# Narsai

Narsai (sometimes spelt Narsay, Narseh or Narses; Classical Syriac: ܢܪܣܝ, romanized: Narsay, name derived from Pahlavi Narsēh from Avestan Nairyō.saȵhō, meaning 'potent utterance'; c. 399 – c. 502) was one of the foremost of the poet-theologians of the early Church of the East, perhaps equal in stature to Jacob of Serugh, both second only to Ephrem the Syrian.
Narsai is venerated in the Assyrian Church of the East, the Ancient Church of the East, the Chaldean Catholic Church and the Syro-Malabar Church, in which he is known as the 'Flute of the Holy Spirit.' Although many of his works seem to have been lost, around eighty of his mēmrē (ܡܐܡܖ̈ܐ), or verse homilies are extant.

## Life

Narsai was born at ‘Ain Dulba (ܥܝܢ ܕܘܠܒܐ "Plane Tree Spring") in the district of Ma‘alləta (ܡܥܠܬܐ) in the Sasanian Empire (now in Duhok Governorate, Iraq).$^{:2}$ Being orphaned at an early age, he was raised by his uncle, who was head of the monastery of Kfar Mari (ܕܝܪܐ ܕܟܦܪ ܡܪܝ) near Beth Zabdai (ܒܝܬ ܙܒܕܝ). 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. Perhaps in 471, Narsai left Edessa after disagreeing with the city's bishop Cyrus (471–498). With the help of his friend Barsauma, who was bishop of Nisibis (although Narsai and Barsauma's wife do not seem to have seen eye-to-eye), Narsai re-established the School of Nisibis.$^{:3}$ When his former school was ordered closed by Zeno in 489, it seems that many of his faithful staff and students came to join Narsai in Nisibis. Evidence from the first Statutes of the School of Nisibis, drafted in 496, shows that Narsai was still alive, and he must have been a venerable old teacher in his nineties. Narsai died sometime early in the sixth century and was buried in Nisibis in a church that was later named after him. Joseph Huzaya was one of his pupils.
Narsai's extant works belong to the distinctive Syriac literary genre of the mēmrā, or homily in verse. He employs two different metres — one with couplets of seven syllables per line, the other with twelve. The mêmrê were designed to be recited in church or religious school, each an exposition of a particular theme. The later Syriac writer Abdisho bar Berika of Nisibis suggests that Narsai wrote 360 mēmrē in twelve volumes along with prose commentaries on large sections of the Old Testament and a book entitled On the Corruption of Morals.$^{:6}$ However, only eighty mēmrē remain, and none of his prose works.

## Works
### Syriac editions

* Major collection of Narsai's works, containing the full text of 47 memre and the incipits of 34 more — Mingana, Alphonse (1905). Narsai Doctoris Syri Homiliæ et Carmina (in Syriac and Latin). Mosul.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

### English translations

* Four mēmrē on baptism and eucharist — it is now the academic consensus is that Homily 17 is not by Narsai, but must be from the sixth century — Narsai (1909). Richard Hugh Connolly (ed.). The liturgical homilies of Narsai. Texts and studies (Cambridge, England) vol. 8, no. 1. Cambridge University Press.
* Five mēmrē on dominical feasts — Christmas, Epiphany, Passion of Jesus, Easter, and Ascension of Jesus — these show Narsai's christological opposition to Cyril of Alexandria in a few places — Narsai (1979). Frederick G McLeod (ed.). Narsai's metrical homilies on the Nativity, Epiphany, Passion, Resurrection, and Ascension: critical edition of Syrica text. Patrologia Orientalis 40, fasc. 1. François Graffin. Turnhout: Brepols.
* Six miscellaneous mēmrē — Narsai: The Homilies: Volume 1. Peeters. 2024.
* Selected Sermons - Narsai: Selected Sermons. Translated by Andrew Younan. Paulist Press. 2024.

### French translations

* Six mēmrē on creation — Narsaï (1968). Philippe Guignoux (ed.). Homélies de Narsaï sur la création: Édition critique du texte syriaque. Patrologia Orientalis 34, fasc. 3–4 (in French). Turnhout/Paris: Brepols.
* Six mēmrē on Old Testament topics — on Enoch and Elijah, the Genesis flood narrative, Blessings of Noah, the Tower of Babel, the Tabernacle, and the Nehushtan — J Frishmann (1992). Narsai's Memre on Old testament Topics. University of Leiden (dissertation).
* Five mēmrē on Parables of Jesus — of the Ten Virgins, of the Prodigal Son, of the rich man and Lazarus, of the Workers in the Vineyard, and of the Tares — Narsaï (1984). Emmanuel Pataq Siman (ed.). Cinq homélies sur les paraboles évangéliques (in French). Paris: Cariscript.
* Memra on the Three Doctors (Diodorus of Tarsus, Nestorius, and Theodore of Mopsuestia) — Martin, F (1900). "Homélie de Narsaï sur les trois Docteurs". Journal Asiatique. 15: 469–525. Archived from the original on December 21, 2006.