A new project to translate Narsai

A new project to translate Narsai July 22, 2017

 

A scene on the western end of Maui
On the west end of Maui, near where we currently are    (Wikimedia Commons public domain image)
Fortunately, as one ages and mellows, and as time passes, the sharpness of indignant anger begins gradually to be displaced by more gentle feelings of world-weariness, wistfulness, and simple sorrow.

 

I’m pleased to read about a new effort, under the auspices of BYU’s Middle Eastern Texts Initiative (or METI), which I conceived and founded, to translate the homilies of the fifth-century Mesopotamian Christian theologian Narsai:

 

Keeping Narsai’s memre in memory

 

One of the keenest regrets of my professional career is that, owing to Institute politics, I’ve been blocked from participating in METI since mid-2012.  And it’s a very keen regret.  I would dearly love to have been involved in this project, even if only as cheerleader and encourager.  This kind of effort was part of my dream for the Middle Eastern Texts Initiative.  At least, though, I had the privilege of helping to raise the large endowment that makes such projects and such events possible.

 

As the saying goes, the saddest thing about betrayal is that it never comes from your enemies.

 

Posted from Kaanapali, Maui, Hawaii

 

 


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