankful, thou art commanded to be longsuffering and thankful. The Most High says: For seven years We shall surrender thee to the grasp of the professors of infidelity and wickedness; and Our decree is that they shall four times attempt to slay thee, but every time thou wilt again be resuscitated to life by My omnipo­tence, and wilt after the fifth attempt be translated to the regions of paradise. Be of good cheer, because in all cir­cumstances My favour will accompany thee.’

At daybreak Jarjis suddenly made his appearance in the king’s palace, and the tyrant asked: ‘Who has released thee from prison?’ The pious man replied: ‘The sovereign whose power is greater than that of all kings.’ At this answer the infidel became so angry that he ordered Jarjis to be placed on his head [upside down] and cut in twain. The [two] pieces were thrown into a den tenanted by lions, who, however, by Divine inspiration did not allow the pieces to fall to the ground, but submissively received them upon their backs. Then the eternal Lord sent an angel, who spoke as follows: ‘Thus saith the Lord Almighty: I have granted thee a new life by a miracle, the like of which no ear has ever heard of, nor eye beheld.’

The next day the king held a great festival of rejoicing, sat in the assembly of his favourite courtiers, praised Aflûn, said that no God was stronger than him, and asked: ‘Where is Jarjis, who had threatened us with the thing he was adoring?’ All of a sudden, however, Jarjis raised his head in the midst of the assembly, whereat the king and his grandees became much amazed, and said: ‘This man greatly resembles Jarjis!’ The latter replied: ‘I am Jarjis, God the Most High has resuscitated me after being killed! If you were in possession of a little sense and intellect, you would believe in a God who is able to per­form such acts!’ The idolaters then said to each other: ‘Jarjis is a sorcerer. By his perfect knowledge of magic he pretends to have been killed, such not having been the case in reality. The proper thing for us to do now is to assemble the magicians in order to conquer and to punish him.’ The king, having agreed to this proposal, issued orders for all the sorcerers to assemble under the shade of his exalted throne. When they had all arrived, he said to their chief: ‘In this town there is a man whose sorcery has distressed me. Now you must show me some of your works, that I may be apprized of your ability.’ Accord­ingly the chief of the magicians took out two serpents from a bag, which were in the sight of the people transformed into two oxen, and began to plough the ground. Then the chief sorcerer sowed grain in the soil, which imme­diately sprouted and grew; he harvested, threshed, and bruised it, and made the flour he had obtained therefrom into a mass of dough, which he baked. All present approved of this feat, and said: ‘We are certain that thou wilt conquer Jarjis. Then the king promised a reward to the magician, and told him to transmute Jarjis into a dog. The sorcerer agreed, asked for a cup of water, recited an incantation over it, and requested the king to order Jarjis to drink it. The latter obeyed, and when the magician asked: ‘Jarjis, how feelest thou?’ He replied: ‘Quite well, because I was very thirsty, and this water has refreshed me. The true God has preserved me from the wicked machinations of persecutors and of Satan.’ When the sorcerer perceived that his incantation had taken no effect, he was amazed and said: ‘O king! if a created being were thy antagonist, we could assist thee; but thou wantest to resist the creator of heaven and earth; and in this matter we must confess our weakness and inability.’ Then one of the persons present said: ‘You consider Jarjis to be a sorcerer, but no magician is able to elude death.’ With this opinion the chief of the sorcerers agreed, and the man continued: ‘We have been in the country of Syria, where an old woman’s cow died. She came to Jarjis, and asked him to resuscitate the animal by his power, whereon he handed his staff to the woman, saying: “Take it, and strike the dead cow therewith, and it will be alive again.” The woman replied: “It is a long way from this place to my country, and when I arrive there, the limbs of the cow will probably have become separated from each other.” Jarjis, however, replied: “If only a single bone of the cow remains, the object will be attained.” Accordingly the old woman returned, acted as she had been ordered, and her cow was again made alive.’ Then the same man asked the chief magician: ‘Are sor­cerers able to resuscitate the dead?’ and he replied: ‘No, by God, and I bear witness that there is no God but Allah.’ Hearing this ejaculation the king became angry, and queried: ‘What has so quickly deceived and led thee astray?’ But that righteous and sincere man replied: ‘God forbid that I should have fallen into error! I have pro­fessed my belief in the God of all men!’ The king dreaded that such declarations might induce also others to follow Jarjis; therefore he ordered first the tongue of this believer [i.e., of the chief magician] to be cut out, and that he should afterwards be killed. This was done, but the news spread, and four thousand persons, adopting his opinions, became Musulmâns. As soon, however, as the unbelieving tyrant had obtained information that such a number of men had made profession of Islâm, he com­manded them all to be murdered, and then said to Jarjis: ‘Why hast thou not asked thy God to prohibit me from killing them?’ The saint replied: ‘The bountiful God has removed His obedient worshippers to paradise, to deliver them from thy tyranny and from the troubles of this world. They have obtained propinquity to the mercy of the Lord of both worlds.’

