ܡܪܝ ܢܪܣܝ ܟܢܪܐ ܕܪܘܚܐ
Mar Narsai the Harp of the Holy Spirit
(399 - c.502 AD)
Dr. Father Khoshaba Gewargis
Mar Narsai was born in the Persian Empire at Ain Dulba (ܥܝܢ ܕܘܠܒܐ) in the district of Ma‘alta (ܡܥܠܬܐ). He was orphaned at an early age and was raised by his uncle who was head of the monastery of Kfar Mari (ܕܝܪܐ ܕܟܦܪ ܡܪܝ) near Beth Zabdai (ܒܝܬ ܙܒܕܝ). Mar Narsai spent ten years as a student at the School of Edessa, and later returned there to teach (c. 437), eventually becoming head of the school. Due to the conflict with bishop Cyrus, Mar Narsai left Edessa (perhaps c. 471) for Nisibis where with the help of its bishop Barsauma, re-established the School of Nisibis. When his former school was ordered closed by Zeno in 489, it seems that many of his faithful staff and students came to join Mar Narsai in Nisibis. Evidence from the first Statutes of the School of Nisibis, drafted in 496, shows that Mar Narsai was still alive, and he must have been a venerable old teacher in his nineties. Mar Narsai died sometime early in the sixth century and was buried in Nisibis in a church that was later named after him.
His surviving works are all in verse being memre using both 7:7 and 12:12 metres. Some 80 memre or verse homilies are preserved, the majority dealing with Biblical topics, both Old and New Testament. There are also an important group which constitute verse commentaries on the baptismal and Eucharistic rites. Although Mar Narsai is probably the most important poet of the Ancient Church of the East, only a small number of his homilies are so far in modern translations.
His surviving works are all in verse being memre using both 7:7 and 12:12 metres. Some 80 memre or verse homilies are preserved, the majority dealing with Biblical topics, both Old and New Testament. There are also an important group which constitute verse commentaries on the baptismal and Eucharistic rites. Although Mar Narsai is probably the most important poet of the Ancient Church of the East, only a small number of his homilies are so far in modern translations.