It is related that after this event, one of the king’s courtiers said: ‘O Jarjis, thou believest that thy God doeth what he willeth, and createth what he liketh! If thy God will cause these chairs, whereon we are seated, to return to their first state, and again to become trees, I shall believe in him!’ Jarjis replied: ‘The Lord Most High— w. n. b. e.—may grant this prayer if He likes, but no one has any authority over Him.’ Meanwhile an angel descended from heaven, and said to Jarjis: ‘The Lord of glory vouchsafes to thee so much favour and mercy, that every prayer of thine meets with compliance.’ This information augmented the confidence of Jarjis in the grace of the Creator, and he turned his face to the Qiblah of prayer. Accordingly the chairs began immediately to shake, to sprout forth leaves, and to bear fruit. The king with his grandees witnessed this miracle, and the courtier, who had promised to believe Jarjis in case of his ability to perform it, exclaimed: ‘In all my life I have not seen a more clever sorcerer than this man!’ Hereon insults were heaped upon Jarjis, and he was thrust into a brazen statue of an ox, filled with sulphur and naphtha. Then a fire was kindled beneath it, so that every substance within the statue was melted, and the king thought that Jarjis had departed to the next world. Meanwhile God the Most High afflicted that hard-hearted community with a hurri­cane of rain and snow, thunder and darkness, so that for several days they were unable to discern the night from the day. On that occasion the Lord Most High despatched an angel to the earth, who precipitated the statue of the ox with such violence to the ground that the terrible noise occasioned thereby prostrated all the inhabitants of that town upon their faces, whereon Jarjis issued sound and safe from the statue.

When the tempest had abated, Jarjis again honoured the assembly of the king with his presence, reiterated his admonitions, and the amazement of the king and his grandees increased. Then a courtier, whose name was Tûrqalitâ, said to Jarjis: ‘In this neighbourhood there is a cavern with receptacles cut out of the rock, every one of which contains a body of some ancient king. If thy pre­tension be true, recite a prayer that they hold a conversa­tion with us.’ Jarjis agreed to this proposal, and a great multitude accompanied him to the cave, at the entrance whereof he knelt down in prayer, and ordered the rotten bones of the kings, their wives, and children to be brought out from the receptacles, and to be deposited in separate places. Then he besought the Granter of requests to bestow life on that assemblage. This prayer was responded to, and the ancient corpses, amounting in number to nine men, five women, and three children, were resuscitated to life. Jarjis perceived an aged man among them, and asked: ‘What is thy name?’ and he replied: ‘Touqil.’ The saint further examined him about his religion, and he answered: ‘All my life I was an idolater, and although four hundred years have elapsed since my decease, the bitterness of the agony of death has not yet left my palate. When I died I was conveyed to the righteous Creator, and when He inquired about my religion He found me and my companions to be idolaters. He appointed worms over our bodies, and grief over our souls, and although we prayed much to be once more sent back to the world in order to atone for our past lives, we were not permitted to do so, and were suffering torments till this moment when our souls rejoined their bodies.’ Having uttered these words, Touqil continued to speak to Jarjis, saying: ‘O pious man, who art thou by the aid of whose efficacious prayers we have been resuscitated to life?’ He replied: ‘I am Jarjis the prophet.’ When Touqil heard the name of his lordship, he caught hold of his skirts, and exclaimed: ‘Have mercy on us now, that the Lord, whose glory be magnified, may take compassion upon us, and accept the repentance of His miserable handful of clay, and grant our request.’ But Tûrqalitâ said to Touqil: ‘Thou hast been a celebrated king, and hast for a long time propagated the religion of thy ancestors; art thou not ashamed now to bow to this seducer?’ Touqil, however, turned his face away from him, and said: ‘I know what I have seen after my decease.’ Then Jarjis struck the ground with his foot, whereon a spring of water gushed from beneath it, in which he ordered that assembly to wash themselves according to the rules prescribed for the sacred ablutions. Then the resuscitated corpses pronounced the formula of monotheism, whereon Jarjis again struck the ground with his foot, and God—w. n. b. e.—caused them to die again; then they took their places in the paradise of eternity.

It is related that despite of this miracle of Jarjis neither the king nor any of his followers believed in him, but said, after having witnessed this strange event: ‘O Jarjis! In all our lives we have not seen a magician more perfect than thee, because thou hast shown us dead persons in a state of life, none of whom possessed it in reality.’ The idolaters and enemies consulted with each other about the destruction of Jarjis, and agreed to torment him with hunger, in order to cause him to revoke his assertions. Accordingly they confined him in the house of a poor old woman, who had a deaf, blind, lame, and dumb son, in such a manner that he was unable to move. Jarjis asked the woman to give him some food, but she swore an oath and said: ‘These two days and nights I had only the little food which I gathered by begging to satisfy my hunger; now I intend to go out to collect some for thee.’ As soon as the old woman had disappeared Jarjis prayed that a wooden post which was in the house might become green and fresh, and produce various fruits. Accordingly the post began to grow and lifted its head towards the sky. When the old woman returned to the house, and beheld that tree, she said: ‘I believe in God, besides whom there is no other! He has fed thee in the house of famine!’ She was very anxious for the recovery of her son, and besought Jarjis to condescend to effect it, adding: ‘With­hold not the eye of favour from his tongue and feet also, that he may speak and walk.’ But he replied: ‘Verily thou hast yet another day,’ implying that the walking and speaking of her son was postponed for another day.

It is related that in those days the king once passed near the house of the old woman, and beholding the tree which bore various fruits, made inquiries about it. The courtiers replied: ‘This sorcerer Jarjis has caused it to grow, and has also cured the old woman’s son.’ The king further asked how it had happened that all this time information had been withheld from him concerning that event, and the courtiers answered that they had been apprehensive of thereby causing uneasiness to his majesty. Hereon the king became incensed with anger, and ordered the house of the woman to be destroyed, together with the tree, which was dug up root and branch. By the prayers of Jarjis, however, that grove was again restored to its former con­dition. After that the king ordered the body of Jarjis to be cut to pieces, to be burnt, and the ashes thereof to be divided into three parts; the first portion was thrown into the sea, the second upon the land, and the third carried off to a mountain. The crowed, however, had not yet dis­persed when the following words were heard: ‘O sea and O mountain! Guard the particles of My pious servant, which have been entrusted to you, and collect the ashes that they may return to their pristine state!’ During this allocution a wind arose from three sides, and a great cloud of dust approached, in the centre whereof Jarjis became visible, shaking his blessed head. The people then carried the saint to the presence of the king, and related what had taken place. The infidel and godless monarch was amazed, but said to Jarjis: ‘If thou obeyest me in one thing thou wilt escape all further persecution, and the honour of the kingdom will not suffer any detriment. I shall, moreover, treat thee very kindly, and comply with all thy wishes.’ Jarjis asked: ‘What must I do?’ The king replied: ‘Worship Aflûn once, and after that service I shall require nothing more from thee.’

As Jarjis was intent upon the destruction of the idol, he promised compliance, whereon the king became so glad that he said to him: ‘Thou must spend this day with me, and also repose in the night on my couch, in order that thy dignity may become evident to the high and to the low people.’ Accordingly Jarjis remained that day with the king, but in the evening he arose to pray and recited the Psalms aloud. By the sweetness of the voice of Jarjis and by the salutary effect of the recitation of the word of God, the wife of the king was, during that night, delivered from the darkness of infidelity and idolatry.

When the world-illuminating sun rose on the eastern horizon Jarjis entered the idol-temple, at the door whereof a great multitude of the people had assembled. The above-mentioned old woman, in whose house Jarjis had formerly been imprisoned, having heard of what was going to take place, took her son upon her back, made her appearance in the temple, and began to reproach Jarjis as follows: ‘O Jarjis! God the Most High has ennobled thee with the garment of prophecy, has caused thee to triumph over thy foes, and has resuscitated thee to life every time they killed thee; thou hast nevertheless forgotten all His favours, and art engaged in worshipping another god besides Him.’ Jarjis replied: ‘Let down thy son from thy back, because it is for a wise purpose.’ The old woman complied, and Jarjis said to the child: ‘Go and say to the idols: Jarjis is calling you!’ Accordingly the boy delivered the message to the statues, whereon they all approached his lordship to wait upon him; but Jarjis stamped the ground with his foot, whereon all the idols fell down.

It is related that Eblis felt on that occasion the humilia­tion of the idols, and came forth from the abdomen of Aflûn, which was the largest of them, but Jarjis held the devil back and asked him: ‘What is thy object in leading men astray and sending them to hell?’ Eblis replied: ‘I delight in seducing men from their allegiance to the sovereign of heaven and earth, on account of the enmity which I bore towards Adam, and which I still entertain towards all his descendants.’

When the king saw that Aflûn and all the other idols had fallen to the ground he exclaimed: ‘O Jarjis, thou hast deceived me and hast destroyed the object of my adoration!’ Jarjis replied: ‘How callest thou inorganic matter a god since it has no power to avert from itself any such calamity?’ On that occasion the king was also informed that his spouse had made profession of Islâm, and ordered her to be slain in the most disgraceful manner. After the execution of this monotheistic lady Jarjis fell on his knees and prayed as follows: ‘O Lord! During these seven years Thou hast tried me with various afflictions; now, however, the promised time has expired! Receive me, O Lord, into the propinquity of Thy mercy, and grant that before my final departure from this earth I may behold the punishment of the transgressors.’ When he had terminated this invocation a cloud was appointed from the abode of chastisement to destroy the infidels, and it began to rain fire on their heads. As, however, the idolaters received this judgment without repenting hearts, it served only to inflame their wrath, so that they drew their swords and cut Jarjis to pieces. The fire consumed the whole city, with all the idolaters; the believers, however, remained safe, and the number of those who had placed faith in the words of Jarjis is said to have amounted to thirty-three thousand; but God is most wise!